Across Europe, a quiet but significant shift is taking place in the realm of defense and national security. Nations are reevaluating their military preparedness, driven by a volatile and unpredictable global landscape. The catalyst for this rethinking is the ongoing, brutal war in Ukraine—the deadliest conflict on the continent since World War II—coupled with growing uncertainties about the future of international alliances. This has prompted a continent-wide movement to expand, modernize, and revitalize armed forces, with a particular focus on creating more agile, deployable units. At the heart of this trend is a renewed emphasis on the citizen-soldier: the reservist. Nowhere is this phenomenon more vividly illustrated than in the Netherlands, where an unexpected royal endorsement has sparked a national surge in patriotic enlistment, creating what officials are calling a “luxury problem” of overwhelming demand.
The Dutch recruitment drive received a powerful and personal boost earlier this year when Queen Máxima and her eldest daughter, Crown Princess Catharina-Amalia, were photographed in military training. Images of the Queen steadily aiming a pistol on a shooting range circulated globally, sending a resonant message about duty and service. This “Amalia effect,” named for the heir to the throne, combined with targeted media campaigns, has led to an application influx so substantial that the defense ministry is struggling to keep pace. State Secretary for Defence Derk Boswijk candidly outlines the challenges: “We have more applications than we can handle. We have a lack of training capacity, a lack of housing, you have to give them all uniforms, you have to give them weapons, you have to give them the training.” Yet, he frames these as welcome difficulties, evidence of a resurgent public spirit. This surge supports a broader national plan to grow the military from 80,000 to 120,000 personnel by 2035, with reservists targeted to increase from 9,000 to 20,000 by 2030.
This wave of new volunteers is entering a force that is consciously evolving to meet new-era threats. A corporal in the national reserve, her face camouflaged during a weekend exercise, describes a fundamental mindset shift. When she first joined, the perceived threat was minimal; today, the security outlook is starkly different. Training has consequently pivoted toward “green things, infantry things”—the core skills of soldiering for territorial defense. As reservists move silently from a Dutch forest, rifles at the ready, scanning for threats, their exercises now carry a palpable sense of urgency. While the Netherlands has not reinstated conscription (suspended since 1997), reservists commit to 300 hours of annual service. Traditionally used for securing domestic sites or aiding in national emergencies like floods, they are now being prepared as a foundational element of a more robust, battle-ready national defense, aligned with new NATO plans emphasizing mobility and rapid deployment.
The Dutch experience is not an isolated case but part of a coordinated European response. In Germany, lawmakers are debating a plan to make short-term service more attractive through better pay, conditions, and flexibility, explicitly aiming to boost voluntary numbers while leaving a door open for limited conscription if needed. France, likewise, is launching a new voluntary service program in September, seeking to initially recruit 3,000 young people for ten-month domestic deployments, with ambitions to attract 50,000 annually by 2035. These initiatives in Western Europe share a common thread: a strong preference for motivated volunteers over compelled conscripts, seeking to build a sustainable, professional reserve force fueled by civic commitment rather than obligation.
This contrast is sharper in Northern and Eastern Europe, where the historical and geographical proximity to Russia shapes a more immediate sense of vulnerability. Here, conscription often remains a cornerstone of defense policy. Finland maintains a draft for all men and voluntary service for women. Sweden reinstated a gender-neutral partial conscription in 2017, using a lottery to fill slots if volunteers fall short. Similarly, Denmark has a long-standing draft system, and Latvia notably revived conscription in 2023 in direct response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. These models reflect a philosophy of total societal readiness, where the line between civilian and soldier is intentionally kept thin to ensure a swift and comprehensive national mobilization in a crisis.
Thus, from the royal ranges of the Netherlands to the forests of Latvia, Europe is engaging in a collective reassessment of what it means to be secure. The approaches vary—from the inspirational volunteerism of the “Amalia effect” to the compulsory service of northern nations—but the underlying imperative is unified. As the Dutch reservist succinctly put it, the mission is now clearly “to defend our country and to make sure to keep the threat down.” This rekindled focus on territorial defense, after decades of prioritizing overseas expeditionary operations, marks a pivotal moment. The continent is quietly but determinedly preparing its citizens, both voluntarily and by mandate, for a world where peace can no longer be assumed, and the duty of defense begins at home.
