On June 15, Germany held its first-ever national Veterans Day\u2014a sinister milestone in the return of German militarism. Under the patronage of the federal government and the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces), the day was marked by over 100 events nationwide. The centrepiece was an official ceremony in Berlin, accompanied by martial displays in cities such as Hamburg and Kiel, and a live broadcast from the Bundeswehr\u2019s newly deployed combat brigade in Lithuania.<\/p>\n
Members of the German army attend a ceremony marking the 106th anniversary of the Lithuanian military, on Armed Forces Day in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. [AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis]<\/p>\n
The new holiday aims at nothing less than the ideological entrenchment of the military within society\u2014in preparation for new imperialist wars and the suppression of growing social unrest at home.<\/p>\n
Just as in the United States, where Donald Trump is deploying the military and National Guard against protests, Germany\u2019s ruling class is also working at full speed to build an authoritarian state. The Bundeswehr plays a central role in this process. Veterans Day is intended to undermine the deeply rooted opposition to the military that stems from the crimes of German imperialism in two world wars and replace it with a culture of soldier-worship.<\/p>\n
In Hamburg, hundreds of officer cadets marched onto the town square to be promoted to lieutenants in front of Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Hamburg\u2019s Mayor Peter Tschentscher (both Social Democrats, SPD). The martial spectacle was secured by rooftop snipers\u2014a stark sign of how alienated the ruling class is from the population and how much it relies on violence and repression to enforce its militaristic agenda.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the central ceremony in Berlin, Pistorius called it a \u201cday of recognition and appreciation\u201d for the troops. He made no secret of the fact that this was about permanently embedding the military into social life\u2014and preparing the population ideologically for future wars. \u201cTo ensure that this willingness is not lost\u2014also in future generations\u2014we finally need a veterans\u2019 culture in Germany,\u201d he declared, \u201cbecause it creates precisely that visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Veterans Day should not remain just a symbolic event, Pistorius emphasized. What was needed, he said, was \u201cmore visibility, more recognition, and more concrete symbols.\u201d One such symbol is the \u201cveterans\u2019 insignia,\u201d already awarded to over 110,000 soldiers. The goal is to integrate military thinking, demeanour, and self-image into everyday life\u2014soldiers are to be seen again as heroes of the fatherland, visible in public spaces, the workplace, schools, and universities.<\/p>\n
The parallels with the past are unmistakable. Veterans Day evokes memories of the cult of hero worship in the German Empire and under the Nazis, where cult-like, fallen \u201cwar heroes\u201d were celebrated to rally society for new wars of conquest. Today\u2019s politics may be rhetorically more cautious, but they pursue the same goal: the total mobilization of the population for imperialist plunder.<\/p>\n This aim was already clearly stated in the\u00a0Defence Policy Guidelines<\/a>\u00a0adopted in autumn 2023. They read: \u201cThe Bundeswehr will continue to cultivate reciprocal and ongoing exchanges with society and promote understanding that national defence is a task for all of society. An active culture of veterans and remembrance, supported by society, is a constant duty.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words: society is to be militarized. Everyone is expected to contribute\u2014whether by direct participation, ideological support, or acceptance of military violence at home and abroad.<\/p>\n The Defence Policy Guidelines, which now serve as a blueprint for the Merz government, encapsulate the new direction of German defence policy: \u201ccombat readiness as a guiding principle.\u201d This means the Bundeswehr must be prepared\u2014in terms of personnel, technology, and psychologically\u2014for wars with a \u201cnear-peer adversary,\u201d i.e., direct confrontations with Russia or China, or even, if necessary, the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cOur national defence requires a combat-ready Bundeswehr,\u201d the guidelines state. This means \u201cits personnel and equipment must be aligned with the demands of their challenging missions.\u201d The benchmark is \u201cconstant readiness to engage in battle with the aim of success in high-intensity combat.\u201d The confrontation with a \u201cnear-peer adversary\u201d is not just something \u201cwe want to win, but we must win.\u201d<\/p>\n The concept of \u201ccombat readiness\u201d runs through all of the federal government\u2019s security policy thinking. It includes not only rearming the Bundeswehr but also reorienting every sector of society for wartime capability\u2014from the economy to education to cultural policy.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n