Editing Conscription (section)

====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>