Editing Conscription (section)

==History==

===In pre-modern times===

====Ilkum====
Around the reign of [[Hammurabi]] (1791–1750 [[Before Christ|BC]]), the [[Babylonian Empire]] used a system of conscription called ''Ilkum''. Under that system those eligible were required to serve in the royal army in time of war. During times of peace they were instead required to provide labour for other activities of the state. In return for this service, people subject to it gained the right to hold land. It is possible that this right was not to hold land ''per se'' but specific land supplied by the state.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Early Mesopotamia Society and Economy at the Dawn of History |last=Postgate |first=J.N. |year=1992 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-11032-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/earlymesopotamia00post/page/242 242] |url=https://archive.org/details/earlymesopotamia00post/page/242}}</ref>

Various forms of avoiding military service are recorded. While it was outlawed by the [[Code of Hammurabi]], the hiring of substitutes appears to have been practiced both before and after the creation of the code. Later records show that Ilkum commitments could become regularly traded. In other places, people simply left their towns to avoid their Ilkum service. Another option was to sell Ilkum lands and the commitments along with them. With the exception of a few exempted classes, this was forbidden by the Code of Hammurabi.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Early Mesopotamia Society and Economy at the Dawn of History |last=Postgate |first=J.N. |year=1992 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-11032-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/earlymesopotamia00post/page/243 243] |url=https://archive.org/details/earlymesopotamia00post/page/243}}</ref>

===Medieval period===

====Medieval levies====

Under the [[feudalism|feudal]] laws on the European continent, landowners in the medieval period enforced a system whereby all [[peasants]], [[Serfdom#Freemen|freemen]] commoners and [[noblemen]] aged 15 to 60 living in the countryside or in urban centers, were summoned for military duty when required by either the king or the local lord, bringing along the weapons and armor according to their wealth. These levies fought as footmen, sergeants, and men at arms under local superiors appointed by the king or the local lord such as the [[arrière-ban]] in France. Arrière-ban denoted a general levy, where all able-bodied males age 15 to 60 living in the Kingdom of France were summoned to go to war by the King (or the constable and the marshals). Men were summoned by the bailiff (or the sénéchal in the south). [[Bailiff]]s were military and political administrators installed by the King to steward and govern a specific area of a province following the king's commands and orders. The men summoned in this way were then summoned by the lieutenant who was the King's representative and military governor over an entire province comprising many [[bailiwick]]s, seneschalties and castellanies. All men from the richest noble to the poorest commoner were summoned under the arrière-ban and they were supposed to present themselves to the King or his officials.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Arri%C3%A8re+ban|title=arrière-ban|publisher=The Free Dictionary|access-date=17 September 2012}}</ref><ref>Nicolle, D. (2000). French Armies of the Hundred Years' War (Vol. 337). Osprey Publishing.</ref><ref>Nicolle, D. (2004). Poitiers 1356: The capture of a king (Vol. 138). Osprey Publishing.</ref><ref>Curry, A. (2002). Essential Histories–The Hundred Years' War. Nova York, Osprey.</ref>

In medieval [[Scandinavia]] the ''leiðangr'' ([[Old Norse language|Old Norse]]), ''leidang'' ([[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]), ''leding'', ([[Danish language|Danish]]), ''ledung'' ([[Swedish language|Swedish]]), ''lichting'' ([[Dutch language|Dutch]]), ''expeditio'' ([[Latin]]) or sometimes ''leþing'' ([[English language|Old English]]), was a levy of free farmers conscripted into coastal fleets for seasonal excursions and in defence of the realm.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=D. G. E. |date=1997-01-01 |title=The Dating of the Norwegian leiðangr System: A Philological Approach |url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/nowele.30.02wil |journal=NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution |language=en |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=21–25 |doi=10.1075/nowele.30.02wil |issn=0108-8416}}</ref>

The bulk of the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon English]] army, called the ''[[fyrd]]'', was composed of part-time English soldiers drawn from the freemen of each county. In the 690s laws of [[Ine of Wessex]], three levels of fines are imposed on different social classes for neglecting military service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Attenborough |first=F. L. |title=Laws of the Earliest English Kings |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1922 |isbn=9780404565459 |url=https://archive.org/stream/lawsofearliesten00grea#page/52}}</ref>

Some modern writers claim military service in Europe was restricted to the landowning minor nobility. These [[thegn]]s were the land-holding aristocracy of the time and were required to serve with their own armour and weapons for a certain number of days each year. The historian David Sturdy has cautioned about regarding the ''fyrd'' as a precursor to a modern national army composed of all ranks of society, describing it as a "ridiculous fantasy":

<blockquote>The persistent old belief that peasants and small farmers gathered to form a national army or ''fyrd'' is a strange delusion dreamt up by antiquarians in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries to justify universal military conscription.<ref>Sturdy, David ''Alfred the Great'' Constable (1995), p. 153</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Shinnyodō engi, vol.3 (part).jpg|thumb|Painting depicting a battle during the Ōnin War]]
In [[feudal Japan]] the [[shogun]] decree of 1393 exempted [[money lender]]s from religious or military levies, in return for a yearly tax. The [[Ōnin War]] weakened the shogun and levies were imposed again on money lenders. This [[overlord]]ism was arbitrary and unpredictable for commoners. While the money lenders were not poor, several overlords tapped them for income. Levies became necessary for the survival of the overlord, allowing the lord to impose taxes at will. These levies included ''tansen'' tax on [[agricultural land]] for ceremonial expenses. Y''akubu takumai'' tax was raised on all land to rebuild the [[Ise Grand Shrine]], and ''munabechisen'' tax was imposed on all [[house]]s. At the time, land in [[Kyoto]] was acquired by commoners through [[usury]] and in 1422 the shogun threatened to repossess the land of those commoners who failed to pay their levies.<ref>{{cite book| last = Gay | first = Suzanne | year = 2001| title = The Moneylenders of Late Medieval Kyoto| pages = 111| publisher = University of Hawaii Press| isbn = 9780824864880}}</ref>

==== Military slavery ====
{{Main|History of slavery in the Muslim world|Slavery in the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Further|Arab slave trade|Barbary slave trade|Ottoman wars in Europe|Turkish Abductions}}
[[File:Janissary Recruitment in the Balkans-Suleymanname.jpg|thumb|230px|right|Registration of [[Christians|Christian boys]] for the ''[[Devşirme|tribute in blood]]''. Ottoman miniature painting, 1558.<ref>{{cite web |first=Matrakci |last=Nasuh |url=http://warfare.netau.net/Ottoman/Suleymanname/Janissary_Recruitment_in_the_Balkans.htm |title=Janissary Recruitment in the Balkans |year=1588 |work=Süleymanname, Topkapi Sarai Museum, Ms Hazine 1517 |access-date=2015-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203143244/http://warfare.netau.net/Ottoman/Suleymanname/Janissary_Recruitment_in_the_Balkans.htm |archive-date=2018-12-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]

The system of military [[Slavery|slaves]] was widely used in the [[Middle East]], beginning with the creation of the corps of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|slave-soldiers]] (''[[ghulam]]s'' or ''[[mamluk]]s'') by the [[Abbasid caliph]] [[al-Mu'tasim]] in the 820s and 830s. The [[Mamluk]]s ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|æ|m|l|uː|k}}; {{langx|ar|مملوك|mamlūk}} (singular), {{lang|ar|مماليك}}, ''mamālīk'' (plural);<ref name="Ayalon 2012">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Ayalon |author-first=David |author-link=David Ayalon |year=2012 |orig-date=1991 |title=Mamlūk |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor4-last=Lewis |editor4-first=B. |editor4-link=Bernard Lewis |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam#2nd edition, EI2|Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition]] |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=6 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0657 |isbn=978-90-04-08112-3}}</ref> translated as "one who is owned",{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010">{{cite book |last=Levanoni |first=Amalia |year=2010 |chapter=Part II: Egypt and Syria (Eleventh Century Until the Ottoman Conquest) – The Mamlūks in Egypt and Syria: the Turkish Mamlūk sultanate (648–784/1250–1382) and the Circassian Mamlūk sultanate (784–923/1382–1517) |editor-last=Fierro |editor-first=Maribel |title=The New Cambridge History of Islam, Volume 2: The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries |location=[[Cambridge]] and New York City |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=237–284 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521839570.010 |isbn=978-1-139-05615-1 |quote=The Arabic term ''mamlūk'' literally means 'owned' or 'slave', and was used for the [[White people|White]] [[Turkish people|Turkish]] [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|slaves]] of [[Turkic mythology|Pagan origins]], purchased from Central Asia and the [[Eurasian steppes]] by [[Islam and politics|Muslim rulers]] to serve as soldiers in their armies. Mamlūk units formed an integral part of Muslim armies from the third/ninth century, and Mamlūk involvement in government became an increasingly familiar occurrence in the [[Middle Ages|medieval]] Middle East. The road to absolute rule lay open before them [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|in Egypt]] when the Mamlūk establishment gained military and political domination during the reign of the [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyūbid ruler of Egypt]], al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb (r. 637–47/1240–49).}}</ref><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Warrior kings: A look at the history of the Mamluks |url=https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/warrior-kings-look-history-mamluks |year=2012 |work=The Report – Egypt 2012: The Guide |publisher=Oxford Business Group |pages=332–334 |access-date=1 March 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925104321/https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/warrior-kings-look-history-mamluks |archive-date=25 September 2020 |quote=The Mamluks, who descended from non-Arab [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|slaves]] who were naturalised to serve and fight for ruling Arab dynasties, are revered as some of the greatest warriors the world has ever known. Although the word ''mamluk'' translates as "one who is owned", the Mamluk soldiers proved otherwise, gaining a powerful military standing in [[Muslim world|various Muslim societies]], particularly [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|in Egypt]]. They would also go on to hold political power for several centuries during a period known as the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt]]. [...] Before the Mamluks rose to power, there was a [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|long history of slave soldiers in the Middle East]], with many recruited into Arab armies by the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid rulers]] of [[Baghdad]] in the ninth century. The tradition was continued by the dynasties that followed them, including the [[Fatimids]] and [[Ayyubids]] (it was the Fatimids who built the foundations of what is now Islamic [[Cairo]]). For centuries, the rulers of the Arab world recruited men from the lands of the [[Caucasus]] and Central Asia. It is hard to discern the precise ethnic background of the Mamluks, given that they came from a number of ethnically mixed regions, but most are thought to have been [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] (mainly [[Kipchaks|Kipchak]] and [[Cumans|Cuman]]) or [[Peoples of the Caucasus|from the Caucasus]] (predominantly [[Circassians|Circassian]], but also [[Armenians|Armenian]] and [[Georgians|Georgian]]). The Mamluks [[Conscription#Military slavery|were recruited forcibly to reinforce the armies]] of Arab rulers. As outsiders, they had no local loyalties, and would thus fight for whoever owned them, not unlike [[mercenaries]]. Furthermore, the Turks and Circassians had a ferocious reputation as warriors. The slaves were either purchased or abducted as boys, around the age of 13, and brought to the cities, most notably to Cairo and its [[Cairo Citadel|Citadel]]. Here [[Forced conversion#Islam|they would be converted to Islam]] and would be put through a rigorous military training regime that focused particularly on [[horsemanship]]. A code of behaviour not too dissimilar to that of the [[Medieval Europe|European knights]]' [[Code of Chivalry]] was also inculcated and was known as ''[[Furusiyya]]''. As in many military establishments to this day the authorities sought to instil an esprit de corps and a sense of duty among the young men. The Mamluks would have to live separately from the local populations in their garrisons, which included the Citadel and [[Rhoda Island]], also in Cairo.}}</ref>}} meaning "[[History of slavery in the Muslim world|slave]]"){{refn|<ref name="Ayalon 2012"/><ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="Britannica" />}} were non-[[Arabs|Arab]], ethnically diverse (mostly [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]], [[Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian]], [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Southeast Europe|Southeastern European]]) [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|enslaved]] [[mercenaries]], [[slave-soldier]]s, and [[freed slave]]s who were assigned high-ranking military and administrative duties, serving the ruling Arab and [[Ottoman dynasty|Ottoman]] dynasties in the [[Muslim world]].{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Freamon 2019">{{cite book |author-last=Freamon |author-first=Bernard K. |year=2019 |chapter=The 'Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon' – Slave Sultans, Soldiers, Eunuchs, and Concubines |editor-last=Freamon |editor-first=Bernard K. |title=Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Studies in Global Slavery |volume=8 |pages=219–244 |doi=10.1163/9789004398795_006 |isbn=978-90-04-36481-3 |s2cid=191690007 |quote=[[Ibn Khaldun]] argued that in the midst of the decadence that became the hallmark of the later [[Abbasid Caliphate]], providence restored the "glory and the unity" of the Islamic faith by sending the Mamluks: "loyal  helpers, who were brought from the House of War to the House of Islam under the rule of slavery, which hides in itself a divine blessing." His expression of the idea that slavery, considered to be a degrading social condition to be avoided at all costs, might  contain "a divine blessing", was the most articulate expression of [[Islamic views on slavery|Muslim thinking on slavery]] since the [[Early history of Islam|early days of Islam]]. Ibn Khaldun's general observation about the paradoxical nature of slavery brings to mind [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]]'s reflections on the subject some five hundred years later. The great philosopher observed that, in many instances, it is the slave who ultimately gains the independent consciousness and power to become the actual master of his or her owner. The Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon is a good historical example of this paradox.}}</ref><ref name="Stowasser 1984">{{cite journal |author-last=Stowasser |author-first=Karl |date=1984 |title=Manners and Customs at the Mamluk Court |journal=[[Muqarnas (journal)|Muqarnas]] |volume=2 |issue=The Art of the Mamluks |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=13–20 |doi=10.2307/1523052 |jstor=1523052 |issn=0732-2992 |s2cid=191377149 |quote=The Mamluk slave warriors, with an empire extending from [[Libya]] to the [[Euphrates]], from [[Cilicia]] to the [[Arabian Sea]] and the [[Sudan]], remained for the next two hundred years the most formidable power of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] and the Indian Ocean – champions of [[Sunni orthodoxy]], guardians of [[Holiest sites in Islam|Islam's holy places]], their capital, Cairo, the seat of the Sunni caliph and a magnet for scholars, artists, and craftsmen uprooted by the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol upheaval in the East]] or drawn to it from all parts of the Muslim world by its wealth and prestige. Under their rule, Egypt passed through a period of prosperity and brilliance unparalleled since the days of the [[Ptolemies]]. [...] They ruled as a military [[aristocracy]], aloof and almost totally isolated from the native population, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, and their ranks had to be replenished in each generation through fresh imports of slaves from abroad. Only those who had grown up outside Muslim territory and who entered as slaves in the service either of the [[sultan]] himself or of one of the Mamluk [[emir]]s were eligible for membership and careers within their closed military caste. The offspring of Mamluks were free-born Muslims and hence excluded from the system: they became the ''awlād al-nās'', the "sons of respectable people", who either fulfilled scribal and administrative functions or served as commanders of the non-Mamluk ''ḥalqa'' troops. Some two thousand slaves were imported annually: [[Kipchaks|Qipchaq]], [[Azeris]], [[Uzbeks|Uzbec Turks]], [[Mongols]], [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Circassians]], [[Georgians]], [[Armenians]], [[Greeks]], [[Bulgars]], [[Albanians]], [[Serbs]], [[Hungarians]].}}</ref><ref name="Poliak 1942">{{cite book |author-last=Poliak |author-first=A. N. |orig-year=1942 |year=2005 |chapter=The Influence of C̱ẖingiz-Ḵẖān's Yāsa upon the General Organization of the Mamlūk State |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVGdl09xAp4C&pg=PA27 |editor-last=Hawting |editor-first=Gerald R. |title=Muslims, Mongols, and Crusaders: An Anthology of Articles  |series=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=10 |issue=4 |location=London & New York |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=27–41 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X0009008X |isbn=978-0-7007-1393-6 |jstor=609130 |s2cid=155480831 |access-date=1 March 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102092303/https://books.google.com/books?id=YVGdl09xAp4C&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>}} The most enduring Mamluk realm was the [[knight]]ly military class in [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|medieval Egypt]], which developed from the ranks of [[slave-soldier]]s.{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Stowasser 1984"/>}} Originally the Mamluks were [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|slaves]] of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic origins]] from the [[Eurasian Steppe]],{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref name="Poliak 1942"/><ref name="FH" /><ref name="Isichei 1997 192">{{cite book |last=Isichei |first=Elizabeth |year=1997 |title=A History of African Societies to 1870 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic |url-access=registration |access-date=8 November 2008 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic/page/192 192]}}</ref>}} but the institution of military slavery spread to include [[Circassians]],{{refn|<ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref name="Poliak 1942" /><ref name="FH" /><ref>{{cite book|last=McGregor|first=Andrew James|title=A Military History of Modern Egypt: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Ramadan War|year=2006|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-0-275-98601-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/militaryhistoryo00andr/page/15 15]|quote=By the late fourteenth century, [[Circassians]] from the [[North Caucasus]] region had become the majority in the Mamluk ranks.|url=https://archive.org/details/militaryhistoryo00andr/page/15}}</ref>}} [[Abkhazians]],<ref>А.Ш.Кадырбаев, Сайф-ад-Дин Хайр-Бек – абхазский "король эмиров" Мамлюкского Египта (1517–1522), "Материалы первой международной научной конференции, посвященной 65-летию В.Г.Ардзинба". Сухум: АбИГИ, 2011, pp. 87–95</ref><ref>Thomas Philipp, Ulrich Haarmann (eds), ''The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society''. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 115–116.</ref><ref>Jane Hathaway, ''The Politics of Households in Ottoman Egypt: The Rise of the Qazdaglis''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 103–104.</ref> [[Georgians]],{{refn|<ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref>"Relations of the Georgian Mamluks of Egypt with Their Homeland in the Last Decades of the Eighteenth Century". Daniel Crecelius and Gotcha Djaparidze. ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'', Vol. 45, No. 3 (2002), pp. 320–341. {{ISSN|0022-4995}}</ref><ref name="bbs">{{Google books|pCC4ffbOv_YC|page=19|Basra, the failed Gulf state: separatism and nationalism in southern Iraq}} By Reidar Visser</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Hathaway|first=Jane|title=The Military Household in Ottoman Egypt|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|date=February 1995|volume=27|issue=1|pages=39–52|doi=10.1017/s0020743800061572|s2cid=62834455 }}</ref>}} [[Armenians]],{{refn|<ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref name="Poliak 1942"/><ref name="Walker, Paul E. 2002">Walker, Paul E. ''Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatimid History and its Sources'' (London, I. B. Tauris, 2002)</ref>}} [[Russians]],<ref name="Poliak 1942" /> and [[Hungarians]],<ref name="Stowasser 1984" /> as well as peoples from the [[Balkans]] such as [[Albanians]],<ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref name="István Vásáry 2005"/> [[Greeks]],<ref name="Stowasser 1984"/> and [[South Slavs]]{{refn|<ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref name="István Vásáry 2005">István Vásáry (2005) Cuman and Tatars, Cambridge University Press.</ref><ref name="T. Pavlidis 2011">T. Pavlidis, ''A Concise History of the Middle East'', Chapter 11: "Turks and Byzantine Decline". 2011</ref>}} (''see'' [[Saqaliba]]). They also recruited from the [[Egyptians]].<ref name="FH">{{cite book |author-last=Richards |author-first=Donald S. |year=1998 |chapter=Chapter 3: Mamluk amirs and their families and households |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WoPF9T4ZiWsC&pg=PA32 |editor1-last=Philipp |editor1-first=Thomas |editor2-last=Haarmann |editor2-first=Ulrich |title=The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society |location=[[Cambridge]] and New York  |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |series=Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization |pages=32–54 |isbn=978-0-521-03306-0 |access-date=4 April 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404201934/https://books.google.com/books?id=WoPF9T4ZiWsC&pg=PA32 |url-status=live }}</ref> The "Mamluk/{{shy}}Ghulam Phe{{shy}}nom{{shy}}enon",<ref name="Freamon 2019"/> as [[David Ayalon]] dubbed the creation of the specific warrior class,<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Ayalon|author-link=David Ayalon|title=The Mamlūk military society|year=1979|publisher=Variorum Reprints|isbn=978-0-86078-049-6}}</ref> was of great political importance; for one thing, it endured for nearly 1,000 years, from the 9th century to the early 19th century.

Over time, Mamluks became a powerful military knightly class in various [[Muslim world|Muslim societies]] that were controlled by dynastic Arab rulers.{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref name="FH" />}} Particularly in [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]],{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="FH" />}} but also in the [[Ottoman Empire]], [[Levant]], [[Iraq|Mesopotamia]], and India, mamluks held political and military power.<ref name="Stowasser 1984"/> In some cases, they attained the rank of [[sultan]], while in others they held regional power as ''[[emir]]s'' or ''[[bey]]s''.<ref name="FH" /> Most notably, Mamluk factions seized the sultanate centered on [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]], and controlled it as the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]] (1250–1517).{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="FH" />}} The Mamluk Sultanate famously defeated the [[Ilkhanate]] at the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]]. They had earlier fought the western European Christian [[Crusades|Crusaders]] in 1154–1169 and 1213–1221, effectively driving them out of Egypt and the Levant. [[Fall of Ruad|In 1302]] the Mamluk Sultanate formally expelled the last Crusaders from the Levant, ending the era of the Crusades.<ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Asbridge|first=Thomas|title=The Crusades Episode 3|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01bqy7r/The_Crusades_Victory_and_Defeat/|publisher=BBC|access-date=5 February 2012|archive-date=3 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203092957/http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01bqy7r/The_Crusades_Victory_and_Defeat|url-status=live}}</ref> While Mamluks were purchased as property,{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref name="FH" />}} their status was above ordinary slaves, who were not allowed to carry weapons or perform certain tasks.{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="FH" />}} In places such as Egypt, from the [[Ayyubid dynasty]] to the time of [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]], mamluks were considered to be "true lords" and "true warriors", with social status above the general population in [[Egypt]] and the [[Levant]].<ref name="Stowasser 1984"/> In a sense, they were like [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|enslaved]] [[mercenaries]].{{refn|<ref name="Levanoni 2010"/><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="FH" /><ref name="Behrens-Abouseif, Doris 2008">Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. ''Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and Its Culture''. New York: Macmillan, 2008.{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=September 2024}}</ref>}}

In the middle of the 14th century, Ottoman sultan [[Murad I]] developed personal troops to be loyal to him, with a slave army called the ''[[Kapıkulu]]''. The first units in the Janissary Corps [[Slavery in the Ottoman Empire|were formed from prisoners of war and slaves]], probably as a result of the sultan taking his traditional one-fifth share of his army's plunder in kind rather than monetarily; however, the continuing [[Exploitation of labour|exploitation]] and enslavement of ''[[dhimmi]]'' peoples (i.e., [[Kafir|non-Muslims]]), predominantly [[Balkans|Balkan]] [[Christianity in the Ottoman Empire|Christians]],<ref name="Glassé 2008"/> constituted a continuing abuse of subject populations.<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009"/><ref name="Glassé 2008"/><ref name="Wittek 1955"/>{{sfn|Nicolle|1983|p=7}} For a while, the [[Ottoman government]] supplied the Janissary Corps with recruits from the ''[[devşirme]]'' system of [[Ghilman|child levy]] enslavement.<ref name="Radushev">{{Cite journal|last=Radushev|first=Evgeni|date=2008 |title="Peasant" Janissaries?|journal=Journal of Social History|volume=42|issue=2|pages=447–467 |doi=10.1353/jsh.0.0133 |jstor=27696448 |s2cid=201793634 |issn=0022-4529}}</ref> Children were drafted at a young age and soon turned into [[Military slavery|slave-soldiers]] in an attempt to make them loyal to the [[Ottoman sultan]].<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009"/><ref name="Glassé 2008"/><ref name="Wittek 1955"/> The social status of ''devşirme'' recruits took on an immediate positive change, acquiring a greater guarantee of governmental rights and financial opportunities.<ref name="Radushev" /> In poor areas officials were bribed by parents to make them take their sons, thus they would have better chances in life.{{Sfn|Nicolle|1983|p=8}} Initially, the Ottoman recruiters favoured [[Greeks]] and [[Albanians]].<ref name="JA">{{Cite web|url=https://albanianstudies.weebly.com/janissaries.html|title=Janissaries|website=My Albanian studies|access-date=2018-10-03|archive-date=2018-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003181708/https://albanianstudies.weebly.com/janissaries.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Albania - Albanians under Ottoman Rule|website=countrystudies.us|url=http://countrystudies.us/albania/18.htm|access-date=2018-10-03|archive-date=2011-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807031904/http://countrystudies.us/albania/18.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Ottoman Empire]] [[Ottoman wars in Europe|began its expansion into Europe]] by invading the European portions of the [[Byzantine Empire]] in the 14th and 15th centuries up until the [[Fall of Constantinople|capture of Constantinople]] in 1453, establishing Islam as the state religion of the newly founded empire. The [[Ottoman Turks]] further expanded into [[Southeastern Europe]] and consolidated their political power by invading and conquering huge portions of the [[Serbian Empire]], [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]], and the remaining territories of the [[Byzantine Empire]] in the 14th and 15th centuries. As borders of the Ottoman Empire expanded, the ''[[devşirme]]'' system of [[Ghilman|child levy]] enslavement was extended to include [[Armenians]], [[Bulgarians]], [[Croats]], [[Hungarians]], [[Serbs]], and later [[Bosniaks]],<ref>Joseph von Hammer, Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches</ref><ref>John V. A. Fine Jr., When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans: A Study of Identity in Pre-Nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern Periods</ref><ref>Shaw, Stanford (1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Volume I</ref><ref>Murphey, Rhoads (2006) [1999]. Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700.{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref><ref>Nasuh, Matrakci (1588). "Janissary Recruitment in the Balkans"</ref> and, in rare instances, [[Romanians]], [[Georgians]], [[Circassians]], [[Ukrainians]], [[Polish people|Poles]], and southern [[Russians]].<ref name="JA" /> A number of distinguished military commanders of the Ottomans, and most of the imperial administrators and upper-level officials of the Empire, such as [[Pargalı İbrahim Pasha]] and [[Sokollu Mehmet Paşa]], were recruited in this way.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html |first=Bernard |last=Lewis |title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East |publisher=Chapter readings for class at Fordham University |access-date=2008-03-24 |archive-date=2001-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010401012040/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1609, the Sultan's ''Kapıkulu'' forces increased to about 100,000.<ref>{{cite book|first=Halil|last=Inalcik|editor1=A. Ascher, B. K. Kiraly|editor2=T. Halasi-Kun|title=The Mutual Effects of the Islamic and Judeo-Christian Worlds: The East European Pattern|publisher=Brooklyn College|year=1979|chapter=Servile Labor in the Ottoman Empire|chapter-url=http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/inalcik6.html|at=sec. In the Service of the State and Military Class|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504102244/http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/inalcik6.html|archive-date=4 May 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Three Mamelukes with lances on horseback.jpg|thumb|230px|left|[[Ottoman army in the 15th–19th centuries|Ottoman]] Mamluk lancers, early 16th century. [[Etching]] by [[Daniel Hopfer]] ({{circa|1526–1536}}), [[British Museum]], London.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1845-0809-1342 |title=Mamalucke (Mamelukes) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2021 |website=www.britishmuseum.org |location=London |publisher=[[British Museum]] |access-date=3 March 2021 |archive-date=29 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929062808/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1845-0809-1342 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
The [[Slavery in the Ottoman Empire|slave trade in the Ottoman Empire]] supplied the ranks of the [[Army of the classical Ottoman Empire|Ottoman army]] between the 15th and 19th centuries.<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Ágoston |first=Gábor |year=2009 |editor1-last=Ágoston |editor1-first=Gábor |editor2-first=Bruce |editor2-last=Masters |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire |chapter=Devşirme (Devshirme) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&pg=PA183 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Facts On File]] |pages=183–185 |isbn=978-0-8160-6259-1 |lccn=2008020716 |access-date=16 September 2024}}</ref><ref name="Glassé 2008">{{cite book |editor-last=Glassé |editor-first=Cyril |year=2008 |chapter=Devşirme |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=focLrox-frUC&pg=PA115 |title=The New Encyclopedia of Islam |location=[[Lanham, Maryland]] |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |edition=3rd |page=115 |isbn=978-1-4422-2348-6 |quote='''Devshirme.''' The [[Military slavery|conscription system]] used by the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]]. It consisted of taking male children from [[Dhimmi|subject]] [[Christianity in the Ottoman Empire|Christian populations]], chiefly in the [[Balkans]], [[Forced conversion#Islam|forcibly converting them to Islam]], and raising them to join the ranks of an elite military corps, the Janissaries, or to enter [[Ottoman government|other branches of government service]]. The [[Devşirme|boy-levy]] (''devshirme'') was carried out largely by force, but to be taken by it held out such promise of a brilliant future that Ottomans sometimes tried to slip their own children into it. [[List of Ottoman grand viziers|Many of the Viziers]] came from the higher levels of the pageboy training. At first every fifth boy was drafted in a levy carried out every four or five years, but later every able-bodied boy between the ages of ten and fifteen was liable to be taken in a draft carried out annually. The ''devshirme'' system became obsolete in the 17th century.}}</ref><ref name="Wittek 1955">{{cite journal |last=Wittek |first=Paul |date=1955 |title=Devs̱ẖirme and s̱ẖarī'a |journal=[[Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies]] |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] on behalf of the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]], [[University of London]] |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=271–278 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00111735 |jstor=610423 |s2cid=153615285 |oclc=427969669}}</ref> They were useful in preventing both the [[slave rebellion]]s and the [[Decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire|breakup of the Empire itself]], especially due to the [[Rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire|rising tide of nationalism among European peoples]] in its Balkan provinces from the 17th century onwards.<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009"/> Along with the Balkans, the [[Black Sea Region]] remained a significant source of high-value slaves for the Ottomans.<ref name="Fynn-Paul 2023">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Fynn-Paul |author-first=Jeffrey |date=23 June 2023 |title=Slavery and the Slave Trade, 1350–1650 |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195399301/obo-9780195399301-0515.xml |encyclopedia=[[Oxford Bibliographies Online]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |doi=10.1093/obo/9780195399301-0515 |isbn=978-0-19-539930-1 |access-date=18 September 2024}}</ref> Throughout the 16th to 19th centuries, the [[Barbary coast|Barbary States]] sent [[Barbary pirates|pirates to raid]] nearby parts of Europe [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|in order to capture Christian slaves to sell]] at [[Barbary slave trade|slave markets]] in the [[Muslim world]], primarily in [[North Africa]] and the [[Slavery in the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]], throughout the [[Renaissance]] and [[early modern period]].<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Robert |title=BBC - History - British History in depth: British Slaves on the Barbary Coast |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_01.shtml |access-date=18 July 2023 |work=www.bbc.co.uk |date=17 February 2011}}</ref> According to historian Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th centuries, Barbary pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves, although these numbers are disputed.<ref name="bbc.co.uk" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/mar/11/highereducation.books|title=New book reopens old arguments about slave raids on Europe|last1=Carroll|first1=Rory|date=2004-03-11|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-12-11|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> These slaves were captured mainly from the crews of captured vessels,<ref>Milton, G (2005) White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow And Islam's One Million White Slaves, Sceptre, London</ref> from coastal villages in [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]], and from farther places like the [[Italian Peninsula]], [[France]], or [[England]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Ireland]], the [[Azores Islands]], and even [[Turkish Abductions|Iceland]].<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/> For a long time, until the early 18th century, the [[Crimean Khanate]] maintained a [[Crimean slave trade|massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East]].<ref>"[http://www2.econ.hit-u.ac.jp/~areastd/mediterranean/mw/pdf/18/10.pdf The Crimean Tatars and their Russian-Captive Slaves] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605131551/http://www.econ.hit-u.ac.jp/~areastd/mediterranean/mw/pdf/18/10.pdf |date=2013-06-05}}" (PDF). Eizo Matsuki, ''Mediterranean Studies Group at Hitotsubashi University.''</ref> The Crimean Tatars frequently mounted raids into the [[Danubian Principalities]], [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland–Lithuania]], and [[Tsardom of Russia|Russia]] to enslave people whom they could capture.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24157 |title=Historical survey > Slave societies |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]}}</ref>

Apart from the effect of a lengthy period under Ottoman domination, many of the subject populations [[Forced conversion#Islam|were periodically and forcefully converted to Islam]]<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009"/><ref name="Glassé 2008"/><ref name="Wittek 1955"/> as a result of a deliberate move by the Ottoman Turks as part of a policy of ensuring the loyalty of the population against a potential [[Venetian Republic|Venetian]] invasion. However, Islam was spread by force in the areas under the control of the [[Ottoman sultan]] through the ''[[devşirme]]'' system of [[Ghilman|child levy]] enslavement,<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009"/><ref name="Glassé 2008"/><ref name="Wittek 1955"/> by which [[Ethnic groups in Europe|indigenous European]] [[Christians|Christian boys]] from the [[Balkans]] (predominantly [[Albanians]], [[Bulgarians]], [[Croats]], [[Greeks]], [[Romanians]], [[Serbs]], and [[Ukrainians]]) were taken, levied, subjected to [[forced circumcision]] and [[Forced conversion#Islam|forced conversion to Islam]],<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009"/><ref name="Glassé 2008"/><ref name="Wittek 1955"/> and incorporated into the [[Ottoman army in the 15th–19th centuries|Ottoman army]],<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009"/><ref name="Glassé 2008"/><ref name="Wittek 1955"/> and ''[[jizya]]'' taxes.<ref name="Ágoston-Masters 2009"/><ref name="Wittek 1955"/><ref>Basgoz, I. & Wilson, H. E. (1989), The educational tradition of the Ottoman Empire and the development of the Turkish educational system of the republican era. Turkish Review 3(16), 15</ref> Radushev states that the recruitment system based on child levy can be bisected into two periods: its [[Army of the classical Ottoman Empire|first, or classical period]], encompassing those first two centuries of regular execution and utilization to supply recruits; and a [[Ottoman military reforms|second, or modern period]], which more focuses on its [[Decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire|gradual change, decline, and ultimate abandonment]], beginning in the 17th century.<ref name="Radushev" />

In later years, Ottoman sultans turned to the [[Barbary Pirates]] to supply the Janissary Corps. Their attacks on ships off the coast of Africa or in the Mediterranean, and subsequent capture of able-bodied men for ransom or sale provided some captives for the Ottoman state. From the 17th century onwards, the ''[[devşirme]]'' system became obsolete.<ref name="Glassé 2008"/> Eventually, the Ottoman sultan turned to foreign volunteers from the warrior clans of [[Circassians]] in southern Russia to fill the Janissary Corps. As a whole the system began to break down, the loyalty of the Jannissaries became increasingly suspect. The Janissary Corps was abolished by [[Mahmud II]] in 1826 in the [[Auspicious Incident]], in which 6,000 or more were [[Capital punishment|executed]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Lord |last=Kinross |author-link=Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross |year=1977 |title=The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire |location=London |publisher=Perennial |isbn=978-0-688-08093-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/ottomancenturies00kinr |pages=456–457}}</ref> On the [[Barbary Coast|western coast of Africa]], Berber Muslims captured [[Kafir|non-Muslims]] to put to work as laborers. In [[Morocco]], the Berbers looked south rather than north. The Moroccan sultan [[Moulay Ismail]], called "the Bloodthirsty" (1672–1727), employed a corps of 150,000 [[Trans-Saharan slave trade|black slaves]], called the "[[Black Guard]]". He used them to coerce the country into submission.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html |author=Lewis |title=Race and Slavery in the Middle East |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1994 |access-date=2008-03-24 |archive-date=2001-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010401012040/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/lewis1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===In modern times===
{{see also|Remplacement}}
[[File:Louis-Léopold Boilly - Departure of the Conscripts in 1807 - WGA02349.jpg|thumb|Painting depicting the ''[[Departure of the Conscripts in 1807]]'' by [[Louis-Léopold Boilly]] ]]
Modern conscription, the massed military enrollment of national citizens ({{lang|fr|[[levée en masse]]}}), was devised during the [[French Revolution]], to enable the [[French First Republic|Republic]] to defend itself from the attacks of European monarchies. Deputy [[Jean-Baptiste Jourdan]] gave its name to the 5 September 1798 Act, whose first article stated: "Any Frenchman is a soldier and owes himself to the defense of the nation." It enabled the creation of the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Armée]]}}, what [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] called "the nation in arms", which overwhelmed European professional armies that often numbered only into the low tens of thousands. More than 2.6&nbsp;million men were inducted into the French military in this way between the years 1800 and 1813.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Conscription |encyclopedia=Encarta |publisher=Microsoft |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561714/conscription.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028164817/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561714/Conscription.html |archive-date=2009-10-28 }}</ref>

The defeat of the [[Prussian Army]] in particular shocked the [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] establishment, which had believed it was invincible after the victories of [[Frederick the Great]]. The Prussians were used to relying on superior organization and tactical factors such as order of battle to focus superior troops against inferior ones. Given approximately equivalent forces, as was generally the case with professional armies, these factors showed considerable importance. However, they became considerably less important when the Prussian armies faced Napoleon's forces that outnumbered their own in some cases by more than ten to one. [[Gerhard von Scharnhorst|Scharnhorst]] advocated adopting the {{lang|fr|levée en masse}}, the military conscription used by France. The {{lang|de|Krümpersystem}} was the beginning of short-term compulsory service in Prussia, as opposed to the long-term conscription previously used.<ref>Dierk Walter. ''Preussische Heeresreformen 1807–1870: Militärische Innovation und der Mythos der "Roonschen Reform"''. 2003, in Citino, p. 130</ref>
[[File:Branka 1863.JPG|thumb|left|Conscription of Poles to the Russian Army in 1863 (by [[Aleksander Sochaczewski]])]]
In the [[Russian Empire]], the military service time "owed" by serfs was 25 years at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1834 it was decreased to 20 years. The recruits were to be not younger than 17 and not older than 35.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roots-saknes.lv/Army/military_service_.htm |title=Military service in Russia Empire |publisher=roots-saknes.lv |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072619/http://www.roots-saknes.lv/Army/military_service_.htm |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> In 1874 Russia introduced universal conscription in the modern pattern, an innovation only made possible by the abolition of [[serfdom in Russia|serfdom]] in 1861. New military law decreed that all male Russian subjects, when they reached the age of 20, were eligible to serve in the military for six years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/tcimo/tulp/Research/ARMING.htm |title=Conscription and Resistance: The Historical Context archived from the original |date=2008-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603141235/http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/tcimo/tulp/Research/ARMING.htm |archive-date=2008-06-03 |access-date=2008-03-24 }}</ref>

In the decades prior to World War I universal conscription along broadly Prussian lines became the norm for European armies, and those modeled on them. By 1914 the only substantial armies still completely dependent on voluntary enlistment were those of Britain and the United States. Some colonial powers such as France reserved their conscript armies for home service while maintaining professional units for overseas duties.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Slavin |first1=David Henry |title=Colonial Cinema and Imperial France, 1919–1939: White Blind Spots, Male Fantasies, Settler Myths |date=2001 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-6616-6 |page=140 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdRkEwagRlgC&pg=PA140 |language=en |quote=Conscripts guarded the home front, while European professionals were sent overseas}}</ref>

====World Wars====
[[File:Young men registering for military conscription, New York City, June 5, 1917.jpg|thumb|Young men registering for conscription during [[World War I]], New York City, June 5, 1917]]

The range of eligible ages for conscripting was expanded to meet national demand during the [[World war|World Wars]].
In the United States, the [[Selective Service System]] drafted men for World War I initially in an age range from 21 to 30 but expanded its eligibility in 1918 to an age range of 18 to 45.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/163.html |title=Records of the Selective Service System (World War I) |date=15 August 2016 }}; see also [[Selective Service Act of 1917]] and [[Selective Training and Service Act of 1940]].</ref> In the case of a widespread [[mobilization]] of forces where service includes homefront defense, ages of conscripts may range much higher, with the oldest conscripts serving in roles requiring lesser mobility.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Expanded-age conscription was common during the Second World War: in Britain, it was commonly known as "call-up" and extended to age 51. [[Nazi Germany]] termed it {{lang|de|[[Volkssturm]]}} ("People's Storm") and included boys as young as 16 and men as old as 60.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/volkssturm/index.html |title=The German Volkssturm from Intelligence Bulletin |date = February 1945|website=LoneSentry.com }}</ref> During the Second World War, both Britain and the Soviet Union conscripted women. The United States was on the verge of drafting women into the Nurse Corps because it anticipated it would need the extra personnel for its planned invasion of Japan. However, the Japanese surrendered and the idea was abandoned.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/military-international/ |work=[[CBC News]] |title=CBC News Indepth: International military |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518040804/http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/military-international/ |archive-date=18 May 2013 }}</ref>

[[File:RIAN archive 662758 Recruits entering Voroshilov Barracks.jpg|thumb|upright|Soviet conscripts in Moscow after [[Nazi Germany]] [[Eastern Front (World War II)|invaded the Soviet Union]], 1941]]
During the [[Operation Barbarossa|Great Patriotic War]], the [[Red Army]] conscripted nearly 30 million men.<ref>{{Citation | first = ГФ [Krivosheev, GF] | last = Кривошеев | title = Россия и СССР в войнах XX века: потери вооруженных сил. Статистическое исследование |trans-title=Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study | language = ru}}.</ref>