A new poll conducted by the Ifop for the Journal du Dimanche has found that four in five French people are in favour of bringing back compulsory national service, in some form or another following the Paris terror attacks earlier this month.
In a sample of 1,051 people taken earlier this week, it found that 81% of men were in favor and 78% among women.
Since National service was ended in 1996, surveys previously have put the figure around the 60% mark – so this is showing that the French are having a growing appetite for some form of national service, which would be compulsory for all young people with French nationality or who have been resident in the country for more than a year and be for a minimum period of several months.
Among the many reasons given for the change of heart in this latest poll were “the need for a more powerful integration tool”, “bringing together people from different social backgrounds” and “transmitting French republican values”.
