IMAGO / Seeliger
Today is the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II. While supporters of Russian imperialism celebrate at Treptower Park, anti-war pupils across Germany are walking out of schools in protest of the country’s new rearmament policy.
Friedrich Merz’s government recently made amends to the Bundeswehr’s military service policy, requiring all 18-year-old men to fill out questionnaires about their willingness and suitability to become soldiers should the need arise. Furthermore, all of them will need to pass medical tests from next year.
Mandatory military conscription has been suspended in Germany since 2011, however the Minister of Defence is not ruling out its reintroduction should not enough soldiers willingly sign up. The government is significantly ramping up its military spending in the wake of Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine and deteriorating transatlantic relations under Trump’s regime, appearing to be realistically taking into account the possibility of armed conflict in the near future.
School-aged citizens, however, are largely not willing to fight for a country that does not fight for them, as they feel ignored by politicians who prioritise the interests of the rich over the future of the young.
Despite threats of penalties and even expulsion, the pupils are so opposed to the idea of becoming cannon fodder that they are taking to the streets en masse. In Berlin, a protest at the Brandenburg Gate will take place at noon; over a hundred other German cities are also participating in the strike.