''Dedovshchina'' ( rus, дедовщина, p=dʲɪdɐˈfɕːinə; lit. ''reign of grandfathers'') is the informal practice of

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

and

abuse Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

of junior

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

historically in the

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

and today in the

Russian armed forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

Internal Troops The Internal Troops, full name Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MVD) (russian: Внутренние войска Министерства внутренних дел, Vnutrenniye Voiska Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del; abbreviat ...

, and to a much lesser extent FSB,

Border Guards A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In ...

, as well as the military forces of certain

former Soviet Republics The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

. It consists of brutalization by more senior conscripts,

NCOs A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

, and

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

. ''Dedovshchina'' encompasses a variety of subordinating and humiliating activities undertaken by the junior ranks, from doing the chores of the senior ranks, to violent and sometimes deadly

physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

and

psychological abuse Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic ...

, not unlike an extremely vicious form of

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

, including sexual torture and

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involvin ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

. There have been occasions where soldiers have been seriously injured or killed.

Etymology

The term is derived from "''ded''" (russian: дед, meaning grandfather), which is the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

slang equivalent of ''gramps'', meaning soldiers after their third (or fourth, which is also known as "dembel" (russian: дембель or "DMB" russian: ДМБ) half-year of compulsory service, stemming from a vulgarization of the word "

demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

" (russian: демобилизация ''demobilizatsiya'') – this word is erroneously used by soldiers to describe the act of resigning from the army); soldiers also refer to "dembel" half-year of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, with the suffix ''-shchina'' which denotes a type of order, rule, or regime (compare Yezhovshchina,

Zhdanovshchina The Zhdanov Doctrine (also called Zhdanovism or Zhdanovshchina; russian: доктрина Жданова, ждановизм, ждановщина) was a Soviet cultural doctrine developed by Central Committee secretary Andrei Zhdanov in 1946. I ...

). Thus, it can literally be translated as " rule of the grandfathers". This is essentially a folk system of

seniority Seniority is the state of being older or placed in a higher position of status relative to another individual, group, or organization. For example, one employee may be senior to another either by role or rank (such as a CEO vice a manager), or by ...

based on stage of service, mostly not backed by code or law, which only grants seniority to conscripts promoted to various

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

and yefreitor ranks.

History

Hazing existed in some military schools of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, including the

Page Corps The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprud ...

. The origin of this problem is often attributed to the change in conscription term brought about by the law of 12 October 1967, causing two different groups of

conscript Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

s to be simultaneously present in the army: those who were drafted for three-year service and those only for two-year service. However, A.D. Glotochkin researched psychological problems of young soldiers before 1967. During the same year, a decision was reached to draft conscripts with a criminal history into the ranks, due to a demographic crisis following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. While oppression by older conscripts has probably always taken place in the army, after that date, with the introduction of the four-class system (created by the bi-annual call-ups) it became systematic and developed its own rules and ranks.

Current situation

Many young men are killed or commit suicide every year because of ''dedovshchina''.The Consequences of Dedovshchina

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

report, 2004 ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that in 2006 at least 292 Russian soldiers were killed by ''dedovshchina'' (although the Russian military only admits that 16 soldiers were directly murdered by acts of ''dedovshchina'' and claims that the rest committed suicide). The ''Times'' states: "On Aug. 4, it was announced by the chief military prosecutor that there had been 3,500 reports of abuse already this year (2006), compared with 2,798 in 2005". The BBC meanwhile reports that in 2007, 341 soldiers committed suicide, a 15% reduction on the previous year. Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia works to protect the rights of young soldiers. In 2012, a draftee from

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

region, Ruslan Aiderkhanov, was tortured to death by his seniors. The one witness who was willing to testify against the alleged perpetrators, Danil Chalkin, was later found shot dead in his military base. A contract soldier, Alikbek Musabekov, was later arrested in this incident. In 2019, according to the Russian military prosecutor office the situation with ''dedovshchina'' is getting worse. Incidents of hazing in the army during 2019 have increased. 51,000 human rights violations and 1,521 sexual assault cases. In the same year, Ramil Shamsutdinov shot 10 of his colleagues at a Gorny military base, 8 of them fatally. In court, he alleged that he was subjected to beatings and threats of anal rape.

Government actions

Overall, the Russian state has tried and has had mixed results in curtailing ''dedovshchina''. In 2003, on the specific issues of denial of food and poor nutrition, Deputy Minister of Defence V. Isakov denied the existence of such problems. Since 2005, the

Russian Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

has published monthly statistics of incidents and crimes including cases of death. Russia has changed some of the rules made in 1967. Most notably, criminals are no longer accepted into the army. Beginning in 2007/08, the conscript service time was reduced from two years to one; dedovshchina primarily occurs when second year conscripts abuse first year conscripts so this measure is partially intended to curtail the practice. In 2011, the

established a

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...

force as a way to counter ''dedovshchina''. According to Russian media reports, up to 20,000 service members may be assigned to serve as military police.http://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/russia’s-new-military-police-about-time-and-about-order/

Dedovshchina in popular culture

Several Soviet and Russian films portrayed the ''dedovshchina'' despite the military's abstention from helping the production. Following is the selected filmography: *'' Do It — One! – Делай — раз!'' – 1990 *''

The Guard The Guard may refer to: * ''The Guard'' (TV series), a Canadian drama series portraying about the Canadian Coast Guard * ''The Guard'' (1990 film), a 1990 Soviet film about a soldier who kills his entire unit * ''The Guard'' (2001 film), a 2001 ...

– Караул'' – 1990 *''

Afghan Breakdown ''Afghan Breakdown'' (russian: Афганский излом, translit. Afganskiy Izlom) is a 1991 war drama film about the Soviet–Afghan War directed by Vladimir Bortko and co-produced by Italy and the Soviet Union ( Lenfilm). Michele Pla ...

– Афганский излом'' – 1990 *'' 100 Days Before the Command – Сто дней до приказа'' – 1990 *''

Air Hunger Shortness of breath (SOB), also medically known as dyspnea (in AmE) or dyspnoea (in BrE), is an uncomfortable feeling of not being able to breathe well enough. The American Thoracic Society defines it as "a subjective experience of breathing disc ...

– Кислородный голод'' – 1992 *''

The Green Elephant ''The Green Elephant'' (russian: Зелёный слоник, Zelyonyy slonik, also known as ''Green Elephant Calf'') is a 1999 Russian psychedelic exploitation horror film directed by Svetlana Baskova. The movie received a limited theatrical ...

– Зеленый слоник'' – 1999 *''

Demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

– ДМБ'' – 2000 *''

The 9th Company ''The 9th Company'' (russian: 9 рота, 9 rota) is a 2005 Russian war film directed by Fedor Bondarchuk and set during the Soviet–Afghan War. The film is loosely based on a real-life battle that took place at Elevation 3234 in early 1988, ...

– 9-я рота'' – 2005 *''

The Search ''The Search'' is a 1948 American film directed by Fred Zinnemann that tells the story of a young Auschwitz survivor and his mother who search for each other across post-World War II Europe. It stars Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl, Jarmila Novotn ...

– 2014 Also, in the novel ''

The Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...

'',

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

writes that veteran Soviet naval captain

Marko Ramius ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...

refused to allow ''dedovshchina'' to be practiced anywhere on his boat, dismissing it as "low-level terrorism".

Etymology

History

Current situation

Government actions

Dedovshchina in popular culture

See also

References

Further reading