The Rise of Militarism

This year, the European Union announced its “ReArm Europe” initiative which hopes to see a budget of 800 billion spent on armaments by 2030. This is only the most recent of the EU’s ongoing campaign of militarisation. Whilst the EU continues to try and maintain its image as a liberal and progressive bloc, its militarisation efforts expose it for what it has always been: a bloc of imperialists.

What we see today has been decades in the making, and indeed between 2014 and 2023, EU arms spending had increased by 62%. Of course, throughout this period we have seen further privatisation and spending cuts to public services, so where does all this money come from?

The EU’s fiscal rules are created in such a way to discourage deficit spending or public debt, so of course these have been waived for the sake of further military spending and militarisation. The EU expects that 650 billion of the target amount will come from doing so. Already we have seen Germany sidestep its constitution in order to remove the spending cap on its military. The other 150 billion is expected to come from EU loans, which it hopes will “enable a rapid increase of its production capacity, improve the timely availability of defence products, speed up the development of new defence products or the upgrading of existing ones”. Other possible avenues of funding will be redirecting existing EU funding to prioritise armaments, and directing savings into such investments.

In practice however, much of this spending will be coming at the expense of already stretched social services. Certainly this was the explicit recommendation of NATO’s General Secretary, Mark Rutte, in January 2025.

Of course, the rationale for this shift must be examined. There is no better way of understanding this, than by understanding who is set to benefit. The official reason is that the EU wants to “protect its autonomy” by prioritising European arms procurement, instead of importing US-made weapons systems. EU officials have stated that this covers both small enterprises, through to the large monopolies such as Rheinmetall and Thales. Indeed, here in Ireland there are “dual use” companies which are hoping to benefit from such spending. In reality though, this arms spending will prove to be the same as it has been for decades. It will only consolidate the wealth of the monopoly-capitalists engaged in war profiteering, who in turn will have greater and greater leverage over politics, due to their increasing wealth and influence. In turn, the existence of a large arms industry makes war inevitable by ensuring that the means to wage war are already readily available, and indeed highly profitable. No amount of military spending is “wasted” as far as the profiteers are concerned.

This in turn drives further militarisation of the EU as a whole, as seen with the likes of PESCO and the EU Battlegroups. PESCO exists to coordinate research & development efforts across the bloc, again to promote “investment” in the arms companies of the primary European states and provide prospective customers. Likewise, the equipping of EU Battlegroups as a form of European “standing army” provides a reliable way of ensuring continued contracts, whilst also providing the European Union itself with the means of responding militarily to rivals, or to be deployed to protect the imperialist interests of the bloc.

The drive for larger standing armies can also be seen through recent efforts to reintroduce conscription, and in Britain there has been increased discussions around “national service”. We have seen Denmark, Latvia, Sweden, Croatia, and Serbia expand their “national service” schemes, with both Italy and Germany also considering the same. This is not merely a cautious measure however, as is evidenced by the fact that the Swedish government has ordered the creation of 30,000 military graves. Just in case, they say. Such measures are part of the normalisation of militarism. The existence of large, conscript-based standing armies also feeds militarism by ensuring that the means to wage war are also on hand, and that a large pool of reserves can be mobilised at short notice.

This forms part of the wider militarisation of society. James Connolly observed during the period of WW1 that the militarisation of society is typically followed by the application of military law. We have seen this with how Palestine Action was deemed a terrorist organisation, and its members detained without trial under “anti-terror legislation”, which has its legislative origins in wartime “emergency” legislation. Oftentimes, the expansion of the military is also accompanied by the further militarisation of the police force whether it be in terms of equipment, or in terms of their “anti-terrorism” powers.

Of course, this is a Europe-wide drive to war and Ireland has not been exempt from it. Billions have been poured into military contract for weapons manufacturers in the six counties, yet we are told that there simply isn’t enough money for the NHS or schools. We have also seen a propaganda war waged in the south that tells us we’re “freeloaders” and that we need to “do our bit”. Such rhetoric has been enthusiastically taken up by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, and even Sinn Fein has toned down its previous opposition to PESCO. On the one hand, the road to militarisation offers a great many back-handers and junkets for the politicians involved. It also offers a useful distraction to the plethora of social issues already facing Irish society. Any question of public housing, well-funded schools, and accessible healthcare are all sacrificed on the altar of “European security”.

The struggle against militarism will not be won in the halls of Leinster House. It must be won on a daily basis in our schools, our universities, and in our towns. At every level of society there are people who set to gain from militarism. It is our job to oppose them.