Citizen Participation (II)

Resilience

The propaganda campaign to strengthen the German population's resilience to attacks by enemy combatants, recently proposed by the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS) [1] has historical predecessors. Gen. Erich Ludendorff, for example, who had been appointed in 1916 to the Supreme Command of the Empire's army, had considered the corrosion of the "German people's spiritual unity" to be the reason for Germany's WW I defeat. In 1935, Ludendorff argued that because the political leadership of the German Reich sat back and "passively" watched the "subversive activities" by socialist and Jewish "elements," a revolutionary development had been able to rob the "people and the army" of its "resilience."[2]

Spiritual Unity

For Ludendorff, the people's "spiritual unity" had formed the "basis" for waging a "total war," which "is not only a matter of the armed forces," but requires "the combined strength of the people." "Spiritual unity alone enables the population to repeatedly fill the beleaguered Wehrmacht with renewed spiritual energy, to work for the Wehrmacht and in the hardships of war, even under enemy combat, continue to relish victory and take pleasure in resisting." Like the war, politics must also assume a "total character," the General declared. "Since war puts the utmost strain on people to survive, ... total politics ... must prepare, already in peacetime, for the people's struggle for survival in war and consolidate the basis for this struggle for survival in such a way that it cannot be shifted, crumbled or completely destroyed by enemy activities under the grave conditions of war."[3] In this context, military policy think tanks, such as BAKS, speak of "building resilience." Official documents, such as the "White Paper on Security Policy and Future of the Bundeswehr," published in 2016, underline the importance of engaging "everyone" in the organization of the "overall defense."[4]

Propaganda

In order to "weld the people, the military and the political leadership" into a "powerful unity," Ludendorff, at the time, - like BAKS, today - recommended a propaganda campaign, using the mass media; "total warfare and total politics ... must not only prevent threats to the people's unity. They also must preserve this unity with all means at their disposal, for example in the press, radio, films and all other available publications." In addition, in reference to future wars, the general called for dispensing with formal declarations of war: "The point of view that a war must begin with a formal war declaration is mistaken. ... People have no sympathy toward wars of aggression, but for struggles for survival. In a declaration of war, they easily recognize the will for aggression. They do not feel threatened, and the soul of the people cannot be awakened."[5] Beginning with the aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999 and the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the German heads of state had not issued declarations of war; even the term "war" is carefully avoided in official statements. In the context of the current warnings of a pervasive "terrorist threat," the image of the enemy is being depicted, as generally striking at our "freedom-loving way of life."

Supply Services

In order to make the German society resistance and combat ready, alongside propaganda measures, Ludendorff calls also for economic measures. He considers supplying the population and the military with daily necessities should have top priority: "It goes without saying that the supply of the people and the army with food, feed, and fuel ... is of top priority. People must first of all live and stay alive to be able to work and fight."[6] His proposals included storing raw materials, clothing, and fuel, as well as the warehousing of grain and feed and the rationing of food. The same proposals can be found in official government documents of the Federal Republic of Germany. The "Civil Defense Concept" formulated by the German Ministry of the Interior in 2016, describes the "defense and mastery of deficiencies and shortages in supply services" as "strategic objectives of defense."[7]

Service Obligations

The same holds true for Ludendorff's proposal to introduce a "general service obligation for both men and women" - albeit, during World War I, the general had only been able to have this service obligation applied to males.[8] The Ministry of the Interior evidently considers the constitutional "work obligations" for men in times of war, to be insufficient. The "Civil Defense Concept" addresses this point as follows: "In accordance with Art. 12, Para. 4 of the (German) Constitution - women, unlike men, may only be obligated to work duty in civilian first aid and medical, as well as within stationary local military medics facilities. It should be examined whether these regulations still meet contemporary requirements." It is also to be investigated "whether a corresponding legal precaution should not be taken, even for certain crisis situations outside a conflict or defense situation."[9]

Conceptual Continuity

German historians consider Ludendorff - because of his anti-Semitism and his militarist views, as well as his support for chauvinist movements in the 1920s - as one of the trailblazers for the Nazi regime. He is said to be at the origin of, what historians have long-since disproved, the "Stab-in-the-Back" myth - contending that in World War I, the German army "remained undefeated on the battlefield," but were forced to retreat in November 1918 by the revolutionaries "on the home front." However, in spite of these facts, the political-military leadership of the Federal Republic of Germany has, to a large extent, continued to adhere to the ideas formulated by the imperial general for waging "total war."

[1] See Citizen Participation (I).
[2], [3] Erich Ludendorff: Der totale Krieg. München 1935.
[4] Bundesministerium der Verteidigung (Hg.): Weißbuch 2016 zur Sicherheitspolitik und zur Zukunft der Bundeswehr. Berlin 2016.
[5], [6] Erich Ludendorff: Der totale Krieg. München 1935.
[7] Bundesministerium des Innern: Konzeption Zivile Verteidigung (KZV). Berlin 24.08.2016.
[8] Erich Ludendorff: Der totale Krieg. München 1935.
[9] Bundesministerium des Innern: Konzeption Zivile Verteidigung (KZV). Berlin 24.08.2016.