Editing Labor army

{{about|the notion of the labor army in the history of the Soviet Union}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2013}}
[[File:MarkV.jpg|thumb|right|500px|Labor army in 1920, [[British heavy tanks of World War I|Mark V]].]]
The notion of the '''Labor army''' (трудовая армия, трудармия) was introduced in [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] during the [[Russian Civil War]] in 1920. Initially the term was applied to regiments of [[Red Army]] transferred from [[military]] activity to labor activity, such as [[logging]], [[coal]] mining, [[Wood fuel|firewood]] stocking, etc.<ref>Цысь В. В. Трудовые армии периода Гражданской войны — Нижневартовск, 2009.</ref>
==History==
The first labor army (1я Трудармия, 1-я армия труда) was created after the defeat of [[Aleksandr Kolchak|Kolchak]] on the base of the 3rd Army located in the [[Urals]] region by the initiative of the army commander  [[Mikhail Matiyasevich]] (командарм Михаил Степанович Матиясевич).<ref>[http://www.book-chel.ru/ind.php?what=card&id=2110 "Первая революционная армия труда РСФСР"]</ref>

[[Leon Trotsky]], acting as [[People's Commissar]] of Army and Fleet Affairs and Chairman of the [[Revolutionary Military Council]] of the Republic at this time, developed this idea further. He argued that the economic situation in the country required introduction of the '''universal labor duty'''. In the case of workers, this could be done with the help of [[trade union]]s, while in the case of peasantry, Trotsky argued, it was possible only through [[mobilization]].<ref name= trot>Leon Trotsky, [http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/trotsky/trotl536.htm ЗАДАЧИ ТРУДОВОЙ МОБИЛИЗАЦИИ]</ref>

He argued further that ''"army-type organization is in fact inherently Soviet type of organization"''.<ref name= trot/>

His critics argued that this idea was leading back to the times of [[tsarism]] and [[slavery]]. Trotsky retorted that unlike old times, workers were supposed to work not for exploiters, but for their own good, for their own state, i.e., labor duty is the fulfillment of the obligations of the liberated working class with respect to their "worker-peasant state" in the cases of emergency.<ref name= trot/>

By the end of the [[Russian Civil War]] and the introduction of [[New Economic Policy]]  the idea of the labor army ended, especially after [[Joseph Stalin]]'s assumption of power and the implementation of his policies of [[History of the Soviet Union (1927-1953)#Industrialization in practice|industrialization]] and [[Collectivisation in the USSR|collectivization]], which effectively solved the problem of [[workforce]] mobilization both in industry and agriculture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/revbet/ch01.htm|title = Leon Trotsky: The Revolution Betrayed (1. What Has Been Achieved)}}</ref>

Later Trotskyists such as [[Isaac Deutscher]] and [[Tony Cliff]] have been critics of this policy but [[Ernest Mandel]] asserted that a myth had been constructed around the role of Trotsky in the [[trade-union debate (Russia)|trade-union debate]]. Mandel argued this controversy had been used by [[liberalism|liberal]] circles in Russia to claim that Trotsky’s proposals on the “militarization of labour” had provided the groundwork for more repressive and [[authoritarian]] policies which were later adopted by Stalin against workers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mandel |first1=Ernest |title=Trotsky as Alternative |date=5 May 2020 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=978-1-78960-701-7 |pages=132–133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVmcEAAAQBAJ&dq=trotsky+as+alternative+mandel&pg=PT80 |language=en}}</ref> Mandel believed this view overlooked historical ascertainable facts such as the extensive [[unemployment]], [[lumpenproletariat|lumpenization]] of workers and the fact there were no examples of repressive actions taken against workers in factories during the period of labour armies. Mandel further re-iterated that Trotsky's attitudes was driven by his concern about the need to prepare workers for key positions in factory management and he had proposed replacing [[war communism]] with the [[New Economic Policy|NEP]] a year ahead of the party leadership.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mandel |first1=Ernest |title=Trotsky as Alternative |date=5 May 2020 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=978-1-78960-701-7 |pages=132–133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVmcEAAAQBAJ&dq=trotsky+as+alternative+mandel&pg=PT80 |language=en}}</ref>

==Nazi Germany==
In [[Nazi Germany]], the [[Reich Labour Service]] was established to help mitigate the effects of [[unemployment]] on the [[Economy of Nazi Germany|German economy]], militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with [[Nazism|Nazi]] ideology. It was the official state labour service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

==Later Soviet Union==
During World War II certain categories of population, primarily [[History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union|ethnic Germans]], were conscripted into [[NKVD labor columns]], in later literature informally referred to as "labor army".

Until the last days of the [[Soviet Union]], the [[Soviet Army]] incorporated the idea of the labor army. With obligatory military duty in the state, men deemed unfit for regular military duty but not unfit for other work, as well as many able-bodied ones, were assigned to ''[[construction battalion (Soviet Union)|construction battalion]]s'' (стройбаты). This tradition continues in a number of [[post-Soviet states]], notably [[Russia]], [[Belarus]] and [[Turkmenistan]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Welle (www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche|title=Туркменские солдаты хотят в "дубайские роты" {{!}} DW {{!}} 04.02.2010|url=https://www.dw.com/ru/%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8B-%D1%85%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%8F%D1%82-%D0%B2-%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%8B/a-5215423|access-date=2020-08-01|website=DW.COM|language=ru}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Alternative civilian service]]
*[[Bevin Boys]]
*[[Civil conscription]]
*[[Civilian Conservation Corps]]
*[[Construction soldier]]
*[[Hand and hitch-up services]]
*[[Labor battalion]]
*[[Reserve army of labour|Reserve Army of Labour]]
*[[Reichsarbeitsdienst]]
*[[Workfare]]
*[[Unfree labour]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Soviet internal politics]]
[[Category:Forced migration in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Forced labor in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Conscription]]
[[Category:Military of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Non-combatant military personnel]]