cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7895421
cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/33854
50,000 high school students skipped school again on Thursday, March 5, rallying in over 130 cities across Germany in a second nationwide strike against the reintroduction of military service. The first strike last year coincided with the Bundestag, the German parliament, voting in favor of reinstating and modernizing military service (Wehrpflicht). Just three months later, the movement has more than doubled in size.
Since January 1, 2025, all young men turning 18 have been required to respond to a letter from the Bundeswehr, the armed forces. Referencing Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, reports state 40,000 letters have been sent out. According to these reports, the return rate from young men is about 50%, while young women – for whom replying is so far voluntary – are not returning the questionnaires at all.
No information is available about how many young people are volunteering for service. While Pistorius remains optimistic to reach the stated goal of 270,000 servicemen and women by 2035, the conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group doubts this is achievable. If that turns out to be the case, compulsory military service will be introduced.
Read more: Students on strike against military service: “You’re not a coward if you don’t want to die for Germany!”
The militarization of young people’s lives didn’t start with the draft letter. Even before the law came into force, the Bundeswehr was pushing deeper into schools. In 2025, over 3,000 young people under 18 years of age signed up (an all-time high) as military recruiters intensified operations on school grounds. They promise high entry level salaries and attractive packages of social benefits, including driver’s licences, whose costs stand at a prohibitive cost of up to 6,000 € (approximately USD 6,900).
This is happening while funding for schools, youth centers and cultural institutions is being slashed. Buildings are falling apart, equipment is outdated, and spaces where young people once spent their free time are being forced to close due to insufficient funds. And now it’s not just the money intended for students that’s being sent to the military, but the students themselves. As one speaker put it: “The poor get poorer, the rich get richer – no money for our future.”
High school students in Berlin carrying a sign with the Tupac saying against the war. Photo: DKP Berlin
The protests took place as Inspector of the Army Christian Freuding returned from a visit to Israel announcing more cooperation with the Israeli armed forces, including soldier training drawing on intelligence gathered from the war in Gaza. Students were clear on what they think about that: “We don’t want to murder our brothers and sisters in other countries.”
During the strike, speakers drew an explicit historical parallels with the student strike of May 1, 1916, in Braunschweig – a catalyst for anti-war organizing across Germany during World War I – and Karl Liebknecht’s famous slogan that still rings true: “The main enemy is at home.”
Students’ demands
On Thursday, students called for an immediate ban on all Bundeswehr recruitment on school grounds, including career days: “We are the majority in schools – no Bundeswehr in schools!,” the slogans emphasized. They asserted the right to refuse military service entirely and call for sharing resources to explain how to do so legally. Underlying the list of claims was the demand to stop the expansion of the defense budget at the expense of public life and services, as well as to end German government support for the war in Gaza and attacks on Iran and Venezuela. “No blood for oil,” the students insisted. “No war for profit.”
Several students at the demonstration in Berlin were arrested, and bystanders were told by the police that filming was not allowed. In Munich, the police took students from strikes and drove them back to school. In Ingolstadt, Bavaria, a school administration is threatening to press charges against students for distributing flyers on school grounds, charging them with trespassing. Teachers supporting their students risk being fired.
The students are angry, and they are connecting the dots
The movement is bigger than three months ago. The students have gained confidence, and the speeches, slogans and banners indicate that they are connecting their struggle for the right to determine their own lives and futures to the broader political situation in the world. Their action received support from youth organizations across Europe, like RedFox in Belgium, the Dutch Communist Youth Movement (CJB), the Young Communist Collectives (CJC) in Spain, the Irish Connolly Youth Movement (CYM), the United Democratic Youth Organization (EDON) in Cyprus, and others.
The next mobilization is immediate: joining International Women’s Day demonstrations on Sunday, March 8. A next school strike is also being discussed for May 8 – the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. That choice of date would send a powerful message: that the youth is paying closer attention to lessons about the importance of peace than the current German government.
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Translation of the sign in the main image: