Military service
New Zealand: Conscription of men into the armed forces of New Zealand came into effect in two periods, from 1912 to 1930 and from 1940 until it was abolished in 1972.

North Macedonia: North Macedonia abolished compulsory military service as of October 2006.

Pakistan: Like India, Pakistan has always maintained a purely volunteer military. However, in the immediate aftermath of independence, and the 1948 war; at a time when the army was just reorganising from a colonial force to a new national army; militias raised for service from, the Frontier, Punjab and Kashmir were often raised from locals tribe; each tribe was given a quota and many of the individuals sent did not "volunteer" in the strictest sense (though many did).

Panama: Panama officially abolished the entire military in 1992, and transformed it into National Police.

Philippines: Conscription in the Philippines has been implemented at several points in the country's history. As of 2023, no mandatory conscription is in effect in the Philippines and military service is entirely voluntary. It was introduced prior to World War II during the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935 with a term of enlistment of 5+1⁄2 months. Another instance was during the Presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, where two Presidential Decrees with terms of conscripting trainees into emergency military service were passed. The first was in 1973, with a period of 12 months. The second was in 1974, with a period of 18 months. However, mandatory military service remains a possibility in the Philippines as Section 4, Article II of the Constitution of the Philippines states:

"The Government may call upon the people to defend the State and, in the fulfillment thereof, all citizens may be required, under conditions provided by law, to render personal, military or civil service."

Peru: Peru abolished conscription in 1999.

Poland: Poland suspended compulsory military service on 5 December 2008 by the order of the Minister of Defence. Compulsory military service was formally abolished when the Polish parliament amended the conscription law on 9 January 2009; the law came into effect on 11 February 2009.

Portugal: Portugal abolished compulsory military service on 19 November 2004. Before that, military service was mandatory for all men. From 2004, all 18-year-old Portuguese citizens are, however, required to participate in a national defence day ("Dia da Defesa Nacional"). This applied solely to Portuguese men until 2010 at which point the duty was extended to women as well. Said citizens may request to have their duties waived under one of three main exemptions:

Prolonged illness, proven by a medical certificate to that effect;
Residence abroad - if the citizen in question has resided abroad for a continuous and permanent period exceeding 6 months, he or she may request a waiver.
The completion of military duties in another country - if the citizen has completed military duties for another country, so long as said country is a signatory of the European Convention on Nationality, he or she may request a waiver.
Such requests are not automatic, and must be made to the Director-General of Resources of National Defence ("Diretor-Geral de Recursos da Defesa Nacional") at whose discretion a waiver may be granted.

Romania: Romania suspended compulsory military service on 23 October 2006. This came about due to a 2003 constitutional amendment which allowed the parliament to make military service optional. The Romanian Parliament voted to abolish conscription in October 2005, with the vote formalising one of many military modernisation and reform programmes that Romania agreed to when it joined NATO.

Serbia: Serbia abolished compulsory military service on 1 January 2011. Before that, Serbia had compulsory national service for all men aged between 19 and 35. In practice, men over 27 were seldom called up. Service was usually performed after university studies had been completed. The length of service was 12 months, then reduced to 9 months but was reduced to 6 months in 2006. There was also an alternative for conscientious objectors which lasted 9 months. Serbian nationals living outside of the country were still expected to complete national service; however, they could defer it if it would have seriously affected their career in the country where they then resided. This could be done by contacting the embassy in the country of residence (if under 27), or done by contacting the army directly (if over 27).

Slovakia: Slovakia abolished compulsory military service on 1 January 2006.

Slovenia: Slovenia's Government of Prime Minister Anton Rop abolished mandatory military service on 9 September 2003.

South Africa: South Africa under the apartheid system had two years of compulsory military service for white men, followed by camps at intervals. This was abolished in 1994. See End Conscription Campaign.

Spain: Spain abolished compulsory military service in 2001. Military and alternative service was nine months long and in recent years the majority of conscripts chose to perform alternative, rather than military, service. One of the main reasons for its abolition was the "insubordinate movement".

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka has never had mandatory military service, either under British rule or since independence in 1948. It maintains an all-volunteer military.

Sweden: Military Service was mandatory in Sweden from 1901 until 1 July 2010, when conscription was officially suspended. Until 2010, all Swedish men aged between 18 and 47 years old were eligible to serve with the armed forces over a period ranging from 80 to 450 days. The right to Conscientious Objection was legally recognised in 1920. An alternative community service for Conscientious Objectors was easily available instead of military service. The number of those seeking conscientious objector status declined as actual conscript recruitment continued to decline. In the years running up to 2010 roughly 6000 - 8000 people out of an annual cohort of 100,000 - 120,000 potential recruits actually completed military service. In 2010 Sweden abolished male-only conscription and replaced it with a gender neutral conscription system which was taken into force in 2018.

Tanzania: Tanzania officially never had conscription since it became independent.

United Kingdom: The United Kingdom historically was the only European state with a volunteer army, and remained so through the first half of World War I. As the war dragged on into deadlocked trench warfare, the number of volunteers dried up, which led the government to introduce conscription under the Military Service Act. The Act exempted the whole of Ireland from conscription, and although an amending Act in 1918 empowered the government to extend conscription to Ireland, the extension was never implemented. Conscientious objectors were formally recognised under the Military Service Act, with the possibilities of absolute exemption from military service, exemption conditional upon performing civilian "work of national importance", or non-combatant service within the Army; some of those who refused the latter alternatives, or engaged in anti-war protests, went to jail. Conscription was ended in 1920.
Military conscription was reintroduced in Britain (Northern Ireland being exempted) in May 1939 in anticipation of World War II. A form of "industrial conscription" was also used to increase output in coal mining (see the "Bevin Boys") and other dimensions of the war effort. Later in the war both forms of conscription were extended in a limited way to women, such as the Women's Land Army to help with agricultural production. Conscientious objectors were treated more leniently than in WWI, but could still go to prison if they refused war-related work. For example, the scientist Kathleen Lonsdale was sentenced to a month in Holloway prison in 1943 for refusing to register for war duties and refusing to pay a resulting fine of two pounds.
Conscription of men into the Armed Forces continued ad hoc from 1945 until the National Service Act 1948 established a system from 1 January 1949 of calling up men in Britain reaching the age of 18 for eighteen months full-time service followed by four years reserve service. In 1950, as a result of the Korean War, full-time service was increased to two years, and reserve service reduced to three and a half years. In 1957, phasing-out of the system was announced, the last men being called up in 1960, and the last conscript being discharged in May 1963, after allowance for deferment of service.

United States: The United States first introduced conscription during the American Civil War. With insufficient volunteers coming in by 1863, the Lincoln Administration was forced to begin drafting despite widespread complaints that it was unconstitutional and undermined states' rights (some states had conscripted men up to this point, but not the federal government). In July 1863, New York City erupted in the draft riots over the draft. However, anyone could get out by paying a $300 fee or hiring a substitute. Many conscripts and substitutes were criminals or men with debilitating health problems, and thus largely useless. The Confederate government had begun drafting men in early 1862.
Conscription was next used after the United States entered World War I in 1917. The first peacetime conscription came with the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. When World War II ended, so did the draft. It was quickly reinstated with the Korean War and retained for the next 20 years, especially in the Vietnam War.