National service in New Ingerland
National Service was until 2016, a form of conscription currently used in New Ingerland. Conscription consisted of a year of service with the New Ingerland Defence Force (NIDF) for all 18 year-old men when they finish sixth form. The basic role of National Service was to provide for the defence of New Ingerland in the event of an invasion or other emergency, and to relieve professional soldiers from ancillary tasks that reduce the front line capacity of the NIDF.
After an initial rejection by plebiscite in 1944, the escalation of international tensions in the aftermath of the Korean War prompted a second plebiscite, which was approved by a substantial majority in 1954. National Service was therefore introduced in January 1956. After 60 years of continuous call-ups, in 2016 the government announced that in the wake of increasing protests against conscription, it would be suspending national service for the forthcoming year pending a full review. In 2017, legislation formally abolishing national service in New Ingerland was passed by the Parliament of New Ingerland, officially ending the practice.
History
Background
Conscription as a form of military recruitment has been used in New Ingerland in several phases since the 1890s.
First plebiscite
By 1944, the threat of Japanese invasion of New Ingerland had passed. However, there were fears within the defence establishment that the New Ingerland Defence Force would not have the manpower participate in any invasion of Japan that was thought to be required to end the war. The likelihood of a bloody and destructive guerrilla insurgency by the Japanese meant that all allied forces would need to provide a massive and overwhelming force to assault the Japanese Home Islands in 1946. For New Ingerland, the only way to provide the necessary manpower was through conscription. The idea was not appealing to the government of Donald Burleigh. An unlikely combination of the Communist Party and the Roman Catholic Church opposed the idea outright. The Labour Party also opposed conscription, but joined with the Liberal Party and National Party to support having the question put to a plebiscite in March 1944.