During World War II, Moscow Drafted or Didn’t Draft Non-Russian Nations Depending on Its Assessment of Their Loyalty and Preparation, Butakov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Mar. 6 – As the number of non-Russian soldiers in the Russian army have died in Ukraine increases, ever more non-Russians are asking whether they should be there at all given the policies of the Putin regime toward them (idelreal.org/a/31732554.html and d1esqphj4q8g1s.cloudfront.net/a/31731981.html).

            At least some of them are focusing on the issue of how they were treated in Soviet and tsarist times when members of many nationalities were not drafted. The situation at the end of tsarist times is widely known, given the 1916 explosion when St. Petersburg changed its position. But many now think Stalin drafted everyone given Putin-era propaganda.

            That is not the case, Moscow historian Yaroslav Butakov says. Instead, in considering whom to draft, “the Soviet government divided peoples into those more or less loyal to itself and also on the basis of their greater or lesser preparation for taking part in modern war” (russian7.ru/post/muzhchiny-kakikh-narodov-sssr-ne-prizyva/).

            During World War II, Moscow did not draft for combat service citizens of nationalities which had their own states outside of the USSR. Many were mobilized for service in the rear, and some volunteers from among them were accepted and fought alongside Soviet citizens, Butakov says.

            Another exception were Slovaks, Croatians, Italians and Spanish citizens, all of whom were viewed as more loyal than other nationalities with their own governments abroad. In addition, members of indigenous nationalities Stalin deported were not drafted after that date although many were drafted before their nations were sent into exile.

            One other curious detail in this policy was a decision by the State Defense Committee on October 13, 1943, not to draft any Central Asian man born in 1926. Those older could still be drafted, and those born in 1926 were in fact subject to being taken into the Soviet military in later years.

            Until September 1939, Moscow did not draft representatives of the numerically small peoples of the North and the Far East primarily because it was assumed that they did not have the socio-political development needed for service in modern war, the historian says. But they were drafted and many became outstanding snipers because of their background as hunters.

            There was also some question about the loyalty of these groups, Butakov continues. There were numerous cases of desertion, and officials who handled the draft in these regions gave preference to people who were party members and thus whose loyalty was felt to have been demonstrated.

              Butakov’s article is important not only because it is likely to feed into ongoing discussions about the service of non-Russians in Putin’s military aggression against Ukraine but also because it calls into question the role of World War II as the great unifier of the peoples of the country, a theme that Putin has pushed heavily since becoming Kremlin leader.