Germany’s government is embroiled in a high-stakes and very public row over the future of military conscription, a debate that threatens to overshadow its urgent drive to shore up national defense against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing aggression in Europe. The dispute, which burst into view this week, has pitted the country’s leading political factions against each other and thrown the fate of a long-anticipated military service reform bill into doubt—just as Germany faces mounting pressure to fulfill its NATO obligations and prepare for what many see as a growing threat from the East.
The drama reached a boiling point late Tuesday, October 14, 2025, when a press conference to unveil the government’s new military service proposals was abruptly cancelled, mere hours before a draft bill was set to go before the Bundestag. According to BBC, the sudden reversal came after an 11th-hour breakdown in negotiations between Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) led by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. The two parties, governing in coalition, have been at loggerheads over whether Germany’s push to expand its armed forces should rely on voluntary service or introduce a new form of compulsory conscription.
Chancellor Merz, who took office in May 2025 with a pledge to build “the strongest conventional army in Europe,” has made national security a top priority. His government has committed to unprecedented investments in the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, which have long suffered from underfunding and dwindling ranks since the end of the Cold War. As Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported, Merz’s ultimate aim is to meet NATO targets by boosting troop numbers to 260,000 active soldiers and 200,000 reservists—a dramatic increase from the current 183,000 active personnel and 49,000 reservists.
Yet the road to rearmament has been anything but smooth. Under draft plans announced this summer, all 18-year-old men would be required to complete a questionnaire about their background and willingness to serve for at least six months. For women, participation would be optional, since including them in conscription would require a constitutional amendment—a step not currently on the table. If not enough young people volunteered, a controversial lottery system could be triggered, summoning selected men for medical checks and, potentially, mandatory service.
Defence Minister Pistorius, a popular SPD figure, has consistently pushed back against any form of compulsory service. Instead, he advocates for a robust voluntary recruitment drive, sweetened with incentives like better pay, technical training, and even free driving licenses—no small perk in Germany, where obtaining a license can be costly. Pistorius believes that making military service more attractive can fill the Bundeswehr’s ranks without resorting to a draft. He has proposed that all eligible young men undergo a medical starting July 2027, giving the military a clearer snapshot of available manpower.
But not everyone in the coalition is convinced. CDU lawmakers, including Chancellor Merz, argue that a voluntary system alone won’t deliver the numbers Germany needs to meet its security commitments. As Merz put it earlier this month, “We want to try to achieve this voluntarily with the SPD first. I am sceptical. If we succeed, so much the better.”
The disagreement came to a head when Pistorius vetoed a compromise that would have allowed a lottery system to kick in if volunteer numbers fell short. According to The Guardian, the move infuriated senior CDU figures. Norbert Röttgen, a veteran Christian Democrat, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung, “In over 30 years as a member of the Bundestag, I have never seen a federal minister directly torpedo an important legislative process in his own area of responsibility and plunge his own parliamentary group into chaos.”
Pistorius, for his part, denied being obstructive. “I don’t torpedo things, and I’m not destructive either,” he insisted in an interview with Tagesspiegel. He dismissed the lottery idea as a “lazy compromise” and too cumbersome to implement, maintaining that a well-structured voluntary system could work if given a fair chance.
Despite the rancor, government spokespeople have tried to project unity. Stefan Kornelius, Chancellor Merz’s spokesman, told reporters on Wednesday, “The dispute does not mean that Germany is not united or weakened, Germany is able to act.” Kornelius also pointed out that such debates are a sign of healthy democracy—something, he quipped, that “Moscow should encourage in its own political system.”
The timing of the row couldn’t be more critical. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European powers have been on heightened alert. A spate of recent drone incursions over sensitive German sites has only sharpened the sense of urgency. NATO has warned its members to prepare for a possible Russian attack within the next four years, and the U.S. has signaled it may reduce its defense commitments to the continent. According to AFP, both Merz and Pistorius regularly accuse Moscow of engaging in hybrid warfare aimed at destabilizing Germany. The government has reaffirmed its support for Ukraine, with Germany serving as the second-largest supplier of aid after the United States.
Yet, the question of how best to rebuild the Bundeswehr remains deeply divisive within German society. Memories of 20th-century remilitarization and its catastrophic consequences still linger, making conscription a politically sensitive topic. While a recent Forsa poll for Stern found that 54% of Germans support a return to compulsory service, opposition soars to 63% among 18 to 29-year-olds—the very demographic the government hopes to recruit. Support is strongest among those over 60, reflecting generational divides over national defense and civic duty.
Conscription in Germany was suspended in 2011, after decades in which young men could choose between military service or alternative social work. The Bundeswehr was subsequently downsized, and both military and civic service obligations were shelved. However, the basic law still allows for the draft if needed—a clause that has taken on new relevance in the current security climate.
Experts warn that the Bundeswehr faces not only a recruitment crisis but also severe equipment shortages, creating what some describe as a vicious circle: poor conditions make service unattractive, which in turn hampers recruitment and readiness. Inspector General Carsten Breuer recently stressed the urgency of revising the recruitment process, expressing confidence that the original voluntary draft law could attract “legions of new volunteers.” As he put it, “We need rapid growth potential to enable us to defend ourselves and also to deter attacks.”
The row over conscription has also spilled into broader debates about how Germany should respond to Russian provocations. After suspected Russian drones shut down Munich airport this month, CSU leader Markus Soeder called for a more aggressive response—a suggestion Pistorius dismissed as “gunslinger rhetoric.” “That sort of talk might work at high noon in Dodge City, but not in international politics where we need to prevent wars and avoid escalation,” Pistorius told Pioneer.
For now, the fate of Germany’s military service reform remains in limbo. Pistorius’s original proposals, emphasizing voluntary recruitment, are expected to be tabled in parliament on Thursday, but further fierce debate is all but guaranteed. What’s clear is that the stakes are higher than ever, as Germany grapples with its past, its responsibilities to NATO, and the very real threats on its doorstep.
As the government scrambles to resolve its internal divisions, the world is watching to see whether Germany can rise to the challenge of building a modern, effective defense force—without losing sight of the lessons of history.