Image: VOLKER Weihbold
The Citizen Army
Austria’s defense is in the hands of the citizens who have completed basic military service.
Compared to a professional army, this has advantages and disadvantages. An important advantage of the militia system is the acceptance of the army by the population. While a small professional army would only be part of public life to a limited extent, the basic military system ensures that a large part of the (male) population has very close contact with the army for at least a few months in their lives. This creates broad acceptance for the diverse tasks of the army. “Comprehensive national defence” is the constitutional mandate of our army. Of course, every schoolchild should know about this.
time for something else
Everyone should have heard at school why Austria has committed itself to neutrality and what goals the army is pursuing. The Ministry of Education should also be aware that this has long been part of the subject history and political education.
Setting a focus in times of the Ukraine war may seem relevant. The question that arises is: Is knowledge of “comprehensive national defence” really worth pushing other relevant topics in history lessons into the background? The fact is: the number of lessons is limited, the range of historically and politically important topics is too large. How the army works inside is perhaps less of a question.
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: Nachrichten
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