Michael S. Farbman

“ It was the main factor in the discipline of the Russian Army. The method of Russian discipline was unmitigated frightfulness, and its aim was to reduce the soldier to absolute obedience. In order to be absolute, obedience must be automatic; and therefore the soldier must learn by way of frightfulness that no compromise is possible. Any order must be executed without delay or questioning—even the order to shoot one's own parents or sisters or brothers. In this country a soldier does his duty, and the better he understands his duty the better he is able to perform it. ”

“ But in war it must be based not on fear but on confidence in the skill and devotedness of the leaders. Blind obedience will not do in war. In war you have to rely on the soldier's ability—you must accustom him to think and to act, not only to obey.
Now fear inevitably creates hatred, and the Russian army was indeed permeated with active hatred. It is really difficult to say whether the officers and non-commissioned officers in the Russian army were more feared or more hated. In peace time fear was all-powerful, but in war hatred was likely to come to the top. ”

“ Some people of course believe, in their simplicity, that all soldiers and all armies are more or less alike. They therefore imagine that the Russian soldier is similar to the British, French, or American soldier. Others, who happen to know that the principles of discipline and the organisation of the Russian army are taken from Germany, are too easily led to the conclusion that the Russian army is similar to the German army. ”

“ But to be a soldier was to be on duty at the highest post in the State, and the ordinary German was ready and proud to undergo the hardships of soldiering.
It is indeed hard to find a greater contrast than that which exists between this German view of military service and the view which generally obtains in Russia. In Russia the army never was popular. The army was never worshipped, never loved, never admired. It was always considered as an evil. ”

“ The real feeling of the people towards the soldier and the army was one of fear. The army was alien to the people, almost hostile to it. There were no traditions which could make the army a national or a popular institution. The Napoleonic war was Russia's last defensive war and received the proud title "Otechestvennaia Voina," which means the war for the safety of the Fatherland. ”

“ A soldier has no place in heaven or in hell.
There are many sayings referring to the very immoral life of a soldier. A soldier is always wild, pillages everything, steals whatever he can lay hands on, and never pays for what he takes. In fact in all respects he is a most ill-conditioned person. ”

“ The place of the army in Germany is similar to the position of the navy in English social life. The army in Germany, like the navy in England, has always been considered the foundation and guarantee of the State. Many great and living traditions have made "Unser Heer" the pride of the nation, and thus it is the highest pride of every German to be a part of the army. ”

“ And it is only natural that the people were opposed, body and soul, to these recruitings. But even to-day, when conscription has existed in Russia for over half a century, people look upon enlistment as a misfortune or a calamity—still more as a degradation. ”

“ It applies equally to the town population and to the peasants. And up to the very last day (I mean before the war) the calling-up period, or, as it is called in Russian, "nabor," the levy, was always a time of mourning, not to say of outrages and disorders. The authorities always used to encourage drunkenness at these periods, and the people were glad to treat the recruits, considering that drunkenness would make it easier for them to undergo the disgrace and the calamity of becoming soldiers. ”