The Bundeswehr lacks personnel, and the Bundeswehr questionnaires could not cover these gaps. Now, despite the Bundeswehr's rejection, young people are being invited to mandatory military examinations. It's all the more time for the next school strike against conscription on September 25th, says Andrej Hoffmann.

The compulsory muster for all 18-year-olds is here. That reported thatFederal Ministry of Defenseon Friday in its current balance sheet on personnel development. Because many young people have so far given a zero, which means “no interest” in the Bundeswehr. 25 percent ignore the Bundeswehr from the outset (or in other words, they “ghost” the Bundeswehr).

Compulsory military service was set out as a possibility in the new military service law and apparently implemented immediately. In any case, around 1,000 young people who were uninterested in the Bundeswehr have been compulsorily drafted since July.

The reason: In the so-called Bundeswehr career centers, people are about to watch the wallpaper dry in the newly built centers because there are no young people who want to get shot. The solution now is to invite young people to muster examinations. This has already been reported in individual cases in the past.

Fight against conscription - fight against community service

Despite mandatory questionnaires, there are still too few staff

The Ministry of Defense is now taking a much more aggressive approach to compulsory military service. As a result of the turning point and the claim formulated in it to have the strongest conventional army in Europe, the Bundeswehr needs cannon fodder. Cannon fodder that is missing despite extensive advertising measures such as influencer campaigns, advertising on kebab packaging or in the classroom and rising salaries.

In August 2025, the federal government published the first draft law, which has now come into force and is being implemented on January 1, 2026. The main aim is to increase the number of reservists by reintroducing the current voluntary military service. If there is more need, conscription is a done deal.

Since January 1st, thousands of young people have received letters from the Bundeswehr asking them to fill out an online questionnaire to record their military fitness. But these many letters only lasted until mid-June530 volunteersfor military service. This means that the Bundeswehr is currently still falling short of the requirements.

Internal problems - such as the sometimes poor equipment due to missing weapons that reappear in fascist terrorist networks, and an ineffective procurement system - if only looked at in passing, these are not the only reasons for the mandatory muster that has now been introduced.

Since the law was introduced, the US-Israeli attack on Iran has caused a crisis in the global oil trade, which has also hit the German economy hard. Five years ago, Russia was able to keep up with other countries much better in the imperialist economic struggle thanks to Russia's cheap energy supply.

As part of the NATO war alliance, the Bundeswehr is also expected to spend five percent of GDP on armaments in the future and every third euro in the budget will go to the Bundeswehr in the future. There is no lack of willingness to spend money on rearmament and militarization, but there is still a lack of personnel.

Changing times everywhere in everyday life - resistance to it too!

However, the coming forced drafts are no reason to lock yourself at home and bury your head in the sand. When you walk through the city, you will not only come across all the Bundeswehr advertising and, with a little bit of bad luck, a career center in the future, but also a weapons factory right next to your own house, playground or supermarket. At least that's what the plans for Berlin-Wedding, Sangerhausen and Leipzig look like.

“Keep Elbit out”: Protest against the planned weapons factory in Sangerhausen

What is encouraging is that there is widespread resistance from the population in these places. Because no one wants to walk past a weapons factory on the way to the supermarket that could explode one day or be the first to be leveled by a missile in the event of war. That's somehow understandable.

Enough reasons to build up resistance against compulsory military service today and the threat of conscription the day after tomorrow. The resistance must be organized at various levels, because this is the only way we can destroy their goal of a war-ready youth and society.

Activists showed that resistance against the Bundeswehr can be very concretely successful during the “Rheinmetall Disarm Camp” in Cologne, where they blocked the Federal Office for Personnel Management of the Bundeswehr for a day and paralyzed operations.

From the classrooms to the streets on Friday

But the announcement of compulsory military training around a week before the fourth school strike against compulsory military service could be the straw that overflows the barrel of warmongering from SPD War Minister Pistorius and Co. So it is now up to us to convince our classmates in our schools to take to the streets on Friday and to organize themselves in the long term.

Third school strike against conscription - Despite arrests and attempts at intimidation, tens of thousands go on strike

An overview of all school strikes taking place on September 25th. you findhere.

The postMandatory mustering in the Bundeswehr? Our answer: school strike!appeared firstperspective.