Draft Evasion in the Russian Army during the World War I as an Anti-War Social Protest

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to establish the factors of the growth of anti-war protests in the Russian army during the World War I, to identify the forms of draft evasion, the social composition of the avoiders, and measures of the state to reduce its size on the basis of the used source base (legislative acts, memoirs, archival documents).

To understand the nature of desertion, scientific approaches of social history and historical anthropology, history “from below”, as well as so-called “new military history”, were applied, which contributed to understanding not only the nature of Russia’s imperial interests but also allowed us to understand the nature of the soldiers’ actions. Under the pressure of frontline circumstances, soldiers became politicized and changed their understanding of the war, its goals and purposes, which did not coincide with their aspirations and awareness of the value and uniqueness of their own lives.

The problem is also actualized by the fact that a significant part of the events of the World War I had taken place on the territory of Ukraine, where armies of several fronts were stationed, whose soldiers became avoiders and deserters, thereby increasing the instability of wartime.

The scientific novelty lies in the conclusions that the refusal to participate in the war had a significant impact on its course, changing the passive nature of resistance, which over time took on active forms of protest: from escapes, imprisonment, and surrender to fraternization with opponents. The scale of draft evasions and their mass growth indicate that they became an essential social phenomenon, significantly undermining the foundations of Russian statehood, in particular its army, which was based on coercion and violence. Among the broad masses of soldiers, the patriotic official attitude of the government did not receive the expected support, and the military events of the following years convinced the soldiers of the senselessness and futility of the war, pointing to its anti-people character. Growing protests indicated the internal instability of the army and anti-state sentiments in its environment. Soldiers came to the conclusion that it was not worth fighting for a state whose interests did not coincide with their own. Social protest acquired an active character, bordering on unauthorized demobilization. In addition, the authority of the Russian army among the population was falling due to looting; social instability was growing, resulting in increasing criminal offenses. They were not cowards and violators of army discipline who fled from the front but soldiers who did not want to die for someone else’s interests, who valued their own lives, and, in spite of everything, sought to survive in the difficult conditions of war.