According to Ozhegov's dictionary and in the encyclopedia the word ethics has two meanings:
Military ethics as a philosophy doctrine about morality based on a Christian view.
As it was already mentioned, ethics is a philosophy doctrine on morality. What is morality? The term ‘moral’ comes from Latin ‘moris’ which means habit, or custom. The meaning of the norms, habit, customs and rules, which regulate relationships between people in a society is determined by the origin, confession and economic situation. The formation of moral views may also be influenced by historic traditions, national customs, religious confessions, social changes.
The norms, customs, habits are represented in almost all areas of human activity, being a vitally important part of them.
People often act according to their religious confession ‘s guidance. Thus, morality is a composition of confessional guidance. These rules are reflected in the Bible, in the laws of God.
The philosophic character of ethics can be shown by the
following provisions:
First, the moral phenomena have an
overallcharacter. There are no such areas of human life where
morality would not be involved. Politics, art, science, military
matters - all this may be valued by moral principles.
Second, the problem of a man and God is one of
the fundamentals in Christian philosophy. And the main question
of the Christian ethics is the determination of the question of a
man and God, a man and Christian doctrine.
Third, sometimes a man has problems which are of
"eternal" philosophical character. Everyone
growing in his life asks questions, same as those from hundreds
and thousands years ago: "who am I?", "why
am I here?" , "what is the sense of life?",
"what is happiness in life?", "what is goood and
evil?". The answers to these questions were always
given by our Christian philosphy. Some ask themselves the
question: "Isn't it better to consider war antiChristian,
to fight without Christ, and do not try to combine that which can
not be combined?" The one who asks this question is
bravely and sincerely looking for truth, and the answer to this
must be true and frank. We may not say that Christ has "blessed
the military service", but He " in no way
judged it completely" . Many pacifists remember the
commandment "Thou shalt not kill". But we must
not look at it out of ‘the time and space’ context. We
sould look at the act of Sinai Legislation in the context of the
Old Testament history. Jehovah gave this legislation the the
chosen nation - Jews - but not to the whole human kind.
At the time that Israel , the chosen nation was going into the Canaan land, it was like an army. "The Ten Commandments" were the first disciplinary manual in history. Empowered by this, the sons of Israel conquered the Promised Land and held it, having killed all the the pagan people , who were not under the 6th Commandment.
Also, the pagan nations surrounding Israel were fighting against each other. In order to survive Israel had to defend itself and sometimes even attack. And also peaceful living with the Canaanite people , ungodly and spoilt, could have meant moral death for the nation of Israel. That is why the war with such people was a lesser evil than peaceful living with them. The war prevented the Jews from forgetting the true God and and from moral spoilure. Thus, such war gained the status of a sacred war.
The first four Commandments determine the attitude af a Jewish person to the God of their fathers, and the relationship within the nation. The 6th Commandment forbids the Jew to murder another Jew, as well as the 8th Commandment forbids the Jew to steal from another Jew, and the 10th forbids making false witness to another Jew. In these circumstances the 6th Commandment gets its authentic sense.
Military Ethics of the Christ-loving Soldier
When teaching about love for the neighbour and an all
forgiving Christ , He let His disciples understand that much
blood would be shed before the final Kingdom of God’s
establishment:
“Don't think that I came to bring peace to this land not
peace but the sword.” (Mattew 10:34),
“When you will hear about wars and disturbances, don't be
scared, because all this has to come. (Matthew 14:6; Mark8:7;
Luke 21:9)
When soldiers came to John and asked him what to do, he told them “to offend no one, to not make false witness and to be content with your pay”. Christ taught: “ if one hits you in one cheeck, give him the other, and if one takes away from you your upper clothes don't prevent him from taking your shirt.”(Mattew 5:39-40; Luke 6:29).
Thus, He determined the attitude of a man to a man. The Son of man suffered from the scribes and the crowd. He might just think and the fire from heaven would burn the executers down. But He didn't do it, showing the example of humility and meakness.
But Christ withstood the shroud and the crown they made for Him as that which concerned Him personally. And we know that when He saw the traders in the temple - in the house of His Father, He made a whip of ropes and expelled them. A soldier, as a governmental authority, has a sword to protect the right, necessary and sacred cause: the cause of his Motherland. He defends the freedom and the spiritual life of his nation on earth: its free faith, its creative culture, its unslavery work. For this he has a sword, for this he is trained, disciplined, overcomes hardships and dangers, learns to sacrifice his life. And in the weapon there is a life compromise, which makes the real Christ-loving necessary and obligatory. His sword is not the only but the final arguement of national defense.This arguement is that there will always be found the people, who know how to defend life and spiritual state of thier nation, who know how to die killing and kill dying.
In this death there is the self-refusal and the highest sacrifice, worthy of a Christian, that is why the soldier must be Christ-loving.
There are two sides in this killing . One is harsh and full of enmity. It is accepted by the Christian soldier not by his own will, but as a sign of obedience and service. The other is sacrificial, because he sacrifices not only his life in combat, but also as to say his innocence in the blood of his neighbour: He sheds others blood, maybe the blood of an innocent and good man, and the drops of this blood stay not only on his clothes and hands, but also in his soul. The man who sacrifices to his nation his own life, his spiritual state, and the calmness of conscience, needs the real Christ-loving as no other man. It does not only gives him capability to sacrifice in combat, but also nobility; not only prayer comfort before the combat, but also the cleansing of the soul in repentance after the combat. Christ-loving strengthens his conscience and healing. And the man needs it the more, the deeper and more tragic is the life compromise there is in now. This is why the Church is praying about the Christ-loving army. This is why the soldier should be Christ-loving.
Ethics as an integration of the code of
conduct of a serviceman
Basic historic stages of military ethics development in the
Russian Army (10th century - 1917)
Russian military-ethical thought was developed during hundreds of years from the 10th to the 20th century. We find elements of military-ethical knowledge in ancient chronicles, writing about old battles and raids.
The first systematization was done in "The Code of Honour" of the armies of Russian princes, "Princes' Combat Rules", and "Soldiers' Regulations"
Peter the First founded the principles of military ethics after creation in 1700 of the regular army. His creation "The Military Manual" was the active standard of conduct of the servicemen.
To understand the military ethics of that time it is needed to understand the ethics of the officers. "Officers to soldiers as fathers to sons" Peter the 1st used to say. "The regiments will be good not from the manuals, but from the colonels' - said Rumiantsev . The officers of Peter's army was composed of nobility, but soon in a decree of Jan16, 1721 and in 1722 everyone who recieved the first officers rank, was entitled an inheritable noblety rank. Later such rank was raised to that of a major, and later to a LtCol.
What ethical norms were implemented in the army of that time? Let’s look at it in the example of Suvorov, the generalissimo (1729-1800). After he got a separate unit under his command, he took care of the religious-moral education of the soldiers. Suvorov compared the soldier who said prayers with others and made the conclusion that this soldier in all his actions realized that God was with him all the time and, thus, would be more directing himself to honesty. He was always present with his staff at the religious services, thus, making a good influence on the soldiers. Realising the need of the religious Service for the soldiers he even built a worship place in one of his units. He also knew that the prayer gave him God's power and this is why he started and finished his battles with a prayer. Before the battle he reminded everybody of their responsibility before God, Tsar, and the Motherland. The service was even more solemn after a victory. At such times he hurried to the church to sing praise to the One who gives all the blessings. He also held services for the killed in action teaching his soldiers by the word of memory. In the war camp he was often present at the sunrise and the sunset praying "Our Father Who is in heaven". All his orders were founded on such principles, such as “"do not kill the enemy soldier in vain. The soldier is not a criminal. These orders were often repeated several times a day so the soldiers could better memorise them.Suvorov would wake up early in the morning and start the day with a prayer. At 9 he had lunch and invited generals and officers. Before lunch his aide prayed "Our Father who is in heaven". Everyone was supposed to say "Amen".
Military ethics standards in the Soviet army
The Russian officers' corps didn't survive the national disaster together with the state, having served for more than two centuries as a foundation of statehood and a factor that united all the best. It underwent huge losses in the World War and became the main object for the Red terror. The Civilian war did away with the notion of Russian officers' corps as a layer of Russian society. Thousands of its representatives who survived in the fight for the White Russia found themselves abroad spread all over the world. Many thousands remained in the Motherland (including those who served in the Red Army), but by the end of 20's -beginning of 30's they were repressed. Hundreds of them survived till the late 30's, but only tens of them were left after new cleanings. The fate of Russian officers is a tragic one and needs a special talk. But here I would like to underline their traditions. Of course there were none during first years of Bolshevik rule. The new power was not only out of need for that, but was even hostile to any form of a relationship of its commanders with the Russian officers' corps. The monuments to Russian war leaders were brought down, the stone plates from military cemeteries were used to cover roads, and a serviceman with golden shoulder boards became a symbol of evil, the most hated one. Being a former officer or a relative of one was almost like being a criminal. The hatred was so strong that even in the end of 30's, when there arose a national necessity for transformation and thus implementation of some old army ways (introduction of personal military ranks, renovation of Cossack troops), the attitude towards officers remained the same. The idea of rehabilitation of the Russian officers corps was out or the question.
Only after the WW2 broke up, the situation started to change, but it still took the years of 1941-1942 to realize the necessity for at least external attributes of Russian military traditions. In 1943 the government gave back the churches to the priesthood. And if before the war there were only several hundreds of fellowships, then in 1943 there were already 22 thousands of them. "During the war the nation always turns its face to God.". "One can see the true face of God only from a trench".
The act of reintroduction of golden shoulder boards was a turning point in the history of the Russian officer's corps. Although it was introduced after all those who were supposed to use them were killed, something similar to rehabilitation was started. For 15 years the criminals with golden shoulder boards disappeared from magazines and literature pieces. Some of the heroes even acquired some attractive moral features. Some papers started to publish apologetic articles about Russian officers. Some of them were brought together into a book. and there even appeared a word combination "traditions of Russian officer's corps". The Soviet Army commanders were claimed to be the carriers of the "best" of them.
So, what are the "traditions of the Russian officer's corps"? The perfect accomplishment of military duty, the courage and heroism - all this is applicable to a serviceman of any army. But the Russian and Soviet notions were hostile to each other. So such attempts to copy at least external elements {? witness of some steps fill the claims to have traditions with some contents?}. The idea itself was one thing and the practical implementation another one. More over it turned out to have short life. Only for ten years the books about Russian officers were published but in the end of the 50's it was stopped and was never revived on the same scale. And it is also interesting that the rehabilitation in 1943 was just the one of a notion but not of the names of the officers. The attitude towards them stayed the same. At that time of the biggest respect to the old traditions it was impossible to find any mentioning that some Soviet commanders used to be Russian officers. It became possible to talk about people in the 60's-70's when all of them were dead. And even the fact that the Soviet troops were led by such people was possible to be mentioned. Although the 1943 type talks were already out of fashion. The union of the knowledge about Russian officers' corps and its traditions didn't occur. One can't claim to have traditions. One can only be or not be the carrier of them. And it all depends on the modern time officers whether to accept or not accept the traditions.
Formation of the new ethics standards on the Christianity stand, and of basic human and world values in the Armed Forces of Belorussia
First in 1993 the priests were invited for santification of units, special believers "corners" were made. The first regiment church was built near the city. Though one can't talk about formation of a Christ-loving ethics so far. As the1994-95 poll among conscripts shows there are:
Orthodox 60%
Catholics 2%
Protestants 0.2%
Nonbelievers 37.8%
"Lord, give faith to their hearts! Lord, give us the possibility to revive the ethics norms of Christ-loving soldiers in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belorus."
English translation of this paper is courtesy of Cadet Oleg Chernishov of Ukraine.
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