IV.

Conscription in the 20th Century

In World War I the Great Powers fought with conscripted military forces. Britain depended on volunteers until 1916, then resorted to compulsion. This spurred a number of Irishmen to join the armed uprising (Easter Rising) against British rule, although many more fought voluntarily for Britain in the war. The United States enacted the Selective Service Act of 1917 upon entering the war. Canada relied on volunteers until 1918, when it used conscripts. Australia used volunteers in World War I and New Zealand conscripted between 1901 and 1930. In World War II both countries began conscription, although Australia sent only volunteers to fight in Europe and North Africa.

Between the two world wars, all the Great Powers except Britain and the United States continued universal military service. Germany, although prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles from conscripting troops, reintroduced the system in May 1935. In May 1939 the British parliament adopted a Conscription Act, establishing a system of peacetime military training. Upon the outbreak of World War II, a law adopted on September 3, 1939, provided for conscripting all males between 18 and 41. In May 1940 Parliament adopted the Emergency Powers Defence Act, which mobilized the human and industrial resources of the nation.