Conscription, also called the draft or compulsory military service, is a legal mechanism by which governments require eligible citizens—usually young adult males, though increasingly both sexes—to serve in the military for a defined period. It contrasts with an all-volunteer force (AVF), in which service is contractual and market-based.
Modern conscription is often traced to the levée en masse decreed by the French National Convention in August 1793, which mobilized the entire population for revolutionary war. Prussia's post-1813 reforms and later Napoleonic-era systems spread the model across continental Europe. By the 20th century, mass conscription underpinned both World Wars and Cold War militaries on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
State practice today varies widely:
- Active conscription: Israel, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Turkey, and (since 2017) Sweden and (since 2018) France's limited civic service revival maintain compulsory service. Norway and Sweden conscript women as well as men.
- Suspended but legally available: Germany suspended conscription in 2011; debate over reinstatement intensified after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
- Abolished: The United Kingdom ended National Service in 1960; the United States ended the draft in 1973 after the Vietnam War, though males 18–25 must still register with the Selective Service System.
- Wartime mobilization: Ukraine imposed martial law and general mobilization in February 2022; Russia announced a "partial mobilization" in September 2022.
International law touches conscription in several places. Article 8 of the ICCPR (1966) prohibits forced labor but explicitly excludes military service and recognized alternatives for conscientious objectors. The UN Human Rights Committee has recognized conscientious objection as derived from Article 18 (freedom of religion and conscience). The Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000) sets 18 as the minimum age for compulsory recruitment.
Policy debates center on military readiness, social cohesion, civil-military relations, gender equality, and the rights of conscientious objectors.
Example
Following Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing general mobilization, conscripting men aged 18–60 and barring most from leaving the country.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Article 8(3) of the ICCPR explicitly excludes 'service of a military character' from its prohibition on forced labor, leaving conscription a matter of domestic law, though states must accommodate conscientious objectors under Article 18.
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