Conscription in France

Historically, France relied a great deal on conscription to provide manpower for its military, in addition to a minority of professional career soldiers. Following the Algerian War, the use of non-volunteer draftees in foreign operations was ended; if their unit was called up for duty in war zones, draftees were offered the choice between requesting a transfer to another unit or volunteering for the active mission.

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 Frenchman 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, President Jacques Chirac's government announced the end of conscription^[1] and in 2001, conscription formally was ended. Young people must still, however, register for possible conscription (should the situation arise). A recent change is that women must now register as well.

History

World War I

In 1913 France introduced a "Three Year Law" to extend the service of French poilus to match the size of of the Kaiser's Army. France's population lagged significantly behind Germany in 1913; the population of mainland France was 40 million as opposed to Germany's 60 million.

French infantry posing in a trench

Fear of war meant another 2.9 million men were mobilized in the summer of 1914, and heavy losses on the Western Front forced France to conscript men up to the age of 45.

Due to France's horrendous losses^{[2] [3]} in the Great war there were several mutinies from within the French army.

World War 2

France retained conscription in the Second World War, however the birth rate dropped^[4] primarily due to the fact that over a million young Frenchmen had been killed off in the First World War and many more were wounded.

French morale also sunk and the French High Command mainly consisted of old commanders who lead troops in the first world war. On the outbreak of war the Commander in Chief General Maurice Gamelin was already past retirement age. By sending his best troops and the whole of the BEF through Belgium; he attempted to refight the great war, but gravely underestimated the German Army's tactics, which contributed to the Fall of France and occupation for over 4 long years.

References

1. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/conscription-drummed-out-as-france-gets-professional-1349677.html
2. ^ Forecast and solution: grappling with the nuclear, a trilogy for everyone By Ike Jeanes
3. ^ France and World War I: Western Front, Raymond Poincaré, Sykes-picot Agreement, Entente Cordiale, French Army Mutinies, a Very Long Engagement
4. ^ The World at War episode 3 "France Falls"