Demokratisierung der Bundeswehr als Schritt auf dem Weg zum Frieden. Anmerkungen zu den Zivilisierungsperspektiven einer autoritären Institution

The article analyzes the debate about the integration of the ‘German Armed Forces’ (’Bundeswehr’) into the democratic, pluralistic society as well as how democratic the Army’s inner structures can and should be. It starts with a brief description of the ‘Bundeswehr’s’ conception of so-called ‘Inner Leadership/ Innere Fuehrung’. That notion was delineated by the German General, peace researcher, and military philosopher Wolf Graf von Baudissin after World War II and stands for an entirely new and revolutionary design of the future German Armed Forces. Besides the well-known role model of the “citizen in uniform”, its three core elements comprise the prevalence of basic human rights within the military, the integration of the armed forces into the democratic, pluralistic society, and preservation of peace as the fundamental mission of the ‘Bundeswehr’. After briefly checking relevant MOD manuals, dipping into the political debate during the time of the so-called rearmament of Germany during the early Fifties of the last century, and depicting first instances of democratic methods, practices and processes within the German military of the Seventies, the treatise scrutinizes feasible options for the further democratization of the ‘Bundeswehr’. Those refer to freedom of speech as an absolutely essential, as well as curtailing the obligation to observe orders, democratizing the process of selecting military leaders, establishing a system of cooperative personnel management, and last not least enhancing opportunities for democratic participation within the armed forces in general.