logoalt Hacker News

flohofwoelast Sunday at 12:57 PM0 repliesview on HN

Both Germanies had a conscription army and mandatory military service during the entire Cold War period, and that didn't lead to a 'militarized society'.

And even with the new voluntary service the armed forces will be much smaller than the army of just West-Germany alone during the cold war (which was about 0.5 million).

It's time to wake up to the fact that the Cold War actually never ended.