No to the Red Storm Charlie military exercise!
Yes to social progress!
You. The man at the machine and the man in the workshop. If tomorrow they order you
to stop making water pipes and cooking pots – and instead make steel helmets and machine guns – then there’s only one thing to do: Say NO!
You. Girl behind the counter and girl in the office. If tomorrow they order you
to fill grenades and fit telescopic sights to sniper rifles, then there’s only one thing to do: Say NO!
(„Dann gibt es nur eins“, Wolfgang Borchert, 1947)
From 24 to 26 September 2026, a military exercise under the name ‘Red Storm’ is to be held in Hamburg for the third time: following on from ‘Red Storm Bravo’ last year, this will now be ‘Red Storm Charlie’. For three days, our city is to be misused for an exercise involving the deployment of troops and military equipment from the Port of Hamburg to NATO’s ‘eastern flank’, that is, the Russian border.
Once again, the exercise focuses on practising ‘civil-military cooperation’. The aim is to ensure that public authorities, the police, the fire service, emergency services, hospitals and businesses are prepared for wartime conditions. This time, significantly more civilian organisations are involved, including the THW, the UKE, the Hochbahn, the airport, the Chambers of Commerce and Crafts, companies such as Airbus, Lufthansa Technik, HHLA, Blohm+Voss, Philips, the Schwarz Group (LIDL, Kaufland) and even Edeka and Netto. In this context, the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Crafts are calling on their members to take part in an exercise called ‘Red Storm Business’.
What is the point of this manoeuvre?
US global hegemony is increasingly being questioned. The ‘West’ is striving to maintain its dominance through force, thereby fuelling wars and armed conflicts around the globe. Against this backdrop, the German Government aims to establish Germany as the leading European military power through a massive rearmament programme. Compulsory military service is to be reintroduced and the Bundeswehr is to be expanded into Europe’s largest army. ‘Defence’ spending has doubled over the last five years and is set to account for almost half of the federal budget by 2030. The general public is expected to foot the bill through social cuts on an unprecedented scale. Social cuts and military build-up are two sides of the same coin!
The urgently needed funding for hospitals, care services, schools and nurseries, culture, transport and environmental protection is thus being trampled underfoot. This is sparking growing resistance!
To gain acceptance for this extremely dangerous and anti-social policy, a bogeyman is needed. The Red Storm Charlie manoeuvre is part of the efforts to once again prepare us, the population, for a war against Russia by peddling the lie of an imminent ‘invasion’ from the East, and in so doing to legitimise rearmament, militarisation and drastic cuts to social services.
War needs the support of the people – it cannot be waged without us!
Every NO to rearmament and militarisation is therefore a building block for peaceful development.
It is a YES to the joint struggle and to working together to create better conditions for a dignified way of life in all areas of life. It is a YES for a world in which the exploitation of human beings by other human beings and the destruction of nature have been overcome. For educational institutions where the focus is on developing critically thinking, well-rounded individuals and on living together in solidarity. For a healthcare system in which people’s health is the paramount objective.
For art and cultural institutions that promote critical thinking.
Saying NO to preparations for war means fighting for the realisation of the UN Charter, which, drawing lessons from fascism and world war, states: “We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save future generations from the scourge of war”. This includes the absolute imperative to resolve international conflicts by peaceful means, through diplomacy. In particular, this entails the immediate cessation of the proxy war in Ukraine – which continues to be fuelled by the German Government, the EU and NATO – and of support for Israel in its ongoing genocide against the Palestinians, as well as its attacks on neighbouring states in breach of international law.
We counter the attempt, through these manoeuvres and civil-military cooperation, to normalise war as the new norm with our demand for a life in peace. The commitment of the many to the global realisation of peace, social equality and international solidarity is the order of the day!
Hamburg – in the spirit of Wolfgang Borchert: The gateway to a better world!
In the spirit of Wolfgang Borchert, we say today:
You. Human being of this country. If they tell you today that you must become fit for war, there is only one thing to do: Say NO!
You. People of Hamburg. If they order you tomorrow to give up your cosmopolitan city for military parades, there is only one thing to do: Say NO!
Let us take action together:
- Against military exercises – not in our city, nor anywhere else
- For international understanding: resume the town twinning with St Petersburg
- Against the arms race and cuts to social services
- For a halt to all arms exports and the conversion of all arms production to civil production
- Against conscription and Bundeswehr recruitment in schools
- For asylum for all conscientious objectors and deserters
- Against the nuclear and conventional arms race – for disarmament instead of rearmament
- For a joint, inclusive security architecture in Europe and the world, as well as the dissolution of NATO
- For a city capable of peace, a country capable of peace, a world capable of peace!
Come along on 26 September 2026 to the DGB rally against social cuts! Join us in the demonstration afterwards and say No to the Red Storm Charlie military exercise!
Yes to social progress!
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