Thousands of young people gathered in Berlin on Thursday, assembling first at Potsdamer Platz and then marching across the city to oppose government plans to reintroduce military service. Police put the turnout in Berlin at about 3,000; organizers estimated 6,000 there and said roughly 50,000 people demonstrated in more than 130 towns and cities nationwide.
The protesters, many of them high school students, said they reject compulsory military duty. “I don’t think I’ll be dying for my friends, relatives or acquaintances, in the worst-case scenario,” said 17-year-old Shmuel Schatz, spokesperson for the School Strike Committee. “Rather, in the end, only for those who are put into the trenches for the interests of large corporations like Rheinmetall, ThyssenKrupp, and others, so they can line their pockets at the expense of war.”
The demonstrations respond to a military service law adopted in December 2025. Under the new rules, all 18-year-olds will receive questionnaires this year asking about their motivation and suitability for the armed forces and informing them about volunteering for the Bundeswehr. Men will be required to respond.
“People who go there voluntarily can fight for this, even if that does have its problems. But people should not be forced. Coercion is never a solution,” said 19-year-old Kiran Schürmann, another spokesperson for the Berlin demonstrators.
Officials say the goal is to grow Germany’s armed forces from roughly 180,000 active soldiers to about 260,000, alongside some 200,000 reservists. Government ministers have warned that if volunteer recruitment misses targets, full conscription could be reinstated. Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Henning Otte (CDU) noted in his military report that he has “doubts about the prospects of success of the voluntary principle.”
Interest in conscientious objection has risen. The German constitution protects the right to refuse military service on grounds of conscience, and counseling services are available. The Federal Office for Family Affairs and Civil Society (BAFzA) recorded 3,867 applications for conscientious objection in 2025, a 72% increase from the previous year.
Conscription was Germany’s policy for decades, with a civilian alternative, until it was suspended in 2011. It can be reinstated if the Bundestag declares a state of tension or a state of national defense; that would require a two-thirds majority in the lower house. In a declared state of national defense, men aged 18 to 60 could in theory be drafted.
Thursday’s nationwide action was the second “school strike” against the new policy. A similar protest in December 2025 drew about 55,000 people across 90 cities, showing sustained youth resistance to any return to compulsory service.