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> This protects against coups, ensures your power in society and prevents groups of officers and soldiers etc. from taking over. Meanwhile Spain suffered an at
by david-gpu 1y ago
> This protects against coups, ensures your power in society and prevents groups of officers and soldiers etc. from taking over.
Meanwhile Spain suffered an attempted coup in 1981 [0] while mandatory military service was still in place [1]. The conscripts did not play a role in protecting democracy.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Spanish_coup_attempt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Spanish_coup_attempt
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Service_(Spain) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Service_(Spain)
- actionfromafar 1y agoThere are no silver bullets. It's just that having (solely) an elite warrior class is an extra risk.
- david-gpu 1y agoDecision-making in the armed forces is always performed by a "warrior class". The people who operate heavy war machinery are also career soldiers; conscripts are light infantry. And there is a very real economic cost to mandatory military service. It only makes sense in the context of a small country (in terms of population) bordering a large aggressive neighbor, such as Finland or (possibly) Canada.
- impossiblefork 1y agoNo, conscripts operate also tanks and artillery. They also load and prepare combat aircraft. Artillery and tanks will have some kind of professional officer though.
- actionfromafar 1y agoArmed forces culture is also incredibly important. Goal/mission oriented organizations are harder to co-opt than top-down command structure organizations.