The Bundeswehr: a Parliamentary Army
The Bundeswehr: a Parliamentary Army

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the role of the Bundeswehr as a parliamentary army, and the concept of internal leadership within the army. Emphasis has been put on the various functions of the defence committee in controlling the functioning of the Bundeswehr, and the special role of the plenipotentiary for the armed forces, as laid down in the Constitution, and the 1957 Act on the Plenipotentiary of the Armed Forces of the German Bundestag. The specific role of the Bundeswehr stems from the strategic culture of the Federal Republic of Germany, which, after World War II, was aimed at improving the image of the German army. With the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany, the role of the Bundeswehr was modified and rested more heavily on the notion of taking more responsibility in the framework of collective cooperation.

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