The reason for the freezing of recruitment to the army conscripts from solar Dagestan was a series of ugly cases - a manifestation of the so-called non-statutory relations. Thanks to the media, this topic has been particularly popular in the media space for some time, stirring up interest in an already problematic region. Call Dagestanis started again. Are commanders and future co-workers ready to receive such replenishment?
Ideological failure
A high military spirit is not created by itself, out of nothing, only by issuing an order from the commander of the unit. It is formed in the process of upbringing, maturing of a person, is based on traditions and is closely connected with the national and religious self-consciousness of a warrior. Compiled with the rich heritage and experience of the Russian (Soviet) army to the Dictionary of the spiritual qualities of the Russian army, prepared by the independent All-Russian Scientific Center “Fatherland and Warrior” at the Military University of Moscow Region, the following definition of the military spirit is given: “Internal state, essence, true meaning and character of the armed forces as organizations of people, a union of mind (consciousness), heart (morality) and will (energy) ”. A military spirit manifests itself, according to one of the prominent domestic specialists in the field of military psychology, a participant in the Russian-Japanese war, commander of a separate corps during the First World War, professor of the Academy of the General Staff, General Peter Izmestyev, “in independent actions and initiatives”.
Thus, one of the manifestations of the high morale of a warrior is his conscious readiness for independent action, the desire for reasonable initiative. Unfortunately, this ideology is hardly combined with the current realities of our army. In it, contrary to the requirements of the charter, every soldier very soon becomes convinced of the opposite - the initiative is punishable.
The lack of initiative turned out to be one of the pillars of well-being and even career growth in the Russian Armed Forces. After the disgraceful death of the Soviet army and the ensuing many years of excommunication of its remnants from regular combat training, after personnel "cleansing", when the officers who had combat experience and had their own opinion were primarily dismissed, the spirit in the modern army is largely lost.
To the credit of the current leadership of the Defense Ministry, measures in this area of military construction are being taken and bored - today's soldiers will probably not be discouraged. But in addition to the multiple increase in hours for combat training, activation of other activities that increase the combat readiness and morale of the troops, the army leadership needs to pay attention to the “internal state, essence, true meaning and character of the armed force,” that is, to a man in uniform.
With what baggage of knowledge, stereotypes, norms and rules of behavior will today's army come to the army? In the presence of money and commander's will, it is much easier and faster to raise combat skills than combat spirit. The morale of the draft contingent and the entire Russian nation leaves much to be desired. According to Evgeny Burdinsky, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, almost 250, thousands of draft-age citizens (the majority of whom are Russian), in 2012, declined from military service. And those who wish to serve from among the natives of Dagestan - more than enough. With both hands for military service and the parents of the Caucasian recruits. There is a failure of the entire ideological campaign to form high morale and military-patriotic education among the Russian pre-conscription youth. Although by and large this task was not closely followed by anyone.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
How is Shamil better than Chapaev?
Starting positions to prepare for military service in Dagestan and other regions of Russia are about the same. Some laws, similar problems. Referring to the traditional talk about the primordial militancy of the Caucasian peoples and the special love of the local men to arms and military uniform, it is appropriate to recall that representatives of the indigenous ethnos thirty years ago (judging by themselves) eagerly went to serve in the army, were eager to go to Afghanistan, rightly believing that they should take charge of the unworthy men. The favorite yard game of the boys was the war, and at home - the game of soldiers. Obviously, the breakdown, transformation, recoding of consciousness occurred during the last decades of restructuring and breaking the old system. It is not clear why the Russians suffered from this more than Caucasians.
The answer, obviously, must be sought in the fact that we are initially spoiled by the perception of our heroic past. When we enthusiastically played chapaev, budenny, sailors and beetles, most Caucasian kids wanted to see themselves as shamils. History the legendary founder of the first highland state on the territory of Russia with a Sharia form of government did not leave the minds of several generations of the inhabitants of the Caucasus, first of all Dagestan. Contributed to this and privately pursued on-site policy of indulging residents of national suburbs on the principle of "Whatever the child laughed." Danger leaders of the USSR saw only in the revival of Russian nationalism.
The scale and goals that were set by such personalities as Chapaev or Matrosov and Shamil, of course, are incomparable. And if the heroes of our childhood were completely denationalized (who cared that Chapaev was Chuvash and Matrosov allegedly Bashkir) and initially party, then Shamil was first of all an Avar and a Muslim who sought to unite all orthodox Caucasians into a single supranational state - Imamat. Moreover, he fought (and not bad) against the Russians. This, too, was never forgotten, especially in the highland villages. How was the personality of Imam Shamil even served in Soviet schools? It is quite noble and heroic as the leader of the national liberation movement of the mountain peoples, who fought for independence with autocratic imperial Russia. What is not an example to follow for descendants, thirsting for fame and exploits?
It also contributes to us with Caucasians that with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the corresponding ideology, we very quickly learned the truth about former heroes: Vasily Chapaev and Semyon Budyonny, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and 28 panfilovtsy, Arkady Gaidar and Georgy Zhukove. In the non-stop mode, they continue to shed mud on them, which cannot be said about Imam Shamil. As if looking younger, he returned to his people to give him strength. In our time, I have repeatedly met portraits of the imam, lovingly hung in the office space, where most of the soldiers were Dagestanis. I do not remember that in the establishments or offices it was possible to see the images of Chapaev, Budyonny or even Suvorov, Zhukov. At best - Stalin or Dzerzhinsky. But these people were not our favorites from childhood, did not commit glorious military exploits.
Installation on optimism
The previous heroes were replaced by “idols”: pop tusnya, cinema brothers, supermen-strokes and glamorous skorobogachi - owners of yachts, villas and football clubs. People were intensely inspired by the idea of renouncing the damned past, aggressively trying to erase our national memory. Fortunately, this did not happen completely. But the crisis in the minds of the state-forming people, alas, is obvious. The teleopros held a few years ago in order to reveal the national leader of all times did not give an unequivocal answer to the burning question. The top ten winners include such diverse figures as the holy Prince Alexander Nevsky and Communist Party leader Joseph Stalin, moderate reformer, conservative and monarchist Peter Stolypin and destroyer of the old-regime Russia Vladimir Lenin. In addition to the winner of the Germans and Swedes Alexander Nevsky, not a single warrior was named, the commander. Did our people really forget the exploits of Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Fyodor Ushakov, Peter Bagration, Alexei Yermolov, hundreds of other brilliant personalities, by the example of which one can bring up a wonderful generation of defenders of the Fatherland?
The absence of a universally recognized national leader combining the qualities of a warrior hero and a leader consolidating a nation is a serious problem. Unfortunately, this is not realized by all citizens. As a result of vague military ideals, the lack of exemplary examples, and sometimes their public humiliation or treacherous silence, disappointment is born in its past and an insult to the present, gradually turning into a dull expectation of the future. This is a symptom of the disease of the spirit of the nation. Defeatism is a natural product of extinct national identity. It’s impossible to live with the initiative or win with such a mental attitude that has been stretched for decades.
Isn't this the root of many of our problems, including those with a Caucasian footprint? Let me remind you of the aphorism of the modern philosopher and philologist Vasily (Fazil) Irzabekov: “When the Russians are getting weaker, the others will die”.
We can’t even imagine that we are weak, let alone reconcile with this thought as inappropriate to reality.
To reverse the decadent mood, assiduously inspired by us, we need not so much: to believe in ourselves, in our glorious history, to remember the true heroes of the Fatherland, who can inspire the nation. From here comes the main task of the “deputy people” who are returned to service, as well as the commanders themselves, who have broad rights in the process of educating subordinates. They should teach people to be proud of their country, to overcome despondency and defeatism, raising the spirit of warriors. This will require the help of writers, journalists, writers, authors of history textbooks, teachers, filmmakers, clergymen.
When the economic crisis was raging in America in the 30s of the last century, the Americans - military and civilian - experienced severe psychological problems. The country was saved by the attitude towards optimism and patriotism set by Franklin Roosevelt, the only president of the United States who was elected three times and supported by Hollywood, radio, newspapers, church preachers. It was during this period that new heroes appeared in the nation — white-toothed, discouraged cowboys (essentially ordinary shepherds), and all films surely ended with their victory over insidious Indians. A year after the start of this mass campaign, a change in sentiment was noted in the country, people gained strength, confidence in themselves, in their country, in the government. That is what led the United States to a way out of the crisis.
Just a hundred years ago, the inhabitants of the mighty Russian Empire felt completely happy, self-sufficient and self-confident, in their great country, boldly looking into the future. And if it were not for the lamentations of poets and writers, journalists of the Silver Age, who are always looking for a different, better lot and so embarrassing the minds of their fellow citizens, not a revolution, started with the money of the enemies of the Motherland and supported by the fifth column, then Russia would be the first country in the world absolutely indicators.
History lesson in Dagestan
The processes taking place today in Dagestan are not always faithfully reflected in the central media, which causes Dagestans a slight annoyance.
Not so long ago, an international scientific conference “Actual problems of the Caucasian war and the legacy of Imam Shamil” was held in the capital of the republic. The organizers were the Dagestan Center for Humanitarian Studies (DTSGI) named after Imam Shamil, the Avar Culture Center and the National Library. The chairman of the Center for Center for Pediatric Surgeon Studies, the doctor of historical sciences, the former professor of the Dagestan State University (DSU), Haji Murad Donnoy, who was known in the republic for his radical views, became the ideological inspirer of the event. Among the guests, including those from near and far abroad, there was also a group of young people. The hijabs in which the girls were wearing were not talking about her views.
Head of the Department of History of Dagestan, Professor DGU Omarov in his speech very subtly made it clear what the federal center in the republic will have to face if the Russian authorities continue to act ineffectively, indecisively, inconsistently, non-systematically, without taking into account the region’s historical experience and specifics. Among the politically correct speeches that fully answered the given topic there were also veiled calls for a revision of established views on Russian-Dagestan relations, provocative anti-Russian statements were made, sometimes resembling hidden threats. For example, it was heard in a speech by a foreign guest, candidate of historical sciences Mairbek Vachagayev - the former plenipotentiary of the destroyed Chechen separatist leader Maskhadov in Moscow, and now the president of the French Association of Caucasian Studies and Analyst of the American non-governmental Jamestown Foundation, whose leaders include Russia’s great "friend" Zbigniew Brzezinski and former CIA director James Woolsey.
Mr. Donoy and his like-minded doctor of historical sciences, a leading researcher at the Republican Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography Dadaev in their speeches strongly emphasized the aggressiveness of Russian politics in the Caucasus, the chauvinism allegedly inherent in the Russian people, and the desire of the tsarist authorities to physically destroy the Muslims of the Caucasus, to eradicate them faith. In contrast to imperialist Russia, the Imamate’s state system was praised, which is a prototype for the “builders” of the current quasi-state of the Emirate of the Caucasus, where supposedly the peoples of present-day Russia, including Russian soldiers-defectors, lived and prospered in peace and prosperity.
I hope that this conference is just an annoying mistake made by the republican authorities because of the lack of it. But it fully reflects the moods of a certain part of Dagestan society, especially young people, who always with sympathy and sincere respect belonged to the truly national hero Shamil. Another thing is how to treat this person? After being captured by the Russians, the imam showed himself to the whole world as a sincere and loyal servant of the Russian sovereign and called his people to this. This period of his life at the conference was not even remembered. Do young Dagestans know about him, who are waiting for the agenda from the draft board?