There is much to be said in favour of compulsory military training, although the British race has never taken kindly to it. Great Britain is an island, and has always depended on the sea and her fleet as her main defense against foreign foes; and the United States, and the British colonies, are separated from possible foes by such vast oceans that they have never as yet felt the necessity of training all their citizens for military service.
But the nations of the Continent of Europe are in a different position. They are divided from each other only by imaginary boundaries on the map, and so are always open to attack from each other. In consequence, compulsory military training is the rule in such countries as France, Germany, Italy and the smaller States.
The main object of compulsory military training is, of course, the defense of the country against foreign foes. Every young man is obliged by law to enter the army at a certain age for so many years, and be trained as a soldier; and when he has finished his term of service, and returns to civil life, he is still in the army reserve for a certain number of years, and is liable to be called out on active service in time of war.
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The result is that the nation always has a large standing army, and at the same time a still larger army of trained men in reserve, which can be mobilized in case of national danger at twenty-four hours’ notice. In fact such a nation is a nation under arms, for every citizen is a soldier.
Other advantages of this system are the development and improvement of the physique of the men of the nation by regular drill; and their submission for an important period in their lives to strict and wholesome discipline.
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It is claimed that many a weakling has been made physically sturdy and robust, and many a wastrel turned into a steady, hardworking citizen, by the physical exercise and stern discipline of military training.
On the other hand, there are serious objections to the system of compulsory military training. For one thing it forms a serious interruption to the technical and professional training of young men; for it generally comes just at the time their schooling is finished, and they should be preparing for their life’s career.
For another, the period spent in the army very often ruins a young man’s moral character by exposing him, when still a lad, to all the temptations of a soldier’s life.
Lastly, far from preserving peace, the huge conscript armies of European nations have tended to bring about wars. The very existence of these trained military nations of Europe was one of the causes of the Great War of 1914-18.