Progressive Era
69-598: The International Action Center (IAC) is an affiliate organization of the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party whose members staff IAC. It was founded in 1992 by former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark . IAC describes its political orientation as "anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist". It seeks the end of capitalism which it says is the cause of human suffering and claims that America victimizes and oppresses nonwhite minorities both at home and overseas. This article about
138-662: A workers' state , if not necessarily supporting the Mao Zedong leadership; and supporting the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution by the Soviet Union in 1956. The Global Class War Tendency left the SWP in early 1959. Although they would later abandon Trotskyism , in their International Workers Day issue (no. 3) of their new periodical the group proclaimed: "We are THE Trotskyists. We stand 100% with all
207-518: A "huge number" of Ukrainians refused to serve. Luhn gives three reasons for this. One was fear of death. Another was that some young Ukrainians were opposed to war in general. A third was that some were unwilling to take up arms against those whom they perceived to be their countrymen. The Ukrainian military itself has stated that, during a partial call-up in 2014, over 85,000 men failed to report to their draft offices, and nearly 10,000 of those were eventually declared to be illegal draft evaders. After
276-417: A "military ID card" certifying they have served – a card that is often requested by potential employers. Young men from poorer circumstances sometimes simply avoid showing up for the draft and attempt to function without a military ID card. Besides facing limited employment prospects, these men are vulnerable to being forced into service through periodic army sweeps of poor neighborhoods. Eritrea instituted
345-462: A column supporting the group. Another group, New Profile , was started by Israeli peace activists to encourage draft refusal. University of Manchester sociologist Yulia Zemilinskaya has interviewed members of New Profile and Shministim, along with members of two groups of Israeli soldiers and reservists who have expressed an unwillingness to engage in missions they disapprove of – Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse . Despite commonalities, she found
414-448: A difference between the draft refusers and the military selective-refusers: The analysis of these interviews demonstrated that, in their appeal to [the] Israeli public, members of Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse utilized symbolic meanings and codes derived from dominant militarist and nationalist discourses. In contrast, draft-resisters, members of New Profile and Shministim, refusing to manipulate nationalistic and militaristic codes, voice
483-703: A draft several times, usually during war but also during the Cold War . Each time the draft has been met with at least some resistance. In Sketches of America (1818) British author Henry Bradshaw Fearon, who visited the young United States on a fact-finding mission to inform Britons considering emigration, described the New York Guard —although he did not name it—as he found it in New York City in August 1817: Every male inhabitant can be called out, from
552-604: A large and well-funded military, often focused on counter-insurgency . There is an obligatory military draft for all young men. Nevertheless, according to Public Radio International , two types of draft evasion are widespread in Colombia; one is prevalent among the relatively well-off, and another is found among the poor. Young men from the middle-to-upper classes "usually" evade the Colombian draft. They do so by obtaining college or medical deferments, or by paying bribes for
621-485: A large-scale defection to the Soviet side. The käpykaarti (forest-dwelling Pine Cone Guard, mentioned above) was a diverse group including draft evaders, deserters, Communists, and Soviet desants (military skydivers). They lived in small groups, sometimes even in military-style dugouts constructed from logs, and often maintained a rotation to guard their camps. They received support from sympathizers who could buy from
690-512: A letter to Kim Jong Il expressing his condolences on behalf of the WWP on the death of his father Kim Il Sung , calling him a great leader and comrade in the international communist movement. Its later front groups, IAC and formerly International A.N.S.W.E.R. , have also demonstrated in support of North Korea. When the WWP was playing a role in organizing anti-war protests before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, many newspapers and TV shows attacked
759-441: A military draft in 1995. Three years later, it became open-ended; everyone under 50 [sic] can be enlisted for an indefinite period of time. According to The Economist , "release can depend on the arbitrary whim of a commander, and usually takes years". It is illegal for Eritreans to leave the country without government permission. Nevertheless, in the mid-2010s around 2,000 Eritreans were leaving every month, "primarily to avoid
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#1732772356113828-523: A move that is expected to make it more difficult for Russians to remain in the country. Kazakhstan said it would extradite Russians wanted for evading mobilization. In early 2023, the Biden administration resumed deportations of Russians who had fled Russia due to mobilization and political persecution. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to share personal data of Russians fleeing mobilization. South Korea maintains mandatory military service . According to
897-660: A much more radical and comprehensive critique of the state’s war making plans. Invoking feminist, anti-militarist and pacifist ideologies, they openly challenge and criticize dominant militarist and Zionist discourses. While the majority of members of Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse choose selective refusal, negotiating conditions of their reserve duty, [the] anti-militarist, pacifist, and feminist ideological stance of members of New Profile and Shministim leads them to absolutist refusal. According to London-based journalist Elisabeth Braw, writing in Foreign Affairs , draft evasion
966-530: A party that has since its founding "supported the struggles of all oppressed peoples". It has recognized the right of nations to self-determination , including the nationally oppressed peoples inside the United States. It supports affirmative action as necessary in the fight for equality and it opposes all forms of racism and religious bigotry . The WWP and its affiliate Youth Against War and Fascism (YAWF) were known for their consistent defense of
1035-430: A political organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Workers World Party Repression and persecution Anti-war and civil rights movements Contemporary The Workers World Party ( WWP ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party in the United States founded in 1959 by a group led by Sam Marcy . WWP members are sometimes called Marcyites . Marcy and his followers split from
1104-573: A practice that was facetiously called serving in the käpykaarti (Pine Cone Guard) or metsäkaarti (Forest Guard). Approximately 1,500 men failed to show up for the draft at the start of the Continuation War (1941–1944, pitting Finland against the Soviet Union), and 32,186 cases of desertion were handled by the courts. There were numerous reasons for draft evasion and desertion during this period: fear or war-weariness, objection to
1173-717: A report from the European Parliamentary Research Service, an organ of the Secretariat of the European Parliament , in the mid-2010s fully half of the 150,000 young men called up each year were thought to be evading the draft. During Dmitry Medvedev 's presidency, the service duration was reduced from two years to one. In September 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine over 600,000 mobilization-eligible citizens left
1242-619: A result, 669 mostly religiously motivated South Koreans were said to be in jail for draft evasion in 2013. Only 723 draft evaders were said to be in jail worldwide at that time. According to the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), in June 2013 Lee Yeda became the first South Korean to be granted asylum specifically because he evaded the South Korean draft. His asylum claim was granted by France. "[In South] Korea, it
1311-515: A system that appeared to trade the money of the rich for the lives of the poor. In January 1916, during World War I, the British government passed a military conscription bill. By July of that year, 30% of draftees had failed to report for service. Canada employed a military draft during World Wars I and II, and some Canadians chose to evade it. According to Canadian historian Jack Granatstein , "no single issue has divided Canadians so sharply" as
1380-522: A taboo in Eritrea – have increased. A 2018 article in Bloomberg News reported that Eritrea was considering altering some of its military draft policies. During World War II, there was no legal way to avoid the draft, and failure to obey was treated as insubordination or desertion , punished by execution or jail. Draft evaders were forced to escape to the forests and live there as outlaws, in
1449-407: Is ... difficult to find a job for anyone who has not completed their national service," Lee was reported to have said. "Refusing to serve means that, in society, your life is terminated." Syria requires men over 18 to serve in the army for two years (except for college graduates, who need serve only 18 months). Draft evasion carries stiff punishments, including fines and years of imprisonment. After
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#17327723561131518-509: Is a rare phenomenon, since absence from a drafting event, in most cases, leads to an immediate search warrant. Evaders are taken by police officers to the draft board, or to the regional military office. In France, the right of all draftees to purchase military exemption – introduced after the French Revolution – was abolished in 1870. One scholar refers to the permissible buy-out as a "bastard form of equality" that bore traces of
1587-422: Is discussed below as a form of "draft evasion", draft resisters and scholars of draft resistance reject the categorization of resistance as a form of evasion or avoidance. Draft resisters argue that they seek to confront, not evade or avoid, the draft. Draft evasion has been a significant phenomenon in nations as different as Colombia , Eritrea , Canada , France , Russia , South Korea , Syria , Ukraine and
1656-489: The Korea JoongAng Daily , since the early 2000s, the country has been rocked by scandals involving celebrities who try to use their fame to evade the draft or receive special treatment from the military. South Koreans are reportedly so hostile to draft evasion that one South Korean commentator said that it is "almost like suicide" for celebrities to engage in it. Yoo Seung-jun was one of the biggest stars on
1725-707: The Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) coalition shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and has run the All People's Congress (APC). The APC and the IAC in particular share a large degree of overlap in their memberships with cadre in the WWP. In 2004, a youth group close to the WWP called Fight Imperialism Stand Together (FIST) was founded. In 2017, the FIST website shut down. The WWP describes itself as
1794-642: The Ancien Régime . Draft evasion was a big problem for the French military under Napoleon . Near the start of the Napoleonic Era (encompassing the Napoleonic Wars ), it was estimated that about 200,000 people had either evaded a draft or deserted from the military, due to the surge in conscription; possibly facing harsh consequences. Around 1808, in the middle of the military conflict,
1863-910: The Black Panthers , the Weather Underground , the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and the Puerto Rican Independence movement . The WWP has maintained a position of supporting the government of North Korea . Through its Vietnam-era front organization, the American Servicemen's Union (ASU), the party endorsed a 1971 statement of support for that government. The statement was read on North Korea's international radio station by visiting ASU delegate Andy Stapp . In 1994, Sam Marcy sent
1932-751: The Coalition for an Anti-Imperialist Movement called the Revolutionary Communist League (Internationalist) . This group left the WWP in 1971 as the New York Revolutionary Committee . The NYRC's newspaper provided rare details about the internal functioning of the group that have subsequently been used by scholars as a primary source. The NYRC later reconstituted as the Revolutionary Communist League (Internationalist). In 2004,
2001-494: The Conscription Crisis of 1917 . Canadians objected to conscription for diverse reasons: some thought it unnecessary, some did not identify with the British, and some felt it imposed unfair burdens on economically struggling segments of society. When the first draft class (single men between 20 and 34 years of age) was called up in 1917, nearly 281,000 of the approximately 404,000 men filed for exemptions. Throughout
2070-523: The Russian invasion of Ukraine , male Ukrainian nationals aged 18 to 60 were denied exit from Ukraine. Despite the ban on leaving Ukraine, an estimated 600,000–850,000 Ukrainian men fled to Europe after the Russian invasion. The Polish government offered, and the Lithuanian government considered, the repatriation of Ukrainian men living in their countries to Ukraine. The United States has employed
2139-649: The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in 1958 over a series of long-standing differences, among them their support for Henry A. Wallace 's Progressive Party in 1948, their view of People's Republic of China as a workers' state , and their defense of the 1956 Soviet intervention in Hungary , some of which the SWP opposed. The WWP had its origins in the Global Class War Tendency, led by Sam Marcy and Vincent Copeland , within
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2208-579: The Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011, many draft-age men began fleeing the country, sometimes paying thousands of dollars to be smuggled out. Others paid to have their names expunged from the draft rolls. Meanwhile, the government erected billboards exhorting young people to join the army – and set up road checkpoints to capture draft evaders. By 2016, an estimated 70,000 draft evaders had left Syria, and others remained undetected within its borders. Observers have identified several motives among
2277-609: The United States . Accounts by scholars and journalists, along with memoiristic writings by draft evaders, indicate that the motives and beliefs of the evaders cannot be usefully stereotyped. Young people have engaged in a wide variety of draft evasion practices around the world, some of which date back thousands of years. This section aims to delineate a representative sampling of draft evasion practices and support activities as identified by scholars and journalists. Examples of many of these practices and activities can be found in
2346-518: The military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation. Illegal draft evasion is said to have characterized every military conflict of the 20th and 21st centuries, in which at least one party of such conflict has enforced conscription. Such evasion is generally considered to be a criminal offense, and laws against it go back thousands of years. There are many draft evasion practices. Those that manage to adhere to or circumvent
2415-475: The 20th and 21st centuries. Laws against certain draft evasion practices go back at least as far as the ancient Greeks. Examples of draft evasion can be found in many nations over many time periods: 19th-century Belgium was one of the few places where most citizens accepted the practice of legally buying one's way out of the military draft, sometimes referred to as the practice of "purchasable military commutation". Even so, some Belgian politicians denounced it as
2484-498: The Boston March Against Racism which they had organized. During the 1970s, they also attempted to begin work inside organized labor, but apparently were not very successful. In 1980, the WWP began to participate in electoral politics , naming a presidential ticket as well as candidates for New York Senate, congressional and state legislature seats. In California, they ran their candidate Deirdre Griswold in
2553-914: The Israeli Supreme Court ruled to reject the latter exception in June 2024. The draft has become part of the fabric of Israeli society: according to Le Monde senior editor Sylvain Cypel , Israel is a place where military service is seen not just as a duty but a "certificate of entry into active life". Yet by the middle of the decade of the 2000s, draft evasion (including outright draft refusal) and desertion had reached all-time highs. Fully 5% of young men and 3% of young women were supposedly failing their pre-military psychological tests, both all-time highs. Some popular entertainers, including rock star Aviv Geffen , grand-nephew of military hero Moshe Dayan , have been encouraging draft evasion (Geffen publicly said he would commit suicide if he were taken by
2622-532: The SWP. This group crystallized during the 1948 presidential election when they urged the SWP to back Henry Wallace 's Progressive Party campaign, rather than field their own candidates. Throughout the 1950s, the Global Class War Tendency expressed positions at odds with official SWP policy, categorizing the Korean War as a class, rather than imperialist, conflict; support of the People's Republic of China as
2691-501: The South Korean rock scene until 2002, when he chose to evade the draft and become a U.S. citizen. South Korea subsequently deported him and banned him for life. Some South Korean draft evaders have been sentenced to prison. In 2014, The Christian Science Monitor ran a headline claiming that South Korea had the "most draft dodgers in prison". The article, by veteran correspondent Donald Kirk , explained that South Korea's government did not allow for conscientious objection to war; as
2760-472: The Soviet state symbols. The WWP has participated in presidential election campaigns since the 1980 election, though its effectiveness in this area is limited as it has not been able to get on the ballots of many states. The party also has run some campaigns for other offices. One of the most successful was in 1990, when Susan Farquhar got on the ballot as a Senate candidate in Michigan and received 1.3% of
2829-514: The Syrian draft evaders. One is fear of dying in that country's civil war. Others include obeying parental wishes and disgust with the government of Bashar al-Assad . Thomas Spijkerboer [ Wikidata ] , a professor of migration law at VU University Amsterdam , has argued that Syrian draft evaders motivated by a refusal to participate in violations of international law should be given refugee status by other nations. In October 2018,
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2898-473: The Syrian government announced an amnesty for draft evaders. However, an officer with Syria's "Reconciliation Ministry" told the Los Angeles Times that, while punishment would be canceled, military service would still be required. "Now the war is practically at its end, which means enlisting is no longer such a fearful situation", he said. "We expect we'll have very large numbers taking advantage of
2967-482: The WWP for supporting Iraqi president Saddam Hussein . The WWP signalized support of Alexander Lukashenko during the Belarusian protests in 2020. They accused the protest movement of being "counterrevolutionary" and supported by the "fascist Maidan movement and the U.S. imperialism", while praising President Lukashenko for maintaining some socialist-oriented politics, "rejection of privatization" and keeping
3036-847: The WWP suffered its most serious split when the San Francisco branch and some other members left to form the Party for Socialism and Liberation . In July 2018, the WWP experienced another schism in which one of its oldest branches, the Detroit branch, resigned from the organization along with several other branches to form the Communist Workers League . The WWP has organized, directed or participated in many coalition organizations for various causes, typically anti-imperialist in nature. The International Action Center , which counts many WWP members as leading activists, founded
3105-428: The age of 18 to 45, on actual military duty. During a state of peace, there are seven musters annually: the fine for non-attendance is, each time, five dollars. Commanding officers have discretionary power to receive substitutes. An instance of their easiness to be pleased was related to me by Mr. —, a tradesman of this city. He never attends the muster, but, to avoid the fine, sends some of his men, who answer to his name;
3174-768: The amnesty". Tunisia has had a draft since gaining its independence in 1956. Most males are required to submit documents to local officials at age 18 and to begin service two years later. However, according to the Lebanon-based Carnegie Middle East Center , the Tunisian draft has long been poorly enforced and draft evasion has long been rampant. In order to minimize draft evasion, Tunisia began allowing young men to substitute "civilian" service (such as working on rural development projects) or "national" service (such as working as civil servants) for military service. But that has not helped:
3243-455: The black market; failing that, they stole provisions to feed themselves. The Finnish Army and police actively searched for them, and if discovered, a firefight often ensued. The Finnish Communist Party was able to operate among draft evaders. Sixty-three death sentences were handed out to deserters; however, many of them were killed in military or police raids on their camps. Deserters captured near front lines would often be simply returned to
3312-454: The country to avoid the draft. Reportedly, Georgia , Kazakhstan , and Mongolia became primary, visa-free destinations for Russians seeking to avoid President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order . Finland , Poland and the Baltic countries announced they will not offer refuge to Russians fleeing mobilization. In January 2023, Kazakhstan announced they were tightening visa rules,
3381-519: The defense minister reported that, in 2017, only 506 young men turned up out of an eligibility pool of more than 31,000. In 2015, responding to perceived threats from pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military instituted a compulsory draft for males between 20 and 27 years of age. However, according to independent journalist Alec Luhn, writing in Foreign Policy magazine,
3450-627: The draft", according to The Economist . Human rights groups and the United Nations have also claimed that Eritrea's draft policies are fueling the migration. Most leave for Europe or neighboring countries; in 2015, Eritreans were the fourth largest group illicitly crossing the Mediterranean for Europe. Mothers are usually excused from the Eritrean draft. The Economist says that, as a result, pregnancies among single women – once
3519-420: The law, and those that do not involve taking a public stand, are sometimes referred to as draft avoidance . Draft evaders are sometimes pejoratively referred to as draft dodgers , although in certain contexts that term has also been used non-judgmentally or as an honorific. Practices that involve lawbreaking or taking a public stand are sometimes referred to as draft resistance . Although draft resistance
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#17327723561133588-607: The lines, but as the military situation deteriorated towards the end of the war, punishments were harsher: 61 of the death sentences given were in 1944, mostly in June and July during the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive , where Finnish forces were forced to retreat. At the conclusion of the war, the Allied Control Commission immediately demanded an amnesty for draft evaders, and they were not further punished. As of 2020, deliberate draft evasion
3657-509: The middle of the war, many Canadians – not least of all, conscripts committed to overseas service – were referring to NRMA men pejoratively as "Zombies", that is, as dead-to-life or utterly useless. Following costly fighting in Italy , Normandy , and the Scheldt , overseas Canadian troops were depleted, and during the Conscription Crisis of 1944 a one-time levy of approximately 17,000 NRMA men
3726-502: The military draft. During both World Wars, political parties collapsed or were torn apart over the draft issue, and ethnicity seeped into the equation, with most French Canadians opposing conscription and a majority of English Canadians accepting it. During both wars, riots and draft evasion followed the passage of the draft laws. Conscription had been a dividing force in Canadian politics during World War I, and those divisions led to
3795-500: The military). In 2007 the Israeli government initiated what some called a "shaming campaign", banning young entertainers from holding concerts and making television appearances if they failed to fulfill their military requirement. By 2008 over 3,000 high school students belonged to "Shministim" (Hebrew for twelfth graders), a group of young people claiming to be conscientiously opposed to military service. American actor Ed Asner wrote
3864-538: The number was closer to 500,000. Around this time period, a gendarmerie was assembled, aiming to hunt for the people who deserted the military or dodged drafts; the French also enforced the mandatory carrying of passports, among other measures. There has always been a military draft in Israel. It is universal for all non-Arab Israeli citizens, men and women alike, and can legally be evaded only on physical or psychological grounds or by strictly Orthodox Jews , although
3933-607: The party was involved in protests other causes, including "defen[se] of the heroic black uprisings in Watts , Newark , Detroit , Harlem " and women's liberation . During the Attica Prison riot , the rioters requested YAWF member Tom Soto to present their grievances for them. The WWP was most successful in organizing demonstrations in support of desegregation "busing" in the Boston schools in 1975. Nearly 30,000 people attended
4002-607: The primary for the Peace and Freedom Party nomination. They came in last with 1,232 votes out of 9,092. In 1984, the WWP supported Jesse Jackson 's bid for the Democratic nomination , but when he lost in the primaries they nominated their own presidential ticket, along with a handful of congressional and legislative nominees. In 1968, the WWP absorbed a small faction of the Spartacist League that had worked with it in
4071-626: The principled positions of Leon Trotsky, the most revolutionary communist since Lenin". The nascent group appears to have organized as the Workers World Party by February 1960. At its inception, the WWP was concentrated among the working class in Buffalo, Youngstown, Seattle and New York. A youth organization, first known as the Anti-Fascist Youth Committee and later as Youth Against War and Fascism (YAWF),
4140-500: The same man is not invariably his deputy on parade: in this, Mr. — suits his own convenience; sometimes the collecting clerk, sometimes one of the brewers, at others a drayman: and to finish this military pantomime, a firelock is often dispensed with, for the more convenient wartime weapon—a cudgel. Courts-martial have the power of mitigating the fine, on the assignment of a satisfactory cause of absence, and in cases of poverty. Upon legal exemptions I cannot convey certain information. During
4209-422: The section on draft evasion in the nations of the world, further down this page. One type of draft avoidance consists of attempts to follow the letter and spirit of the draft laws in order to obtain a legally valid draft deferment or exemption. Sometimes these deferments and exemptions are prompted by political considerations. Another type consists of attempts to circumvent, manipulate, or surreptitiously violate
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#17327723561134278-441: The substance or spirit of the draft laws in order to obtain a deferment or exemption. Nearly all attempts at draft avoidance are private and unpublicized. Examples include: Draft evasion that involves overt lawbreaking or that communicates conscious or organized resistance to government policy is sometimes referred to as draft resistance. Examples include: Draft evasion is said to have characterized every military conflict of
4347-501: The vote. However, the party's best result was in the 1992 Ohio Senate election , when the WWP candidate received 6.7% of the vote, running against a Democrat and a Republican. In 2008 , the WWP endorsed Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party of the United States . Draft resistance Conscription evasion or draft evasion (American English) is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in
4416-417: The war also included the tactics of " draft resistance " and "GI resistance" . After organizing demonstrations at Fort Sill , Oklahoma in support of a soldier being tried for possessing anti-war literature, they founded the American Servicemen's Union , intended to be a mass organization of American soldiers. However, the group was completely dominated by the WWP and YAWF. During the late 1960s and 1970s,
4485-411: The war as an offensive war, ideological objections or outright support for Communism. Finnish Communists were considered dangerous and could not serve, and were subject to "protective custody" – in practice, detention in a prison for the course of the war – because earlier attempts to conscript them had ended in disaster: one battalion called Pärmin pataljoona assembled from detained Communists suffered
4554-514: The war, some Canadians who feared conscription left for the United States or elsewhere. Canada introduced an innovative kind of draft law in 1940 with the National Resources Mobilization Act . While the move was not unpopular outside French Canada, controversy arose because under the new law, conscripts were not compelled to serve outside Canada. They could choose simply to defend the country against invasion. By
4623-535: Was "endemic" in the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War , which ended with Soviet defeat in 1989. A declassified Central Intelligence Agency report revealed that the Soviet elite routinely bribed its sons' way out of deployment to Afghanistan, or out of military service altogether. In Russia, all men aged 18 through 30 are subject to the military draft, continuing the Soviet practice. According to
4692-699: Was created in April 1962. The WWP began publishing Workers World in 1959. The newspaper has been a weekly since 1974. From the beginning, the WWP and YAWF concentrated their energies on street demonstrations . Early campaigns focused on support of Patrice Lumumba , opposition to the House Un-American Activities Committee and against racial discrimination in housing. They conducted the first protest against American involvement in Vietnam on August 2, 1962. Their opposition to
4761-470: Was sent to fight abroad. Many NRMA men deserted after the levy rather than fight abroad. One brigade of NRMA men declared itself on "strike" after the levy. The number of men who actively sought to evade the World War II draft in Canada is not known. Granatstein says the evasion was "widespread". In addition, in 1944 alone approximately 60,000 draftees were serving only as NRMA men, committed to border defense but not to fighting abroad. Colombia maintains
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