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Military commissariats are institutions that are part of military service or law enforcement mechanisms in some European countries. As part of the British Army in the 19th century, military commissariats were used to provide organisational and bookkeeping duties. The most widespread and continued use of military commissariats exist in post-Soviet states. Their use as local military administrative agencies as part of the greater military structure of the Soviet Union continues in modern Russia and other former Soviet states. In France and Italy, the word ‘commissariat’ can refer to factions of the police and law enforcement, some of whom are connected to the military.

In the Soviet Union
A military commissariat (Russian: Bоенный коммисариат, translit: voyenny kommisariat) was a local military administrative agency that was used in the Soviet Union to provide administrative and organisational military services. They were led by a military commissar (Russian: Bоенный коммисар, translit: voyenny kommisar) who worked in a political and bureaucratic role alongside a regional military commander, a traditional military official. Military commissariats were used in the Soviet Union from 1917 until its dissolution in 1991. They were introduced after the formation of the Soviet Union where land area was split into various republics. These republics were then divided into krays, then into oblasts and then into national districts and each of these divisions had a military commissariat. The role of the military commissariat at each stage of hierarchy differed, however, its core functions were administrative housekeeping regarding military personnel and equipment and the provision of military training. Other duties included troop mobilisation, preparing local men for service, registering all relevant weaponry including all machinery and automobiles in the region, delivering pensions to retired army personnel, and selecting and promoting employed officers.

During the Russian Civil War, a political officer was introduced by the Red Army to each occupied military districts. This officer would collaborate with the existing military commander and was the precursor to a military commissar. This introduction of an independent political officer allowed leadership checks and balances to develop in each Soviet district and served to maintain relations with civilians out of a strictly military context as the Soviet Union developed.

The importance of the military commissariat system rose in the 1920s and 1930s as they allowed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to exert political control alongside the military. Vladimir Lenin, head of government of Soviet Russia and subsequent Soviet Union from 1917-1924, said that ‘without military commissariats we would not have a Red Army’.

From 1938 to 1945, military commissariats mobilised troops first in response to the Winter War and then in the subsequent outbreak of World War II. Each military commissariat was managed by the Red Army General Headquarters during World War II and to encourage military service and participation they would organise local military functions and discussions. After World War II and during the Cold War, according to Defence Intelligence Agency documentation, military commissariats were monitored in order to establish understandings of the Soviet military structure, especially the size and interests of the Soviet military forces.

Current use
Military commissariats are connected to military expenditure and the quality of military service and engagement. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the newly founded Russian Federation suffered a period of economic instability. This led to a decrease in fiscal expenditure toward the military and military programs, a noticeable difference when compared with military expenditure during the Soviet Union.

In Russia
Military commissariats fulfil the same roles in Russia as they did in the Soviet Union. However, since the decrease in military expenditure during the 1990s and a consequential decrease in the standard of military service, issues of draft evasion and bribery have been illuminated and the role of the military commissariat scrutinised. This is because military commissariats fulfil the role of recruiting servicemen to the Russian army and choosing who is ineligible for service. At military commissariats officers and commissars can be bribed to not allow persons to be taken to military service, and this draft evasion is a common concern. Another contentious issue is how the decision to continue the use of Soviet names such as voyenkom and voyenkomat has been regarded as a form of Soviet nostalgia.

The military in Russia has become increasingly unpopular amongst Russian citizens, with a 2011 Levada Centre study finding that 54% of Russian parents would not want their son to join the army. Additionally, the military has a legacy of hazing and brutality in the form of dedovshchina. This reputation negatively connotes back to the role of military commissariats in conscription. At military commissariats officers and commissars can be bribed to not allow persons to be taken to military service.

In other European countries
The word commissariat, within the Military of France and the Military of Italy (and formerly in the British Army) designates services providing supplies, as well as financial and legal support to units, roughly equivalent to the Quartermasters in the US military. Officers from these services are called commissaires (in French), commissari (in Italian) and commissaries in English.

Answers to Module 7 Questions
The media I have created is a photograph of roses from a garden. It is my own work and is in the file format JPEG. I have chosen the less restrictive license and it will be a part of the close-up photographs of flowers category. Description will be: Pink floribunda roses

Practicing citations
Colton’s comparison between the commissar and the commander illuminates the wider context of the Soviet military system, allowing for an in-depth report.

This article discusses the controversy surrounding the continued influence of Russian political and military agents in post-Soviet states and regions. Preobrazhensky focuses on the control exerted by the KGB (Soviet secret police) and its successor the FSB and elaborates on the use of military commissariats in this context.