Abstract: The research subject of this study is the military training of Soviet youth of pre-conscription age and before serving in the Red Army. The relevance of this topic stems from the fact that the militarization of the population was an important aspect of Soviet reality, as with the coming to power, the Bolshevik leadership sought to strengthen the new socialist state and tried to protect it from any external and internal encroachments. Of paramount political importance was the question of the conscription of non-Russian nationalities and national formations. The aim of this article is to analyze the composition of parts of the Red Army by non-Russian peoples in one of the national regions of the country, namely in the Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. As the methodological basis of this study, the author used general scientific and special historical methods. The historical and comparative analysis made it possible to compare the factual material, while the source study method helped to identify and determine certain aspects in the studied problem that have not yet been adequately addressed in historiography. Finally, the principle of scientific integrity has enabled the author's objective analysis and the analytical method has given this work the necessary level of theoretical generalizations. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that new archival materials, newspaper publications, and personal memoirs are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, which revealed various aspects of the preparation of the Buryats for military service. The author concludes that in the designated period in the Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, thousands of liable military conscripts, who did not have the tradition of military service before, underwent pre-war training.

Abstract: This article examines the process of formation of such phenomena of public consciousness as the “image of hero” and “image of enemy”. Referring to this topic is dictated by the fact that in 1920’s – 1930’s the antithesis of "hero-enemy" was one of the key moments of Soviet reality, since the Bolshevik leadership from the very beginning of coming to power actively sought to strengthen the new socialist state and the need for its protection from the external and internal interventions. The propaganda became the main mechanism in creating the pantheon of heroes and antiheroes. Certainly, the propaganda machine affected the entire population of the country, but the attention was particularly focused on youth due to their emotional susceptibility and activeness. The article analyzes the most significant ideological and practical methods applies in the compiling of the image of hero and image of enemy, as well as emphasizes its role in establishment of the patriotic mentality. The author identifies the varieties of the image of hero alongside the image of internal enemy, noting that the political transformations in the international arena throughout the late 1920’s – 1930's often led to a shifting the accents in depicting the image of external enemy. It is concluded that the official propaganda made fairly successful steps in the area of military-patriotic upbringing of the Soviet youth.