Are the Problems of the Russian Military Too Big to Be Fixed?
Are the problems of the Russian military too big to be fixed?
A nation that has been proud of its military history and its accomplishments since the times of Peter the Great has hit a crossroad, to reform or not reform. Through the rise of the communist party in 1919 to the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian people have always been a proud nation. Russia has had to think about changing its military habits due to an ever changing world. The status, role, and the problems of the Russian military have all hit a wall and many people wonder if the problems that have come up in the last fifteen years are too big to be fixed now.
The status of the Russian army has been in decline lately. However, this was not the case of the military during the czarist rule and even in the Soviet Union. Under the leader Peter the Great, the Russian military extended its territorial control to the Baltic Sea and to the Caspian Sea. The military was held in high regard after these achievements. People wanted to join the military and be part of the army and navy. He reorganized the military so that it resembled that of a western European military . The Russian people believed that the military was something to be proud of. This has all changed with the rise of the communist party and Soviet Union. Under Josef Stalin, all resources were directed to the military. With the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany, all attention turned from the “Five-Year Plan” towards that of the war effort. Stalin used his secret military police, the NKVD, or The Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs , to take out people that were a threat to Stalin. These included former and active members of different parties, high ranking officers in the military, and even his friends. This caused many people scared of joining organizations such as the military. In the movie, Enemy at the Gates which depicts the battle of Stalingrad; it shows how the soviet soldiers were not equipped for war and did not want to be there. They feared death. They did not think of defending their country, but instead feared for their lives. Due to this, the death toll for the USSR in World War II ranged from 20-23 million people. After the war, when most countries were demobilizing, the Soviet Union was mobilizing to make its military even stronger. When Stalin died and Nikita Khrushchev came to power, people gained a new way of thinking. This was of fear, terror, and death. People did not typically want to join the military but due to conscription, they were forced to enlist at age 18 and had to serve a minimum of two years. After 1967, every man in the Soviet Union was put on a list of who could serve.
During the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev led the Soviet Union and the recruitment for military service became a problem. The method of conscription which had been used by the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union began to crumble. Men