conflict shatters Germany’s anti-militarist doctrine

At the end of the Second World War, horrified by the atrocities of Nazism, Germany set itself an immutable rule for decades: to remain a pacifist country. Berlin has a well-established dogma not to deliver lethal weapons to countries at war.

Without investment, the consequences are immediate. The fighter planes, the warships, the obsolete tanks of the Bundeswehr are regularly victims of breakdowns. Year after year, the numbers of the army melt and pass, between 1990 and today, from 500,000 men to 200,000. But the invasion of Ukraine will shatter Germany’s anti-militarist doctrine. And when he addresses the deputies, on February 27, 2022, three days after the start of the conflict, Chancellor Olaf Scholz evokes a change of era. “With the invasion of Ukraine, the world entered a new era, says the German Chancellor. This means that the world after will no longer be the same as the world before. And this new reality calls for a clear answer. Our principle is that what is necessary to guarantee peace in Europe will be done. Germany will make its contribution and its solidarity. But it is not enough to proclaim it.

“We must invest much more in the security of our country in order to protect our freedom and our democracy. The 2022 budget will provide for an exceptional investment of 100 billion euros.”

In the process, the German Chancellor also promises to devote more than 2% of its GDP to military spending, in accordance with the objective that NATO has set for its members. For Olaf Scholz and Germany, it’s a major turnaround, even if the sums released will probably not be sufficient to make up for the investment lag of recent years. Faced with a major external event, Olaf Scholz proves that Germany is capable of profoundly changing policy, as Angela Merkel had already done in 2011 after the Fukushima disaster. The one who was still Chancellor had decided to get out of nuclear power.