200,000 call-up notices: how ‘soft conscription’ works in Germany

Diana Shevchenko
Diana Shevchenko Journalist
 200,000 call-up notices: how ‘soft conscription’ works in Germany
200,000 call-up notices: how ‘soft conscription’ works in Germany
A large-scale recruitment campaign for the armed forces is gaining momentum in Germany. Since 15 January, the Bundeswehr has sent out almost 200,000 letters to 18-year-old young men and women, urging them to enlist

This has been reported by WELT, citing the German Ministry of Defence.

The measures are being implemented under the Military Service Modernisation Act passed last year. As of the end of April, 194,000 people had received letters containing QR codes for online questionnaires. Although service remains voluntary, the law contains an important provision: men are obliged to complete the questionnaire, whilst for women it remains optional.

Surge in refusals to serve

Despite the active campaign, Germany is seeing a sharp rise in the number of applications for conscientious objection to military service. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, 2,656 applications were submitted — more than in the whole of 2024. Following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the number of refusals began to rise sharply. By way of comparison: 951 applications were recorded in 2022, and 1,079 in 2023.

The German Ministry of Defence’s position

In Berlin, this trend is not considered critical. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence noted that the rise in refusals is ‘expected’, as the introduction of mandatory questionnaires is causing more and more young people to start thinking about the army and, as a result, to take a stance. The ministry also pointed out that in 2010, the last year before conscription was abolished, the number of such applications reached 131,000. The government currently plans to analyse the results of the current mailing as early as the end of 2026 to assess the actual willingness of young people to join the Bundeswehr.

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