Bundeswehr

The Bundeswehr (ˈbʊndəsˌveːɐ̯, meaning literally: Federal Defence) is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part, the military part consisting of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service. the Bundeswehr had a strength of 181,596 active-duty military personnel and 80,890 civilians, placing it among the 30 largest military forces in the world, and making it the second largest in the European Union behind France. In addition, the Bundeswehr has approximately 30,050 reserve personnel (2020). With German military expenditures at $56.0 billion, the Bundeswehr is the seventh highest-funded military in the world, though military expenditures remain relatively average at 1.3% of national GDP, well below the non-binding NATO target of 2%. Germany is aiming to expand the Bundeswehr to around 203,000 soldiers by 2025 to better cope with increasing responsibilities. Following concerns from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany announced a major shift in policy, pledging a €100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr - to remedy years of underinvestment - along with raising the budget to above 2% GDP. Military history of Germany and List of wars involving Germany The name Bundeswehr was first proposed by former Wehrmacht general and Liberal politician Hasso von Manteuffel. The Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz), a symbol that has a long association with the military of Germany, is its official emblem. The Schwarzes Kreuz is derived from the black cross insignia of the medieval Teutonic knights; since 1813 the symbol has been used to denote a military decoration for all ranks. When the Bundeswehr was established in 1955, its founding principles were based on developing a completely new military force for the defence of West Germany.