The reintroduction and/or extension of military conscription is shaping the current European scenario, clearly linked to the powerful escalation of war we are witnessing. The world is increasingly ablaze with wars, and in addition to armaments, we need bodies. Young, efficient, and expendable bodies: in short, we need cannon fodder. And now that the idea of a European army has faded, each state is equipping itself, even though there are elements that point to a clear common rearmament strategy.
In a dozen European countries, there is already an effective military conscription that has been maintained over time, as in the case of Cyprus, Greece, and Austria, or that was reintroduced or strengthened following the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine, as in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. Recently, Germany and France are also moving forward with reintroducing conscription.
With the exception of a few cases of explicit and generalized obligation, a hybrid recruitment formula based on "mandatory voluntary service" has prevailed, a dubious and miserable ploy to curb dissent against a highly unpopular measure. The reality of the regulations, however, is crystal clear: volunteers, yes, but if the numbers are insufficient to meet the objectives, then a generalized lottery is used. This is very similar to the Draft Lottery used in the United States almost sixty years ago to draw lots for compulsory military service, which sent so many young men who had no desire to go to Vietnam.
In Germany, starting January 1, 2026, a mandatory questionnaire was administered to determine those available for military service. From July 2027, a generalized medical examination to determine physical and mental fitness will be mandatory. These tests are mandatory for all males between the ages of 18 and 19, and optional for females; People in transition are given a limited time to assume an unequivocal binary position, male or female, in order to be classified as either obligated to complete the questionnaire or not. If the number of available and eligible candidates is insufficient, a draw will also be conducted among those who are not available.
Scandinavian countries, which have significantly tightened conscription by increasing the period and extending the obligation to women, have instead adopted a selective criterion: everyone is required to complete the questionnaire and undergo a medical examination, but only a minimal percentage is recruited, deemed numerically sufficient to meet needs and qualitatively more significant, but above all considered the fundamental basis for building a stable and efficient core of reservists. The reserve, which all European countries are tending to establish or strengthen-a common element of this wave of growing militarization-is based on conscription, since it involves personnel who have completed military service, therefore with basic military training, periodically undergoing training, and can be recalled if necessary.
In the Baltic countries and Poland, recruitment is massive, given the target of 500,000 conscripts, both male and female, to be reached by 2035. To increase motivation, some of these countries have introduced military education into the curriculum of high schools and even introduced specific military classes in public schools.
In this context, Italy is a unique case. Despite Crosetto's resounding announcements, the issue of conscription is still unclear, which seems a bit strange for a country governed by the fascist right. In Italy, conscription, never abolished, has been suspended since 2005. The reform of the Initial Voluntary Service (Ferma Volontaria Iniziale) was recently implemented, and in recent years, military intervention in schools has increased dramatically, evidently for the purpose of recruitment and publicizing military career paths. While large-scale voluntary enlistment campaigns have been conducted, conscription has not been reintroduced. A generalized compulsory reintroduction, on the other hand, would not be economically sustainable: it would mean reopening abandoned barracks, equipping themselves with uniforms, linens, canteens, and various services, as well as providing pay to all young people required to perform military service, because soldiers, after all, deserve their pay.
However, despite the government's apparent impasse, work has been underway in Italy for some time now to reintroduce a form of conscription and align with the European context.
In August 2022, the Draghi government, a few months into the Russo-Ukrainian war, approved Law 119, postponing by ten years the planned reduction in military personnel (active, reserve, and paramilitary), which was supposed to have been progressively reduced starting in 2023. At the same time, the same law empowered the government to establish, by decree, a military reserve of 10,000 personnel to be used in the event of war or serious international crisis. In November 2023, the mandate was postponed for two years, but upon its expiration in November 2025, the government did not issue a decree on the matter. This is the aftermath of the massive demonstrations of the autumn, which, in a wave of solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Flotilla, swept across the country, strongly challenging the policies of war and rearmament. In this context, the government evidently believes it more prudent to avoid an authoritative decree on such an unpopular issue and prefers to proceed according to institutional procedures. In recent years, several bills have been submitted to reintroduce military conscription, by Zoffili (Lega), Cirielli (FdI), and Minardo (Forza Italia). The latter, presented in February 2024, aims to establish 10,000 military personnel as the state auxiliary reserve, recruited from discharged military personnel who have completed their voluntary or three-year term of service-those already trained and up to the age of 40. And at the end of 2025, Crosetto, in announcing his intention to reintroduce conscription, emphasized the centrality of the goal of 10,000 reservists, nodding to Mainardo's proposal, but also declaring his interest in the German model for reintroducing conscription.
Meanwhile, the end of March arrives, Crosetto's deadline to submit a comprehensive proposal that takes into account the objectives established by Law 119 of 2022, pending bills, and input from sectors of the Armed Forces-not least the SAM, the autonomous military union-but nothing happens. Is the "prudent" stance this time perhaps due to the referendum defeat and the government's need to avoid further loss of support? Who knows, but what is certain is that the government's hesitation would have necessitated a decisive and vocal opposition to any attempt, even if not yet explicitly stated, to reintroduce conscription. The most radical antimilitarism is taking action on the issue, as is the observatory against the militarization of schools, and certain student groups and groups are taking action, missing no opportunity to denounce the danger of reintroducing the military conscription system. Some institutional surveys conducted among young people for purely exploratory purposes, such as one conducted by the Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents, have consistently rejected their willingness to perform military service. The massive German student strikes against the reintroduction of conscription are beginning to have an impact on the Italian context.
It is unfortunate that this relatively favorable situation, with the government struggling and protests growing, is the backdrop for the highly questionable intervention of some pacifist associations.
On March 16, three networks promoting the campaign "Another Defense is Possible" (CNESC - National Conference of Civil Service Entities, the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network, and Sbilanciamoci!) filed with the Court of Cassation the text of a popular initiative bill entitled "Establishment and Financing of the Department of Civil, Unarmed, and Nonviolent Defense." The intention is to reinstate conscientious objection to military service, specifically in light of the possible reintroduction of conscription. At a time when maximum effort should be devoted to opposing the government's reintroduction of conscription as much as possible, taking formal initiatives to counteract the effects of what has yet to be implemented means taking its approval for granted and reasoning in a subordinate and complementary manner to a process that must be fully opposed.
Conscientious objection to military service was established in 1972, and was effectively abolished in 2005 with the suspension of compulsory military service. The current universal civil service is entirely different, so much so that it is administered by the Department of Youth Policies. The popular initiative bill presented by the networks aims to place conscientious objection to military service in the current context. It cites Article 52 of the Constitution-"the defense of the homeland is a sacred duty of the citizen"-and case law, which recognizes that this "sacred duty" can also be fulfilled through means that do not involve the use of weapons, but are nevertheless complementary to actual armed defense. This unarmed service would be included within a dedicated Department of Civil Defense, whose establishment, funding, and other provisions are being requested.
The current situation, the extreme militarization of society, and the global context of increasing rearmament and the proliferation of war zones require something entirely different. The widespread push to reintroduce military conscription requires something very different: a clear understanding of the ongoing processes and a clearly and unequivocally anti-militarist intervention in the social context.
The different conscription models adopted by various European countries have common features, which must be identified and addressed, because they underscore the centrality of the conscription issue and the unified, albeit diverse, approach by European governments.
For example, the questionnaire used by various European governments to assess young people's readiness for military service is mandatory everywhere. Failure to complete it is considered equated with refusal. The medical examination to assess physical and mental fitness is similarly mandatory. Beyond the myths surrounding the supposedly voluntary nature of a draft that, if insufficient participation is achieved, is conducted through random draws, the questionnaire and medical examination represent a powerful mass screening of the entire eligible youth population.
The reintroduction of conscription is proceeding everywhere in tandem with the militarization of schools and the dissemination of military propaganda in educational settings.
But there are also other elements common to the militarist policies of various European countries. 2035 has been adopted as the first deadline for assessing the strengthening of military human resources achieved by individual states, in order to define a European standard. The numerical targets that various European governments set for the new draft include not only the number of military recruits, but also the number of reservists and conscientious objectors. The German model that Crosetto favors, for example, calls for a staff of 260,000 conscripts (volunteers and non-volunteers), 200,000 reservists (volunteers and non-volunteers) among those who have completed their military service, and 100,000 conscientious objectors by 2035. This is a clear example of what is called the permanent total defense model, something we know as a sad reality in various countries around the world. The entire population must be conditioned by the culture of war. In particular, young people subject to conscription, reservists, and conscientious objectors are all in service to their homeland and the nation, with various levels of involvement in military defense, whether armed or not. Civil defense must be integrated with the military apparatus, according to the well-known dual-use logic.
On the other hand, modern warfare systems allow for high-impact offensive activities even without necessarily carrying a rifle, perhaps fiddling with a computer keyboard, managing logistics, or something else. Because, as the Balilla Decalogue stated: The Fatherland is served even by guarding a gas can.
In the face of increasingly heavy and pervasive militarization, the response must once again be characterized by firm opposition to militarism, nationalism, and the rhetoric of homeland and defense. For a society without the military, but also without militarism disguised in various guises. Let's build a campaign against military conscription. Let's intertwine our struggles with those of the younger generations who don't want to be cannon fodder.
Patrizia Nesti
https://umanitanova.org/no-alla-leva-militare/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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