Alexander II is known for his numerous reforms that affected all aspects of Russian society. In 1874, on behalf of this tsar, Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin changed the system of conscription into the Russian army. The format of universal military service, with some changes, existed in the Soviet Union and continues today.
Military reform
The introduction of universal military service, epochal for the then inhabitants of Russia, took place 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 the moment when Russia was shamefully losing the Crimean War unleashed by his father Nicholas I. Alexander had 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 look into the causes of the fiasco. They consisted, among other things, in the outdated and inefficient system of replenishment of army personnel.
Flaws of the recruitment system
Beforethere was the introduction of universal military service, in Russia there was a recruitment service. It was introduced by decree of Peter I in 1705. An important feature of this system was that the service did not extend to citizens, but to communities that chose young men to be sent to the army. At the same time, the term of service was for life. The philistines, state peasants and artisans chose their candidates by a blind lot. This norm was enshrined in law in 1854.
The landlords, who owned their own serfs, chose the peasants themselves, for whom the army became a home for life. The introduction of universal military service saved the country from another problem. It consisted in the fact that there was no legally defined draft age. It fluctuated 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 took 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 actually incapacitated. Thus, not only a demographic but also an economic problem arose.
Declaration of Reform
When Alexander Nikolaevich assessed all the disadvantages 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 worked on the new legislation for several years. The development of the reform ended in 1873. January 1, 1874 finallyuniversal military service was introduced. The date of this event has become a landmark for contemporaries.
The recruiting system has been cancelled. Now all men who reached the age of 21 were subject to conscription. The state did not make exceptions for estates or ranks. Thus, the reform also affected the nobles. The initiator of the introduction of universal military service, Alexander II, insisted that the new army should not have privileges.
Service life
The basic term of service in the army was now 6 years (in the navy - 7 years). The time frame for being in the reserve has also been 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 fact and in the reserve fell into it for 40 years. Thus, the state received a clear, regulated and transparent system of replenishment of troops for any occasion. Now, if a bloody conflict began, the army could not worry about the influx of fresh forces into its ranks.
If the family had the only breadwinner or only son, he was exempted from the obligation to go to serve. A flexible system of deferments was also provided (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 had already graduated from the university, he could only be in the army for a year and a half.
Delays and releases
What other features did the introduction of universal militaryduties in Russia? Among other things, there were delays for conscripts who had he alth problems. If, due to his physical condition, a man was not able to serve, he was generally exempted from the obligation to go to the army. In addition, an exception was also made for the ministers of the church. People who had specific professions (medical doctors, students at the Academy of Arts) were immediately enrolled in the reserve without actually being 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 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 Astrakhan provinces, as well as the Turgai, Semipalatinsk and Ural regions began to be called up for service.
Picking areas
There were other innovations, which marked the introduction of universal military service. The year of the reform of Dmitry Milyutin was remembered in the army by the fact that now it began to be completed according to the regional ranking. The entire Russian Empire was divided into three large sections.
The first one was Great Russian. Why was it named like that? It included the territories where the absolute Russian majority lived (above 75%). Counties became the objects of ranking. It was according to their demographic indicators that the authorities decided which group to attribute residents to. The second section included landswhere there were also Little Russians (Ukrainians) and Belarusians. The third group (foreign) 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 by residents of only one site. This was done in order to avoid ethnic strife in the troops.
Reform in the military training system
It is important that the 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 bone orders. Under the new conditions of universal conscription, they became inefficient and costly.
Therefore, these institutions began their own serious reform. Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich (the younger brother of the tsar) became her main guide. The main changes can be noted in several theses. First, special military education was finally separated from the general one. Secondly, access to it was made easier for men who did not belong to the nobility.
New military educational institutions
In 1862, new military gymnasiums appeared in Russia - secondary educational institutions that were analogues of civilian real schools. After another 14 years, all class qualifications were finally abolishedupon admission to such institutions.
The Alexander Academy was founded in St. Petersburg, which specialized in the production of 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 liberator tsar. There were 6 academies, the same number of schools, 16 gymnasiums, 16 schools for cadets, etc.
