Who introduced universal conscription? Military service in Russia

In connection with the general renewal of Russian social life there was a reform of military service. In 1874, a charter was given on universal conscription, which completely changed the procedure for replenishing troops.

Under Peter the Great, as we know, all classes were involved in military service: the nobility without exception, the tax-paying classes - by supplying recruits. When the laws of the 18th century gradually freed the nobility from compulsory service, conscription turned out to be the lot of the lower classes of society, and, moreover, the poorest, since the rich could buy off their soldiers by hiring a recruit for themselves. In this form, conscription became a heavy and hateful burden for the population. She ruined poor families, depriving them of breadwinners, who, one might say, left their farms forever.

The length of service (25 years) was such that a person, once a soldier, was separated from his environment for the rest of his life.

According to the new law, all young people who have reached the age of 21 in a given year are called up to serve military service every year. The government determines each year the total number of recruits required for the troops and, by lot, takes only this number from all conscripts. The rest are enlisted in the militia. Those taken into service are enrolled in it for 15 years: 6 years in service and 9 in reserve.

Having left the regiment for the reserve, the soldier is only occasionally called up for training camps, so short that they do not interfere with private studies or peasant work. Educated people have been in the ranks for less than six years, and so have those who volunteer.

The new system of recruiting troops, by its very idea, was supposed to lead to profound changes in military order. Instead of harsh soldier drill, based on penalties and punishments, a reasonable and humane education of the soldier was introduced, bearing not a simple class obligation, as it was before, but the sacred civic duty of defending the fatherland. In addition to military training, soldiers were taught to read and write and tried to develop in them a conscious attitude towards their duty and understanding of their soldier’s work. Long-term management of the military ministry of Count D.

And Milyutin was marked by a number of educational events aimed at introducing military education in Russia, raising the spirit of the army, and improving the military economy.

Universal conscription met two needs of the time.

Firstly, it was impossible to leave the old order of replenishing the army with those social reforms that led to the equalization of all classes of society before the law and the state.

Secondly, it was necessary to put the Russian military system on a level with Western Europe.

In Western countries, following the example of Prussia, there was universal conscription, which transformed the population into an “armed people” and imparted to military affairs the significance of the whole people.

Armenians of the old type could not be equal to the new ones either in the strength of national inspiration or in the degree of mental development and technical training. Russia could not lag behind its neighbors in this regard. Platonov S.F. Lectures on Russian history. - St. Petersburg, 1999, pp. 32

The international situation at the end of the 60s, characterized by a significant increase in armaments in a number of European states, required Russia to increase its wartime personnel. This was also due to the large length of the borders of the Russian Empire, when during combat operations in the region, a significant part of the troops could not be redeployed.

The path of increasing the standing army could no longer be acceptable due to the high financial costs. Increasing the composition of existing units in wartime personnel was also rejected by Milyutin, because firstly, it would not give tangible results (the introduction of fourth battalions in all regiments during the war would increase the army by only 188 thousand people), and secondly, it would lead to “an increase in the size of the army to the detriment of its dignity”, in the absence of proper conditions increase. Rejecting these paths, Milyutin came to the conclusion that it was necessary to form a reserve army. Which should be formed from among persons who have completed military service. At the same time, it was planned to change the order of military service and reduce the duration of active military service.

On January 1 (13), 1874, the “Manifesto on the introduction of universal military service” was published, according to which military service was imposed on all classes of Russian society. On the same day, the “Charter on Military Service” was approved. “Defense of the throne and fatherland is the sacred duty of every Russian subject. The male population, regardless of condition, is subject to military service,” the Charter stated.

Starting from the time of Peter I, all classes in Russia were involved in military service. The nobles themselves had to undergo military service, and the tax-paying classes had to ensure that the army was staffed with a supply of recruits. When in the 18th century. The nobles were gradually freed from compulsory service; conscription turned out to be the lot of the poorest strata of society, since wealthy people could pay off by hiring a recruit for themselves.

Crimean War 1853-1856 demonstrated the weakness and backwardness of the military organization in the Russian Empire. During the reign of Emperor Alexander II, military reforms, which were dictated by external and internal factors, were carried out thanks to the activities of Minister of War D. A. Milyutin in several areas: the introduction of new regulations, reduction of army personnel, training of trained reserves and officers, rearmament of the army, reorganization quartermaster service. The main goal of these reforms was to reduce the army in peacetime and at the same time ensure the possibility of its deployment during war. However, all the innovations could not eliminate the feudal-class structure of the army, based on a system of recruitment among peasants and the monopoly of nobles on occupying officer positions. Hence, Milyutin’s most important measure was the introduction of universal conscription.

Back in 1870, a special commission was formed to develop the issue of conscription, which, just four years later, presented to the emperor the Charter of universal conscription for all classes, which was approved by the highest in January 1874. Rescript of Alexander II addressed to Milyutin dated January 11 (23) 1874 instructed the minister to carry out the law “in the same spirit in which it was drafted.”

The Charter on Military Service of 1874 determined the total period of military service in the ground forces to be 15 years, in the navy - 10 years, of which active military service was 6 years on land and 7 in the navy, in the reserve - 9 years on land and 3 years in the navy. Infantry and foot artillery were recruited on a territorial basis. From now on, recruitment was abolished, and the entire male population over 21 years of age was subject to conscription. Persons who were exempt from military service due to various benefits were enlisted in the militia in the event of a declaration of war. Having entered the reserve, the soldier could only occasionally be called up for training camps, which did not interfere with his private studies or peasant labor.

The charter also provided for benefits for education and deferments for marital status. Thus, the only sons of their parents, the only breadwinners in the family with young brothers and sisters, and representatives of certain nationalities were subject to exemption from service. The clergy, doctors and teachers were completely exempted from military service.

To carry out conscription, provincial conscription presences were established in each province, which were under the jurisdiction of the Directorate for Conscription Affairs of the General Staff of the Military Ministry of the Russian Empire. The charter on military service, with amendments and additions, continued to be in force until January 1918.

Lit.: Golovin N. N. Russian laws on universal military service // Military efforts of Russia in the World War. Paris, 1939; The same [Electronic resource]. URL:http://militera.lib.ru/research/golovnin_nn/01.html ; Goryainov S. M. Statutes on military service. St. Petersburg, 1913; Livin Y., Ransky G. Charter on military service. With all changes and additions. St. Petersburg, 1913; Charter on military service of January 1, 1874 [Electronic resource] // International Military Historical Association. B. d. URL: http://www.imha.ru/index.php?newsid=1144523930 .

See also in the Presidential Library:

Alexander II is known for his numerous reforms that affected all aspects of the life of Russian society. In 1874, on behalf of this tsar, Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin changed the conscription system for the Russian army. The format of universal conscription, with some changes, existed in the Soviet Union and continues today.

Military reform

The introduction of universal military service, which was epochal for the inhabitants of Russia at that time, occurred in 1874. It took place as part of large-scale reforms in the army undertaken during the reign of Emperor Alexander II. This tsar ascended the throne at a time when Russia was shamefully losing the Crimean War, unleashed by his father Nicholas I. Alexander was forced to conclude an unfavorable peace treaty.

However, the real consequences of failure in another war with Turkey appeared only a few years later. The new king decided to understand the reasons for the fiasco. They included, among other things, an outdated and ineffective system for replenishing army personnel.

Disadvantages of the recruitment system

Before the introduction of universal conscription, there was conscription in Russia. It was introduced in 1705. An important feature of this system was that conscription extended not to citizens, but to communities, which chose young men to be sent to the army. At the same time, the service life was lifelong. Bourgeois and artisans chose their candidates by blind lot. This norm was enshrined in law in 1854.

The landowners, who owned their own serfs, themselves chose the peasants, for whom the army became their home for life. The introduction of universal conscription freed the country from another problem. It consisted in the fact that legally there was no definite one. It varied depending on the region. At the end of the 18th century, the service life was reduced to 25 years, but even such a time frame separated people from their own farming for too long a period. The family could be left without a breadwinner, and when he returned home, he was already effectively incapacitated. Thus, not only a demographic, but also an economic problem arose.

Proclamation of reform

When Alexander Nikolaevich assessed all the disadvantages of the existing order, he decided to entrust the introduction of universal conscription to the head of the Military Ministry, Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin. He worked on the new legislation for several years. The development of the reform ended in 1873. On January 1, 1874, the introduction of universal conscription finally took place. The date of this event became significant for contemporaries.

The recruiting system was abolished. Now all men who had reached 21 years of age were subject to conscription. The state made no exceptions for classes or ranks. Thus, the reform also affected the nobles. The initiator of the introduction of universal conscription, Alexander II, insisted that there should be no privileges in the new army.

Service life

The main one was now 6 years (in the navy - 7 years). The time frame for being in reserve was also changed. Now they were equal to 9 years (in the navy - 3 years). In addition, a new militia was formed. Those men who had already served in actual service and in the reserve were included in it for 40 years. Thus, the state received a clear, regulated and transparent system for replenishing troops for any occasion. Now, if a bloody conflict began, the army did not have to worry about the influx of fresh forces into its ranks.

If a family had a sole breadwinner or only son, he was freed from the obligation to go to serve. A flexible deferment system was also provided (for example, in case of low welfare, etc.). The period of service was shortened depending on what kind of education the conscript had. For example, if a man had already graduated from university, he could only stay in the army for a year and a half.

Deferments and exemptions

What other features did the introduction of universal conscription in Russia have? Among other things, deferments appeared for conscripts who had health problems. If, due to his physical condition, a man was unable to serve, he was generally exempted from the obligation to serve in the army. In addition, an exception was also made for church ministers. People who had specific professions (medical doctors, students at the Academy of Arts) were immediately enlisted in the reserves without actually being in the army.

The national question was a sensitive one. For example, representatives of the indigenous peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus did not serve at all. At the same time, such benefits were abolished in 1874 for the Lapps and some other northern nationalities. Gradually this system changed. Already in the 1880s, foreigners from the Tomsk, Tobolsk and Turgai, Semipalatinsk and Ural regions began to be called up for service.

Acquisition areas

Other innovations also appeared, which were marked by the introduction of universal conscription. The year of reform was remembered in the army by the fact that it now began to be staffed according to regional rankings. The entire Russian Empire was divided into three large sections.

The first of them was Great Russian. Why was he called that? It included territories where an absolute Russian majority lived (above 75%). The objects of ranking were counties. It was based on their demographic indicators that the authorities decided which group the residents belong to. The second section included lands where there were also Little Russians (Ukrainians) and Belarusians. The third group (foreign) is all other territories (mainly the Caucasus, Far East).

This system was necessary for manning artillery brigades and infantry regiments. Each such strategic unit was replenished by residents of only one site. This was done in order to avoid ethnic hatred in the troops.

Reform in the military personnel training system

It is important that the implementation of military reform (the introduction of universal military service) was accompanied by other innovations. In particular, Alexander II decided to completely change the system of officer education. Military educational institutions lived according to the old skeletal order. In the new conditions of universal conscription, they became ineffective and costly.

Therefore, these institutions began their own serious reform. Her main guide was Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich (the Tsar’s younger brother). The main changes can be noted in several theses. Firstly, special military education was finally separated from general education. Secondly, access to it was made easier for men who did not belong to the noble class.

New military educational institutions

In 1862, new military gymnasiums appeared in Russia - secondary educational institutions that were analogues of civilian real schools. Another 14 years later, all class qualifications for admission to such institutions were finally abolished.

The Alexander Academy was founded in St. Petersburg, which specialized in training military and legal personnel. By 1880, the number of military educational institutions throughout Russia had increased markedly compared to the figures at the beginning of the reign of the Tsar-Liberator. There were 6 academies, the same number of schools, 16 gymnasiums, 16 schools for cadets, etc.

On January 1, 1874, all-class military service was introduced in Russia. From now on, young people of all classes were subject to conscription for service, “who were twenty years old by January 1 of the year in which the recruitment was made” 1 . For the army, a 6-year period of active service was established, for the navy - 7 years. The charter on military service provided for numerous benefits and exemption from service for health reasons, occupation and marital status. The only sons of their parents, as well as the only ones capable of work, were exempt from service: a son “with a father who is not capable of work, or with a widowed mother”; a brother with “orphans, brothers or sisters”, and a grandson “with a grandfather or grandmother who does not have a son capable of working” 2.

Of those who did not have the right to a deferment or exemption from service, only those who were drawn by lot were subject to conscription.

For the correct compilation of conscription lists, the determination of the “rights of each conscript” and his medical examination, the district conscription offices (UPPs) were responsible. Provincial or regional MLAs monitored the general progress of conscription and were engaged in “re-examination” of conscripts and examining complaints against county, district and city MLAs. All complaints had to be filed before conscription, which began on November 1, but conscripts and their relatives, usually unfamiliar with the details of the law, did so later. If petitioners did not agree with the MLA's decisions, they could file a complaint with the Senate within two months.

As the experience of the first recruitments showed, on average, about 48% of conscripts were exempted from service due to marital status 3 and about 15-20% due to physical unfitness. According to the results of the first call, in 1874, 76,083 complaints (66,660 written and 9,444 verbal) were submitted to all authorities, of which 37,911 4 were recognized as valid. Petitions for peasants, as a rule, were drawn up by clerks, but not always. Many letters are difficult to decipher due to the clumsy handwriting and illiteracy of the authors. They contain a whole panorama of the life of “little people”, the moods and experiences of peasants, townspeople, merchants, the cry of the soul and the prose of life...

“If the said son were taken from us... we must... perish like worms.”

What did they complain to the Senate about? Mainly on the illegality of conscription. To call up the only sons, as well as “singles who do not enjoy benefits according to the circular of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of May 30, 1874 No. 32,” that is, the only breadwinners of a family consisting only of a wife and young children 5 . In the village of Ivanovka, the Week’s correspondent wrote, “a tall fellow with an intelligent and extremely sad face came out to the members of the presence, bowed and said in a sad voice, as if reproachfully:

Why do you, gentlemen, want to take me?

It was a "loner". He tried to explain that his wife and two children would “go around the world” without him, but he was rudely interrupted by the police officer: “They say it’s impossible! They won’t cheat here!” “The little one’s head sank even lower, his face turned even more pale, and tears flashed in his eyes. He looked around with a sad gaze at all the members, turned and went to his previous place” 6 .

There were other provisions of the Charter that ran counter to the peasants’ ideas about justice. Thus, in January 1875, the Senate considered the complaint of a peasant from the Kolomna district of the Moscow province, Pyotr Makarov, that the Moscow provincial WFP did not provide benefits to his son from his second marriage, Ivan. In a petition written in his own hand, Makarov explained that his wife had his only son and that his mother had been “not seeing anything positively for 20 years and would not walk through the hut without outside help.” “In such a critical situation, do such sufferers deserve leniency according to humanity and the law?” “The spirit of the law is merciful,” the blind mother must “take advantage of the mercy she asks from the supreme authority”! “I myself,” continued the peasant, “a petitioner for 75 years, decrepit, and already on the edge of the grave, if the aforementioned son Ivan were taken from us, then my blind wife and I would finally lose all means of subsistence and perish like worms” 7 .

The Kolomenskoe district and Moscow provincial government offices refused Makarov, since he also had a son from his first marriage (who lived separately and had seven minor children). And in the circulars of the Minister of the Interior dated May 21 and 30, 1874, it was stated that “family” should be understood as “a blood union, not a labor union,” and that “when assigning benefits based on marital status, family divisions should not have any significance” 8 . Of course, it was difficult to expect that the eldest son, the only worker-breadwinner in his large family, would be able to take care of his father and stepmother and “ease the lot of the blind stepmother,” who, in addition to food, also needed care 9 . But the Senate left the complaint without consequences...

The “singles” were “followed by petitions for the provision of benefits to illegitimate children who do not enjoy any civil rights... and, consequently, are deprived of the right to benefits due to their marital status” 10 . On January 8, 1875, a peasant woman from the Pskov province, Marya Ilyina, complained to Alexander II himself that her only son, Vasily Bogdanov, had been taken into the army. Yes, he “is illegitimate,” but “until the age of 10 he was assigned ... to the family of his uncle,” and “this registration replaced adoption” 11. It would seem that there is no question: according to Note 1 to Article 45 of the Charter on Military Service, “stepchildren adopted before the age of 10, and stepchildren from a stepfather or stepmother who do not have sons, are considered natural sons” 12 . Moreover, at the time of his conscription, Vasily was already 22 years old (not 20 years old) and, according to the law, he should not even have been included in the draft list.

At first, the Senate ordered to “act according to the law” and provide Vasily with benefits. However, the Pskov provincial military personnel office presented a birth certificate, from which it followed that Vasily was born in January 1853 and, therefore, was subject to conscription. In addition, the presence stated that if Vasily was assigned to the family of his uncle Philip Matveev, then it means that he is not the only son in the family. Having received a complete list of Matveev’s family, the Senate changed its decision...

Pass - fail - pass

Another group of petitions was related to what the petitioners believed was an incorrect medical examination of recruits. “Two doctors, one from the civil and the other from the military department,” were to be appointed to each presence, but “the participation of doctors” was limited only to “giving an opinion on the suitability of the person to be recruited.” When making the final decision, those present were not required to “submit to the opinion of the doctors conducting the examination” 13 . In March 1876, the Ministry of Internal Affairs once again explained to the governors in a circular that the doctors present were only experts and had no voting rights 14 .

On December 20, 1874, the Senate received a complaint from Kaluga merchant Mikhail Surovtsev. In the Kaluga district air force, doctors Yavorovsky and Dubinsky discovered in his son Fedor “an irregular heartbeat and murmurs in the subclavian side” and suggested hospitalizing the conscript, since “an accurate determination of the disease is possible” only “in a completely calm” state of the body. In the provincial zemstvo hospital, all four doctors declared Fedor unfit for service as suffering from “increased heartbeat” and the resulting “attacks of shortness of breath when walking.”

However, on November 7, 1874, the district military school still recognized Fedor as fit. Apparently, its members were confused by the healthy "outward appearance" of the recruit; In the opinion of the father, the statement of “only one of the doctors, who, according to the new Charter, was not subject to any responsibility for the incorrect admission of the recruit, could have been too superficial and careless in treating the study of his illness,” had an impact. At the provincial military establishment, “during a new examination,” the merchant’s son was also recognized as fit 15.

The Senate - in a rare case - did not agree with the opinion of the provincial MVP, but ordered the matter to be sent to the Minister of War. In July 1875, he informed the Senate that Fyodor Surovtsev would be subjected to a new medical examination, but on January 8, 1876, the Senate was again forced to decide to re-examine Surovtsev - who had already served in the Life Guards Jaeger Regiment for a year. Next, doctors from the two military districts began to shift responsibility onto each other, and re-examination took place only on July 23, 1877. There are no details in the case, but it can be assumed that the medical commission recognized the soldier as sick: in October, the Senate decided to dismiss Private Surovtsev “on home leave in one year to improve your health." Alas, Mikhail Surovtsev did not wait for this decision on 16...

Is it possible to pay off?

Some sought to exempt their sons from service, appealing to the previous recruiting regulations. In October 1874, a widow from Astrakhan, Praskovya Efimovna Lebedeva, complained to the emperor “about the refusal to provide her son Peter with 3rd category benefits.” The widow had two sons. The eldest, 23-year-old Fedor, was supposed to enlist as a soldier during the last recruiting period, in January - February 1874. But he was married, had two children, and a mother, “in order to avoid disruption of both her marital status,” so and economy,” could not allow Fedor to be drafted into the army. She wanted to take advantage of the right that the recruiting charter gave her and purchase a recruiting certificate (in other words, to pay off). Taking an 800-ruble loan, Lebedeva bought “a receipt, which she presented for credit for the family” to the Astrakhan district recruiting office. And Fedor was freed from military service on a completely legal basis 17.

When the time came for the youngest son Peter to be drafted, Praskovya Efimovna decided that he fell under the 3rd category benefit - as “a person immediately next in age to a brother who was conscripted into active service or died in it” 18. Indeed, according to Article 876 of the recruiting regulations, the person who presented the receipt was considered to have been recruited. And the woman was sure that her “recruitment service for the family” had already been completed...

Apparently, a lot of statements of this kind were received from relatives of conscripts in military presences, since in April 1874 two circulars from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were issued to governors explaining that “the person for whom the receipt was accepted for credit” is not considered to be on active service and “that all benefits from recruitment without exception” “should be considered to have lost their force with the entry into force of the new Charter” 19. Therefore, on July 15, 1874, the Astrakhan district military establishment on July 15, 1874 refused to provide benefits to Pyotr Lebedev. The mother was not going to give up and filed a complaint with the provincial MLA. However, all her arguments, the conviction that “no law has retroactive effect,” did not influence the position of the members of the presence 20.

Then Praskovya Lebedeva complained to the emperor himself. Now she was driven not only by maternal feelings, but also by calculation: in case of refusal, she asked to “make a legal order to return” her 800 rubles paid for the recruitment receipt. After all, by spending such a sum, she expected to free both sons from service! If she had known that only one would be released, she would have immediately considered that such a ransom would be “extremely burdensome” for her 21 . The woman’s money, of course, was not returned. And Peter was never given the benefit.

Collective complaints

Among the appeals to the Senate there are also collective complaints. Thus, 11 peasants of the village of Stebel, Kovel district, Volyn province, tried to achieve justice, which, in their opinion, was violated in relation to the orphan Sidor Kolchuk. From the complaint that they submitted directly to the Senate (bypassing the provincial MVP), it can be understood that in Stebel three peasants born in 1853 were subject to conscription. Two of the three families had enough workers, but they did not call up the members of these families, but the “poor orphan” Sidor Kolchuk - whose father was given up as a soldier by lot back in 1855 and still has not “received his resignation” and from whom there were no more workers for the family. Weakly familiar with the new regulations, the peasants did not allow the possibility that Kolchuk could simply draw the “soldier’s” lot. They believed that the other two families, “being in a rich position,” simply “fertilized the volost clerk” - so he assigned the orphan to the army... Therefore, the “poor peasants” asked not only to release Sidor (who otherwise would have been forced “leave his wife and household,” and shift the payment of “ quitrent money ” to the community), but also (what is noteworthy!) “provide” them with a “resolution” regarding how to serve military service legally. However, the Senate, finding fault with the fact that the complaint was not filed according to the rules, in violation of Article 211 of the charter, left it “without consideration” 22 .

There were other complaints. For example, on the incorrect determination of “the age by appearance of those persons whose age could not be determined” due to the lack of birth certificates (metric certificates and revision certificates) 23.

The experience of the first conscription for universal military service showed that, although the developers of the charter sought to prevent the ruin and impoverishment of peasant farms, they still did not take into account many of the features of peasant life. Such, for example, as early marriages, the presence of illegitimate children, adopted children, the practice of frequent family divisions, a peculiar idea of who is considered the “sole breadwinner”. Subsequently, some changes and additions were made to the charter. In particular, the 1st category benefit based on marital status was also provided to illegitimate children - the only breadwinners in the family.

Note
1. Charter on military service, Supremely approved on January 1, 1874 // Reforms of Alexander II.M., 1998. P. 339.
2. Ibid. P. 345.
3. Recruitment and organization of the armed forces. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 99.
4. RGIA. F. 1246. Op. 1. D. 36. L. 172, 174v.
5. RGIA. F. 1292. Op. 2. D. 808. L. 21ob.
6. Week. 1875. N 43. P. 1399.
7. RGIA. F. 1341. Op. 135. D. 174. L. 2-2v.
8. Collection of government orders on the introduction of general military service. T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1874. pp. 290-291.
9. RGIA. F. 1341. Op. 135. D. 174. L. 2v.
10. RGIA. F. 1292. Op. 2. D. 808. L. 21ob.
11. RGIA. F. 1341. Op. 135. D. 312. L. 2v.
12. Charter on military service... P. 345.
13. Ibid. pp. 357, 368.
14. Collection of government orders on the introduction of general military service. T. 3. St. Petersburg, 1876. pp. 178-179.
15. RGIA. F. 1341. Op. 135. D. 225. L. 2-2v., 5-6.
16. Ibid. L. 8 rev., 10, 14 rev. - 16 rev., 17, 18.
17. RGIA. F. 1341. Op. 135. D. 183. L. 4-4v.
18. Charter on military service... P. 345.
19. Collection of government orders on the introduction of general military service. T. 1. P. 278, 286.
20. RGIA. F. 1341. Op. 135. D. 183. L. 3v.
21. Ibid. L. 6-6ob.
22. RGIA. F. 1341. Op. 135. D. 292. L. 1-3.
23. Charter on military service... P. 365-366.

The modern concept of military duty was invented during the French Revolution. That year, a law was passed that stated: “Every Frenchman is a soldier and has the duty to defend the nation.” This made it possible to create the "Great Army", which Napoleon called an "armed nation" and which successfully fought against the professional armies of Europe.

Military conscription in Russia

Controversy over military duty

In democratic countries, military conscription has often been the subject of political conflict, especially in cases where conscripts are sent to fight in wars abroad when it is not necessary for the security of the nation. For example, during the First World War, serious conflicts arose in Canada (see en:Conscription Crisis of 1917), Newfoundland, Australia and New Zealand. Canada also had conflicts over this issue during the Second World War. Similarly, mass anti-draft protests during the Vietnam War occurred in the United States and other countries during the 1960s. During the American Civil War, New York experienced serious unrest (the New York Draft Riots (1863)) when the Union Army draft was announced.

The issue of gender equality

Some believe that conscripting only men into the armed forces is a violation of the principle of gender equality (which is written in the Declaration of Human Rights and the constitutions of many countries).

Conscious refusal of military service

Conscious refusal includes either total refusal (refusal from military service and any form of its replacement), or simply refusal from military service. In case of refusal of military service, most countries provide the opportunity to perform alternative service. It may look like an alternative military - service in military formations but without weapons, or as an alternative civilian - work as civilian personnel outside military formations in various enterprises and organizations.

In the Russian Federation, the right to alternative civil service is enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and a number of laws.

Draft evasion

Countries with and without military conscription

*Green: No armed forces
* Blue: No military obligation* Orange: Conscription is planned to be abolished in the next three years * Red: There is military duty * Grey: No information Note: In China, military service is virtually optional.

Countries with conscription

DPRK Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Citizens are subject to conscription upon reaching 17 years of age. Duration of military service for a conscript:

- in the ground forces - 5-12 years. - in the Air Force and Air Defense Forces - 3-4 years. - in the Navy - 5-10 years.

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Arguments in favor of military conscription

Valuable training

Almost all the skills acquired during conscription service can be acquired independently as a result of training in shooting clubs, hiking and survival classes, while playing various sports.

Protection from military coups

An irrelevant argument. In history, there are known cases of military coups both with the conscription system of manning the Armed Forces and with the contract system. Thus, the coup in Greece and the establishment of the regime of “black colonels” was carried out on the basis of the conscription system.

Lack of people

The argument, as a rule, comes from outdated ideas about the importance of the number of military personnel, and not their quality. In reality, what is important is the effectiveness of the military personnel in performing the assigned task. As a rule, contract soldiers (mercenaries) have a significant advantage here over conscripts. According to the Pentagon, a contract soldier who has completed at least five years of service can be accepted as a unit. Thus, when comparing the effective number with the actual number, a contract soldier is worth approximately five conscript soldiers.

It is not significant, in the event of a clash between two militarily powerful states, without global superiority, it will be necessary to carry out a conscription, since all the forces of the state will be strained, and the supply of volunteers for military service will be sharply limited. Contractors should be recruited only for very serious military equipment, which requires a long learning curve to operate and for the maximum number of leadership positions, essentially increasing the number of officers and warrant officers. In the 20th century, thanks to the development of military technology, a person can easily and quickly learn to kill - it’s all about the organization of military training and the level of patriotism in the state, which is a big problem for the CIS states, since the conscription age at the moment is either the same in age, or older than the states themselves. Contract aircraft have an advantage over conscripts. Conscripts may refuse to shoot at their people; to maintain power in the state, it is better to have mercenaries. Also, in a situation where a democratic state needs to start bloody wars, contract armed forces are ideally suited.

Staff diversity

Quality of recruits

It may not be too important, but also an argument in favor of conscription can be the fact that during conscription, the health status of modern youth is determined, typical diseases and problems are identified in an age range that is extremely important for the state. It should be noted that similar work is also carried out during the medical examination of young people as part of preventive examinations in schools and other educational institutions and is in no way connected with conscription for military service.

Political and moral motives

Arguments against military conscription

The Call and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Many arguments against military conscription are based on the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In particular,
Article 1. All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. (...)
Article 3. Every person has the right to life, liberty and personal security.
Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; Slavery and the slave trade are prohibited in all their forms.
Article 20. Every person has the right to move freely and choose his place of residence within each state. (…).
Article 20. (…) No one may be forced to join any association.

Similar rights are written into the constitutions of many countries, even those that have military conscription.

Conscription is like slavery

Military duty subordinates the individual to militarism. This is a form of enslavement. That many nations allow this to happen is simply further evidence of its harmful influence. Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, H.G. Wells, Bertrand Russell, Thomas Mann. “Against military duty and military training of youth,” 1930.

Many groups, such as libertarians, believe that conscription is slavery because it is forced labor. According to the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, slavery and forced labor are prohibited, except as punishment for crimes. Therefore, these people believe that the draft is unconstitutional and immoral. However, in 1918, the US Supreme Court ruled that wartime conscription was not a violation of the Constitution, arguing that the rights of the federal government included the right to draft citizens for military service.

In the USSR and other socialist countries, conscript soldiers were often used for free labor that was in no way related to military needs - for example, for laying rails, collecting potatoes, etc.

However, according to Article 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, as well as Article 4 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950, all types of military service and service assigned in lieu of compulsory military service do not constitute forced labor.

Discipline problems

Nationalism

Justification for attacks on civilians

The issue of quality of recruits

Sources

Wikimedia Foundation.

2010.

See what “Conscription” is in other dictionaries: Military service - MILITARY SERVICE, based on belonging to the state, the obligation of citizens to serve as part of the organized armed forces of the state. It is called universal when its implementation is entrusted personally to all male citizens... ...

Military encyclopedia The legal obligation of the population (usually from the age of 18) to perform military service in the armed forces of their country. Conscription was first introduced in 1798 in France (conscription) ...

The legal obligation of the population (usually from the age of 18) to perform military service in the armed forces of their country. For the first time V.p. introduced in 1798 in France (conscription). In the Russian Federation, the term military duty, which is similar in meaning, is used... Legal dictionary

See what “Conscription” is in other dictionaries:- (English description) the obligation of the population established by national legislation to perform military service in the armed forces of their country. Each formation has its own forms of V.p. In a slave society V.p. constituted a duty and a right... Encyclopedia of Law

MILITARY SERVICE- the legal obligation of a citizen (usually from the age of 18) to perform military service in the armed forces of his country. In Ancient Rus' until the end of the 15th century. V.p. carried out mainly in the form of people's militia. In subsequent centuries, the main place... ... Legal encyclopedia