Dedovshchina
From Open Encyclopedia
Dedovshchina (Russian: <onlyinclude>дедовщи́на</onlyinclude>) is the name given to the informal system of subjugation of new junior recruits for the Russian armed services, MVD, and border guards to soldiers of the last year of service. It involves violent (and sometimes fatal) hazing but is not limited to it. It is often cited as a major source of poor morale in the ranks.
The term is derived from "ded", the Russian word for grandfather, meaning soldiers at their fourth and last half-year of conscription, with the suffix -shchina which designates attribution (compare Yezhovshchina, Zhdanovshchina).
History
The origin of this problem is often attributed to the change in conscription term with a new law of October 12 1967, when two different groups of conscripts were simultaneously present in the army: those who were drafted for 3 years service and those only for 2 years. While oppression by older conscripts has probably always taken place in the army, after that date it become organized and with its own rules and ranks.
See also
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