Imperial Russia's military manpower policy and the issue of jewish equality at the end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th centuries

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the main factors that led, firstly, to the spread of universal military service among the Jews of the Russian Empire on general terms in 1874, and then to the attempt to remove them from the ranks of the armed forces of the state on the eve of World War I. Research Methods. In the article there have been used general scientific and historical methods for the historical reconstruction of the main trends in the policy evolution of the Ministry of War of the Russian Empire regarding the conscription of the Jews for a military service in the last quarter of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. In the article there have been used three purely historical methods, namely historical genetic, comparative historical and internal criticism of sources. The historical genetic method has been used in the attempt to trace the main trends in the development of the idea of a military duty in the Russian Empire. The comparative historical method has been used to identify the key features and consequences of the application of a general military service in the Russian Empire compared to Western European states. The internal criticism of sources has been used to analyze the archival materials. The scientific novelty of the obtained results consists in the establishment of the main reasons for the evolution of the leadership policy of the Russian Empire regarding the service of the Jews in the armed forces of the Empire from conscription on general terms to an attempt to eliminate the Jewish soldiers from the armed forces of the state completely. The Conclusions. The extension of near-universal conscription among the Jewish population as part of the 1874 military reform was a promising sign for supporters of the Jewish equality in the Russian Empire. At the same time, the initiators of the military reform hoped that military service could become an effective means for integration of this distinct national minority into the Russian society. However, the introduction of an inclusive manpower policy in the armed forces of the Russian Empire did not lead to the integration of the Jews and other national minorities into the dominant society. Furthermore, the Russian government eventually initiated an attempt to remove the Jews from service in the armed forces on the eve of World War I and found an overwhelming support for such reform among high-ranking military officials.