Comrade Red Army men and Red Navy men!
The supplementary call-up of the class of 1901 has been completed, and it has confirmed afresh that the entire country of the workers and peasants stands behind the Red Army. The supplementary call-up proceeded everywhere with great èlan and was accomplished with complete success. [1]
In some provinces the expected number was greatly exceeded. There was a considerable influx of volunteers.
The conscripts arrived at the assembly-points in serried ranks, with Red banners and singing revolutionary songs.
I call on those who have been serving in the Red Army for some time to greet the newcomers in a brotherly way. May these men who have temporarily left their homes find here a new family. May the Red barracks provide them with friendly com-radeship and a Red school.
On January 1 all the new recruits will acquire the status of Red Army men who have been serving for some time. There must be no illiterates among them. They must firmly master the rudiments of military training. It is for you to help them to learn, to bring them up to your own level.
Red commanders, commissars and political workers!
The country has sent you its sons to be trained, so that you may make of them firm, reliable fighting men and conscious citizens. Yours is a lofty duty and a great responsibility. The period of service is short: get to work!
After three months, may the new recruit be able to repeat confidently after you, in full awareness of his duty and in readiness for honourable service, the words of the Red Oath:
‘I, a son of the working people, a citizen of the Soviet Republic, assume the title of warrior of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army.’
1. The supplementary call-up of citizens born in 1901, which began on September 5, 1922, was completed, in the main, by November 1. This was the first call-up to take place in peacetime. Despite the considerable organisational difficulties, it proceeded very successfully, and the number brought into the army as a result, in the Republic as a whole, exceeded the forecasts of the Red Army’s General Staff.
Last updated on: 28.12.2006