Closing ranks in Germany
As global power struggles escalate, leaders in German politics and business are calling on employers to help build the country’s military capabilities.
BERLIN (own report) – The German government is pushing for a closer partnership with the private sector to expand the country’s military reserve. As Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at an event organised by the Federation of German Industries (BDI), employers “must and should” enable their employees to serve as reservists – even if this creates some difficulties for their companies. The German Armed Forces have, for years, been systematically establishing “reservist partnerships” with German companies. In the context of what is openly referred to as “preparations for a possible war against Russia”, Berlin is looking to reservists primarily for “homeland security” tasks. The idea is that, in the event of war, the full-time professional soldiers would mainly be deployed to the eastern front. The Bundeswehr has already begun integrating reservists into its large-scale manoeuvres. Lots of businesses in Germany have signed cooperation agreements with the army in the sphere of homeland security. They include big corporations like Lufthansa and Amazon, but also small and medium-sized enterprises. The Federal Employment Agency (BA), responsible for benefits and job placements etc., is a key player in the scheme. Looking far beyond arrangements to simplify staff releases for reservist service, the BDI industrialists are now calling for close cooperation between state and industry in the arms sector.
Appeal to industry
At the end of June, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on ‘Industry Day’ – at an ‘international future conference’ organised by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) – that the German government would be “tasking” German entrepreneurs with all kinds of supporting roles. In particular, said Merz, German companies can contribute to the country’s rearmament policy. As part of preparations for a possible war with Russia, Berlin is keen to build up an extensive military reserve army. Its members include former trained soldiers as well as those who have not previously served but have undergone basic military training as volunteers. Working in the private sector in peacetime, they are only called up for operational army service when needed. Merz’s appeal to employers was that they “must and should” be prepared to release reservists in their workforce “for a week or two” for exercises in the armed forces. The “scope for growing the armed forces” cannot be realised “without your support”. In return, the Chancellor promised tax cuts and less red tape. The government covers, of course, salary costs for the duration of military exercises.[1]
Homeland Security forces
Reservists were already involved in last year’s ‘Quadriga 2024’ manoeuvre. Military circles regard that exercise as the first major test run of ‘Operationsplan Deutschland’, a so-called “whole-of-society task”. It involved nationwide exercise of Homeland Security forces.[2] As part of the war exercise, reservists were tasked with facilitating the eastward deployment of NATO troops. Forces from North America and Western Europe would be moved through Germany to Eastern Europe. According to Bundeswehr information, the majority of regular troops would be sent to the eastern front in the event of war, and primarily the reservists would serve in Germany as homeland security forces, supported by only a small number of professionals. However, in order to facilitate an “immediate personnel surge, operational readiness and endurance”, the Bundeswehr should be reinforced not only in Germany by the army reserve but also “across the entire spectrum of roles”, according to Defence Policy Guidelines, a key statement of security policy.[3]
Civil-military linkage
As Chancellor Merz explained on ‘Industry Day’, the “critical problem” with building up the armed forces is not financial resources but the lack of “qualified personnel”. Creating a large reserve force is designed to provide a twofold remedy. On the one hand, it relieves the problem of personnel shortages in the regular armed forces while, on the other, providing a network across the private sector from which the Bundeswehr hopes to pull in new soldiers with useful skills. Homeland security was “not just a task for the Bundeswehr” but “for the whole of society”, reaffirmed former Federal President Joachim Gauck in March at the mustering ceremony to mark the formation of the new Homeland Security Division. Being anchored in both the army and the civilian economy, the reservists of Homeland Security were, he proclaimed, the “link between military protection and civilian resistance”.[4]
Partner of the Reserve
The Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) and the Reservist Association of Deutsche Bundeswehr (VdRBw) have, since 2016, been awarding a ‘Partner of the Reserve’ employer prize to companies that help to build the reserve. This mainly concerns recruiting and releasing staff for homeland security service. Recent winners include Amazon and Airbus as well as several medium-sized companies along with the industry association representing small and medium-sized enterprises.[5] Other civil society organisations include the association of medical doctors for the state of Hesse, which became an official partner of the Bundeswehr last year,[6] and the Wiesbaden Employment Agency, which joined last April. The Federal Defence Ministry and the Federal Employment Agency already signed a “framework agreement on strengthening military recruitment” in November 2024.[7] The Lufthansa Group has been a partner of the reserve since the beginning of June. Lufthansa’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Michael Niggemann, stressed that it was “particularly important to him and his colleagues to raise awareness among their employees of the importance of homeland security.”[8] Exactly how many companies have already signed up to such cooperation agreements with the Bundeswehr is not in the public domain. The Bundeswehr regards the reservists as an enrichment, not least because they are a source of diverse professional expertise.
Comprehensive defence
The cooperation between politics and business goes further than partnering for the reserve forces. The BDI uses the slogan “comprehensive defence”. Speaking at the ‘Industry Day’ event, the association’s president, Peter Leibinger, says, “We supply the hardware and the software for Europe’s defence capability, from armour steel to chip design.” However, it is not, he argues, “just a question of running factories at full capacity but wanting to assume an active and creative role in rebuilding the Bundeswehr.” Leibinger called on German industrialists to put the success of European cooperation on rearmament above an insistence on “individual maximum profit” if necessary.[9] In June, the BDI published a position paper calling on the federal government to develop “a coherent concept for an effective civil-military defence system.” In view of global “geopolitical and economic upheavals”, the capabilities of the entire industrial ecosystem” of the Federal Republic should be “utilised more effectively”. The aim is to ensure the “permanently high operational readiness” of the Bundeswehr without delay. The BDI calls on the German state to “work closely with industry and civil society” in its militarisation efforts. “Building up “military strength alone [!]” is not enough. Security policy and industrial policy must be consistently combined through joined-up thinking, urges the BDI:[10] Germany needs a “social consensus” against “internal and external threats”. The separation of war and peace is “outdated”.[11]
[1] Schnelle Entscheidungen für eine starke Industrie. bundesregierung.de 23.06.2025.
[2] See: Ein halbes Jahr Aufmarschmanöver.
[3] Verteidigungspolitische Richtlinien 2023. Bonn, November 2023. See: “Warfighting Capability” as Guiding Principle for Action.
[4] Festrede zum Appell der Heimatschutzdivision. joachim-gauck.de 14.03.2025.
[5] Preisverleihung „Partner der Reserve“. bmvg.de 10.09.2024.
[6] Partnerschaft für den Heimatschutz. laekh.de 22.05.2024.
[7] BMVg und Bundesagentur für Arbeit: Gemeinsam für eine starke Bundeswehr. bmvg.de 06.11.2024.
[8] Die Bundeswehr und die Lufthansa Group vereinbaren Partnerschaft beim Heimatschutz. lufthansagroup.com 04.06.2025.
[9] BDI-Präsident Peter Leibinger: „Neue Zeiten – neue Haltung“. bdi.eu 23.06.2025.
[10] Gesamtverteidigung stärken. bdi.eu 23.06.2025.
[11] Gemeinsam sicher. bdi.eu 12.03.2025.
