The Weight of History: Germany’s Military and Domestic Security

Abstract

In order to arrive at a correct understanding of the German attitude towards homeland security, homeland defense, or military involvement in domestic operations, it is important to know that Germans think of their Bundeswehr as an institution designed for nothing else but to guarantee homeland defense and security. The defense of the German homeland has always been the main task of the German armed forces. And, through most of Germany’s history, providing homeland security and defense has taken place as a domestic operation. Situated at the center of Europe and being nearly completely surrounded by potential enemies, there were always only two options for Germany in conducting this defense of its soil: to make it happen either inside or outside of the homeland. For centuries, Germany was prepared to use its terrain as the battlefield for homeland defense. This became especially true during the Cold War, when German territory was accepted as the theatre for the main ground conflict of a potential Third World War. It was also accepted that Germany was very likely to be affected by nuclear weapons in the event that World War III erupted. During the forty-five years of the Cold War, Germany got used to the idea of limiting its defensive actions to its own territory. There were never official plans in place to cross borders and take steps for the defense of the homeland outside Germany’s borders, as in former days. This understanding of homeland defense is still valid for most Germans. However, the fact that traditional military forces no longer threaten German territory has not yet supplanted the old understanding of homeland defense—not even among soldiers. In addition, the majority of the German population does not identify the new threat from international terrorism as a potential military threat. So the mental and legal framework for the military activities of the German armed forces on domestic soil is still founded on the two old basic notions: the presence or the absence of a conventional military threat, and an attack on German territory. Thus there is a clear distinction between the two legal states of war or peace in Germany, states that are determined by the German Parliament. The legal framework that is in place to meet the requirements of these two basic situations still appears valid to most Germans. German society will probably stick to this simple black-and-white picture as long as there is not a huge failure resulting from this approach.