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The chapter intervenes in current public debates about German security policy. Many observers in the media have argued that the Russian invasion has triggered a revolution in German military affairs, de facto putting an end to German pacifism. The chapter takes issue with this argument. It draws on public opinion polls and prior research of parliamentary debates in the German Bundestag to show that neither German foreign policy elites nor the German public could ever aptly be described as pacifist in a strict sense; neither elites nor the general public as a whole were ever fundamentally opposed to the military. And while German society could (mostly) be adequately described as antimilitarist (reluctant to get militarily involved abroad), since the 1990s there has been a significant shift among foreign policy elites towards increased support for military operations outside the NATO area. Even public opinion, commonly seen as sceptical of military involvement, is much more differentiated than commonly assumed, in particular among the media. Thus, while the German government has only haltingly and somewhat hesitantly expanded its military support for Ukraine, this is does not appear to be primarily a result of a lack of public support.

This article analyzes the gendered representation of military service in the German YouTube series Die Rekruten (DR) (The Recruits), a popular web series produced on behalf of the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) for recruitment purposes, which accompanies 12 navy recruits during their basic training. The article is situated within research on masculinity and the military, in particular military recruitment. It supplements current scholarship by studying a previously neglected case that is of particular interest given Germany’s antimilitarist culture, which should make military recruitment and military public relations more difficult. The article asks how military service is represented in DR, what its discursive effects are, and what role (if any) masculinity plays in this process. We find support for recent feminist research on military masculinities (including in military recruitment) that emphasizes ambiguity and contradiction. What distinguishes the construction of military masculinity in DR from, for example, recruitment advertisements in the United States or the United Kingdom is its markedly civil character. This not only broadens the military’s appeal for a more diverse audience but also increases the legitimacy of the military and its activities. It does so by concealing the violence that has for the past two decades also been a very real part of what the Bundeswehr does.

This bachelor thesis deals with the relation of the Czech National Social Party and its youth organization during 1900 and 1910. National Social Youth was an autonomous radical wing of the party to a large extent. It didn't hesitate to form its own political opinions and exercise an independent political activity which caused a risk of conflict between the youth and the party leadership. The work analyses the relation of both subjects to the idea of socialism and to the antimilitarist activity. It is also investigated how the different attitude of the party and youth to these two topics was reflected in their mutual relation and political profile of the entire party. A part of the work is also a brief description of the origin of National Social Party and its youth organization.

ZEP : Zeitschrift für internationale Bildungsforschung und Entwicklungspädagogik 23 (2000) 2, S. 24-27, Ernst Friedrich verkörpert wie kein anderer deutscher Antimilitarist und Pazifist aus den 20er und 30er Jahren eine radikal-demokratische und anarchistische Position. Er entwickelte eine außerschulische friedenspädagogische Kinder- und Jugendarbeit. In diesem Sinne ist Friedrich jedoch nach 1945 in der friedenspädagogischen Diskussion nahezu unbekannt und ohne Anschluss geblieben. In seinem aktionsorientierten Ansatz verbindet er Elemente einer antikapitalistisch-anarchistischen, interkulturellen und pazifistischen Jugendarbeit mit selbstgesteuerten und entinstitutionalisierten Organisationsprinzipien. (DIPF/ Orig.)