200 The Imperial Century, 1725-1825
manpC'wer for the forces. If they were encouraged or coerced into following in
their fathers' footsteps, might not the burden of the recruit levy be reduced?
Had this been possible, the Russian army would have turned into a self-
perpetuating warrior caste, with unforseeable results for the country's social
development. However, the idea was JUSt a wiii o' the wisp, pn:cist:iy be~<tusc
of the low birth rate in soldiers' families. The number of male children
reaching the age of maturity was too slight (at any rate until the 1820s) to make
much impact upon recruitment. Nevertheless these boys did receive a rudimen-
tary education (see ch. 9) and this was of considerable importance, given that
in Russia generally there was as yet barely any organized primary schooling. It
created a group-or caste-of men who were literate and thus able to fill cleri-
cal positions in the military administration. They qualified for NCO rank but
could not easily attain officer status, and this naturally bred feelings of
frustration. The 'soldiers' children' may be regarded as an embryonic sub-
intelligentsia, whose descendants would one day show themselves capable of
assuming a leadership role in the struggle for revolutionary change. To be
sure, this development still lay far in the future, but its roots go back to the
early Imperial period.
wang
(Wang)
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