EU Military Defense: total military personnel 1985-2019, by member state

Italy, France, and Spain are the three European Union member states with the largest military, measured by the number of service personnel. As of 2019, Italy had 342,000 active service personnel, while France had slightly less at 304,000. Other large European countries had significantly smaller militaries, with Poland (the 4th largest military in the EU) having a larger force than both Germany and the United Kingdom, Europe's largest economic powers. While the number of military personnel is a good indicator of the importance which a country places on national defense, in modern warfare it is not an accurate representation of military power (i.e. the ability to defeat another country in a war), as this is largely determined by military-technological prowess, such as in advanced weaponry and other equipment.