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Universal conscription in the modern sense originated during the French Revolution, when the newly created Republic needed stronger military forces, initially to defend the country against counter-revolutionary invasion and subsequently to expand its radical ideas throughout Europe. In contrast to the former royal army this was not to be a ...
French infantry pushing through enemy barbed wire, 1915. During World War I, France was one of the Triple Entente powers allied against the Central Powers.Although fighting occurred worldwide, the bulk of the French Army's operations occurred in Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Alsace-Lorraine along what came to be known as the Western Front, which consisted mainly of trench warfare.
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 (French: Crise de la conscription de 1917) was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I.It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also brought out many issues regarding relations between French Canadians and English Canadians.
More than one million French soldiers (306,000 in 1914, 334,000 in 1915, 287,000 in 1916, 121,000 in early 1917), out of a population of twenty million males of all ages, had been killed in fighting by early 1917. The losses had weakened the French will to attack. [2] In April 1917, General Robert Nivelle promised a war-winning decisive victory.
Hunter, John C. "The Problem of the French Birth Rate on the Eve of World War I" French Historical Studies 2#4 (1962), pp. 490–503 online; Hutton, Patrick H. et al. Historical Dictionary of the Third French Republic, 1870–1940 (2 vol 1986) online edition vol 1 [permanent dead link ]; online edition vol 2 [permanent dead link ]
In Canada opposition to conscription and involvement in the war centered on French Canadian nationalists led by Henri Bourassa. Following the 1917 elections , the government implemented the Military Service Act 1917 that came into effect in 1918, which sparked a weekend of rioting in Quebec City between 28 March and 1 April 1918.
The introduction of conscription in May 1939, before the war began, was partly due to pressure from the French, who emphasized the need for a large British army to oppose the Germans. [271] From early 1942 unmarried women age 20–30 were conscripted (unmarried women who had dependent children aged 14 or younger, including those who had ...
Levée en masse (French pronunciation: [ləve ɑ̃ mɑs] or, in English, mass levy [1]) is a French term used for a policy of mass national conscription, often in the face of invasion. The concept originated during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the period following 16 August 1793, [2] when able-bodied men aged 18 to 25 were ...