The first conscripts are drafted

The catastrophic defeat in the Second World War turned many Germans into pacifists, and a large peace movement opposed the rearmament of West Germany during the Cold War. After joining NATO in 1955 and deciding to establish an army, the West German government passed legislation in 1956 to re-introduce compulsory military service.

The first conscripts were drafted on 21 January 1957, and some 10,000 soldiers moved into their barracks in the April of that year. From around 1970, the new Bundeswehr reached a total strength of just under 500,000 men and maintained these levels until shortly after the end of the Cold War.

One of the founding members of the Warsaw Pact in 1955, East Germany initially preferred to avoid conscription and the National People’s Army was raised as a volunteer force. Only when the government decided to expand its armed forces was conscription introduced in 1962.