Military conscription

[Donotpanicoknowpanic]

There is lots of talk about if ww3 happens then military conscription will happen

This is basically people who sit in an office safely saying we need to either send ourselves or out children to fight and die in horrible conditions

Am I unreasonable to think that anyone who thinks this is a good idea

They should be the first ones to sign up and to lead by example

Any politicians who think this is a good idea, there children should be the first to go

Russia is literally sending troops in wheel chairs and crunches to the front line

So age, disability and gender will not be a problem for anyone who supports any conscription policy's, they can go first

Also the UK will not be invaded, we are not Ukrainian, If we were more like Ukraine I would be more in favour of this as the country itself is under threat

My son is in the RAF and will be called upon to do his duty. Hopefully he will do his job, along with diplomacy and conscription won’t be needed.
Ao my son will go if needed.

@SerendipityJane I’m always quoting that advertisement. Never thought to search for a clip.

As this thread shows, you'd not lost much.

The world was a very different place back then

If WW3 happened and to the extent conscription was required you’d be fighting to preserve the sovereignty of your country and way of life irrespective of who the leader was.

A good number of Mumsnetters appear to believe that if Conscription papers are ever issued, the M.O.D will simply drop the matter without parental consent.

It's truly bizarre.

Really ? But you have posters on here arguing like it is exactly the same.

Funny old world, innit ?

look at several people who save people from the sea
the people who save others from terrorists

people will step up

Why on earth would an 18 year old need parental consent ?

I think that was also due to the social attitudes of the time. During WW1 and WW2.

Men (and too many young boys) felt they had a moral obligation to sign up - I doubt they were skipping merrily to sign the paperwork. They just were a product of their environment and that was just what you did. If your dad, brothers, cousins and school mates were all going to fight (and probably die), then you have an obligation to do the same.
History tells us that the men who dodged that obligation without any real reason other than “I don’t want to” were not treated well by those around them.

Ask the users shouting about the fact they won't permit their adult kids to be conscripted.

Is it just fighting in Eastern Europe you are not happy about? If Russia invaded France or Germany, do you think that people should fight then?

What about if they dropped bombs on us? Should we fight then? Or just rage at the government via the internet?

Curious as to what your tipping point would be?

The world works on alliances - always has done. It's why WW1 started after Franz Ferdinand was assassinated and its why NATO is so important - the idea of NATO is that all of the countries sign up to the attack in one is an attack on all principle - as soon as we start to discriminate between NATO countries, the whole thing goes south.

We can't say I wouldn't fight to defend an Eastern European NATO country, only a Western European NATO country, or even worse, I'd only fight to defend ourselves because that leads to the collapse of the alliance and then everything truly will descend into chaos.

That is why the risk of the US leaving NATO is so dire - not because we would miss their military might in any conflict (although that is also an issue - albeit one which Europe is trying to mitigate), but because it fractures the united response which has prevented another world war breaking out up until now!

Would I want my children to have to go and fight in a war - of course not. Do I agree with war in the context of the current crisis - no, as a previous poster said, it is all about rich, white men seeking money and power.

However, if it comes to it and we do end up in the sort of war that needs conscription, then yes, I would absolutely support it and encourage my children to do their bit in any way that was needed, as would I, because the alternative - of powerful countries being able to take over, invade and ride roughshod over whoever the hell they want, is completely horrific.

As it is, I don't think it will come to conscription for our young as there was in WW2 with young people being sent to the front to fight. I think there will be challenges and sacrifices that need to be made, I think there will be difficulties and there may be conscription within home based industries / engineering / factory production / food production.

When NATO countries get fully drawn into this, it will be an information and technology war - there will be some soldiers on the ground, but a lot of the battles will be with aircraft and drones. There will be attacks on the internet and on information systems to try and cripple the country. It will look very, very different to the 1930's!

Well I could. But I was hoping a grown up could answer.

Men (and too many young boys) felt they had a moral obligation to sign up

To preserve the neutrality of Belgium ? They were very noble.

The entire point of my post is that the M.O.D won't give a hoot if some mumsnetter objects to their kids being conscripted, and it baffles me that so many appear to believe they have some sort of veto.

If it gets to the point where conscription papers are issued, nobody will just be jumping on an Easyjet to Spain to dodge it, and they will be appearing on your doorstep to ensure compliance if you neglect to turn up. They aren't going to pay any heed to a wailing or obstructive parent.

I think people know that, they still don’t want their dc to do it. Maybe young people will all refuse en masse in every country. It’d be more rational than fighting for some old leader.

We may be fiercely agreeing ...

You mean imagine there's no wars ?

I suppose it's easy if you try,

There’s a few leaders telling you otherwise. Maybe young people can say no. You said no thanks to frontline, they could too. There’s not much difference.

We can’t even get people off benefits. No one will comply to conscription. How could we imprison all the people that refuse? Prisons are full already. No one respects this country or its leader.

How could we imprison all the people that refuse?

Well given that we're talking about an almost end-of-the-world level crisis here, I very much doubt putting people in prison will be a consideration when putting a bullet through their skulls instead both solves that problem and sends a message to anyone else thinking about chickening out.

The last of them died at the end of 2024. The chap before, a close friend and truly wonderful person, him was 2019. What he saw between being shot down over France and getting home from Germany after the war's end...a witness to some of the worst of it.

Weird you are worrying about that while Putin is paying prisoners to fight

More than 70% of people in my country are willing to fight to defend it - not all young people are as selfish and short sighted as you think.

We've had this discussion before you and I, but I'll just reiterate that I can completely understand why people in your country are a little bit more inclined toward "patriotism" than those in the UK.

Different histories, different geographies.

It's an indisputable fact that for all the privations forced upon UK and US civilians in both World Wars, not a single one of them actually had to expel an invader from their own soil, or live through an invasion of their homelands (Channel Islanders excepted), and I think the legacy of that fact is still pertinent even today. There is a reason why you are not the only nation with a pathological hatred for Russia, and it's a reason which simply does not apply in the case of Brits and Americans.