American National Service

What sort of POD would be necessary for America to follow the states of Europe in the late 19th/early 20th century to institute universal peacetime national military service? Preferably, I would avoid a war POD, since it would be too easy.
 
That could become a plank of the Progressive movement, that all able-bodied men should serve their country to develop a stronger sense of national identity. Combine that with moralistic concerns (keep young men busy so they stay out of trouble!) and a desire for greater militarization (promoted by Theodore Roosevelt or an alt-timeline version of him) and you could get this instituted.

Of course, you should expect some pushback. Many families won't want their sons drafted, many sons won't want to go, and the Jeffersonian elements of the political culture are not going to be too happy about giving so many bodies to the military in peacetime. The practice may not last given pressure from these groups.
 
Universal service would be a difficult sell in a late-1800s America that still remembered the Civil War draft riots. The scenario Twovultures offers is marginally possible with a stronger Progressive movement and perhaps the experience of the Spanish-American War and TR's militarism. If universal service got rolling around that time, WWI might see some interesting butterflies, since organizing and training a larger military force from scratch OTL delayed our entry into European combat after the declaration of war.
 

J.D.Ward

Donor
Could it be part of the New Deal, as another means of providing an occupation for the nation's surplus manpower?
 
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