Compulsory enlistment into national or military service
"Conscript" and "the draft" redirect here. For other uses, see Conscript (disambiguation) and The draft (disambiguation).
Conscription
1780 caricature of a press gang
Related concepts
Alternative civilian service
Civil conscription
Conscientious objector
Conscription crisis
Draft evasion
Impressment
Military service
National service
War resister
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Ireland
v
t
e
No armed forces
No enforced conscription
Active conscription system, but not all the people who are fit for the service are conscripted; less than 20% of all the people who reach military age are conscripted.
Active conscription
No information
Conscription is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service.[1] Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day under various names. The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1 to 8 years on active duty and then transfer to the reserve force.
Conscription is controversial for a range of reasons, including conscientious objection to military engagements on religious or philosophical grounds; political objection, for example to service for a disliked government or unpopular war; sexism, in that historically men have been subject to the draft in the most cases; and ideological objection, for example, to a perceived violation of individual rights. Those conscripted may evade service, sometimes by leaving the country,[2] and seeking asylum in another country. Some selection systems accommodate these attitudes by providing alternative service outside combat-operations roles or even outside the military, such as siviilipalvelus (alternative civil service) in Finland and Zivildienst (compulsory community service) in Austria and Switzerland. Several countries conscript male soldiers not only for armed forces, but also for paramilitary agencies, which are dedicated to police-like domestic-only service like internal troops, border guards or non-combat rescue duties like civil defence.
As of 2023, many states no longer conscript their citizens, relying instead upon professional militaries with volunteers. The ability to rely on such an arrangement, however, presupposes some degree of predictability with regard to both war-fighting requirements and the scope of hostilities. Many states that have abolished conscription still, therefore, reserve the power to resume conscription during wartime or times of crisis.[3] States involved in wars or interstate rivalries are most likely to implement conscription, and democracies are less likely than autocracies to implement conscription.[4] With a few exceptions, such as Singapore and Egypt, former British colonies are less likely to have conscription, as they are influenced by British anti-conscription norms that can be traced back to the English Civil War; the United Kingdom abolished conscription in 1960.[4]
^"Conscription". Merriam-Webster Online. 13 September 2023.
^"Seeking Sanctuary: Draft Dodgers". CBC Digital Archives.
^"World War II". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Canada. 15 July 2015.
^ abAsal, Victor; Conrad, Justin; Toronto, Nathan (2017-08-01). "I Want You! The Determinants of Military Conscription". Journal of Conflict Resolution. 61 (7): 1456–1481. doi:10.1177/0022002715606217. ISSN 0022-0027. S2CID 9019768.
Conscription is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues...
As of April 2024, there is no active military conscription in Canada. Conscription was implemented in Canada only during World War I and World War II for...
Conscription in Australia, also known as National Service following the Second World War, has a controversial history which dates back to the implementation...
as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations, such as Israel, require a specific amount of military...
Conscription in Russia (Russian: всеобщая воинская обязанность, romanized: vseobshchaya voinskaya obyazannost, translated as "universal military obligation"...
In the United States of America, military conscription, commonly known as the draft, has been employed by the U.S. federal government in six conflicts:...
enacted in China since 1949. According to The World Factbook, "the PLA’s conscription system functions as a levy; the PLA establishes the number of enlistees...
Conscription in South Korea has existed since 1957 and requires male citizens between the ages of 18 and 35 to perform compulsory military service. Women...
In the United Kingdom, military conscription has existed for two periods in modern times. The first was from 1916 to 1920, and the second from 1939 to...
The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service for men in Canada during World...
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), maintains an active conscription system in accordance with the regulations set by the government of the...
Conscription in Denmark (Danish: Værnepligt) is mandatory for all physically fit men over the age of 18, according to the Constitution of Denmark, §81...
Sweden has partial conscription (Swedish: värnplikt) for both men and women since 2017. After completing training, conscripts are placed in the reserve...
will serve, and a person cannot choose where to serve. The length of conscription is between 18 months to 2 years. Before the 1979 revolution, women were...
On 25 February 1986 around 25,000 conscripts of the Central Security Forces (CSF), an Egyptian paramilitary force, staged violent protests in and around...
The Federal Republic of Germany had conscription (Wehrpflicht, German: [ˈveːɐ̯ˌp͡flɪçt] ) for male citizens between 1956 and 2011. On 22 November 2010...
Conscription in Eritrea requires every able bodied man and woman to serve, ostensibly, for 18 months. In this time, they receive six months of military...
Conscription in Myanmar has a long history. The Tatmadaw — the name traditionally given to the military of Myanmar which has ruled the country intermittently...
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (French: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly...
France was the first modern nation state to introduce universal military conscription as a condition of citizenship. This was done in order to provide manpower...
Gibraltar (/dʒɪˈbrɔːltər/ jih-BRAWL-tər, Spanish: [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) is a British Overseas Territory and city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula...
Conscription in Finland is part of a general compulsion for national military service for all adult males (Finnish: maanpuolustusvelvollisuus; Swedish:...
Conscription in the Philippines has been implemented at several points in the country's history. As of 2022[update], no mandatory conscription is in effect...
Hughes called a plebiscite to determine public support for extending conscription to include military service outside the Commonwealth for the duration...
Conscription in the Netherlands (Dutch: dienstplicht) was first employed in 1810 by French occupying forces. Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte, who was...
Qatar has mandatory military service (Arabic: الخدمة العسكرية) for all able-bodied men aged 18 to 25 for a minimum of four months. Draft evasion is punishable...
Conscription in Egypt (Arabic: التجنيد, romanized: at-tagnīd) is a form of a compulsory military service in Egypt. Conscription is compulsory in Egypt...
which regulates duties and exceptions, all Israeli citizens who meet the conscription criteria are required to serve once they reach 18 years of age unless...
rules apply to Turks abroad. For Turks with multiple citizenship, the conscription lapses if they have already served in the army of another country. Conscripts...
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