Essay from the year 2007 in the subject Politics - Region: Russia, grade: 2, University of Salzburg (Institut fur Geschichts- und Politikwissenschaft), language: English, abstract: The Russian state has faced a deep transformation since the beginning of the 1990s. The society moved from a dictatorial regime to a formal democracy. The military has been a problem in Russia since the times of the Soviet Union. Violence, abuses, suicides etc. are the result of the traditional military system. During the final stage of the Soviet Empire protest against the miserable conditions in the army was entered by a small number of mothers of young soldiers. This essay is about the non governmental organisation of the Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, which is one of the most important and successful human rights organisations in Russia. The first chapter of this Essay will be about the establishment of the Soldiers' Mothers and the societal conditions which enabled it. Chapter two is about the Status quo of the Russian Army, about the violence against and abuses of young conscripts and about the associated hierarchical military system. Also structural and legal shortcomings of the military will be described. The third chapter deals with the goals and demands of the Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg, chapter four will be about the working methods of the organisation and the ways of embarking their goals.
