Dwindling.

This is coolbert:

"I saw a film today, oh boy

The English Army had just won the war

A crowd of people turned away

But I just had to look

Having read the book"

John Lennon.

Not in the year 2023 did the English army win the war?

"World of Trouble: Conscription on the Table as European Militaries Dwindle"

https://www.breitbart.com | OLIVER JJ LANE | 18 Dec 2023.

"The British Army is now the smallest it has been in 200 years, as more defense personnel continue to leave than join, while in Germany the military recruitment crisis is so acute the defense minister speaks of bringing back conscription."

[. . . .]

"According to an analysis by British newspaper the Daily Telegraph, this fall means the British Army is now at the smallest size in 200 years, no mean feat given the population of Britain in 1820 was only a little over 20 million souls, while it rapidly approaches 70 million today."

Comments:   

* Universal conscription for the European militaries is going to be in a very unpopular item with the young people. None of them will appreciate having the life of dolce vita disrupted.

* This is also going to become a guns or butter hot button issue. The socialist welfare states of Europe will find themselves unable or unwilling  to sustain a long-term effort. It is not only people that are required but equipment that needs to be manned. You want to have a viable and efficient  military that can win wars. Conventional armies are expensive!

And to all this the Duke of Wellington would say what exactly?

coolbert.