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For military service in the meaning of (branches of) an army as military defense organisation, see armed forces. Military service is service in an army or other military organisation, whether as a chosen job or as the result of an involuntary draft (in that case usually termed conscription). Argentina Argentina suspended military conscription in 1994 and replaced it with a voluntary military service, yet those already in service had to finish their time in service. This came as a result of political and social distrust of the military, dwindling budgets which forced the military to induct fewer conscripts every year, the experience of the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War which proved the superiority of professional servicemen over conscripts and a series of conscription-related brutality scandals which came to a head with the murder of Private Omar Carrasco at an Army base in 1994, following a brutal disciplinary action. It should be noted that military conscription has not been abolished; the Mandatory Military Service Law is still in the books and might be enforced in times of war, crisis or national emergency. Conscription is known in Argentina as la colimba. The word colimba is a composite word made from the initial syllables of the verbs correr (to run), limpiar (to clean) and barrer (to sweep), as it was perceived that all a conscript did during service was running, cleaning and sweeping. Conscripts themselves were known and referred to as "colimbas". Australia See main article: Conscription in Australia Australia currently has no conscription. Belgium Belgium suspended military conscription in 1994. Canada See main articles: Conscription Crisis of 1917 and Conscription Crisis of 1944 In Canada conscription has never taken place in peacetime. Conscription became an extremely controversial issue during both World War I and World War II, especially in the province of Quebec. Czech Republic The Czech Republic abolished compulsory military service on December 31, 2004. See announcement by the Minister of Defence and related BBC News article. France Modern conscription was invented during the French Revolution, when the Republic wanted a stronger defense and to expand its radical ideas throughout Europe. The 1798 Jourdan Act stated: "Any French is a soldier and owes himself to the defense of the nation". Thus Napoleon Bonaparte could create afterward the Grande Armée with which he set out on the first large intra-European war. France suspended peacetime military conscription in 1996, while those born before 1979 had to complete their service (see related BBC News article); since the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), conscripts had not been deployed abroad or in war zones, except those volunteering for such deployments. Hungary Hungary abolished mandatory military service by November 2004, after the parliament had modified the constitution, ending a long-standing political dispute. To restore drafting, a two-thirds vote in parliament is needed, which is unlikely in the short term. The country is currently developing a professional army, with strong emphasis on "contract soldiers" who voluntarily serve 4+4 years for a wage. India India has never had mandatory military service, either under British rule or since independence in 1947. It maintains the world's second largest army which is purely voluntary in nature. Iraq Saddam Hussein's large Iraqi army was largely composed of conscripts, except for the elite Republican Guard. About 100,000 conscripts died during the First Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm. In the intervening years, Iraq's military suffered from decay and poor leadership, but there was still compulsory service. One program of note was "Ashbal Saddam" known as "Saddam's Cubs" where children were trained to defend Iraq through "toughening" exercises such as firearms training and dismembering live chickens with their teeth. Following the Second Gulf War where the original military was disbanded, the Iraqi Army was recreated as a volunteer force with training overseen at first by the Coalition Provisional Authority and later by the American presence. Republic of Ireland The Republic of Ireland has always had a fully volunteer military. See the Irish Defence Forces. The threat of conscription being extended to Ireland in the First World War contributed to the creation of the Irish Free State in the 1920s. (Also see: United Kingdom below). Italy Italy had mandatory military service, for men only, until December 31 2004. The right to conscientious objection was legally recognized in 1972 so that a "non armed military service", or a community service, could be authorised as an alternative to those who required it. The Italian Parliament approved the abolishment of the mandatory military service in 2004, with effect starting from January 1 2005, and the Italian armed forces will now be entirely composed of professional volunteer troops, both male and female. Japan Japan's Self Defence Forces have been a volunteer force since their establishment in the 1950s, following the end of the Allied occupation. As the Japanese constitution expressly prohibits Japan from maintaining any offensive military force, conscription will most likely not be an issue in the near future. Luxembourg Luxembourg has a volunteer military. See the National Museum of Military History. Morocco Morocco eliminated compulsory military service as of August 31, 2006. Netherlands The Netherlands established conscription for a territorial militia in 1814, simultaneously establishing a standing army which was to be manned by volunteers only. However, lack of sufficient volunteers caused the two components to be merged in 1819 into a "cadre-militia" army, in which the bulk of troops were conscripts, led by professional officers and NCOs. This system remained in use until the end of the Cold War. Between 1991 and 1996, the Dutch armed forces phased out their conscript personnel and converted to an all-volunteer force. The last conscript troops were inducted in 1995 and demobilized in 1996. Formally, the Netherlands has not abolished conscription; that is to say, the laws and systems which provide for the conscription of armed forces personnel remain in place, and Dutch citizens who completed their military service prior to 1996 can still, theoretically, be mobilized in the event of a national emergency. New Zealand See main article: Compulsory Military Training in New Zealand Conscription of men into the armed forces of New Zealand came into effect in 1940, and was abolished in 1972. Portugal Portugal abolished compulsory military service on November 19, 2004. See an announcement by the Minister of Defence. Romania Romania abolished compulsory military service on October 23, 2006. This came about due to a 2003 constitutional amendment which allowed the parliament to make military service optional. The Romanian Parliament voted to abolish conscription in October 2005, with the vote formalising one of many military modernisation and reform programmes that Romania agreed to when it joined NATO. Slovakia Slovakia abolished compulsory military service on January 1, 2006. Slovenia Slovenia's Prime Minister Anton Rop abolished mandatory military service on September 9 2003. See the official press release. South Africa South Africa under the apartheid system had two years of compulsory military service for white men, followed by camps at intervals. This was abolished in 1994. See End Conscription Campaign. Spain Spain abolished compulsory military service in 2001. See an announcement by the Minister of Defence. Military and alternative service was nine months long and in recent years the majority of conscripts chose to perform alternative, rather than military, service. United Kingdom The United Kingdom introduced conscription during both world wars. For the first two years of World War I the British relied on volunteers. But by 1916 the need for yet more soldiers to replace losses at the front, forced the British Government to introduce conscription under the Military Service Act. Conscientious objectors received relatively harsh treatment in the 1914-18 war. Most had to do war-related work of a non-military sort. Some went to jail. Ireland was initially exempt from conscription in the First World War, but it was extended to Ireland on April 9, 1918. This led a Conscription Crisis in Ireland and was a decisive factor in pushing the country into seeking its independence. The poet W.B. Yeats wrote to Lord Haldane in protest: "...it seems to me a strangely wanton thing that England, for the sake of 50,000 Irish soldiers, is prepared to hollow another trench between the countries and fill it with blood." Also in protest, Lady Gregory declared "women and children will stand in front of their men and receive the bullets, rather than let them be taken to the front." Northern Ireland was exempt from conscription in the Second World War, and was also excluded from the post-war National Service. Conscription was reintroduced in 1939 at the start of World War II. Not only was conscription used for the three branches of the armed forces, it was also introduced to aid in coal mining with the Bevin Boys, and later in the war with the introduction of conscription of women into the Women's Land Army to help with agricultural production. Conscientious objectors were treated more tolerantly, but could still go to prison if they refused war-related work. After World War II, the Government introduced National Service, which was abolished in 1963. United States The United States has employed conscription intermittently. For example, in 1863 the imposition of a draft during the Civil War touched off the New York Draft Riots. Conscription was next used after the United States entered World War I in 1917. The first peacetime conscription came with the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. Active conscription ("the draft") ended in 1973. Currently, male U.S. citizens and many male foreigners living in the U.S., if aged eighteen through twenty five, are required to register * with the Selective Service System, whose mission is "to provide manpower to the armed forces in an emergency" including a "Health Care Personnel Delivery System" * and "to run an Alternative Service Program for men classified as conscientious objectors during a draft." No one has been prosecuted for violating the conscription law in the USA since 1986. * Countries with mandatory military service See: Conscription See also | |||||||
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