After Russian invasion, Germany making moves to give its struggling military teeth

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine has forced Europe's largest economy to take extraordinary measures to correct its significant and longstanding military shortcomings.
On the day of the invasion, Lt. Gen. Alfons Mais, the chief of staff of the German army, publicly lamented the state of the German military, writing in a LinkedIn post that "the army which I have the honour to command, is standing there more or less empty-handed."

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The dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, NATO's eastward expansion, and American unipolarity created a sense of security in the German political and military establishment.

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In 2011, Chancellor Angela Merkel responded to the European debt crisis with reforms to the country's military in an effort to keep inflation low and ensure GDP surpluses. These included the reduction of troops and bases and the suspension of conscription. Spending was also kept at very low levels

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In 2018, German jets were unable to join NATO exercises because of technological deficiencies resulting from a lack of necessary updates, prompting the air force's chief of staff to say the force was "at a low point." In the same year, none of Germany's six submarines were ready for combat.In 2019, the problem became so dire that the military's readiness report was kept classified for the first time due to security concerns.
In 2020 the German military had only 184,000 troops — down from nearly a half-million in 1990 — and it has dealt with recruiting challenges and rising far-right extremism in the ranks.

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The war in Ukraine appears to have prompted action that years of warnings didn't.

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During an extraordinary session of the German parliament on February 27, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany will create a one-off special fund of 100 billion euros to support its military in 2022.From now on, year-on-year more than 2% of our GDP will be invested in defense," Scholtz said, drawing applause from lawmakers.

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The issue at the heart of this is whether power is allowed to prevail over the law," Scholz said, "or whether we have it in us to keep warmongers like Putin in check. That requires strength of our own."

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