Last time I was part of conscription, I sent in my objection letter, and served Germany as a paramedic.
No regrets, 100% would do it again.
this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2026
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I'm quite glad to see that most of the answers are positive here. It used to be the other way around, of course this thread is not representative of the whole Europe, but anyways..
I'm a Finn, so I went. My plan was to do the minimum and get the hell out of there. But after 6 weeks I liked the guys in my group, I actually enjoyed having to actually do something different for a change, not just sit at the computer or go to band practice/gigs. So when the 8 week starting period ended and it became time to choose what you want to "specialize" in, I checked the boxes for NCO and officer training. Didn't get to go for the officer training but got to go to be a NCO. I was in the artillery. My job was to figure out where we were and which direction we were pointing. So I learned a lot of stuff about maps, that was fun because I love maps. I also learned how to take the position and direction from the moon and stars, that was fun because I love stars and space shit. I learned a bunch of other skills as well. If I were a dictator, I'd force everyone to go, at least for 5-6 months. You learn skills that you might not need, sure, but you also learn stuff that you didn't know you needed.
Over the years I've heard people say "I wouldn't go because my country is not worth fighting for." I would understand that if you are from russia or some such place. But so many Germans have said it to me and I'm just baffled by that. Like okay, I get it, the government is shit. But in a war, you are not defending just the government, you are defending your family, friends, your house, the park you walk through, the way you live, the way your neighbor lives. Are those not worth defending? I'm fine if you are a pacifist and wont take up arms, thats fine. But if you say your country is not worth defending and you live in Europe, thats just ridiculous.
I'm a misanthrope and I hate most people, but if someone tries to come to my yard and start some shit, I'm gonna go fight, out of spite, if not for anything else. I want to hate people in my own terms, I want to tell people to fuck off in Finnish in Finland. Not in russia.
the government is shit
I hear that kind of response from Americans regarding the draft (well... Trump is in office, a pedophile president) so hence why they will rather be in prison, than either die on foreign soil or be scarred with PTSD whilst being neglected by the "system" that's meant to help. In their case, most of the wars are instigated by their own government.
I wouldnβt go because my country is not worth fighting for.
It's the same for the US, knowing them: like with the Iraq war (Bush uses the pretense of WMD's in which there are none found) both soldiers and marines died for a conflict Bush initiated.
Seems like I didn't finish my thought there, I was in the middle of only my second cup of morning coffee, sorry for being a bit unclear!
But yes, I would include the US in "russia or some such place." I would argue that the US has not fought a defensive war since 1945. So I would exclude them from the "defending your country" thing. If you join the US armed forces, you are not going to defend your country, if anything, you are making the world more dangerous for your fellow countrymenwomen.
So if you are a American, I probably agree with any and all reasons to not join the military. But thats also why I included the bit about "if you are European" in my original post.
I'm not sure about Finland or the EU, but often or not the US one involves the MIC (sotateollinen kompleksi) in which is the relationship between defense companies and the government, in a business sense - they profit from war via the arms trade as weapons are used in wars made by those companies.
Yes, another good reason for not dying for the benefit of the US corporate world.
Does Finland have a MIC? (And yes, the US shouldn't be considered a country, more like a corporation).
We do. Patria and Sako probably the biggest ones.
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Yes, refusing draft is punishable by jail. I knew people that were hiding from MP for years. It's not like they had to hide in some basement but they definitely couldn't just live under their registered address. The risk of getting arrested was always there. There was some statue of limitations on it so you only had to hide until you're 28 or something like that.
As for your question, for me it depends on the war. If someone would try to draft to invade other country I would refuse. If other country invaded Spain I would defend it (well, not Catalonia or Pais Vasco obviously but other communities for sure).
depends on the war
When referencing from the American perspective: A LOT or often - it involves the MIC (complejo militar-industrial) which in their case is the collab between defense companies (i.e. Lockheed Martin) & the government on making the big bucks (basically making money by arms trading). I'm not sure about Spain though...
Spain haven't invaded other countries in some time and there's pretty much 0 chance it will start drafting people for a war abroad. If it tried I would refuse.
I mean, does Spain really have a military industrial complex? Which is basically politico-military relations, like a "business" rapport between the government, armed forces and defense contractors? Are there even weapons manufactuers based & operated in Spain (like how the US has Raytheon)?
Every country has weapons manufacturers. It's a strategic industry and every country tries hard to maintain it. You don't want to end up in a situation where you import all your weapons because if shit hits the fan you can be completely cut off and defenseless. So typically government tries to prop up local industry by ordering weapons from them. If they are lucky they also sell something to other countries. Spain for example manufactures some airplanes for Airbus, like CASA and they assemble Eurofighters. They have their own submarine program and build their own navy. Indra is a really big company for example. But it's all tiny in comparison with US and not a corrupt so it's difficult to convince politicians to start a war just to sell more weapons.
import all your weapons because if shit hits the fan you can be completely cut off and defenseless Believe it or not, the US (despite being a "first world" country) still imports semi conductors from China which are used for advanced military hardware but access can be revoked at any time if they're at war.
Yes, it's a global economy and dependencies exist. Everyone is still trying to limit them as much as possible.
Welcome to Greece, where once you turn adult(18-19), you have to go to army. If you don't show up, police or stratonomia searches for you, and if you fully never show up, you are called insubordination, and you get fine around 6k and you go to military court. You get to serve 12 months on mainland, 9 in boarders. The only way to avoid it is if you have some kind of medical situation, pay for it or have someone to move the strings, and still they will accept you, but unarmed. Apart from it, the worst part, is the training, they teach you old stupid stuff, and the weapons are so bad that you can't even hit target, no matter how good you are! I did 9 months, and the training was the worst thing I ever done on a WW2 machinery. The thing is that training will probably change, as army is doing changes lately(Bless Niko Dendias). Will see.
What's the public opinion regarding Greek politicians? Is it worth fighting for the government? Speaking of that, I've heard that Americans who refused the draft back in the 60s crossed the Canadian border. I mean, can people in Greece just enter and hide in neighboring countries to avoid conscription?
Of course it's not worth fighting for a government that can't stop scandals going on and on IMO. I forgot to mention that we where used to get paid 8.50 euros per month, which a year after was raised, but still, what they expect us to do with 8.50??
You can leave the country, but after a while they call you deserter, and coming to Greece will be limited, I think max 3 months of stay.
Greek politicians have a bad reflection.
8.50 euros Is that after taxes? WTF? Might as well consider it a "slave" wage.
If they tried to draft me I'd tell them to eat all of my shit and hair, I'd rather go to jail.
In a very unlikely scenario they decide to drsft me, I would happily refuse.
Accept. Any war Canada fights before I'm too old is going to be for a very good reason. (Not technically Europe, but we're trying)
I'm saying this as the perspective of a Swede that trusts his government.
Yes. I think military basic training is a good thing. My generation was not drafted/conscripted due to incredibly low budget. But it has since then increased.
You're first sent to "mΓΆnstring" where your physical abilities are tested. And from there, you may or may not be selected.
Failing to enlist after being drafted or conscripted is a criminal offense. Straight to jail.
We also have something called "total defense" where if we are attacked. Everyone between the age of 16 to 70 must enlist to serve their country. The manner of which you do will vary, it can be civil duty, it can be military duty, it can be that you continue with your life as is, or that you are now driving transport trucks for the military, maybe you now work in an ammunition factory, maybe you do quality control of rifles, maybe you are now a nurse, doctors assistent. Or maybe you are deployed.
All and any information that resistance shall stop is false.