Germany Military - With war on the doorstep, Germany plans massive military build-up Chancellor Olaf Schulz's plans to boost defense spending could turn Germany's military into Europe's most powerful armed force — an idea that has met with resistance in the past. .
German Chancellor Olaf Schulz speaks as he arrives to visit the German Army Joint Command in Schwielowsee near Berlin, March 4. Michael Sohn/AP Hide caption
Germany Military
German Chancellor Olaf Schulz spoke as he visited the German Army's Joint Operations Command in Schwielowsee near Berlin on March 4.
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BERLIN — The announcement came three days after Russia invaded Ukraine last month, and some German lawmakers were wondering what Chancellor Olaf Schulz would say: that Germany would inject 100 billion euros into its troops. It quickly became the most powerful armed force in Europe.
Scholz added that from now on, Germany will spend more than 2 percent of its GDP on the armed forces. According to figures compiled by NATO, Germany is expected to spend 1.53% of GDP on defense last year.
The German parliament dissolved, filling the main chamber of the Reichstag, a building whose destruction and rebirth was the epicenter of the last world war. Now he is witnessing what the Germans call a Zeitenwende: a historical turning point.
Conservationist Gina Paglirian watched in disbelief. "It upset me because with most things they cut at night, I've been fighting for years and I'm sure I'll never see that," he said.
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Puglierin, who heads the European Council on Foreign Relations office in Berlin, said that over the years he has heard from Germany's allies to step up and spend more on defense and provide more leadership, while the German government This idea has been repeatedly rejected. .
NATO's German Bundeswehr troops prepare to meet German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht as she arrives at the Rakela military base in Lithuania on February 22. Germany's chancellor has vowed to increase defense spending following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Mindaugas Kulbis/AP Hide caption
NATO's German Bundeswehr troops prepare to meet German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht as she arrives at the Rakela military base in Lithuania on February 22. Germany's chancellor has vowed to increase defense spending following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
He said that security expenditure was not a problem in the country's previous elections. "And I think the main reason for that is because German citizens haven't felt threatened for a long time," he said. "They never saw that their defense was a dangerous thing. They understood it. And the simple idea that, I don't know, a Russian missile is going to hit Germany is completely stupid."
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This German mentality is rooted in a past that many citizens find hard to imagine. A time when the country, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, built one of the largest armies in the world. "They started the war, and of course the whole industry turned to the military. And then everything went wrong," said military expert Constantin Wissman.
He said that the Second World War not only destroyed the German army, but also embarrassed its future.
After the end of the Cold War, Germany cut its defense budget and used its shrinking army not to defend its homeland, but to support NATO missions, such as Kosovo and Afghanistan. The condition of the German army was greatly affected, and during a joint NATO exercise in 2015, the German army was forced to use black paint brom due to lack of equipment.
Once parliament approves Scholz's defense spending plan, the new funding will help, but the money won't solve everything, Wiseman said. "I think the structural flaws of the German military are growing and they have structural problems that need to be addressed before you spend money on it."
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Even with the new money, says military analyst Thomas Wiegold, the German military will still be forced to pursue. "It's funny, it doesn't mean it's increasing in size," Wiegold said. "It doesn't mean adding completely different skills. First of all, it means financing that should already be there."
A German soldier patrols the area at Faizabad Airport in northern Afghanistan in 2006. Germany has contributed thousands of troops to NATO forces in Afghanistan. Michael Hanschke/AFP via Getty Images Hide caption
A German soldier patrols the area at Faizabad Airport in northern Afghanistan in 2006. Germany has contributed thousands of troops to NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Something like a modern fighter jet – Earlier this month, Germany pledged to buy around thirteen F-35s from Lockheed Martin to replace its 40-year-old Tornado jets. Wiegold says this is just the beginning. Germany must buy new tanks, weapons and warplanes, among other things.
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And as Germany rebuilds its military, Weigold says the rest of Europe will feel safer. He quoted a former Polish foreign minister who said: "I'm not afraid of a strong German army, I'm afraid of a weak German army."
"It's not like France or Britain or Italy or even Poland would see a militarily strong Germany as a threat," he said. "I think it's more or less the opposite; we expect Germany, with its economic power, to play its part in terms of security."
Defense expert Puglierin said he expects Germany to step up to the role of Europe's largest military. For too long, he said, Germany has depended on the United States for its protection. "Many Europeans and Germans have heard me say, 'Thank God we have America.' Paglirian said. "So I think we need to be better partners in the transatlantic relationship to build the transatlantic relationship on the same level."
And he said that means not only sharing the burden of the US military, but also having a say in the development of international security. He said that Germany is not only afraid of Russia but also of China and depending on who will take the White House in 2024, it is difficult to predict what kind of relations Germany will have with the United States. A strong German army, he argued, should help Germany in this uncertain situation; A military that is on track to be the third largest in the world, behind only the US and Chinese militaries.
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"What I want to see is the development of a healthy relationship with this concept of European sovereignty because I think it's very important," he said.
Puglierin said that, for decades, German leaders believed that they could bring peace through trade and did not need a large army. But the world has become unstable and unstable. And skilled soldiers, he said, are needed today. German Bundeswehr officers speak to reporters during the Allied Spirit X international military exercise near Honfels, Germany in April 2019. (Leinart Press/Getty Images)
KOLGEN, Germany - The chiefs of staff of the U.S. and German armies have signed an agreement that aims to bring about the most communication between their structures in seven years.
The Strategic Vision Statement, as officials call the agreement, lays out a potential agenda based on the idea that two land forces will help maintain peace in Europe.
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Gen. James McConnell and Lt. Gen. Georg Vollmer signed the document last week during the annual European Forces Conference at U.S. Army Europe Headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany.
"The strength of our Cold War military relationship is the strength of the NATO alliance," the statement said. "Great cooperation between the German and US armed forces is now very important because NATO faces many threats on its borders."
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By 2027, the two countries want to emphasize a balance of power — meaning both powers work seamlessly toward the same strategic goal — at what the document calls an "integrated level" of regional and global action.
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This means, for example, that a German brigade can operate under the supervision of a US Army division headquarters as a "training equivalent" of an American unit, and vice versa. A similar type of integration is seen at higher levels, with divisions of one country serving under the command of the corps headquarters of the other.
An additional goal is to coordinate the information systems of the two armies
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