History Analysis / Conscription

Most democratic countries today have all-volunteer professional armies, but dictatorships have invariably conscription armies. The male psyche is malleable in his late teens and early twenties, and subjecting him to the brutalizing conditions in a coerced military is a way to make him into an obedient and servile SlaveMook. The Disney film ''WesternAnimation/EducationForDeath'' describes this process chillingly. It can also be used on crushing the dissidents: [Activists in Russia say military conscription is a weapon for silencing dissent https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210503-activists-in-russia-say-military-conscription-is-a-weapon-for-silencing-dissent]

Most democratic countries today have all-volunteer professional armies, but dictatorships have invariably conscription armies. The male psyche is malleable in his late teens and early twenties, and subjecting him to the brutalizing conditions in a coerced military is a way to make him into an obedient and servile SlaveMook. The Disney film ''WesernAnimation/EducationForDeath'' describes this process chillingly. It can also be used on crushing the dissidents: [Activists in Russia say military conscription is a weapon for silencing dissent https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210503-activists-in-russia-say-military-conscription-is-a-weapon-for-silencing-dissent]

Since conscription is based on coercion by definition, the line between conscription and chattel slavery is sometimes blurred. The armed forces of the Soviet Union were notorious for using conscripts as badly underpaid workers in civil projects, such as constructing railroads, harvesting crops, and demolishing buildings, and the quality of their work suffered from the expected corruption and lack of skill. Conscripts often have zero enthusiasm for the labor they are made to perform, [[http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20110527/164278438.html causing damage through negligence and/or indifference]]. Conscript soldiers in UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan were subject to extreme abuse, as they grimly joked that their lives were worth only 1 sen 5 rin (the cost of a single postage stamp, for sending a draft notice), and were called upon to do all sorts of drudgery at their superiors' whim. Aside from their traditional roles, contemporary Egypt uses its conscripts as a labor pool for the military's large economic infrastructure, and Israel uses theirs in the role of auxiliary police. Conscription also heavily overlaps with [[PressGanged press-ganging]]: several countries are known to use either the threat of heavy penalties or of considerable force to bring unwilling conscript recruits to barracks. In Finland it is not unusual for unwilling and drunken recruits to be escorted to their barracks by the police. Attempting to avoid service in peacetime may easily lead to imprisonment, and during the wartime, execution.

The use of conscription was formalized in many western nations during the 19th and early 20th centuries, often together with the gradual introduction of democracy. The idea was that if a man had the right to have his say in the governance of the nation, he also had the duty to defend it. The heyday of conscription was from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 to UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, when its popularity in the Western world began to wane. The FalklandsWar of 1982 was the first war in which a smaller but more capable and technologically advanced professional force defeated a larger conscription army. The population of Western Europe has increasingly viewed conscription as an anachronism since the 1990s, but some countries still cling to it. As conscription is a fairly efficient method of quickly raising numerically strong armies, some countries such as Sweden have planned on reinstating it.

Since conscription is based on coercion [[CaptainObvious by definition]], the line between conscription and chattel slavery is sometimes blurred. The armed forces of the Soviet Union were notorious for using conscripts as badly underpaid workers in civil projects, such as constructing railroads, harvesting crops, and demolishing buildings, and the quality of their work suffered from the expected corruption and lack of skill. Conscripts often have zero enthusiasm for the labor they are made to perform, [[http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20110527/164278438.html causing damage through negligence and/or indifference]]. Conscript soldiers in UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan were subject to extreme abuse, as they grimly joked that their lives were worth only 1 sen 5 rin (the cost of a single postage stamp, for sending a draft notice), and were called upon to do all sorts of drudgery at their superiors' whim. Aside from their traditional roles, contemporary Egypt uses its conscripts as a labor pool for the military's large economic infrastructure, and Israel uses theirs in the role of auxiliary police. Conscription also heavily overlaps with [[PressGanged press-ganging]]: several countries are known to use either the threat of heavy penalties or of considerable force to bring unwilling conscript recruits to barracks. In Finland it is not unusual for unwilling and drunken recruits to be escorted to their barracks by the police. Attempting to avoid service in peacetime may easily lead to imprisonment, and during the wartime, execution.

The use of conscription was formalized in many western nations during the 19th and early 20th centuries, often together with the gradual introduction of democracy. The idea was that if a man had the right to have his say in the governance of the nation, he also had the duty to defend it. The heyday of conscription was from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 to UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, when its popularity in the Western world began to wane. The FalklandsWar of 1982 was the first war in which a smaller but more technologically advanced and capable professional force defeated a larger conscription army. The population of Western Europe has increasingly viewed conscription as an anachronism since the 1990s, but some countries still cling to it. As conscription is a fairly efficient method of quickly raising numerically strong armies, some countries such as Sweden have planned on reinstating it.

The use of conscription were formalized in many western nations during the 19th and early 20th centuries, often together with the gradual introduction of democracy. The idea were that if a man has the right to have his say in the governance of the nation, he also has the duty to defend it. The heyday of conscription was from Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871 through both World Wars to UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, when its popularity in the Western world began to wane. The FalklandsWar 1982 was the first war where a smaller but more technologically advanced and capable professional force defeated a larger conscription army. Since 1990s, conscription has been seen in the Western Europe more and more as an anachronism, yet some countries still cling to it. But as conscription is a fairly efficient method of raising numerically strong armies quickly, some countries, such as Sweden, have planned on reinstating it.

Since conscription is [[CaptainObvious by definition]] based on coercion, the line between chattel slavery and conscription is sometimes very thin. The armed forces of the Soviet Union was notorious for using conscripts as a very underpaid work force for civilian work, such as building railroads, collecting harvest, demolishing buildings etc.-and often suffering from the expected abuses of corruption and quality expected with untrained labor. Very often they have absolutely zero interest on what they are doing, [[http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20110527/164278438.html causing damage by negligence and/or indifference]]. Conscript soldiers in UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan were subject to extreme abuse, as they grimly joked that their lives were worth only 1 sen 5 rin (i.e. worth a single postage stamp, for sending a draft notice), and were called upon to do all manner of drudgery at their superiors' whim. Aside from their traditional roles, contemporary Egypt uses conscripts as a labor pool for the military's large economic infrastructure, and Israel uses theirs in the role of auxiliary police. Conscription also heavily overlaps with [[PressGanged press-ganging]]: several countries are known to use either the threat of heavy penalties or considerable force to bring unwilling conscript recruits to barracks. It is not unusual in Finland the unwilling and drunken recruits being brought to barracks on police escort. In peacetime, attempting to avoid service may easily lead into imprisonment, during the wartime, into execution.

The quality of drafted armies vary greatly, from the borderline SlaveMooks of the most crackpot third-world dictatorship to the EliteArmy of nations such as Israel. It is often tied with the overall state of the nation. A rich, modern democracy can give their forces world-class training and equipment and institute their recruited with the idea that their tour of duty is both necessary and educating, if a tad obstructive. On the other hand, lack of resources and inhumane treatment (often a symptom of a corrupt, authoritarian government) lead to quality and morale plummeting. But one should be careful about this generalization: even a brutalized conscript army can be a effective fighting force if properly equipped, motivated, and led and historically such conscript armies have managed to achieve just as much as professional ones. Likewise in a war, the quality difference between conscripts and professionals tends to even up the longer the conflict continues. Also in many conscription armies, elite troops such as paratroopers or marines are formed of volunteers.

Nevertheless, conscript armies can be very effective because of the sheer numbers and how [[WeHaveReserves it is renewable]], and conscription may be the only way for a small nation to raise a credible-sized army.

While conscription was theorized already by Machiavelli and the Enlightenment philosophers, the French were the first to set up a [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution national conscription army]]. Conscription became the universal ''de facto'' method of raising armies after the UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution. Mass production and railways for transportation made it possible to raise enormous armies, equip and feed them. Without conscription it would have been [[MillionMookMarch impossible to raise the humongous armies]] which participated in the mass battles in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

The use of conscription were formalized in many western nations during the 19th and early 20th centuries, often together with the gradual introduction of democracy. The idea were that if a man has the right to have his say in the governance of the nation, he also has the duty to defend it. The heyday of conscription was from Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871 through both World Wars to UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, when its popularity in the Western world began to wane. The FalklandsWar 1982 was the first war where a smaller but more technologically advanced and capable professional force defeated a larger conscription army. Since 1990s, conscription has been seen in the Western Europe more and more as an anachronism, yet some countries still cling to it. But as conscription is a fairly efficient method on raising numerically strong armies quickly, some countries, such as Sweden, have planned on reinstating it.