History The history of the creation of the Russian Army of the Russian Army. Russian Armed Forces. Story. Briefly

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Lesson objectives:

• Introduce students to the history of the Russian armed forces.
• Introduce students to the biography of outstanding representatives of the Russian military class.

Slide 1. S. Trofimov “Aty-Bati” (song)

First presenter: The Armed Forces, an armed organization of the state designed to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state in the event of war, is one of the most important weapons of political power.

Second presenter: From ancient times to the XIII century (IX-XIII centuries)

The main part of the princely army was the squad. The exact number of squads is unknown, but it was small. One prince hardly has more than 2000 people. But, in addition to the professional squad, free community members from common people and urban population. They are mentioned in the chronicles as howls. The number of such a militia could be several thousand people. People living on the border combined crafts and agriculture with the functions of border troops. Since the 12th century, cavalry has been actively developing, which is divided into heavy and light. The Russians were not inferior to any of the European nations in military matters.

The bulk of the army was infantry. There was also a good fleet consisting of rooks.

First presenter: Moscow Rus' of the XIV-XVI centuries

For various reasons, the main one of which is the influence of Asian peoples (especially the Mongols), the importance of cavalry increases sharply. The entire squad becomes mounted and by this time is gradually transformed into a noble militia. The Mongols also had a great influence on military tactics - the mobility of cavalry and its use of deceptive techniques increased. That is, the basis of the army is quite numerous noble cavalry, and the infantry fades into the background.

Firearms in Rus' began to be used at the end of the 14th century. With the development of field firearms, heavy cavalry lost its importance, but light cavalry could effectively resist it. At the end of the 15th century, they moved from the feudal militia to a standing all-Russian army. Its basis was the noble estate cavalry - sovereign servants, united into regiments under the command of the grand ducal commanders. At the same time, the Cossacks were formed.

Second presenter: XVI-XVII centuries

Under Ivan the Third, a system of military recruitment for temporary service was introduced. Squads of squeakers were formed from the urban population. From the rural - auxiliary infantry detachments - marching army. A clear system for collecting military personnel was developed. The military command was the grand ducal governors. Under Ivan the Fourth, the Streltsy army appears. Streltsy are a fairly numerous (several thousand) infantry armed with arquebuses. Recruited from among urban and rural residents. The total number of troops in the middle of the 16th century could be increased to 300 thousand people.

Slides 4-11

First presenter: Imperial period. The end of the 17th - first half of the 19th century

In the 30s of the 17th century, soldier, reiter and dragoon regiments appeared, formed according to Western European models. By the end of the century, their number was over 180 thousand people (not counting more than 60 thousand Cossacks). The army reform was carried out under Peter the Great. In 1698-1699, the rifle regiments were disbanded, and regular soldiers were formed instead. In preparation for the war with Sweden, Peter ordered in 1699 to carry out a general recruitment and begin training of recruits according to the model established by the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovtsy. This first recruitment gave Peter 25 infantry regiments and 2 cavalry - dragoons. At first, he formed an officer corps from his friends, former members of the “amusing regiments,” and later from the nobility. The army was divided into field (infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering troops), local (garrison troops and land militia) and irregular (Cossacks and steppe peoples) troops. In total, its number exceeded 200 thousand people. In the infantry it was approximately double more people than in the cavalry. In 1722, a system of ranks was introduced - the Table of Ranks.

On October 20, 1696, the Boyar Duma decided to found Navy, and by 1722 Russia had a good fleet of 130 sailing and 396 rowing ships.

Slides 12-14

After this, until the middle of the 19th century, there were no particularly serious changes in the structure of the army. In the second half of the 18th century, huntsmen appeared in the infantry, and cuirassiers and hussars appeared in the cavalry. Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov made a significant contribution to the troop training system. In 1810, on the initiative of A.A. Arakcheev began to use military settlements. By 1853, the size of the army was about 31 thousand command personnel, 911 thousand regular soldiers, 250 thousand irregular troops.

First Reader: The Russian Officer's Code of Honor

No reward leads people to goodness like the love of honor; in the same way, no execution is more frightening than deprivation of it.

Peter the Great

Soul to God
Life is for the Fatherland,
Honor to no one.

Honor is the main internal moral dignity of a Russian officer, his valor, nobility of soul and clear conscience. The army, driven by a sense of Officer's Honor, is an invincible force, a real guarantor of state existence and the peaceful prosperity of Russia.

A Russian Officer is a noble defender of the Fatherland, an honest name, the highest rank. Honor is the main treasure for the Russian Officer, whose sacred duty is to keep it pure and impeccable.<…>

The high rank of Russian Officer is not attached to officer shoulder straps. It is deserved throughout one's life and worn with one's head held high.<…>

Russian Officer is a warrior in Spirit.<…>

The Fatherland is the highest value of a Russian Officer. The main thing is Russia, everything else is transitory: “I, a Russian Officer, have the honor, but I live for the sake of serving the Fatherland... I agree to live and die without a name, always remembering the main thing: if only the name of the Motherland remains sacred.”

I, Russian Officer. I have the honor!

Slides 15-20

Second presenter: The most characteristic specific feature of Russian military art was precisely that special role, which the moral factor played in him. In the second half of the 18th century, as the national school of military art developed, this feature emerged more and more clearly. It was expressed in the fact that at the time in question, an integral part of troop training was not only training, but also military education. The development of its principles, forms and goals is one of Suvorov’s most important achievements.

The National School of Military Art with honor passed the difficult test that befell it when Napoleon marched an unprecedentedly huge and well-armed army against Russia. There is no doubt that the national-patriotic aspiration of the army and its traditional attention to the moral side of battle facilitated the transition from traditional war to domestic war. Russian military doctrine, Russian soldiers and officers turned out to be stronger than the military machine abandoned by the French emperor against Russia. The massive heroism of the army during the War of 1812 was already inseparable from the heroism and fortitude of the entire people.

First presenter: The Patriotic War of 1812 provided examples of mass heroism and self-sacrifice of the peoples of Russia. Everyone stood up to defend the Motherland - the rich, the poor, the elderly, the young, men and women - everyone in whom conscience and pain for Russia were alive.

The heroic-patriotic tradition of the national school of military art of modern times, originating from Poltava, strengthened by victories at Kunersdorf and Rymnik, Ochakov and Izmail, repeatedly confirmed on the Borodino field and Berezina, finds its continuation in the 19th - early 20th centuries. in the heroic defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855, in the unprecedented feat at Shipka, in the battles of Port Arthur. Weapons were improved, uniforms changed, regulations were redrawn, strategy and tactics developed. But the heroism of the Russian soldier, his steadfastness in battle, endurance on the campaign, his loyalty to patriotic duty remained unchanged; the soldiers of the Russian army and navy worthily continued the work of their grandfathers and fathers. They courageously repelled the attacks of numerous enemies, came to the aid of the fraternal South Slavic peoples, and strengthened the borders of the Fatherland. This page of our history is connected with the names of P.S. Nakhimova, M.D. Skobeleva, A.A. Brusilov, numerous famous and unknown heroes of battles and battles of this era.

(Skobelev Mikhail Dmitrievich) slides 21-26 doc. film “General Skobelev”

Second presenter: Second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries

Crimean War 1853-1856 showed the shortcomings of domestic weapons. Namely, with the spread of steam engines, steamships were invented, which included Russian fleet there were only 16; and mass production of rifled weapons became possible, but in Russia it was also insignificant. Therefore, military reforms were carried out in 1860-1870. In 1855, by decree of the Tsar, the “Commission for the Improvement of the Military Unit” was created. In 1861, General D. A. Milyutin was appointed Minister of War. In 1864, a military district reform was carried out. 15 military districts were created on Russian territory. As a rule, the governor general was appointed commander of the district troops. This made it possible to quickly control troops and quickly mobilize them. With the creation of districts, the War Ministry got rid of wide range duties that were now performed by the commanders, only those management issues that were important for the entire army remained under his jurisdiction. The General Staff was created. The conscription system was replaced by universal conscription. In 1874, the “Charter on all-class military service” was adopted. In accordance with it, the entire male population, regardless of condition, was subject to military service from the age of 21. The period of active service was 6 years in the ground forces and 9 years in the reserve, in the navy, respectively, 7 years and 3 years. Rearmament took place. Transition to rifled breech-loading weapons. Since 1861, the production of armored steam ships began, and in 1866 - submarines. By 1898, the Russian navy, consisting of the Baltic, Black Sea fleets, Caspian and Siberian flotillas, had 14 battleships, 23 coastal defense battleships, 6 armored cruisers, 17 cruisers, 9 mine cruisers, 77 destroyers, 96 torpedo boats, 27 gunboats boats.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the active development of military equipment continued. In 1902, armored vehicles appeared in the Russian army, in 1911 - military aviation, in 1915 - tanks. But still, the equipment was extremely lacking, although in terms of combat training the Russian army was not inferior to the armies of the West European countries. By the First World War, the size of the army reached 1,423,000 people, and after mobilization it amounted to 5,338,000 people, with 6,848 light and 240 heavy guns, 4,157 machine guns, 263 aircraft, and over 4 thousand cars. By October 1917, the size of the army reached 10 million people, although only about 20% of its total number was at the front. During the war, 19 million people were mobilized - almost half of the men of military age.

Slides 27-28

(Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich) slides 30-31 song “An hour after death...”

First presenter: Soviet period, 1917-1991.

Armed forces RUSSIA of the Soviet period began to take shape in 1917. Officers of the Russian Imperial Army made a significant contribution to their formation. After the formation of the USSR, there was further development of firearms, armored vehicles, aviation and navy. In 1937, rockets were adopted for service, and a little later - multiple launch rocket systems. The Great Patriotic War led to significant development of military technology. After her, Marshal G.K. Zhukov began to form special-purpose sabotage detachments, and nuclear weapons were also developed. The armed forces of the USSR consisted of the following types: strategic missile forces, air defense forces, ground forces, air force, navy, logistics forces, border and internal troops.

(Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich) slides 32-35 “Get up, huge country...”

The offensive of 1944 allowed the Red Army to move on to the liberation of a number of European countries from the German occupiers. Soviet troops fought in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, occupied Bulgaria, and occupied East Germany.

There is a deepest moral meaning in the continuity of generations, in the internal unity of their historical destinies, comprehended through the incorruptibility of our shrines. And it is no coincidence that an exciting tradition, a kind of civil rite, was born among the people - to celebrate the birth of a new young family by worshiping the ashes of the Unknown Soldier, the sacred land of hero cities, memorials and obelisks dedicated to the memory of the fallen.

From the heroic past of our Motherland we draw strength for new achievements, to emulate the exploits of our fathers and grandfathers. At one time they did everything they could to protect and prosper Russia. And now it’s your turn to fulfill your duty to the Fatherland - to join the ranks of its defenders. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have a heroic history. They are rightfully the heirs to the glory of the princely squads of Ancient Rus', military formations and people's militias of the Moscow State, the military power of the Russian Empire, successors and continuers of selfless patriotism, valor and invincibility of the soldiers of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

(Afghans) slides 36-37 A. Rosenbaum “Caravan”

Russian soldier! Today, serving Russia, you are writing your page in the biography of its glorious Armed Forces. Try to ensure that your service always evokes in you, your family and friends a feeling of pride and satisfaction for a well-performed duty to the Fatherland!

Slide 37 song “We will rise again and again...”

The structure of the state, the political system, and government policies change, but the task of protecting the Fatherland always remains paramount, therefore the Armed Forces must meet their purpose - protecting the country from external aggression.

The development and formation of the Russian Armed Forces, their purpose are inextricably linked with the development of the Russian state, its social order, economics and policies pursued in the interests of protecting the state from external aggression.

Throughout the history of the Russian state, Russian people constantly had to wage an armed struggle, defending their lands from foreign invaders.

Therefore, the state was constantly ready for war, and its entire structure met these requirements. All social groups and classes were divided into those who fought the enemies, and those who supported the fighters financially or spiritually.

The regular Russian army was created under Peter I in the period from 1701 to 1711. The impetus for accelerating its creation was the defeat of Russian troops in 1700 near Narva from the Swedish army. Streltsy regiments and noble cavalry showed their complete helplessness in the battle of Narva.

With the creation of the army, Peter the Great introduced a new system of recruiting troops. It began to be carried out on the principle of recruitment, when 10-20 peasant households, by lot, supplied one person for lifelong military service. The introduction of conscription allowed Peter I to increase the number of troops. Since 1705, the entire Russian army was recruited. The officer corps of the Russian army consisted of nobles, for them civil service was mandatory and lifelong. To receive an officer rank, a nobleman had to serve as a soldier in the Preobrazhensky or Semenovsky Guards Regiment.

In total, 47 infantry and 5 grenadier (selected infantry) regiments, 33 cavalry regiments, which included artillery, were created.

The Governing Senate and the Military Collegium subordinate to it (the prototype of the Ministry of Defense) began to be in charge of all matters relating to the army. During this period, a navy was created in the Baltic Sea. Constant training of regiments for combat tactics is being introduced. The creation of a regular army and the organization of its combat training increased the combat power of the Russian army. All this determined the victory of Russia in the Northern War (1700-1721).

The improvement of the Russian armed forces continued under the reign of Catherine II. At this time, the Military Collegium ceased to depend on the Senate and gradually turned into the Ministry of War. The ground army consisted of 4 guards, 59 infantry regiments and 7 ranger corps 1.

The talented commander of Catherine's times, Pyotr Aleksandrovich Rumyantsev, formulated a new tactics for conducting military operations. He divided the infantry into small squares of 2-3 thousand people. The infantry was followed by the cavalry. Artillery was placed in front, on the flanks or in reserve. This made it possible to quickly rebuild troops in accordance with the situation in battle.

The military reforms of Peter I, the organization and management of the armed forces during the time of Catherine II brought Russian troops many victories in individual battles and entire campaigns (Russian-Turkish wars of 1768-1774, 1787-1791).

The next major military reform of the Russian armed forces was carried out after the defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856), which revealed Russia's military backwardness from European states.

Military reforms were carried out under the leadership of Minister of War Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin, who was appointed to this post in 1861. He saw the main task of military reforms in ensuring that in peacetime the size of the army was minimal, and in war time- maximum due to the trained reserve.

In 1874, a new Charter on military service was approved. Recruitment into the army was abolished and universal conscription was introduced, which extended to the male population of all classes and estates who had reached the age of 21.

The total service life was set at 1 5 years: 6 years were spent on active military service, and 9 years were spent in the reserves.

Particular attention was paid to improving the professional training of officers. Literacy among soldiers was recognized as essential, and teaching them to read and write became mandatory. The network of special military educational institutions is expanding.

An important part of the reforms in the army was its rearmament. In 1891, a repeating rifled five-shot Mosin rifle of 7.62 mm caliber was adopted for infantry service in 1891. Steel guns with a rifled barrel, which had a greater firing range, began to enter service with the artillery.

In the second half of the 19th century. In Russia, a transition was made from a sailing to a steam armored fleet. By the end of the century, Russia had 107 combat steam ships. Russo-Turkish War 1877-1878 became a serious test of the effectiveness of the ongoing reforms. A few years after the war, Milyutin himself recalled: “My most notorious enemies had to admit that never before had the Russian army entered the theater of war so well prepared and equipped.”

After the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), the government of Nicholas II took measures to revive the combat capabilities of the armed forces. This was forced by the difficult international situation. The First World War was approaching, which broke out in July 1914. It became another heroic and at the same time tragic page for the history of Russia and its armed forces.

The October Revolution of 1917 destroyed the existing state structure of Russia and eliminated the armed forces.

In the first months of Soviet power, its military support was the Red Guard - armed detachments of workers. The Red Guard was created on a voluntary basis in March 1917 under the leadership of the Bolsheviks; by the beginning of 1918 there were 460 thousand people in it.

The small, poorly trained Red Guard could not resist the invasion of German troops. The threat of invasion forced the Soviet government to begin recruiting a standing army. On January 15, 1918, a decree was adopted on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), and on January 29, 1918, on the organization of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet. The army and navy were created on a voluntary basis.

The Red Army became the main core of the new armed forces. The main branch of the army was the infantry. Cavalry was the main mobile branch of the army. The republic's naval forces included the Baltic Fleet and 30 different flotillas.

The experience of the Russian army was used in the construction of new armed forces. After a series of reorganizations, unity of command and compulsory military service were restored.

The international situation required the constant strengthening and improvement of the armed forces. World War II was approaching. Under these conditions, the Soviet government took measures to strengthen the country's defense capability. The number of armed forces increased steadily.

Efforts were made to technically re-equip the armed forces. New types of military equipment and weapons were being developed. The organizational and staffing structure of the armed forces was improved. In 1937, the Navy was separated from the Red Army.

Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945 was the greatest test of the ability of the USSR Armed Forces to defend the country's independence. During this period, the domestic military school put forward a number of talented military leaders (G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky, N.F. Vatutin, A.M. Vasilevsky, I.S. Konev, A.I. Eremenko, I.Kh. Bagramyan, I. N. Voronov, L. A. Govorov, A. G. Golovko, N. G. Kuznetsov, R. Ya. Malinovsky, K. A. Meretskov, A. A. Novikov, I. E. Petrov , F. I. Tolbukhin, V. F. Tributs, I. D. Chernyakhovsky). Our generals and naval commanders skillfully carried out military operations that led to the defeat of a persistent and well-armed enemy.

On May 8, 1945, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany was signed. The victory in the Great Patriotic War once again showed the inexhaustible capabilities of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces in defending their Fatherland.

After the war, the improvement and strengthening of the Armed Forces continued in accordance with the forecast of the international situation and the policies pursued by the Soviet government.

In 1960, a new branch of the USSR Armed Forces was created - the Strategic Missile Forces.

The Armed Forces of the USSR included the following branches: Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces), Ground Forces (SV), Air Defense Forces (ADF), Air Force (Air Force), Navy (Navy). The Armed Forces included the Rear Services of the Armed Forces, headquarters and Civil Defense Troops.

The highest leadership of the country's defense and the Armed Forces of the USSR was carried out by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the highest bodies of state power ( The Supreme Council USSR and the Council of Ministers of the USSR). The direct leadership of the USSR Armed Forces was carried out by the USSR Ministry of Defense.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation became the main successor to the Armed Forces of the USSR, and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were created.

Front commanders at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War (from left to right): I. S. Konev, F. I. Tolbukhin, A. I. Vasilevsky, R. Ya. Malinovsky, G. K. Zhukov, L. A. Govorov, K K. Rokossovsky, A. I. Eremenko, K. A. Meretskov, I. Kh. Bagramyan

1 Jaegers - a type of light infantry and light cavalry, formed from the best shooters who operated in loose formation.

2 Square - infantry combat formation in the form of one or more squares.

conclusions

1. The Armed Forces have been and remain the defenders of our Fatherland for centuries.
2. Regular Russian army in early XVI II V. created by Tsar Peter the Great.
3. The work of building the armed forces of Russia was successfully continued by Empress Catherine the Great (in the second half of the 18th century) and Minister of War D. A. Milyutin (in the 19th century).
4. New armed forces were created in the USSR, which successfully resisted Hitler's aggression in 1941-1945.

Questions

1. How did the organization of the armed forces of the Moscow state change during the 16th-16th centuries?
2. Why did Peter I fail to defeat the Swedish army at the Battle of Narva, although Russian troops had a numerical superiority? Justify your answer.
3. What major transformations were carried out in the construction of the Russian armed forces after the defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856)?
4. What structure did the USSR Armed Forces have after the Great Patriotic War?

Tasks

1. Prepare a report on one of the outstanding commanders (or naval commanders) of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
2. Using historical literature and the “Additional materials” section, prepare a message on the topic “Streltsy - the basis of the Russian army in the 17th century.”
3. Using historical literature and the Internet, prepare a message on the topic “The reasons for Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War.”
4. Using a history textbook, give examples of successful military operations of the Soviet army during the Great Patriotic War.

1 - Foot warrior 10-11 centuries. 2 - Warrior 13-14 centuries. 3 - Sagittarius, early 17th century. 4 - Sagittarius of the Bukhvostov regiment. 1674. 5 - Sagittarius of Kalobov's regiment. 1674. 6 - Fusilier of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. 1700. 7 - Chief officer of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. 1700. 8 - Fusilier of the Dragoon Regiment. 1720. 9 - Grenadier of the infantry regiment. 1700. 10 - Bombardier. 1712. 11 - Sailor. 1711.

A. Kersnovsky

HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY

Part I

Troops of a foreign system began to appear here under Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.

Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov

The first surviving patents were issued to Dragoon Colonel Van Dam in 1632 and to Colonel Charles Ebers in 1639. The composition of these troops was considered desirable: one-third foreigners and two-thirds Russians (both were professionals). In fact, they consisted almost entirely of Russians.

In 1642, two “elective” (i.e., selected) regiments were formed from Moscow Slobozhans and Streltsy children - Pervomoskovsky and Butyrsky. These regiments were destined to appear link the old Moscow and new Peter's armies are a symbol of the unity and indivisibility of the Russian army. At the beginning of the reign of Tsar Alexei, in 1648, the first military regulations in Russia were published - “Teaching and tricks of the military formation of infantry people.” There were no uniform states. Foreign regiments were divided into companies, while the Streltsy regiments had hundreds of units. Both of them were called colonels. The number of regiments varied: soldier regiments (i.e. infantry regiments of a foreign system) ranged from 25 to 35, Reitar and Dragoon regiments - up to 25, Streltsy 4045 (in Moscow alone 18). According to the list of 1689, it was considered: “well-ordered” troops 110,000, “disordered” 55,000, “policemen” up to 25,000. In total, on paper, up to 200 thousand, but poorly organized, even worse disciplined, in general, weak combat effectiveness.

1. The initial man of the 2nd order of Ivan Poltev of the Moscow Streltsy. 1672 2. Soldier of the regiment of the “foreign system”. Second half of the 17th century. 3.Moscow gunner with “alam”. Second half of the 17th century. 4. Spearman of the “foreign system” regiments. Second half of the 17th century. 5. “Sokolnik” of the Great Sovereign Regiment. Second half of the 17th century. 6. Sagittarius with the hundredth banner of the 12th order of Ivan Naramansky of the Moscow Streltsy. 1674 7. Sagittarius of the 5th order of Fyodor Alexandrov of the Moscow archers. 1674

Sagittarius

Russian cavalry

Russian Reiters

TRANSFORMATION OF THE ARMY. REFORM OF 1698

The service of the regular troops of the Moscow state in the last decades of the 17th century can most likely be compared with the current serving of camp training. The soldiers settled in the settlements gradually became more bourgeois, lost their military spirit and even military look. Most started families and were engaged in crafts and trades that had nothing to do with military service. They were under arms for a total of a month or two a year. The timelessness of the 70s and 80s had a particularly detrimental effect on the archers, who turned into troublemakers and rebels - some kind of janissaries of Moscow Rus' and posed a danger to the state with their existence. Only four regiments could be considered fully-fledged at that time: the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky “amusing” regiments (established in 1683, received regimental organization in 1691) and both “elected” ones - Lefort’s Pervomoskovsky and Gordon’s Butyrsky. In 1694, the young Tsar carried out the first large maneuvers of the Russian army, the so-called “Kozhukhovsky campaign”. These maneuvers showed an exact resemblance to war (to the point that about 70 people were killed and wounded by point-blank fire with wads), and up to 30,000 troops of both the old organization and the new system took part in them, and all the advantages were on the side of the latter .

The Azov campaigns finally convinced Tsar Peter of the low suitability of the troops of the old organization. The campaign of 1695 ended in tears - the disorderly retreat from Azov resembled an escape. In 1696, an army of 70,000, supported by an improvised fleet, was able to capture the fortress, which was defended by less than 5,000 Turks, only after a two-month siege. The soldier regiments, not to mention the rifle regiments, showed little combat effectiveness, and even less discipline. On the contrary, the regiments, composed of zemstvo people called up for the duration of the war as conscription - nobles and tax peasants - showed great zeal despite all the inevitable shortcomings of militia-type troops.

All this gave Peter the idea to completely renew the composition of the army, disbanding all the “janissaries” - soldiers, reiters and archers, and again recruit “professionals”, this time forced, from among the nobles and datochnikov.

This reform was carried out in 1698. All the old regiments were disbanded and disbanded with the exception of the four mentioned above. These 4 regiments included everyone whom Peter considered reliable and suitable for further service - a total of 28,000 people (after the riot of this year, the archers were not taken into service at all). Peter thus based his new army on the principle of selection. The tsar's closest collaborator in carrying out this reform was General Patrick Gordon, a veteran of the Chigirinsky campaigns and a hero of the Azov campaigns, who then revised the old charter of 1648. Gordon died the following year, 1699, and his death was a grievous loss for the young king and his young army.

Patrick Leopold Gordon

In 1699, a conscription of 32,000 datochnye was announced - the first recruitment in Russia. At the same time, many foreigners were accepted into the Russian service with great advantage (mainly in terms of salaries), who were assigned the majority of command positions in the new army. The just ended war of France with the “Augsburg League” freed many sword professionals, among whom, along with adventurers, there were also people of high quality.

In the spring and early summer of 1700, 29 infantry regiments were formed from the surplus of four old regiments and newly called up datnye regiments, comprising three strong divisions and 3 dragoons.

1. Fusilier of an army infantry regiment in marching boots and a “karpus”. 1704

2. Fusilier of the Semenovsky regiment. Until 1708 3. Officer of the grenadier company of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. 1712

4. Grenadier of the Butyrsky Infantry Regiment with a hand mortar. 1708 5. Sergeant of the Kyiv regiment. 1704 6. Dragoons of the Army Dragoon Regiment. 1704

PETER THE GREAT AS POLITICIAN, ORGANIZER AND COMMANDER

Peter I the Great

The twenty-year Northern War was a great school for the Russian army - the Russian commander, the Russian officer and the Russian soldier. In its fire those incomparable regiments were forged and forged, whose stamina and valor Europe marveled and envied for two hundred years. Twenty years of the most persistent struggle - twenty years of systematic, consistent efforts to achieve a once-set goal... This has never happened to Russia in its entire eight-century history - and world history since the time of the single combat between Rome and Carthage is extremely poor in examples of this kind. Peter's personality stands before us in all its gigantic stature - with all its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages appeared in the field of foreign policy and in war, disadvantages were reflected in domestic policy.

This last question seems to go beyond the scope of this work, but it should be dwelled on, pointing out two major mistakes of the great transformer, which played a sad role in the further course of Russian history - excessive acceleration of Europeanization and the “Babylonian captivity” of the church. The first of these mistakes involuntarily entailed servility to everything foreign and underestimation and blasphemy of everything Russian, as if distrust of one’s own merits. These qualities were completely absent from Peter I personally, but for two hundred years they became the worst feature of the Russian character - to consider every illiterate foreigner a “master”, and everyone no matter how literate is already an “authority”.

This admiration for foreignness brought particular harm, as we will see, in military affairs. Peter's foreign policy is impeccable (except for the rejection of Turkish proposals in the Prut campaign). The benefit of Russia was the only criterion that guided the first Russian emperor in his relations with foreign powers. Peter proves himself to be a loyal ally throughout the war. He does not like to bind himself in advance with promises and agreements, but once he has given his word, he keeps it sacredly. The allies helped the Russians out more than once during various periods of the war... However, as soon as the tsar saw that they did not reciprocate at all and in reality only sought to exploit Russia, to rake in the heat with Russian hands, he immediately broke off all relations with them and continued to wage war completely independently. Subsequently, this wise Petrine tradition was forgotten. How many misfortunes Russia could have avoided if, for two centuries, Russian blood had been shed only for Russian interests!

But where Peter’s genius was fully reflected was in military affairs: in the structure of the armed force and in its leadership. A brilliant organizer and great commander, he was significantly ahead of his era in all respects.

The main position of Peter the Great as an organizer is fully expressed by his famous saying: “They don’t win with multitudes.” Chapter 8 of his “Military Charter” (“On the Army”) begins significantly: “In the old days, the Romans had very great troops, but Julius Caesar never had more than 50 thousand in one corps, and in such an order of approximate training that with them he could do great things more reliably...”

The element of quality is given the main place. How to achieve this? Obviously, through the greatest attraction into the army of the class that most preserved military traditions and from ancient times was intended for military service. And Peter issues a decree introducing compulsory personal and lifelong service for nobles. Upon reaching a certain age (16 years), the minors, the so-called “newcomers,” were examined by special commissions (diploma, “tsyfir” and other simple wisdom).

Those who did not pass this exam were “written as soldiers” without length of service, and those who passed were taken into public service: two-thirds into the military, one-third into the civil service. No one was released from service. Thus, the most militarily valuable class was completely used.

Having established personal military service for the nobility, Peter I gave the conscription service of other classes a communal character. Each community, rural or philistine, was obliged to supply a recruit from a certain number of households (later - from the number of souls), deciding by its verdict who should go to serve. The recruit had to be from 20 to 35 years old, nothing else was required of him: military receivers had to accept “whoever the donors announce and appoint as a return.”

Seeing off the recruit

The community collected money for the assigned recruit, usually 150 - 200 rubles, which at that time was a large sum, five times more than the bonus for Western European mercenaries. The service freed people from slavery, and under Peter there were many hunters from runaway serfs. Under Elizabeth, fugitives were no longer accepted; those who showed up were flogged and sent back to the landowners, which was a huge psychological mistake.

So, Peter retained the basic principle of the structure of the Russian armed force - the compulsory nature of compulsory military service, which at all times was sharply different from the mercenary and recruitment system of Western countries. Moreover, this principle was emphasized even more clearly by Peter: this duty was declared lifelong and permanent (while in Muscovite Rus' it was only temporary).

The recruitment system was definitely territorial in nature. In 1711, the regiments were assigned to provinces and were supported at the expense of these provinces. Each regiment had its own specific recruitment circle - a province that gave the regiment its name. Pskov residents served in the Pskov Regiment, soldiers’ children of the Butyrskaya Sloboda served in the Butyrsky Regiment, and residents of the northern Novgorod Pyatyns served in the Ingermanland Regiment... The Great Tsar appreciated the full significance of the sense of compatriotism so developed among the Russian people (the first stage of patriotism). Unfortunately, after Peter, no proper attention was paid to preserving the territorial system; the regiments constantly changed their apartments and their recruiting districts, moving from one end of Russia to the other. By the middle of the 18th century, this system had completely died out, and as a result, Russia, the only country that had a territorial system at the beginning of the 18th century, was by the beginning of the 20th century the only country that did not have this system...

The ground armed forces were divided into the active army, local troops - garrison and land militia - and the Cossacks. The Land Militia was formed from the remnants of the former military classes (gunners, soldiers, reiters) in 1709 and settled in Ukraine to protect the southern borders. The provinces of Arkhangelsk and Astrakhan maintained and staffed the fleet.

After the Bulavinsky rebellion, Peter did not particularly trust the Cossacks, but, understanding the great importance of the Cossacks in the life of the Russian state, he settled the Cossacks on the outskirts.

Buchholz's unsuccessful trip to Central Asia resulted in the establishment of the Siberian Cossack army, and the result of the Persian campaign was the resettlement of part of the Don Cossacks to the Terek, which marked the beginning of the Terek army (first called Astrakhan).

Terek Cossack

The entire burden of conscription fell on the ten then Great Russian provinces (in the south, to this day, “Muscovite” is synonymous with “soldier”). The Little Russian population served in the militia, irregular - land militia and Cossack troops. This order—Great Russians as soldiers, Little Russians as Cossacks—lasted until Catherine’s time.

Let us now move on to Peter's generalship. According to General Leer's definition, it was " great commander, who knew how to do everything, could do everything and wanted to do everything.”

His talent as a commander was only one aspect of his powerful and complex genius. His strength, brightness and genius are fully revealed when compared with the talents, also not small, of his main opponent Charles XII.

Peter has a statesman's mind. The king combines politics, strategist and tactics - big politician, a great strategist, a great tactician. This combination, rare in history, was found after him only among two great commanders - Frederick II and Napoleon. The king fully observed the harmony between these three main elements of military art, and his strategy was entirely subordinated to politics.

CharlesXII

Charles XII is in this respect the complete opposite of his royal opponent. This is a brilliant tactician, a leader who carries his subordinates along with him. But this is not a strategist, much less a politician... The Swedish king wages war out of love for war, and this “physical” love for war, due to the complete lack of statesmanship, ultimately led his army to death, and his the country is in decline. In 1706, he had every opportunity to end the war with an honorable peace for Sweden, but did not want to take advantage of it, and eight years later, after Poltava, when Sweden’s situation became desperate, with his unbridled stubbornness he restored a new enemy against himself - Prussia. In these two cases, taken as an example from a number of similar ones, we see Karl’s complete lack of a political eye, the first quality of a commander, especially a crowned one. He doesn't even have a strategic eye. For four years in a row he wanders in Poland, driving Augustus II from place to place (and giving valuable rest to the Russian army, which meanwhile was learning to fight at the expense of the ill-fated Schlippenbach), instead of immediately disarming his enemy with a blow to Saxony. The young king has no organizational abilities, he does not have the concept of an organized base, he does not know how to retain the conquered territory, and therefore all his victories are fruitless. As soon as he leaves any area in Poland, it is immediately occupied by the enemy, or rather, it again plunges into anarchy, the elements of which begin immediately behind the slingshots of the Swedish camp. Having received from his father a small but remarkably organized and trained army of veterans, he uses it brilliantly, but does not spare it at all. In the winter of 1707-1708, with a poorly dressed and poorly supplied army, he rushes into the deep Lithuanian forests and starts a completely senseless guerrilla war with the population solely to satisfy his thirst for adventure and absolutely not sparing the troops. He misses the opportunity to concentrate his forces in 1708 (before going to Russia) and in his Russian campaign he takes the second step before the first... At the beginning of the war, Karl is 19 years old. The young man is ardent, passionate, stubborn and unrestrained, possessing extraordinary abilities and not accepting advice from anyone, brought up by reading the deeds of the heroes of antiquity, having a bright military soul, but not having the mind of a great commander. He imagines himself as Alexander and in Peter’s “Muscovites” he is inclined to see the Persians of Darius; Voltaire remarkably well said that “he was not Alexander, but was worthy of being Alexander’s first soldier.”

CharlesXIIduring the Battle of Poltava

If Charles wages war “for the sake of war,” then Peter’s conduct of war is entirely subordinated to his policy. He does nothing for nothing, always guided solely by the interests of “the state entrusted to Peter.” Charles XII received his army ready-made from his father - Peter I created his own with his own hands. Knowing how to demand superhuman efforts from his troops when necessary (to the point of carrying ships on his hands hundreds of miles inclusive), Peter never wastes their strength in vain. The commander’s aspirations, in his own words, should be aimed at winning victory with “little blood.”

Already the campaign of 1702, the Ingrian campaign, reveals his strategic talents. His securing of the Neva line in 1703, which separated Finland from Livonia, and his choice of the site for the founding of St. Petersburg - the Peter and Paul Fortress - indicate a great strategic eye. The withdrawal of the army from Grodno, carried out exactly according to his instructions, is the same masterpiece of military art as the retreat of Kutuzov from Tyrol to Moravia a hundred years later and his Znaim maneuver. The campaign of 1708-1709 was carried out flawlessly by Peter, as Swedish historians, the most biased historians in the world, admit.

As a tactician, Peter is far ahead of his era. He starts horse artillery, a hundred years before Napoleon and half a century before Frederick. In all his instructions to the troops, especially in the famous “Friedrichstadt regulations”, the idea of ​​​​mutual assistance and support of units - “seconding one to the other” and the coordination of actions of various types of weapons is carried through as a red thread, the concept of a combat reserve is introduced. In the first period of the war, the tsar acts with the utmost caution: the quality of the Swedish army is still too high and Peter notes the main reason for the tactical superiority of the Swedes over the young Russian troops - their “closeness”. And he immediately contrasts it with field fortification. Peter's infantry wields a shovel like a gun; when they get into a bivouac, they immediately surround it with entrenchments. The formation of the Swedes was broken on the Poltava redoubts. Knowing that “they do not win with multitudes,” Peter takes all measures to be in as superior a force as possible on the decisive day (while Charles XII always scatters his forces).

The design of the cavalry is noteworthy. Under Peter, they were all exclusively of the dragoon type and were superbly trained in both horse and foot formation. Dragoons were Peter's favorite weapon and their army exploits during the Northern War are unparalleled in the history of other armies. Let us remember Kalisz, this exclusively dragoon victory, Lesnaya, where two-thirds of our forces consisted of dragoons, Perevolochna, where Menshikov’s flying corps forced the Swedish army to lay down their arms... Peter never found that he had too much cavalry, and for three years, from 1707 to 1710, both guards regiments, Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky, mounted on horses, were in dragoon position.

Alexander Danilovich Menshikov

Battle of Poltava

In general, Peter’s tactics are dominated by the element of active defense, actions “to convert the enemy,” which corresponded to the circumstances of that era. Purely offensive principles were introduced into Russian tactics only in the Seven Years' War by Rumyantsev at Gross-Jägernsdorf.

Our old Charter of 1648, although updated by Gordon, was no longer suitable for the troops baptized in the fire of the Northern War. And it was replaced in 1716 by the new “Military Charter” - in its main provisions, which was the charter of the Russian army for the entire 18th century. We will not enter here into a detailed consideration of this remarkable document, most of which is occupied by an analysis of ranks and ranks and the rights and responsibilities associated with them. The charter recommended that on a campaign, a “vanguard” be formed from half of the entire cavalry, reinforced, if possible, with several light cannons; The “corps de battalle” (corpus de batalle) consisted of “infantry” with artillery, then came the convoys and everything was closed with a “rearguard” of the rest of the cavalry.

“Corvolant, that is, a light corps” (corps volant) is dressed up “to stop or take away the enemy’s pass or to go to the rear or fall into his land - up to 6-7000 can return everywhere without burden.” However, it “may not only be composed of cavalry alone”—infantry with light artillery may also be added there. Peter’s detachment at Lesnaya is a typical “corvolant” - like Menshikov’s at Kalisz and Perevolochnaya. In general, the Northern War, especially the campaign of 1708-1709, is replete with examples of the successful use of “corvolants” on the Russian side. The artillery, which “is like a movable arsenal and store of troops,” constituted “a seemingly special corps” (artillery ranks did not coincide, for example, with infantry or dragoon ranks), excluding the regimental rank, which was one with the infantry and cavalry. It was built “behind the shelves or in the middle of the front.” Covering it from the infantry was dressed up exclusively from pikemen (muskets were considered dangerous in terms of fire). For the same reason, servants at the guns and even covering pikemen were forbidden to smoke. With artillery, engineering ranks “usually had their own camp.”

Taking a position, the army was built in three lines. The only type of square is regimental. It consisted of 300 double rows (4 ranks) - 75 per front. The deployed formation was in 4 ranks. Staff and non-combatant ranks had their own special hierarchy - independent of the combat ranks, which presented many inconveniences (and will last until Arakcheev). Finally, a characteristic feature of the Charter is distrust of individual decisions; it always prescribes a “collegial” decision - the convening of a military council. However, Peter paid tribute here to the spirit of the times, the heyday of the “gofkriegsrat”.

The control of troops in peacetime was concentrated in the hands of the Military Collegium, established in 1719 and which initially had 3 departments (“expeditions”) - army, garrison and artillery, which were in charge of field, garrison and material forces, respectively.

Higher tactical formations, brigades (23 regiments) and divisions (24 brigades) were formed only in wartime. In peacetime, the highest administrative unit was the regiment. By the end of the reign of Peter I, the army consisted of infantry: 2 guards, 2 grenadiers and 42 infantry regiments (of which 9 were “lower corps” in Persia), a total of 70,000 bayonets with 200 guns of regimental artillery; cavalry: 33 dragoon regiments - 37,850 people, 100 pieces of horse artillery; artillery: 1 guards, 4 army cannon companies - 4190 people with 21 regimental and 160 siege guns; sapper: 2 companies - engineering and mineral. In total, the active troops have 112,000 combat troops with 480 guns. The cavalry thus made up a third of the field troops, and for every thousand fighters there were an average of 3 cannons (not counting siege ones). In addition, there were 68,000 garrison troops (50 infantry and 4 dragoon regiments), 10,000 land militia (4 infantry and 16 cavalry regiments) and 35,000 Cossacks. A total of 225,000, and including the fleet personnel, there are 250,000 lifelong professionals. The infantry regiments were in 2 battalions and consisted of 1 grenadier and 7 fuselier companies. We only had battalions in 1698. Before that, regiments were divided directly into companies. Both guards regiments had 4 battalions. Many army regiments during various periods of the Northern War also had 4 or 3 battalions. Each regiment had two 3-pound cannons, on the carriage of which two 6-pound mortars could be fitted, if necessary. The gunners wore regimental uniforms and were subordinate to the regimental infantry command. The escort guns of the Peter the Great era weighed 20 pounds and were transported by a pair of horses. The staff of the infantry regiment was 1200 combatants. Until 1708, regiments were named after colonels. Each infantry and dragoon company had its own banner. The banner of the 1st company was considered regimental and was white, the color of the rest was at the colonel's choice (most often black). The service life of the banners was 5 years and they were considered ammunition items, although their loss was already considered shameful and units could be deprived of their banners in court. (Standards were first introduced during the formation of the cuirassiers in 1733.)

All cavalry were dragoons. The dragoon regiment consisted of 5 squadrons of 2 companies each, in all 10 companies there were 1200 combat troops (the first companies were considered, like in the infantry, grenadiers). Each regiment was also given two 3-pound cannons, and in addition one 20-pound howitzer, weighing less than 30 pounds.

The fighter's weapons were in the infantry: a fusee (gun) and a sword for everyone. The fusée weighed 14 pounds, the bayonet (“6aginet”) was inserted into the barrel, so it was impossible to shoot with the bayonet attached. The grenadiers had, in addition to only 2 grenadine bags (one 6-pound “Grenada” in each). Non-commissioned officers had tall halberds instead of fusees. The shortage of guns forced Peter to reintroduce pikes (half-pikes, so-called “protazans”) into infantry service in 1707. Pikemen (at one time over a quarter of the entire infantry) formed the rear 4 ranks and were assigned primarily to provide cover for the artillery. The dragoons had a fusee, pistols and a broadsword. Fusées were worn on the shoulder of the infantry; among the dragoons they were attached to the saddle (there were no belts).

The uniform consisted of a long single-breasted caftan of green color (from the time of Peter until the beginning of the 20th century, for two hundred years, green was the traditional color of the uniform of Russian troops), a camisole, short pants to the knees, green stockings and low shoes, on the march and guards - boots, dragoons have jackboots. In winter, they wore an epancha - a type of cloak.

By order Peter I in 1702, 500 sets of new “German” (or “French”) uniforms were produced.

The adaptation to the European model was completed a year later, when not only the guards, but also the army regiments began to dress in a new way.

Guards regiments - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky - in 1702-1720. wore respectively green (“dark nettle” figure 1-musketeer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment 1703-1708) and blue (“cornflower blue”) caftans with red cuffs and lining.

In 1720, the Semyonovtsy received caftans of the same color as the Preobrazhentsy - dark green, but they differed in cornflower blue collars (the Preobrazhentsy had red collars).

Figure 3- Fusilier of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, 1702-1720).

The infantrymen's trousers were very spacious; they were made of leather or cloth. The guards had them slightly below the knee. The color of the officer's trousers, like the color of the camisoles, was not uniform, but in 1720 it was finally decided to make them dark green.
On their feet, soldiers wore leather, pointed-toed shoes with heels, boots or jackboots. They were worn in dry weather along with stockings, which were pulled over the pants. The boots reached approximately mid-calf and were worn on long hikes and in bad weather.
The most common headdress in the army until 1720 were hats - woolen or down, with a round cylindrical crown and a brim 13-16 cm wide. In 1702-1705. their fields were trimmed with white or silver galloon. At first, the brims were strongly bent on one side, and from 1706 on three sides, so they turned into cocked hats.

Grenadiers wore special headdresses. At first these were hats with fur trims and a red cloth top.

In 1712, they were replaced by leather ones with a round crown and two visors: the front one stood vertically, and the back one was almost horizontal. A metal plaque (tin or silver) with a double-headed eagle was attached to the front one, and the second one protected the neck. Above this visor there was a tube for a feather plume, covered with a metal plaque with a royal monogram.

The sultan of the lower ranks consisted of two red feathers, the officers - of three white ones. ( Figure 2- grenadier staff officer of the Semenovsky regiment 1712-1720)

The satisfaction was excellent. The daily “ration” consisted of a pound of meat, two pounds of bread, two glasses of wine and a garnz (quart) of beer. One and a half garnets of cereal and two pounds of salt were issued monthly. The Tsar himself tested this ration on himself for a month, before approving it. The soldier was entitled to a salary of 24 rubles per year, of which, however, half was deducted for uniforms.

There were no barracks and the troops were billeted among the inhabitants. When allocating apartments to troops, the Military Charter required one bed for three people, on the basis that two would sleep on it, and the third would be occupied by guards. We can be convinced from this that the dispatch of guard duty in those days absorbed a third of the available troops.

The discipline of Peter the Great's army was harsh: people were put under arrest in chains, corporal punishment was frequent, but not particularly cruel. Demotion (in severe cases with “defamation” and without seniority) was widely practiced. Officers, sometimes senior generals, like Repnin, “signed up to be soldiers,” while lower ranks “signed up to be cab drivers” (i.e., wagon train drivers). Military units could also be subjected to “disgrace.” This is what Peter wrote in one of his military articles: “Regiments or companies that flee from the battlefield are judged in the general military court, and if it is found that the commanders are the reason for this, then defame them and, having broken the sword over them through the executioner, hang them. If the culprits are officers and privates, then the first should be executed as stated, and of the last, by lot, the tenth, or as ordered, should also be hanged; the rest should be punished with spitzrutens and, in addition, without banners, they should stand outside the convoy until they atone for the crime with brave deeds. Whoever proves his innocence will be spared.” Peter I thus introduced the principle of Roman “decimation” (execution of the tenth) into the troops. If we remember that the “Military Charter” sets the small army of “Julius Caesar” as a model, then we can argue that when organizing the regiments of the Third Rome, the king took an example from the legions of the First. It must be added to the credit of the Russian army that it was not necessary to resort to this kind of punishment. Nevertheless, this formidable maxim served its purpose, guiding more than one timid heart onto the true path.

The “Short Article” of 1706 introduced the punishment of spitzrutens, which until then had been applied (as a foreign punishment) only to foreigners who served with us. Spitzrutens were assigned exclusively by court and the perpetrator was driven through the ranks (the largest number of spitzrutens - being driven through the ranks of a regiment, was assigned for recidivism robbery). Punishment with batogs (rods) was imposed as a disciplinary measure.

punishment with spitzrutens (driving a regiment through the ranks)

With all this said, corporal punishment in the Russian army of the 18th century was not as frequent and not as cruel as in foreign armies.

THE AGE OF DECLINE

Under Peter the Great's immediate successors, military affairs fell into decline. During the short reign of Catherine I and Peter II, the young empire entered a critical period of its development, and all its energy went into the struggle for power of various temporary leaders and parties.

CatherineI

The troubled times of Peter I's youth threatened to repeat themselves. Foreign policy Russia, one might say, did not have this period at all; internal politics threatened to degenerate into strife. The tsarist power was reduced to nothing by temporary workers.

Naturally, all these disorders did not take long to affect the armed forces. Their number, as we know, in the mid-20s reached 250,000 combat troops, which was excessive for a country with a population of 17 million, which had also just survived a brutal twenty-five year war. Already in the last years of the reign of Peter I, deductions were made from the salaries of military ranks (20 kopecks per ruble for generals, 15 for staff officers, 10 for chief officers and 5 for officers of garrison troops). Delays in receiving salaries for several months became common. There was a period (1724-1725) when the army did not receive pay for a whole 16 months...

The government of Empress Catherine I made every effort to satisfy the claims that arose. First of all, the guard and the capital's garrisons were satisfied and put in order, and at the end of 1728, the Swedish envoy Cederkreutz, reporting to his government about the combat readiness of the Russian troops, could write that they “can go on a campaign upon the announcement of a decree in three days.” True, the second was sacrificed to the “first hand of the potentate” - the fleet fell into complete desolation in the second quarter of the century.

In the late 20s and early 30s, many old officers and soldiers were retired. To lighten the budget of the military college, they began to equip troops for free work, employing soldiers in positions that had nothing to do with military affairs: servants, couriers of various departments, even postmen.

Menshikov abolished in 1726 the voting of officers for rank. In 1727, the regiments were named after their camp sites, but in the same year this order was canceled.

Military operations in Persia continued all this time, in parallel with negotiations regarding the return of the territories taken from them to the Persians. Guerrilla warfare required the deployment of significant forces, and the decline from disease led to the fact that even under Peter I, the 20 battalions of the Lower Corps absorbed 29,000 recruits in three years (1723-1725). By 1730, 17 infantry and 7 dragoon regiments were stationed in the Caucasus, approximately a quarter of the entire armed force.

AUTOCRATE OF ANNA IOANOVNA. MINICH'S REFORM

Empress Anna Ioanovna

Grenadier officer of an army infantry regiment. Russia. 1734 g

Upon accession to the throne of Empress Anna Ioannovna in 1730, the “Supreme Privy Council The temporary workers presented her with conditions - “conditions” that completely limited the tsarist power and introduced an oligarchy in Russia. Russia was threatened with the fate of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but it was saved from this fate by the Russian officers, who were politically educated and politically conscious. The last, posthumous service was rendered to Russia by the great Peter, who breathed into the hearts of the chicks of his nest the consciousness of statehood, citizenship, in the best sense this word, and political orientation.

Another German was in charge of army affairs. Johann Burgard - and in Russian Ivan Bogdanich - Minich was a veteran of the Northern War and turned gray in Russian service. He became close to Russia and correctly understood its interests (while not forgetting his own). He understood and loved military affairs, although he was a routinist. Above all, he was a careerist and a skilled courtesan. Distinguished by his love of fame and power, he “burned with ambition, took on everything, did not spare his work, and even fewer words to glorify his work.”

Burchard Christopher von Minich

Minich's reforms are varied, although not always successful. A sapper himself, he tried in every possible way to raise the importance of the corps of engineers and transferred there, among other things, the quartermaster unit, i.e. simple functions of the then General Staff. He was aware of the shortcomings of officers who came from the lower ranks, their lack of education, and rudeness of manners.

The establishment in 1731 of the Officer School, soon named the Gentry Cadet Corps (now the First Cadet Corps) was supposed to partially fill this deficiency. Its program was extremely versatile; the organization itself was very reminiscent of the imperial “knightly academies”. In total, the Corps was initially designed for 200, then 300 cadets. The gentry corps trained officers in special branches of arms and in army regiments. The Guard adhered to the old order of production. The Corps' program included theology, jurisprudence, Latin, one of the new languages ​​(the vast majority chose German, which should not surprise us), geography, mathematics, artillery, fortification, horse riding, fencing and dancing. Cadets could be pages at the Court. Minikh took strict measures against the penetration of foreign adventurers into the Russian army: from now on, it was ordered to accept only officers “who served in noble European armies” and have proper evidence of this. The privileges of foreigners were abolished, their salaries were compared with those of their Russian colleagues, who received equal rights in their native army under the “German” Minich. At the same time, German rules have been introduced in the army: bureaucracy has increased enormously and office work has become more complicated. Bunches and wigs with braids appeared (and among the soldiers, lard and flour were replaced cosmetic supplies). Punishments with fuchtels (ramrods, and in the cavalry - with flat sabers) were adopted from the Germans. Sometimes very lenient with himself, Minikh was inexorably strict with his subordinates, for example, for the slightest shortcomings, he put old, honored staff officers under arms (and, moreover, in front of the unit’s front).

Speaking about the strengthening of German order in the army, it should be noted that in those days we tried to take examples from the army of the Caesar. Things have not yet come to the point of becoming interested in Prussianism. In 1730, the third guards regiment was established - Izmailovsky: according to the idea of ​​​​the “German party”, it was supposed to be a “counterweight” to Peter’s two, but from the very first steps it merged with them.

In 1731, Minich drew up new states for the army, replacing the old “report card” of Ogilvy of 1704. In the infantry and dragoon regiments, the grenadier companies were abolished, and the grenadiers were distributed among the remaining companies of the regiment (16 grenadiers per fusilier, 10 per dragoon company). In the infantry, pikes have been taken out of use (piercers for officers and halberds for non-commissioned officers have been retained). Company banners were selected and new ones were given, 2 banners per infantry battalion and cavalry regiment.

In 1733, the first retreat was made from the general dragoon type of cavalry: 4 cuirassier regiments were formed.

cuirassiers

At the end of the 30s, we began to have hussars (mainly from Serbian immigrants), they were first formed by Minich into 3 regiments: Serbian, Wallachian and Hungarian, then 2 more: Moldavian and Georgian, and they were given places to settle in Little Russia, along the southern border. Hussars are also found in Moscow Russia (borrowed from Poland, where “winged” armored hussars were held in high esteem). In the painting of 1681 they are indicated as 5 companies of 400-500 sabers, settled in the Novgorod land. When transforming the army into late XVII centuries they disappeared and reappeared only at the end of the reign of Peter I, when in 1723 a team of hussar hunters was formed (mainly Serbs, 340 people, of whom 80 remained in service by 1730).

Artillery has been significantly strengthened. Regimental capacity increased from 2 to 3 guns in infantry and dragoon regiments. The field force was tripled in comparison with the Peter the Great era and increased to 60 guns, mainly 8-pounder guns. The siege consisted of three “bomber corps” in St. Petersburg, Kyiv and Belgorod. Land militia, in addition to the southern outskirts, was established in 1731 in the western (Smolenskaya) and eastern (Zakamskaya) regions. Five years later, the southern land militia formed the Ukrainian Land Militia Corps. In 1734, the Cossacks were accepted into Russian citizenship. The Astrakhan Cossack army was renamed Terek. New troops were established - Volga (in the southern part of the current Saratov province) and Isetsky - in the Urals.

In 1736, the first mitigation of the heavy and ruinous personal conscription duty for the nobility followed. The only sons, or one of the brothers, are allowed to remain on the farm “if they wish.” On the other hand, the establishment of a 10-year period of service facilitated the promotion to officer ranks of non-commissioned officers not from the nobility (these promotions, however, were rare).

Dragoon

The appearance of Peter's harsh army changed. The dragoons received blue, cornflower blue kaftans, and the cuirassiers received white elk coats. In addition to wigs, braids, and powder, white ties, red caps and white cockades on hats were introduced. The hussars had long drooping mustaches and wore a thin braid on each side of their head ( for the most part natural hair) into which gun bullets were woven. Their uniforms were ordered from Hungary.

Hussars

The introduction of cosmetics into military use made the soldier’s toilet extremely difficult. The instructions of that time prescribed “to dress the recruit little by little, from week to week, so as not to suddenly tie him up and bother him...” The young soldier put on his full uniform no earlier than the end of the 3rd month of service.

Minikh fought against the extraordinary increase in the number of non-combatants, but at the same time, in order to save money, he demanded the greatest possible “self-sufficiency” of the army. The soldiers began to study all kinds of crafts: carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring and various others, which involuntarily entailed omissions in their main craft - military. Leaving for free work, mainly field work, was observed especially in the regiments located in the provinces: soldier artels spent most of the year with the surrounding landowners, many were engaged in latrine trades. An insignificant number of people remained in the apartments, which made executions impossible.

In the cities, guard duty and the correction of police duties were pestering. In those days, one might say, there were no police at all, and the capital cities, especially St. Petersburg, which was teeming with all sorts of rabble, became extremely dangerous at night. To maintain order, “decent parties of dragoons and fusiliers” dressed up. Guards were kept everywhere - at senators, in foreign embassies, in the “Dessian Academy”, in the Kunstkamera... Looking at the list of permanent guards of the Butyrsky regiment, which was then stationed in St. Petersburg, we find the column: “In the Kunstkamera there is an elephant - corporal 1, privates 7 ( !)". Naturally, when two-thirds of the soldiers went to free labor, and the remaining third signed on guard duty, there was no one left to study the military articulation. In the three infantry regiments of the Moscow garrison - Ingermanland, Arkhangelogorod and Astrakhan together, in 1736 there were 6,500 people in the states - 4,500 were “on leave”, near or far, 1,300 were on guard duty - only 700 remained, of which half were non-combatants.

In 1732, there were 20,000 people in unauthorized absence, including long-time deserters from Peter’s time. The huge shortage in the regiments could not be replenished by recruitment, which was more frequent during this period than in the last years of the reign of Peter I. Since 1719, 53,928 recruits have been taken, an average of 67 thousand per year. From 1727 to 1736, 147,418 were taken, i.e. 1415 thousand annually. In 1740, after the end of the war with Turkey, Prussian spies (the best spies in Europe) reported that in the event of a new war, Russia, with all the tension, would not be able to field more than 140,000 people.

1.Artilleryman. 1757 2. Musketeer of the Observation Corps. 1759 3. Grenadier of the musketeer regiment in summer uniform. 1757 4. Army infantry officer. 1757 5. Hussar of the Serbian Hussar Regiment. 1756 6. Cuirassier. 1756 7. Horse grenadier. 1757

ELIZABETHIN ERA

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna

The accession of the daughter of Peter the Great was met with general jubilation in the army and throughout the country, as a deliverance from the German order and the dominance of German temporary workers. The grenadier company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, which contributed to the coup on November 25, was called a “life campaign”, the officers who served in it were awarded the rank of general, sergeants and corporals - staff officers and captains, all ordinary non-nobles were elevated to the dignity of nobility. Empress Elizabeth assumed the rank of colonel of all guards regiments.

A significant number of senior German commanders were dismissed, Minich was exiled to Siberia, where he remained throughout the reign of Elizabeth. From exile, Minich (trying to be visible all the time) sent all kinds of “projects”, so it was finally ordered that the paper be taken away from him. The question arose of what to do with the cuirassier regiment of the disgraced field marshal, which bore his name according to the decree of Empress Anna “forever.” A solution was found, and the regiment was named the “former Minikhov Cuirassiers,” but already in 1756 it received No. 3 (later the 13th Dragoons of the Military Order).

At first, the population of St. Petersburg had to endure a lot from the arbitrariness of the guards soldiers, especially the Life Campaigners, who did not recognize any authority over themselves. In the spring of 1742, the Guard was sent on a campaign to Finland, where it was not without difficulty that it was captured.

The troops underwent a number of important changes. In 1741, during the reign of the Brunswick family, grenadier companies were restored in the regiments, which had been abolished ten years earlier. In 1747, according to Lassi, all regiments were reorganized from 2 battalions to 3 battalions with 1 regimental grenadier company, and in 1753, grenadier companies were formed (in addition to 4 fusiliers) in each battalion. In 1756, on the eve of the Seven Years' War, 4 numbered grenadier regiments were formed from the third grenadier companies of various regiments, and 12 fusilier and 2 grenadier companies remained in the regiments.

In the 1950s, the president of the military college, Field Master General Count Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov, acquired particular influence on the affairs of the army.

Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov

Possessing universal abilities (with complete inability, however, to coordinate them), Shuvalov took on everything, reminiscent of Minich in this regard. He streamlined the system of recruitment, which until that time had been carried out unevenly. In 1757, the entire country was divided into 5 stripes. Every year, recruitment took place in one of them in turn - so that recruitment took place in each strip once every five years. The procedure for surrendering recruits was a real sore for us military system. People were sent to regiments, often thousands of miles away, usually in the fall and winter. Many who were obviously unfit for health and useless to the community were handed over as recruits. The mortality rate among recruits on the way and upon arrival was enormous, escapes were also frequent, and barely half reached the regiments. For example, in the recruitment of 1756, 43,088 recruits were sentenced to surrender, 41,374 were handed over to receivers, 37,675 were sent to the regiments, 23,571 arrived...

A staunch supporter of fire tactics, Shuvalov considered artillery to be the main type of weapon. The infantry and cavalry were only supposed to serve this main type of weapon. The main type of artillery, in his opinion, was the unicorn (howitzer). Shuvalov even designed to arm all artillery exclusively with unicorns.

Shuvalov's unicorn

Shuvalov's secret howitzer

The sergeant-major began to put his theories into practice in the mid-50s - just before the start of the Seven Years' War. He formed a special “Observation Corps” of 11,000 people, who made up 5 “musketeer” (numbered) regiments of a special structure. These regiments were supposed to be a combination of infantry and artillery, and they were armed with 36 unicorns of a special “Shuvalov” design - the so-called “secret” (these guns were surrounded by great mystery, they were always transported closed, the servants under a special oath were obliged not to tell anyone their device , although, in truth, these unicorns were nothing special). The unicorn is the heraldic animal of the Shuvalov coat of arms. In honor of him, in the Russian army, throughout the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries, howitzers were called unicorns. The “secret” howitzers were distinguished by the fact that two channels were drilled in one body - for firing a cannonball (3-pound caliber) and specifically for firing buckshot (in the shape of an ellipse for better dispersion). The artillery was generally significantly strengthened. The regimental force was strengthened back in 1745 (4 guns per infantry regiment), and with the transition of the infantry regiments to the 3rd battalion position, it was even doubled against the previous norm (6 3-pound guns per regiment, 2 per battalion). The field artillery was consolidated into 2 regiments, with a total number of 140 guns in service and 92 in reserve under the Furstadt (convoy) companies. In addition, there were 73 siege weapons and 105 “secret” howitzers of the Observation Corps. The number of guns in the army was increased to a total of 800. To train artillery officers, the Artillery and Engineering Cadet Corps (now the 2nd Cadet Corps) was founded in 1758.

Shuvalov's ideas were strongly reflected in the drafting of the Charter of 1755, which replaced the old Peter the Great Charter of 1716, in everything related to the training and tactics of troops. Adhering to defensive principles and strictly fire tactics, this charter is especially important withdrew the artillery. The infantry was required mainly - and first of all - to produce fire.

The infantry lined up in four ranks, the first two firing from the knee. For shooting, the battalion (grenadiers and fusiliers together) was counted on 4 plutons, so that the rifle units did not coincide with the administrative ones. In deployed formation, the grenadier companies marched half-company on both flanks of the battalion. The most common “squares” were: regimental, used in stationary defense, mainly repelling cavalry: the first three fusilier companies formed the front front, the last three - the rear; Of the remaining middle ones, three even ones (4th, 6th, 8th) formed the right side, and three odd ones formed the left side. The grenadiers were distributed among the fusilier companies and all together were assigned to plutongs, 3 plutongs per front.

Regimental artillery was stationed at the corners, usually two guns at the front, one at the rear. During the attack, a different kind of karei was “composed” - long, or “long” - on three sides: 8 mouths in the front face, 2 in each of the side faces, no rear face. This three-sided "karey" was the favorite formation of our army in the brilliant period of the second half of the XVIII century.

The combat part was complicated to the extreme by the introduction into everyday use of a huge number of unnecessary commands, techniques and formations, and slavish copying of the Prussians. Peter the Great taught his troops only what they could use in war. In the middle of the 18th century (during the era of Shuvalov and Chernyshev), the parade requirements began to overshadow the actual combat ones. The commands were dashing “with bated breath”, but verbose and often resembled monologues. For loading, butt and shot, it was necessary, for example, to give thirty special commands in divisions - “tempos” (“fire!” only at the twenty-eighth pace, and at the thirtieth the gun was taken “for burial”). The Prussian crane step and the Prussian punishment - sticks - for poor formation were introduced. Particular attention was paid to the speed of loading and the clarity of the techniques. If a soldier dropped a cartridge, then immediately in front of the front he was mercilessly beaten with sticks or a fuchtel.

The Charter of 1755 was destined to remain a dead letter for most of the Russian army. A year later, a campaign was announced, and on the fields of Prussia there was no time for shots “at thirty temps.” And soon, at the end of the Seven Years' War, all this parade wisdom came to naught during the glorious reign of Catherine II, only to be resurrected with renewed vigor under Emperor Paul and his two sons. It should be noted that Russia’s relations with Prussia were the coldest under Elizabeth. By introducing Prussians into the army, Shuvalov paid only tribute to the admiration common to all of Europe at that time for Frederick II, who brought the automatic training of his soldiers to the extreme degree of perfection and turned his battalions into “shooting machines.”

FriedrichIIGreat

We had to measure our strength against this army-machine two years later.

1. Musketeer with regimental artillery teams in the Farmer's division. 1760

2. Army infantry drummer. 1756 3. “Hunter” of the light battalions of Second Major Miller in summer uniform. 1761

4. Privates and officers of the army grenadier regiment. 1759 5.Infantry staff officer. 1756

6 Dragoons of the Farmer's Division. 1759

Continued in the section of the site: Spurs in Life Safety - Organization of the Armed Forces

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

“In the whole world we have only two faithful allies - our army and navy” (Russian Emperor Alexander III)

XIV-XVII centuries

• 1382, August 23 - during the siege of Moscow by the Tatars, its defenders, led by the Lithuanian prince Ostey (? - August 26, 1382 - one of the princes of the Gediminovich dynasty) used cannons for the first time. The birth of Russian artillery
  
• 1475 - the first mention in the chronicles of the Cannon Hut (Cannon Yard) - the first Russian center of cannon-foundry and bell production
• 1550 - on the initiative of Ivan the Terrible, the first regular military unit of the Russian army was created - the Streltsy infantry army

From the already existing scattered and poorly organized detachments of “official” and “staff” squeakers, 3,000 people were “selected” and brought into 6 detachments of 500 riflemen each. Ivan gave them a salary of 4 rubles a year, allocated a special settlement within Moscow - Vorobyova, and demanded that the archers and their leading people regularly learn the art of handling matchlocks. The corps was divided into Moscow archers, who served in Moscow itself, and policemen, who garrisoned cities and some large monasteries. By the beginning of the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov (around 1613), the number of archers from the original 3 thousand to 20 thousand

• 1552 - first baptism of fire Streltsy in the campaign of Ivan IV against the Kazan Tatars
• 1609, August - on the initiative of Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky, a regiment of 18,000 people was created in Novgorod according to Western European models. After the death of the prince in 1610, the regiment was disbanded
• 1620, September 26 - artillery engineer (according to other sources - clerk of the Ambassadorial Prikaz) A. Mikhailov-Radishevsky completed work on revising the military treatise of the German baron Leonhard Fronsperger " War book"in the Russian military regulations "Charter of military, cannon and other matters related to military science." The “Charter” included about 660 articles. 500 were devoted to artillery, the rest were devoted to the positions, rights and responsibilities of commanders, the rules of siege and defense of fortresses, the location of troops in a fortified camp and in battle formation, the basics of command and control of troops on the march and in battle
• 1630-1632 - during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich, an attempt to organize troops in Rus' according to Western European models

Since 1630, 5,000 recruited infantrymen were sent from Sweden to Russia, and English, Dutch and German fortification engineers were invited. By order of King Gustav II Adolf, the Dutch cannon master Julis Koet was sent to Moscow. who knew the methods of casting light field guns, the Swede Andreas Winnius, who founded the first weapons factories near Tula to prepare the Russian army for Poland - a Scottish mercenary in the Swedish service, Alexander Leslie; 10 regiments of the new system were formed with a total number of up to 17,000 people. each consisted of 1,600 privates and 176 initial men. The regiments were divided into eight companies led by a colonel, a lieutenant colonel, a major and five captains. Each company had 120 musketeers and 80 pikemen. Soldier regiments bore the names of their commanders, they had their own banners, drums and cannons.
After the unsuccessful Russian-Polish War of 1632-1634, the regiments were disbanded

• 1632-1652 - the Dutch Vinnius, Akema and Marcelius founded arms factories near Tula, for which they recruited foundries, hammerers, gunsmiths and other specialists from abroad in the amount of up to 600 people
• 1634, January 17 - the first company of light cavalry - hussars - was staffed by immigrants from Poland

• 1638-1662 - another attempt to organize the Russian army according to European models. In the Russian-Polish war of 1654-1667, new formations played a major role
• 1647 - during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, a new charter “Teaching and cunning of the military structure of infantry people” was published, whose primary source was the work of Johann Jacobi von Wallhausen “Kriegskunst zu Fuss” with the rules of the then advanced Dutch military school
• 1652 - during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich - a decree expanding the circle of persons subject to conscription for military service
• 1681, November 24 - the royal decree of Alexei Mikhailovich to the boyar prince V.V. Golitsyn “with his comrades” to “take charge of military affairs for the better organization and management of his sovereign armies.” The project of a military structure with the division of regiments not into hundreds, but into companies led by captains and lieutenants (60 people in a company and 6 companies in a regiment), the boyars reported this project to the sovereign, who approved it
• 1683, June 5 - Peter the Great established the future Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment in the village of Semenovskoye near Moscow under the name of the “amusing” army. In the same year, by the will of Peter, the future Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment was created from among the peers of the “children of the boyars” in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow for “amusing military fun.”
  
• 1698 - associate of Peter the Great Adam Weide presented him with the “Military Regulations”, which became the basis of the military regulations of Peter the Great
• 1699, November 18 - decree of Peter the Great on “On the admission of all free people to the Great Sovereign Service as soldiers” and the first recruitment, that is, Peter at the first stage of the formation of his army assumed, along with voluntariness, coercion.
  The norm of one recruit from 25 households was established for monasteries; nobles in the civil service supplied recruits from 30 households, and those serving in the army from 50. As a result, 29 infantry regiments and two dragoon regiments with a total strength of 32,000 people were formed. The cavalry, as before, consisted of noble militia.
• 1700 - appearance of shoulder straps on military clothing. Then it was called a “garus cord”

XVIII century

• 1701, January 25 - by decree, the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences (Pushkarsky Prikaz School) was created - the first artillery, engineering and naval school in Russia,
• 1705, January 20 - second recruitment. Peter’s decree “on the recruitment of recruits from 20 households per person” applied to all categories of the tax-paying population and took young men 15–20 years old into the army for life, for a period “as long as strength and health allow.” Only married people were exempt from recruitment.
• 1712, January 16 - Peter the Great founded the first Russian Military Engineering School.
• 1716, March 30 - Peter the Great approved a new military charter: the military criminal code, preparation for the march, ranks and positions of regimental ranks, etc.
• 1720, January 1 - the so-called Military Collegium began to operate, replacing the corresponding “orders”. Prince A.D. Menshikov became the first president of the military college
• 1720, April 24 - The St. Petersburg printing house published the Maritime Charter, which became law on January 24
• 1722, January 13 - A “table of ranks” was published, establishing a hierarchy in both the civil department and the military
• 1722 - founding of the Izhora plant, one of the main defense enterprises in Russia
• 1731, June 29 - Decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna on the creation of the Land Noble Cadet Corps - a military educational institution, which was the initial step in the training of officers. Under Alexander I, cadet corps appeared in Shklov, Omsk, Orenburg, Helsingfors, and Nizhny Novgorod.
• 1732 — Changes were made to the recruitment system: one recruit per 350 peasants with the possibility of redemption
• 1757 — Recruitment extended to Little Russian provinces
• 1758, January - a decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna appeared, regulating the rules public procurement food for the army and the conditions for its distribution through regimental and garrison stores. The code dealt with supplying the army mainly with bread and fodder
• 1762, February 18 - in the “Manifesto on the granting of liberty and freedom to the Russian nobility,” Emperor Peter the Third freed the nobles from compulsory military (and civil) service
• 1763, January 25 - by decree, the General Staff, which previously had the appearance of only a meeting of the highest military ranks, became the permanent and supreme governing body of the army
• 1763, April 24 - epaulettes for officers and soldiers were introduced into the army; were abolished by Paul the First
• 1785, May 2 - In the “Charter of Complaint” to the nobility, Catherine the Great confirmed the optionality of military service for nobles
• 1786 - from several medical schools at hospitals (Admiralty hospitals in St. Petersburg and Kronstadt, Land Hospital, hospital in Moscow) the Main Medical School was formed, training doctors for the army and navy.
• 1792 - the first legislative collection “Provision Regulations composed for the Commission of the General-Praviantmaster-Lieutenant of the General War of 1758 established at the Observation Corps” was published; the collection was published twice more - in 1797 and 1798
• 1796, November 8 - Paul the First, who ascended the throne, forbade nobles assigned to the guard to evade service
• 1796, November - new military regulations were published, drawn up according to the Prussian model: “On field and infantry service”, “On field cavalry service” and “Rules on cavalry service”. The regulations also established the criminal liability of officers for the life and health of soldiers
• 1797-1800 -
• 1798 - The army was reduced by more than 45 thousand people, all non-noble officers were fired, it was forbidden to promote non-noble non-commissioned officers to officers
• 1798, December 29 - Decree of Paul the First “on ... the establishment of a special building at the main hospitals for a medical school and training theaters” - the future Military Medical Academy

19th century

• 1802, September 8 - decree of the new Emperor Alexander I on replacing the Collegiums with ministries, including the military. The full military board was included in its composition. Count Sergei Kuzmich Vyazmitinov, who served in office for 6 years, was appointed the first Minister of War
• 1804 - an engineering school for training engineering non-commissioned officers was created on the basis of the Pushkarsky Prikaz school, which after 6 years was transformed into the Engineering School, the first Higher Engineering Educational Institution in Russia
• 1807, February 20 - by decree, the mining chief of the Goroblagodat, Perm, Kama and Bogoslovsky factories, Andrei Fedorovich Deryabin, received permission to begin construction of an arms factory near the Kama River - the future Izhevsk Arms Factory (now PJSC Izhevsk Mechanical Plant)
• 1807, September 17 - epaulettes began to be introduced into the army, but only for officers. The process continued until 1808, the epaulettes were abolished in 1917
• 1810 - on the basis of the reserve battalion of the Yelets musketeer regiment in the Mogilev province, the first military settlement was created - an economic and military organization in which soldiers combined military training with rural labor

The first experiment seemed successful to the authorities, but its spread was prevented by the war with Napoleon, so military settlements began to be organized en masse in 1816. By 1825, military settlements were created in St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Mogilev, Slobodsko-Ukrainian, Kherson, and Yekaterinoslav provinces. The settlements made up between a third and a quarter of the entire army. The settlers were made up of married soldiers who had served for at least 6 years and local peasants. All of them were called villagers-owners. The remaining local residents, who were not included in the army, but fit for service, were enrolled as assistants to the masters and were included in reserve military units. Children of military settlers from the age of seven were enrolled as cantonists, and from the age of 18 they were transferred to military units. From the age of 45, the settlers retired, but served in hospitals and in the household. Each military settlement consisted of 60 communication houses, in which a company of 228 people was located. Each house accommodated four owners with an undivided household. The life of military settlements was strictly regulated, all year round peasants underwent military training, agricultural work was carried out untimely, and corporal punishment was common. So revolts by military settlers were not uncommon. The uprisings of 1817-1818 in the Novgorod province, the uprising of the Sloboda-Ukrainian military settlements in 1819, and the uprisings near Staraya Russa in 1831 are known. In 1857, military settlements were liquidated

• 1820, October 17 - a soldier's revolt of the Semenovsky Life Guards Regiment, provoked by the rudeness of the commander, Colonel Schwartz, and the introduction of corporal punishment. The regiment was surrounded by troops loyal to the government and sent in full force to the Peter and Paul Fortress. The instigators were driven through the ranks, the rest were exiled to distant garrisons
• 1823. May 9 - the “School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers” was founded, in 1859 it was renamed the Nikolaev Cavalry School
• 1832, November 26 - Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff was founded
• 1863, May 14 - the beginning of the reform of military educational institutions: cadet corps were transformed into military gymnasiums, military schools and cadet schools were created, which made it possible for non-nobles to receive officer ranks
• 1867, May 15 - the emperor approved a new Military Judicial Charter, based on the principles of classlessness, publicity and competition; judicial instances were introduced: regimental courts, military district courts and the Main Military Court. Courts were recognized as independent from administrative bodies; the positions of investigator and military prosecutor were established; the class privileges of the defendants were formally abolished; established a procedure for appealing sentences
• 1870, August 31 - Military marching telegraph parks were established, the first units of the future signal troops
• 1874, January 1 - the beginning of the military reform of the Minister of War D. Milyutin: recruitment was replaced by universal military service, service life was reduced from 25 years to 6, recruits were selected by lot
• 1890, June 13 - successful firing at air targets ( balloons) at the Ust-Izhora test site. The birth of Russian air defense forces

Century XX-XXI centuries

• 1912, August 12 - the Aeronautical Unit of the General Staff was created, headed by Major General M. I. Shishkevich - the birth of the Russian Air Force
  
• 1914, August 19 - an automobile machine-gun company was formed, armed with armored vehicles with machine guns and cannons. They were manufactured at the Izhora plant. The birth of armored forces
• 1914, December - the first four samples of a 76-mm anti-aircraft gun were manufactured at the Putilov plant
• 1917, November 10 - Decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the gradual transition to the demobilization of the old army"
• 1917, December 15 - after that, the All-Army Congress opened in Petrograd, which lasted until January 3, 1918. His main task was to resolve the issue of demobilization.
• 1917, December 21 - The Congress decided on the procedure for demobilization, according to which the procedure was carried out according to seniority, starting with the senior conscription age
• 1918, January 15 - decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Army on a voluntary basis

February 23 is the day of the Soviet Army (today is Defender of the Fatherland Day). According to the official version, on this day in 1918, Red Guard soldiers near Pskov and Narva stopped the German advance on Petrograd. An alternative history claims that on February 23, 1918, not only were there no battles, but nothing noteworthy happened at all

• 1918, March 15 - L. D. Trotsky was appointed People's Commissar for Military Affairs
• 1918, March - Russian army officers, the so-called “military experts”, began to be recruited into the Red Army
• 1918, April 22 - by order of Trotsky, the election of commanders in the army was abolished, universal military training was introduced for men 18-40 years old, and the text of the oath composed by him was adopted

“I, the son of the working people, a citizen of the Soviet Republic, accept the title of warrior of the workers’ and peasants’ army.
In the face of the working classes of Russia and the whole world, I undertake to bear this title with honor, to conscientiously study military affairs and, like the apple of my eye, to protect national and military property from damage and theft.
I undertake, at the first call of the workers’ and peasants’ government, to come out in defense of the Soviet Republic from all dangers and attempts on the part of all its enemies, and in the struggle for the Russian Soviet Republic, for the cause of socialism and the brotherhood of peoples, to spare neither my own strength nor the life...
If, out of malicious intent, I deviate from this solemn promise of mine, then may universal contempt be my lot, and may the harsh hand of revolutionary law punish me.”

• 1918, May 4 - decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the creation of military districts
• 1918, May 29 - The All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to transition from a volunteer army to a general mobilization of workers and poor peasants and announced the mobilization of several ages.
• 1918, July 29 - to participate in the mobilization of former officers and military officials into the Red Army
• 1918, July - The All-Russian Congress of Soviets introduced universal military service, on the basis of which a regular mass Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was built
• 1919, February 15 - by orders of the RVS, the Charter of the internal, garrison, and field service of the Red Army was put into effect
• 1919, November 17 - formation of the 1st Cavalry Army
• 1920, November 13-20 - tests of the first Soviet tank created at the Nizhny Novgorod plant "Krasnoe Sormovo", the prototype of which was the French Renault tank (Renault FT-17) - the birth of Soviet armored forces
  
• 1924, summer - reduction of the Red Army to 562,000 people
• 1925, January 15 - Trotsky resigned as Minister of War, on January 26 he was replaced by M. Frunze, and he, in turn, was replaced by Voroshilov
• 1925, March 2 - order of the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR M.V. Frunze “On the implementation of unity of command”, which relieved the commissar staff of the Red Army from the duties of day-to-day control over combat, administrative and economic activity commanders, retaining commissars responsibility for the moral and political state of personnel
• 1925, May 13-20 - The III Congress of Soviets approved the military reform carried out in 1924-1925, the main result of which was the introduction of a mixed system of the Red Army - a personnel army and territorial police formations
• 1925, September 17 - by order of the RVSR (Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic), the Combat Regulations of Artillery, the Combat Regulations of Cavalry, Field and Rifle Regulations, and the Regulations of Armored Forces were introduced. Then the regulations of the military branches and life of the Red Army changed more than once (1927, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1944)
• 1925, September 23 - a law on compulsory two-year military service was passed
• 1927, May 10 - the position of commissar was replaced by deputy commander for political affairs
• 1930, August 2 - parachute landing at military exercises of the Moscow Military District near Voronezh - the birth of the Airborne Forces
  
• 1935, September 21 - restoration of military ranks

After the October Revolution, army ranks were abolished. Commanders differed in their positions: platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander, etc. In 1924, a single rank was introduced for all military personnel - the red warrior of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, or Red Army soldier for short. Commanders were distinguished from privates first by red bows and armbands, then by triangles, squares, rectangles and diamonds. According to the new resolution, the concepts of “sergeant major”, “lieutenant”, “captain”, “major”, “colonel” were returned. The insignia was assigned a place on the buttonholes. Sergeants and foremen were given triangles. The lieutenants were given dice. Senior officers - rectangles

• 1937, May 10 - the institution of political commissars was restored
• 1937, June 11 - newspapers reported the arrest of 8 military leaders accused of treason and collaboration with Germany: Marshal M. Tukhachevsky, army commanders I. Yakir, I. Uborevich, R. Eideman, A. Kork and V. Putna

Over the course of several months, most of the command staff of the Red Army was repressed: out of 5 marshals - 3, out of 8 admirals - 8, out of 16 army commanders - 14, 9/10 corps commanders and 35 thousand officers out of 80 thousand

• 1937, August 15 - army orders must have two signatures - commanders and commissars
• 1939, February 23 - New oath of soldiers of the Red Army

“I, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, joining the ranks of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, take the oath and solemnly swear to be an honest, brave, disciplined, vigilant fighter, strictly keep military and state secrets, unquestioningly carry out all military regulations and orders of commanders and commissars and bosses.
I swear to conscientiously study military affairs, to protect military and national property in every possible way, and to be devoted to my People, my Soviet Motherland and the Workers' and Peasants' Government until my last breath.
I am always ready, by order of the Workers' and Peasants' Government, to come out in defense of my Motherland - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and, as a warrior of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, I swear to defend it courageously, skillfully, with dignity and honor, not sparing my blood and life itself for achieving complete victory over enemies.
If, out of malicious intent, I violate this solemn oath of mine, then may I suffer the severe punishment of Soviet law, the general hatred and contempt of the working people.”

• 1939, September 1 - another law on universal conscription. The conscription age has been reduced to 19 years (18 years for those with secondary education). Service life increased to 3 years, in the navy - to five
• 1940, May 7 - decrees establishing the ranks of general and admiral
• 1940, August 13 - political commissars were again renamed political deputies
• 1941, July 16 - decree introducing the institution of political commissars
• 1942, October 9 - another establishment of unity of command, the ill-fated commissars were again demoted to deputy commanders for political affairs
• 1943, January 6 - By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, shoulder straps were introduced in the Red Army
• 1946, February 25 - The Red Army was renamed the Soviet Army
• 1955, March-1959, December - significant reduction of the army at the behest of N. S. Khrushchev. From 5,396,038 people to 3,623,000 people
• 1960, January 15 - another reduction, to 2,430,000 people
• 1960, August 23 - the next oath was approved

“I, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, joining the ranks of the Armed Forces, take the oath and solemnly swear to be an honest, brave, disciplined, vigilant warrior, strictly keep military and state secrets, unquestioningly carry out all military regulations and orders of commanders and superiors.
I swear to conscientiously study military affairs, to protect military and national property in every possible way, and to be devoted to my people, my Soviet Motherland and the Soviet government until my last breath.
I am always ready, by order of the Soviet government, to defend my Motherland - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and, as a warrior of the Armed Forces, I swear to defend it courageously, skillfully, with dignity and honor, not sparing my blood and life itself to achieve complete victory over the enemies .
If I violate this solemn oath of mine, then may I suffer the severe punishment of Soviet law, the general hatred and contempt of the working people.”

• 1997, July 15 - B. Yeltsin’s decree “On military reform”
• 2006, April 15 - the holiday of February 23, renamed in 1995 from Soviet Army Day to Defender of the Fatherland Day, declared a day off
• 2007, November 10 - the charters of the internal, garrison and guard services, the disciplinary charter of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were put into effect
• 2015, August 1 - the Russian Military Space Forces were created

Alexey Barabanov 22.02.2015

Alexey Barabanov 22.02.2015

HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY

The army has been an indispensable attribute of states for quite a long time. The army was assigned the role of an organized defensive force. At the same time, the army was also used to expand territory and conduct various military operations.The development and formation of the Armed Forces is inextricably linked with the history of the Russian state.

An army is just like any other organizational structure, especially social structure, has its own characteristics and traditions.

Until the 9th century, the Slavs often used sabotage tactics of war. The Slavs not only carried out raids, but also participated as mercenaries in many wars on the side of Byzantium. The Slavs did not have cavalry. The Slavs were influenced different peoples, but mostly these were Avars, Byzantines, Varangians. According to foreign chronicles, the Eastern Slavs did not have armor, they were armed only with spears (we are talking about sulitsa), small shields, axes of the Slavic type, it can be assumed that many had bows. In addition, the Byzantines describe only individual East Slavic tribes, and the weapons subsequently varied greatly in different regions of Rus'.

In the 9th-13th centuries, the main part of the princely army was the squad. It had a clear classification of people according to their level of experience and professionalism. It was divided into the older one, which included not only the Slavs, but also various Scandinavians who contributed to the formation of the ancient Russian army, and the younger one, which was divided into three subgroups: youths (military servants, who could be people of various nationalities), gridi (bodyguards prince) and children's (children of senior warriors). The system of official position is also known: after the prince came the governors, then the thousanders, centurions, and tens. By the middle of the 11th century, the senior squad turned into the boyars. The exact number of squads is unknown, but it was small. For example, in 1093, the Grand Duke of Kyiv Svyatopolk had 800 youths. In addition to the professional squad, free community members from the common people and the urban population could take part in wars. In the chronicles they are mentioned as warriors. The number of such a militia could be several thousand people. It happened that women took part in campaigns on an equal basis with men. People living on the border combined crafts and agriculture with the functions of border troops. Since the 12th century, cavalry has been actively developing, which is divided into heavy and light. The Russians were not inferior to any of the European nations in military matters. Sometimes foreigners were hired to serve. Most often these were Normans, Pechenegs, then Cumans, Hungarians, Berendeys, Torques, Poles, Balts, and occasionally even Bulgarians, Serbs and Germans. The bulk of the army was infantry. But by that time there was already cavalry formed to protect against the Pechenegs and other nomads. There was also a good fleet, consisting of rooks.

The tactics used were different, although not very diverse. A common battle formation was the wall. It could be covered from the flanks by cavalry. They also used a “regimental row” - a three-tier battle formation, divided into a center and flanks.

The weapons varied. Swords were mainly used by senior warriors and gridi. Two types of battle axes were very actively used - Varangian axes with long handles and Slavic infantry hatchets. Impact weapons were widespread - maces with bronze or iron heads. Flails, but as an additional weapon, not the main one. In the 10th century, sabers, more effective for fighting horse nomads, took root in Southern Rus'. Of course, various knives were used; in the people's militia, in case of poverty, cheap homemade weapons were also used - in particular, a pitchfork, a flail and a wooden grip, which is sometimes incorrectly called a spear. There were several types of spears. "Armor-piercing" infantry; cavalry; from the street; anti-horse spears. Everyone knew how to use bows, since they are necessary for hunting. Crossbows were also used, but much less frequently. Throwing weapons are known in Rus' no later than the 10th century.

The main protective equipment was shields, teardrop-shaped or round. Helmets in Rus' have always traditionally been dome-shaped, with only a few exceptions. The helmets were equipped with a cap to protect the face and an aventail to protect the back of the neck. Chain mail was used as armor, which was widespread already in the 10th century. Later, plate and scale armor appeared and became more rare.

In Muscovite Rus', for various reasons, the main one of which is the influence of Asian peoples (especially the Mongols), the importance of cavalry increases sharply. The entire squad becomes mounted and by this time is gradually transformed into a noble militia. In military tactics, the mobility of cavalry and its use of deceptive techniques increased. That is, the basis of the army is quite numerous noble cavalry, and the infantry fades into the background. Firearms in Rus' began to be used at the end of the 14th century. Exact date unknown, but it is believed that this happened under Dmitry Donskoy no later than 1382. With the development of field firearms, heavy cavalry lost its importance, but light cavalry could effectively resist it. At the end of the 15th century, they moved from the feudal militia to a standing all-Russian army. Its basis was the noble local cavalry (sovereign servants), united in regiments under the command of the grand ducal commanders. But at first they did not have firearms. It was used by gunners (an ancient name for a Russian artilleryman) and pishchalniki (infantry armed with firearms - pishchaliki), the first information about which dates back to the beginning of the 15th century. At the same time, the Cossacks were formed.

For many years, the Russian people constantly had to wage armed struggle, defending their lands from foreign invaders. In the period from the XIV to the XVII centuries. There is practically not a single year of peace when the borders of the Russian state would be calm and there would be no need to repel the enemy. Therefore, the state was in constant readiness for war, and its structure met this requirement. All social groups and classes were divided into those who fought the enemies, and those who supported the fighters financially or spiritually. According to domestic historians, the Moscow state in the 16th century. had an army of 150-200 thousand professional soldiers. In the most serious and important military campaigns, militia were added to the combat regiments. It consisted of townspeople and peasants, usually poorly armed and unsuitable for combat. Militias were mainly used to guard convoys, build roads, and perform engineering work during the siege of enemy fortresses. In such campaigns, the total number of troops could be up to 300 thousand people.

The basis of the armed forces of the Russian state during this period was made up of noble detachments. For military service, the nobles received land holdings with peasants (estates) from the Moscow sovereigns.

A clear system for collecting military personnel was developed. At the reviews, where their readiness for military action was checked, each nobleman was obliged to appear fully armed, having two horses - a fighting and a spare, and one or more armed servants. In case of failure to appear at the review, being late for a campaign, arriving poorly equipped or without the required number of armed servants, a fine or reduction in the size of land ownership was imposed. Throughout their lives, nobles were required to perform military service; they were all considered service people from generation to generation. Over many years of military training, they acquired high fighting qualities and the skills of professional warriors.
In addition to serving people from the nobility, a considerable part of the armed forces of the Moscow state were hired service people who received not estates, but a cash salary. Among them, the most numerous were the Streltsy - infantry armed with arquebuses (matchlock guns) and battle axes (berdysh).
The first permanent units of the Streltsy were formed under Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in 1550 after the second Kazan campaign. By decree of the tsar, a detachment of Russian foot troops numbering 3 thousand people was established. The detachment consisted of six “articles” (regiments) of 500 archers each, which were divided into hundreds of archers. Streltsy army was formed from townspeople. The service was lifelong and hereditary. For military service, the archers received cash and grain salaries, as well as land plots near cities. This is how a permanent army appeared in Rus'. Subsequently, the number of Streltsy troops grew rapidly, and by the end of the 16th century. There were already 20-30 thousand archers by the middle of the 17th century. - about 50 thousand people. The Streltsy army proved itself well in the siege and defense of fortresses; not a single garrison of a Russian city could do without Streltsy.
In campaigns and battles, the Russian army improved its organizational structure. From about the 14th century. they began to divide it into shelves. To participate in minor military operations, the army was formed from three regiments. In major battles it consisted of five regiments: large, advanced, right arm, left arm and guard. The number of regiments varied from several hundred to several thousand soldiers (depending on the scale of the campaign). The role of the Ministry of Defense in the Moscow State was played by the Rank Order, which was in charge of appointment to positions, the formation of troops and fortress garrisons, as well as the provision of land to servicemen.

Historians note that in pre-Petrine times, the Russian system of military organization and command and control was well adapted to solving the problems facing it. The Russian government, trying to keep up with Europe, carried out military reforms, making the greatest possible efforts in this direction and never sparing any expense.

Russian firearms were represented by various cannons and arquebuses. At first, guns were imported from Europe, but at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries, we organized our own large-scale production of firearms. Melee weapons have not lost their importance, since reloading firearms took considerable time. First of all, sabers and reeds were used; pernachs and some other weapons were also used. Protective equipment almost lost its role, but was still retained due to hand-to-hand combat. To protect the head, they used helmets and shishaks, in particular, erichonkas, as well as iron hats.

In 1632-1634. regiments of a new system appeared in the Moscow state, that is, soldier, reiter and dragoon regiments, formed according to Western European models. Several soldier regiments were formed from Russian people, in which the officers were foreigners who were in Russian service. Each regiment consisted of up to 1,750 people, of which approximately 1,600 were Russians and 150 foreigners. The regiment was divided into eight companies. A reitar regiment (heavy cavalry) numbering about 2 thousand people was formed from Russian people. This regiment consisted of 14 companies of 125-130 people each. By 1657, 11 Reiter and soldier regiments were formed in Russia.

The first three-masted ship "Frederik", built in Russia according to European standards, was launched in Balakhna in 1636, during the reign of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.

The army reform was carried out under Peter the Great. In 1698-1699, the rifle regiments were disbanded, and regular soldiers were formed instead. In preparation for the war with Sweden, Peter ordered in 1699 to carry out a general recruitment and begin training of recruits according to the model established by the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovtsy.At first, he formed an officer corps from his friends, former members of the “amusing regiments,” and later from the nobility.

Gradually, the regiments of the new system replaced the old army. These regiments had almost all the features of a regular army, they were divided into companies, the procedure for appointment to officer positions was determined, and drill and tactical training was conducted with the personnel. However, after the campaign, the soldiers and some of the officers went home, their weapons were surrendered, i.e. it was not yet a completely regular army. Later, under Peter I, the regiments of the new system formed the basis of the new army.

Peter I introduced a new army recruitment system. It began to be carried out on the principle of recruitment, when 10 - 20 peasant households, by lot, supplied one person for lifelong military service. The introduction of conscription allowed Peter I to significantly increase the number of standing troops. The officer corps of the Russian army consisted of nobles; for them, public service was mandatory and lifelong. To receive an officer's rank, a nobleman had to serve as a soldier in the Guards regiments - Preobrazhensky or Semenovsky.

In 1687, Peter I created from funny army the first two regular regiments of the Russian army - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. They began to be called the guard on May 30, 1700, the Tsar’s birthday.

By 1917, there were 40 historical regiments in the Russian army. They preserved military traditions and embodied the glory of Russian weapons. It was a great honor for any soldier or officer to serve in them.

The officers always looked at the regiment as a second family, and cherished its honor as if it were their own. Any violation of the code of honor brought disgrace to the entire unit.

Until 1917, officers were also prohibited from being members of political parties.

There were a number of unwritten rules according to which a guard officer had to sit in the theater no further than the seventh row of the stalls, visit only the best restaurants and travel in first-class carriages. When a guardsman occupied a table in a St. Petersburg restaurant, he was obliged to demand a bottle of good champagne for no less than 12 rubles.

Each officer handed over a silver medal to the regiment cutlery, which was used during regimental meetings and holidays. For special services, his name was engraved on it, so that all subsequent generations of officers would remember the comrades who served in the regiment and glorified it.

A new organizational structure of the army was established, and unified states were introduced. The Russian Armed Forces at this timewere divided into field (infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering troops), local (garrison troops and land militia) and irregular (Cossacks and steppe peoples) troops.

Garrison troops were stationed in large cities. They served to maintain internal order, and also served as reserve troops and reserves for the field army.

The Government Senate and the Military Collegium subordinate to it (the prototype of the Ministry of Defense) began to be in charge of all matters relating to the army.

After the conquest of the fortressAzov in 1696Boyar Duma discussed Peter's report on this campaign and decided to begin the construction of the NavyThe 20th of October 1696 . This date is considered the official birthday of the regular Russian Navy, whose ships were built at the shipyardsVoronezh Admiralty . The ships were built with the help of European engineers, and by 1722 Russia had a good fleet of 130 sailing and 396 rowing ships.

Naval officers came fromnobles ,sailors wererecruits from the common people. The term of service in the navy was lifelong. Young officers studied at the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences, founded in1701 ,and were often sent abroad for training and practice. Foreigners were often hired for naval service.

The creation of a regular army and the transition to a new organization of its combat training predetermined Russia's victory in the Northern War (1700-1721).In 1722, a system of ranks was introduced - Table of Ranks.

The armament was also changed to a European style. The infantry was armed with smoothbore rifles with bayonets, swords, cutlasses, and grenades. Dragoons - carbines, pistols and broadswords. The officers also had halberds and halberds, not best weapon for battle. The uniform was similarly changed.

Interesting fact: One of the decrees of Peter I introduced a special style of soldier's uniform. According to this decree, buttons had to be sewn on the front side of the sleeves. The reason for the introduction of such a “luxurious” style was not at all the desire for ostentatious splendor, it was much more prosaic. Most of the soldiers were former peasants, with an ingrained habit of wiping their mouths with their sleeves after dinner. These buttons were supposed to help keep the cloth intact.

The improvement of the Russian armed forces continued under the reign of Catherine II. At this time, the Military Collegium ceased to depend on the Senate and gradually turned into the Ministry of War. The ground army of that time consisted of 4 guards, 59 infantry regiments and 7 ranger corps. The size of the standing army increased to 239 thousand people. The talented commander Pyotr Aleksandrovich Rumyantsev introduced new tactics of warfare. He divided the infantry into small squares (infantry battle formation in the form of one or several squares or rectangles) of 2-3 thousand people. The infantry was followed by the cavalry. Artillery was placed in front, on the flanks or in reserve. This made it possible to quickly rebuild troops in accordance with the combat situation. Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov made a significant contribution to the troop training system. In 1810, on the initiative of A. A. Arakcheev, military settlements began to be used.

The military reforms of Peter I, the modernization of the armed forces and their management during the time of Catherine II brought Russian troops many victories both in individual battles and in long campaigns (Russian-Turkish wars of 1768-1774 and 1787-1791).

The unity of the army with the people, which characterizes Russian society, was clearly demonstrated during the Patriotic War of 1812. It was the unity of the entire people, who stood up to defend their native land, that helped defeat Napoleon. Napoleon's army could not win the war waged by the entire Russian people. The Russian spirit defeated French training and discipline. The militia refused to drink vodka before the battle, and the partisans caused panic among the conquerors. National participation in the war and the heroism of the Russian army, the leadership talents of M.I. Kutuzov and other generals, the general patriotic upsurge were the reasons for the victory over Napoleon.

A major military reform of the Russian armed forces was carried out after the defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856), which revealed Russia's military lag behind European countries. The Crimean War of 1853 - 1856 showed the shortcomings of domestic weapons. Namely, with the spread of steam engines, steamships were invented, of which there were only 16 in the Russian fleet; and mass production of rifled weapons became possible, but in Russia its quantity was also insignificant. The reform was carried out under the leadership of Minister of War Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin, who saw the main task of military reforms in keeping the army size to a minimum in peacetime, and in wartime to a maximum due to trained reserves. From 1864 to 1867, the number of standing troops decreased from 1 million 132 thousand to 742 thousand, and the military reserve increased to 553 thousand people.

15 military districts were created on Russian territory. As a rule, the governor general was appointed commander of the district troops. Each district was simultaneously a body of military command and military administrative structure. This made it possible to quickly control troops and quickly mobilize them. With the creation of districts, the War Ministry got rid of a wide range of responsibilities that were now performed by commanders; only those management issues that were important for the entire army remained under its jurisdiction. The General Staff was created.

In 1874, a new Charter on military service was approved. From that time on, army recruitment was abolished in Russia and universal military service was introduced, which extended to the male population from the age of 21 of all classes and estates. The total service life was set at 15 years: 6 years of which were spent in active military service, and 9 years in the reserve. Particular attention was paid to improving the professional training of officers. Literacy among soldiers was recognized as essential, so teaching them to read and write became mandatory. The network of special military educational institutions has expanded. An important part of the reforms in the army was its rearmament. Transition to rifled breech-loading weapons. In 1868, the American Berdan rifle was adopted, in 1870 - the Russian Berdan rifle No. 2. In 1891 - the Mosin rifle. In 1861, production of armored steam ships began, and in 1866, submarines. By 1898, the Russian navy, consisting of the Baltic, Black Sea fleets, Caspian and Siberian flotillas, had 14 battleships, 23 coastal defense battleships, 6 armored cruisers, 17 cruisers, 9 mine cruisers, 77 destroyers, 96 torpedo boats, 27 gunboats boats. Russian-Turkish War 1877-1878 became a serious test of the effectiveness of the ongoing reforms. A few years after this war, D. A. Milyutin recalled: “My most notorious enemies had to admit that never before had the Russian army arrived at the theater of war so well prepared and equipped.”

At the beginning of the 20th century, the active development of military equipment continued. In 1902, armored cars appeared in the Russian army, in 1911 - military aviation, in 1915 - tanks. But officials preferred to use foreign developments rather than support Russian inventors. Therefore, many were not used successful projects, such as the Porokhovshchikov tank, machine gun. However, for example, Sikorsky aircraft were produced and were no worse than foreign ones.

In the history of the Russian armed forces there were not only victories, but also defeats, such as in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Due to the intensification of the struggle for the division of spheres of influence between Russia and Japan in China, war turned out to be inevitable. Japan was much better prepared for it. Despite the heroism and valor of Russian soldiers and sailors, the war was lost.

After the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Nicholas's governmentIItook measures to revive the combat power of the Russian armed forces. This was forced by the difficult international situation. The First World War was approaching. Germany declared war on Russia, and after it on France. Within days of this, the main European states entered the war. The First World War became another heroic and at the same time tragic page for the history of Russia and its armed forces.

The October Revolution of 1917 destroyed the existing state structure of Russia and eliminated the armed forces. In the very first months, the Government of the Republic of Soviets had to create new armed forces, taking into account changes in the country's social structure, external threats and material capabilities.

The officer cadres of the Russian Imperial Army formed the basis of the armies of the White movement, in which many units of the Russian Imperial Army were revived. On January 8, 1919, as a result of the unification for a joint fight against the Bolshevik government, the Volunteer Army and the army of the All-Great Don Army were formed.

In the first months Soviet power its armed support was the Red Guard (armed detachments of workers that were created on a voluntary basis since March 1917). By the beginning of 1918, there were about 460 thousand people. The small, poorly trained Red Guard could not resist the invasion of German troops. This circumstance forced the Soviet government to begin recruiting a standing army. In January 1918, decrees were adopted on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) and the organization of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet. The army and navy were created on a voluntary basis.
In February 1918, Red Army soldiers and sailors Baltic Fleet had to repel the onslaught of German troops. To commemorate the mass entry of volunteers into the Red Army to defend the Fatherland and the courageous resistance of the Red Army detachments to the German invaders, February 23 began to be celebrated as the Day of the Soviet Army and Navy, and since 1992 - as the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland.

During the Civil War, the weapons of the Red Army were no different from the weapons of the White Army. After the formation of the USSR, first on the basis of foreign models, and later on our own developments, further development of firearms, armored vehicles, aviation and navy took place.

The pre-revolutionary experience of the Russian army was used in the construction of new armed forces. After a series of reorganizations, unity of command and the compulsory nature of military service were restored. In 1925, the Law “On Compulsory Military Service” was adopted, and in 1939 the Law “On General Military Duty” was adopted. Military ranks and military awards were introduced in the army, and military discipline was strengthened.
The international situation required constant strengthening and improvement of the armed forces. World War II was approaching. Under these conditions, the Soviet government took measures to strengthen the country's defense capability. The number of armed forces grew steadily: in 1935 - 930 thousand, in 1938 - 1.5 million and by the beginning of 1941 - 5.7 million. The organizational structure of the army was improved. Steps were taken to technically re-equip the armed forces.

Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945 became the greatest test of the ability of the USSR Armed Forces to defend the country's independence. During this period, the domestic military school put forward a number of talented military leaders (G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky, N.F. Vatutin, A.M. Vasilevsky, I.S. Konev, etc.), who skillfully carried out military operations, which led to the defeat of a persistent and well-armed enemy. Victory in this war once again demonstrated to all humanity the inexhaustible capabilities of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces in defending their Fatherland.

The Great Patriotic War led to significant development of military technology. After her, Marshal G.K. Zhukov began to form special forces sabotage units.

In the mid-50s. The armed forces were equipped with nuclear missile weapons and other new types of military equipment. In 1960, a new branch of the Armed Forces was created - the Strategic Missile Forces.

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Armed Forces of the USSR included the following branches: Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), Ground Forces (SV), Air Defense Forces (ADF), Air Force (Air Force), Navy (Navy). In addition, they included the rear of the Armed Forces, headquarters and civil defense troops. The highest leadership of the country's defense and the Armed Forces of the USSR was carried out by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the highest bodies of state power (the Supreme Council of the USSR and the Council of Ministers of the USSR). Direct management of the USSR Armed Forces was carried out by the USSR Ministry of Defense.

Political confrontation between the USSR and the USA during Cold War contributed to the development of advanced weapons of mass destruction and their production in huge quantities to ensure superiority in the field of military forces - the “Arms Race”. In connection with the desire to establish parity with the enemy or overtake him, equipment, weapons, and instruments were produced for combat duty that were not fully tested during testing, that is, “raw.” But during the Cold War, not only the creations of scientists, military engineers, and the skills of the military were tested, but also the composure, endurance, courage and prudence of the direct participants in certain events: soldiers and officers.

During the Cold War, there were many cases when the world was on the verge of nuclear war due to incorrect readings from missile launch detection systems. Thus, in 1979, the alarm was raised in the United States because a training program for a massive nuclear strike was mistakenly loaded onto one of the computers. However, the satellites did not detect any missile launches, and the alarm was canceled. And in 1983, the Soviet satellite detection system malfunctioned, transmitting a signal about the launch of several American missiles. Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, sitting at the control panel, took upon himself the responsibility not to transmit information to the country's top leadership, deciding that it was unlikely that the United States would launch a first strike with such small forces. In 2006, the UN awarded Petrov as “the man who prevented nuclear war.”

After the division of the Soviet Union into a number of sovereign states, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were created, which are the successor to the Armed Forces of the USSR.

Now the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation include the ground forces, the air force, the navy, as well as such individual branches of the military as space and airborne troops and the Strategic Missile Forces. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are one of the most powerful in the world, numbering more than a million personnel, distinguished by the presence of the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and a well-developed system of means of delivering them to targets.