Product Code Database
Conscription, also known as the draft in the American English, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to Ancient history 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 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 Draft evasion, sometimes by leaving the country, 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, or non-combat rescue like civil defence.
As of 2025, 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. States involved in wars or interstate rivalries are most likely to implement conscription, and democracies are less likely than autocracies to implement conscription. 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. Conscription in the United States has not been enforced since 1973. Conscription was ended in most European countries, with the system still being in force in Scandinavia, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and several countries of the former Eastern Bloc.
Various forms of avoiding military service are recorded. While it was outlawed by the Code of Hammurabi, the hiring of substitutes appears to have been practiced both before and after the creation of the code. Later records show that Ilkum commitments could become regularly traded. In other places, people simply left their towns to avoid their Ilkum service. Another option was to sell Ilkum lands and the commitments along with them. With the exception of a few exempted classes, this was forbidden by the Code of Hammurabi.
In medieval Scandinavia the leiðangr (Old Norse), leidang (Norwegian), leding, (Danish language), ledung (Swedish language), lichting (Dutch language), expeditio (Latin) or sometimes leþing (English language), was a levy of free farmers conscripted into coastal fleets for seasonal excursions and in defence of the realm.
The bulk of the Anglo-Saxon English army, called the fyrd, was composed of part-time English soldiers drawn from the freemen of each county. In the 690s laws of Ine of Wessex, three levels of fines are imposed on different social classes for neglecting military service.
Some modern writers claim military service in Europe was restricted to the landowning minor nobility. These were the land-holding aristocracy of the time and were required to serve with their own armour and weapons for a certain number of days each year. The historian David Sturdy has cautioned about regarding the fyrd as a precursor to a modern national army composed of all ranks of society, describing it as a "ridiculous fantasy":
The persistent old belief that peasants and small farmers gathered to form a national army or fyrd is a strange delusion dreamt up by antiquarians in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries to justify universal military conscription.Sturdy, David Alfred the Great Constable (1995), p. 153
In feudal Japan the shogun decree of 1393 exempted from religious or military levies, in return for a yearly tax. The Ōnin War weakened the shogun and levies were imposed again on money lenders. This was arbitrary and unpredictable for commoners. While the money lenders were not poor, several overlords tapped them for income. Levies became necessary for the survival of the overlord, allowing the lord to impose taxes at will. These levies included tansen tax on agricultural land for ceremonial expenses. Y akubu takumai tax was raised on all land to rebuild the Ise Grand Shrine, and munabechisen tax was imposed on all . At the time, land in Kyoto was acquired by commoners through usury and in 1422 the shogun threatened to repossess the land of those commoners who failed to pay their levies.
Over time, Mamluks became a powerful military knightly class in various Muslim world that were controlled by dynastic Arab rulers. Particularly in Egypt and Syria, but also in the Ottoman Empire, Levant, Iraq, and India, mamluks held political and military power. In some cases, they attained the rank of sultan, while in others they held regional power as or . Most notably, Mamluk factions seized the sultanate centered on Egypt and Syria, and controlled it as the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517). The Mamluk Sultanate famously defeated the Ilkhanate at the Battle of Ain Jalut. They had earlier fought the western European Christian Crusades in 1154–1169 and 1213–1221, effectively driving them out of Egypt and the Levant. In 1302 the Mamluk Sultanate formally expelled the last Crusaders from the Levant, ending the era of the Crusades. While Mamluks were purchased as property, their status was above ordinary slaves, who were not allowed to carry weapons or perform certain tasks. In places such as Egypt, from the Ayyubid dynasty to the time of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, mamluks were considered to be "true lords" and "true warriors", with social status above the general population in Egypt and the Levant. In a sense, they were like enslaved mercenaries.
In the middle of the 14th century, Ottoman sultan Murad I developed personal troops to be loyal to him, with a slave army called the Kapıkulu. The first units in the Janissary Corps were formed from prisoners of war and slaves, probably as a result of the sultan taking his traditional one-fifth share of his army's plunder in kind rather than monetarily; however, the continuing exploitation and enslavement of dhimmi peoples (i.e., Kafir), predominantly Balkans Christians, constituted a continuing abuse of subject populations. For a while, the Ottoman government supplied the Janissary Corps with recruits from the devşirme system of Ghilman enslavement. Children were drafted at a young age and soon turned into Military slavery in an attempt to make them loyal to the Ottoman sultan. The social status of devşirme recruits took on an immediate positive change, acquiring a greater guarantee of governmental rights and financial opportunities. In poor areas officials were bribed by parents to make them take their sons, thus they would have better chances in life. Initially, the Ottoman recruiters favoured Greeks and Albanians. The Ottoman Empire began its expansion into Europe by invading the European portions of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries up until the capture of Constantinople in 1453, establishing Islam as the state religion of the newly founded empire. The Ottoman Turks further expanded into Southeastern Europe and consolidated their political power by invading and conquering huge portions of the Serbian Empire, Bulgarian Empire, and the remaining territories of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries. As borders of the Ottoman Empire expanded, the devşirme system of Ghilman enslavement was extended to include Armenians, Bulgarians, Croats, Hungarians, Serbs, and later Bosniaks,Joseph von Hammer, Geschichte des osmanischen ReichesJohn V. A. Fine Jr., When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans: A Study of Identity in Pre-Nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern PeriodsShaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume IMurphey, Rhoads (2006) 1999. Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700.Nasuh, Matrakci (1588). "Janissary Recruitment in the Balkans" and, in rare instances, Romanians, Georgians, Circassians, Ukrainians, Polish people, and southern Russians. A number of distinguished military commanders of the Ottomans, and most of the imperial administrators and upper-level officials of the Empire, such as Pargalı İbrahim Pasha and Sokollu Mehmet Paşa, were recruited in this way. By 1609, the Sultan's Kapıkulu forces increased to about 100,000.
The slave trade in the Ottoman Empire supplied the ranks of the Ottoman army between the 15th and 19th centuries. (2025). 9781442223486, Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442223486 They were useful in preventing both the and the breakup of the Empire itself, especially due to the rising tide of nationalism among European peoples in its Balkan provinces from the 17th century onwards. Along with the Balkans, the Black Sea Region remained a significant source of high-value slaves for the Ottomans. Throughout the 16th to 19th centuries, the Barbary coast sent Barbary pirates nearby parts of Europe in order to capture Christian slaves to sell at slave markets in the Muslim world, primarily in North Africa and the Ottoman Empire, throughout the Renaissance and early modern period. According to historian Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th centuries, Barbary pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves, although these numbers are disputed. These slaves were captured mainly from the crews of captured vessels,Milton, G (2005) White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow And Islam's One Million White Slaves, Sceptre, London from coastal villages in Spain and Portugal, and from farther places like the Italian Peninsula, France, or England, the Netherlands, Ireland, the Azores Islands, and even Iceland. For a long time, until the early 18th century, the Crimean Khanate maintained a massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East." The Crimean Tatars and their Russian-Captive Slaves " (PDF). Eizo Matsuki, Mediterranean Studies Group at Hitotsubashi University. The Crimean Tatars frequently mounted raids into the Danubian Principalities, Poland–Lithuania, and Russia to enslave people whom they could capture.
Apart from the effect of a lengthy period under Ottoman domination, many of the subject populations were periodically and forcefully converted to Islam as a result of a deliberate move by the Ottoman Turks as part of a policy of ensuring the loyalty of the population against a potential Venetian invasion. However, Islam was spread by force in the areas under the control of the Ottoman sultan through the devşirme system of Ghilman enslavement, by which indigenous European Christians from the Balkans (predominantly Albanians, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Romanians, Serbs, and Ukrainians) were taken, levied, subjected to forced circumcision and forced conversion to Islam, and incorporated into the Ottoman army, and jizya taxes.Basgoz, I. & Wilson, H. E. (1989), The educational tradition of the Ottoman Empire and the development of the Turkish educational system of the republican era. Turkish Review 3(16), 15 Radushev states that the recruitment system based on child levy can be bisected into two periods: its first, or classical period, encompassing those first two centuries of regular execution and utilization to supply recruits; and a second, or modern period, which more focuses on its gradual change, decline, and ultimate abandonment, beginning in the 17th century.
In later years, Ottoman sultans turned to the Barbary Pirates to supply the Janissary Corps. Their attacks on ships off the coast of Africa or in the Mediterranean, and subsequent capture of able-bodied men for ransom or sale provided some captives for the Ottoman state. From the 17th century onwards, the devşirme system became obsolete. Eventually, the Ottoman sultan turned to foreign volunteers from the warrior clans of Circassians in southern Russia to fill the Janissary Corps. As a whole the system began to break down, the loyalty of the Jannissaries became increasingly suspect. The Janissary Corps was abolished by Mahmud II in 1826 in the Auspicious Incident, in which 6,000 or more were executed. On the Barbary Coast, Berber Muslims captured Kafir to put to work as laborers. In Morocco, the Berbers looked south rather than north. The Moroccan sultan Moulay Ismail, called "the Bloodthirsty" (1672–1727), employed a corps of 150,000 black slaves, called the "Black Guard". He used them to coerce the country into submission.
The defeat of the Prussian Army in particular shocked the Prussian establishment, which had believed it was invincible after the victories of Frederick the Great. The Prussians were used to relying on superior organization and tactical factors such as order of battle to focus superior troops against inferior ones. Given approximately equivalent forces, as was generally the case with professional armies, these factors showed considerable importance. However, they became considerably less important when the Prussian armies faced Napoleon's forces that outnumbered their own in some cases by more than ten to one. Scharnhorst advocated adopting the levée en masse, the military conscription used by France. The Krümpersystem was the beginning of short-term compulsory service in Prussia, as opposed to the long-term conscription previously used.Dierk Walter. Preussische Heeresreformen 1807–1870: Militärische Innovation und der Mythos der "Roonschen Reform". 2003, in Citino, p. 130 In the Russian Empire, the military service time "owed" by serfs was 25 years at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1834 it was decreased to 20 years. The recruits were to be not younger than 17 and not older than 35. In 1874 Russia introduced universal conscription in the modern pattern, an innovation only made possible by the abolition of serfdom in 1861. New military law decreed that all male Russian subjects, when they reached the age of 20, were eligible to serve in the military for six years.
In the decades prior to World War I universal conscription along broadly Prussian lines became the norm for European armies, and those modeled on them. By 1914 the only substantial armies still completely dependent on voluntary enlistment were those of Britain and the United States. Some colonial powers such as France reserved their conscript armies for home service while maintaining professional units for overseas duties.
Expanded-age conscription was common during the Second World War: in Britain, it was commonly known as "call-up" and extended to age 51. Nazi Germany termed it Volkssturm ("People's Storm") and included boys as young as 16 and men as old as 60. During the Second World War, both Britain and the Soviet Union conscripted women. The United States was on the verge of drafting women into the Nurse Corps because it anticipated it would need the extra personnel for its planned invasion of Japan. However, the Japanese surrendered and the idea was abandoned.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army conscripted nearly 30 million men..
Feminists have argued, first, that military conscription is sexist because wars serve the interests of what they view as the patriarchy; second, that the military is a sexist institution and that conscripts are therefore indoctrinated into sexism; and third, that conscription of men normalizes violence by men as socially acceptable. Feminists have been organizers and participants in resistance to conscription in several countries.
Conscription has also been criticized on the ground that, historically, only men have been subjected to conscription.Goldstein, Joshua S. (2003). "War and Gender: Men's War Roles – Boyhood and Coming of Age". In Ember, Carol R.; Ember, Melvin Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures. Volume 1. Springer. p. 108. . Retrieved April 25, 2015.Kronsell, Anica (June 29, 2006). "Methods for studying silence: The 'silence' of Swedish conscription". In Ackerly, Brooke A.; Stern, Maria; Jacqui True Feminist Methodologies for International Relations. Cambridge University Press. p. 113. . Retrieved April 25, 2015. Men who opt out or are deemed unfit for military service must often perform alternative service, such as Zivildienst in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, or pay extra taxes, whereas women do not have these obligations. In the US, men who do not register with the Selective Service cannot apply for citizenship, receive federal financial aid, grants or loans, be employed by the federal government, be admitted to public colleges or universities, or, in some states, obtain a driver's license.
In 1917, a number of radicals and anarchists, including Emma Goldman, challenged the new draft law in federal court, arguing that it was a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition against slavery and involuntary servitude. However, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the draft act in the case of Arver v. United States on 7 January 1918, on the ground that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war and to raise and support armies. The Court also relied on the principle of the reciprocal rights and duties of citizens. "It may not be doubted that the very conception of a just government in its duty to the citizen includes the reciprocal obligation of the citizen to render military service in case of need and the right to compel."John Whiteclay Chambers II, To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America (1987) pp. 219–20
According to Milton Friedman the cost of conscription can be related to the parable of the broken window in anti-draft arguments. The cost of the work, military service, does not disappear even if no salary is paid. The work effort of the conscripts is effectively wasted, as an unwilling workforce is extremely inefficient. The impact is especially severe in wartime, when civilian professionals are forced to fight as amateur soldiers. Not only is the work effort of the conscripts wasted and productivity lost, but professionally skilled conscripts are also difficult to replace in the civilian workforce. Every soldier conscripted in the army is taken away from his civilian work, and away from contributing to the economy which funds the military. This may be less a problem in an agrarian or pre-industrialized state where the level of education is generally low, and where a worker is easily replaced by another. However, this is potentially more costly in a post-industrial society where educational levels are high and where the workforce is sophisticated and a replacement for a conscripted specialist is difficult to find. Even more dire economic consequences result if the professional conscripted as an amateur soldier is killed or maimed for life; his work effort and productivity are lost.
Other proponents, such as William James, consider both mandatory military and national service as ways of instilling maturity in young adults. Some proponents, such as Jonathan Alter and Mickey Kaus, support a draft in order to reinforce social equality, create social consciousness, break down class divisions and allow young adults to immerse themselves in public enterprise. This justification forms the basis of Israel's People's Army Model. Charles Rangel called for the reinstatement of the draft during the Iraq War not because he seriously expected it to be adopted but to stress how the socioeconomic restratification meant that very few children of upper-class Americans served in the all-volunteer American armed forces.
Under the Total defence doctrine, conscription paired with periodic refresher training ensures that the entire able-bodied population of a country can be mobilized to defend against invasion or assist civil authorities during emergencies. For this reason, some European countries have reintroduced or debated reintroducing conscription during the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Military Keynesians often argue for conscription as a job guarantee. For example, it was more financially beneficial for less-educated young Portuguese men born in 1967 to participate in conscription than to participate in the highly competitive job market with men of the same age who continued to higher education.
]]
Throughout history, women have only been conscripted to join armed forces in a few countries, in contrast to the universal practice of conscription from among the male population. The traditional view has been that military service is a initiation rite and a rite of passage from boyhood into manhood. In recent years, this position has been challenged on the basis that it violates gender equality, and some countries, have extended conscription obligations to women.
In 2006, eight countries (China, Eritrea, Israel, Libya, Malaysia, North Korea, Peru, and Taiwan) conscripted women into military service.
Norway introduced female conscription in 2015, making it the first NATO member to have a legally compulsory national service for both men and women, and the first country in the world to draft women on the same formal terms as men.Šťastníková, Štěpánka (13 July 2023). "Rethinking Conscription: The Scandinavian Model". Security Outlines. Retrieved 29 January 2025. In practice only motivated volunteers are selected to join the army in Norway.
Sweden introduced female conscription in 2010, but it was not activated until 2017. This made Sweden the second nation in Europe to draft women, and the second in the world (after Norway) to draft women on the same formal terms as men.
Denmark has extended conscription to women from 2027 but then brought forward military service to 2025, also on a gender-neutral model. Dokumenter Ligestilling og længere tid i trøjen: Forstå den nye værnepligt
Israel has universal female conscription, although it is possible to avoid service by claiming a religious exemption and over a third of Israeli women do so. (see footnote 3) "Abuse of IDF Exemptions Questioned". The Jewish Daily Forward. 16 December 2009
Finland introduced voluntary female conscription in 1995, giving women between the ages of 18 and 29 an option to complete their military service alongside men.
In China, military law allows for the conscription of men and women, but in practice people serving are volunteers, given that China'
/ref>
law allows for conscription of women, but this is not implemented in practice.
In the United Kingdom during World War II, beginning in 1941, women were brought into the scope of conscription but, as all women with dependent children were exempt and many women were informally left in occupations such as nursing or teaching, the number conscripted was relatively few.
^ Most women who were conscripted were sent to the factories, although some were part of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), Women's Land Army, and other women's services. None were assigned to combat roles unless they volunteered.Jeremy A. Crang, "'Come into the Army, Maud': Women, Military Conscription, and the Markham Inquiry", Defence Studies, November 2008, Vol. 8 Issue 3, pp. 381,–95; statistics from pp. 392–93 In contemporary United Kingdom, in July 2016, all exclusions on women serving in Ground Close Combat (GCC) roles were lifted.
In the Soviet Union, there was never conscription of women for the armed forces, but the severe disruption of normal life and the high proportion of civilians affected by World War II after the German invasion attracted many volunteers for "The Great Patriotic War". Medical doctors of both sexes could and would be conscripted (as officers). Also, the Soviet university education system required Department of Chemistry students of both sexes to complete an ROTC course in NBC defense, and such female reservist officers could be conscripted in times of war.
The United States came close to drafting women into the Nurse Corps in preparation for a planned invasion of Japan.
In 1981 in the United States, several men filed lawsuit in the case Rostker v. Goldberg, alleging that the Selective Service Act of 1948 violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment by requiring that only men register with the Selective Service System (SSS). The Supreme Court eventually upheld the Act, stating that "the argument for registering women was based on considerations of equity, but Congress was entitled, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, to focus on the question of military need, rather than 'equity.'" In 2013, Judge Gray H. Miller of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that the Service's men-only requirement was unconstitutional, as while at the time Rostker was decided, women were banned from serving in combat, the situation had since changed with the 2013 and 2015 restriction removals. Miller's opinion was reversed by the Fifth Circuit, stating that only the Supreme Court could overturn the Supreme Court precedence from Rostker. The Supreme Court considered but declined to review the Fifth Circuit's ruling in June 2021. In an opinion authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor and joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh, the three justices agreed that the male-only draft was likely unconstitutional given the changes in the military's stance on the roles, but because Congress had been reviewing and evaluating legislation to eliminate its male-only draft requirement via the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (NCMNPS) since 2016, it would have been inappropriate for the Court to act at that time.
On 1 October 1999, in Taiwan, the Judicial Yuan of the Republic of China in its Interpretation 490 considered that the physical differences between males and females and the derived role differentiation in their respective social functions and lives would not make drafting only males a violation of the Constitution of the Republic of China. Though women are not conscripted in Taiwan, transsexual persons are exempt.
In 2018, the Netherlands started including women in its draft registration system, although conscription is not currently enforced for either sex. France and Portugal, where conscription was abolished, extended their symbolic, mandatory day of information on the armed forces for young people - called Defence and Citizenship Day in France and Day of National Defence in Portugal – to women in 1997 and 2008, respectively; at the same time, the military registry of both countries and obligation of military service in case of war was extended to women. Code du Service National Dia de Defesa Nacional
The reasons for refusing to serve in the military are varied. Some people are conscientious objectors for religious reasons. In particular, the members of the historic peace churches are pacifism by doctrine, and Jehovah's Witnesses, while not strictly pacifists, refuse to participate in the armed forces on the ground that they believe that Christians should be neutral in international conflicts.
| +Conscription by country – Examples ! width="170" | Country ! Conscription ! Sex | |
| Yes | N/A | |
| No (abolished in 2010) | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| (see details) | No. Voluntary; conscription may be required for specified reasons per Article 19 of Public Law No.24.429 promulgated on 5 January 1995. | N/A |
| Yes | Male | |
| (see details) | No (abolished by parliament in 1972) | N/A |
| Yes (alternative service available) | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No (but can volunteer for service in Bangladesh Ansar) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No (suspended in 1992; service not required of draftees inducted for 1994 military classes or any thereafter) | N/A | |
| No. Laws allow for conscription only if volunteers are insufficient, but conscription has never been implemented. | N/A | |
| Yes | Male and female | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes (whenever annual number of volunteers falls short of government's goal) | Male and female | |
| No (abolished on 1 January 2006) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes, but almost all recruits have been volunteers in recent years. (Alternative service is cited in Brazilian law, Lei No 4.375, de 17 de Agosto de 1964. – Military Service Law at government's official website but a system has not been implemented.) | Male |
| No | N/A | |
| No (abolished by law on 1 January 2008) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| (see details) | No. Legislative provision making all men of military age a Reserve Militia member was removed in 1904. Conscription into a full-time military service took place in both world wars, with 1945 being the last year conscription was practice. | N/A |
| Yes (selective compulsory military service) | Male and female | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No, however Male citizens 18 years of age and over are required to register for military service in People's Liberation Army recruiting offices (registration exempted for residents of Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions). | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| No (ended in 1969) | N/A | |
| Yes (conscription is reportedly not enforced) | Male and female | |
| No. Abolished by law in 2008, announced reintroduction by mid-2025. | Male | |
| Yes | Male and female | |
| (see details) | Yes (alternative service available) | Male |
| No (abolished in 2005) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes (alternative service available) | Male until 2026; Male and female from 2026. |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No (suspended in 2008) | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes (alternative service available) | Male |
| No. Legal, not practiced. | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes (18 months by law, but often extended indefinitely) | Male and female | |
| Yes (alternative service available) | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| No, but the military can conduct callups when necessary. | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes (alternative service available) | Male |
| No (suspended during peacetime in 2001). A voluntary national service ( Service national universel, with the option of military or civil service for men and women) was instituted in 2021. | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes | Male |
| (see details) | No (suspended during peacetime by the federal legislature from 1 July 2011) Reintroduced if volunteers are insufficient. | N/A |
| No (abolished in 2023) | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes (alternative service available) | Male |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes | Male and female | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No (peacetime conscription abolished in 2014) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No (abolished in 2003) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes | Male and female Jews, male Druze and Circassians |
| No (suspended during peacetime in 2005) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No (abolished in 1945) | N/A | |
| Yes (ended in 1992, reinstated in September 2020 for unemployed men) | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes (abolished in 2007, reintroduced on January 1, 2024) | Male | |
| No (abolished in 2007) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes About 3,000–4,000 conscripts each year must be selected, of whom up to 10% serve involuntarily.) | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No. Malaysian National Service was suspended from January 2015 due to government budget cuts. It resumed in 2016, then was abolished in 2018. However, in 2023 the government announced its revival pending approval in 2024. National Service Malaysia resumed again in January 2025 for supervised trial training Malaysian Armed Forces with collaboration various government agencies for the nationhood module. | Male and female | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male and female | |
| No | N/A | |
| No (there is a compulsory two-year military service law, but the law has never been enforced in practice.) | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes (reintroduced in 2018) | Male and female | |
| (see details) | Yes | Male and female |
| (see details) | Yes, enforced . Facing setbacks against resistance forces, Myanmar’s military government activates conscription law. AP News. February 10, 2024. | Male and female |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
(see details) | No. Active conscription suspended in 1997 (except in Curaçao and Aruba).Conscription still exists, but compulsory attendance was held in abeyance in 1 January 1997 (effective from 22 August 1996), | Male and female |
| No (abolished in December 1972) | N/A | |
| No (abolished in 1990) | N/A | |
| Yes (selective compulsory military service for unmarried men and women) | Male and female | |
| No. However, under Nigeria's National Youths Service Corps Act, graduates from tertiary institutions are required to undertake national service for a year. The service begins with a 3-week military training. | ||
| Yes | Male and female | |
| No (abolished in 2006) | N/A | |
| Yes by law, but in practice people are not forced to serve against their will. Conscientious objectors have not been prosecuted since 2011; they are simply exempted from service. | Male and female | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No (abolished in 1999) | N/A | |
| (see details) | No (abolished in 2016) | N/A |
| No. Suspended in 2012, but military registration is still required."Poland's defence minister, Bogdan Klich, said the country will move towards a professional army and that from January, only volunteers will join the armed forces.", | N/A | |
| No. Peacetime conscription abolished in 2004, but there remains a symbolic military obligation for all 18-year-olds, of both sexes: National Defense Day ( Dia da Defesa Nacional). | Male and female | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No (stopped in January 2007) | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes (alternative service available) | Male |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male and female | |
| (see details) | No. Abolished on January 1, 2011, but will be reintroduced in November 2025. | N/A |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No (abolished on January 1, 2006) | N/A | |
| No (abolished in 2003) | N/A | |
| No (conscription of men aged 18–40 and women aged 18–30 is authorized, but not currently used) | N/A | |
| No (ended in 1994) | N/A | |
| (see details) | Yes (alternative service available). The military service law was established in 1948. | Male |
| Yes | Male and female | |
| No (abolished by law on 31 December 2001) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes. law allows for conscription of women, but this is not implemented in practice. | Male and female | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes. Abolished in 2010 but reintroduced in 2017 (alternative service available) | Male and female | |
| Yes (alternative service available) The situation of conscientious objectors in Switzerland – compared with the guidelines of the European Union, zentralstelle-kdv.de | Male | |
| No (abolished in 2024) | N/A | |
| Yes (alternative service available). According to the Defence Minister, from 2018 there will be no compulsory enrollment for military service; however, all men born after 1995 will be subject to four months of compulsory military training, increasing to one full year after 2024 (for men born after 2005). | Male | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes (selective conscription for 2 years of public service) | Male and female | |
| Yes, but can be exempted if three years of Territorial Defense Student training are completed. Students who start but do not complete a Ror Dor course in high school are still permitted to continue coursework for two more years at a university. Otherwise, they face training or must draw a conscription lottery "black card". The government intends to abolish these rules in 2027. | Male | |
| Yes (authorized in 2020) | Male and female | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male and female | |
| (see details) | Yes | Male |
| Yes | Male | |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes (abolished in 2013, reinstated in 2014 due to the Russo-Ukrainian War) | Male | |
| Yes (alternative service available). Implemented in 2014, compulsory for all male citizens aged 18–30. | Male | |
| (see details) | No. Required from 1916 until 1920 and from 1939 until 31 December 1960 (except for the Bermuda Regiment, abolished in 2018). | N/A |
| (see details) | No. Ended in 1973, but registration is still required of all men aged 18–25. | N/A |
| No | N/A | |
| Yes | Male | |
| Yes | Male and female | |
| Yes | Male | |
| No (abolished in 2001) | N/A | |
| No | N/A | |
| No | N/A |
Conscription into a full-time military service had only been instituted twice by the government of Canada, during both world wars. Conscription into the Canadian Expeditionary Force was practiced in the last year of the First World War in 1918. During the Second World War, conscription for home defence was introduced in 1940 and for overseas service in 1944. Conscription has not been practiced in Canada since the end of the Second World War in 1945.
, universal military conscription is theoretically mandatory in China, and reinforced by law. However, due to the large population of China and large pool of candidates available for recruitment, the People's Liberation Army has always had sufficient volunteers, so conscription has not been required in practice.
Since 12 February 1849, every physically fit man must do military service. According to §81 in the Constitution of Denmark, which was promulgated in 1849:
Every male person able to carry arms shall be liable with his person to contribute to the defence of his country under such rules as are laid down by Statute. — Constitution of DenmarkThe legislation about compulsory military service is articulated in the Danish Law of Conscription. National service takes 4–12 months. It is possible to postpone the duty when one is still in full-time education. Every male turning 18 will be drafted to the 'Day of Defence', where they will be introduced to the Danish military and their health will be tested. Physically unfit persons are not required to do military service. It is only compulsory for men, while women are free to choose to join the Danish army. Almost all of the men have been volunteers in recent years, 96.9% of the total number of recruits having been volunteers in the 2015 draft.
After lottery, one can become a conscientious objector. Total objection (refusal from alternative civilian service) results in up to 4 months jailtime according to the law. However, in 2014 a Danish man, who signed up for the service and objected later, got only 14 days of home arrest.
In the formative years, conscripts had to serve an 18-month term. An amendment passed in 1994 shortened this to 12 months. Further revisions in 2003 established an eleven-month term for draftees trained as NCOs and drivers, and an eight-month term for rank & file. Under the current system, the yearly draft is divided into three "waves" – separate batches of eleven-month conscripts start their service in January and July while those selected for an eight-month term are brought in on October. An estimated 3200 people go through conscript service every year.
From 2013, women have been able to voluntarily join the conscription under the same conditions as men, the only difference being the norms of the general fitness tests and a 90-day window during which women can leave the service.
Conscripts serve in all branches of the Estonian Defence Forces except the air force which only relies on paid professionals due to its highly technical nature and security concerns. Historically, draftees could also be assigned to the border guard (before it switched to an all-volunteer model in 2000), a special rapid response unit of the Estonian Police (disbanded in 1997) or three militarized rescue companies within the Estonian Rescue Board (disbanded in 2004).
Conscription can take the form of military or of civilian service. According to 2021 data, 65% of Finnish males entered and finished the military service. The number of female volunteers to annually enter armed service had stabilised at approximately 300. Annual Report 2011. Page 29 Finnish Defence Forces The service period is 165, 255 or 347 days for the rank and file conscripts and 347 days for conscripts trained as NCOs or reserve officers. The length of civilian service is always twelve months. Those electing to serve unarmed in duties where unarmed service is possible serve either nine or twelve months, depending on their training. Siviilipalveluslaki (1446/2007) ( Civilian service act), 4§. Retrieved 1-24-2008. Asevelvollisuuslaki (1438/2007) ( Conscription act), 37 §. Retrieved 1-24-2008.
Any Finnish male citizen who refuses to perform both military and civilian service faces a penalty of 173 days in prison, minus any served days. Such sentences are usually served fully in prison, with no parole. ( Civilian service act), 74, 81§§. Retrieved 4-17-2013. Asevelvollisuuslaki (1438/2007) ( Conscription act), 118 §. Retrieved 1-24-2008 Jehovah's Witnesses are no longer exempted from service as of 27 February 2019. The inhabitants of demilitarized Åland are exempt from military service. By the Conscription Act of 1951, they are, however, required to serve a time at a local institution, like the coast guard. However, until such service has been arranged, they are freed from service obligation. The non-military service of Åland has not been arranged since the introduction of the act, and there are no plans to institute it. The inhabitants of Åland can also volunteer for military service on the mainland. As of 1995, women are permitted to serve on a voluntary basis and pursue careers in the military after their initial voluntary military service.
The military service takes place in Finnish Defence Forces or in the Finnish Border Guard. All services of the Finnish Defence Forces train conscripts. However, the Border Guard trains conscripts only in land-based units, not in coast guard detachments or in the Border Guard Air Wing. Civilian service may take place in the Civilian Service Center in Lapinjärvi or in an accepted non-profit organization of educational, social or medical nature.
In 2025, Germany began steps towards potentially reintroducing conscription, which had been suspended in 2011. The new policy included compulsory questionnaires for 18-year-old men. Extending the conscription system to women, which is discussed, would require a constitutional change. The government aimes to raise troop numbers to meet NATO commitments, including plans for an additional 100,000 personnel by 2029.
However, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius explained that, for the time being, mandatory conscription would not return "in the immediate future."
/ref>
Universal conscription was introduced in Greece during the military reforms of 1909, although various forms of selective conscription had been in place earlier. In more recent years, conscription was associated with the state of general mobilisation declared on 20 July 1974, due to the crisis in Cyprus (the mobilisation was formally ended on 18 December 2002).
The duration of military service has historically ranged between 9 and 36 months depending on various factors either particular to the conscript or the political situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. Although women are employed by the Greek army as officers and soldiers, they are not obliged to enlist. Soldiers receive no health insurance, but they are provided with medical support during their army service, including hospitalization costs.
Greece enforces conscription for all male citizens aged between 19 and 45. In August 2009, duration of the mandatory service was reduced from 12 months as it was before to 9 months for the army, but remained at 12 months for the navy and the air force. The number of conscripts allocated to the latter two has been greatly reduced aiming at full professionalization. Nevertheless, mandatory military service at the army was once again raised to 12 months in March 2021, unless served in units in Evros or the North Aegean islands where duration was kept at 9 months. Although full professionalization is under consideration, severe financial difficulties and mismanagement, including delays and reduced rates in the hiring of professional soldiers, as well as widespread abuse of the deferment process, has resulted in the postponement of such a plan.
In Iran, men who refuse to go to military service are deprived of their citizenship rights, such as employment, health insurance, continuing their education at university, finding a job, going abroad, opening a bank account, etc. Iranian men have so far opposed mandatory military service and demanded that military service in Iran become a job like in other countries, but the Islamic Republic is opposed to this demand. Some Iranian military commanders consider the elimination of conscription or improving the condition of soldiers as a security issue and one of Ali Khamenei's powers as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, so they treat it with caution. In Iran, usually wealthy people are exempted from conscription. Some other men can be exempted from conscription due to their fathers serving in the Iran-Iraq war.
Some Israeli citizens are exempt from mandatory service:
All of the exempt above are eligible to volunteer to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as long as they declare so.
Male Druze and male Circassians Israeli citizens are liable for conscription, in accordance with agreement set by their community leaders (their community leaders however signed a clause in which all female Druze and female Circassian are exempt from service).
A few male Bedouin Israeli citizens choose to enlist to the Israeli military in every draft (despite their Muslim-Arab background that exempt them from conscription).
Later on, conscription was used for all men over the age of 18. Postponement was possible, due to study, for example. Conscientious objectors could perform an alternative civilian service instead of military service. For various reasons, this forced military service was criticized at the end of the twentieth century. Since the Cold War was over, so was the direct threat of a war. Instead, the Dutch army was employed in more and more peacekeeping operations. The complexity and danger of these missions made the use of conscripts controversial. Furthermore, the conscription system was thought to be unfair as only men were drafted.
In the European part of Netherlands, compulsory attendance has been officially suspended since 1 May 1997. Between 1991 and 1996, the Dutch armed forces phased out their conscript personnel and converted to an all-professional force. The last conscript troops were inducted in 1995, and demobilized in 1996. The suspension means that citizens are no longer forced to serve in the armed forces, as long as it is not required for the safety of the country. Since then, the Dutch army has become an all-professional force. However, to this day, every male and – from January 2020 onward – female citizen aged 17 gets a letter in which they are told that they have been registered but do not have to present themselves for service.
In addition to the military service, the Norwegian government draft a total of 8,000 men and women between 18 and 55 to non-military Civil defense duty. (Not to be confused with Alternative civilian service.) Former service in the military does not exclude anyone from later being drafted to the Civil defence, but an upper limit of total 19 months of service applies. Neglecting mobilisation orders to training exercises and actual incidents, may impose fines.
On 15 December 2010, the Parliament of Serbia voted to suspend mandatory military service. The decision fully came into force on 1 January 2011. Vojska Srbije od sutra i zvanično profesionalna. – Politika
In September 2024, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević announced that conscription will return in September 2025 with the mandatory military service lasting 75 days. Civil service will still be possible as an alternative.
In 2010, conscription was made gender-neutral, meaning both women and men would be conscripted on equal terms. The conscription system was simultaneously deactivated in peacetime. Seven years later, referencing increased military threat, the Swedish Government reactivated military conscription. Beginning in 2018, both men and women are conscripted.
Conscription was reintroduced in 1939, in the lead up to World War II, and continued in force until 1963. Northern Ireland was exempted from conscription legislation throughout the whole period.
In all, eight million men were conscripted during both World Wars, as well as several hundred thousand younger single women.Roger Broad, Conscription in Britain 1939–1964: The Militarization of a Generation (2006) The introduction of conscription in May 1939, before the war began, was partly due to pressure from the French, who emphasized the need for a large British army to oppose the Germans.Daniel Hucker, "Franco-British Relations and the Question of Conscription in Britain, 1938–1939", Contemporary European History, November 2008, Vol. 17 Issue 4, pp 437–56 From early 1942 unmarried women age 20–30 were conscripted (unmarried women who had dependent children aged 14 or younger, including those who had illegitimate children or were widows with children were excluded). Most women who were conscripted were sent to the factories, but they could volunteer for the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) and other women's services. Some women served in the Women's Land Army: initially volunteers but later conscription was introduced. However, women who were already working in a skilled job considered helpful to the war effort, such as a General Post Office telephonist, were told to continue working as before. None was assigned to combat roles unless she volunteered. By 1943 women were liable to some form of directed labour up to age 51. During the Second World War, 1.4 million British men volunteered for service and 3.2 million were conscripted. Conscripts comprised 50% of the Royal Air Force, 60% of the Royal Navy and 80% of the British Army.
The abolition of conscription in Britain was announced on 4 April 1957, by new prime minister Harold Macmillan, with the last conscripts being recruited three years later.
In February 2019, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that male-only conscription registration breached the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. In National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, a case brought by a non-profit men's rights organization the National Coalition for Men against the U.S. Selective Service System, judge Gray H. Miller issued a declaratory judgment that the male-only registration requirement is unconstitutional, though did not specify what action the government should take. That ruling was reversed by the Fifth Circuit. In June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision by the Court of Appeals.
|
|
