• PugJesus@lemmy.worldM
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    1 month ago

    There are numerous reasons why one wouldn’t volunteer, but still willingly serve in a draft. Many people feel obligation towards their family, and volunteering would be abrogating that responsibility. The draft removes that issue of internal guilt. Furthermore, drafts can preserve needed skills at home - in WW2, volunteers were often turned away and told to wait for their draft card to turn up, because at that moment their profession was needed for the war industry.

    I would highly recommend reading the accounts of soldiers who have been drafted in wars that weren’t wildly unpopular with the domestic population and/or 20 year occupations.

    In WW2, the vast majority of our military forces were drafted, both US and UK.