II.

World War I

The first Selective Service Act of World War I was passed in May 1917, more than a month after the United States had declared war against Germany and its allies. The act provided for the registration of all men aged 21 through 30; registrants were examined for physical and mental fitness and, if found to be ineligible for exemption on any of the specific grounds provided by law, were inducted into the armed forces. More than 9,925,000 men were registered in June 1917, and of these about 687,000 were called up for service at once. A second conscription law was enacted in August 1918, extending registration to all men between the ages of 18 and 45. By the end of the war, more than 2,800,000 men had been inducted.

In addition, the system provided manpower for industrial and agricultural war production. It exempted government officials and clergymen from service and excused conscientious objectors from combat duty. It allowed no bounties or substitutes.

The system was administered by 155 district and 4648 local boards under the provost marshal general of the U.S. Army. Men were chosen to serve by a lottery established in Washington, D.C., but the local boards could exempt or defer men on the ground of hardship.

Soon after the conclusion of hostilities the conscription system was abolished, and the vast majority of the conscripts were discharged from the armed services. No conscription system existed in the U.S. between the end of the First World War and 1940.