Self-mutilation and sham illnesses in the Russian army during the World War I

This article based on documents from the Russian State Military History archive and special medical literature looks into self-mutilation and sham illnesses in the Russian army in the World War I, focusing on their scale, forms and development as well as the methods used to combat these violations of military discipline. It is concluded that the command, military justice, and military medicine were unable to deal with these ways of mass avoidance of military service. It was caused by insufficient technical facilities, weak medical expertise, and a lack of legal and organisational means.