World of Trouble: Conscription on the Table as European Militaries Dwindle
The British Army is now the smallest it has been
in 200 years, as more defense personnel continue to leave than join,
while in Germany the military recruitment crisis is so acute the defense
minister speaks of bringing back conscription. Listen To Story
The number of serving personnel in the British armed forces including all three services and the reserves fell by a further 3.9 per cent to just 184,865 this year. Of those, just 75,983 are regular soldiers.
Some 16,260 people left the armed forces in the past year: subtracting new recruitment the net loss of troops was 7,440 personnel.
‘Envious’, Would ‘Love to Have’ Return of Conscription Says UK Defence Ministerhttps://t.co/l3jf9SG2c5
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 30, 2023
According to an analysis by British newspaper the Daily Telegraph, this fall means the British Army is now at the smallest size in 200 years, no mean feat given the population of Britain in 1820 was only a little over 20 million souls, while it rapidly approaches 70 million today.
Recruitment is a long-term issue for the British military, with deteriorating pay and conditions, and even quality of life issues like a sustained loss of traditions in recent decades running down the factors that help bring in new troops and retain them. But the United Kingdom is not unique in these challenges in Europe, and Germany continues to struggle with armed forces that lack in both manpower and capability.
Speaking to the national newspaper of record Die Welt at the weekend, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that while the government was working on plans to stabilise the armed forces through a series of changes, if these measures failed ultimately there are other options on the table to make sure the military doesn’t collapse for want of soldiers. When asked if one of those options is compulsory service, Pistorius said he is considering “all options”, calling the decision to suspend conscription in 2011 “a mistake”.
While conscription is still provided for in the German constitution and is legal — the system was simply but into abeyance in 2011 — Pistorius acknowledged restarting it would be politically difficult now, and that any such move couldn’t go ahead without broad political support.
German Politicians, Defence Leaders Call for Return of Military Conscription https://t.co/FfJuYVBMMw
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 12, 2023
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