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Rally in Hofheim: Left-wing youth fights against conscription and armament madness!
On December 5, 2025, the Left Youth protested in Hofheim against conscription and rearmament, inspired by the peace movement of the 1980s.
Rally in Hofheim: Left-wing youth fights against conscription and armament madness!
On December 5, 2025, a rally against conscription and the rearmament of the Bundeswehr took place on Chinonplatz in Hofheim. The event was organized by the Left youth, the youth organization of the left. Around 15 people took part in the action, many of them veterans of the peace movement of the 1980s. This generation remembered a large protest event in Bonn that brought together over 300,000 participants on October 10, 1981.
What was particularly remarkable was that two thirds of today's participants were already active in the resistance in the 1980s. Despite efforts to mobilize youth organizations from other parties such as the Greens and the Young Socialists, there was no interest in participating. This raises questions about broader societal attitudes toward conscription and arms issues, which are further influenced by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Peace movement in transition
The current debate about reintroducing conscription is closely linked to unease about decisions that affect the lives of young people. The discussion is taking place not only on the streets, but also in the media and in society. A comment addresses the historical contradiction between military service and the right to vote and refers to well-known protest songs that address this conflict. Classics like Barry McGuire's "Eve Of Destruction" and Bob Dylan's "Masters Of War" stand for resistance to militaristic tendencies and call for a rethink.
Ole Conrady from the Left Youth clearly positioned himself against current developments by denouncing the capital interests of the armaments industry. Gerhard Kern from the Main-Taunus Peace Initiative also referred to old arguments and criticized the idea that increased armament could create peace. This shows that the arguments of the 80s have not gone out of fashion today.
Social division and the pursuit of peace
Thomas Völker, the district chairman of the Left, saw the current discussions as a threat to social cohesion and warned of a division. In Hofheim, class struggle tones were struck during the rally, pointing to the social and economic aspects of the current arms discourse.
The current situation requires a rethink: While the term “war-readiness” enters the political discourse, the desire for peace must be understood as a task for society as a whole and can no longer be left only to a few people subject to military service. Refusing military service could therefore hardly be an option in today's world, especially in view of modern warfare and hybrid conflicts.
This rally not only represents a look back into the past, but is also a call to actively engage with current challenges and future perspectives. It remains to be hoped that more people will feel encouraged to stand up for peace and against militarization and to advocate for their own opinions.