tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post8136693198305212286..comments2024-03-27T20:37:08.065+01:00Comments on Defence and Freedom: Thoughts on future ground and air forces in the EUUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-34291580989708155622019-01-05T17:41:59.169+01:002019-01-05T17:41:59.169+01:00There were no Reichswehr coup d'état attempts ...There were no Reichswehr coup d'état attempts during the Weimar Republic.<br />The later critique was all about its selective availability; the Reichswehr was available to fight leftist uprisings, and unavailable to fight right wing uprisings.<br /><br />The Bundeswehr has been meant to be a serious force from the start, albeit it was clearly created as the price to pay for Western integration.<br />The seriousness only slipped away in the early 90's, for want of threats.S Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-59969131770964623892019-01-05T02:00:42.823+01:002019-01-05T02:00:42.823+01:00It is fundamentally wrong to compare the Bundesweh...It is fundamentally wrong to compare the Bundeswehr with the armies of some other European nations like the UK, France or even Finland.<br />The Bundeswehr is not meant to fight in a real war. It was not during the Cold war, when it was just a large-scale trigger; and it has been even less so since German reunification.<br />When participating in joint international operations, be it under UN, EU or NATO and especially NATO/ISAF, the German military have struck their partners by the low preparedness, insufficient levels of proficiency and training, incredibly low teeth-to-tail ratios, stringent and inflexible regulations, numerous caveats that cast into iron a clear aversion for risk and losses, and, frankly, modest courage and commitment. Planning joint deployment with soldiers who are obsessed by avoiding fighting and staying on a large airport from where they may leave on a whim is quite frustrating.<br />What the Bundeswehr is meant for is staying in their barracks, purchasing equipment from the German (or American) defence industry, storing it and maintaining it for years, scraping it and starting the process all over again.<br />Having in mind the past of German armed forces as a political force, including their putsch attempts during the Weimar republic and active and large-scale participation in IIIrd Reich crimes, giving them this deliberately limited assignment was quite appropriate on the part of post-war democratic Western Germany. But the consequence has been a toothless and ineffective army. Which of those two evils is more acceptable in the current era is open to debate. Taking into consideration how much nearly each and every European nation has suffered from German militarism in the past, the answer is not nearly as much in favour of a stronger German army as one might expect.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com