Currently, 14% of pupils (of any gender) in Germany are not eligible for military service because they are not citizens. Conscription (which was never formally

Currently, 14% of pupils (of any gender) in Germany are not eligible for military service because they are not citizens. Conscription (which was never formally abolished) does not extend to females. Based on what others have told me about their basic training, it used to teach a view of masculinity that bordered on the reactionary even back then, and would be unacceptable to broader society today. (I don't know much about replacement service, mine was an underpaid office job.) Therefore, I think we'd need changes that make conscription unrecognizable before we can say that it somehow promotes societal cohesion and inclusiveness. Regarding self-selection and career prospects: We went to a military fair on a school trip in the 90s. There was an enlistment pitch, too, and even then (conscription had not yet been paused), they seemed to target those who didn't know what they wanted to do with their lives. (Everyone in my class was technically headed for tertiary education eligibility, so unemployment was a far-away concern.)