Essai/composition sur la Conscription en France en anglais

« Intro: The concept of conscription, the order given by a state to part of its population to serve its armed forces dates back to the French Revolution with the 'Levée en masse' on August 23, 1793.

However, it was not until September 5, 1798, with the Jourdan-Delbrel Law, that 'universal and obligatory conscription' was officially established for all French men aged 20 to 25. Jean Jaures who was a French socialist leader, defined conscription as a great patriotic school, which suggests that military service educates and shapes citizens in a way that strengthens their attachment to their homeland.

He also describes conscription as a great republican school, which implies that conscription also reinforces republican (or democratic) values, such as civic equality and shared responsibility among citizens, regardless of social class. In this essay we will analyse to what extent conscription served as a republican school as well as being a patriotic school.

We will firstly see that conscription is not a Republican school due to the unfair and unequal treatments, then we will mention how conscription in some cases was used for imperial battles and not as a way to defend the republic, and lastly we’ll address some of the elements that made conscription a great republican school. 1.

Conscription is not a great republican school. Conscription did not serve as a great republican school, though it did it aim to, in 1798 when it was officially established.

Indeed, a great Republican school spreads values like equal opportunities to all citizens, regardless of background, and rejects advantages for elites. However, exemption regimes were established very early on from the Consulate and the Empire, with exemptions for married men and priests for example.

Laws were also made like the The Gouvion-Saint-Cyr law in 1818, this law exempted those who drew a good number or who could pay for a replacement.

These exemptions in the beginning of the conscription period lead to a majority of the conscripts coming from the working class, as these people could not afford to pay for replacement.

Exemptions lasted during the whole period of conscription, as in the late 1980’s, approximately 10 years before the end of the conscription only a small number of men were exposed to this conscription due to the many physical, psychological, administrative, or social exemptions.

Another factor that contributed to this inequality were the very rigorous criterias that determined the ability for a man to be conscripted, in the.... »