Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionUntil 2011 German conscripts had to do military service, like these cadets in Marienberg
Germany may reintroduce a form of national service for
civilians to help the army deal with a future disaster.
The role of civilians is part of
a new civil defence strategy to be discussed by the government on Wednesday.
Since the strategy was leaked to
the media there has been intense debate about stockpiling food and water.
In a crisis civilians might be
obliged to help direct traffic or provide fuel and accommodation for the
military, German news agency DPA reported.
Germans appeared generally
unfazed by what some MPs have called government "scaremongering" but
the word "Wehrpflicht" (conscription) was trending on social media on
Tuesday.
The topic of civil defence also
boosted the popularity of hamsters on social media, as Germans, with more than
a hint of irony, adopted the hashtag "Hamsterkaeufe", which means
panic-buying or hoarding like a hamster.
Germany's Die Tageszeitung daily sported a big
picture of a hamster on
its front page, with the headline "The End is Nigh" - which was
widely tweeted.
Image captionDie Tageszeitung caught the Zeitgeist - hamsters are in vogue
A satirical article
in Die Welt (in
German) joked that "Hamsters are sold out in Germany". It said the
lack of hamsters presented the nation with "an unprecedented humanitarian
disaster".
The article was bylined, in
English: "Jean Gnatzig, Head of Silly Con
Image copyrightSCREENSHOT
Image captionDie Welt's caption says: "Best defence against terror, floods and panicmongering: A fighting hamster"
Threat of 'hybrid' conflict
The government said a
national disaster was "unlikely" but preparations were needed in case
of a future terror attack or "hybrid" conflict involving cyber
warfare, which could damage key infrastructure.
Russia's military
intervention in Ukraine in 2014 - the clandestine seizure of Crimea and support
for separatist rebels - has been widely described as "hybrid
warfare".
Germany scrapped
compulsory national service in 2011, but provision for it remains in the
constitution, so it could easily be reinstated, DPA says.
During the Cold War,
national service meant that West Germany could mobilise 495,000 soldiers and
boost the numbers to about 1.2m if necessary by calling up reservists.
School leavers had the
option of doing 18 months' civilian service - for example in a hospital -
instead of nine months in the military.
But at the height of
the Cold War - in the 1960s and 1980s - conscripts had to spend 18 months in
the military. Women were exempt from conscription.
Stocking up
The new civil defence
plan includes advice for citizens to store enough food to last 10 days, because
emergency services might be fully stretched dealing with a major disaster.
On drinking water, the
advice is to stockpile five days' supply - two litres (3.5 pints) per person
daily.
A public health manager with the German Red Cross, Wolfgang
Kast, told
the broadcaster ARD (in German) that the intense debate about
stockpiling showed that "people have become less and less prepared for an
emergency".
"We've got
accustomed - not least because of the internet - to having everything available
at all times," he said.
He listed as key
emergency provisions: water, noodles and tomato sauce, along with any required
medicines, a torch, spare batteries and candles.
On its website the German Federal Office of Civil Protection and
Disaster Assistance (BBK) gives citizens a
survival list for emergencies, enough to last two weeks. The
list includes:
§
28 litres (6.2
gallons) of drinking water
§
4.9kg (10.8 pounds) of
bread, noodles, rice, potatoes
§
5.6kg (12.3 pounds) of
vegetables and pulses (preferably pre-cooked)
§
3.6kg (eight pounds)
of fruit and nuts (in jars or tins)
Image copyrightBBK
Image captionGermany's civil protection unit provides a list of food and drink provisions considered important for survival
Germany's civil defence: Cold War and
now
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionLook-out tower above a former East German bunker near Suhl
About 2,000 public bunkers and shelters were built in West
Germany, with federal funding (former East Germany had its own communist
network of shelters)
§
There was a wide mix
of shelters - eg in garages, schools, private cellars
§
Special government
nuclear bunker was built in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, 30km (19 miles) from Bonn
§
Law says Cold War-era
shelters must not be converted into new types of building
§
Germany still has
stockpiles of food - eg milk powder and beans - at secret locations, for a
national emergency
§
Inventories are
regularly checked and renewed
§
Emergency offices to
issue food and fuel stamps, under national rationing system in a disaster
AP
AP
AP
