The German Review

The German Review

Germany’s armed forces: readiness, rearmament and reality

Jan 08, 2026
∙ Paid
a large air plane flying through a cloudy sky
Photo by Julian Zwengel on Unsplash

For decades, Germany treated its armed forces as a political afterthought. The Bundeswehr existed largely as a symbolic commitment to alliances rather than as a force designed to fight and win wars. Equipment was cannibalised, ammunition stocks run down, training curtailed and procurement paralysed by process.

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