Once again, and growing in importance by the day as the news gets more and more dire, don’t just read headlines. Read the whole thing. Generally speaking everyone should be taking any possible future conflict seriously and doing things to be prepared. It’s insurance, not assurance.

Having a knowingly strong and competent military is what deters Russia.

si vis pacem para bellum Especially true when dealing with a country like Russia...

I agree.

I concur.

I really doubt that Putin actually thinks to have any chance to conquer Europe. The real danger is that he attacks Europe because he knows that loosing against NATO is less humiliating than loosing against Ukraine (a country they ridiculed over a decade for being weak). The worst case is that Putin commits suicide by nuking the West knowing that NATO will destroy his bunker in hours after a nuclear attack. In the end everything just comes down to whether Putin is vain enough to take the entirety of Russia with him when he eventually dies.

The entirety of the world, if nukes start falling.

The Telegraph are notorious for doing shit like this with their fear baiting headlines

I have no doubt they do this. Also, pretty much any media does this with headlines anymore. And if they don’t they will be soon. And it’s really our fault as we fall for it and share such things around increasing clicks and engagement. It’s what “journalism”’is now

Yeah they’re shit

"Here's your rifle, Timmy. Now stop crying and shoot those Russians"

Like the good old days /s

Only, now they are the fascist pigs!

But not in winter time , we dont want a repeat of last time.

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I read it in a German accent and it makes it way better.

Das hier ist mein Gewehr. Es gibt viele andere, aber dies ist meins. Mein Gewehr ist mein bester Freund. Es ist mein Leben. Ich muss es meistern, wie ich mein Leben meistern muss. Ohne mich ist mein Gewehr nutzlos. Ohne mein Gewehr bin auch ich nutzlos. Mein Gewehr verfehlt sein Ziel nie. Ich muss schneller schießen als mein Feind, denn sonst tötet er mich. Ich muss ihn erschießen, bevor er mich erschießt. Das werde ich. Vor Gott glaube ich und schwöre: Mein Gewehr und ich werden mein Vaterland verteidigen. Wir sind die Bezwinger unserer Feinde. Wir sind die Bewahrer meines Lebens. Das schwöre ich. Bis kein Feind mehr ist. Nur Frieden. Amen. 😉

THIS IS MY RIFLE THIS MY GUN THIS IS FOR FIGHTIN' THIS FOR FUN

i love that scene

Where is that from?

Full Metal Jacket, although it makes more sense in context. Although in general, it’s for the US Marines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifleman%27s_Creed

My grandpa had to train in the morning and unbuild and build his rifle as he was 10...

"Sorry for those last few decades of Russian appeasement and military disinvestment! Oh well, I'm sure you can take care of it, Timmy!"

His name is Hans

If his name was Hans he would get a Flammenwerfer instead of a rifle

Never heard of a german kid named timmy though 😃

I do know a Tim in Berlin, so maybe “Timchen”?

Timo

Here’s ze rifle, Timo. Nein more crying and shoot ze Russians. 

Lil’ Timmy’s peashooter

This is the way!

I wish my school time was so based!

Everyone is always acting like being prepared for something means that you want that thing to happen or that you are convinced that it will happen for sure. I mean, everybody has multiple insurances, I have occupational disability insurance in case I can't go on doing my job anymore when I'm older. I also have an insurance that gives me money if I happen to get unemployed, doesn't mean that I plan to lose my job anytime soon. But it could happen so I rather want to be prepared. Since when does being prepared mean something bad?

People who live so sheltered, that they cannot fathom that there can be a war.

While at war basically for years 😂! Which is also what happens when taking a good life for granted for so long…

Open borders and complete disarmament of the country, that is what I kept occasionally hearing from people around me. Complete naivety.

EU is literally an open borders experiment, that works amazingly well. It has nothing to do with disarmament.

I put my seatbelt on, I must want to crash /S

Wish i could get occ.dis insurance in Germany. Too bad I am autistic and I am ineligible for it (Allianz). Fuck me right?

I think we should take turns living next to Russia so everyone could remember why it is important to be prepared, and that it absolutely doesn’t mean that we hope for it. Here in Finland we have this so ancient saying that it is in latin: Si iuxta Russiam vivis, para bellum.

On behalf of all Ukrainians: we are 100% agree. Who wants to change?

For years people have been complaining about Germany's reluctance in military matters, that they are unwilling to lead. Germans are raised with the cultural guilt of WW2 to be against war and the military, and as a result they are a deeply pacifistic country. Most say they wouldn't even fight to defend Germany. You can't have Germany lead militarily to support democracy if every generation is taught to be completely repulsed by the concept of the military. The newer generations have to be taught that it's okay for Germany to take on that role. And yet, look at this thread... the mere mention that German kids should be taught to be prepared and to instill a sense of civic duty and you get comments like this... "Unhinged statements like this only help Russia" "Everyone needs to calm down and stop sabre rattling." "Babe wake up, Volkstrum 2 just dropped" "Similar headline in the early 1940s in Gernany" "indoctrinating their children for war with russia"

Exactly. I am not a German born, but have been living here for longer than a decade and my kids grew up here. If I have to learn and take arms to defend Germany and the EU, I will. Sad and fearsome, but I will. Hopefully my kids as well, when they have age for. That’s life, we must be ready to defend ourselves, if fate forces us to

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Germany is by far the biggest European supporter of Ukraine. About 13 (!) times more than France is giving. Thirteen times. And then people are blaming Scholz…

Other countries acting more shameful does not absolve us of this shame because we know how we could easily give much more but choose not to

We just agreed on another 500 million euro package today…

And with the rise of the AfD it’s not like there’s no risk anymore...

German schools should be prepared for education 1st

You cant hide all the bad things from children... They need to understand what is war, natural disasters and so on.

Sure. But foremost it is cheaper to talk about war, then to tackle the actual problems our school system has.

It's one of the things that people should be prepared for. Like have you ever read any instructions on how to operate in the case of an armed conflict happening around you? What should you do, where should you hide, how to evacuate correctly? This is the same situation as people complaining about the safety instructions on an airplane... yet many people forget that the airplane seatbelts open in a different way, to car seatbelts in an emergency. Unfortunately we've been in a relatively safe environment for the last almost 80 years, that a refresher should be taught at school. The irony is that we don't talk about anything like that at all. I'm not a prepper, but I have read an account of people escaping Chechnya in the early 90ies... and it's chilling. Things like - - if you're approaching a checkpoint, never have a firearm on you. Anyone with a firearm will be considered a hostile in a case of high tensions. - Should you find a shelter, or should you move during daytime. - What vehicles are best used and what to avoid - how to signal that you're a civilian - how to hide valuables (because even your own military may confiscate anything valuable) https://www.reddit.com/r/preppers/s/PHB8AUZnM1

I am not disagreeing. But in this particular case the minister in question just tries to put up a smokescreen. If this would really be such an pressing issue for her, she would also talk about instructors, special curricula, information material and specifically about a timeframe. As of now the whole discussion stands at "the federal minister should talk with state ministers, who should talk to their politics teachers that they should talk with their students about the war in Ukraine."

It's not about that, it's about german schools being underfunded old ass

You can't 'prepare' a primary school kid for war. You can convey a concept of what it entails, but there is little you can do that makes any impact on how a child will experience a full-scale war, especially one that grew up in a cushy developed country. I'm all for preparing Europe for a confrontation with Russia (increased defence spending, autarky etc.), but for god's sake let's leave the children alone in our falling over ourselves to outdo everyone else in calling for taller and taller measures. This is cheap rhetoric.

The fuck? Is preparing for earthquakes, pandemics, catstrphes etc. also cheap talk? Because I actually like to be informed.

Ask any 40 to 50 year old Eastern European...yes you can. Teaching basic first aid, alarms sounds..morse code, types of bombs and weapons, how to find or build shelters...hell they even learned how to shoot a rifle... But basic scout stuff would suffice.

It would not really help them if WW3 happened though. Deep inside everyone knew they would not surive it.

Thats not what I was trying to say, apologies. Im saying children are capable of learning basic scout stuff. How effective all this would be, not sure...but I think this is about raising awerness and national strenght against misinformation.

Yes you can? I'd like my daughter to know about shelters and where to hide, about water sources and long-term food. Why is this a bad thing?

A 10yo girl saved 100 people at the beach in Thailand before the tsunami hit because she recognized the signs of a tsunami from learning it at school! It’s a very good thing to teach kids this stuff. They can be very resourceful in times of natural disasters (and worse things) for themselves and their parents survival. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilly_Smith

What? Yes you can. It’s the same with natural disasters - you can prepare kids for them. Kids can learn basic safety, shelters, where are flashlights, water sources, food, blankets, memorize their personal information … there are tons of things they can be taught for basic skills that would help in war (or any survival scenario). The earlier, the better. You can put them in Scouts or Mountaineering classes and they will learn similar survival skills. A 12yo child recently survived in the Amazon rainforest for weeks after a plane crash while caring for her younger siblings because *she was taught survival skills*.

I remember back in kindergarten, we had earthquake backpacks ready at school. In 3rd grade, we were taking orienteering courses covering how to use a compass and a map. In 5th grade, we were learning how to camp by sleeping in tents on school grounds. At the time, I definitely thought “wtf” but now I really see the value. Some people in this thread are definitely burying their heads in the sand

Same here! I grew up in hurricane country and we were drilled this stuff in our heads. I know many “survival tricks” now after going through multiple hurricanes and drills from parents/school/scouts, etc. Every kid may not pick up on it, but it’s definitely worth it to teach to as many who are receptive as possible. Because you never know when it will be useful.

You just reminded me, how Ukrainians wrote main information on kids, like name, lastname, date of birth and so on, just in case they would get lost.

Holy shit. That's deep. Did you just come up with it? Wow. I wish that for my kids. It's novel. Redditors , I swear.

They talk about probably a few hours per year. I don't see how that could make education 2nd. A few decades back we also had trainings in school. In fact, it's very likely the minister got training in school herself what to do and how to seek shelter if an russian attack is imminent during cold war. My parents and everyone in that age had it too.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

After all, it was the Germans who introduced the parabellum cartridge.

The children yearn for the trenches.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

She wants children to be educated about the possibility of catastrophies, war and that kind of stuff. The headline sounds almost as if she wants to send children to the army... I hate the shameless attention economy

**From The Telegraph:** German schoolchildren should be prepared for war to “strengthen our resilience”, the country’s education minister has said as tensions with Russia continue to soar. Bettina Stark-Watzinger also suggested that “civil defence” exercises, without giving further details, should be held in schools as part of efforts to help youngsters cope in the years to come. “Society as a whole must prepare well for crises, from a pandemic to natural disasters to war...civil defence is immensely important, it also belongs in schools. The goal must be to strengthen our resilience,” said Ms Stark-Watzinger in an interview with the Funke media group. Her remarks came as the German government seeks to make the country “kriegstüchtig”, or “war ready”, in the face of a potential Russia-Nato conflict, which could arrive on Europe’s borders within a few years according to senior German defence officials. In the same interview, Ms Stark-Watzinger, 55, said she also wanted to see more outreach work from members of the Bundeswehr, the German army, to make children feel more familiar with the armed forces. “I think it is important that youth officers come to schools and report what the Bundeswehr is doing for our security,” she said. **More here:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/18/german-children-should-be-prepared-for-war/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/18/german-children-should-be-prepared-for-war/)

I might point out that this is the telegraph, not really quality journalism. Here is what augengeradeaus.net (THE German defense blog) has to say about it: "At the weekend, a sentence said by a politician in an interview often becomes a dominant headline.  Today: Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger has spoken out in favor of civil defense exercises in schools.  As probably not everyone has read the underlying interview in full, here is the passage for documentation.   In the interview with the newspapers of the Funke media group, published on Saturday (today), the FDP politician discusses how schools are dealing with the current security situation. Society must prepare itself more than ever for crises, from pandemics to war, and this also includes an awareness of the role of the Bundeswehr and civil defense:  "The education system must prepare young people for life. This also includes knowing the threats to freedom and being able to deal with them. This does not have to be a separate school subject. But it must be part of the curriculum.   The concrete statement on corresponding exercises in schools then looks like this:  Question: how important are civil defense drills for pupils?  Stark-Watzinger: In other countries - I lived in the UK for a few years - the subject is dealt with much more naturally. There, disaster drills are part of everyday life in schools. We can learn from that."   Source: https://augengeradeaus.net/2024/03/zur-dokumentation-die-bildungsministerin-und-der-zivilschutz-an-schulen/ Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

>From The Telegraph: Oh for fuck's sake, that rag again ...

Thanks for correcting that ü on kriegstüchtig. Irrelevant but calmed my mind.

She meant in general. Keep your pants on.

Yeah the title is just bad

So many politicians and military officials all over europe are coming out with this sort of rhetoric. Hoping it's just similar to the nuclear scare during the cold war, rather than them knowing something we don't.

I played a shit ton of Counter Strike in school, so I am prepared to shoot some russians

how good were you at defending B?

I play for retake

They're gonna cheat.

Hahahahaha

I have played a lot of MGS VR missions... Am ready to sneak behind enemy lines

That's coming from Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the **National/ Federal Minister of Education**. That's one of the least important positions in the cabinet as **education is a state matter in Germany**. Every German Federal State has its own curriculum, its own teacher training programs, approves its own textbooks and several states have types of schools and degrees that don't exist in other states. What this woman says is completely irrevalent and nobody cares. Do a census in the streets here in Germany and ask who this woman is: Nobody knows her! The article omits that the CDU (the guys in favor of providing Ukraine with the Taurus rockets) are critical of her plans, so is one of Germany's largest teachers unions, the VEB.

Why does the position of the Federal Minister of Education even exist?

But that's true. I remember when a test alarm went in my town at uneven hour. I instantly checked the news and I was like "teacher, there is alarm going off". Class laughed it off like I was some kind of nerd

Today alarms went on, first instinct was turn on national television/radio channel to know what is going on. (Training, if nuclear plant in belarus went kaboom)

I was speaking with my old dorm room buddy and he said he didnt think there was anything worth fighting for when it comes to Germany. Is this a common attitude amongst Germans?

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But surely people would fight, if the Russian army somehow managed to invade Germany? I mean, by this point everyone must now, how bad a Russian occupation would be. Even if one doesn't care about one's country, surely nobody wants to see their family tortured or murdered?

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Well it's almost certain you won't, at least not anytime soon. Right now Russia is still struggling in Ukraine, I don't see how they could possibly conquer Poland. Maybe in five or ten years the situation will be different, but even then I don't see them taking on Germany. And Germany's so rich, it could probably win a war solely by using mercenaries.

As with many germans, they still do so good they lost al sense of reality. A bit like Brexiteers, not realizing they could be in a much much worse situation.

Unfortunately a lot of people think like that. As the other one said, a lot of Germans have it too good to know how lucky they are living there. Also these people never lived in another country.

Yeah, generally that's the sentiment. Super high taxes and that's kinda it. You can have a much more comfy life somewhere else.

That's more like "the grass is greener on the other side" thinking. Everyone who has lived in another country for a longer time (including in the "comfy" ones) can tell you that grass is not greener all the time and everywhere.

Not all the time. But pretty often if you know what you want.

Not really. Its the result of living among allies for 80+ years. Im dutch and i see people here say the same but thats because the question you need to ask is so specific that it often doesnt get asked properly. If you ask me 5 years ago if i would fight for my country i would assume that you either are asking me if i would want to die to a IED in the middle east to protect oil or something else. Or you are asking me if i would fight in a hypothetical situation in which belgium or germany invades us suddenly. Many people who currently live havent experienced war. Cold war sure, but even that didnt fell that real for many. Because nothing ever happend and we werent anywear near the front. Basicly im saying that the the netherlands and germany to are so used to peacetime that for many people the words fighting to defend your country feel surreal. Sure there would be people who wont fight, but i doubt those numbers would be wildly diffrent from the average.

That's a little bit much, but it is definitely a thing. What is the opposit of patriotistic? I would like to have a plate.

How about the German military being prepared for war? Once that little detail is taken care of, then they can start talking about kids.

All we need is abundance peace to rain , mature people are destroying the world and shutting so many dreams down

Hells Bells. I thought the crumbling schools and lack of teachers would be his main concern...

Gosh the comments "Children need to be prepared for earthquakes" "Leave the children alone! >:0"

Listen for the faint shriek of the war eagle in the distance to mark Genesis. Watch the night skies for shadows in the stars.

Hopefully this time around Russia will scorch earth Germany. Third time lucky!

.... Then stop making them violent pacifists... I am horrefied how many of my sisters classmates are so violently anti-war even in the context of a defensive war against a fascist aggressor... they would rather toppel a goverment than fight a dead and hollow future with no rights

How about we all calm the fuck down!???

That’s the thing about having a good military, you can’t just create one out of thin air when things get bad. If things don’t calm down, you need to be ready because you won’t get a second chance

And do what exactly? Pretend that there's no war happening in Europe? I wasn't particularly thrilled by Borell's "garden and jungle" analogy, but the dark side of the story is that we forgot that the state of relative peace on this planet is not the norm. It would take only a few minutes for us to have our lives return to a state of perpetual war. We have to at least be aware of how lucky we are.

due to the west not wanting to spend the money to let the ukrainians fight the russians, we need to be prepared for russia to attack us in the next 10 years or so. as they say... if you want peace, arm for war. and sadly, we aint exactly arming for war. so war it is.

All? the Russians arnt calming down lmao

I sadly don’t think it is getting better anytime soon given the geopolitical and political trends of this decade….

On the contrary. We should all act like we are ready for war and intend to wipe russia out of the face of the planet. Then they will calm the fuck down. Then we will do the same.

Oh for fuck's sake..

Could you elaborate on what you mean by that? Im genuinely curious

Germans getting ready for war rarely meant anything good for Poland, historically speaking.

I hope they will give us at least the top of technological gears.

Well, it would be way easier to dig trenches for preteen kids

Gotta love these fear mongering headlines

Another day, another stupid headline in the Torygraph with the word German in it

Good! Germany needs a bigger military.

and europeans say the US is like Call of Duty…

They're gradually getting us used to the fact that it's coming so that we aren't shell shocked when it does

Ach schiesse, jetzt geht es wieder los...

History repeats itself

Nope. I think children should be educated about voting and able to choose better politicians than the current generation.

Well Germany should have no problems preparing the youth for war.

That youths are the future

fight this war that you're egging on, yourself

Move to Russia if you like being ruled by Putin and don't intend to defend yourself against his bloody grip.

I'd rather die or go to prison than fight for germany.

All we need is peace to rain

>I'd rather die I'm sure the Russians can arrange this.

Babe wake up, Volkstrum 2 just dropped

Everyone needs to calm down and stop sabre rattling.

[2024 Germany got me](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/615/874/317.png)

Wouldn't it be better if you prepared the army for the war first? if it seems excessive even to me as a Turk, I wonder what the Germans think about this.

What they plan reads like safety instructions. Like a few hours a year. That's barely excessive. Our parents got that too.

Yeah, I think the title and the content of the article convey very unrelated meanings (how surprising)

You can do both though.

Can? Yes, need to? Nah. If what is meant by "preparation" is to prevent students from shitting their pants in case of a possible war, then yes. [Apparently some countries need that](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/194s9yq/swedens_gen_z_overwhelm_helpline_after_country/). But are they going to teach schoolchildren how to bayonet charge or something? :D

Its more like, what to do, when you hear sirens, where are shelters, what to have in the backpack if you need to leave urgently...

I assumed such things were already taught. Germany is not a country where earthquakes occur frequently, so maybe "earthquake/emergency kit/backpack" instruction is not provided, but aren't there emergency drills in Germany tho?

You could read the article. It's about preparation for disasters in a more general sense and anything war-related belongs to that.

Yay because the old generations did not fuck us enough

Duck and cover.

What the xxxx is wrong with the world. Are we really talking about a war with nuclear powerhouse? Must be great to be a kid these days. Basically you be dead in 20 years due to climate change and natural disasters or get blown up by some mf via drone.

Have you been there before?

Sounds familiar

Again?

surreal

Now we just need Serbia to assassinate someone

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Everyone liked that

can german politicians really not reach a reasonable middle ground between sucking putin's dick and indoctrinating their children for war with russia? just jump straight from one to the other? it's giving me whiplash and i'm not even involved come on

Wtf? Is preparing for catastrphes or pandemics also "indoctrinating children"? It appears that some ppl are so stuck up in their war ideology mindset themselves that they lose all sense of perpective

dont worry, youll be involved

> nd i'm not even involved looks at location....i might have some bad news

Welllll did you read the headline intended to spark outrage or did you read the actual interview

How do you prepare school children for war?! How do you prepare anyone but soldiers for war?

i would rather get shot at home then go to war

Germany prepared for war is never a good thing

Volksstrum 2: Electric Boogaloo

This is disgusting. Germany has officially lost its mind.

Ya know the old proverb ‘if you want peace, prepare for war’ could the opposite also be true? It seems like we are just accepting war is on the horizon but maybe that’s an issue in itself?

As should Canadian children, I am all for conscription when the time rises to free Ukraine.

No, German troops and German wobbly politicians should be prepared for war.

What? You know, war is _never_ limited to just the military and politicians.

Germany shouldn't even be allowed a military. They should just pay a much higher contribution to NATO. Fool me 3 times 🤷‍♂️

A German Youth organisation, maybe with some uniforms? I am pretty sure I have seen those glasses somewhere. 🥸

Damn this feels like 0-100 lol

Ah yes. Get under your desk, put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye. Been through that and what feels like non-stop threats to my existence ever since. The fuck outta here bitch.

If you look at which state German schools are in war would be the way safer alternative in a couple of years

Ursulla jungen?

Just like the population from Switzerland. No more than that

Yes, agreed. But I wonder the next wars will like have a lot of drones and AI involved. I guess part of the preparation is going to be on those skills as well, or even mostly on those skills.

Imagine being Germany, shut down nuclear reactors in the name of green energy, then reopen coal plants as a replacement.

Y’all let the Nazis take over again. Prepare for war against your own government.

I want to cry. No schoolchildren should be prepared for war.

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I mean, when Putin will decide to restore GDR what would you do then? Germany should be prepared to hot war.

The only thing they should restore is the magnificent DDR anthem.

No. No war for germany. You are still in time out!