Conscription
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Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and 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 1–3 years on active duty, then transfer to the reserve force.
In China, the State of Qin instituted universal military service following the registration of every household. This allowed huge armies to be levied, and was instrumental in the creation of the Qin Empire that conquered the whole of China in 221BC.
Conscription is controversial, because of conscientious objection to service, or political objection to service for a disliked government, or an unpopular war, and because it violates individual rights. Those conscripted may evade service, sometimes by leaving the country. Some selection systems accommodate these attitudes by providing alternative service outside combat-operations roles or even outside the military, such as Zivildienst in Austria and Switzerland.
View MoreConscription no longer dirty word for some Brits concerned about Putin
Australian Broadcasting Corporation | 10 Apr 2025By the time MP Mike Martin described it as "inevitable" last month, conscription was well and truly back in Britain's national conversation, and some people are not against the idea. ......
Hilarious moment Thai man discovers he has avoided conscription - and his rather unexpected celebration… ...
The Daily Mail | 10 Apr 2025This is the hilarious reaction of a man who was spared from having to serve in the Thai military. Thailand requires men aged 21 or over to attend a 'lottery' day every April where they must enlist in the military for a two-year stint, before being recruited at random. Every year, videos of Thailand's military conscription...
Conscript Thanasis Nicolaou’s remains handed over to family
CyprusMail | 09 Apr 2025The remains of conscript Thanasis Nicolaou, who was murdered in 2005, are to be returned to his family, it was decided in court on Wednesday. His family had requested that the remains be handed over following the conclusion of an investigation into his death carried out by lawyer Thanasis...
Burkina Faso: RSF condemns three new cases of forced military conscription as number of journalists punitively drafted rises to six in less than a year (RSF - Reporters sans frontières)
Public Technologies | 08 Apr 2025) Abducted over ten days ago by individuals claiming to be intelligence officers, journalists Guezouma Sanogo, Boukari Ouoba and Luc Pagbelguem reappeared in an online video released on 2 April. Their families had no news of their fate or whereabouts until the video showed the journalists in military attire stating they were...
Independent readers share their views on conscription – from ‘necessary evil’ to ‘waste of time’
The Independent | 08 Apr 2025Readers were divided on the...