The original article was published on Klasse Gegen Klasse:
The “Law on the Modernization of Military Service” was adopted by the Bundestag at the end of 2025 and came into effect in early 2026. This law requires young men (and makes it optional for young women) born after 2008 to fill out an online questionnaire regarding their motivation and skills related to military service. Additionally, it requires them to undergo a military medical examination. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in fines of up to 1000 euros. The adoption of this law, which opens the door to the generalization of mandatory military service if the number of volunteers is not high enough, has sparked significant reactions in the youth, with 50,000 young people going on strike on December 5th and March 5th to oppose it.
However, another provision that had gone unnoticed until then was a new regulation prohibiting men of age from bearing arms from staying abroad without the approval of the Bundeswehr.
All men aged 18 to 45 are subject to military obligation:
Even though the medical examination is only mandatory for men born in 2008 or later, all men between 18 and 45 are subject to military obligation. This means they can also be called up if the state deems it necessary. In order to ensure the participation of the population fit for military service, an old rule previously limited to times of tension or war is now permanently applicable, following the update to the law. Specifically, paragraph 3, clause 2 states that: “Men reaching the age of 17 must obtain authorization from the competent recruitment center of the Bundeswehr if they wish to leave the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany for a period exceeding three months, provided they do not already meet the conditions of Article 1, clause 2. This obligation also applies if they wish to extend a stay abroad beyond the initially authorized period or beyond three months for a stay that was not subject to prior authorization.”
Since the beginning of the year, men aged 18 to 45 must obtain authorization from the Bundeswehr for any stay abroad exceeding three months.
The strike against military service is not only about young people!
Militarization in Germany is advancing. It is not just young people – compelled to fill out mandatory questionnaires, undergo medical examinations, and encourage military service at school, in transportation, and through financial incentives to become good little soldiers – who are affected, but the entire population. Restrictions on leaving the country are another clear sign of authoritarian evolution in Germany. The myth of war for democracy is further crumbling with this new encroachment on freedoms. Everyone has seen the images from Ukraine, showing men being rounded up in the street to be forcibly sent to the front lines. It is towards such scenarios that the German state is preparing by restricting and controlling the movements of men eligible for service.
This situation shows that resistance against military service and militarization should not be left solely to schoolchildren and high school students. Adults are also directly affected by these measures. They are obviously also affected by the militarization spreading throughout social life through budget cuts, attacks on labor rights, and nationalist indoctrination aimed at marching the population in step.
The next high school strike against military service in Germany will take place on May 8th. Workers and unions must join this movement to turn it into a true general strike against militarization. Students who have so far remained passive in the previous strike days must also engage: as young people, they are the first on the list of future conscripts. In the end, it will be they, along with workers, who will bury their dead, while the rich and big bosses will remain sheltered, counting their profits, like Rheinmetall stuffed with hundreds of billions of public money injected by the German government into militarization.
This dynamic response to forced militarization in Germany should inspire us in France, where the government is equally on the offensive. In the midst of devastating austerity for public services, the Lecornu government has voted for an additional expenditure of 8.5 billion euros to buy ammunition, while Macron has launched the construction of a new aircraft carrier estimated at 10 billion euros, an initiative to which the entire mainstream political class, including LFI, has rallied. On the contrary, we must organize a major anti-militarist movement, following the example of German youths, or taking inspiration from the few union sections that denounce the ongoing militarization and call on workers to refuse to use their skills for war.
