... but you really have to know what you're looking for.
The German army is in a bit of a tizzy, because its previous tactic for getting new recruits - enhanced press-ganging - has disappeared and only a small proportion of the expected volunteers have materialised.
Yes, the end of conscription is something that has been watched fairly closely by the rest of NATO. A key reason for conscription was to ensure that the German Army was a part of civil society, and therefore had the brakes of civilian thinking on any militaristic behaviour. Now that Germany has several decades of democracy behind it, conscription is no longer necessary.
Yes, though it had become extremely unfair. Not only was there a gender distinction (males had to serve, females did not), but only a small number of eligible people were actually called up; meaning that they suffered a time-based and lottery-decided disadvantage compared with their peers.
Actually, the biggest problem is the loss of nearly-free labour in all sorts of social/medical settings, as most people who were called up chose instead to do a stint as a "zivi". These people helped push around wheelchairs, ensure churches were stocked with lightbulbs and did other sorts of service generally deemed socially valuable. Now that they're gone (and the replacement volunteer service has attracted nearly nobody) there's much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
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The German army is in a bit of a tizzy, because its previous tactic for getting new recruits - enhanced press-ganging - has disappeared and only a small proportion of the expected volunteers have materialised.
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Actually, the biggest problem is the loss of nearly-free labour in all sorts of social/medical settings, as most people who were called up chose instead to do a stint as a "zivi". These people helped push around wheelchairs, ensure churches were stocked with lightbulbs and did other sorts of service generally deemed socially valuable. Now that they're gone (and the replacement volunteer service has attracted nearly nobody) there's much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
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