The history of compulsory military service in the Kingdom of Spain

In the 18th century, with the arrival of the Bourbon dynasty, and the need for soldiers during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1715), the foundations for military recruitment were established in Spain. After the end of the war, the lack of troops became constant, so it was decided to progressively implement compulsory recruitment methods. The recruitment that had been used until then in a very limited way, became more important to the needs of a permanent army.

At the beginning of the 18th century, an annual quota of 50,000 men was fixed. A lottery was carried out among young people of a certain age and one out of every five was designated, therefore called “fifth”.

The ordinance of October 27, 1800 consolidated compulsory recruitment as a contribution to which the male population was subject and established the hegemony of the fifth-class soldier as the basis for the replacement of the Spanish Army. The system was characterized by the existence of a large number of service exemptions that prevents us from speaking of legal equality. In 1837, the Replacements Ordinance passed that year abolished existing exemptions to date.

The reform approved in 1912 introduced the denomination of “compulsory military service”.

In 1940, the Army Recruitment and Replacement Law was enacted, lasting two years.

The “Jurisdiction of the Spaniards”, approved in 1945 and which constituted one of the “Fundamental Laws”, stated: «It constitutes a title of honor for the Spaniards to serve the Homeland with arms. All Spaniards are obliged to provide this service when they are called in accordance with the Law.

In 1968, the General Law of Military Service was approved, this law marked the division between a compulsory military service (15 months) and a voluntary one (up to 24 months) that had the advantage of choosing the place where to spend the military service period.

In 1991, the Organic Law of Military Service shortened the length of service to nine months.

Compulsory military service was suspended by Law 17/1999 on the Armed Forces Personnel Regime.