Soviet Language Revolution: Why Red Army Troops Were Called 'Fighters' Instead of 'Soldiers'

Today, the word "soldier" seems like the only natural way to describe a person in military uniform. But a century ago, using that term in the young Soviet Red Army could easily earn someone an official reprimand.

Photo: Openverse by Yury Somov, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Soviet soldiers on their way from Afghanistan

The Bolsheviks viewed the word as a symbol of the old imperial order, military barracks, and blind loyalty to the monarchy. They removed it from official Soviet language and replaced it with the shorter and more ideological term "fighter."

The Origins of the Word 'Soldier' and Soviet Ideology

The term entered Russia in the 17th century through foreign military instructors. The word itself comes from the Italian "soldo," a coin used to pay wages.

Russian lexicographer Vladimir Dahl once described a soldier as "God's servant and the ruler's subject," perfectly reflecting the traditional understanding of the profession: a paid military man carrying out the will of whoever provided his salary.

After the 1917 Revolution, Bolshevik leaders rejected that concept entirely. They believed the term degraded the dignity of workers and reinforced the class hierarchy of the old imperial army.

The collapse of the Russian Empire's military accelerated after the Petrograd Soviet issued Order No. 1, which undermined the traditional chain of command where officers held unquestioned authority over lower ranks.

"Rejecting the word "soldier' became a political gesture," Russian historian Alexei Gromov told Pravda.Ru. "The Bolsheviks wanted to destroy the very idea of a professional mercenary caste and transform the army into an armed proletariat."

Why the Bolsheviks Chose the Word 'Fighter'

The new Soviet government needed a completely new political language. "Red Army man" became the official military status, while "fighter" served as the moral and ideological ideal.

Unlike the word "soldier," the term carried no association with wages or service to a ruler. Instead, it directly connected military service with revolutionary struggle and the defense of socialist ideals.

Even American military personnel visiting the Soviet Union near the end of World War II reportedly received official recommendations to refer to Soviet troops as "fighters" rather than "soldiers."

The Soviet leadership presented the Red Army as an "armed people," where every serviceman acted as a conscious citizen rather than a cog in a military machine.

The Long Return of the Word 'Soldier'

World War II gradually pushed Soviet authorities toward restoring elements of Russia's historical military tradition.

Joseph Stalin understood that the country needed patriotic unity rooted in national memory and historical continuity. Soviet authorities restored military shoulder boards in 1943, but the word "soldier" remained politically sensitive for years.

Party censorship continued removing the term from literary works and official texts, including manuscripts by Soviet writer Alexander Tvardovsky.

Only after 1945 did the word fully return to Soviet military regulations and everyday speech. By then, Soviet authorities no longer viewed it as a "bourgeois" expression. Instead, the term had become fully integrated into Soviet identity.

"Political systems often preserve language through inertia," historian Daniil Lavrentyev told Pravda.Ru. "Even when the leadership recognized the need for change, the party machine resisted restoring terms it had spent decades demonizing."