Introduction of universal military service in Russia: date, year, initiator

Alexander II is known for his numerous reforms affecting all aspects of the life of Russian society. In 1874, on behalf of the tsar, the military minister, Dmitry Milyutin, changed the draft system into the national army. The format of universal conscription with some changes existed in the Soviet Union and continues today.

Military reform

The introduction of universal conscription was epochal for the then inhabitants of Russia in 1874. It took place in the framework of large-scale reforms in the army, undertaken during the reign of Emperor Alexander II. This king ascended the throne at a time when Russia shamefully lost the Crimean War, unleashed by his father, Nicholas I. Alexander had to conclude an unprofitable peace treaty.

However, the real consequences of the failure in the next war with Turkey appeared only a few years later. The new king decided to understand the reasons for the fiasco. They consisted, among other things, in the obsolete and inefficient system of replenishing the army.

Disadvantages of the recruitment system

Before the introduction of universal military service, there was a recruitment service in Russia. It was introduced by decree of Peter I in 1705. An important feature of this system was that the obligation was extended not to citizens, but to communities that selected young men sent to the army. At the same time, the service life was lifelong. Petty-bourgeois, state peasants and artisans chose their candidates by means of blind lot. This norm was fixed legislatively in 1854.

The landowners, who owned their own serfs, themselves chose peasants, for whom the army for life became a home. The introduction of universal military service saved the country from another problem. It consisted in the fact that legally there was no specific draft age. He hesitated depending on the region. At the end of the XVIII century, the service life was reduced to 25 years, but even such a time frame tore people away from their own economy for too long a period. The family could be left without a breadwinner, and when he returned home, he was already practically incapacitated. Thus, not only the demographic, but also the economic problem arose.

Proclamation of reform

When Alexander Nikolayevich appreciated all the shortcomings of the existing order, he decided to entrust the introduction of universal military service to the head of the Military Ministry, Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin. He studied 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 a landmark for contemporaries.

The recruiting system was canceled. Now all men who had reached the age of 21 were subject to the call. The state did not make exceptions for estates or ranks. Thus, the reform affected the nobility. The initiator of the introduction of universal military service Alexander II insisted that the new army should not have privileges.

Terms of service

The basic term of service in the army now was 6 years (in the fleet - 7 years). Also, the time frame of the stay was changed. Now they were 9 years old (in the Navy - 3 years). In addition, a new militia was being formed. In it for 40 years those men who already have served actually and in a stock fell. Thus, the state received a clear, regulated and transparent system of replenishing the troops for any case. Now, if a bloody conflict began, the army could not worry about the influx of fresh forces into its ranks.

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

Delay and release

What other features did the introduction of universal conscription in Russia have? In addition, there were postponements for conscripts who had health problems. If the physical condition of a man was not able to serve, he was generally released from the obligation to visit the army. In addition, the exception was made for the servants of the church. People who had specific professions (medical doctors, students at the Academy of Arts), immediately enrolled in the reserve without actually staying in the army.

The national question was ticklish. For example, representatives of the indigenous peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus did not serve at all. At the same time, such benefits in 1874 were abolished for the Lapps and some other northern nationalities. Gradually this system changed. Already in the 1880s, foreigners from the Tomsk, Tobolsk and Astrakhan provinces, as well as Turgai, Semipalatinsk and Ural oblasts began to be recruited.

Picking sites

There were other innovations, which marked the introduction of universal military service. The year of Dmitry Milyutin's reform was remembered in the army by the fact that now it began to be completed according to regional ranking. The entire Russian Empire was divided into three large sections.

The first of them was Great Russian. Why did they call him that? Territories on which the absolute Russian majority lived (above 75%) belonged to it. Rankings have become the objects of ranking. It was on their demographic indicators that the authorities decided which group to include the inhabitants. The second site included lands where there were also Little Russians (Ukrainians) and Belarusians. The third group (alien) is all other territories (mainly Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Far East).

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

Reform in the system of training military personnel

It is important that the implementation of military reform (the introduction of universal conscription) 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 bone order. In the new conditions of universal appeal, they became inefficient and costly.

Therefore, in these institutions began its own serious reform. Its main conductor was the Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich (the younger brother of the Tsar). The main changes can be noted in several theses. First, the special military education was completely separated from the general one. Secondly, it was easier to access it for men who did not belong to the nobility.

New military educational institutions

In 1862, in Russia there were new military high schools - secondary schools, which were analogues of civilian real schools. In 14 years, all class qualifications were finally abolished upon admission to such institutions.

In St. Petersburg, founded the Alexander Academy, which specialized in the production of army and legal personnel. By 1880, the number of military schools throughout Russia had increased markedly in comparison with figures at the beginning of the reign of the emancipating king. There were 6 academies, as many colleges, 16 gymnasiums, 16 schools for cadets, and so on.