Historical periods
1917–1939
After the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, the new communist government briefly experimented with a volunteer system of army recruitment but returned to the former system of conscription almost immediately in May 1918. The policy saw few changes until September 1, 1939, when a new Law on Universal Military Service was enacted following the outbreak of WWII across Europe. This new law saw large increases in terms of service periods, ages of conscription and a restriction of potential exemptions. The general period of service was increased from 2 to 3 years, and conscription age was lowered from 19 to 17 for young boys. Previous exemptions for those pursuing higher education were abolished, as well as exemptions on the grounds of family reasons (such as having several young children). The plan behind the increased conscription terms was to create two large groups of trained reserves, one for men up to 40 years of age, and the other for men up to 50 years of age.World War II
The Soviet Union officially entered World War II on June 22, 1941, when Germany launched a surprise attack against their western border. Soon after, in October 1941 the government passed a new military service law which states that all male citizens from the ages of 16 to 28 were liable for military service. On 9 February 1942, Stalin issued an order which stated it would be expedient to “conscript into the ranks of the Red Army… citizens in the liberated territories between the ages of 17 to 30 who have not been conscripted into the Red Army during the previous months of the war” due to the fact they were “burning with hatred for the invader and a desire to participate in the subsequent liberation of their Soviet Motherland with weapons in their hands.” Following this order, non-Russian inhabitants of liberated territory began to be forcibly conscripted into the Red Army ranks as it moved westward toward Germany. This broadening of the conscription pool created a diverse range of military personnel along the front lines, with soldiers of many different nationalities, ethnicities and languages being present.1945–1991
In 1950 a secretive amendment to the service law saw the term of active service increased by one year. It is speculated that this increase was a response to America's involvement in the Korean war, but the law was kept off of official records, such as the Proceedings of the Supreme Soviet, (link) so that the US would not learn of the increase and suspect the Soviet Union of preparing for war themselves. In 1955 the service term was reduced to three years from four in the air forces, coast-guard and coastal defence, and to four years from five in the Navy. This decision again was kept off official records, but was presumably part of the planned cut in manpower forces, announced in August 1955 and May 1956 On 12 October 1967 a major amendment to the service law saw service periods shortened from 3 years to 2, and also saw the frequency of call-ups increase to twice per year. This amendment is said to have been caused by the large increase in young men reaching military age around this time. In order to adhere to the concept of ‘universal service’, while maintaining the size of the armed forces, conscript turnover was increased so that a large majority of boys reaching military age were still conscripted to serve, but not at the expense of increasing the size of the armed forces beyond the limits deemed necessary. Following the 1967 amendment conditions for conscripts worsened considerably, with reports of abuse, hazing and even murder of conscripted soldiers becoming widespread. Conscripted soldiers, particularly those in their first year of service who had not yet earned either rank or respect to protect them, faced physical violence and sexual assault from superior officers, and regularly had their pay and food rations confiscated. Any resistance to such abuse was met with beatings, sometimes resulting in severe injuries, disability discharges and even death. The official system of promoting some recently-recruited able soldiers to sergeant, so that they were placed in command positions shortly after enlistment, was undermined by an unofficial system structured around the years of service spent by each conscript. Junior conscripts became the subordinates to more experienced conscripts who had already served one or two years. This system was not officially recognised, but it became entrenched in conscript culture during the 1970s and 1980s. Traditionally, all full-time Soviet students benefited from a draft postponement until graduation. If the college/university had a military chair (which provided training in a particular military specialty), its students becameConscription of Women
Resistance to Conscription
The first widespread and organised resistance to conscription policy began in the 1980s due to the growing public awareness of the harsh conditions faced by conscripted soldiers, as well as the loosening of government restrictions on things such as public organisations and freedom of speech under the Perestroika and Glasnost reforms. Within the armed forces resistance grew in the form of organised ethnic and nationality groups in order to protect each other from abuse and call attention to the treatment suffered by conscripts. In October 1989 a group of junior officers formed the Union for the Social Protection of Servicemen and their Families which publicised conscripts stories and conducted protests against government handling of the conscription policy. Outside of the armed forces, the most prolific public group which spoke out against conscription was the Committee of Soldiers Mothers, later changed to the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia in 1998. The group was founded in 1989 and aimed to record and publicise the treatment of conscripts within training and barracks centres. The group also organised public protests and called for government action to protect the rights of soldiers and conscripts whilst they served.Conscription methods
In times of peace, the general conscription method was to conscript young boys, either 18 or 19 who had just finished high school or completed a trade. Under the 1938 law, one call up was conducted each year in October/November to induct conscripts for three years of service, unless they were in the Navy for which service terms were 4 years. These terms of service changed over the history of the Soviet Union as new drafts to the service law were enacted to reflect the growing and diminishing populations and external threat levels. Programs conducted by the government in elementary and secondary school usually meant that newly conscripted privates had already received a degree of military training and could bypass the usual basic training. However, in times of war, specifically WWII, conscription methods became a lot less bureaucratic, with anyone who appeared to be of age forcibly conscripted from areas that had been taken back from German control. Soldiers in these liberated areas would comb haystacks, search forests etc. for those thought to be evading service.See also
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