<P> Conscription , sometimes the draft , is the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service , most often a military service . Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names . The modern system of near - universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s , where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military . Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime , so that men at a certain age would serve 1 -- 8 years on active duty and then transfer to the reserve force . </P>
<P> Conscription , sometimes the draft , is the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service , most often a military service . Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names . The modern system of near - universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s , where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military . Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime , so that men at a certain age would serve 1 -- 8 years on active duty and then transfer to the reserve force . </P>
what does it mean to be drafted into the army
what does it mean to be drafted into the army
the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service , most often a military service
the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service , most often a military service