Scouting and Guiding in Russia: Difference between revisions

In 1908, [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Baden-Powell]]'s book ''Scouting for Boys'' came out in Russia by the order of Tsar Nicholas II. It was called ''Young Scout'' (Юный Разведчик, ''Yuny Razvedchik''). On April 30 1909, a young officer, Colonel [[Oleg Pantyukhov]], organized the first Russian Scout troop ''Beaver'' (Бобр, ''Bobr'') in [[Pavlovsk]], a town near [[Tsarskoye Selo]]. In 1910, Baden-Powell visited Nicholas II in Tsarskoye Selo and they had a very pleasant conversation, as the Tsar remembered it. In 1914, Pantyukhov established a society called ''Russian Scout'' (Русский Скаут, ''Russkiy Skaut''). The first Russian Scout campfire was lit in the woods of Pavlovsk Park in Tsarskoye Selo. A Russian Scout song exists to remember this event. Scouting spread rapidly across Russia and into Siberia, and by 1916, there were about 50,000 Scouts in Russia. Nicholas' son [[Tsarevich]] [[Tsarevich Alexei of Russia|Aleksei]] was a Scout himself.  

With the advent of communism after the October Revolution of 1917, and during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922, most of the Scoutmasters and many Scouts fought in the ranks of the White Army and interventionists against the Red Army.

In Soviet Russia the Scouting system started to be replaced by [[Scouting#Breakaway and nonaligned organisations|ideologically-altered Scoutlike organizations]], such as "ЮК" ("Юные Коммунисты", or ''young communists''; pronounced as ''yuk''), that were created since 1918. There was a purge of the Scout leaders, many of whom perished under the Bolsheviks. Those Scouts who did not wish to accept the new Soviet system either left Russia for good, like Pantyukhov and others, or went underground. However, [[Clandestine operation|clandestine]] Scouting did not last long. On May 19, 1922 all of those newly created organizations were united into the Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union, which existed until 1990. From that date, Scouting in the USSR was banned.

However, some features of Scouting remained in the modified form. The [[Scout Motto]] "Bud' Gotov" ("Be Prepared") was modified into the Pioneer motto "Vsegda Gotov" ("Always Prepared"). Mention of [[God]] was removed, replaced by [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] and the [[CPSU|communist party]]. There were no separate organizations for girls and boys, and many new features were introduced, like [[Young Pioneer Palace]]s.  

The organization '''Русский Скаут''' then went into [[Scouts-in-Exile|exile]], and continued in many countries where fleeing White Russian émigrés settled, establishing groups in France, Serbia, Bulgaria, Argentina, Chile, and [[Paraguay]]. A much larger mass of thousands of Russian Scouts moved through Vladivostok to the east into Manchuria and south into China.  

Colonel Pantyukhov, Chief Scout of Russia, first resided in France and then moved to the United States, where large troops of Russian Scouts were established in cities such as San Francisco, Burlingame, California, Los Angeles, etc. He returned to Nice, France where he died.  

* Union "Moscow's Scout" (SMS; Союз "Московский Скаут"); 100 members; [http://www.moscowscout.ru/]

* League of YMCA-Scouts of Saint Petersburg (LSSP; Лига скаутов YMCA Санкт-Петербурга); 400 members [http://scout-spb.narod.ru/main.htm]

** Volgograd Association of Girl Scouts (VADS; Волгоградская Ассоциация девочек-скаутов) 380 members [http://www.volgoscout.ru/]

* Regional Children's Public Organization "Scouts of Moscow" (RDOOSM; Региональная Детская Общественная Организация «Скауты Москвы»); was: ''Saint Vladimir Union of Russian Scouts''; 300 members; [http://srs-scout.narod.ru/], [http://zao-scouts.narod.ru/]

* Association of the Scouts of Saint Petersburg (ASP; Ассоциация Скаутов Санкт-Петербурга); 300 members

* Borovichi Public Children's Organization of Scouts "Spring" (BDOOS; Боровичская детская общественная организация скаутов «Родник»); 100 members

NORS-R is presently active in Karelia, St. Petersburg, Murmansk Oblast, Volgograd Oblast, Archangelsk Oblast, [[Togliatti]], Novgorod Oblast, Kaliningrad Oblast, Moscow, Perm, [[Sverdlovsk Oblast]], [[Ivanovo Oblast]], Voronesh, Bashkortostan and Saratov.

* Rostov Association of Scouts/Navigators (Ростовской Ассоциации навигаторов-скаутов); unknown membership; [http://rans.youngrostov.ru/]

* Michurinsk Organization of Scouts/Navigators (MOS/N; Мичуринская организация навигаторов/скаутов); unknown membership; [http://michons.narod.ru/]

RAS/N is presently active in Amur, Astrakhan, Bryansk, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kirov, Kostroma, Lipetsk, Magadan (which has a relationship with the [[Scouting in Alaska|Western Alaska Council]] of the Boy Scouts of America), Moscow, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Tambov, Vladimir, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl Oblasts, and in Altai and Primorsky Krais. A [[Eurasia Foundation]] grant was awarded in July 1998 to the North Eastern Scout Council of Magadan Oblast "Podvig" to develop youth organizations in Magadan Oblast.

* Association of the Scouts of the Moscow Oblast (ASMO; Ассоциация Скаутов Московской Области); 400 members [http://www.egorscout.ru/]

The [[Scout Motto]] is ''Будь готов'' (Bud' Gotov, ''Be Prepared'' in Russian. The Russian noun for a single Scout is ''Скаут'', but can alternately be ''Разведчик'' or ''Навигатор'' depending on the organization. As ''Разведчик'' also carries the connotation of ''spy'', now often perceived as negative in the post-Soviet period, many now refer to themselves as ''Скаут'' or ''Навигатор'', the more neutral term for the original meaning, an advance party sent to reconnoiter the terrain, similar to [[pathfinder]] or [[explorer]].

In addition, there are USA Girl Scouts Overseas in Moscow, serviced by way of USAGSO headquarters in New York; as well as Cub Scout Pack 3950 and Boy Scout Troop 500, both of Moscow, and Cub Scout Pack 36 of Irkutsk. Russia is in a peculiar position (as is Norway), as American Scouts there may be linked either to the [[Direct Service]] branch of the Boy Scouts of America, which supports units around the world, or to the Horizon District of the [[Transatlantic Council]], which supports units in west-and-central Europe, the Near East and North Africa, at the discretion of the individual pack or troop.