Swedish Army solider role players participate in evacuation control center training during exercise Aurora 26 in Visby, Sweden, May 9, 2026. U.S. Marines and Sailors with 2nd MLG are participating in exercise Aurora as part of the larger U.S. Army-led Sword 26 series of linked multinational exercises, which directly supports NATO’s Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative concept, validates defense plans, builds a unified lethal force, and strengthens deterrence. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Brady V. Hathaway)

A new Lund University thesis examines how Germany’s new military service policy was shaped by Swedish inspiration but adapted to domestic political and constitutional constraints (such as the male only obligation)

The research shows that already during the SPD term, the then (and current) defence minister Pistorius:

“reportedly tasked the Ministry with drafting various options, and specified Sweden as a potential role model. In March
25 2024, Pistorius went on a trip to Scandinavia. He visited Sweden, Norway, and Finland and met with his respective counterparts. During this trip, Pistorius expressed his preference for the Swedish model for the first time . Subsequently, the regular departments within the ministry began developing an initial concept for a new military service.”

The research also shows that the inspiration for Germany comes from the entire Nordic example.

“In the context of the trip to Scandinavia, Pistorius made clear that he sees Germany and the Nordic countries in a similar security situation but better equipped. Germany, however, is “far away” from a reactivation of conscription. He connected the observation that it is “impressive” how conscripts in Norway take responsibility for the defense of their country to the necessity of discussing conscription in Germany, since society as a whole needs to take responsibility for defense. In Finland, he formulated that some Germans would need to leave their “comfort zone” as defense is a duty for every man and woman””

Still Sweden was the primary inspiration:

“During his visit to Sweden, Pistorius stated that his ministry is considering taking a step that “Sweden already took”. Sweden had made its conscription dormant in 2010, and “a year later Germany followed along” Pistorius also identified that the current state of the constitution article only obligates men to participate in any form of conscription. In his statement in Sweden, he commented that reactivating the article only for men is “hardly imaginable” in today’s times.”

The female aspect is quite interesting given that in Germany, the current push is only regarding men, and there are constitutional changes that would be required. In the thesis Cedric Dorrer also took on mapping out the interactions themselves:

“the trip to the three Scandinavian countries enabled interaction at different levels. In addition to talks with the three Ministers of Defense, he interacted with conscripts, visited facilities where Swedish conscripts are examined before selection, and received detailed information about the Swedish model. The project group tasked with developing the policy did not have direct
interactions with Sweden, but drew on aspects that the Minister had encountered during his visit to Sweden.”

Overall, this is an interesting paper, proving beyond any doubt my own thesis from our report, the Nordic Conscription Myth, that Finland, Sweden, and Norway’s “total defence” model is driving the new conscription push throughout Europe. Thus, debunking the fairytale of its excellent functioning in the Nordics might be the only way to halt its spread to the rest of the countries in Europe.

One can read the entire thesis, through the following link.

Dorrer, Cedric Ferdinand. Swedish Inspiration, German Design: Policy Travel and Military Service Reform in Germany. Master’s thesis, Department of Political Science, Lund University, 2026. https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9226804.