Vote Yes pin for Australian conscription, October 28, 1916, with the flags of Australia and Great Britain. A tin badge or tie-back pin in support of the Australian referendum on conscription, October 28, 1916. Australia voted no on this occasion and again, by a wider margin, in December, 1917.

Oct 28, 1916

Vote Yes

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In 1913, France extended compulsory military service from two years to three, in part, to offset the larger population of Germany, more than 50% larger than that of France.

By mid-1915 three million British men had volunteered for the war, but Britain did not have enough volunteers to field the army it planned to build. The cabinet debated introducing conscription. Another half-million men had volunteered by the time Prime Minister Asquith introduced the Conscription Bill (the British Military Service Act) to the House of Commons on January 5, 1916. It became effective on March 2, but not in Ireland outside of Northern Ireland. Britain conscripted 2,300,000 soldiers during the war.

Although New Zealand introduced compulsory military service in July 1916, Australians defeated referenda to introduce conscription on October 28, 1916 and in December 1917.

The United States introduced conscription within three weeks of declaring war.

The Canadian Parliament passed a conscription bill on July 6, 1917, a bill confirmed December 17. The French-Canadian province of Quebec refused to consent to conscription.