November 24, 2025: For the first time in 80 years, Western Europe faces the possibility of war on their own territory. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening to escalate into a Russian invasion of Western Europe by 2030 or sometime in the 2030s. Once that became a popular meme, there followed questions of whether Europeans could fight.

While there has been no war in Western Europe since 1945, hundreds of thousands of Europeans have fought in wars outside Europe and, since 2014, over 50,000 have volunteered to fight in Ukraine or Russia. Currently, Ukraine maintains a Foreign Legion that largely consists of volunteers from Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. Ukraine actively seeks foreign volunteers for some technical jobs like network security, code breaking and so on.

It’s not a question of whether or not any Europeans would volunteer to fight in wartime, or under threat of war, but how many. There is also the fact that in modern armies, only about ten to twenty percent of the troops specialize in fighting. The rest provide support services like medical, supplies, engineering, communications, air defense and so on. Support troops carry weapons and are trained how to use them. This is because many support troops operate some of the time in a combat zone and must be able to defend themselves. Members of the Ukrainian Foreign Legion are paid, but those with combat jobs are paid about nine times more than those in support jobs.

Because of the Ukraine War the German government is once again considering compulsory military service, i.e., a draft to address current recruitment shortfalls and anticipated military personnel needs over the next several years, with three to five years being the likely planning range. The government has made it clear that providing Ukraine with security guarantees requires increasing military manpower. The conscription bill would draft 110,000 men and assign them to Bundeswehr reserve units. The bill must still be approved by the German parliament. German media indicate that the government would prefer to rely on volunteers. However, a draft will be politically unpopular among young Germans. Germany ended compulsory military conscription in 2011, although suspended is how the government refers to the 2011 decision. Defense officials have concluded that voluntary recruitment will not meet Germany’s current defense requirements and doesn’t meet NATO and EU defense requirements.

In 1991, after the Cold War ended and West Germany absorbed East Germany, the reunited Bundeswehr had nearly half a million troops. Currently, Germany has about 175,000 to 180,000 active-duty military personnel, supported by 30,00 to 50,000 trained and qualified reservists. Germany has the EU’s largest economy and population. In an EU-led Ukraine Security Guarantee scenario, German military forces should reflect Germany’s economic and demographic capabilities. They don’t, and raw numbers matter. The German defense ministry’s mobilization plan calls for 260,000 active-duty personnel and 200,000 to 250,000 reservists who train annually to maintain military skills. The German government knew military expansion was necessary but, until this year, was slow to make the economic and military commitments. After Russia’s February 2022 all-out attack on Ukraine, German leaders said Germany would expand its military forces. Currently, it is agreed that Germany should have Europe’s largest conventional army. OK. The ide

There’s no doubt that Europeans will fight. Nearly all European nations have increased their defense spending and the number of their military age men that undergo military training. Most of these men end up in reserve units. Many countries regularly call up reserve units for some active duty training and military exercises. The main problem is how long it will take to recruit/conscript enough civilians and arm, train and organize them into combat and support units.