A military commissariat is an institution that is part of

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

or law enforcement mechanisms in some European countries. As part of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in the 19th century, military commissariats were used for organisational, accounting and

bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. Tr ...

duties regarding

military transport Military supply-chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services for military materiel applications. Military supply chain management includes sub-suppliers, suppliers, internal info ...

personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

and equipment. The most widespread historic use of military commissariats existed as part of administrative military infrastructure in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Each Soviet district would have a military commissariat that was responsible for keeping documentation up to date concerning military resources, including the labour force, in their region. Military commissariats in the Soviet Union were also tasked with the recruitment and

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...

of military servicemen. The use of military commissariats as local military administrative agencies continued as a part of modern Russia after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991. Since the transition from the Soviet Union to Russia and the economic and social instability that came as a result, there has been criticism and speculation regarding

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

in the recruitment process of military personnel and allegations of an abusive military culture. This has caused the role of military commissariats as administrative agencies to be questioned. Buildings that were once military commissariats still exist in

post-Soviet states 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 ...

. In France and Italy, the word "commissariat" can refer to factions of the police and law enforcement, some of whom are connected to the military.

In the Soviet Union

A military commissariat (Russian: Bоенный коммисариат, translit: voyenny kommisariat) was a local military administrative agency used in the Soviet Union to provide

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

and organisational military services. They were led by a

military commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eas ...

(Russian: Bоенный коммисар, translit: voyenny kommisar) who worked in a political and bureaucratic role alongside a regional military commander who served as a traditional

military official An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contextu ...

. Colton, T. J. 2003, ''Commissars, Commanders and Civilian Authority,''

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

: Cambridge. . As is typical of

Soviet phraseology Soviet phraseology, or Sovietisms, i.e., the neologisms and cliches in Russian language of the epoch of the Soviet Union, has a number of distinct traits that reflect the Soviet way of life and Soviet culture and politics. Most of these distinct ...

, military commissariats can be referred to in Russian as 'voyenkomat' and military commissars can be referred to as 'voyenkom'; examples of Soviet

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words Military commissariats were used in the Soviet Union from 1917 until its dissolution in 1991. They were introduced after its

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

when existing Russian territories were split into different republics. These republics were subsequently divided into

Krai A krai or kray (; russian: край, , ''kraya'') is one of the types of federal subjects of modern Russia, and was a type of geographical administrative division in the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. Etymologically, the word is relate ...

s and

Oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of ...

s and then into national districts and at each division a military commissariat was instated. Scott, H. F. & Scott, W. F. 1981, ''The Armed Forces of the USSR,''

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

: New York. . The role of the military commissariat at each stage of

hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

differed; however, its core functions centred around administrative housekeeping regarding

military personnel Military personnel are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, air force, space force, and coast guard), rank (officer, non-commissioned officer, or e ...

and

military equipment A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and the provision of military training. Other duties included troop mobilisation, preparing local men for service, registering all relevant weaponry including all

machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecule ...

and cars in the region, delivering pensions to retired army personnel, and selecting and promoting officers. The structure and function of military commissariats initially developed between 1917 and 1922 during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. A political officer was introduced by

the Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

to each occupied military district to collaborate with the existing military commander and to provide military administrative services. This officer was the precursor to the military commissar. The introduction of a political officer alongside a military commander at a local level established

leadership accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...

and cooperation in each Soviet district and also lay foundation for a close relationship to develop between the political and military spheres in the Soviet Union. Aldis, A. & McDermott, R. N. 2003, ''Russian Military Reform, 1992–2002,''

Frank Cass Frank Cass (11 July 1930 – 9 August 2007) was a British publisher. He was the founder of Frank Cass & Co., an imprint of books and journals of history and the social sciences acquired by Taylor & Francis in 2003. Early life Frank Cass was born ...

: London. . Additionally, strong relations between political and military figures allowed for an overarching administrative structure to interact with civilians through a combined political and military partnership. The military commissariat system rose in importance during the 1920s and 1930s as it allowed the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

to exert political control alongside the military at a local level.

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

, head of government of

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

and subsequent Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924, said that "without military commissariats we would not have a Red Army". Military commissariats organised the mobilisation of troops in response first to the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

in 1939 and in the subsequent outbreak of World War II. As part of recruitment processes and to encourage military service and participation in World War II military commissariats would organise dispatch centres in their individual districts that displayed various propaganda materials such as portraits of

Soviet leaders During its 69-year history, the Soviet Union usually had a ''de facto'' leader who would not necessarily be head of state but would lead while holding an office such as premier or general secretary. Under the 1977 Constitution, the chairman of ...

and

slogans A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group. The ...

that encouraged defence of the homeland. Additionally, military commissariats would organise local military functions, military discussions, artistic performances and film screenings to increase morale and to promote military service. According to the

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...

of the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

, in the years following World War II and during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, military commissariats and their administrative processes and information flows were monitored closely by the United States through espionage to establish an understanding of Soviet military structure and the size and interests of the Soviet military forces. This is a result of the bookkeeping and accounting information held by individual military commissariats regarding population, recruitment and equipment numbers in their districts. In the 20th century the Soviet Union was considered a major military strength.Barany, Z. D. 2007, ''Democratic Breakdown and the decline of the Russian military,''

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

: New Jersey. . 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 ...

were a source of pride for the state and this is reflected in the Soviet Union's

military budget A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes. Financing militar ...

which was the largest in the world at the time measured as a product of

Gross National Product The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...

. This military culture and expenditure is reflected in the development of the military commissariat system which allowed the military to grow and serve as an important feature of all Soviet districts. Turochak military commissariat

Current use

Following the

, the Russian military and political spheres expected the newly founded

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

to develop and continue their combined military forces. But some CIS states decided to form independent security and military policies. This left Soviet military infrastructure such as military commissariats to stay unused in these

. In the newly founded Russian Federation, military reform began under the

presidency of Boris Yeltsin The presidency of Boris Yeltsin began with his first inauguration on 10 July 1991, and ended on 31 December 1999 when he announced his resignation. A referendum held on 17 March 1991 approved the creation of the post of president of Russia; ...

. Yury Skokov, then Secretary of the

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

, began drafting a National Security Concept in 1992. The document was not signed by

Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

until 1997 and this is attributed to consecutive debates and discussions surrounding its content, and the various internal and external instability experienced by Russia during the 1990s. Alongside decreases in

military expenditure A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes. Financing milit ...

throughout this time period this stagnated progression of military reform in the transition between the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. Military commissariats support military services and depend on military spending. The economic instability experienced by Russia in the 1990s led to a significant decrease in fiscal expenditure toward the military and military programs, a noticeable difference when compared with military expenditure during the Soviet Union.

In Russia

Military commissariats fulfil the same roles in Russia as they did in the Soviet Union and continue to operate in their individual districts. They recruit servicemen to 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 ...

and choose who is eligible and ineligible for service.

Konstantin Preobrazhensky Konstantin Georgiyevich Preobrazhenskiy ( rus, Константин Георгиевич Преображенский; born 1953 in Moscow) is a former KGB lieutenant colonel, an intelligence expert and the author of several books and numerous arti ...

, a former

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

colonel and intelligence expert, has suggested that military commissariats in Russia enlist and report individuals to the FSB and the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

as well as to the military.Preobrazhensky, K. 2009. ''South Ossetia: KGB Backyard in the Caucasus.'' The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst. http://www.cacianalyst.org/publications/analytical-articles/item/11799-analytical-articles-caci-analyst-2009-3-11-art-11799.html Political and social debate regarding a transition to an all-volunteer professional military service model exists in Russia and in this context the purpose of the military commissariat is questioned. Since the decrease in military expenditure and regulation that occurred during the 1990s military service programs and institutions such as military commissariats have faced accusations of corruption. The quality of military service and training is also believed to have decreased. Military commissars allegedly accept

bribes Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...

to exempt individuals from compulsory military service and this method of avoiding conscription along with others such as attaining false

medical certificate A medical certificate or doctor's certificate is a written statement from a physician or another medically qualified health care provider which attests to the result of a medical examination of a patient. It can serve as a sick note ( UK: fit no ...

s contribute to the common concern of

draft evasion Draft evasion is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation. Illegal draft ev ...

. Another contentious issue regarding military commissariats and military commissars in modern Russia is the continued use of Soviet portmanteaus and

phraseology In linguistics, phraseology is the study of set or fixed expressions, such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units (often collectively referred to as ''phrasemes''), in which the component parts of the expression tak ...

in the words 'voyenkom' (military commissar) and 'voyenkomat' (military commissariat). This has been regarded as a form of

Soviet nostalgia The social phenomenon of nostalgia for the era of the Soviet Union (russian: links=no, Ностальгия по СССР, Nostal'giya po SSSR), can include its politics, its society, its culture, its superpower status, or simply its aest ...

. The military in Russia has become increasingly unpopular amongst Russian citizens, with a 2011

Levada Centre The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history to 1 ...

study finding that 54% of Russian parents would not want their son to join the army. Additionally, the military has a legacy 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 brutality in the form of

dedovshchina ''Dedovshchina'' ( rus, дедовщина, p=dʲɪdɐˈfɕːinə; lit. ''reign of grandfathers'') is the informal practice of hazing and abuse of junior conscripts historically in the Soviet Armed Forces and today in the Russian armed forces, I ...

. This reputation negatively connotes back to the role of military commissariats in conscription, and its effect of increased

. These concerns were illuminated by the creation and mainstream popularity of human rights organisations such as the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, which seeks to expose the abuses experienced by men in the Russian military.Cimbala, S. J. 2014, ''The Russian military into the twenty-first century,''

: London, . In 1998 human losses in the Russian army were over 15 000, with every fourth death being a suicide.

Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...

, a Russian journalist and activist, has provided anecdotal information regarding the concerns of many families in response to conscription and the ways men are drafted by military commissariats. Volunteers from the committee also make routine visits to military commissariats to ensure procedures are correct and to oversee developments. This is accepted in military commissariats in the interests of continuing military reform and minimising

The District military Commissariat, Shishaki (01)

In post-Soviet states

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all

former members A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature. A former may become an integral part of the ...

organised and developed their own defence, security and military programs. A result of remaining Soviet military infrastructure such as military commissariats existing in post-Soviet states is the threat of Russian military intervention or reclamation. Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 Russian foreign policy has focused on geopolitical competition similar to the foreign policy ideas of the Soviet Union. Military commissariats continue to operate in fringe and de facto states around the Russian border such as in

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

and

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

. As a result of the information collected by individual military commissariats regarding the population in each district, their practice in disputed post-Soviet territories has been scrutinised by critics of the

Russian government The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russia ...

and their policies where it is seen as an example of continued Russian intervention in post-Soviet states.

Other uses

In other European countries

The word

commissariat A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries. In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary. In some ar ...

, within the

Military of France The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces. France ...

and the

Military of Italy A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

(and formerly in the

) designates services providing supplies, as well as financial and legal support to units, roughly equivalent to the

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

s in the US military. Officers from these services are called ''commissaires'' (in French), ''commissari'' (in Italian) and

commissaries A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

in English. Additionally the word 'commissariat' in France and

French speaking countries French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

and territories can be used as an equivalent to 'police station'. In Britain, military commissariats were used first in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

between 1853 and 1856. They were created as a part of the Treasury and were responsible for transporting and

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

all food, fuel and provisions from Britain to dispatched troops in Crimea as well as organising and accounting for all relevant documentation regarding supply quantities and their destinations. This system and its procedures were criticised by members of the British Army at the time of the Crimean War and has been criticised by

military historians This is a list of historians categorized by their area of study. See also List of historians. By time period Ancient history * Sedat Alp (1913, Veroia, The Ottoman Empire - 2006, Ankara, Türkiye) Hittitolog- Historian, Ancient Anatolian * Ek ...

since for being inefficient as there were food shortages experienced by British soldiers during the Crimean War. The food shortages are attributed to the military commissariat structures that required documentation to be provided by military commanders and their soldiers that in most cases was not properly provided in time. This British system was inefficient in comparison with the equivalent French intendance militaire. The chain of command was also criticised at the time as it was thought that the commissariats should respond to the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * Dep ...

and not to the Treasury. Commissariats were transferred to the authority of the War Department in December 1854. This process represented a militarisation of what was the initially uniquely administrative commissariat system. However, the

guideline A guideline is a statement by which to determine a course of action. A guideline aims to streamline particular processes according to a set routine or sound practice. Guidelines may be issued by and used by any organization (governmental or pri ...

s and

bureaucracy The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...

used by military commissariats during the Crimean War provided consistency and uniformity to the procedures during the war which Britain ultimately contributed to winning.

References

* {{Navbox , title = Military commissariat , group1 = Function , list1 =

Military organization Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation ...

Military administration Military administration identifies both the techniques and systems used by military departments, agencies, and armed services involved in managing the armed forces. It describes the processes that take place within military organisations outsid ...

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 ...

, group2 = National military , list2 =

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 ...

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces. Franc ...

Italian Armed Forces The Italian Armed Forces ( it, Forze armate italiane, ) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and ar ...

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

, group3 = Usage , list3 =

Conscription in Russia Conscription in Russia (russian: всеобщая воинская обязанность, translit=vseobshchaya voinskaya obyazannost, translated as "''universal military obligation''" or "''liability for military service''") is a 12-month draf ...

Conscription in the Soviet Union Conscription was used by the Soviet Union for the duration of its existence to bolster military function and operations. Conscription was introduced into what would become the Soviet Union in 1918, almost immediately after the Bolshevik Revolutio ...

Military history of the Soviet Union The military history of the Soviet Union began in the days following the 1917 October Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power. In 1918 the new government formed the Red Army, which then defeated its various internal enemies in the Russian ...

Military of the Soviet Union 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 ...

Military of Russia 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 ...

Military recruitment Conscription Conscription in Russia Military of Russia Military of the Soviet Union Military history of Russia Military history of the Soviet Union Military organization Military operations Military supporting service occupations Military logistics Corruption in Russia Politics of Russia History of the British Army