WW1: Did soldiers choose to go to war or were they forced? How old did they have to be?

Question

is that 18 for england?
thanks for your answers

Answer 1

Most of the soilders wanted 2 go to get away frm their borning lifes- they had to be arond 18 or 19 before they could join- hope this helps!

Answer 2

it depends on the time period you're thinking of. In the old days some went of choose but others once they hit a certain age where forced i can't be 100% posivite of they age but i know they were young probably had to do train at the age of 16 and went to war when the chief's thought they were ready. But in are day's if you decide to become a soldier it's usaly because i will want to go in war (i am talking about the country's like canada) and the youngest i would think would be 18. hope this helps!

Answer 3

A lot of soldiers were shamed into volunteering for WW1. Any apparently fit young man not in uniform would be given white feathers (for cowardice) by people in the street. Socially, immense pressure was put on them.
Some young men seeking adventure couldn't wait to go and lied about their age. Few checks were made. Other soldiers were conscripted.
I don't know what category my Grandfather came under. He died of cholera in Bombay in Jan 1919, aged 38, before the army could send him home. He left a widow and 5 young sons. What a waste of a life.

Answer 4

In France they had no choice. Military service was mandatory from 20 years old for 3 years and afterwards you could get recalled anytime additional soldiers were needed until you reached the age of around 40. In 1914 two millions young men were either already serving or got drafted.
As the war dragged on and casualties rose the age of those recalled rose as well and young men were called at a younger and younger age.

Answer 5

It was a volunteer Army, or it was at the beginning of the war...there was the famous Gen. Kitchener poster of 'Your Country needs you.
It was a time of poverty and unemployment and in a lot of cases the forces were seen as a way towards a good meal and a job.
Many local towns, organisations formed what were known as Pal regiments, where lots of young men joined up from a particular area. This had disastrous consequences as local communities lost a generation of young men.
I think they had to be 17 but many lied about their age to enlist. Some as young as 15 joined up.
I am not sure if conscription appeared towards the end of the War, I think it probably did, you would have to look that one up.

Answer 6

Some volunteered, some were conscripted. The legal age was 18. They were a lot more enthusiastic at the start of the war, but attitudes soon changed when hundreds of thousands of them started getting gassed/maimed/killed in a shitty French or Belgian field. It then became apparant that it wasn't going to be all over by Christmas and not such a lark as the posters made out.

It was a lot easier to lie about your age in those days too.

Answer 7

at the start they volunteered, by the end of the war they were forced. minimum age was 18 but some got in younger and some of them wer about 14 or 15

Answer 8

The draft was in effect for WWI, but there was not the opposition to it that was seen in the Vietnam draft (for example). WWI was a widely supported war and the young men of the time felt it was their duty to serve. Many did not need to be drafted as they joined up themselves. Most of those who were drafted, though they might not have been really enthusiastic about serving, felt it was their duty and did not oppose conscription.

The problem that arose in Vietnam was that the war was strongly opposed by a large faction of the US citizenry, so to draft young men to (often) die in an unsupported war made the draft quite unpopular.

Answer 9

An journey in 1914. you are able to have been ineffective by using 1916. Left wounded in 'No guy's Land'. mendacity, bleeding and demise in a shell hollow. Screaming to your mom. in case you survived that the bitter actuality in 1918 replaced into that the Generals have been given it incorrect. They have been working from what that they had found out years till now. situations had replaced. Communications failed. The Chiefs of artwork stress had no theory what it replaced into like on the front line.

Answer 10

At the start of WW1 men volunteered, in fact young lads of sixteen and possibly younger lied about their age to get in.
The Army didn't bother to check, they wanted all the cannon fodder they could get. My uncle was eighteen when he was shot before he fired a bullet.
There was a massive recruitment drive with the famous poster "Your Country Needs You" and Lord Kitchener 's picture pointing at you.
They were conned into believing that glory awaited them, instead it was death.

Answer 11

None were forced but if you didn't go you were considered a pansy. Also, doctors, teachers etc. didn't go. The recruiting age was 18 although many 16 and 17 years olds faked their age and went.