Vintage Military - Part 41

 Conscription and Recruiting, Germany

As in other countries, German military recruits had to get naked.  Above, recruits taking an eye test in 1937 as Nazi Germany built up its military in preparation for World War II.

A Wehrmacht medical exam in 1939.  The Wehrmacht (literally, "defense force") consisted of the German army, navy and air force.

Recruits being examined in 1942, during World War II.

An undated photo of a recruit being examined.

As Germany conquered other countries, it pressed their citizens into service.  The photo above shows Dutchmen being recruited for the SS. 

This was a Nazi physical exam for recruits in Luxembourg.

A medical exam for recruits in Estonia.  In 1940, Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Union, which conducted mass political arrests, deportations, and executions.  So, when Germany invaded Estonia in 1941, the Estonians welcomed the Nazis.  However, enthusiasm quickly waned.  The Nazis ended up conscripting thousands of Estonians.

We end with a more lighthearted photo of German recruits in their barracks during World War II.  Whatever they're wearing had only a flap of fabric in front, and two of the recruits have lifted it for the photo.  Peekaboo!

Vintage Military - Part 4

 French Conscription, 1906

France had conscription since the time of Napoleon, but if you had money you could buy an exemption.  That changed in 1905, when universal military service for two years was introduced, with no exemptions except on medical grounds.  All 19-year-old males had to go before a regional review board.  The draftees had to strip naked and be examined by a medical officer in front of a councilor and all the local mayors.

Exemptions were hardly ever granted (although there was a minimum height, the subject of two of these postcards).  Almost anyone who was breathing was pronounced "good for the Service".  This set of humorous French postcards from 1906 illustrated the process.

"And you say you want to go to the cavalry with a chest measurement that's just as big as my calves!"

"If I can't read, Mr. Major, it's not that I have poor vision, but I've never been to school!"

"Come on, don't try to shrink!  You're tall enough for an idiot!"

"So, you're as deaf as thirty-six pots?"  (French "deaf as a pot" = English "deaf as a post.")

"Is he stupid!  Come on, boy, have you lost something?"

"Breathe hard ... from above, of course!"

"Come on, Berluron, stand up straight!"
"Voila, Mr. Major."
"Let's try to gain a few centimeters."

I'm telling you that I passed the review board at _______
and that the Major pronounced me
Good for the Service.

On this last postcard, there's a spot for the sender to fill in the town where the review board met.  At last we see the point of these postcards.  The draftee would send them to friends and family to let them know, in a light-hearted way, that he had been drafted.