Germany to suspend conscription

DoyleG · Dec 16, 2010

Germany to cease drafting military conscripts next month

The German cabinet has agreed a reform which will reduce the size of the military and suspend compulsory service from July on. As a result, the last draft will be on January 3, 2011.

The German government on Wednesday approved the plans of its defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, to reduce the size of the German military, the Bundeswehr, by 65,000 soldiers to 185,000. Included in the reform are plans to suspend conscription from July 1 next year.

This means that the last young men will receive their draft notices on January 3, ending a practice which goes back to 1957 and the start of German rearmament after World War II.
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The progress to the idea of professional armed forces in NATO continues on its course.

96Squig · Dec 16, 2010

Was about time. The number of conscious objectors surpassed the people that were actually drafted into the military a few years ago.