FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND German schoolchildren joined walkouts and protests against conscription on Friday, coinciding with Victory in Europe Day.

Protests took place in over 150 towns and cities with key demands being that Germany revoke the Military Service Modernisation Act and the associated return of conscription by stealth, and that the armed forces cease promotional and recruitment activities in schools.

The Act aims to increase the size of the German military from 180,000 to 260,000 soldiers, intending to make it the strongest conventional military in Europe.

It requires all men to register with the armed forces aged 18, and initially demanded any man aged 18-45 notify the military if they would be abroad for over three months, though this clause was repudiated by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius after a public backlash. Military service remains voluntary for now, but the Act says ministers may reconsider if the army doesn’t get enough recruits.

The school walkouts were the third of their kind in a growing school and student movement against conscription.

School Strike Against Conscription spokesman Hannes Kramer said: “Students across Germany have once again made it clear. The rich want war — the youth want a future.

“With this, we draw the conclusion from the second world war. ‘Never again war!’ today means ‘Never again conscription’!”

The largest walkouts were in Berlin, where 9,000 pupils left their classrooms. Marching past the Soviet war memorial at the Tiergarten, some chanted “Alerta, alerta, anti-fascista!”

Police arrested demonstrators in various cities, some for clashing with zionist and far-right counter-protesters, and one in Munich for unveiling a banner reading (German Chancellor Friedrich) “Merz, go die on the Eastern Front yourself!”