ABSTRACT
On 6 July 1874, the government of Alexander II published an edict announcing the formation of a mounted Bashkir squadron in the Orenburg guberniia. The evolution of Bashkir military formations, paralleling, the course of social change, offers a most instructive case in little-studied aspects of imperial policy towards subject national minorities and their employment in the armed forces in particular. The significance of the Bashkir squadron is most evident in the context of broader military and social policies. Among the explicit aims of the universal service statute was the nurturing of a stronger sense of unity among the diverse inhabitants of the Russian Empire by bringing their young men together in the ranks of the army. Skepticism about the attributes of native units pervaded the army and had the Bashkir squadron not been deemed useful as a socialization device it is unlikely that its value as a combat formation alone would have justified its continuation.
