Authors

Discussion

My paper argues that historically, since Peter I, there have been fissures between those who embrace and those who reject militarism and that there is a long-standing anti-militaristic streak in Russian society, which has accelerated with the growing urbanization, spread of education, and the empowerment of women since the turn of the nineteenth century. The Russian state responded to this rejection by investing in militarized patriotic education and propaganda, by founding paramilitary youth groups, and mandating pre-induction military training in public schools. The response indicates that through three changes in regime, the powers that be fear that Russia’s youth are not inherently militaristic or unquestionably loyal.

From the grassroots, I examine public perception of service, and questions of duty to the state and nation, and the expectations, behaviors, and emotions of soldiers and their families and how they have changed over time. Civil society’s attitudes toward the military are explored to measure individuals’ willingness or unwillingness to serve, support or even allow their menfolk to serve; and society’s views of the army as an institution — perceptions that encapsulate everything from seeing it as an oppressive tool of the state to the embodiment of patriotism.

A major emphasis is the agency of all members of society, especially those of the historically marginalized people of the lower classes, and the degree to which they use that agency in the forms of draft evasion, anti-war movements, and create organizations to hold the army accountable.