More than 40,000 students took to the streets of Berlin against Germany’s proposed military service plans, some of them shredding call-up questionnaires.

In more than 100 cities, the protests drew more than 45,000 students, after early call-ups for mandatory medical examinations. According to Germany’s Defence Ministry, about 1,000 young men who said they had no interest in serving have already completed the mandatory examinations since July.