Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: The thesis assesses the current debate in the Federal Republic of Germany over the future of military conscription. Included is a discussion of the early nineteenth-century origins of conscription and a focus on the evolution of compulsory military service in ... read moreGermany both as a military and social issue after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. Emphasis is placed on not only the evolving needs of the Bundeswehr during and since the end of the Cold War but also the question of defense equity (Wehrgerechtigkeit) based on conscription. The thesis contains a detailed survey of the debate within and between the political parties about whether to continue conscription or to establish an alternative basis for military recruitment.read less
