[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Conscription into Russian Army

[Dr. Willi H. Wiesner]

My grandfather, Emil Wiesner, was conscripted into the Russian army about
1904 to fight for the Russians in the Russo-Japanese war.  He would have
been about 33 years old at the time.  He spent almost a year travelling
across Russia by train to Sakhalin (Sachalin) and about as long returning.
I don't know if he saw combat.  

When he was conscripted again during WW I, he fled to Germany.  His family
was given instructions to sell the farm and follow him.  However, the war
ended before they had a chance to follow and the new Soviet government
offered amnesty to the deserters.  Therefore, my grandfather returned to
Volhynia, served a brief prison sentence, and then returned to his family.

Willi Wiesner

-----Original Message-----
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 23:28:19 -0600
From: "Richard Benert" <benovich at imt.net>
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia]  conscription age
To: "SGGEE Mail List" <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
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Ray has brought up a subject that interests me greatly by mentioning
that "so many Russian German soldiers were defecting" in World War
I, that they were transferred to the Turkish front where their
suspected unwillingness to fight against their German "brothers"
wouldn't interfere with the war's success.

After the war, German writers were unanimous in claiming the
injustice done to the colonist soldiers by this transfer.  They
insisted that these troops had been totally loyal and willing to die
for the Tsar, and their transfer was purely the result of anti-German 
meanness.
This version of events has basically come down to
us as the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  But the sources
I've been reading are giving me increasing reason to wonder about
this, for there can be no denying that many Russian Germans, when
called to the colors in 1914, were extremely conflicted over the
idea of fighting against other Germans.  Many of them may also have
been reluctant to fight FOR a country that didn't always appreciate
them, and who could blame them for this?

I'd like to ask, Ray, if your grandfather related any more about
this than you've mentioned, and I'd like to ask in general if other
people can offer from their family histories or other reading any
evidence one way or the other.  Did the Russian German soldiers
fight bravely for the Tsar or didn't they?  No doubt many, if not
most, of the 250,000 did.  But I'd not be surprised if some, if not
many, did not.  I've gotten into trouble asking this question
before, so I hasten to point out that I don't think this in any way
calls the soldiers' character into question.  That war was stupid to
begin with, and it takes quite a stretch to claim that either side
was worth laying down one's life for.  I respect the belief that
loyalty to country is a high virtue, even though I don't always agree with 
it.

So no flaming, please.  In the interest of historical truth, I'd
just like to see evidence either for loyalty to Russia or for lack
of it in W.W. I.

Dick Benert