Germany · Perspektive Online · · 2h
Tens of thousands of young people on the fourth school strike: “We are striking until conscription is off the table”
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45,000 young people demonstrated against compulsory military service on Friday. The focus was on compulsory testing. Because, as the Ministry of Defense announced on September 18th, it has been going on since July18 year old men scrutinized. More than 1,000 of them explicitly stated “0 out of 10” interest in military service in the Bundeswehr questionnaire. Overall, two thirds of all men said in the second quarter that they had no interest in the Bundeswehr.
Nevertheless, mandatory mustering is already starting, although it was only officially announced from July 2027. The students, including the school strike alliance, are now pushing even harder for their demands to be implemented - including a stop to the compulsory drafts, which already seem to be underway.
Like the allianceSchool strike against conscriptionannounced that the Bundeswehr's career center had worked improperly, meaning that the shipments sent were not binding at all. While the subject of the letter speaks of an “invitation”, the career center only writes that it is “invited” to appear.
More than just demonstrating
Golo Kirsch (18), a student from Kiel, sums up the anger of many students. "We were taken for a ride! We were told it was voluntary and that the muster would come in 2027. But now I had a load in my mailbox a year before," reports Golo. He further explains: "We will not give up 180 days of our lives, we will not be cannon fodder. We are the resistance generation that will continue to strike against conscription until it is off the table!"
Third school strike conference decides on next strike day in September
In some cities, the actions surrounding the fourth nationwide school strike went beyond the actual strike. InCologneThe Bundeswehr Career Center was attacked on the night of Wednesday to Thursday and marked with red paint and anti-militarist slogans. InLeipzigThe students decided not to run the registered route, but to spontaneously turn and walk past the Bundeswehr career advice office - which was also marked with paint.
There were visibly no limits to the creativity of the students. Whether they dressed up as Covenant arms production representatives, as in Leipzig - as a protest against the planned weapons factory in Leipzig - or, as in Cologne, for example, they built tanks that were demonstratively broken by the strikers. A concert took place in Magdeburg that was filled with many different artists.
In many cities, the large demonstrations were preceded by feeder demonstrations from individual schools in the city. The expression of each demonstration was characterized by huge banners, hoarders and, above all, many creative signs that sent clear signals. In Chemnitz the banner read: “The rich want war – the youth want a future” or “We don’t shoot at our class brothers and sisters”. The slogans and speeches in many cities were also characterized by class struggle, but above all also hopeful for a better future for young people.
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War test in the middle of Hamburg
While there was a nationwide strike, the Bundeswehr was simultaneously testing future war scenarios in the middle of the city center as part of the “Red Storm Charlie” exercise. This event takes place with helicopters, tanks, fully equipped soldiers with weapons drawn and also with the involvement of civil institutions such as the Edeka network. The Bundeswehr already tested itself last year as part of the“Red Storm Bravo”in Hamburg. However, it wasn't just about military rehearsals - hospitals were also demonstratively preparing to care for the wounded.
Red Storm Bravo: Protests against NATO war exercises in the port of Hamburg
Student Franca Rochetti (18) from Hamburg also sees the exercise as preparation for greater repression against her own movement: "With Red Storm Charlie, the Bundeswehr is also rehearsing how to combat strikes like ours. It's not about defense, but about war - or as Merz says, about great power politics." Franca naturally places the fight against militarization in the context of lived internationalism. One thing is clear to the student: she has far more in common with the young people from other countries who are supposed to be shot at than with those who want to force her into the Bundeswehr.
Intimidation by schools and police
The fact that the state perceives the movement as a threat was once again clear on this day of the strike. Repression against students who oppose war and militarization was an issue from the start. The repression was not only expressed in the form of the police on the streets.
At school, in the form of letters from parents, expulsions, threats of poor grades and reports from school principals. And things continued at home for many students. Parents also repeatedly put pressure on their children not to take part in the strikes and general work surrounding conscription. The backgrounds can be different: opposing political views, concerns about the children's school and professional future or pressure from the media, teachers and other parents.
In Bonn, students were locked in the school building during the school strike. Similar incidents also occurred in other cities. In Berlin there were arrests at the demonstration due to alleged insults towards the incumbent Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The slogan “Merz leck Eier” continues to be criminalized. But for many students, the slogan has become a sign of resistance - also against the repression in the name of the rule of law.
In Karlsruhe, the police also recorded the personal details of striking students after a teacher filmed them and called the police. “We were threatened with further consequences if we continued to use the megaphone,” reports Linnea (15) about the contact with the police. Her classmate Salome (17) draws a clear conclusion from this: "The government and the Bundeswehr tell us that they are also fighting so that we can be against them. But that stops when this resistance is organized."
Fight against war and social cuts – hand in hand
The strike is not isolated: support comes from many parents and teachers. There is also support from the state student representatives of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate as well as unions such as the GEW in Thuringia, Bremen, Hesse and Bavaria and the ver.di youth.
The movement not only appeals to students who want to fight against conscription and militarization. In addition, the movement is not only interested in the Bundeswehr and the war industry. In this school strike, too, the increasing militarization was repeatedly classified as part of the generally increasing attacks on the living standards of the working class. Conscription, military service and war are not viewed as something isolated, but rather as a reaction by those in power to the worsening world situation and the pressure from German imperialism to prepare for future wars.
Not with us! – On the streets against social cuts and compulsory military service
On September 26th, the school strike movement also wants to take part in the DGB's social protests. On October 2nd there will be a concert rally in front of the Brandenburg Gate, including with K.I.Z. and Disarstar. On October 3rd there will be an action in front of the Bundeswehr career center in Berlin. Afterwards, people are called upon to take part in the central demonstrations of the peace movement in Berlin and Stuttgart.
The next nationwide strike date should also be announced soon. The students' message is and remains unmistakable: preparation for war and social cuts should be fought together.
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Source: Perspektive Online