Why does Europe return the call to the army
For at least the last three decades, the decisive trend in the recruitment of armed forces in most European countries has been their translation into a voluntary (contractual) principle of recruitment. Mandatory conscription was considered at the suggestion of left-liberal forces as something archaic, violating human rights and freedoms. Domestic opponents of compulsory military conscription were guided by the example of Western Europe.
Now everything is changing rapidly. For example, in Germany, the ruling party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) began to discuss the possibility of the return of the mandatory conscription to military service. Recall that the call to the Bundeswehr ceased seven years ago, in the year 2011. Then the abolition of the call, as it seemed, kept pace with the times, but then the attitude of the German authorities to this issue changed. In the CDU, they talk not only about the return of the compulsory draft, but also about the possibility of introducing a so-called “Universal compulsory national service” for all German men and women who have reached the age of 18. Of course, it’s still premature to talk about the introduction of such a service, but the members of the CDU are determined and, given that this is still the ruling party, they may well achieve their goal.
Initially, the country in which there was no military call was Great Britain. Even in the USA right up to the 1960. the army was recruited by conscription. This circumstance contributed to the emergence of the mass youth anti-war movement during the Vietnam War. Voyuy in Vietnam, some contractors, the American youth would pay much less attention to the hostilities in the distant Indochina. Ultimately, in 1973, the US Army moved completely to a contract basis. Today it is the largest army in the world, which is recruited exclusively by hiring volunteers. The Chinese and Russian armies are recruited by compulsory conscription for military service, although in the PRC the military department has, due to the enormous mobilization resources of the country, the ability to select only the best draftees from among men of military age.
In 2000 - 2010 - s. Europe has experienced a real epidemic of converting the armed forces to a contract basis. Thus, in 2006, compulsory military service was canceled in Macedonia and Montenegro. However, these small states have very few armed forces, so the prestige of military service against the background of high unemployment and a small number of vacancies for private and non-commissioned officers will always be guaranteed high.
In the same year 2006, military service was abolished by Romania, which is a large country by Eastern European standards. For almost the entire stories The twentieth century, the Romanian armed forces were manned by conscription, but now they decided to abandon this principle, since the mobilization resources of the country are decent and the size of the army is low. From 2006 to 2008 Bulgaria also canceled the military draft service, and here the cancellation of the draft took place in stages - first on navy, then in the air force and ground forces. In 2010, military service in the Polish Army, one of the largest armies in Eastern Europe, was stopped. For twenty-five years, the size of the Polish army decreased by five times, so the need for a large number of draftees also decreased.
Among the most prosperous states of Europe one of the last military conscription was canceled in Sweden. This country decided to abandon the draft army in 2010, although until recently the Swedes diligently adhered to the concept of “armed people” when they were neutral - all Swedish men served in the army, and military training was considered a must. During the Cold War, service in the Swedish army passed to 85% of men in the country. However, then the number of armed forces began to be reduced, citing this, including the fact that since the beginning of the 19th century, Sweden had not participated in any war. Obviously, the transition to a contract army in 2010 was associated with minimizing foreign policy risks.
But very soon the Swedish government understood the meaning of its mistake. In a country with a high standard of living of the population, there were not many who wanted to take up military service under a contract. Why should a young Swede go to the army, exhausting themselves with workouts and difficult (even in Sweden) conditions of service, if you can be much freer and you can earn more. There was a question about the preparation of a mobilization reserve in case of possible hostilities. Indeed, in 2016, the desire to join the military as volunteers in Sweden expressed the entire 2 thousands of people.
In 2014, when relations between the West and Russia began to deteriorate, in Sweden they again returned to the tested anti-Russian rhetoric. Although the last two centuries, the Swedes have not fought with anyone, they continue to consider Russia to be a terrible opponent, threatening the national security of the Swedish state. In 2015, Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist called for an increase in defense spending by 11%. At the same time, he openly stated that this increase is a necessary measure against the growing Russian threat. The role played by the Swedish media, which for the most part are sharply anti-Russian. Since in the information society, it is the media that determine the mood of society, the results of a sociological survey regarding the possibility of returning a military conscription turned out to be very predictable - more than 70% of Swedes spoke out to return the call to the army.
Eventually, the military conscription to the Swedish army was returned. Although the base of the combat units is still constituted by contract soldiers, in 2018, about 4 thousand young men and women were called up for military service. The call-up of women for military service today is carried out not only in Sweden. At one time, the only country in the “western” bloc where girls were called up for military service was Israel. Women conscripts were a kind of IDF business card. In addition to Israel, women served in the armies of the DPRK, Libya, Benin, and several other African states, but no one expected them from them. In modern Europe, if we are constantly talking about gender equality, women have also been called up for military service. In addition to Sweden, conscripts appeared in neighboring Norway.
Unlike Sweden, Norway is a member of NATO. This country has also long been very negatively disposed towards Russia, being the key outpost of the North Atlantic Alliance in the northeast, in close proximity to the Russian border and the strategically important facilities of the Murmansk region.
The law on the recruitment of women for military service was adopted in October 2014. According to the law, women aged from 19 to 44 years are eligible for conscription. It should be remembered that for the Scandinavian countries, the army is not only a purely military, but also a very important social institution. It is through conscription service in the army in the Scandinavian countries that, firstly, social convergence of representatives of various segments of the population — from the upper class to the lower classes — is ensured, secondly, the equality of men and women is affirmed, and thirdly, they are integrated into Swedish, Norwegian or Finnish societies are young people from already very large migrant families who receive local citizenship.
Finally, in the Scandinavian armies there are good opportunities and in order to earn some good money - conscripts receive quite high wages, and in order to master some kind of new specialty that is in demand “in the civilian world” - various kinds of activities operate in the armies of Sweden, Norway, Finland. professional courses to help master the knowledge and skills in demand. Yesterday’s high school graduates return a year later from military service with good pay-up money, or even with a certificate or certificate of a new profession.
In 2008, the call for military service in Lithuania was canceled. The Lithuanian Armed Forces, also referred to as the Lithuanian Army (by analogy with the Polish Army), have a very small number — just over 10 thousand troops. However, in Lithuania for eighteen post-Soviet years, military conscription continued. In 2009, the last military personnel serving in the conscription service were demobilized; however, only six years later, in 2015, the military conscription in the Lithuanian army was restored. The government of the country has directly explained such changes by the need to increase the country's defense against the “Russian threat”.
The shortage of recruits was also encountered in far larger countries than Lithuania or Sweden, the countries of Europe. In Germany, for example, almost 83 million people live, but this country, after the abolition of military conscription, began to experience big problems with the shortage of contract service soldiers. It is prestigious to get a contract in the army in Guatemala or Kenya, Nepal or Angola. In rich European countries, young people are completely unattractive to military service, even if the state is willing to pay for it generously and promises all sorts of benefits. The only ones who readily go to serve in the army are immigrants from migrants from Asian, Latin American and African countries whose families have a low standard of living, and the prestigious white-collar work in the civilian segment of the economy does not shine for them.
The scale of the problem is best indicated by the scant figures of statistics. After 2011 ceased to call recruits in the Bundeswehr, the number of young German men and women who want to devote themselves to military service, decreased with each passing year. So, in the first half of 2017, only 10 of thousands of men and women decided to enter military service and enter into a contract. This is 15% less than in the 2016 year. At the same time, the conclusion of a contract does not mean that the young man or girl will remain in the army. More than a quarter of young soldiers break contracts after a probationary period, when it turns out that the army is still a little different from what they imagined.
Now many German politicians are actively working on the introduction of the so-called. "Universal national service". Approximately the same is said in France. The essence of this concept is, firstly, to return to the call of young people of both sexes for 12 months, and secondly, to provide an opportunity to choose between serving in the army, in supporting army structures, where it is not necessary to wear a uniform and weaponas well as in civilian institutions. It turns out that any young person, regardless of gender, nationality or social origin, must give his civic duty to the state. You don't have the strength and health to serve in the army, you don't want to wear a uniform by conviction or for some other reasons - please, but welcome to a social institution, to the hospital, to the fire brigade, only to benefit society.
Such a service will provide European countries with young workers, and will also slightly reduce the growing unemployment rate. After all, one of the young people will be able to easily adapt to military service, look at the promised salaries, benefits, and decide to remain in the armed forces in the future.
French politicians, speaking about the need for the state of military service on conscription, are guided by another important consideration. Now the population of European countries is becoming increasingly variegated in ethnic and confessional relations. If before the French or Germans already had a French or German identity, now in France and in Germany there are a huge number of visitors from the countries of the Near and Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. There are a lot of young people among the migrants, but because of the peculiarities of their social status, they, as it were, drop out of society.
Traditional institutions of socialization, like the secondary school, do not cope with the task of transmitting to the masses of migrant youth German or French identity. But compulsory military conscription service can perfectly cope with this task, during which a German and Algerian, French and Eritrean, Swede and Pakistani can be in one unit. In the army, the assimilation of civilian identity will occur more efficiently and quickly than “civilian”. European politicians are sure of this, and the future will show how it really will be.
Now everything is changing rapidly. For example, in Germany, the ruling party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) began to discuss the possibility of the return of the mandatory conscription to military service. Recall that the call to the Bundeswehr ceased seven years ago, in the year 2011. Then the abolition of the call, as it seemed, kept pace with the times, but then the attitude of the German authorities to this issue changed. In the CDU, they talk not only about the return of the compulsory draft, but also about the possibility of introducing a so-called “Universal compulsory national service” for all German men and women who have reached the age of 18. Of course, it’s still premature to talk about the introduction of such a service, but the members of the CDU are determined and, given that this is still the ruling party, they may well achieve their goal.
Initially, the country in which there was no military call was Great Britain. Even in the USA right up to the 1960. the army was recruited by conscription. This circumstance contributed to the emergence of the mass youth anti-war movement during the Vietnam War. Voyuy in Vietnam, some contractors, the American youth would pay much less attention to the hostilities in the distant Indochina. Ultimately, in 1973, the US Army moved completely to a contract basis. Today it is the largest army in the world, which is recruited exclusively by hiring volunteers. The Chinese and Russian armies are recruited by compulsory conscription for military service, although in the PRC the military department has, due to the enormous mobilization resources of the country, the ability to select only the best draftees from among men of military age.
In 2000 - 2010 - s. Europe has experienced a real epidemic of converting the armed forces to a contract basis. Thus, in 2006, compulsory military service was canceled in Macedonia and Montenegro. However, these small states have very few armed forces, so the prestige of military service against the background of high unemployment and a small number of vacancies for private and non-commissioned officers will always be guaranteed high.
In the same year 2006, military service was abolished by Romania, which is a large country by Eastern European standards. For almost the entire stories The twentieth century, the Romanian armed forces were manned by conscription, but now they decided to abandon this principle, since the mobilization resources of the country are decent and the size of the army is low. From 2006 to 2008 Bulgaria also canceled the military draft service, and here the cancellation of the draft took place in stages - first on navy, then in the air force and ground forces. In 2010, military service in the Polish Army, one of the largest armies in Eastern Europe, was stopped. For twenty-five years, the size of the Polish army decreased by five times, so the need for a large number of draftees also decreased.
Among the most prosperous states of Europe one of the last military conscription was canceled in Sweden. This country decided to abandon the draft army in 2010, although until recently the Swedes diligently adhered to the concept of “armed people” when they were neutral - all Swedish men served in the army, and military training was considered a must. During the Cold War, service in the Swedish army passed to 85% of men in the country. However, then the number of armed forces began to be reduced, citing this, including the fact that since the beginning of the 19th century, Sweden had not participated in any war. Obviously, the transition to a contract army in 2010 was associated with minimizing foreign policy risks.
But very soon the Swedish government understood the meaning of its mistake. In a country with a high standard of living of the population, there were not many who wanted to take up military service under a contract. Why should a young Swede go to the army, exhausting themselves with workouts and difficult (even in Sweden) conditions of service, if you can be much freer and you can earn more. There was a question about the preparation of a mobilization reserve in case of possible hostilities. Indeed, in 2016, the desire to join the military as volunteers in Sweden expressed the entire 2 thousands of people.
In 2014, when relations between the West and Russia began to deteriorate, in Sweden they again returned to the tested anti-Russian rhetoric. Although the last two centuries, the Swedes have not fought with anyone, they continue to consider Russia to be a terrible opponent, threatening the national security of the Swedish state. In 2015, Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist called for an increase in defense spending by 11%. At the same time, he openly stated that this increase is a necessary measure against the growing Russian threat. The role played by the Swedish media, which for the most part are sharply anti-Russian. Since in the information society, it is the media that determine the mood of society, the results of a sociological survey regarding the possibility of returning a military conscription turned out to be very predictable - more than 70% of Swedes spoke out to return the call to the army.
Eventually, the military conscription to the Swedish army was returned. Although the base of the combat units is still constituted by contract soldiers, in 2018, about 4 thousand young men and women were called up for military service. The call-up of women for military service today is carried out not only in Sweden. At one time, the only country in the “western” bloc where girls were called up for military service was Israel. Women conscripts were a kind of IDF business card. In addition to Israel, women served in the armies of the DPRK, Libya, Benin, and several other African states, but no one expected them from them. In modern Europe, if we are constantly talking about gender equality, women have also been called up for military service. In addition to Sweden, conscripts appeared in neighboring Norway.
Unlike Sweden, Norway is a member of NATO. This country has also long been very negatively disposed towards Russia, being the key outpost of the North Atlantic Alliance in the northeast, in close proximity to the Russian border and the strategically important facilities of the Murmansk region.
The law on the recruitment of women for military service was adopted in October 2014. According to the law, women aged from 19 to 44 years are eligible for conscription. It should be remembered that for the Scandinavian countries, the army is not only a purely military, but also a very important social institution. It is through conscription service in the army in the Scandinavian countries that, firstly, social convergence of representatives of various segments of the population — from the upper class to the lower classes — is ensured, secondly, the equality of men and women is affirmed, and thirdly, they are integrated into Swedish, Norwegian or Finnish societies are young people from already very large migrant families who receive local citizenship.
Finally, in the Scandinavian armies there are good opportunities and in order to earn some good money - conscripts receive quite high wages, and in order to master some kind of new specialty that is in demand “in the civilian world” - various kinds of activities operate in the armies of Sweden, Norway, Finland. professional courses to help master the knowledge and skills in demand. Yesterday’s high school graduates return a year later from military service with good pay-up money, or even with a certificate or certificate of a new profession.
In 2008, the call for military service in Lithuania was canceled. The Lithuanian Armed Forces, also referred to as the Lithuanian Army (by analogy with the Polish Army), have a very small number — just over 10 thousand troops. However, in Lithuania for eighteen post-Soviet years, military conscription continued. In 2009, the last military personnel serving in the conscription service were demobilized; however, only six years later, in 2015, the military conscription in the Lithuanian army was restored. The government of the country has directly explained such changes by the need to increase the country's defense against the “Russian threat”.
The shortage of recruits was also encountered in far larger countries than Lithuania or Sweden, the countries of Europe. In Germany, for example, almost 83 million people live, but this country, after the abolition of military conscription, began to experience big problems with the shortage of contract service soldiers. It is prestigious to get a contract in the army in Guatemala or Kenya, Nepal or Angola. In rich European countries, young people are completely unattractive to military service, even if the state is willing to pay for it generously and promises all sorts of benefits. The only ones who readily go to serve in the army are immigrants from migrants from Asian, Latin American and African countries whose families have a low standard of living, and the prestigious white-collar work in the civilian segment of the economy does not shine for them.
The scale of the problem is best indicated by the scant figures of statistics. After 2011 ceased to call recruits in the Bundeswehr, the number of young German men and women who want to devote themselves to military service, decreased with each passing year. So, in the first half of 2017, only 10 of thousands of men and women decided to enter military service and enter into a contract. This is 15% less than in the 2016 year. At the same time, the conclusion of a contract does not mean that the young man or girl will remain in the army. More than a quarter of young soldiers break contracts after a probationary period, when it turns out that the army is still a little different from what they imagined.
Now many German politicians are actively working on the introduction of the so-called. "Universal national service". Approximately the same is said in France. The essence of this concept is, firstly, to return to the call of young people of both sexes for 12 months, and secondly, to provide an opportunity to choose between serving in the army, in supporting army structures, where it is not necessary to wear a uniform and weaponas well as in civilian institutions. It turns out that any young person, regardless of gender, nationality or social origin, must give his civic duty to the state. You don't have the strength and health to serve in the army, you don't want to wear a uniform by conviction or for some other reasons - please, but welcome to a social institution, to the hospital, to the fire brigade, only to benefit society.
Such a service will provide European countries with young workers, and will also slightly reduce the growing unemployment rate. After all, one of the young people will be able to easily adapt to military service, look at the promised salaries, benefits, and decide to remain in the armed forces in the future.
French politicians, speaking about the need for the state of military service on conscription, are guided by another important consideration. Now the population of European countries is becoming increasingly variegated in ethnic and confessional relations. If before the French or Germans already had a French or German identity, now in France and in Germany there are a huge number of visitors from the countries of the Near and Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. There are a lot of young people among the migrants, but because of the peculiarities of their social status, they, as it were, drop out of society.
Traditional institutions of socialization, like the secondary school, do not cope with the task of transmitting to the masses of migrant youth German or French identity. But compulsory military conscription service can perfectly cope with this task, during which a German and Algerian, French and Eritrean, Swede and Pakistani can be in one unit. In the army, the assimilation of civilian identity will occur more efficiently and quickly than “civilian”. European politicians are sure of this, and the future will show how it really will be.
- P P 'SЊSЏ RџRѕR "RѕRЅSЃRєRёR№
- Al Arabiya, Sputnik International
Information