New representative study on compulsory military service and voluntary alternatives

The "Menschen in Deutschland: International" (MiDInt) study surveyed 2279 people in Germany between the ages of 18 and 70 in July of this year about compulsory military service and readiness for defense. Among other things, they were asked whether they would be interested in voluntary, six-month basic military training and whether they would be prepared to defend Germany with weapons in the event of war.

The results of the representative online survey show that only just under 30 percent of respondents reject any form of compulsory military service. Of the various models proposed, the one with the greatest approval (42 percent) provides for one year of service for both men and women, and allows them to choose whether to serve within the Bundeswehr or in social institutions.

"Such a large and up-to-date survey, in which a sufficient number of young adults were also involved, has rarely been conducted on this topic outside of MOTRA. The current public debate is largely not based on empirical data in which younger people, who are particularly affected by this issue, are also adequately represented," explains Prof. Dr. Peter Wetzels. As the professor of Criminology in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hamburg, he and his team conducted the survey in cooperation with the GIGA team led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Richter as part of the "Monitoring System and Transfer Platform Radicalization" (MOTRA).

In the survey, 18 percent of all respondents with German citizenship who have not yet completed military or civilian service expressed an interest in voluntary six-month basic military service. Among 18 to 29-year-olds, the proportion is even slightly higher at 19 percent. Overall, just under 39 percent of all respondents would also be prepared to actively defend Germany with a weapon. Among 18 to 29-year-olds, the figure is around 30 percent. Among the men of this generation, 14 percent who have not yet completed military service express both a willingness to defend themselves, and an interest in six months of basic military training. For young women, the figure is 6 percent.

Currently, around 182,000 soldiers are serving in the Bundeswehr. To fulfill its NATO obligations, Germany aims to increase the number of active forces to around 260,000. "If we extrapolate the results of our study and take into account that around half of these volunteers could be unfit, then even a conservative estimate shows that there are at least 175,000 young men and 70,000 women between the ages of 18 and 29 in the population who could be recruited to serve in the Bundeswehr on a voluntary basis," says Prof. Wetzels. "A voluntary model, if made sufficiently attractive, could significantly strengthen the Bundeswehr with suitable young adults, even without coercion. At least empirically, there is therefore no need to reintroduce compulsory military service."

About the data collection The Institute of Criminal Sciences in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hamburg has been conducting the trend study "Menschen in Deutschland: International" (MiDInt) with the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) since the end of 2022. The aim is to investigate the impact of international political events and social developments on attitudes and the realities of life in Germany. The data is collected through regularly repeated, standardized, online surveys, which are conducted at intervals of two to three months among representative samples of the adult population in Germany.

The project is part of the "Monitoring System and Transfer Platform Radicalization" (MOTRA) research network funded by the German government. It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland (BMI) and the Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Women, Senior Citizens, and Youth (BMBFSFJ).

Further information: https://www.motra.info/