Summary 4

1 Current discussions about national service and conscription 6

1.1 Why is this being discussed now? 6

1.2 Government approach to conscription 7

1.3 Studies on national service and resilience 9

1.4 The armed forces reserves 11

2 Conscription and the First World War 13

2.1 Recruitment issues in 1915 13

2.2 Military service acts during the First World War 14

3 Conscription and the Second World War 16

4 Peacetime conscription and national service 17

4.1 The National Service Act 1948 17

4.2 The decision to end National Service 18

5 Conscription in Europe 19

5.1 Reintroducing mandatory military service 19

5.2 Gender and socioeconomic impact 23

5.3 Conscription in European countries 24