Conscription

I

Introduction

Conscription, system of compulsory enrollment of men and women into the armed forces. Conscripts are distinguished from volunteers and professionals, as well as from mercenaries, who offer their service to any government solely for pay. Conscripts may be called to serve in time of peace in order to train for war; they may be called into uniform in time of emergency. In the United States, conscription is popularly called “the draft” and, by legislative enactment, Selective Service.

II

History

Military service as a fundamental obligation of citizenship dates from early times. In the ancient Greek city-states, young men were required to serve several years in the citizen militia, a system that reached its highest development in the citizen-soldier class of martial Sparta. In the Roman Republic compulsory service in the militia was regarded as a privilege, and all male citizens between the ages of 17 and 60 served without pay, the older men being restricted to garrison duty. Delinquency was punished by imprisonment and confiscation of property. Toward the end of the 2nd century bc, the citizen militia was replaced by professionals and mercenaries.

When weapons were expensive, armies were small and aristocratic, as in the Middle Ages. When weapons were cheap, armies became large and democratic, as after the development of firearms. Poor nations depended on citizen militias and mercenaries. Universal compulsory service was suggested by the Italian statesman, historian, and political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli in the 16th century, and the Swiss army was composed entirely of conscripted troops. By the 18th century, military ranks were filled by the poorest of society, and impressment and enticement were the usual methods of recruiting.

III

Conscription in Europe

Conscription in its modern form arose in revolutionary France, where universal military service was regarded both as a Republican duty, based on the principles of equality and fraternity, and as a necessity for national survival. In August 1793, a law limited liability for service to men between the ages of 18 and 25. They registered in their localities, and the youngest were called first, the others being chosen if more men were needed. On the eve of war with Austria in 1796, France modified the procedure by instituting universal military service by classes for men between 20 and 25 years of age. The first class consisted of men of 20 and 21 years, who provided the basic contingent of conscripts. The other classes served to the extent necessary to meet military requirements. Conscripted troops constituted the bulk of the French armies in the Napoleonic Wars, and more than 2.6 million men were inducted between 1800 and 1813.

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In 1808, Prussia instituted a system of universal conscription and, after 1815, put it into practice fully, without exemption because of social class or payment. All young men served a specified term of duty for military training.

By the end of the 19th century, all the Great Powers, except Britain and the United States, had systems of conscription during peacetime. By then, however, conscription began to decline in usefulness. Compulsory education replaced military service; weapons became more technical, requiring professional operators; and armies could not absorb all the young men of growing populations. Abuses in granting exemptions and deferments became common.

When total populations became vulnerable to attack from the air in the 20th century, industrial resources were mobilized on a forced basis, together with human resources. The nation-in-arms concept of Napoleonic times developed into the rigorous organization of the entire state conscripted for total war, as in Germany, Japan, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the 1930s.

IV

Conscription in the United States

In the United States, conscription was based on the colonial tradition of the militia, in which all able-bodied men, usually those between 16 and 60 years of age, were compelled to possess a weapon; to register on the lists of those available for service, called muster rolls; to train periodically with a unit; and to be liable for service. Forces raised for war consisted of volunteers, sometimes enticed by promises of land, money, or clothing. Such rewards were called bounties. If insufficient numbers came forward, however, men were drafted, usually by a modified lottery from the muster rolls. Married men, officials, teachers, and others were exempted. In February 1778, during the American Revolution, Congress faced a critical manpower shortage in the Continental Army and urged all the states to draft men. The entrance of France into the war made such action unnecessary, although conscription was practiced from time to time in the individual states to meet quotas. The Militia Act of 1792 made it obligatory for all free, white male citizens, 18 to 45 years old, to train and serve in the militia. This system soon declined, and volunteers provided the manpower for the War of 1812 and the Mexican War (1846-1848).

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), several states threatened to conscript soldiers as a means of stimulating volunteering. The Conscription Act of 1863 gave the president authority to draft men between the ages of 20 and 45 years, but widespread opposition and increased volunteering provoked by the measure suspended its implementation. The Confederate states enacted the Conscription Act of 1862, drafting men 18 to 35, but the exemptions and substitutions allowed made it less than universal in application.

Increasing numbers of men were obtained for the Union forces by the Draft Act of 1863, sometimes called the Enrollment Act. Applying to all men between the ages 20 and 35 and to those unmarried men between 35 and 45, it was designed to prompt additional volunteers. The act provided for draft evasion by permitting substitution, by which a drafted man could hire another to serve for him, and by commutation, through which a drafted man could pay $300 for his release. Although it ignited violent draft riots, especially those that occurred in New York City in July 1863, the law established the principles that every citizen had an obligation to defend the nation and that the federal government could call citizens to service directly without resorting to state action.

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