Soldier Theaters in the Russian Army

The distraction of the population from drunkenness and from deviant forms of spending free time in general was not only an urgent socio-cultural issue, but also an important state and social task in the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries. One of the ways to solve this problem in the Russian army was the creation of soldier theaters in military units. On the basis of a wide range of pre-revolutionary sources, the article for the first time presents the history of the theaters creation and development. There are revealed the main purposes of the soldier theaters in the Russian army: 1) to distract from drunkenness and other forms of deviant behavior; 2) to promote the moral education of lower ranks; 3) to provide them with an alternative option for leisure — pleasant and useful. The article presents the main results of studying the book catalogs of soldiers’ libraries in order to identify in them special sections dedicated to theater publications, which allow reconstructing the potential repertoire of the soldier theaters, and when analyzing regimental histories — the real one. The article reveals the role of officers in setting up and functioning of the theaters. There is presented the experience of organizing the theaters for lower ranks in the German army of the same period, purposefully studied by official Russian agents for use in the Russian army. The conducted research made it possible to clarify the tasks of creating the soldier theaters, their repertoire and features of functioning. The revealed positive experience of conducting useful and pleasant leisure in the form of setting up soldier theaters can be useful today in organizing free time for both servicemen of the Russian army and the civilian population of the country.

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