Military Ideals, Inculcation of

in the USSR a process whereby purposeful and systematic measures are used to influence servicemen and military collectives so as to instill political consciousness, devotion to military duty, discipline, courage, psychological stability, and the cohesion and high combat efficiency of military units. The inculcation of military ideals is inspired by the spirit of Soviet patriotism and devotion to Communist ideology.

The principles of the inculcation of military ideals in the army of the socialist state were developed by V. I. Lenin. He taught that “in any war victory is in the final analysis deter-mined by the morale of the masses who shed their blood on the battlefield” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 41, p. 121). The Leninist ideas on the inculcation of military ideals were creatively developed by M. V. Frunze, M. I. Kalinin, M. N. Tukhachevskii, K. E. Voroshilov, R. la. Malinovskii, and many other prominent party, state, and military figures. The content of the military ideals is determined by the Program of the CPSU, by the military oath, and by military regulations. It is implemented by commanders, political organizations, and party and Komsomol organizations in the process of military and political training in educational lessons, exercises, and field fire and in the whole course of military service.

In the armies of the imperialist states the inculcation of military ideals is reactionary in nature and aggressive in orientation. Anticommunism is its basic political content. To this end servicemen are ideologically indoctrinated, facts are distorted, and the true aims of the war are carefully masked and base instincts kindled; this has been convincingly at-tested to by the experience of the recent wars and aggressive actions of the imperialists in Korea (1950-53), Vietnam (since 1964), and other regions.