| Abstract [eng] |
Lithuania is experiencing a Russian military threat, which became apparent during the Russia-Ukraine military conflict. Opposing states seek to undermine the state’s national security. Preparing for war is the most effective way to avoid these consequences, and the examples of many countries demonstrate this. To ensure the country's capabilities and the professionalism of the army in the event of a war threat, Lithuania's goal is to prepare sufficient reserves of active and reserve soldiers. The military is seen as the work of young people, but it is noticeable that fewer and fewer young people, especially those with a higher education or seek for that, voluntarily choose to serve in the military. For both economic reasons and the small number of military volunteers, compulsory military service was returned to the country. In a democratic society, voluntary service is more acceptable, and it is important to emphasize that the obligation does not solve soldier’s motivation to remain in the military for a longer period. For these reasons, it is important to analyse and know the state citizens’ motives that encourage soldiers to voluntarily engage in the process of ensuring national security. In Lithuania, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the preconditions and possibilities of civil resistance and research of soldiers' motivation in choosing the military profession are carried out in order to determine the country's ability to defend itself in the event of war and to attract a larger part of society. Literature analysis failed to find a general study of the motivation of the whole army that combines all possible ways of joining the army and a separate study of soldiers’ motives seeking or already acquired higher education in voluntary training of junior officers as well as the motives of Lithuanian Riflemen's Union and other specific case analyses. The declining number of young people in voluntary military service shows the urgency of the problem, but the fact that such cases are not analysed shows the novelty of this study. The problem of the research – what motives determine the citizens’ involvement and participation in the voluntary military service of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Lithuania? The object of the project – the motives of military volunteers to participate in the military service of the Republic of Lithuania. The aim of the project is to analyze the motives for citizens’ participation in the voluntary military service of the Republic of Lithuania. Tasks of the master's thesis: to perform a theoretical analysis of the motives of citizens' participation in voluntary military service; to analyze the good practices of foreign countries in citizens’ participation in voluntary military service; to examine the motives of citizens' involvement and participation in the voluntary activities of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Lithuania (the case of junior officers). The project uses the following research methods: scientific literature, legal acts and other documents analysis, primary interview respondents’ qualitative content and comparative analysis. The value concept of junior officers (military volunteers) is typical for the public sector. In the Lithuanian voluntary military service, internal motives for service are patriotism, improvement, willingness to test oneself, curiosity, prestige and honour, and external - career opportunities, salary and social guarantees, influence of family or friends, affiliation, meetings with the Lithuanian Armed Forces, avoidance of permanent compulsory initial military service, good working conditions, expansion of social capital. Soldiers’ opinion about the system of motives prevailing in the army is evaluated more according to internal factors, and they more often associate their choice with external intangible motives. In assessing the motivation of the research participants to serve, the following motives are the main: internal - improvement, opportunity to contribute to the state’s welfare and to perform duty for the homeland, external - career opportunities and the influence of friends. Informants are usually affected by the opportunity to improve and achieve something and the benefits to society both in making the decision to volunteer for military service and in choosing a job. The research results can be used in the National Defence System in order to attract more competent specialists from various fields with higher education to the Armed Forces, developing strategies for motivation and encouraging citizens to participate in national security, and they can be applied in further qualitative and quantitative research on military volunteer motivation. The master's final project consists of a summary in Lithuanian and English languages, introduction, content, lists of figures, tables, abbreviations, three chapters, conclusions, recommendations, references, and appendices with the answers of the respondents. |
