A lot of stuff I read about pre-WWI France is that they implemented the three-year conscription in order to match Germany, who had two-year conscription, and a population half again as big as theirs. However, I don't really get how having 3-year conscription increases the size of their conscript pool enough to equal Germany's, unless there's something I'm missing; Because, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't it just mean that the conscripts spend more time doing their service before going back to civilian life?