Panicking about conscription returning in the UK

[imfineokay]

A couple weeks ago or so I was browsing on google and ran into an article which discussed bringing back military conscription into the UK, seeing the headline alone sent me into a panic attack but I calmed down when I visited family and talked about it. I have since ducked news articles but today when I went on my laptop to turn off the 'discover' segment on google, I saw an article saying that Latvia which is a NATO country has brought back military conscription, the fact that this is a NATO country made me anxious as I was under the impression that if any NATO country was in direct conflict with Russia wouldn't that mean we all are? I'm no expert and haven't read too much into it so I would be happy to be corrected on this.

I know I'm stupid for reading these articles in the first place and I have managed to turn off all news segments on my devices now but I am super anxious now about what I have already read. Should I be worried about all this? Because i'm trying my best to stay calm now but it's very difficult.

[ErinKC]

It appears extraordinarily unlikely that conscription would return to the UK. Per this article, it sounds like the rantings of one specific hawkish general and not at all the sentiment of the nation or in any way consistent historically.

Even if there was a need for additional troops because of increased hostilities, nations with volunteer militaries see major increases in volunteers in times of crisis or war. There was a big bump in the US, for example, after 9/11. There's little chance that conscription would become necessary.

Article Five of the NATO treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it should be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary. There is also no obligation to defend a NATO country who initiates hostilities. So, there is no requirement that any NATO country commit troops to support others unless deemed necessary following aggression against them. More commonly, we see financial and technical support with weapons, etc...

The world can be a scary place right now, but a lot of that is because we have the unpleasant privilege of watching things unfold in real time. Imagine the terror in the hearts of every citizen of the world if we were watching Chamberlain negotiate with Hitler, or Kennedy talk FDR down from the Cuban Missile Crisis on 24/h cable channels and Twitter. I've become of the opinion that where world affairs are concerned, it's none of my business! I can't do a thing about any of it, so I need to just push it aside as if it's the intimate details of my neighbor's home life - better left behind closed doors and shut off TVs!

[Lencoboy]

It appears extraordinarily unlikely that conscription would return to the UK. Per this article, it sounds like the rantings of one specific hawkish general and not at all the sentiment of the nation or in any way consistent historically.

Even if there was a need for additional troops because of increased hostilities, nations with volunteer militaries see major increases in volunteers in times of crisis or war. There was a big bump in the US, for example, after 9/11. There's little chance that conscription would become necessary.

Article Five of the NATO treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it should be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary. There is also no obligation to defend a NATO country who initiates hostilities. So, there is no requirement that any NATO country commit troops to support others unless deemed necessary following aggression against them. More commonly, we see financial and technical support with weapons, etc...

The world can be a scary place right now, but a lot of that is because we have the unpleasant privilege of watching things unfold in real time. Imagine the terror in the hearts of every citizen of the world if we were watching Chamberlain negotiate with Hitler, or Kennedy talk FDR down from the Cuban Missile Crisis on 24/h cable channels and Twitter. I've become of the opinion that where world affairs are concerned, it's none of my business! I can't do a thing about any of it, so I need to just push it aside as if it's the intimate details of my neighbor's home life - better left behind closed doors and shut off TVs!

That's the crux of the issue, Erin.

Instantaneous info from 24/7 rolling media (some can be unreliable of course) which simply wasn't around back in the days of both of the World Wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 60s, the Cold War in the 70s-80s, etc.

I was even saying in another thread on here the other week that I bet had the Lockerbie tragedy of 1988 happened now in 2024 it would have no doubt been treated like 'our 9/11 moment', of which I suppose it technically was at the time, but minus the Internet/social media and all the 24/7 general rolling media that is taken for granted today, plus of course with seemingly less widespread public hysteria (as far as I seem to remember).

Sometimes less truly is more.

[jack00]

Hi :-) I've worried about that too but I agree with Erin and also - I think that IF we had conscription (very unlikely), people with mental health conditions would be excused.

In the UK even if you wanted to join the army now, you wouldn't be accepted with a history of anxiety or depression (I just checked the MOD website!)

Hope you feel better soon :-)

[Lencoboy]

I think a lot of this conscription lark is simply just talk ATM, and more about 'whatiffery' in some kind of hypothetical future scenario, and not necessarily in response to any specific threats to the UK right now (if at all).

Very likely a looking into 'preparing for all eventualities' in the future thing (as unpalatable as it may sound), rather than directly in respose to current events in the Middle East, Ukraine, etc.

I think a lot of it is also some kind of political football, especially during the run-up to the forthcoming General Election.

[ErinKC]

[/QUOTE] Kennedy talk FDR down from the Cuban Missile Crisis![/QUOTE]

Where did I got FDR!? Khrushchev. Talk Khrushchev down. 😂

[MyNameIsTerry]

Imagine conscription in France. First they would need a bigger army to stop the rioting!

I would imagine the legal challenges would grind things to a halt in the UK.

[Lencoboy]

Imagine conscription in France. First they would need a bigger army to stop the rioting!

I would imagine the legal challenges would grind things to a halt in the UK.

Although the thought of this country being ravaged by rioting often fills me with immense dread, I often wonder if the likes of the French (and some others) have actually got more of a backbone than a lot of us Brits, as as these days in particular we often seem to just tut about most things that aren't right in the heat of the moment, then brush them under the carpet, forgetting about them a couple of days later and 'business as usual'.

While I don't in any way wish to tempt fate by saying this, I'm rather surprised we haven't had any August 2011-style riots here in England during the time that has since elapsed, especially in light of a lot of the many upheavals over the past 10 years or so.

I know I've strayed off on a bit of a tangent as usual.

[imfineokay]

Thanks so much for the replies guys. A lot of my anxiety in the past has stemmed from reading articles online and it seems nothing has changed there.

Reminds of me of the days when COVID was at its peak and you'd see news articles making you think it was the end of the world. It sucks living in today's age of scare mongering headlines when you already get anxiety from overthinking. I'd just rather not know half the time what's going on in this world.

[Lencoboy]

Thanks so much for the replies guys. A lot of my anxiety in the past has stemmed from reading articles online and it seems nothing has changed there.

Reminds of me of the days when COVID was at its peak and you'd see news articles making you think it was the end of the world. It sucks living in today's age of scare mongering headlines when you already get anxiety from overthinking. I'd just rather not know half the time what's going on in this world.

I agree wholeheartedly; the media certainly have a lot to answer for when it comes down to (often unnecessarily) scaring people witless.

I've often been wondering myself if the media ever since Covid started becoming a 'lesser' threat from around mid 2022 onwards that they now have to find other 'threats' (real or imagined) to fill the void?

Conversely, there's plenty of issues/topics that the media used to cover with much greater regularity in previous decades that hardly ever seem to get a look-in these days, e.g, announcements of official crime stats and unemployment stats to name but two 'staple' topics of the 80s, 90s and 2000s, though please excuse me for my usual straying off on a tangent!