Conscription

Conscription, or compulsory military recruitment, disrupted family life: households lost workers and faced uncertainty about whether relatives would return. Deaths and serious wounds left families bereaved or caring for injured survivors.

In January 1916, the Military Service Act introduced conscription, making military service compulsory for unmarried men aged 18–41. It was extended to married men later that year. This created a conflict between the state’s demand for military service and an individual’s conscience.

Governments introduced conscription during both wars because they needed soldiers. Evading military service when legally required could therefore become an offence: wartime needs changed the obligations imposed on individuals.