Survey: Only 17 percent of Germans are willing to use weapons to defend their country

Only 17 percent of German citizens would “definitely” be willing Germany to defend themselves with weapons in the event of a military attack. 19 percent would “probably” do this. This was the result of a forsa survey commissioned by star.

According to the survey, a large majority of 61 percent would probably not be prepared to defend Germany with weapons in the event of a military attack. The proportion of those who would under no circumstances be prepared to defend themselves with a weapon is 40 percent, almost twice as high as in the same survey in May 2022.

Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius (SPD) had recently spoken of the need for Germany to become “war-ready” and defensive in the face of international dangers. According to the survey, men are significantly more likely than women to say that they are “definitely” prepared to defend Germany with weapons. 39 percent of men aged 45 to 59 are willing to do this.

Respondents with a secondary school diploma can also do this national defense are more likely to imagine themselves with a weapon than respondents with middle and higher educational qualifications. Among political party supporters, AfD supporters (28 percent) and Green Party supporters (9 percent) are most likely to say that they would definitely defend Germany with weapons.

The data was compiled by the market and opinion research institute forsa star collected on November 15 and 16, 2023. Database: 1005 respondents. Statistical margin of error: +/- 3 percentage points.The exact question was: “Assuming that Germany were attacked militarily: In such a case, would you definitely, probably, probably not or under no circumstances be prepared to defend Germany yourself with arms?”