Having suffered huge losses during the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union decided not to carry out a general conscription into the army for three years. Under pain of criminal punishment, young people of military age were obliged to work on the peaceful front.
Alexander II introduced conscription for everyone
For the first time in the history of military conscription, Peter the Great made a successful attempt to recruit recruits in 1699. In 1705, the reformer tsar, mired in a long-term war with Charles XII, announced the first general conscription, on the basis of which a regular army was assembled, which defeated the Swedes near Poltava. And on January 1, 1874, already during the reign of Alexander II, universal military service was introduced.
1939 Law
In the Soviet Union, pre-war conscription was carried out under the law on universal military service of 1939, which did not change until 1949. The conscription age was reduced from 21 to 19 years, and those who graduated from high schools were drafted into the army at the age of 18.
On peaceful tracks
To temporarily abolish conscription was an unprecedented act by the Soviet leadership since the formation of the Red Army due to the prevailing difficult economic circumstances caused by the consequences of the bloodiest war of the 20th century. According to official data, the number of people who died during the Second World War amounted to more than 30 million people, most of the country was in ruins, the entire economy and agriculture were put on a “war footing”, from which everything had to be transferred anew to peaceful, civil construction .
Atom and village
Young people had the opportunity to familiarize themselves, through the government press, with several decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, according to which they were sent to the labor army. They went to construction sites, took jobs at heavy industry enterprises, and restored destroyed facilities throughout the country. In the first post-war year of 1946, the country actively entered the atomic race, launching an atomic reactor - free workers were needed to work at various secret facilities, including nuclear projects. Their help was invaluable. The country was experiencing an acute shortage of everything: in many regions of the country the threat of hunger epidemics was brewing, people ate what they had, there was not enough food, and in agriculture most of the arable land was destroyed by the war. In the RSFSR, according to official data, the number of patients with dystrophy reached 600 thousand people. Agriculture needed to be urgently restored. Crime was acquiring unprecedented proportions, and conscripts were also sent to fight it: they could receive quite good wages for those times in police positions - about 800 rubles (an ordinary worker received 300 rubles).
FZO - replacement of the army
The entire younger working generation was directed toward restoring the national economy. Moreover, after 1948 and until 1953, a certain category of young men were not conscripted into the army, but were sent to study in the Federal Educational Institution in accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 4, 1948 “On conscription (mobilization) to schools of factory production subject to conscription into the army male citizens born in 1928.” Moreover, young people who, for one reason or another, tried to evade this type of conscription to school were subject to criminal liability as persons who had committed evasion of active military service.
There were a lot of soldiers
The second main reason for the abolition of conscription is the huge size of the Soviet army, which by 1945 reached 11.5 million soldiers in terms of the number of soldiers. Such an overkill was clearly too much for the country's economy. In addition, the need to maintain such a huge number of soldiers in combat readiness in peacetime disappeared by itself, since the government of the Soviet Union did not plan to conduct large-scale military operations in the coming years. By decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, dismissals from the army began in 1945, which continued until 1948: at that time, the number of military personnel in the active army was 2.874 million people.
Zhukov's trace
According to data provided by the head of the Main Mobilization Directorate of the Army Headquarters, as of June 18, 1947, the number of demobilized soldiers and sergeants amounted to 8,698,502 people. A number of historians attribute such a rapid reduction in numbers to the fact that the popularity of some military leaders after the victorious war gained unprecedented strength among the population, and especially among the military. This caused concern in Moscow. Maintaining political control over an army of millions of armed soldiers was becoming an important issue. It was necessary not only to reduce the number of soldiers several times, but also to carry out some work among the senior command staff: in 1946, the notorious “trophy” case took place against Marshal Georgy Zhukov, who was removed from his post as commander of the ground forces. And after that, a reform was carried out to reduce the number of military districts.
Second cancellation attempt
The second attempt to abolish general conscription in Russia was made in 1996: according to the law signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the country refused general mobilization from March 1, 2000, but these dates were then moved forward by five years, and another five years later the idea of a transition was abandoned I had to give up contract service altogether. America, the Soviet Union's closest ally and then rival, abolished universal conscription in 1974. This example was followed by a number of countries where the army became voluntary, paid under a contract.
The organized recruitment of citizens into military service in Soviet times began in 1918. The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of January 15, 1918 provided for: voluntary recruitment; registration of volunteers at least 18 years of age; trust weapons only to the most steadfast and devoted workers, peasants and soldiers; service life - by subscription for at least 6 months.
However, already the first months after the publication of this document showed that the tasks of recruiting the Red Army on a voluntary basis could not be solved. In this regard, on May 29, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued a decree “On forced recruitment into the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army.” The initial service life was set to be at least 6 months. In October 1918, the service life was increased to 1 year.
A further step in the legislative regulation of army recruitment issues was the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars on compulsory military service for citizens of the RSFSR dated September 28, 1922. He established: compulsory military service; conscription of all men at the age of 20 (later, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars on March 21, 1924, the conscription age was established at 21 years). The service life was determined as follows: in the infantry and artillery - 1.5 years (from 1924 to 1939 - 2 years); in the Air Fleet - 3.5 years (3 years); in the Navy - 4.5 years (4 years).
On September 18, 1925, the Law “On Compulsory Military Service” was adopted - the first law of the Soviet state regulating the performance of military service duties by workers. It retained the same terms of conscription and conscription age; conscription benefits were provided for citizens taking into account their marital status. Students of educational institutions received a deferment from conscription until completion of their education. The law of August 13, 1930 provided deferments for religious reasons.
The next law “On General Military Duty”, regulating the formation of the Soviet army, was adopted on September 1, 1939. It established that citizens of the USSR, without distinction of race, nationality, religion, educational qualifications, social origin and status, were obliged to serve military service.
The terms of military service defined by the document were: for rank and file of the ground forces - 2 years; for ordinary and junior commanding officers of Navy ships - 5 years; for ground units of border troops - 3 years. The call for service was carried out from September 15 to October 15.
This law was in effect for almost 28 years. The last legislative act of the USSR on conscription was the law “On General Military Duty”, adopted on October 12, 1967. It defined: “All men - citizens of the USSR, regardless of origin, social and property status, race and nationality, education, language, attitude to religion, type and nature of occupation, place of residence, are required to undergo active military service in the Armed Forces THE USSR".
The conscription of citizens for active military service was carried out annually everywhere twice a year (in May - June and in November - December) by order of the USSR Minister of Defense.
Conscription in the history of Russia
In modern Russia, on February 11, 1993, the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation adopted the law “On Military Duty and Military Service.” Citizens aged 18 to 27 were called up for military service. The conscription was carried out twice a year (April-June and October-December). The terms of service were established: in the Navy - 2 years; in all other troops - 1.5 years.
By the law of May 9, 1996, the period of conscription service in all troops was increased to 2 years (for those with higher education - 1 year).
The practice of applying the 1993 law “On Military Duty and Military Service” has revealed a number of its weaknesses. The law “On Military Duty and Military Service,” signed by the President of the Russian Federation on March 28, 1998 and in force to this day, was called upon to overcome them.
According to this document, male citizens aged 18 to 27 years are subject to conscription for military service, conscription is carried out twice a year. In accordance with the law of July 6, 2006 “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with the reduction of the period of conscription military service,” for persons called up after January 1, 2008, the service period is 12 months.
In addition, citizens who graduated from universities, but do not have the military rank of officer and were called up for military service before January 1, 2008, are also conscripted for 12 months. Persons who have graduated from military training centers at universities can serve under a contract for three years. Those who graduate from the “military departments” and are awarded the rank of officer are enlisted in the reserves.
Full-time students of universities that have state accreditation (without a break in their studies) have the right to a deferment from military service. Postgraduate study deferment is provided to citizens studying full-time. Persons who entered a vocational school or technical school after completing 11 grades of school also have the right to a deferment from conscription.
It is possible to replace military service with an alternative civilian one, but its duration is longer - from 18 to 21 months, and the right to replacement must be justified.
On May 16, 1996, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree ordering the completion of the formation of the army entirely on a contract basis by 2000, but later a number of changes were made to it, which left the conscription system in force.
Currently, conscription into the army is carried out 2 times a year: from April 1 to July 15 and from October 1 to December 31.
Since 2008, during the military reform in the country, the total number of army personnel has decreased to 1 million people, while the share of conscripted military personnel has decreased, and the number of contract soldiers has increased. In 2013, more than 81 thousand contract soldiers were hired as privates and sergeants. Currently, the total number of this category of military personnel is over 230 thousand people.
The largest number of recruits in recent years was called up in the spring of 2009 - 305 thousand 560 people. In the fall of 2010, 278 thousand 800 people entered military service, in the spring of 2011 - 218 thousand 720, in the fall - 135 thousand 850. During the spring conscription of 2012, 155 thousand 570 people were sent to the troops, in the fall of 2012 - 140 140 thousand. In the spring of 2013, 153 thousand 200 people were recruited into the Russian army, in the fall - 150 thousand 000.
According to the results of the spring conscription into the Russian Armed Forces in 2014, 154 thousand people were sent to the troops. 325 citizens were sent to alternative civil service. The total number of draft dodgers, according to the military department, was 4,334 people.
D. K. Levinsky. Memories.
“On the night of December 10-11, we arrived in Chernigov. That same night, a bathhouse and soldiers’ uniforms awaited us. The drinking ended - the guys immediately became more serious. On the way to the military town, we read with interest the city signs in Ukrainian language, for example, “Perukarnya.” We thought it was a bakery, but it turned out to be a hairdresser. We had to go through a short quarantine in the 236th reserve rifle regiment of the Kyiv Special Military District. My company is the 2nd machine gun.
In the winter of 1939/40, the USSR increased its army 2.5 times, including at the expense of us who graduated from high school. And then there is mobilization in three border military districts - Leningrad, Belorussian and Kiev. There were so many extra young mouths to feed!
The Finnish war was still in its early stages and did not have time to affect the food capabilities of the southern military districts - Kyiv, Kharkov and Odessa - but the situation soon changed. And even before it changed, a month later, leaving the dining room, we began to fill our pockets with bread for the day in reserve, and no one threw it anymore: gradually we got into the routine.
Bessarabia 1940
What did we wear then? A letter dated December 13 characterizes our uniform: “At every step, little things make themselves felt that the authorities did not take care of: different shoes (one is longer), lack of laces (look where you want), terrible overcoats.”
On the head, the Budenovka from the Civil War was reminiscent of the legendary past of the Red Army. My album contains a photo from Chernigov, where I was taken in the first days of my army service. We wore an overcoat and everything else that was required, including boots and a completely new element for us - two-meter-long miracle windings.
Soon, many of us preferred leggings to wraps, including me - I liked them: they put on quickly, fit the leg loosely, and the straps do not unfasten themselves.
Our equipment, which we parted with only at night if we slept in the barracks, consisted of a backpack with straps, a gas mask, an engineer's shovel, a flask and two pouches for cartridges. To this were soon added a raincoat and a helmet with a liner. Weapons don't count.
Bessarabia 1940
In the first rank of the platoon were four squad leaders - middle-aged reserve commanders who had recently been mobilized. Their personal weapons are TT pistols. In the second rank walked the first four numbers of the platoon’s machine gun crews, and among them was Gena Travnikov. Each carried a machine gun casing weighing 16 kilograms on his shoulder. Personal weapons are the same TT pistols.
In the third rank of the platoon are the second numbers of machine gun crews: Mitya Kolobov, Seryozha Nikitin, Sasha Skvortsov and me. Each of us carried the heaviest part of the machine gun - the machine weighing 32 kilograms - and a personal weapon - a TT pistol.
You cannot lift the machine gun yourself, put it on or take it off. Specially designated squad soldiers put on and took off the machine. They wound the machine over our heads so that the handle was on our chest, and the rollers and bed were behind us: they lay on the backpack.
We, the second numbers, had an advantage over the rest of the platoon: our hands were always free, and we could roll ourselves a cigarette at any time, which others were unable to do on the march, since they carried rifles and boxes with machine-gun belts.
Bessarabia 1940
By the end of December, it became known from the wounded coming from the front that our command did not appreciate the enemy, whom we could not throw hats at; forgot that it is impossible to fight in Finland in winter in summer uniform; hoped that the Finnish workers and peasants would not want to defend their bourgeois government and had only dreamed since January 1918 that we would help establish Soviet power among them.
Suddenly it became known that the entire composition of the regiment was being transferred to another, but already regular unit, and new ones would come to take our place. On the morning of January 30, 1940, we left in two trains for our new duty station. Destination - the city of Romny, Sumy region. The new unit is the 147th Infantry Division, 640th Infantry Regiment, 1st Machine Gun Company.
In Romny we had such a daily routine that Chernigov, with quarantine in the reserve regiment, seemed like paradise. Here they began to prepare us at an accelerated pace to be sent to the front.
The Budennovsky helmet was replaced by a steel helmet with a gray, knitted, rather dense, liner with a cutout for the eyes and mouth, which warmed the head under the helmet in the cold and was tucked under an overcoat, replacing the collar of a sweater or muffler at home. We were given tarpaulin boots to replace boots and leggings, but my shoe size is 43.5, and I, unable to find boots, stayed in leggings.
Bessarabia 1940
Echelons of the 147th Infantry Division began leaving for the front every day. Our train was one of the last. He stood on the sidings, waiting for us. Many of those with whom we arrived in Chernigov from Leningrad have already left. We said goodbye to them as we walked. One day, after training loading into a train, there was no command to unload. This could only mean one thing: we are leaving tonight.
The first days of March 1940 passed, the war was coming to an end, and suddenly the command came: “Unload the train!” The dispatch was suspended: the front no longer needed us. Everyone was depressed. The warm underwear had to be handed over to the warehouse; no one got hurt for eating “NZ”: the whole regiment had their hearts out with gusto.
And the wounded continued to arrive from the north. The next train arrived, and right at the station an unfortunate incident occurred: a lieutenant’s wife came from the city, all made up and fashionable, saw that he was lying without legs, and refused him: “I don’t need you like that!” The lieutenant grabbed the pistol, but he was gone - they barely held him.
Khrushchev in Kishinev 1940
The echelon was hurrying to the west. Everyone understood that today or tomorrow we would have “work” there. It’s good that the command finally decided on us, otherwise the whole winter they were only afraid of Finland, Romania, and the Black Sea straits.
"Give me Bessarabia! Look how many of us there are!" They set out at dawn. The machine guns had to be carried on oneself, since the carts were filled to capacity with ammunition and food. They carried black crackers, millet and pea concentrates, roach, sugar, makhorka and other goods so necessary in the war.
We were heading to reconquer Bessarabia - no more, no less! Nobody hid this. Over the winter there was so much talk about Bessarabia - we saw it in a dream.
Tactical training began to practice the offensive - in the army it is not allowed to eat bread for nothing. Difficult days came: for hours we moved, running and crawling with machine guns, uphill and downhill; the tunics were thoroughly wet from sweat, which literally gushed from under the helmets, flooding the face; At night, the tunics dried out and became white from the salt that had come out, and then burst.
Romanians 1940
Not everyone was able to pass this test. During one of the big halts, two representatives of sunny Georgia, having exhausted their moral and physical strength, shot themselves together with their TT pistols. Whether they really ran out of strength, or from the thought that in a week or two they would go into battle, it is difficult to judge now, but this unfortunate fact took place in the neighboring battalion, and it took a long time to deal with it.
We northerners could withstand the heat and overload, but they could not. None of us condemned them, but we didn’t feel sorry for them either. The difficult, sometimes unbearable, conditions of army service in the infantry units of that time that we had to face taught us to have a negative attitude towards manifestations of human weakness such as “I can’t do it anymore,” “I’m tired,” “I don’t have the strength,” and the like.
Khrushchev and Mehlis in Chisinau 1940
Our 640th Infantry Regiment took up combat positions on the very banks of the Dniester in the area of the large border village of Tashlyk. Chisinau is 45 kilometers away. Since we are not border guards, we began to “guard” the border in our own way.
They entered the village at night. It looked extinct: no inhabitants were visible. We crept along the limestone fences, trying not to be illuminated by the moon. At times we were fired upon from both sides. We dug trenches in several rows along the bank of the Dniester.
They spent all daylight hours sleeping in them, watching the actions of the Romanian border guards and filling machine gun belts with cartridges for future use. The Romanians were also preparing. They carried guns on oxen and brazenly set them up for direct fire. Everything happened before our eyes, since the Dniester is not wide here, bushes and trees grow sparsely, without forming dense thickets.
The night hours were the hardest for us. All night long we carried metal pontoons in our arms for future crossings: the first echelon troops, that is, us, would rush across the Dniester on them.
The pontoons were delivered to the border by motor transport, and we dragged them to the water’s edge and laid them out so that the crossing could be completed within the time allowed by the regulations. During the first days of standing on the border, talking and smoking at night was strictly forbidden, so as not to unnecessarily irritate the Romanian side.
Zhukov in Chisinau 1940
The divisional newspaper “For the Motherland” was published with a clear, unambiguous headline: “For the Soviet Motherland, for Stalin, for Soviet Bessarabia - forward to the offensive!” The soldiers and commanders wrote to the newspaper that “they will not spare either strength or life to carry out ANY order of the Motherland!”
The company “Battle Leaflet,” which I had been publishing since the winter, was, of course, not inferior to the division newspaper and called for the same. But there were not even rumors about a possible attack on Ploesti, and the soldiers, as you know, always knew about everything. More precisely, they could have known earlier, but with the arrival of Zhukov, any leak of information was punished in the most severe manner.
In our machine gun company, a fourth platoon was formed and equipped with anti-aircraft guns based on 12.7 mm heavy machine guns. We mounted them on tripods ourselves, without thinking about the question: “Did the Romanians have aviation?”
The second platoon, in which I served, received a combat mission: to cross the Dniester against amphibious armored tanks that had long been standing in the bushes behind us.
The tanks had to go forward, and we had to take up defense on the Romanian coast and fire machine guns at the enemy until the pontoon crossing was built and the first echelon of the attacking troops rushed forward along it. The first and third platoons were supposed to cover us with fire from the spruce bank, and the fourth platoon was to monitor the “air.”
Disarmament of the Romanians 1940
On the last peaceful night, no one slept on the border. Bonfires were burning on the banks of the Dniester. The conspiracy is long gone; bayonets and helmets sparkled in the night; the fighters stood silently around the fires and waited for dawn, and with it the command “Forward!”. Each thought about his own and mentally said goodbye to home, relatives and loved ones. We understood how serious everything was, that a real battle awaited us, and not a training battle, as was the case before.
In the morning the situation cleared up: Romania capitulated. The sky was covered with red star planes. Soldiers' songs suddenly rang out over the Dniester. The pontoon crossings were quickly set up, and the tanks moved along them, followed by the infantry. We will live again!
The population of Bessarabia greeted the troops with flowers, songs and dances, as if they were real liberators. Those who thought otherwise fled to Romania in advance. There remained the poor, who gravitated towards Soviet Russia and were not afraid of Soviet power.
We remained in our trenches as observers of the general holiday. I remember how the regiment commander did not like the soldiers’ speeches: “We were the first to be sent into battle, but others went to Bessarabia singing?”
But an order is an order. In peaceful Bessarabia, so many troops were not needed, and everyone was turned back. Our 147th Infantry Division remained a duty unit on the old border."
Bessarabia meets the Red Army.
Military conscription appeared in our country many centuries ago. A well-organized army still existed in the Moscow state. The nobles performed permanent service, and the rest of the population was called up only in cases of special need. The main military force at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries. There was cavalry, and under Ivan the Terrible infantry began to play a major role in ensuring the country's security. The first permanent foot army was made up of archers.
However, a full-fledged regular army appeared in the Russian state already under Peter I on the basis of conscription, which included peasants, townspeople and other tax-paying classes. Military service was communal and lifelong.
Further serious transformations are associated with the reign of Alexander II. In 1862, he exempted the nobles from duty, and later also representatives of some other classes: merchants and clergy. Thus, the basis of the army were peasants and townspeople. However, some time later, in 1874, the Russian emperor introduced universal personal conscription, which was subject to the entire male population of the country who had reached the age of 21. In addition, from that moment on, the conscription extended to representatives of all nationalities living in Russia.
At the beginning of the 20th century. The period of active service in the infantry and foot artillery was 3 years, in other branches of the ground forces - 4 years, in the navy - 5 years. Some categories of citizens were provided with benefits. For example, the service life for young people who graduated from a 1st category educational institution (as well as 6 classes of a gymnasium) was 2 years. Those who were completely unable to bear arms for health reasons were completely exempt from service. Some church ministers were also exempted from military service.
The conscription conditions were tightened again after the Bolsheviks came to power. The 1918 decree “On forced recruitment into the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army” had a pronounced class character and provided for compulsory military service for workers who had reached the age of 18. Later, in 1930, a new Soviet law was adopted - “On Compulsory Military Service” - according to which the defense of the USSR with arms in hand was carried out only by working people. The non-labor classes were assigned to perform other duties - serving the army. Thus, the class approach to the performance of military service duties by citizens was preserved.
4 years after the end of the Great Patriotic War, a law was passed according to which the conscription of male citizens was carried out once a year in November-December. In addition, new terms of service were established in the Armed Forces of the USSR: in the Ground Forces (SV) and Air Force (Air Force) - 3 years, in the Navy (Navy) - 4. Later, in 1968, the term conscript service was reduced to 2 years in the Army and to 3 years in the Navy. Institute graduates who did not receive military training served for 1 year. In addition to the autumn conscription, a spring conscription was also introduced.
From June 23, 1941, those liable for military service from 1905 to 1918 inclusive were conscripted into the army.
The conscription territory is Leningrad, Baltic, Western, Kiev, Odessa, Kharkov, Oryol, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Ural, Siberian, Volga, North Caucasus and Transcaucasian military districts. There were also territorial nuances. For example, already on the night of June 23 in Siberia, military registration and enlistment offices sent out notices to conscripts, but not everyone received mobilization notices. Due to the threat of a Japanese attack, some of the future soldiers were assigned to the Far Eastern Front and were not called to collection points.
In total, in June and July 1941, a general and complete mobilization of men and partial mobilization of women was carried out. By this time, class restrictions had already been lifted - everyone could defend their homeland. And this is not a mere formality. The fact is that in 1925 the USSR adopted a law on compulsory military service. It was forbidden to conscript “persons of the exploiting classes” into the army, namely: children of former nobles, merchants, officers of the old army, priests, factory owners, as well as Cossacks and kulaks.
In 1935, an exception was made for the Cossacks. A 1939 law abolished restrictions on conscription based on class, but military schools still only accepted the children of workers and peasants. The war corrected this rule too. In fact, everyone who wanted to go to the front and to school could do it one way or another.
From the archive
In total, 5.3 million people were drafted in the first 8 days of the war. That is, the army doubled: the actual number of the Red Army by June 22, 1941 was 5.4 million people. But the huge irreparable losses of the first months of the war required more and more soldiers. By the beginning of 1942, conscription into the Red Army was already provided by conscripts from 1923-1925. birth. And in total, during the war, 34.5 million people were put under arms.
The conscription took place like this: in cities, a summons from the military registration and enlistment office was brought to the house, in villages - to the village council. It was stated right on the agenda: the enterprise administrations should immediately release the conscript from work and give him money for two weeks in advance. On the back are instructions: shave your head bald, carry documents and food with you, do not take bulky things.
There was no single form; there were many variants of agendas. But the main thing was always indicated: where and when to arrive. They warned you that you will be held accountable for being late or not showing up.
Along with the mobilization to the front, the authorities “booked” specialists to work in military factories. During the 1942 conscription campaign, deferments were granted to combine operators and tractor drivers involved in harvesting. Depending on the region, “reservation” was also given to students of river technical schools and forestry institutes who were in navigation and logging in the taiga. In 1941 and until the first half of 1942, teachers, who were not accepted for military service at all until 1940, also had the right to deferments.
But the front required replenishment: millions of dead and wounded, prisoners and encirclement. Both 17-year-olds and 50-year-olds have already been taken into the army.
True, the term “mobilization” does not accurately reflect the situation. Yes, there were draft dodgers and deserters, but still, Komsomol volunteers are not an invention of propaganda. Volunteers born in 1922-1924 were selected for units in which service was associated with particular risk. The recruitment of paratroopers, skiers, pilots, and tank destroyers took place through the Komsomol district committees. Positive characteristics were required, preference was given to athletes, passing the BGTO standards ("Be ready for labor and defense of the USSR" - for schoolchildren in grades 1-8, GTO (for people over 16 years old) and PVHO ("Ready for the chemical defense of the USSR") was encouraged. ).
Quite a few types of wartime summons have been preserved: there was no single form. But the document necessarily indicated the main thing: when and where to arrive, what to take with you. The conscript was also reminded of the responsibility for failure to appear on time. In cities, a summons from the military registration and enlistment office was brought to the house, in villages - to the village council. Photo: From the archive
The legendary woman - nun Mother Adriana (Natalya Malysheva) - shortly before her death, spoke in an interview with RG about how young people greeted the news of the start of the war in Moscow. “As soon as Levitan’s voice came from the loudspeakers about the beginning of the war, I and my fellow students from the aviation institute ran to the military academies,” the nun said. “We demanded and begged to be transferred to them from our institute: in order to quickly get the specialty the army needed and - to front. But only one of our company succeeded, and only because his father was the commander of the Red Army."
Many were afraid of only one thing: the war would end, and they would not have time to accomplish their feats. That’s why they tried to get into the war “through connections.” “They didn’t take me because I was a girl,” recalled Natalya Malysheva. “It was very disappointing. Well, if that’s the case, I think I’ll volunteer. But the military registration and enlistment office again refused, they said, study. However, by October, when the German approached close to Moscow, at the Komsomol district committee they looked at me strangely and without delay gave me a referral to the Third Communist Division of the People's Militia."
Division - 11 thousand volunteers who were not subject to conscription. They took everyone: the children of the repressed and the priests. Everyday life at the front made adjustments to the youth’s idea of war; in the trenches everything turned out to be more prosaic and more terrible. But the divisions fought to the death. Malysheva asked to become a nurse, but was accepted into divisional intelligence. She went behind the front line 18 times. She ended the war as a lieutenant in army intelligence. “You know, I still ask myself: how was this possible?” the nun reasoned. “There were so many people repressed before the war, so many churches were destroyed! I personally knew two guys whose fathers were shot. But no one harbored any grudge. And these people rose above their grievances, abandoned everything and went to defend their homeland.”
Volunteers were selected for the airborne and ski brigades, as well as for the special units of tank destroyers, using Komsomol vouchers. Preference was given to athletes. Photo: Alexander Ustinov
Employees of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War showed me the document. Issued by the Stalinist District Military Commissariat of Moscow: subject to military service V.M. Yudovsky. On July 6, 1941 he enlisted in the people's militia. This is not a summons or a certificate - just a sheet of paper with a corner stamp and a round seal. The partisans had approximately the same situation with documents. Certificate: issued to comrade Nadezhda Vasilyevna Troyan stating that she was in the “Storm” partisan detachment as a fighter. The headquarters of the partisan movements most likely had to improvise - even in the regular army, not everything went smoothly with the official documents of the Red Army soldiers. Order NKO USSR N330 of October 7, 1941 “On the introduction of the Red Army book in military units and institutions in the rear and at the front” had to be carried out in the most difficult conditions, when the army was retreating and the soldiers lacked a lot, including documents and death tokens. What can we say about certificates for partisans and militias.
The losses of the Red Army, Navy, border and internal troops during the war amounted to 11.4 million people - including those captured and missing. No one can say for sure how many people died in partisan detachments.
By the way
- After the end of the war, the army numbered 11 million people, which was excessive for peacetime. In July 1945, all soldiers and sergeants over 45 years of age and officers over 50 years of age were dismissed from the army. In September 1945, soldiers and sergeants over 30 years of age began to be transferred to the reserve, as well as soldiers, sergeants, and officers with specialties that were valuable for the restoration of the national economy (builders, miners, metallurgists, machine operators, etc.), regardless of age.
- From 1946 to 1948 there was no conscription into the army. Young people were sent to restoration work in mines, heavy engineering enterprises, and construction sites. Military schools for officer training accepted people aged 17-23 with secondary education.
- By the beginning of 1948, the size of the army had dropped to 2.8 million people.
- After the Great Patriotic War, a new law on universal conscription was adopted in 1949. Young people aged 18 were subject to conscription: to the ground forces and aviation for 3 years, to the navy for 4 years.