Sarah Rainesford
Eastern Europe correspondent
Munster and Berlinbbc report
Germany voted to significantly increase its investment in the military
When the missile launcher is damaged across the field towards the fire line, it sends brown dust clouds into the air. A moment later, a countdown of soldiers from age 5 to “Fire!” arrives before the rockets roar into the sky.
The explosions and booms from such military training exercises are so constant that locals in Munster, in the nearby small town, are barely noticed anymore.
But life here is set to grow even bigger.
Bundeswehr, a German military, has recently become fully clear due to a significant increase in investments after Parliament voted to exempt defence spending from strict rules on debt.
The country’s top general told the BBC that an increase in cash was urgently needed as he believes Russian attacks would not stop in Ukraine.
“We are threatened by Russia. We are threatened by Putin. We have to do whatever it takes to stop it,” says General Carsten Breuer. He warns that NATO should be in charge of the possibility of an attack in just four years.
“It’s not about the time I need, but about how much time Putin gives us to prepare,” the defense chief says honestly. “And the faster we are ready, the better.”
pivot
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has deeply changed the way Germany thinks.
For decades, people here have grown up rejecting military forces and are keenly aware of Germany’s past role as European invaders.
“We started two world wars, 80 years after World War II, and the idea that Germans should leave the conflict is very, very important in the DNA of many people,” explains Marx Generer of the German Marshall Fund in Berlin.
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Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine slowly began to change German attitudes towards war
While some still pay attention to what may be considered militaristic, the military is chronically underfunded.
“There are voices warnings: “Are we really on the right track? Are we rightly aware of the threat?”
With regard to Russia, Germany had a specific approach.
Countries like Poland and the Baltic states warned that they had come too close to Moscow and increased their defensive spending, but Berlin believed in doing business under former Prime Minister Angela Merkel.
Germany imagined that it would lead to democratization through penetration. However, Russia took cash and invaded Ukraine anyway.
Therefore, in February 2022, the stubborn Prime Minister Olaf Scholz declared a national pivot for the priority “Zeitenwende.”
At that time, he is committed to a huge 100 billion euro ($108 billion, £83 billion) to boost the country’s military and to hold back “warm people like Putin.” However, General Breuer says that that’s not enough.
“We filled the pothole a little,” he says. “But that’s really bad.”
General Carsten Breuer believes Germany needs to increase the number of troops significantly.
In contrast, he points to the massive spending of weapons and equipment in Russia, stocks and Ukraine’s frontlines.
He also highlights the Russian hybrid war: from cyberattacks to obstruction, and unidentified drones against German military sites.
On top of that, Vladimir Putin’s aggressive rhetoric and general Bluer sees “a truly dangerous mixture.”
“Unlike the Western world, Russia doesn’t think about the box. It’s not about peacetime and war, it’s a continuum. Let’s start with hybrids, escalate, then go back.
He insists that Germany must act fast.
“It’s all too little”
His current state gradual assessment of his army is being chimed along with a recent report to Congress. Bundeswehr concluded that “everything is too little.”
The report’s author, Army Chief Eva Hegle, revealed the miserable shortages ranging from ammunition to soldiers to aging barracks. She estimated the budget for the renovation alone to be around 67 billion euros ($72 billion, £56 billion).
The debt cap is lifted and the troops are not restricted – in theory, once it has access to a “stable line” of funds, it will begin to address it, says General Breuer.
The historic move was made in a hurry with several eyebrows raised by Scholz’s expected successor, Friedrich Merz. He presented the proposal to Congress just before it was dissolved after the election in February.
The new parliament, with anti-militaryists on the left and the far right surrounded by Russia, may not have been disposed of very favorably.
However, the “Turn” that Germany began in 2022 has gained new momentum this year.
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Germans now increasingly doubt both Russian and US presidents
A recent YouGov poll showed that 79% of Germans still consider Vladimir Putin “very” or “totally” dangerous to Europe’s peace and security.
Currently, 74% say the same thing about Donald Trump.
The investigation was based on Europe and its values, following his speech in Munich.
“It was a clear signal that something fundamentally changed in the US,” says Markus Ziener.
“I don’t know where the US is heading, but when it comes to our safety, I know the belief that we can rely 100% on America’s protection.
Leave history behind
In Berlin, traditional attention to all the military matters of the Germans appears to be fading quickly.
18-year-old Charlotte Cleft says her own pacifist views have changed.
“For a really long time, we thought the only way to make up for the atrocities we committed in World War II was to make sure it never happens again. […] And we thought we needed to blame,” explains Charlotte.
“But now we are in a situation where we have to fight for our values, our democracy and freedom. We need to adapt.”
“There are many Germans who still feel strange about our big investment in our military,” agrees Ludwig Stein. “But given what’s happened over the past few years, I don’t think there’s any other real option.”
Charlotte and Ludwig see the need to increase defensive spending in Germany
Young mom Sophie believes that investment in defense is “necessary in the world we live in.”
However, Germany needs an army just like tanks, and she is not very keen on her son enlisting.
“Are you ready for war?”
Bundeswehr has only one small unit sandwiched between a pharmacy and a shoe store next to the Friedrichstrasse station in Berlin.
There is a camouflage-covered dummy in the window, with slogans that look like “cool and spicy” aimed at attracting men and women, but only a handful of callers each day.
Germany has already missed its goal of increasing its 20,000 soldiers to 203,000 and lowering the average age from 34.
However, General Brewer’s ambitions are much greater.
He told us that Germany needed an extra 100,000 men to properly protect itself and the eastern flank of NATO. So he argues that returning to military service is “absolutely” necessary.
Germany drafted for all men until 2011
“Without one or other model of conscription, we would not get this 100,000,” the general said.
“We don’t need to decide which models will bring them now. For me, it’s important to have soldiers in.”
That discussion is just beginning.
General Breuer clearly places himself before his efforts to push the German “turn” faster.
In his simple and fascinating way, he likes to visit the local town hall and challenge the audience with the question, “Are you ready for war?”
One day, a woman accused him of scaring him. “I said, ‘I’m not scaring you, I’m another guy!” he remembers his reply.
He had mentioned Vladimir Putin.
The “morning” alarms of Russian threats and isolated US isolationist twins claim to be loud for Germany at present, and cannot be ignored.
“Now, each of us can understand what we need to change.”
