This volume is devoted to the modernization of the army manning system and its impact on the society of Austria-Hungary. The primary methodology employed is a comparative analysis of military modernization at the imperial level, with a specific case study of a peripheral province of the empire—Austrian Galicia. This model of analysis, supported by a solid archival foundation, presents a nuanced view of the Modernity period. It explores the lives of ordinary individuals from Central Europe and examines the main effects of military service on their everyday experiences. The aim of the book is to highlight both the positive and negative aspects of implementing universal compulsory military service for the majority of the empire’s population.