与此同时，俄罗斯自2008年与格鲁吉亚战争后加速现代化与职业化，经多轮动员与征兵后，现役约110万；即便在乌克兰战争中「据报」伤亡累计约100万，仍维持庞大人力。欧洲内部的招募与留才压力突出：德国2025年3月报告称士兵编制缺口28%、军官缺口20%；英国正规军由2010年的约11万缩至约7.3万；西班牙自2010年缩减约10%，且多数军职到45岁即告结束。
各国主要用两条路补人：自愿招募（加薪、福利、教育与宣传）与义务役（短期6–18个月训练后转入预备役）。法国2025年3月号召后，20天内逾7,500人申请预备役，17–72岁皆可加入；芬兰则以成年男性普征建立「少现役、多预备」结构：现役约1.7万、预备役约90万，约占总人口近六分之一，并可动员至60岁。财政面上，欧洲多国2022–2024年国防预算上升，北约承诺防务支出达GDP的5%，并预计2025年总支出逾1.5兆美元（2014年约1兆）；但额外支出能否转化为可持续动员的合格兵力，仍取决于人口老化、政治接受度与乌克兰战局走向。
Europe is spending “hundreds of billions of euros” on weapons, ammunition, and advanced defense technology as confidence in US protection wanes, but rebuilding manpower for a long land war is harder. EU member-state active-duty personnel have almost halved from a 1995 peak of about 3.7 million, after decades focused on smaller missions and cuts that closed garrisons and reduced heavy equipment. Britain and France’s standing forces are now at their smallest since the early 19th century.
Russia moved the other way: after the 2008 Georgia war it modernized and professionalized, and after multiple mobilization/conscription waves it has about 1.1 million active personnel, despite reportedly around 1 million casualties in Ukraine. Europe’s recruitment and retention gaps are quantifiable: Germany reported in March 2025 that 28% of enlisted posts and 20% of officer ranks were unfilled; the UK regular army fell from 110,000 in 2010 to about 73,000; Spain is down 10% since 2010, with many careers ending by age 45.
Governments are expanding forces via voluntary recruitment (pay, benefits, marketing, education) and/or mandatory conscription (often 6–18 months, then reserves). France saw more than 7,500 reserve candidates enlist in 20 days after a March 2025 appeal, open to ages 17–72; Finland’s conscription yields about 17,000 active troops but 900,000 reserves—nearly one-sixth of the population—callable up to age 60. Defense budgets rose across Europe in 2022–2024, NATO members pledge 5% of GDP, and are tracking over $1.5T in 2025 versus about $1T in 2014, but turning money into deployable, sustainable mass remains uncertain.
