Page:Michael Farbman - Russia & the Struggle for Peace (1918).djvu/83

Rh hard labour for two years. 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. Some people were ready to admit that it was a necessary evil, but the broad masses of the people, who never understood nor cared to understand the "world politics" of the Empire, felt the greatest reluctance in admitting that this evil was a necessary one. 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. Since then for more than a century there were no more defensive wars in Russia. At any rate, there were no wars which were considered by the people as defensive wars and as deserving the proud name of a "fatherland war." Incidentally it is curious to note that an attempt was made to give the name of "Otechestvennaia Voina" to this war. Many newspapers used to publish the war news under the heading, "The Second Fatherland War." But there was no real response from the people, and after a short time it was evident that the attempt to glorify this war was a failure.

The army never was regarded by the Russian people as a safeguard or a guarantee of the State; it was always felt as an instrument of oppression. It was never felt nor thought of as a part of the nation. It was not of the people; it was over the people, it dominated them. Thus, to become a soldier was not