What were the Officers really like?
Josh Bushnell reveals the truth about the militia culture of the Russian army during 1881-1914 in his article “The Tsarist Officer Corps, 1881-1914: Customs, Duties, Inefficiency.” He explains that authors such as Aleksandr Kuprin and Petr Krasnov wrote fictional accounts of soldiers living in provincial garrisons in the 1890s. “Almost without exception, the officers in the novel(s) are given bouts of solitary or collective drunkenness, and each has, in addition, his own personal vice” (Bushnell 753). These vices include cheating, extreme promiscuity and stealing. While the characters in the novels might sound extreme in their destructive ways, the fictional accounts appear frighteningly close to the truth.
Bushnell writes that “there is literally no officer memoir, published or unpublished, that does not report either individual cases of drinking to incapacitation (with no negative consequences for the officer’s career) or a uniform pattern of heavy drinking.” Drinking was a norm in the officer’s lives; in fact, soldiers were often ostracized if they did not take part in the action of heavy drinking. “Drinking to stupefaction was part of the initiation ritual for young officers newly posted to a regiment, and junior officers who drank but moderately were likely to be reproved by their commanders” (Bushnell 756). In short, choosing to not drink was looked upon as a political deviance. Excess drinking became so widespread in the military culture that alcoholism became unrecognizable. We see this in Chebutikin, who struggles throughout the play with a drinking problem. Although Chebutikin is not a solider, he is a doctor in the army, therefore surrounding himself with likeminded people.
Whether it could be blamed solely on the consumption of alcohol or not, Russian soldiers tended to have a sadistic side to them. Soldiers were excused from any punishment when committing acts of murder, theft and adultery. Along with drinking, “theft, misappropriation and graft were also acquired social norms.” Bushnell explains, “at the least, officers learned by example that they could get away with theft.” Officers would steal by not handing over pay or by taking money that families sent to their sons. Unlike drinking, theft within the army community was not flaunted, though it was very common. The act of stealing became so common between officers that in order to keep up with their lavish lifestyles, officers found it necessary to steal from others since their pay was so low.
Married officers were said to be a different kind of person than the bachelor officers: Bushnell describes them as “living a life apart from the mess.” This can be seen in the difference between Vershinin and Solyony. Vershinin, who is married (although does have an affair with Masha) has a demeanor of hope and love. He philosophizes and speaks of education and work. Unlike him, Solyony depicts the charactization of the officers Kuprin and Krasnov write about in their novels. Solyony is described by Tuzenbach on page 35 as “vulgar” and a “bully” in public. On page 55, Solyony tells Natasha “If that one was my kid, I’d have tossed him in the frying pan and eaten him.” He argues and picks unnecessary fights with people over simple things like what “chekhartma” and “chermasha” are, or how many Universities there are in Moscow.
The best example of Solyony’s destructive behavior matching the common soldier’s is when he challenges Tuzenbach to a duel. “In 1894 duels between officers became legal, and they could be, and frequently were, mandated by courts of honor” (Bushnell 759). Each officer was provided with their own duel handbook, which explained rules and regulations of duels. In Three Sisters, Tuzenbach is killed in the duel that Solyony springs upon him out of jealous rage over Irina. Simple arguments or petty jealousies such as this were commonly solved with murder. Bushnell gives examples of the officer’s murderous acts:
As a consequence, officers murdered lawyers who were felt to have insulted the army in court proceeding; they beat up or murdered civilians who showed a lack of respect in restaurants or on the street; they set their soldiers upon insolent cabbies—the pretexts for taking revenge were infinite (Bushnell 760).
Perhaps this is why fathers in military families highly encourage their sons to seek life elsewhere than the army, like Andres father did, in order to avoid the vicious and immoral lifestyle of the officers. It could also explain why Tuzenbach (prior to the duel with Solyony) announced that he wanted to leave the army to go work.
Work Cited:
The Tsarist Officer Corps, 1881-1914: Customs, Duties, Inefficiency
John Bushnell
The American Historical Review , Vol. 86, No. 4 (Oct., 1981), pp. 753-780
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1860133
Bushnell writes that “there is literally no officer memoir, published or unpublished, that does not report either individual cases of drinking to incapacitation (with no negative consequences for the officer’s career) or a uniform pattern of heavy drinking.” Drinking was a norm in the officer’s lives; in fact, soldiers were often ostracized if they did not take part in the action of heavy drinking. “Drinking to stupefaction was part of the initiation ritual for young officers newly posted to a regiment, and junior officers who drank but moderately were likely to be reproved by their commanders” (Bushnell 756). In short, choosing to not drink was looked upon as a political deviance. Excess drinking became so widespread in the military culture that alcoholism became unrecognizable. We see this in Chebutikin, who struggles throughout the play with a drinking problem. Although Chebutikin is not a solider, he is a doctor in the army, therefore surrounding himself with likeminded people.
Whether it could be blamed solely on the consumption of alcohol or not, Russian soldiers tended to have a sadistic side to them. Soldiers were excused from any punishment when committing acts of murder, theft and adultery. Along with drinking, “theft, misappropriation and graft were also acquired social norms.” Bushnell explains, “at the least, officers learned by example that they could get away with theft.” Officers would steal by not handing over pay or by taking money that families sent to their sons. Unlike drinking, theft within the army community was not flaunted, though it was very common. The act of stealing became so common between officers that in order to keep up with their lavish lifestyles, officers found it necessary to steal from others since their pay was so low.
Married officers were said to be a different kind of person than the bachelor officers: Bushnell describes them as “living a life apart from the mess.” This can be seen in the difference between Vershinin and Solyony. Vershinin, who is married (although does have an affair with Masha) has a demeanor of hope and love. He philosophizes and speaks of education and work. Unlike him, Solyony depicts the charactization of the officers Kuprin and Krasnov write about in their novels. Solyony is described by Tuzenbach on page 35 as “vulgar” and a “bully” in public. On page 55, Solyony tells Natasha “If that one was my kid, I’d have tossed him in the frying pan and eaten him.” He argues and picks unnecessary fights with people over simple things like what “chekhartma” and “chermasha” are, or how many Universities there are in Moscow.
The best example of Solyony’s destructive behavior matching the common soldier’s is when he challenges Tuzenbach to a duel. “In 1894 duels between officers became legal, and they could be, and frequently were, mandated by courts of honor” (Bushnell 759). Each officer was provided with their own duel handbook, which explained rules and regulations of duels. In Three Sisters, Tuzenbach is killed in the duel that Solyony springs upon him out of jealous rage over Irina. Simple arguments or petty jealousies such as this were commonly solved with murder. Bushnell gives examples of the officer’s murderous acts:
As a consequence, officers murdered lawyers who were felt to have insulted the army in court proceeding; they beat up or murdered civilians who showed a lack of respect in restaurants or on the street; they set their soldiers upon insolent cabbies—the pretexts for taking revenge were infinite (Bushnell 760).
Perhaps this is why fathers in military families highly encourage their sons to seek life elsewhere than the army, like Andres father did, in order to avoid the vicious and immoral lifestyle of the officers. It could also explain why Tuzenbach (prior to the duel with Solyony) announced that he wanted to leave the army to go work.
Work Cited:
The Tsarist Officer Corps, 1881-1914: Customs, Duties, Inefficiency
John Bushnell
The American Historical Review , Vol. 86, No. 4 (Oct., 1981), pp. 753-780
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1860133