Brit Reacts to Finnish Military Service - Legal Duty for All Finnish Men 

One important thing is that we dont have "military" we have "defence force" . People always forget that we really dont train to attack mostly just defend.

The population of Finland is so small, that mandatory conscription is the only way to produce enough trained forces, if our only possible enemy decides to come and visit again. Very few people actually dislike the conscription. It also gives everyone a great general understanding of how to act in crisis situations. It benefits the whole society in peace time too. Thanks to the conscription, Finland can mobilize more trained troops than German, UK and French professional armies combined. Believe it or not. Edit: Please remember that when Finland joined NATO, the NATO border with russia DOUBLED in km. So we have quite a responsibility up here, guarding the north. Which is directly affecting the UK too. Vice versa too, as close allies. The sea does not make UK safe anymore. Allies who are neighbouring the sea, they do.

Tourists have no idea that guy behind that hotdog stand know how to destroy tank with nlaw and dismantle rifle and put it back in working order in no time at all, even behind his back eyes closed😂

You can opt out of the military service. Other options are civil services or house arrest/jail. Edit: Careful when calling something finnish communist. We have bad history with commies. One of the bigger insults to be called a commie. Edit numero dos: I did the full year to get the leadership training. If I had the chance, I'd do the service again since it was pretty fun.

The mandatory duty stems from one fact alone: geography. Finland´s struggle during WW2 is of course well documented (if I remember correctly, on this channel as well). But the list of conflicts between Russia and Sweden (including Finland) is much longer, starting with the first peace treaty back in the year 1323. SInce then, there has been at least one war every century (1495-97), (1554-82), (1590-95), (1609-1617), (1656-58), (1700-21), (1741-43), (1788-90) and (1808-09). I am not blaming Russia for all the wars. However, keeping the population ready just in case, makes more sense in Finland than in the UK, I guess.

Without conscription it might have been Finland instead of Ukraine... "If you want peace, prepare for war".

Personally, I went through the civil service in 2016-2017. I was kind of a hardline pacifist then, but didn't want to get the C-papers (excempt from military service) even though I could have. Turns out, it was a great move for my life and career. During the month of training I was introduced to a bunch of new friends and after that, served in a university hospital genetics department. Inspired by that, nowadays I'm a geneticist myself after studying biology for 5 years in the university. Now those civil service people are working for me while I'm studying for my doctoral thesis. I haven't forgotten where I came from though, so I'm mostly giving them an easy time 😊.

The allowance might not seem like a lot of money but do mind that the army basically pays everything for you except like alcohol, sodas or snacks

If he's mind-blown about the conscription, I wonder what will happen if he learns about the shelter/bunker systems.

I was III/-93 Military police and damn proud of it. In Finland, mandatory service is an honour, not something you should be afraid of, or something to avoid.

Yes, practically all Finnish men have been thought how to properly use firearms, as well as how to maintain those guns in proper condition. That is the point of the conscription, have an army of the size of a nation. Nowadays there is much more options besides going in the army. In the olden days the options were basically either army or prison. In those days pretty much all men (and just men) went to the army. Now men can go to civil service instead of prison, but still some people go to prison rather than do civil service, since they are opposed to any kind of mandatory service. Women have been able to go to the army since 1995, though they don't have to. Women can go to the army and try it out for about 2 months and quit whenever they want without consequences, but when that 2 months (the basic training) is over, those who still continue and get to assign their role have to see it through. If they then quit, they have to do civil service for the rest of the time they have been assigned for or go to prison, same as men.

The service is mandatory, but very few people do it against their will. It is considered quite ok, even fun, and gives fairly good leadership training that is useful later in life. I served in the coast artillery back in 1981-82 and while having spent my earlier life far from the sea I found the year in the archipelago truly a lot of fun. Coast artillery at the permanent fortifications also felt the right place for me mentally in case of war - you are not supposed to go anywhere but hold your ground, and if it turns bad, there is no place more beautiful on this planet to die for than the Finnish archipelago.

I am 52 years old. I am today in 2nd reserve force. Still, I practice shooting and military skills as a reservist. I did my conscription in 1992-1993 but I am still able bodied soldier if necessary. And proud of it.

Sure it sucks that it's mandatory but if you go into it with an open mind it is actually quite fun. You get a chanse to do stuff you can't do as a civilian, for me it was shooting atrillery guns, quite fun indeed. You will learn new skills too like first aid and survival skills. I also liked the routine and the forced dicipline, it was really good for me. And it was refreshing to get a break from this world. Outside you had all these different things to worry about and in the army you could just live in the moment, you never had to worry about meals or what you should do. I miss the army. I've been thinking of a military career for a while now. And well it is a sacrife we need to make if we want to stay independent while living next to Russia. I'm happy to make that sacrifice.

We should also not forget the women who can also enter the service if they want to. you get good points for it, e.g. in police school. The number of trained female volunteers exceeded the number of trained women in a year for the first time, Puolustusvoimat informs. In 2022, 1211 women started the service, which was also the highest number in history. During 2022, a total of 1,040 women were discharged from the Defense Forces and the Border Guard More than 11,000 women have already completed their military service.

The fact that every man has to serve is because finland is such a small country and the threatning countries are so much more bigger. If we didn't have all the conscripts we would be too easy to conquer and russia would have probably tried it succesfully after ww2.

you don't have to join the army. You can also complete it as a civil service. meaning that you work, for example, in care for the elderly.

The unformal working environment is even visible in the military. Especially between the career military who train the conscripts and run the whole system. When I was working as a training officer as 1st Lieutenant i could just go sit at the mess to the brigade commander (Colonel) table and greet him informally like "Hey man, how's things in the HQ?" and address him with his first name. If shit hits the fan it is clear to everyone who is leading, but you do not have to constantly show it in everyday life. Just makes things easier.

Im not even a finn, im a swede and i spat my drink out in laughter when you used the word "communist" in the context of looking for the word you where looking for - dictatorial/autocratic. Even I know that communist/commie is one of the worst things you can call a finn or a finnish military man. Especially with 1. Fighting multiple wars with russia and the soviet union. 2. The Soviet ocupation of the areas originally belonging to Finnland, there are living survivors and decendents of these wars, attrocities, forced displacements, refugugees and soilders. 3. The god damn day Finnland became independent from Russia. 4. Red vs white uprising, where the "whites" one over the "reds". 5. What Finnland had to sacrifice and edure to stay independent from both soviet russia and Nazi Germany in WW2. Even though sweden and Finnland are in one way very different and sweden do not have conscription anymore, we used to have a very similar system not too long ago and the attitudes are still about the same. Conscription is seen as an honour and a walk of passage for young men, regardless if there is a realistic threat of war in his lifetime or not, if not he sees it as an opportunity to grow and develop as a person, get experience and (military education) that is actually valued in the job market as you are seen as a competent, disciplined person and possible leader in your workforce.

Aside from being bullied what I remember from my army time is the empty feeling when it ended. I had no job and no school when I went to army. I remember walking to a bus stop to get to home and just feeling empty. And the emptiness lasted for a while because in the army you got used to all the routines and suddenly they were no more. Your life that had been for 9 months suddenly got turned upside down. I was also happy it ended but still felt the emptiness.

the daily allowance is really little, but you don't need money in the Puolustusvoimat. You get everything for free, food, clothes, bed, exercise, laundry services, trips home, etc. There is a Sotilaskoti (Sotku aka military home) in the garrison where you can take your money and get coffee and a bun for half the price of a civilian life. P.s.Of course the state will pay your rent if it forces you to serve, and possibly sacrifice your life defending the Eastern Border

It makes me sad that i couldn't complete my training (severe case of epilepsy) so i was given C papers meaning "released from service for peacetime"

I flew from Australia to do my service, yes i was born there to Finnish parents so i was a finnish citizen. I felt it was the right thing to do.

There was actually a celebrity here in Sweden who comes from Finland. He came down to Sweden to do a one-off thing but became known and started working with television. Then after 6 years he went back to Finland to see his grandmother for two weeks. The day after he arrived at grandma's, the police came to pick him up because he was four years late with his military service. We are talking about MANDATORY.

The initial service is just the beginning. You can (and most will ) get called up for refresher training ever so often.

After this coscriptionservice men return to civil life as reservist. Military authority can order You back to service max 90 days every year. Normally , depending of your training, you will be called to revise exercise once or a while. Normally once in 5 years maybe, but some very important fields require that you might get called regulary every year.

In general the mandatory service serves as a good place to learn routine and general healthy lifestyle, and certain kind of humility and tolerance to physical and mental stress. The rent part is somewhat irrelevant, as most guys who're enrolled are still barely out of high school and thus live with their parents. And while you do get to keep your university spot if you've got in, it still does hinder your studies (and thus career progression) by at least a half a year. Also, those who serve for 12 months, ie. NCOs and reserve officers somewhat get the short straw - sure, the experience was unique and all, and it doesn't look bad on your CV, but overall the only concrete compensation for delaying your studies and career are 8-ish university credits universities compensate you as studies done elsewhere. All in all though, it's a unifying experience for those who go through it, even well over a decade since my service, I can still find topics and things to relate with people I've only just met through what we experienced in the army.

Men are available for service from 18 to 65 year of age. But one must participate in mandatory training before reaching age of 30 years. Mandatory training is like a basic training for army skills and then you make your army rank. You can get released for health reasons. But a conviction is not a legal reason for release. But if you refuse to service you get jail time for 6 months. So basicly 75-80% of finnish men go to army before reaching 30.

Dwayne: After having gone through the military, everybody will remain in the reserve to be called up for active service if needed. that's where the 60 years old limit comes in. All reservists are called to refresher courses from time to time and it's an honor and a duty to participate no matter what your position in the society is, rich or poor, CEO or handy man. That's where the figure of 900,000 ready-for-battle men originates from.

I actually was liberated from mandatory service here in Finland, since my left knee is busted and i do have triple nationality, that might ended up causing diplomatic issues.

Did my time serving my country way back. 30 yrs ago. "The civil service" guys we never had much respect for. "The cinnabon eaters" we called them. These days even some women sign up to serve. Voluntarily. Much respect for them ladies.

I did my service in 1995 in Rovaniemi. We had a training in the woods for 3 or 4 days. Staying in tents. It got as cold as - 38C. No problems. Skied for ab 70km at that training. Give me any Navy Seal or a Us Marine that can do that. This is just normal training for most of finnish trrainees, age of 18 to 29. One of the most scarieast thing for the enemy is that the person at the restaurant pouring you coffee, might be trainened as a sniper, close combat MP, guerrilla warfare etc. You never know 🙄 But 80 8:09 % of men can dismantle and put back together an AK under 2 mins. Most of us can do that with a basic 9mm pistol as well. But the main thing is that we can and know how to survive in the bush. All year around. .

Military service is great for everyone, not because you learn to shoot and fight but because of the discipline and routine

You can alternatively go to civil service or get released from service based on medical condition. Or go to prison (home arrest, really, with tracking device) for six months.

After 14:09 you said that basically all the men in our country know how to handle guns. I can tell you a public secret: in addition to the military firearms we have also smth like 2 million hunting etc. guns in people's homes and even most of the grandmas know how to shoot :D

The dayly allowance isn't much but The military gives clothes, food and a place to sleep. In The military Area you can buy stuff extremely cheap like a cup of coffee was 0,5€ in 2016

7:25 Yap this. Its not that suprising when you remeber who is next to us😅

"I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."

Even two of our candidates running for the presidency of Finland have not been in military service. They have completed their civil service. It includes a training period and then working in the public sector, for example in hospitals, libraries, road construction or whatever.

The time in the army was the best time of my life. The saying goes that "boys become men there." Military service is a mandatory duty of every male citizen. If it's possible. Afterwards, I'm sad that I didn't stay and work in the army. There you also learn certain values ​​and respect for future life, which unfortunately many young people lack nowadays. Finland is a unique country that our ancestors have defended throughout history. We should be proud of it and do our duty for it. Thanks to war veterans, we still have a special country that must be cherished in the future. No one can thank or respect them enough. Remember that life in Finland is not a given.

Mortar squad leader 330 days conscription, and two years as "Ylikersantti" training conscripts.

There are plenty of ways to Serve, even if you object to Armed part of the Duty. If you do not want to do your service in the Military, "Civil Service" is your only legal alternative. You serve that 1+11 months participating in some municipal/"public services" place of work - much like one would do if they'd started an apprentice contract. AFAIK, CivS can be tied to your current career if you already have established place of work in a comparable field. They'd pretty much just need to register it as your "service post" and ensure your hours are properly logged. If you decline from both the (non-)Armed Service and Civil Service - you are indeed send to jail for failing your legal responsibility. But if you have good reasons for delaying your Service, it is pretty easy to request and receive a later revaluation/entry date. You are right that there are some serious stigma related to Civil Service, but IMO, it all comes down to your reasons: If you are one of the "I-dont-wanna" people, you are treated as such. Weakling, undeserving a proper respect etc. Who would respect someone that is just seeking an easy way out? But if you're choosing CS due say, you having lowered medical status (but no exemption), you being the sole caretaker of family (children, elders etc) OR your current career aligns with the "terms" of Civil Service, it is completely different. You are seen same as any (tho pretty much all-costs-covered) "trainee/apprentice". Only difference is the standardized pays for each serving person.

I went to army not because I idolise war. I wanted to learn basic gun handling, being outdoors in wild. Other reason was if I sometimes find myself in a war zone in any countrt, I have a basic idea with weapons and warfare.

If you want a look on the attitude of guns and military service, check out Switzerland or US vs Switzerland. Switzerland where every home can own a military grade firearm to be that level of prepared for war and invasion, have a huge active gun culture, gun festivals that are combined with beer culture/festivals and drinking. BUT STILL have low crime rates, no mass shootings, extreme respect for firearms and no joking about, no popularization (making it "cool" - buybuybuy) of firearms.

Here in Norway we have mandatory conscription for both menn and women. However, just around 17 500 out of 60 000 are qualified to get conscripted each year. And only around 8000 out of thouse 17 500 do actually serve as for reason of belifes or other reason that they dont want to join the millitary. So its mandatory on paper, but not really anymore as they have more people than they need serve anyways.

No, Dwayne, of course there are options like civil service, conscientious objectors, etc. One worrying factor today is that the number of guys who leave the army training in midcourse has been rising. The physical fitness of the conscripts has plummeted. Today, women can join as well, but it's only if they want to, it's not mandatory.

I served my 11 months as NCO back in 1993 and now my son is serving his 11 months. I have not ever been really patriotic, or haven't thought about it, but with the war in Ukraine and own son serving at the moment, all the feelings have totally changed. I'm proud of the Finnish Defence Force and our readiness to defend our country.

Back in the day in UK you could be sneaked up upon, knocked unconscious with a club, dragged into a warship and next morning: "Surprise, youre in the navy now!"

Finland doesn't have defense forces. Finland is defense force.

I think it's wrong that I as a man would have to shave my head and be forced to army or civilian service. And women can choose to go if they want and don't need to shave their heads. And I hate guns and violence. I just told them that and that I can't stand rules for the sake of rules. And that I would rather serve as a prisoner than be forced anywhere. And would probably shoot someone by accident if I had a loaded gun and heard a gunshot or other sudden loud noise. I got free psychotherapy and tickets to a hockey match and was free to go. If there is a war I still have to serve, but it would not involve combat. I work in IT support and the formal way of addressing people comes automatically to me. Even when I keep the door open for a young neighbour I say olkaa hyvä instead of ole hyvä.

Military service can be performed in armed or unarmed service or in civilian service. Unarmed service If your conviction prevents you from performing your military service in armed service, you can apply for unarmed service. The Conscription Act provide for unarmed service as follows: A conscript who, based on conviction, is prevented from performing his military service in armed service and who applies for unarmed service, is released from armed service and assigned to unarmed service. The service of the unarmed is organized in such a way that the conviction of the unarmed does not come into conflict with the fulfillment of service tasks. An unarmed person is not obliged to use a weapon or ammunition in the service, to practice using them or to participate in their maintenance. Otherwise, the unarmed person must perform the service in accordance with this law, and the provisions for soldiers apply to him. The service period of unarmed conscripts is 255 days, unless they are assigned to training, which requires 347 days of service. Those who serve unarmed are not trained as armed fighters of the wartime forces, but are trained for tasks that do not require the use of a weapon or being taught how to use one. Those serving unarmed can be selected and trained for operationally important garrison-oriented tasks or special tasks. In exceptional cases, those who serve unarmed can also be trained for the role of supervisor. Those who served unarmed belong to the reserve like those who served armed. Those who served unarmed can be placed in the wartime force under the production responsibility of the troop department, based on the training and suitability, for example in surveillance, communication and maintenance tasks. Application forms are available from the regional offices and the troops department. The application is filled in according to the instruction text and must be signed by the applicant. The application is submitted to the regional office or to the commander of the troop division where you serve. Civil service If reasons of conviction prevent you from performing the military service stipulated in the Military Conscription Act, you can apply for an exemption from performing it. In this case, you must apply for civil service. You can find more information about the time and place of performing civil service on the website of the civil service. The civil service period is 347 days and it starts with a four-week training period at the Civil Service Center. You complete the rest of the service in the employment service at the employment service location you have obtained yourself. You can submit a civil service application at the earliest in the invitations. Your application will be processed by the Regional Office of the Defense Forces. Åland people Those who have Åland home region rights and who moved to the province under the age of 12 can instead of doing military service, serve in a similar way in a pilot and lighthouse institution or in another civil administration. Until such a service is arranged, those with home region rights are exempt from military service. Corporal of Coastal Artillery Logistic/Fire Management

Think about South Korea and Israel. They have at least double servicetime, and not very communist

At 7:00, being liberal. A fun fact and a thing one might not think about of a liberal democracy like Finland is that roughly 50% of the Parliament members hold a military rank. If you would go to Helsinki as a tourist and everyone that has a military rank would walk in uniform you would freak out; it would be like a huge military base.

An ex-anti-aircraft artillery battery medic here. No hard feelings for those who go for civil service. The way I saw it a couple of years later in life, the best and consequently also the worst way to get to know your fellow countrymen is to go to through the military route first and before you turn 27 call your regional HQ and tell them you are going to transition to the civil service and you get to go through the civil service training. I haven't gone that route, but I've heard there are some who have done it. After a few years it loses it's meaning to ask people what they did as the reserve/civilian life starts to mean more, unless you are a kook or in the system. There is a tongue-in-cheek saying that it doesn't matter what your rank is as long as it has (Ret.) after it. There is also the most extreme route that you can go to prison if you don't find either of the services up to your refined tastes. And in the military there are two varieties of the training also, armed (for the most of us) and weaponless service (mainly cooks and other logistics train personnel who can be either variety).

My english might fail me here and I dont want to sound wrong here. I actually dont quite know how things were at UK back then right before WW2. Ofcourse they had long history of wars hundreds and hundreds of years. Yet when (again) they faced real thread they had to draft, fast train and fast equip their forces. Remarcable effort which we all should be grateful for. But imagine if they had basically all nation ready trained and equipped beforehand .. Hmm.. just a thought .. conscription works.

Note that this is conscription - a mandatory - military service. Which when turning 18 is mandatory for every Finnish man and voluntary for women. It consists in average of 10 month boot camp at age of 18 and then about every 10 years you have to do one month refresher course that is a month long huge military excercise in a forest.

I am surprised that you didn't know about civil service before, Dwayne. Anyway, it's not served under the government, but under some non-profit organization, as mentioned in the video. It can belong to the state or the municipality, but a common-good association or foundation can also be a feasible place (as well as one of the two state churches).

Some idiots or kids might look down upon some who don't go to the army but not reasonable person over 25 will give a single flying fuck whether you went there or not.

My grandson has diabetes, so he won't be accepted into the army, because they can't guarantee access to insulin everywhere

Conscription isn't like what military would be for professional soldier. Conscripts are well taken care of and there are insane precautions to prevent any dangers. For me it was awesome 365 mornings in army, it was like a really long summer camp with the bois with lots of good memories.

the same here in Sweden, not everyone is called to the muster. then it is necessary to pass the test, health and psyche as well as what you wish to become in the military. it is not certain that you will meet the requirements, then it might be good to do military service training. make men out of boys. I myself got into what I wanted, the engineering team and drive an excavator, wheel loader, dump truck, etc

The money thing, it used to be about a pack of cigarettes, coffee and a doughnut from the soldiers home (a free time canteen, has massage chairs, all kinds of food, extra warm clothing and gear for sale, library, gaming consoles..) with the guns, I was in artillery for first part of my service and nco school. Got to shoot some bigger field guns. Rest of service mostly the service rifle and got into sports shooting and hunting through the army that continues to my reserve life. Would love to get into combat style sports shooting too! :)

about 70% of men do military service. It is also possible to choose civilian service instead of military service. For health or psychological reasons, it is also possible for a man to be released from military service either completely or for peacetime.

For such a small country it is best suited for military service to be forced even at the cost of person's morals. Feelings and morals are minuscule if you're getting invaded.

The Finnish army is also the biggest driving school in the country.

The thing is, even though doing the military service sucks, I'd still take that any day over being invaded by russia. Even when people are talking about stuff like it only being mandatory for men the solution is never that it shouldn't be mandatory for men, people always think it should be mandatory for women as well Edit: also have to add about the transferable skills: a significant portion of finnish truck drivers are actually trained by the military

I found the army entertaining almost like a shouty daycare with jogging and with guns. 30min Jogging is my only tip you should do half a year a head before, lifting is only for the artillery.

And if you really don't want to do any service, military or civil, then you'll go to jail for a 12 months or so. I did my military service back in 2008, served only that 6 months.

Regarding the hierarchy, I actually found it to be more difficult the other way around. After spending a year in the military getting used to addressing more senior people in that way it felt wrong to address my university professors with their first names. It took some getting used to. And another thing, the military service isn't really mandatory, nowadays only around 70% of men complete their service. So its certainly not all men.

Basically it's more like rite for teens to adulthood. And every soldier is gentleman before warrior, but most of all every soldier is equal to 10 cleaners.

I think the military service is quite short time you need to give back to your home country. First you get free ( or at least very cheap) healthcare from day one. Then from the 6 yrs old forward you get free education ( or cheap at least) at least around 18 years. And even longer if you want to. One 6 months or so to serve is not much asked for.

Having served in 6 months in 2022 its not as bad during the summer months but in the winter its a lot tougher

21:45 It is actually illegal for an employer to ask if you did military or civil service, unless you bring it up yourself in your cv or during an interview.

Aleksi actually makes an error in Finnish concerning the nice shirt bit: "Mistä olette saaneet noin hienon paidan?" is erroneous and the main verb "saaneet" ("saada", got) of the compound form should not be in plural even if the auxiliary verb "olette" ("olla", have) is and should be, when formally / politely addressing a single person. The correct Finnish sentence should be "Mistä olette saanut noin hienon paidan?" The error is very understandable, as the polite plural form is so rarely used (as established) that even the Finns don't know how to speak it properly.

I'm 3rd generation pacifist, went thru civil service. It was not easier, i took care of handicapped kids, 13h days, 6 days a week. Went without any days off for over 2 months... For sure, it was quite special arrangement overall, i didn't have to do those hours but i also got paid a bit more for doing tons of overtime. But it was invaluable life experience, it sure put my values in order. BTW, when i went to kutsunnat in the early 90s, the officer who made a short speech about the day etc. then said "and all the sivarit and other gays, raise your hands up". That guy would be fired these days, as he should've been back then but the treatment was hostile and nasty. Back in the 80s army handled all of that so if you wanted a civil service job in Helsinki they send you to Rovaniemi as a punishment.. It used to be much harder than it is now, attitudes have changed.. Some of my old friends from other towns were the first civil servicemen in a 20k town... in the 90s.. Kind of says a lot about that social stigma, fortunately too many guys have civil service friends and then the whole thing kind of falls flat and it becomes a free choice. It has to be, motivation has to be high for our defense forces to work properly. I'm pacifist but support military and NATO as they are at the moment and in the foreseeable future our best bets of keeping peace...

We have Defence force in Finland. Yep and it is very insulting call our system communist. It is not. Those young guys great-grand fathers fight against Sovjet Union.

Went to army in kajaani too like in video. Jaeger,6 months. Our friend group didnt give hard time to civil service mens. But i know only few who done it,intrested maybe,how thing rolled there and all that

180 days in Kajaani from July 2004 to January 2005

Finns' will to defend our country is the top in the world at 83%. I have noticed many times that you have problems with your intellect to figure things out - to put it nicely.

proud to was in army and i still thing its the back bone off our small nation for defence force.. without us would be easy to just take the country and i still thing we should keep this up till all world is safe and no military needed in anywhere.. just my own oppinnion so dont need to get mad if u thing otherwhy

It is a fun fact that the main argument for the mandatory service in Finland is that we are neighboring Russia, the country which first established the mandatory service in Finland when Finland was under the Russian rule. It's like the Finnish people want to keep the Russian system in order to not have the Russian system in their country.

No mention of RUK :( that was the stuff of nightmares and dreams lol. Fun stuff but so many stories

They actually shortened the service time a while back, in early 2000's when I did my service it was 180, 270 or 360 days. Daily allowance was smaller too (3,60€ , 5,70€ and 8,90€ iirc). Note that this is wage for men, volunteer women get some extra because army do (or did) not provide them with underwear.

For a country of 5.5M people mandatory conscription is the only feasable way to upkeep the manpower and skills to make Finland a far too pricey target for Russia to try the Ukraine/Georgia treatment to. If you compare to Ukraine for example that has a population of 44M people we have a much larger and better equipped military than what they had in february 2022.

Its mandatory to SERVE. If you are a pacifist you can choose civil service, helping out in hospitals, schools etc. If you disobey you will get an ankle bracelet and a home arrest. So in any case case you will lose your freedom, might as well get paid for it. As for being liberal country with a mandatory service, as a Finn, i see it as a prerequisite for liberal society. Without it we would have been part of soviet union or russia losing all our freedom and liberty, but this way we were able to build the happiest country in the world. Looking at it this way its a small price to pay.

i got exempted from peace time service but now that i pretty much have nothing to do i would love to be in the army.

I am a scout engineer (pioneeri) corporal my expected life at battle field is 3 minutes :D we go troguh enemy lines and try to do sabotage etc there IF we get trough enemy lines

yeah man the daily allowance aint much but, its a little more now than in this video. now its 165 5.90€ 255 9.60€ and 347 13.20€ if i remember correctly.

there is a choice you can do civil service if you dont wanna go to defensive force, so you can be helping like 6 months like elderly or in hospital or something that help our country, but most men chose to go on "military" just because we wanna defend our wonderful country

This video does skip quit many corners, but the essentials are mostly correct. It's piss easy to "avoid" military service though: just apply for a civilian service instead (essentially a 1 year long community service / work practice gig). Still too much of a brat to be credit to society? You can also sit that time in jail. If you wanna get more up-to-date and official info, look up Puolustusvoimat channel's info videos (ie. "Asepalvelus" and "Taistelukenttä"). But yes, every other bloke (+ a few thousand women to boot) have gotten real deal military training, and form the "reserves", which is the main bulk of the Finnish military. We're talking up to 900K troops here, almost one million defenders of the nation, in a country with a population of only 5 Mil. On top of that, in a real war, EVERY Finnish citizen is eligible to help the nation's defense, one way or another. The service's legit part of the culture and "growing up" phase to most. It's a huge opportunity that can yield various benefits even in the civilian life afterwards, and it's a time of your life most "kids" hate during the military service itself, but fondly recall years later. Some even continue "training" on their own in the reserves, participating in various voluntary courses, shooting competitions, etc. Yes - it's indeed possible for a Finnish citizen to own "scary military-like weapons" and gear. We rank like 4th in the total guns per population scale in the world, partly aided by the popularity of hunting as well.

i didint go in army i was "relieved during peace" i have epilepsy and they probably don't want to gun someone hand if he can shoot someother one doring seizure.

Conscription is mandatory because Russia. Or at least, that's how I feel.

Military route here, Sergeant. 28 years ago tho ;)

Dear Dwayne. We have mandatory conscription so we DONT end up to be conquered by any Communist / dictatorship/ facist country. I hope you understand the finnish mentality before you visit us. Our country has been conquered and destroyed by our neigbours so many times - never again.

Our Finland's army is called "Puolustusvoimat" in finnish, which translates literally "defence forces" in english. Note that it's "defence" forces, not "offence" forces, not "war" forces. Of course if war comes, we bring all the hell to those who want to burn our woods, pollute our lakes, and oppress us for their petty reasons. However, and this is just me and I know a lot of us finns disagree with me on this one, but! If Russia went to war against us, and the russian military privates started to abandon the russian army and try to escape to Finland to live there free, like they have been doing in the Ukraine war now, I for one would welcome every single russian here as long as they swear a blood oath to respect us and be kind to us. I would give them my own food and money and take one of them to live in my flat without paying rent to me. That's Finland for me. And, if Finland decided to attack any other country for ANY reason, even Russia, I'd just say "fuck it, I got better things you do. Shoot me or imprison me all you like, I'm not interested in petty things like that." Unless maybe if we were conscripted to defend Ukraine from Russia, that's a whole different thing. Mikko!

19:31 made perfect sense. I got a lot out of the military service because of this.

Lowest officer rank for me, after 12 months, 50 years ago.

You seem to be astonished that we are in the army up to 60 years. I am 73 y.o. and I will still defend Finland. What can I do? => I can translate different languages, write (opinions or propaganda etc.. and reach out to you and ask for help - or whatever), help in civilian society etc., all the "slow jobs".

I have to agree with you Dwayne. The military service is very authoritian, not communist necessarily but they used the same system. You can skip it if you like but there is a social pressure to go through it but people are more accepting about civil service these days.

We are pretty liberal with other things but conscript is mandatory....well, have you look at the map? 1st you survive then you can be liberal or whatever you decide to be.