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Article: It's had its day: conscription. (military draft in Europe)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 10, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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NAPOLEON, who brought military service to France back in 1798, thought a citizens' army embodied "the vitality of a nation, the purification of its morality, and the real foundation of all its habits". The idea that "the army is the school of the nation", as the Russians put it, has meant that conscription (or its avoidance) has been part of the lives of most young European men for decades. For how much longer?
Belgium abolished national service last year. Holland will end conscription in January 1997. Britain has long had an all-volunteer army. Now comes reform of Western Europe's largest army. France's defence minister, Charles Millon, recently called for a "great ...