The demonstrators have denounced new German legislation to set up conscription via lottery
Several thousand high school students have taken to the streets of Berlin to protest a recently adopted law that envisages the reinstatement of compulsory military service in the event that not enough people volunteer.
Under the new Military Service Modernization Act, all 18-year-old German men must register for potential service by filling out a questionnaire and undergoing a medical checkup starting this year. The legislation stipulates that recruits could potentially be called up via lottery should the armed forces face manpower shortages.
The draft was abolished in the country in 2011; however, senior officials, including German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, have recently suggested that it could be reactivated, citing a perceived Russian threat. Moscow has consistently denied harboring aggressive intentions towards its Western neighbors.
The ‘School strike against the draft’ took place in Berlin, as well as several other German cities, on Thursday.
According to police estimates, 3,000 students gathered in the German capital, while the organizers claimed that as many as 10,00 turned up in Berlin, and more than 50,000 participated across Germany.
The demonstrators converged on Berlin’s iconic Potsdamer Platz, carrying placards that read “Dying is not in the curriculum,” “[Chancellor] Friedrich Merz to the front,” and “A smart head doesn’t fit under a steel helmet.”
Other slogans spotted at the event read “Never, never, never again conscription” and “The rich want war, the youth want a future,” German media reported.
One of the organizers told Tagesschau media outlet that the new legislation is a “preparatory phase for conscription.”
“With its historical responsibility, the Federal Republic should advocate for peaceful solutions and diplomacy – not for rearmament,” he argued.
READ MORE: Youth-led protests sweep Germany as Merz moves to revive conscription (VIDEO)
Last year, Pistorius claimed that Russia could attack a NATO member “as early as 2028,” insisting on the need for a costly military buildup.
German Chancellor Merz similarly stated in 2025 that he aimed to turn the country’ military into the strongest conventional armed force in the European Union.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed the alarmist allegations as “nonsense,” with President Vladimir Putin expressing a willingness to provide the bloc with written security guarantees.
