{"id":826,"date":"2026-01-03T05:59:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T05:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thanassiscambanis.com\/sipa\/?p=826"},"modified":"2026-01-03T05:59:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T05:59:55","slug":"germany-brings-back-military-service-teenagers-are-skeptical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thanassiscambanis.com\/sipa\/2026\/01\/germany-brings-back-military-service-teenagers-are-skeptical\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany Brings Back Military Service. Teenagers Are Skeptical."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Germany has approved a new military service system that could reintroduce draft by lottery. The plan is widely supported by older voters but questioned by the teenagers who would live with its consequences.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A German military uniform. A new reform could require teenagers to serve if too few volunteer. (Photo by Unsplash\/Touko Aikioniemi)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Vitus Studemund<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Mike Siebert stands in his military uniform in a Berlin classroom, surprised that many students did not even notice the news that had been everywhere for days. \u201cSome didn\u2019t realize how this could actually affect their lives,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Europe has edged closer to war than at any point since World War II, and governments across the continent are rethinking how they would defend themselves. A major reform of military service has been approved in Germany, expanding voluntary draft and, if needed, activating a mandatory lottery. The reform marks a sharp shift in post\u2013Cold War Germany, but came without much input from the teenagers whose lives it could alter. How do they see the change? And how does a military officer who works with students make the case?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explaining the Reform: A Questionnaire, Then Possibly a Lottery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Mike Siebert, 29, works as a \u2018youth officer\u2019 for the Bundeswehr, the military\u2019s German name. He gives more than 100 presentations and talks a year, many of them at high schools. When Siebert joins my video call, he is wearing a blue dress uniform with three silver-colored stars on his shoulder, just as he would in a classroom setting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week before our conversation, the government agreed on a first outline for scaling up the military: all teenagers born after 2008 will be asked whether they want to join the armed forces. A questionnaire is sent to all teenagers, but only males need to respond. If not enough people volunteer, a lottery will decide who must serve. Politicians argue the reform is necessary to ensure Germany can be ‘kriegst\u00fcchtig’\u2014ready for war\u2014by 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I first met Captain Mike Siebert in 2024, when he was making the case for mandatory national service. Now, he is tasked with explaining a version of that idea to teenagers in classrooms.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA Lot More Has to Happen Before We Ever Get to That Point\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days after the announcement, Siebert visited another high school. He says the classroom did not feel panicked, partly because not everyone understood how significant the reform was. \u201c[However] I tried to ease that immediate fear [many had] of \u2018Oh, I\u2019m going to be drafted into the Bundeswehr against my will,\u2019 by explaining that a lot more has to happen before we ever get to that point.\u201d The lottery scenario is still hypothetical, and under the Constitution, everyone drafted is allowed to object to fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking With Teenagers <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I speak to Siebert, I become more interested in hearing from teenagers affected by the reform that, to many adults, is abstract. I text my younger brother to ask what he thinks. His reply comes right away: \u201cI don\u2019t feel like doing military service, but ngl it\u2019s important and they do need people.\u201d A few minutes later, I call him. He is just getting back from soccer practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost of my friends aren\u2019t really into it either. Kind of depends on who you talk to,\u201d he says. \u201cBut you know Joel, right? He said he wants to say yes when he gets that questionnaire. He just did an internship with them and got all these free items.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My brother is not really interested in the new reform but knows a surprising amount about it. \u201cOur teachers are discussing this with us. And I see all the memes on TikTok\u201d, he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI Wouldn\u2019t Have Even Voted Yet\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I talk to other teenagers too\u2014people from my old high school, kids from church, and some I met at youth parliaments. Everyone who replies to my Instagram story asking for opinions is surprisingly critical of the reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I got drafted now, I wouldn\u2019t have even voted yet or had a chance to help decide my country\u2019s politics,\u201d Frida tells me over a video call. She is 16 years old and currently studying abroad in Norway. \u201cIf Russia attacks, they\u2019ll come here,\u201d she says, people in her town believe. She adds, \u201cI am actually more critical of national service now after seeing how present the military is here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fears of Militarism and the Far Right<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others question who will really bear the burden. \u201cIn a capitalist society, the ones who draw the short straw are always those from working-class backgrounds,\u201d says eighteen-year-old Ruth. She is a few months too old to be affected herself, but fears friends getting drafted. More generally, Ruth fears that higher investments in the military could pull in teenagers who already struggle financially, while wealthier families \u201cwill find ways to keep their kids out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selma, 16, notices polarization among her peers: \u201cThe atmosphere at school is getting rougher,\u201d she says. \u201cSome people in the schoolyard talk like Hitler and say this service is exactly what our people need.\u201d The new law comes at a time when the two highest polling parties among German first-time voters are the socialist Die Linke and the ultra-right AfD. \u201cThe draft lottery feels like The Hunger Games,\u201d she says, \u201cthe state literally draws lots over people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support for the Draft Falls With Age<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bObjections from youth are a main argument of the German left: \u201cYoung people weren\u2019t in the room when the bill was negotiated,\u201d responds a socialist MP from Die Linke in an e-mail to me. \u201cIt\u2019s telling that support for conscription comes mainly from older generations, while younger people, the ones who would be compelled to carry weapons, reject it by a clear majority.\u201d The claim is backed by survey data: There is no polling yet on the specific reform, but earlier surveys show broad public support for a mandatory military service in theory, with a stark generational divide. Among polled adults under 29, only 30 percent favor the idea, and only 14 percent say they could imagine serving themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bJust a few years of geopolitical change and the luck of my birth year mean I will never have to worry about being drafted. But after all the early-morning calls, late-night texts, and hours of research, I feel uneasy for the teenagers I spoke with, many of whom are still forming their political identities. Regardless of their opinion, none of them got to vote on this law that could change their lives. And as long as teenagers are left uncertain about whether they could be randomly drawn after finishing school, what this means for Germany remains unclear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Germany has approved a new military service system that could reintroduce draft by lottery. The plan is widely supported by older voters but questioned by the teenagers who would live with its consequences. A German military uniform. A new reform…<\/p>\n

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