Military training: violence as a military instrument for achieving obedience

Since the mid-eighteenth century, barracks had been the most important institution for moulding fighting soldiers. It was here that the recruits were drilled by their superiors and trained to military obedience. Discipline, order and correction were the foundations on which the army organisation was based. Drastic means were used to achieve these aims: through the constant threat of severe physical punishment the soldiers were kept in a permanent state of fear and insecurity.

This form of military training was increasingly criticised. It ran counter to the humanistic idea of the individual and the demands for physical and mental integrity. By the time universal conscription was introduced, corporal punishment was already being regarded as old-fashioned. Lashing was seen by the citizen soldiers, who were recruited from all classes of society, as an inappropriate punishment. They claimed that the military should no longer just teach submission and discipline but should also be a “school of humanity”, promoting secondary virtues like honour and independence that would be useful to the recruits in their later civilian life.

The public were particularly outraged at the severe and sometimes abusive physical punishments. Although there was a comprehensive disciplinary code fixing the punishments for the various offences, they could in practice be interpreted and meted out at will. The boundaries between military drill, excessive sanctions, bullying and physical abuse were blurred. Moreover, the disciplinary code was not only applied for specific offences but also used by superiors as a universal disciplinary instrument. Unruly soldiers, those who forgot their duty or deviated from the strict norm could be forced at any time into subordination. It was not uncommon for punishments to be dished out as a matter of principle. An excuse could always be found in the strictly regulated life in the barracks.

In response to public criticism, flogging and corporal punishment were abolished in the amended disciplinary code of 1869. Restraint and putting in chains were painful punishments that were retained until 1903 and were used excessively in their place.

Despite the official amendments to the disciplinary code, military life was still filled with humiliations, bullying, punishment and beating, and recruitment into the army was still a great culture shock for most conscripts. In complete contrast to the demanded “humanitarian group treatment”, excessive violence was still the norm. Systematic humiliation, threats and drastic punishments were designed to destroy the civilian identity and train absolute obedience, emotional control and fearlessness in battle.

Emil Geissler, who joined the Pioneers in 1895, described his military training as follows: “On the parade ground we were tamed, tortured and hit by the trainer. He would stamp on our toes with his rifle – they felt like they had been completely crushed. […] I had three types of basic training with the Pioneers. Drill, working on the land with cramp irons and shovels, and water duty: all three bestial torture, not to mention the coarse vulgarity of the sergeant and NCOs.”

Through this form of military training, universal conscription took on relevance for society as a whole: most of the male citizens of the Monarchy underwent it, and in doing so helped to disseminate internalised military “values” and “requirements” as to their role as husbands and fathers in the civilian world.

Translation: Nick Somers