The German Communist Party (DKP) and Socialist German Workers’ Youth (SDAJ) have thrown their support behind the latest nationwide school strikes against conscription and militarization in Germany. Ahead of the September 25 mobilizations, the DKP declared: “We stand alongside the young people who resist conscription, militarization and Bundeswehr recruitment in schools”. It called for investment in education and social security instead of military expansion.
The protests targeted steps toward the possible reintroduction of compulsory military service, mandatory medical examinations and other forms of compulsory service. According to the DKP newspaper Unsere Zeit, the movement is demanding the withdrawal of the new military-service legislation and an immediate halt to the examinations, under the slogan “No to conscription, civilian service and war".
The SDAJ, an active participant in the school-strike movement, has called for the mobilizations to develop into a broader anti-militarist youth movement, linking opposition to conscription with resistance to rearmament and cuts in education and social services: “The rich want war — we, the youth, want a future!”.
The SDAJ, an active participant in the school-strike movement, has called for the mobilizations to develop into a broader anti-militarist youth movement, linking opposition to conscription with resistance to rearmament and cuts in education and social services: “The rich want war — we, the youth, want a future!”.