''Remplacement militaire'' ( French for "military replacement") was the name for a policy of

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

which originated in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in the 19th century. Under the system, wealthy citizens chosen for military service by lot could pay a sum of money, originally enough to pay someone else to serve in their place, instead of being made to join the military themselves. It was abolished in Belgium in 1913 and replaced by a system of ''service militaire personnel'' ("personal military service"): a form of universal conscription.

History

Policy

The Belgian army relied on both voluntary enlistment and, from 1902, also on recruitment by lot in order to keep its numbers constant. Both the Liberals and

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

advocated ''Remplacement'' as a way of privileging the aristocratic and bourgeois classes and were united in defending it against reformers.

Abolition

The Belgian response to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 highlighted the inadequacies of the country's military to defend its borders. The system of ''remplacement'' was viewed as an anachronism, constituting an unfair privilege for the wealthy and reducing the quality of the army's recruits.

King Leopold II * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

was particularly keen that the system be abolished and used his political influence to try to persuade politicians to support reform. Major-General Guillaume, Minister of War and a former aide de camp to the king, pushed for the government to adopt a policy of personal military service, and resigned from the cabinet on 10 December 1872 when it would not.Albert Duchesne, "Guillaume (Gustave)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' ( French; "National Biography of Belgium") is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ' ...

''
vol. 38
(Brussels, 1973), 289-293. With both major political factions united in favour of ''Remplacement'', and only the

Belgian Workers' Party The Belgian Labour Party ( nl, Belgische Werkliedenpartij, BWP; french: Parti ouvrier belge, POB) was the first major socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party was officially disbanded in 1940 and superseded by the Belgian Socialist ...

in favour, reform was delayed. The system was finally abolished in 1909, to be replaced by system whereby one son per family would be eligible for conscription into the army. In 1913, Albert I finally managed to have a bill passed through parliament instituting compulsory conscription for all adult males over the age of 20.

References

{{Reflist Conscription by country 1909 disestablishments in Belgium Military history of Belgium 19th century in Belgium Draft evasion