Cantonist
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This article is about Russian conscripts between 1721 and 1857. For the similar system operated in Prussia between 1733 and 1813, see Canton System (Prussia).
Cantonists (Russian: кантонисты; more properly: военные кантонисты, "military cantonists"[1]) were underage sons of conscripts in the Russian Empire. From 1721 on they were educated in special "cantonist schools" (Кантонистские школы) for future military service (the schools were called garrison schools in the 18th century). The cantonist schools and the cantonist system were eventually abolished in 1857, following public and international criticism and the Russian defeat in the Crimean War.[2][3][4]