On 22 September 2013, Swiss voters heavily rejected the popular initiative "Yes to abolishing compulsory military service", launched by the Group for a Switzerland without an Army (GSoA). Unlike its earlier campaigns, the GSoA did not seek to abolish the army, but to end the obligation to serve in favour of voluntary service.
The stakes touched the heart of the militia model, an identity pillar of Switzerland since the 19th century. For the initiators the obligation had become a costly anachronism, all the more so as only a fraction of men actually complete their full service. For their opponents, compulsory militia secured both troop numbers and the army's anchoring in the population.
The Federal Council, Parliament and almost all centre-right parties recommended rejection, defending conscription as a guarantor of national security. The DDPS, then headed by Ueli Maurer, was at the forefront of the campaign.
An emphatic result: 73.2% No and rejection by every canton. Thirteen years on, the army maintains the obligation — but faces manpower difficulties that reopen, from a new angle, the debate settled in 2013.
▲ Cantons that accepted None. The initiative is rejected by every canton (20 6/2). | ▼ Cantons that rejected All 26 cantons. Heaviest rejection in central and eastern Switzerland (Appenzell Innerrhoden, Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, over 80% No). Weakest — but still majority — opposition in Geneva, Jura and Neuchâtel. |
Actors and personalities
▲ Yes camp • GSoA (Group for a Switzerland without an Army, initiator) • The Greens • SP and Young Socialists (in part) • Pacifist and anti-militarist circles | ▼ No camp • Federal Council (Ueli Maurer, DDPS) • Majority of the Federal Parliament • SVP, FDP, The Centre (CVP), BDP • Officers and military societies • Defence circles and patriotic associations |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) The obligation is already a fiction: only a minority serves « Already today, only a fraction of men actually complete their full service. » — GSoA committee, 2013 ✓ Argument confirmed The observation held over time. Each year 10,000 to 11,000 conscripts leave the army before ordinary discharge, fitness for service is declining, and a large share of recruits is exempted or shifts to civilian service. The application of the obligation remains very uneven, just as the initiators argued. Source: DDPS / Swiss Armed Forces, recruitment and fitness statistics. Voluntary service would suffice to ensure security « An army based on volunteering would meet the real needs of defence. » — GSoA, 2013 campaign ✗~ Partly refuted The manpower difficulties that have since emerged weaken this claim. Even with the obligation maintained, the army expects to fall below the required threshold by 2030; the Federal Council is studying extending the obligation to serve to women to fill the gap. Nothing suggests that volunteering alone would have sufficed — quite the contrary. Source: Federal Council, obligation-to-serve project (2024); army troop levels. | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) Compulsory militia is the army's backbone and popular anchor « Compulsory service guarantees the link between the army and the population. » — Federal Council, 2013 campaign ✓~ Partly confirmed The militia model did endure and remains central. But its human base proved more fragile than claimed: massive early departures and the projected troop shortfall show that anchoring through obligation alone no longer suffices to secure the ranks. Source: DDPS; reports on army troop levels. Without the obligation, the army would not reach its numbers « Abolishing the obligation would jeopardise the troop levels needed for defence. » — DDPS (Ueli Maurer), 2013 ✓~ Partly confirmed The fear is partly vindicated — paradoxically, under the compulsory regime itself. The army struggles to secure its future numbers and is considering extending the obligation to women: proof that the ranks depend on a broad obligation. The notion that a purely voluntary system would be insufficient is strengthened. Source: Federal Council, 2024 project; troop planning. |
Affiches de campagne (10)
Factual record
1 Confirmed | 2 Partly confirmed | 1 Partly refuted | 0 Refuted |
| ✓ | The compulsory militia model was maintained The rejection consolidated conscription: the obligation to serve remains the foundation of the Swiss army, with no major political challenge since 2013. Source: DDPS; Federal Constitution, art. 59. |
| ~ | But the manpower debate is reopened Thirteen years on, the army faces a troop shortfall projected for 2030, with 10,000 to 11,000 early departures a year. The Federal Council is studying extending the obligation to serve to women — a sign that the conscription question settled in 2013 remains alive. Source: Federal Council; Swiss Armed Forces. |
| ~ | The GSoA's point on uneven service holds The initiators' central observation — an obligation applied very unevenly — was borne out: exemptions, civilian service and early departures sharply reduce the share of those who complete full military service. Source: DDPS, fitness and recruitment statistics. |
Thirteen years after the vote, the ballot's verdict — keeping the obligation to serve — has not been challenged. The militia model remains the bedrock of the Swiss army, in line with what the No camp defended.
But the underlying debate did not vanish; it changed shape. Manpower difficulties, massive early departures and the project to extend the obligation to serve to women show that the question raised by the GSoA — the sustainability of an unevenly applied compulsory service — remains current. The initiators' factual observation about the very partial application of the obligation was borne out, even if their solution (volunteering) was rejected and looks, in light of today's shortages, unrealistic.
In the end, neither the Yes nor the No camp is entirely right: conscription held, but its weaknesses are now acknowledged by the army itself, which seeks to broaden rather than narrow the obligation.