During the mid-1980s, UK Defence spending was around 5% of GDP – relatively high due to the Soviet threat. Post-Falklands War, the UK’s Armed Forces were recognisably a formidable fighting force, committed to NATO Cold War obligations and counter-terrorist operations in Northern Ireland. Of the approximately 325,000 uniformed personnel at the time, over 50,000 were permanently stationed in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), and around 16,000 in Northern Ireland on Operation BANNER.
The Soldiers’ and Airmen’s (now Aviators’) Scripture Readers Association (SASRA), an evangelical Christian charity that works with soldiers and aviators, employed 13 salaried Army/Aviator Scripture Readers (ASRs) as evangelists, including three in Germany and one in Northern Ireland. There were also multiple volunteer ASRs, including six in Northern Ireland, that committed to a day or so each week.
Post-Cold War
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the collapse of Communist control in Eastern Europe and accelerated the end of the Warsaw Pact, which formally dissolved in 1991.
This ended the Cold War and removed the immediate threat of large-scale conflict in Europe. For the UK, a ‘peace dividend’ resulted: reduced Defence spending as the need for mass conventional forces was deemed unnecessary.
Through the 1990s, successive governments cut troop numbers, closed bases, and reduced equipment programmes, shifting focus towards smaller, more agile forces suited to expeditionary operations. Defence spending fell to roughly 2–3% by the late 1990s and 2000s. While this freed resources for other public spending, it also created long-term capability gaps.
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