Short answers, pulled from the story.
Theodor Blank swore in Generals Adolf Heusinger and Hans Speidel before the Bundestag on the 12th of November 1955 to officially establish the Bundeswehr. Hasso von Manteuffel proposed the name for this new force which rejected traditions from the Reichswehr and Hitler's Wehrmacht.
The Bundeswehr honors early 19th century reformers like Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Clausewitz while also honoring resistance members Claus von Stauffenberg and Henning von Tresckow. These men attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944 and their memory serves as a central part of the military's moral compass.
German reunification reduced manpower from 585,000 soldiers down to 370,000 by treaty obligation with about 50,000 personnel from the former East German Nationale Volksarmee joining on the 2nd of October 1990. Many senior officers accepted limited contracts lasting up to two years and received lower ranks than they held in the Volksarmee during the integration process known as Armee der Einheit.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble introduced defense spending cuts in response to the Great Recession which led to suspending compulsory conscription for men in January 2011. These decisions triggered reforms announced by Thomas de Maizière that limited military bases and further reduced soldier numbers due to austerity measures.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a plan to increase military power at the end of February 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine by pledging €100 billion ($112.7 billion) from the 2022 budget specifically for the armed forces. This special fund aimed to remedy years of underinvestment and raise spending above two percent of gross domestic product.