German “pacifism” and the Zeitenwende

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a major reorientation of German security policy, including a significant increase in defence spending as well as arms deliveries to Ukraine. Scholz's announcement of a Zeitenwende (sea change) has triggered a renewed debate about continuity and change in German security policy, focusing on (1) whether the shift represents a major reorientation or a minor adaptation and (2) how to make sense of this in light of Germany's traditional culture of military restraint, the country's so-called “pacifism.” This article discusses the Zeitenwende in the context of Cold-War German security policy and German participation in multinational operations during the 1990s and 2000s. It shows that (1) the shift is not as radical as often presumed, (2) more fundamental change happened during the 1990s and 2000s and (3) understanding the Zeitenwende requires a more flexible, discursive conception of culture.