Recruitment in the Themiclesian forces
Recruitment in the Themiclesian forces historically was practiced through a range of systems, directed by the civilian government.
Terminology
There are two words that roughly mean "recruitment" as applicable to armed forces in Shinasthana. The word trjeng (徵) generally meant a non-voluntary sort of recruitment, while magh (募) usually indicated voluntary ones. However, not all instances of trjeng can be translated as "conscript" or "impress", as it was also used with the mandatory purchase of land and goods by the government; in this sense, the preferred translation is "expropriate" or "exact". In other cases, it may also mean "appoint" or "establish" as in officialdom.
Geographic divisions
Globally, Themiclesia divided its foreign policy into two large regions—the continent and overseas. The continent, under the War Secretary, encompassed Themiclesia-proper, the Themiclesian desert and steppe, the northeastern plains, the part of Nukkumaa east of the mountain range, Dzhungestan, and Maverica. "Overseas", under the Finance Secretary and so named because it was reached by sea, included Nukkumaa west of the mountain range, the Columbian sub-continent, and Meridia. Generally, the court saw continent politically continuous with Themiclesia and fit to be annexed, but overseas was always treated with a degree of separation. Since the late 7th century, the two regions were thought unrelated, as few states between them had contact with each other, and seldom did alliances or military activity cross this border. The court recruited, fielded, and supplied terrestrial and maritime units for these two jurisdictions separately.
The first deviation from these bounds occurred in 1680, when Norfeld was annexed by Themiclesia. Because it was already peacefully occupied, the court placed it under the Finance Secretary, who sent the Colonial Army was sent to secure it. As the Finance Secretary governed and extracted from Columbia, relying on the metropole only for reinforncements, Themiclesia's military colonists found themselves settling closer to the metropole.
18th century and before
During the early modern period, Themiclesia raised forces that varied by terms of service, specialization, theatre, stationing, ethnicity, and even professional background.
During the 18th century, as in many previous ones, men in the Demesne Land aged from 16 to 60 were, as a rule, obliged to perform military and corvée service. Most of them would have been part of the militia system from age 20 to 56, when they would be on duty with others from their home counties for about a month a year. After rudimentary familiarity with weapons, duties ranged policing the neighbourhood, manning checkpoints, protecting local magistrates, executing searches and arrests, or guarding prisons. It was possible to opt-out of the local militia for the payment of a small fine, but participation was incentivized by an allotment of public land to farm and access to forests. There was a marshal appointed in every prefecture and county that oversaw the operation of the local militia. In wartime, the marshals would assemble militia units into an army led by a general appointed for the occasion.
However, as Themiclesia's interests extended into Columbia and Meridia, this model proved inadequate. Militiamen could not be away from their farms for more than a few months at a time, or their land may go to waste; additionally, a fighting militiaman could not produce grains for the government, which hampered the supply of food at the front. While professional soldiers existed as early as the Hexarchy (4th c. BCE to 3rd CE), they were very few and worked as bodyguards or retainers for royalty and aristocracy. In the 6th century, the Capital Defence Force was augmented with about 1,600 soldiers who were provided with a salary for two years of service, in which soldiers could re-enlist indefinitely; however, this force was regarded as a defensive one and rarely saw use in the field. The first standing army, the Colonial Army, was raised in 1323 and fielded in Columbia against the Hallians, who also fielded professional troops and may have inspired the Themiclesians to do likewise.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Themiclesian raised more professional troops in krawh (校), usually translated as "regiments", that numbered between 800 and 1200 men each. This was generally held to be a response to the introduction of firearms, which required though new regiments were not all equipped with them.
19th century
Aside from demobilization that ended by 1805, reforms of the century concentrated on adjusting the military to suit the new geography and foreign policy, on a constrained budget. In 1807, regular troops in all Themiclesian forces amounted to 53,000, reduced from a (possibly historic) maximum of 318,000 in 1796.
Experiences of the Second Maverican War led Conservative politicians to identify the large quantity of poorly-led militiamen, which overburdened the treasury, as the primary cause of defeat; secondarily, the government's investment there inhibited the rebuilding of the navy and deprived resources from the Solevent and Camian fronts, which were competently defended compared to the Maverican one. The Army Academy was therefore founded to provide bureaucrats with military knowledge, should they be commissioned to lead militiamen into battle.
In 1813, regulars were further reduced to 28,000 men, but their respective recruitment and training methods remained. The Capital Defence Force continued to recruit amongst the militias of the Inner Region, while the South Army did amongst repatriated colonists, mostly in Prjin and Ljoi Prefectures. The Royal Signals Corps found its men amongst the couriers that passed equestrian skills from generation to generation. Other professional regiments recruited within regions to which they were attached. As pressing non-sailors into naval service, one of the most hated wartime measures, ended in 1797, the Marines began recruiting in Tonning and other naval ports.
In 1847, arguably the most influential reform of the Themiclesian military occurred with the abolition of mandatory militia membership, which tied peasants to land. As they were granted freedom of movement within Themiclesia-proper, the rural unemployed migrated to the cities pursuing work. Kien-k'ang, a city of 120,000 in 1800, grew to 1 million by 1900. The depopulation of rural areas ended the Conservative hope for a robust and trained militia providing territorial defence. Demographic changes in cities, Kien-k'ang in particular, also aided recruitment: aristocrats lost their rights over retainers, and so over 30,000 of them, many of whom bound for generations, were instantly out of work. The urban unemployed, from 1855, became the primary source of recruits for the major regular forces; additionally, the government wished to "soak up" the unemployed with military service, fearing otherwise their riots and gangsterism.
In 1850, the Lord of Rjai-lang passed the Commissions Act which restricted new regimental commissions to graduates of the Army Academy. While bureaucrats appointed to militia positions were subject to the same since 1835, the new law required the regular forces to immerse its officers from a new demographic. Both Conservatives and Liberals agreed that new ideas explored in the Academy should be introduced to the regular forces, which would, at any rate, retain their ability to select their officers.
At the same time, Parliament ordered the prefectures to reform their militia systems, so that obligations would not too much fall upon those remaining in the countryside. On the one hand, these reforms reflected their diminished importance in national defence. Most prefectures in the 1700s required 20 and 40 days of service per annum, but by 1850, 3 to 5 was usual; positions as professional policemen and prison guards thus began to appear, their functions formerly discharged by militiamen. On the other hand, the Liberal government also suggested in 1854 the marshals enlist volunteers to supplement existing regular forces. However, the marshals proceeded so slowly that, thirty years later, many prefectures had nothing more than a single company of volunteers to show for. These volunteers would, in time, form the Reserve Army.
Under the Lord of Sng′rja′, a national logistical network began to emerge from the crumbling corvée system, where labour was unpaid, and assume modern form. While the men working for road, rail, and river transport were civilians, their officers were appointed by the War Secretary and uniformed. These officers ensured that men and goods could pass from one place to another in the presence of adequate labour and efficient routing. There was generally one superintendant in each prefecture and regional officers under him, all of whom had power to employ civilians on contractual terms.
By 1890, many advances had been made in medicine, transportation, and communications, and a multitude of new offices, some national, others regional, were erected to discharge these functions in a modernized army. For the most part, Parliament observed age-old rules in setting forth whom and where these offices could recruit, e.g. the Corps of Physicians could only induct those recognized by physicians' guilds, while the Convalescence Service only employed nurses able to procure hospitals' recommendations. The CDF and South Army, which operated autonomous medical and nursing services, were ordered to obey the same standards in 1877. On the one hand, this supported the quality of recruitment. On the other, these professional departments were also tethered to their civilian counterparts and would never be able to find or train more recruits rapidly. This was not necessarily a shortcoming in many parliamentarians' views, since the system protected what was called a "civic character" of the armed forces.
Early 20th century
Under the Conservative government of the Lord of Krungh, the regulars were reduced from around 31,200 officers and men to 24,900, by 1907. Militia participation dropped under half a million men for the first time in recent history. Despite improvements in military technology, recruitment remained basically unchanged from the status quo of 1850, wherein each force, regiment, or office followed statute and precedents to seek out recruits within certain boundaries.
A key development of the first half of the 20th century is the formation of the Consolidated Army. The CDF, South Army, infantry and cavalry units of the Royal Signals Corps, and other professional regiments were merged under one operational command. While the new army's constituents were not technically dissolved, their headquarters were refocused on administrative work. Nevertheless, they continued to recruit and train separately.
Changes to the army's recruitment were heralded by the navy and air force.