recruit 40,000 adolescents a year in the army

The mili, or military service, won a year ago, won Force in Europe With the advance of the War in Ukraine And a Putin strengthened. Lithuania, Latvia, France either Denmark They were some of the nations that put on the table the need to reinforce their recruitment. Many of them already looked at the call “Nordic model”and now it is Germany that seems determined to implement it.

Or almost.

The awakening of an army. I told this week The Financial Times. Germany prepares to take a radical turn to its defense policy with the launch of A new program of voluntary military service that aspires to recruit until 40,000 young people a yearin a commitment to revitalize armed forces that have been overcome by the new European strategic reality after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Suspended in 2011, the former mandatory military service has been subject to intense debates In recent years, but the government has now opted for A voluntary model (inspired by the Swedish system) that combines economic incentives, professional training and a possible route to the professional army. This strategy seeks to solve both the shortage of troops and the need to create a massive and operational military reserve in the face of possible future crises.

The road map. The proposal, which will be presented as bill Before the German Cabinet at the end of August, it contemplates a staggered process. In a first phase, it seeks to expand the number of places covered by the current voluntary program, going from 15,000 this year to annual increases in Between 3,000 and 5,000 young people until reaching 40,000 in 2031.

The main objective is to strengthen the number of army reservists, automatically integrating those who have completed the voluntary service. But a percentage of these young people is also expected to opt for a professional military career. At the moment, The Bundeswehr It has about 182,000 professional troops, and the government intends to expand that figure Up to 260,000 for 2035. In parallel, the reservists body should multiply more than three times, from 60,000 to 200,000, which will require a deep transformation in the recruitment and training rhythms.

Economic incentive. To achieve this, the plan contemplates a series of attractions designed to capture 18 -year -oldthe main group to which the initiative is directed. From 2026, all men who fulfill that age (about 300,000 a year) must fill out A mandatory questionnaire To evaluate its aptitude and availability for the service, while, in the case of women, participation will be voluntary.

Those who register can receive a Net salary of about 2,000 euros Monthly, language courses, technical training, subsidies to obtain the driving card and the possibility of acquiring new useful labor skills beyond the military. The basic service will be six months, although it can be extended if the volunteer wishes. Then, from 2028, all 18 -year -old men must also recognize recognition Mandatory doctor, even if they do not want to enlist, in order to build an updated database on the potential reserve available for total war scenarios.

The new Merz doctrine. The program is framed in the vision of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who He has promised make the German army conventional more powerful in Europe. His government, which has already allocated hundreds of billions of euros When rearmaconsiders that the new voluntary military service will not only serve to solve the chronic problem of lack of personnel in the armed forces, but also to reinforce Germany’s position within NATO and as a reference actor in continental security.

In the background: The Russian threat, the setback of the pacifist strategic culture inherited from the postwar period and the growing global tensions have driven Berlin to redefine their military role with a decision that, although presented as voluntary, It contains clauses that would allow to reinstate the mandatory service if the current scheme fails to achieve its objectives.

Volunteer with shadows. Yes, because the full return of the mandatory military service is discarded for now, the project includes mechanisms that, de facto, could lay the foundations for A future conscription If their figures fall short. Unlike the Swedish model, where the authorities select the recruits among the suitable citizens, in Germany only those who will be chosen Express your will to participate.

However, the fact of demanding all 18 -year -old men and a medical checking points to the creation of a structured national evaluation system, one that It could be activated more easily if the situation requires it. In parallel, the legal text provides for A clause which would allow to restore the conscription formally, although without establishing a specific activation threshold. The model, therefore, is presented as a balance point between the German pacifist tradition and the need to respond to a new era of insecurity.

European echo. Plus: Germany It is not the only in reconfigure Your approach to military service. In France, Macron He has defended The reactivation of the Voluntary National Service as a way to strengthen the reserve body, which aspires to duplicate in the next decade, although it has refused to return to forced recruitment.

In Eastern Europe, countries like Poland, Lithuania or Finland are expanding their abilities military and reservists accelerated. The German model, for its scale and ambition, could become a reference For other Western democracies that seek to strengthen their defense without reintroducing the mandatory service directly. In a Europe that Rearmastructured volunteering (encouraged, but not forced) is emerging as A formula politically viable to strengthen military preparation without breaking social consensus.

Margin of uncertainty. No doubt, the success of German plan It will depend not only on their ability to attract young people, but also on their logistics implementation, their social acceptance and their ability to adapt in a changing geopolitical context. Although they have been designed Attractive incentivesit is still uncertain if they will be enough to recruit tens of thousands every year, especially in a little familiar generation with the military.

Be that as it may, the project marks the beginning of a deep redesign of the German defense model, with implications that go far beyond the recruitment figures: it reflects a country that, after decades of strategic caution, is He is preparing (for the first time in generations) to assume a central military role in the defense of Europe.

Image | Pexels, 7th Army

In Xataka | Half Europe debates to recover the mili. Meanwhile, the Spanish army has other ideas: 80,000 reservists

In Xataka | The worst enemy of the South Korean army are demographic mathematics. And they win