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A simpler answer to your outlook and more fair is the fact that any human is capable of great deeds. No doubt great feats that changed the course of Swedish history have been lost to us.
To say that any soldier is better than the next is foolish in this light. A Swedish soldier would fight much harder for his home than to take another somewhere far away from someone else. Russians are the same and while in many cases Russia did win by force of mass the men did feel they had a real reason to be on the field to begin with.
This is a hell of a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.
You know, there is an old "Peter the Great" movie ( from 1937,) that I used to like, and there is a famous scene there, when he ( Peter The Great that is) finally gets his victory over Swedish generals, and they are brought in front of him, he gives them a bear hug, saying "Thank you, you are my ultimate teachers."
So those are the times we are talking about, that's why I was really surprised that it was your pick.
I can confirm you the military duty is one year now in russia. There are many way to not make it and the majority of young men don't do their time.
I literrally witness a guy crying like a baby after he understand he will have to join army. But according to you he might e an exception?
Now about the army conscription - back in Soviet days, later on and now.
This is not an easy "yes" and "no" subject, as actually practically anything and everything in Russia is controversial. Whenever one describes something there, he/she always have to add "BUT" and to describe something totally opposite of what he/she just said.
This case ( with Soviet/Russian Army) is not an exception. What I described earlier, was true for Russian families with certain background- I've already said many times that Russia is a class society. This is how boys were raised on the lower social ladder of the society, but if you'd go a bit higher, the picture was already somewhat different. SOME families regarded army as a scourge, something to be avoided at all cost - mostly families that were hoping to send their sons to Universities, ( then they'd be exempt from 2 year draft,) however if they were not passing the entry exams right after graduating from school, they were drafted, and had their chance to re-apply to Universities only two years later, after serving in the army. Which was considered a big waste of time; on top of that, the whole army setting was regarded in such families as "dumbing down" , not to mention the machismo side of Russian culture and danger of hazing, which was prominent in Soviet Army. To complicate picture even more, the academic abilities of boys in Russia ( particularly when it was coming to math/science/technology) were not determined strictly within the "class lines." There were plenty of capable kids from the families of workers/peasants background, and when they were entering the Universities ( and getting Army training as well, but it was much shorter of course,) some of them were deciding to join Army later on, becoming the officers. Likewise, sometimes children of "more noble" background, following the "call of heart" ( and may be some secret romanticism connected to the "Old Empire" and "the honor of White Officer") were joining army as well. I mean Igor Girkin (aka) Strelkov belongs to this type, and although he came along in later times, this type of officers was in place through Soviet times as well.
Now with the fall of the Soviet Union, the army was in poor shape. On top of usual hardship and hazing, there was shortage of food, warm clothing and the rest, so obviously plenty of youngsters were trying to dodge the draft, and since those were not Soviet times already, it was easier to do.
This trend however changed completely within the last few years. I am not going to credit just Putin for that, because you can overhaul army management completely, and pour money into it, but it still wouldn't be enough to make it attractive for the conscripts - just tolerable enough. So obviously the mood in the society has changed - I think that the patriotism is very high in Russia at this point, and that's the reason that serving in the army became very prestigious now - there is no shortage of people willing to serve; in fact I've heard that some are even turned away now.
The latest *shocker* I've got, was when my close g.f. told me that her younger son joined the army ( artillery I think,) because this would be the LAST Russian family I could think of, that would want ANYTHING to do with the army, knowing their background.
So yes, I can see that the picture definitely changed, as far as Russian society goes in this respect.
I've got a question concerning the school system in Russia, specifically primary and secondary schools. As I understood, the summer vacations are supposed to begin around mid-June, and they're preceded by a ~ 2 week period of exams. How does that work exactly? In my country, there's obviously an exam period after the end of each semester at university where a student sometimes has several exams in one day and sometimes several exam-free days in a row. But I'm not sure how such a period of time devoted strictly to exams can be working in primary or secondary schools. Do the pupils have exams from the morning to the afternoon every day for two weeks? Or is it similar to the model used in universities (one busy day, then a day off, then a busy morning etc.)? Or some mix between these two?
I knew several of a pack that hung out at Partisanskaya Metro Station. They were all very friendly and had severe weight problems. They once refused beef jerky I offered them.
I've got a question concerning the school system in Russia, specifically primary and secondary schools. As I understood, the summer vacations are supposed to begin around mid-June, and they're preceded by a ~ 2 week period of exams. How does that work exactly? In my country, there's obviously an exam period after the end of each semester at university where a student sometimes has several exams in one day and sometimes several exam-free days in a row. But I'm not sure how such a period of time devoted strictly to exams can be working in primary or secondary schools. Do the pupils have exams from the morning to the afternoon every day for two weeks? Or is it similar to the model used in universities (one busy day, then a day off, then a busy morning etc.)? Or some mix between these two?
Students write final papers on subjects in May. They get marks for that. If the marks are satisfactory, than the student moves to the next grade. Class 9 and class 11 is graduation classes. Students take a tests in several subjects for admission to technical schools and universities in these classes. This takes place in June.
Students write final papers on subjects in May. They get marks for that. If the marks are satisfactory, than the student moves to the next grade. Class 9 and class 11 is graduation classes. Students take a tests in several subjects for admission to technical schools and universities in these classes. This takes place in June.
Thanks. So that apart from those who are doing entrance exams, student have vacations from June 1?
Growth in the domestic production of pork and poultry products has already come to negate the need for imports. Fresh vegetable output grew 30% in 2016 compared to the year before, with the use of greenhouses allowing imports to decline dramatically even in winter, from 70% before the countersanctions took effect to 35% today. In a year's time, the Russian Institute of Agricultural Marketing expects imports to fall to less than 20%.
60% of all consumer goods bought and sold in Russia are made in Russia as of this month. True? I saw an article then lost it.
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