WWI, Every Man Must Register, 1918

"Sign reading "Every Man Must Register" for WWI service, 1918. In 1917 the administration of Woodrow Wilson decided to rely primarily on conscription, rather than voluntary enlistment, to raise military manpower for WWI. The Selective Service Act of 1917 was carefully drawn to remedy the defects in the Civil War system and, by allowing exemptions for dependency, essential occupations, and religious scruples, to place each man in his proper niche in a national war effort. The act established a liability for military service of all male citizens, and authorized a selective draft of all those between twenty-one and thirty-one years of age (later from eighteen to forty-five);. The Act prohibited all forms of bounties, substitutions, or purchase of exemptions. Administration was entrusted to local boards composed of leading civilians in each community. These boards issued draft calls in order of numbers drawn in a national lottery and determined exemptions. In 1917 and 1918 some 24 million men were registered and nearly 3 million inducted into the military services."

Restrictions Only for Ireland and United Kingdom

Compulsory Conscription Dogface Doughboy Draft Enlistment Expeditionary Registration Selective

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