The core of the manning of the Russian army in the 15th century. there remained the grand ducal court, which consisted of small servicemen (boyars and "boyar children"). Over the course of time, the grand ducal court increased significantly and turned into a grand ducal army.
The second component was the "city regiments". They were recruited from the townspeople. They were based on the "Moscow army", i.e. troops manned by artisans, merchants, and other strata of Moscow residents.
The third part was the "chopped army", i.e. host collected from a certain number of dryers. This army was also called the "pososny army" and it was exhibited by the rural population according to the established calculation.
The fourth component of the Russian army was the Cossack troops. Already from the second half of the XIV century. Cossack watchmen are mentioned, who carried the observation service along the Khopr and Don, Bystraya and Tikhaya Sosna and other rivers. A line of fortified cities arose, defended by "city Cossacks". The stanitsa Cossacks carried out the guard service. One soldier from 20 households was exhibited for the stanitsa service. The chronicles also noted the "zasechnaya guard" that defended the border fortifications.
The fifth component of the army was mercenary detachments of foreigners. At this time, on a contractual basis, military service was carried out by "serving Tatar princes", "Horde princes", "Lithuanian princes" and others with their warriors.
The Russian army of this period had two main types of troops: "forged men" and "ship men". The Forged Men are cavalry staffed with well-armed horsemen. The ship's men were infantry, most of which were "chopped men". The infantry was called the ship's army because, as a rule, they made a cruise on ships along the rivers.
The organization of the troops for the campaign and the battle was a division into regiments: guard (forward), large, right and left hand, and ambush (reserve).
The regiments were commanded by regimental voivods who were appointed by the great Moscow prince. Several voivods were appointed to each regiment, one of whom was the main one. The appointment of voivods was not based on taking into account their military qualities, but on the basis of their nobility of origin (parochialism). The "sovereign of all Russia" retained the general command and exercised it personally or appointed a large voivode.
The military reforms carried out by the government of Ivan IV played an important role in the development of the Russian army. They responded to the prevailing conditions of fighting an external enemy and were carried out in the following areas of military affairs: the creation of central command and control bodies - orders and the organization of centralized command and control in the army; streamlining the system of manning the troops and military service in it; the creation of a new permanent army armed with hand-held firearms (rifle troops); the allocation of a detachment of artillery into an independent branch of the military; the birth of battlefield engineering equipment; centralization of the supply system; the creation of a permanent guard service on the southern border.
Among the most important measures that were carried out by the government of Ivan the Terrible, one should include the creation by him of a centralized system of military control in the state. In the system of military control of the Russian army in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. the general leadership was carried out by the king. Direct management of individual issues of building and training the armed forces was concentrated in orders. The highest body of military control was the Discharge Order. The discharge order was in charge of accounting for service people, their appointment to positions, their passage of service, prepared calculations of the required forces and means for each campaign. The functions of the discharge order also included the organization of the coastal (village, guard, zasechnaya) service at the border lines. In wartime, the discharge order carried out the collection of the entire army, its formation in regiments, including the appointment of the governors and their assistants, as well as the general leadership of the hostilities. In accordance with the tasks, a war plan was developed. Preparation for it was of great importance. In advance, in accordance with the choice of the target for the attack, weapons and food supplies were brought to certain cities. In advance, the gathering point of the troops was planned and the time and procedure for the march to the designated object were carefully worked out. Maps were used to develop the plan. Depending on the nature of the forthcoming hostilities in the place of gathering of military men, the formation of regiments was carried out according to categories ("to unload" - to distribute the regiments). Each army had at least three regiments. After the inspection, the troops set out on a campaign.
The Streletsky order was in charge of the archers and city Cossacks, the Pushkar order was in charge of the production, storage and distribution of guns, gunpowder and shells, the accounting and distribution of gunners and other servicemen of the cannon rank (beepers, collars, blacksmiths, carpenters) to cities and fortresses and fortified lines (engineering), armored - the manufacture of weapons.
An important role in the centralization of command and control of the armed forces was played by the formation in 1550 of a "select thousand." In peacetime, "thousanders" were sent out as city governors or heads of siege to border cities, and were appointed as commanding officers for patrol beyond the notch lines and for the construction of cities and border fortifications. During hostilities, a significant number of them became regimental commanders, heads - centennials, riflemen and Cossacks, commanders of the "pososny" army, convoy, outfit, etc. Many "thousanders" were among the commanding staff of the sovereign's regiment and in the tsar's retinue. "Tysyachnikov" were sent ahead of the troops on the campaign as lodgers, they also watched the condition of roads, bridges and transports. Through them, in peacetime and in wartime, relations were maintained with the army and city governors. "Thousands" stood at the head of the orders, were governors and volostels (chiefs over this or that volost).
As a result, not only another armed formation appeared in the hands of the central government, but a kind of executive body called upon to implement the military policy of the government on the ground.
The organization of centralized control in it contributed to the increase in the fighting efficiency of the troops of Ivan the Terrible. The sovereign of "All Russia" retained the general command of the entire army and carried it out personally. If the sovereign was absent, then a large voivode commanded. He was also the first commander of a large regiment. Separate parts of the army were led by voivods. Each regiment had two or three governors, with one of them being the chief. In addition to the regimental commanders, there were also appointed commanders from the detachment (chief of artillery), "gulyavy" voivode (chief of "gulyai-gorod"), ertaul voivode (chief of reconnaissance). After the governor there were "heads". Below them are centurions, half-sotniks, foremen of each type of troops.
A very important role for the centralization and better command and control of troops on a campaign and in battle was the establishment of a system of subordination of voivods in the army. According to the "verdict" of the tsar with the metropolitan and the boyars on parochialism in 1550, the first (large) voivode of the large regiment was the commander of the army. The first commanders of the forward regiment, the regiments of the right and left hand and the guard regiment stood below the large commander of the large regiment. The second governor of a large regiment and the first governor of the right-hand regiment were equal. The commanders of the forward and guard regiments were considered equal to the governor of the right-hand regiment. The governors of the left-hand regiment were not lower than the first governors of the forward and guard regiments, but lower than the first governors of the right-hand regiment; the second voivode of the left-hand regiment stood below the second voivode of the right-hand regiment. Thus, all the governors of other regiments were subordinate to the large (first) voivode of a large regiment (commander of an army). The governors of all the other four regiments were equal to each other, and were equal to the second governor of the large regiment. The exception was the voivode of the left-hand regiment, who stood below the voivode of the right-hand regiment. The subordination of the first regimental governors corresponded to the subordination of the second governors, etc., and within each regiment the second, third governors were subordinate to the first governor, etc.
Also, since 1550, when appointing to command positions, not only the nobility and wealth of the clan, but also military merits began to be taken into account.
Simultaneously with the appointment of a large voivode, he received a royal order from the Discharge Order. The mandate said: with whom to wage war; from which cities and counties to serve people to participate in the campaign; when and where to assemble individual regiments and the entire army; who should command individual regiments, outfits, etc., as well as manage the distribution of salaries and all kinds of supplies. In the order, the routes of movement of individual regiments and the entire army, a plan of military operations were given. Together with the mandate, the big voivode of a large regiment was awarded a category - the military list of military men and the voivode of the regiments. Each of the first regimental commanders received a special order, in which, in relation to his regiment, the composition of the regiment, its route of movement, the functions of the governor, etc. were indicated.
For the current work, clerks were appointed to help the voivods. These clerks, together with their assistants (clerks), wrote orders, kept logs of military operations, "were in charge of the sovereign's treasury." They made up the headquarters of the troops, which received in the 16th century. the name "bit tent".
The ordering of the manning system and military service in the local army was of great importance for the development of the armed forces of Russia.
Regarding the problem of changes in the system of manning and organization of the Russian army in the 16th century, it should be noted that that arose in the 15th century. the local system of manning the troops took shape finally and was consolidated by the decrees of Ivan the Terrible.
In 1555, the Code for Service was published, which equalized the estates and estates, declared the military service of patrimonials and nobles compulsory and hereditary, determined their official duties depending on the size of land holdings.
For the service was given a land allotment ranging from 150 to 3 thousand hectares. In addition to the land allotment, a monetary allowance was supposed depending on the category - from 4 rubles. up to 1200 rubles, which was given to them when they set out on a campaign or two years later on the third.
For every 100 chats (about 50 dessiatines) of good land, one warrior "in full armor, on a long march about two horses" had to set out on a campaign. In this case, for the soldiers during military campaigns, it was envisaged to provide money. The estate passed from father to son. When he was 15 years old, he enrolled in the "ten" (service list) and became a "novok". Inspections were periodically held to account for and check the service nobles. This procedure extended to the city Cossacks, who began to receive estates at the borders.
The Tatar nobility also belonged to the local troops, who went over to the service of the Moscow sovereign and received estates from him.
The local army was the basis of the Russian army and constituted the main branch of the army - the cavalry. The introduction of the local system made it possible to significantly increase the number of troops. If necessary, the Moscow sovereign could mobilize from 80 to 100 thousand horsemen. The best part of the local cavalry was the tsarist regiment (up to 20 thousand people).
The second component of the Russian army of the XVI century. there was an infantry, it consisted of: foot city Cossacks, pososny people (staff), archers.
City Cossacks are being developed as a new branch of the army under Ivan IV. They were recruited by the government from free ("willing") people. The city Cossacks were usually named after the name of the city in which they served. The Cossacks lived in families, received a monetary salary and were given land. The service life was not determined by them. Whole Cossack detachments (villages) from the Don, Volga, Yaik and Terek were involved in the service. When entering the service, a surety of at least 10 old-time Cossacks was required and an obligation "not to change the tsar to the tsar." City Cossacks were mounted and on foot, served with their own weapons. They existed until the end of the 17th century; by that time their number had reached 7 thousand people. The foot Cossacks, in essence, did not differ from the position of the archers. Organizationally, they were divided into instruments (detachments) of 500 people each. Many of them received estates for their service, becoming local Cossacks. City Cossacks should not be confused with the Cossacks who lived in the border steppes.
In the XVI century. Linear Cossacks were also born. The beginning of the service of the Cossacks to the Russian Tsar is considered to be January 3, 1570. On that day, with the boyar Ivan Novosiltsev, the Tsar's letter was sent to the Cossacks who lived along the banks of the Don, in which they were invited to enter the service of the sovereign. The Don Cossacks gave rise to other Cossacks, which arose at the same time, in the 16th century: Tersky, Grebensky, Siberian and Yaitsky.
The horsemen (people of the horse) were collected in a certain amount from the plow - this was the name of the unit of taxation. Often, one person from 50, 20, 10, and even 5 or 3 households was included in the squadron army. There were exhibited horsemen and footmen at the age of 25 to 40 years. They were distinguished by good health, were good at shooting bows and squeaks, and skiing. Military engineering work was carried out by the forces of the pososny people on the construction of roads and bridges, the supply of ammunition and food was carried out, artillery pieces were transported and their installation was carried out.
"Code" also made the landowners equal in relation to the service of the landowners, that is, the state service of the landowners became as obligatory as the service of the landowners. This meant, in fact, the elimination of the feudal militia as such.
In the XVI century. under the leadership of Ivan the Terrible, within the framework of strengthening the Russian state, transformations were carried out in the field of manning, armament and organization of the Russian army. He created a new standing army, armed with hand-held firearms (rifle army).
The reform began with the release of the "Code of Service", according to which, for the first time, permanent formations - rifle regiments (articles, orders) - were created at the state level. Archers organizationally appeared in 1550, when a detachment of 3 thousand people was organized. The detachment was reduced to six articles (orders) of 500 people each, and the last hundreds, fifty, tens.
Military training was born in the rifle squads and hundreds. The archers were trained in formation and shooting from the squeak. They knew how to "bury themselves in ditches" (Western mercenaries did not do this since it was not "unpaid work"), shoot from arquebuses, etc.
A special equestrian detachment was formed from the best archers. These archers were called stirrups, they carried the guard of the royal palace and usually accompanied the sovereign. At the end of the XVI century. there were up to 12 thousand archers. Of them: 2 thousand stirrups; 5 thousand Moscow footmen; 5 thousand policemen.
The new army, consisting of archers, had some elements of a regular structure: stay in service in peacetime and wartime, constant state maintenance, uniform type of weapons, organized combat training.
In relation to the combat arms, the archers were infantry. An insignificant part of the streltsy army consisted of cavalry, called stirrups. According to the place and conditions of service, the streltsy army was divided into "elective" (Moscow) and city (served in other cities). By the end of the XVI century. the streltsy army as a whole numbered 20-25 thousand people. In peacetime, the archers carried out garrison and guard duty, guarded the border, in wartime they took part in the most important campaigns and battles. The archers received the baptism of fire during the siege and capture of Kazan in 1552
In addition to the archers, city Cossacks, line Cossacks, gunners (as already mentioned), as well as zatinschiks and collars carried constant service in the Russian army.
Zatinschiki (from the word "zatin" - the space behind the fortress wall) are service people who served the fortress artillery. The collars were intended to protect the gates of cities and fortresses.
The Tatars and some other eastern peoples subordinate to the Moscow government, in the event of war, supplied special cavalry units for joint actions with the Moscow troops.
The tsar's merit also lies in the fact that the artillery stood out as an independent branch of the army. "Outfit", that is, artillery, was the third component of the Russian army in the 16th century. By the middle of the XVI century. servicemen of the Pushkar rank are organized into a special part of the army, subordinate first to the Discharge Order, and since 1577 - to the Pushkar Order, which was in charge of the affairs of the order. The term "gunners" became firmly established for the artillerymen of the Russian state in the first half of the 16th century, before the campaign against Kazan. Gunners served in the artillery at first for life, and from the second half of the 16th century. - 25 years. The government encouraged service in the attire of gunners and gunners who possessed the necessary knowledge and skill. They had benefits. They were recruited mainly from free artisans. Their service was inherited: the father passed on knowledge to his son. The gunners who served the guns, and all those who served in the detachment (artillery) received bread and monetary salaries, and sometimes land allotments. They lived, like the archers, in cities, in the Pushkar settlements, and had the right to engage in handicrafts. In addition to servicing guns, gunners in peacetime were engaged in the manufacture of saltpeter, gunpowder, shells, carried out guard duty, carried out various kinds of military engineering work. Carpenters and blacksmiths who were with the tools and who were watching over their serviceability were also classified as servicemen of the Pushkar rank. Artillery was divided into a fortress, designed to protect cities, siege - battering and field artillery with medium and light cannons.
Under Ivan IV, the troops gathered for the campaign were divided into ratias, each of which acted independently. The composition of the army included from 3 to 7 regiments for various purposes: large, right and left hand, forward (vanguard), sentry (rearguard), ambush (reserve), ertaul (reconnaissance). These main, consolidated regiments (as in the XIV-XV centuries) were made up of smaller units, also called regiments, bearing the names of localities and cities where they were assembled. The latter were divided into "thousands", "hundreds", "fifty" and " tens ".
The organization of the Russian army, retaining mainly its old forms, adapted them to the new requirements of strategy and tactics. So, in the consolidated regiments - the main organizational and tactical units - streltsy orders were poured, the main task of which was to strengthen the firepower of this consolidated regiment as a whole. The firepower of the regiments, in addition, was strengthened by the creation of regimental artillery (for example, 6–8 guns were included in the rifle regiment).
The guns that were in reserve (in storage) were used in wartime for a special outfit. Service people were assigned to them, a special voivode was appointed, and the outfit was included in the composition of a large regiment. For the duration of the battle, this outfit was distributed to other regiments and it served as field or siege artillery.
The fourth element was "Gulyai-gorod" (mobile field fortification). In fact, the specially trained personnel of the "gulyai-gorod" were the beginnings of the engineering troops. Shelter "walk-gorod" is a light mobile protective equipment assembled from wooden shields transported on wheels in summer and on skids in winter. Streltsy and gunners fired through the loopholes of the "walk-gorod". Its use allowed the most effective use of firearms in field combat. In fact, the engineering equipment of the battlefield, consisting of a wooden shield cover, appeared in the Russian military art.
The "walk-gorod" assembled from shields could be stretched at the front from 3 to 10 km. Permanent people (carpenters) were used to build the fortification, assemble and move it. The construction of "walk-cities", fortresses, siege works were supervised by "rozmysy" (engineers).
In addition, for example, during the siege of Kazan, a combat tower was built under the leadership of the Russian engineer clerk I. Vyrodkov. It was 13 m high, 7 m wide and 16 m long. It had three tiers of loopholes. Each tier housed archers with squeaks and weapons. In total, the tower contained 50 archers, 10 large guns, and 50 hand-held and retractable squeaks. From the tower there was a daily shelling of the fortress. From this fire, the besieged suffered great losses in manpower. But the main thing was that a system of parallels was arranged around Kazan, which made it possible to bring troops to the fortress for an assault. This system was applied in the West only 50 years later. The two lines of parallels were fortified with rounds, they sheltered the troops intended for the assault.
An important role in increasing the fighting efficiency of the troops of Ivan the Terrible was also played by the partial centralization of its supply system.
In the XVI century. in the mercenary armies of European countries there was a so-called "supply" system, in which the convoys of traders (supplyants) who sold food and fodder to the soldiers moved behind the belligerent armies. The troops usually took stocks of kernels and gunpowder with them for the entire period of hostilities.
In Russia, the mercenary army and the accompanying "supply" system did not become widespread. According to the "Code of Service 1555" the local army was staffed with "service people" who were obliged to go out on the campaign "horse and arms". For their economic (material) support in the campaign from the estates were allocated "people in koshna." The rifle army, gunners, city Cossacks and the militia of tributary people were provided at the expense of the state treasury. The stocks of weapons, ammunition, food and fodder prepared for them by the state were usually transported for the army alongside peasant carts or river (sea) vessels rented from private individuals. Only in the 17th century. as the so-called "new system" regiments were deployed in the armed forces of the Russian state, the bulk of the troops was transferred completely to centralized state material support.
The achievements of the government of Ivan IV include the establishment of a permanent guard service ("notch lines") on the southern borders (the creation of the first border units), where the Crimean Tatars raged.
This circumstance forced the government of Ivan the Terrible to reorganize the border service, which was carried out under the leadership of the voivode M. Vorotynsky. At the beginning of 1571, the "boyar children" and Cossacks from the village were called to Moscow from the southern border towns, who carried the border service there. The meeting ended with the drafting of the "Verdict on the stanitsa and guard service." According to the "Verdict", the border guard was assigned to the outposts ("guards") and the so-called stanitsa. The "watchman" was set up annually from April 1 to winter. The southernmost cities of the Russian state, Putivl and Rylsk, were identified as the control centers for the southern border guard. The outposts were to be sent out of these and other cities for a period of six weeks, taking into account the travel time. Then a second outpost was sent for the same period, followed by a third, then the first again, but for a period of a month. It was strictly forbidden to leave your post before the arrival of the shift. In this case, "villages" were called mobile detachments for the protection of the border. The "verdict" established that each major city should send eight "villages". The "villages" were sent out on patrol alternately, for a period of two weeks, from the 1st to the 15th day of each month. Four months later, on August 1, the "Stanytsia" left for the second time and carried out patrols until December 1. The city Cossacks, as well as the local townspeople and peasants, were involved in the guard and village service.
Thus, the military reforms carried out by the government of Ivan IV corresponded to the prevailing conditions of the struggle against an external enemy. They allowed him to have a sufficiently disciplined and large national army, including a standing infantry force. In the XVI century. the armed forces of Russia consisted of local cavalry, archers, city Cossacks,
Numerous transformations initiated by Ivan the Terrible affected all spheres of life of the Russian state. The beginning of the Kazan war turned out to be completely different from what the young ruler had hoped: the mistakes of the first campaigns showed the bankruptcy of the Russian army, its limitations and inertia. Insufficient mobility, weak weapons, low, state-wide, numbers - all this clearly demonstrated the need for new reforms, this time military.
The cost of maintaining the army is perhaps one of the most expensive items of state budgets, both in the present and in the past. And the transformations necessary for the army of the 16th century required a lot of money. Therefore, before starting to make changes to the military reorganization, Ivan IV carried out a large-scale tax reform.
The Church has suffered the most from the tax reforms. The young king took away many indulgences and benefits from the monasteries. In particular, tolls on roads and bridges, which constituted their main source of income, were transferred to the treasury.
The land taxation system was also completely changed. Until 1551, in the Russian state, each region had its own taxes - the difference in the amounts collected was a consequence of the state fragmentation in the past. Each principality had its own tax system, and after the unification of the lands, this discrepancy persisted. And the most important thing in the financial reform of Ivan the Terrible was the unification of tax collections - a single system of taxes was introduced throughout the state.
The increase in fees, the introduction of many additional taxes, increased monetary pressure on the peasantry - all this led to an increase in the flow of money into the treasury. However, according to the plan of Ivan the Terrible, boyar children - nobles - should become the nucleus of the new army of the Russian state. And for this social stratum in the reformed tax system, numerous benefits were provided. "Service people" henceforth pay much less from their land than everyone else, including even monasteries.
First military reforms
Insufficient numbers and low security of the Russian army gave rise to changes in the recruitment system. According to the new code, from every one hundred quarters of the land, the landowner had to send one horseman - in full armor and with weapons. Both the landowner himself and the person put in his place could go to the army. At will, service in the army could be replaced by the payment of a certain amount to the treasury.
In addition, all boyar children who joined the army were entitled to state salaries. And those nobles who nominated a greater number of "service people" than prescribed by the new law were paid double the salary.
In addition to the children of the nobility, Ivan the Terrible also attracted the Cossacks to serve in the army. Donetsk Cossacks became the backbone of the country's border troops.
Chosen Thousand
As a continuation of the strengthening of the nobility, in 1550 a decree was signed - a "sentence" - on the removal of a thousand: several hundred boyar children were given land estates in the vicinity of Moscow. With this, Ivan IV solved several issues at once - and the arrangement of nearby lands, and the attraction of "service people", and the creation of "best servants" - a group loyal to the king of the nobility, ready to support him in any endeavors.
The new landed nobility became the core of the army. At the same time, the service could be inherited, but the provision of the boyar children who entered the troops with horses, weapons, armor and their own warriors lay with the landowners.
Shooting army
One of the most important military transformations of Ivan the Terrible was the creation of a streltsy army. A special military unit endowed with special privileges was named archers because of the latest firearms used - squeaks.
The bulk of the army was made up of townspeople and free peasants, who received not only salaries, but their own small land plots for the transition to the sovereign service. In the cities - primarily in Moscow - the archers were allocated their own territory, the so-called archery yard. In peacetime, the archers carried out the service of guarding the palace, were engaged in trade and handicrafts. By a special decree, the archers' courts were exempt from taxes. And to regulate the work of this special army, a separate Streletsky order was created.
Thanks to such benefits and indulgences, the archers became the most privileged branch of the Russian army. And further modernization led to the fact that the streltsy army became the main pillar of the throne and the most powerful military unit.
conclusions
Thanks to the unification and revision of taxation, spending on the army could be financed directly from the state treasury, and in full measure. The increase in the number of serving nobles ensured the loyalty of the army to the king and made the army a true pillar of the throne. The change in the principle of recruiting recruits ensured not only an increase in the number of troops, but also their fairly identical armament. And the massive introduction of firearms and artillery significantly increased the combat capability of the Russian army.
MILITARY REFORM OF IVAN THE GROZNYTsar Ivan IV and his entourage set themselves the most important tasks to strengthen the centralized Russian state and assert its international importance. An effective tool was needed to implement the ambitious geopolitical plans. The global state reforms of Ivan IV the Terrible, the emergence of new types of weapons, constant military threats from the south, west and east, a difficult economic situation determined the uniqueness of the reforms of the armed forces that covered the period from 1550 to 1571.
ESTABLISHMENT OF REGULAR MILITARY UNITS
To organize personal protection in 1550, the tsar created a formation of archers, numbering three thousand people. The rifle corps was staffed from common people and "free hunting" people. All soldiers without exception were armed with firearms. Nowhere in Europe were there any analogues to this professional army of shooters. The Streletskaya army consisted of six articles, 500 people each. Three subdivisions performed different functions:
- the striving carried the guard of the court and made up the personal escort of His Majesty;
- those in Moscow served in the capital's "huts" (orders);
- policemen served in garrisons on the southern and western borders.
For each order, a uniform uniform and banner were required. The first mention of the participation in the hostilities of the streltsy army falls on the Kazan company in 1552. At the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the number of the regular army reached 20 thousand people.
"SELECTED THOUSAND"
The tsar rightly assumed that the strengthening of the autocracy is possible only with the help of the new estate. The reforms of Ivan IV the Terrible needed a serious lobby represented by the Moscow landowners. From small feudal lords, courtyard people living in the capital and the surrounding area, the king forms a special military unit. The sons of the noble landowners and boyars received from him state land plots, and for this they pledged to carry out military service.
On the first order, the Tysyatskys appeared for military service. In peacetime, the maintenance of the army was carried out from the landlords' own funds, and in wartime - at the expense of the treasury. The creation of the "Chosen Thousand" was of great political significance:
- small landowners-nobles and boyar children were equalized in official position with the descendants of the noble nobility;
- the government's ties with the local nobles, who formed the basis of the militia, were strengthened;
- cadres were created for the formation in the future of a whole class of "servicemen of the Moscow list."
A total of 1,070 noblemen entered the service.
LOCALITY RESTRICTION
The monopoly of the princely-boyar nobility on leading posts in the army and state administration acted in a corrupting manner on the military people. This was clearly manifested during the first campaign against Kazan, during which the tsar had to convince the princes to act under a single command.
The tsar intended to abolish localism altogether. Effective leadership of troops should be carried out by a talented commander, and not be a legacy of duty. But for its time it was too bold an idea.
The military reform of Ivan the Terrible determined the strict subordination of the military commanders of the regiments, simplified the leadership of the combat formation and nullified class disputes in the conditions of hostilities. Despite the clear advantages of the 1550 regulation, this innovation was poorly received by the offspring of noble nobles. Localism did not immediately give up its positions, and the government periodically had to confirm the legitimacy of this decree.
DEGREE ON MILITARY SERVICE
In 1555-1556, the military reform of Ivan the Terrible entered the next stage. The new "Service Code" introduced compulsory military service for children of feudal lords from the age of 15. Young men up to this age were called undergrowths, and newcomers to the service were called newcomers. Conscription was inherited and was life-long.
Mobilization rules were established. For every 50 acres of land, the feudal lord had to exhibit one fully equipped equestrian warrior. The owners of especially large estates undertook to bring armed slaves with them.
The Code determined the order of subordination of military leaders. The first codes were drawn up, defining the rules of service. Inspections and gatherings were periodically held. A nobleman who did not appear for the inspection was severely punished. These measures made it possible, in the conditions of continuous wars, to have a combat-ready and complete army.
CENTRAL FORCES CONTROL SYSTEM
The economic weakness of the state, the lack of infrastructure and the length of the territories led to the creation of a rigid system of command and control and supply of the army. To control the troops, the following order structures were created:
- Discharge - in wartime he mobilized and actually performed the functions of the General Staff.
- Streletsky.
- Pushkarsky ;.
- Order of the Great Parish.
- Cash distribution order.
At the head of the orders were the trusted commanders. The results of Ivan the Terrible's reforms had a significant impact on the overall combat readiness of the Moscow army. Having created a centralized command and control apparatus, Russia was far ahead of Europe in this respect.
DEVELOPMENT OF ARTILLERY
The military reform of Ivan the Terrible affected the "Firearms outfit", which had existed since 1506. State needs required a large number of new types of guns and ammunition. At the beginning of the Livonian War, the Russian army managed to capture a colossal arsenal. Realizing the lack of foundry specialists, the Russian tsar turned to Charles V and Queen Elizabeth with a request to send experienced craftsmen to Russia. The embargo carried out at the suggestion of the Livonians and the Commonwealth against Muscovy did not allow Ivan Vasilyevich's plans to be fully realized.
However, on British and Danish ships, samples of new weapons and specialists still reached Russia. The recruitment and attraction of captured firearms masters was also carried out. During this period, German masters began to play the leading role. The best known is Kasper Ganus, the teacher of Andrei Chokhov.
War production grew steadily. The cannon yard produced 5-6 large-caliber guns a year. In the 1560s, the foundation was laid for the manufacture of the same type of guns and ammunition for them. Subordination appears in artillery crews.
In 1570, the "Cannon Order" was created. For the greatest efficiency in combat use and standardization in production, artillery is classified. The main types of guns were:
- bombards ("cannons");
- mortars ("horse guns");
- squeaked.
It was during this era that the largest tools were created. The culmination of the creation of Russian gunsmiths was the creation of the Tsar Cannon and the first breech-loading weapon in history. An analysis of sources, including foreign ones, makes it possible to assert with confidence that the military reform of Ivan the Terrible allowed Russia to create the most perfect and numerous artillery park in Europe. By the end of the century, there were more than 5 thousand guns.
SECURITY ORGANIZATION
They could not help but touch upon the reforms of Ivan IV the Terrible to arrange the protection of the external borders of the state. In 1571, the "Charter of the guard and village service" was approved. The appearance of this document is an indicator of the high level of Russian military-theoretical thought of that era. Developed by Prince M.I. Border guard duty lasted from April 1 to November 30. The charter commanded the governors of the border towns to send specially trained people to carry out patrol service. For the first time at the state level, the Cossacks were involved in border protection.
REFORMS OF IVAN THE GROZNY AND COMPLETION OF THE ORIENTALIZATION OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY
The pre-reform army was well prepared to fight the lightly armed irregular formations of the Tatars and Ottomans. However, formed on the basis of the militia principle, the armed forces turned out to be completely unable to resist the Western European military system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This turned into a number of military disasters. As a result, the expansion in the western direction had to be abandoned.
Decades of military transformation have borne fruit. Elements of a regular army and an effective command and control apparatus began to emerge in Russia, and powerful rear structures were formed. To sum up what the military reforms of Ivan the Terrible have achieved, you can briefly summarize in one phrase - a combat-ready army was created to carry out active foreign policy activities.
The Old Russian state with its center in Kiev took shape at the end of the 9th century. To defend the country from external aggression and to solve internal problems, armed forces were needed. The process of creating the military system of Kievan Rus can be viewed as a major military transformation, as a result of which there was a transition from a clan armed organization, covering the entire male population of the clan and tribe, to special military formations. According to chronicle sources and studies of the classics of Russian history, they are known as the "squad", "army", "regiment", etc.
According to N.M. Karamzin, the Varangians were the mentors of our ancestors in the art of war. The Slavs fought in formation, around their banners or banners, in close ranks, at the sound of military trumpets, had cavalry, their own and hired, guard detachments.
At the disposal of the Kiev prince was a squad military organization. She performed not only military, but also administrative functions, often playing the role of a kind of council under the prince. The structure of the army and his management were as follows: "The prince was the head of the army on the water and in the sea; under him commanded by the governors, thousanders, centurions and tenths. The prince's squad was made up of experienced knights and boyars (this was the senior squad) who kept him alive and served an example of courage for others.Under this general name, sometimes they meant young and selective warriors, Otroks, Gridni, who served under the prince ... The Chief Voivods also had their own youths ... Until the time of the Yaroslavovs, the Varangians were a special army in Russia, they were Gridni or the Swordsmen took a salary from the treasury, others participated only in the extraction. "
The junior squad is, as a rule, ordinary soldiers recruited from free people. In peacetime, junior warriors often played the role of servants at the court of the prince, carried out his separate assignments.
The princely squad was a permanent military system. The druzhina army, for political reasons, was not too large in number. Therefore, if necessary, it was supplemented by a militia army. The total number of princely and boyar squads, people's militia and mercenary detachments reached 40-50 thousand people. In 968, Prince Svyatoslav led more than 60 thousand soldiers to Bulgaria against the Byzantines.
The armed forces of Russia were divided into infantry and cavalry. For a long time, the main force was the infantry, which was divided into light and heavy. The role of cavalry increased sharply from the end of the 10th century, which was caused by the need to fight the nomads.
The armament of Russian soldiers consisted of a double-edged sword with a heavy and long blade, a spear, an ax, a spear, a mace, a belt, and a bow. Russian soldiers had, excellent for that time, protective weapons. It was called armor, and a little later - armor. These are helmets (or helmets) with chain mail, chain mail and large teardrop-shaped shields, usually red.
Thus, the military system of Kievan Rus was quite economical and optimal for the feudal mode of production. Its effectiveness was ensured by the fact that it relied on a permanent professional army, which, if necessary, was reinforced by the militia. Conscription existed regardless of land ownership.
Thanks to their military organization, the Kiev princes were able to defend their independence in the struggle against Byzantium, expand the territory of the state, defeat the hordes of nomadic steppe dwellers, and provide the people with conditions and opportunities for independent development.
During the period of feudal fragmentation of Russia, which lasted for three centuries, the once powerful state disintegrated into several dozen independent principalities and lands. Each principality had its own armed forces. The princely squads remained the constant core of the troops. But they were relatively small in number and usually numbered several hundred soldiers. As before, in the thinned forces of the Russian principalities, a special place belonged to the people's militia. In some principalities it reached 10-30 thousand people.
In the conditions of endless internecine strife, a single defense system, as it was in the era of Kievan Rus, was replaced by the defense of each principality separately. This predetermined the seizure of the scattered Russian principalities by the Mongol-Tatar conquerors.
The process of uniting the Russian lands around Moscow into a single centralized state and the ongoing struggle for the liberation of Russia from the Mongol-Tatar yoke were accompanied by the concentration of military power in the hands of the Moscow grand dukes. This process naturally led to cardinal military transformations. By the end of the XIV century, Moscow had the most powerful army in comparison with other principalities. It was based on the grand-ducal "courtyard" (as the princely squad came to be called), the city regiments of Moscow and other cities. The Moscow army was replenished with detachments of princes and boyars from other Russian principalities, as well as detachments of Lithuanian and Tatar feudal lords, who were transferred to the service of Moscow.
In the struggle against the Golden Horde and the Lithuanian Order, weapons and tactics were improved, the structure of the Russian troops changed. New types of edged weapons have appeared: axes, flails, maces. Bows were widely used. At the end of the XIV century. firearms appeared in Russia. A new branch of the armed forces is being created - artillery, which is called the "outfit".
The regiments became the main organizational and tactical unit. They united military detachments of large feudal lords and foot troops of cities and villages. The shelves were subdivided into thousands, hundreds and tens. A category of service Cossacks emerged, serving in cities, at border posts and at checkpoints.
At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century. the unification of the Russian lands around Moscow was completed. A single Russian state was formed. This created more favorable conditions for strengthening its military power. In the XVI century. several major military transformations are underway in Russia. The most significant was the military reform of Ivan IV (the Terrible).
Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible (1530-1584) - Grand Duke of "All Russia" from 1533, the first Russian tsar from 1547, son of Vasily III. As a commander, he was distinguished by his courageous strategic plans and decisiveness, personally led the troops in the Kazan campaigns (1545-1952), the campaign against Polotsk, in the Livonian War (1558-1983).
The time of the military reform covered the period from 1550 to 1571. The main reasons for the reform were:
New political tasks of the state;
The emergence of new types of weapons;
Economic considerations;
The aim of this reform was to strengthen the centralized state.
First. Creation of a local system for manning troops. Petty feudal lords (noblemen, boyar children, etc.), courtyards of the Grand Duke received state land plots from him. For this they were obliged to carry out military service. The feudal lord, who lived in his estate, was obliged, at the first call of the Grand Duke, to appear for military service "horse, fashionable and armed." In peacetime, the troops were financed from the income of the feudal lord, in wartime - from the state treasury.
Second. Ivan IV restricts parochialism. In accordance with his decision, when appointing to a command position, they began to take into account military merits, and not only the nobility of the family.
Third. The order of service subordination in the army was determined, measures were taken to streamline military service. The main document that legislatively consolidated these and other areas of reform was the "Code of Service" (1556)
Service rates were made dependent on the amount of land. Equestrian secular feudal lord was obliged to expose one fully equipped warrior on horseback from every 50 acres of land. The military service of the nobles was hereditary and lifelong, beginning at the age of 15, and military registration lists of service people were drawn up, and periodic military reviews were held. A nobleman who did not appear for service was subjected to corporal punishment, deprived of his estates, and often of his life itself.
In the course of the reform, the first state documents were prepared that determined the procedure for performing service. In 1571, under the leadership of the governor, Prince N. I. Vorotynsky, the first charter in Russia was developed - "Boyarsky verdict on the village and guard service". Later, in 1621, a major military theorist, clerk O. Mikhailov, drew up the "Charter of military, cannon and other matters related to military science." It summarized the experience of military operations of the Russian and Western European armies in various types of combat.
Fourth. Creation of an army national in composition.
Fifth. Creation of permanent military units - rifle regiments. The first mention of them dates back to the time of the campaign against Kazan in 1552.
The army was originally divided into "articles" (orders) of 500 archers. The article included hundreds, fifty, tens. The army was recruited from the draft settlement population, later from the streltsy families and "free hunting" people.
The state, represented by the Tsar-autocrat, controlled the army through the Razryadny, Streletsky, Arms Orders, the Order for the collection of Strelets' bread, the Order for the distribution of money, headed by the governors.
The army consisted of archers:
stirrups, who carried the guard of the royal court and accompanied the sovereign during his trips;
Moscow, who served in the capital's orders;
policemen who served in the garrisons of other cities, primarily on the southern and western borders, (in addition to the archers, gunners, carpenters, blacksmiths, and city Cossacks collars).
The uniform was uniform for each order: in different orders, the uniform differed in the color of caftans, boots and hats. For example, the archers of the Moscow order wore a red caftan with crimson buttonholes and dark gray hats. Each order had its own banner.
The armament consisted of:
Smooth-bore hand arm;
Berdysh (chopping melee weapon in the form of an ax with a wide blade (40-100 cm) in the shape of a crescent on a long shaft of more than 2 m).
Each archer was provided with:
Armament, powder flask, lead, gunpowder (in wartime 1-2 pounds per person);
Monetary salary: ordinary archers received 4-7 rubles a year;
Bread salary: 12 quarters of rye and oats each (1 quarter is equal to 96 kg);
Clothing allowance: hats, ready-made upper and lower caftans, ports, boots, gloves, sashes;
Land allotments: city archers were assigned 4 quarters of arable land in the field (1 quarter - 360 sq. Fathoms).
Streltsy lived in special settlements. They were allowed to engage in crafts and trades, trade, gardening, since the salary was issued irregularly and did not provide the proper standard of living.
The total number of troops was initially 3000 people.
In battle, the archers acted in the "correct" military formation. The battle formation consisted of several ranks; two forward ranks fired simultaneously at the beginning of the engagement.
At the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, their number was 12 thousand people, in Moscow - 7.5 thousand. Together with the city archers, they formed the first permanent infantry.
Sixth. Creation of regimental artillery, detachment (artillery) as an independent branch of the armed forces. The artillery army also included the first squad of beepers. Artillery was divided into serf, siege and regimental. At the end of the century, there were up to 5,000 different guns.
Seventh. Organization of a centralized army management system. For this purpose, special state bodies were formed - "orders" (artillery, military training, etc.). The main military-state governing body was the discharge order. He was in charge of all matters of life and service. In wartime, at the tsar's order, he collected troops, distributed servicemen to regiments, appointed the governor and their assistants.
Eighth. Organization of a permanent guard service along the borders of the Russian state. The watchdog service lasted from April 1 to December 1. The verdict ordered the governors of the cities and the heads of the watchmen to send trained people on patrol and provided for severe punishments for violations of the guard service.
The military reform, which took place under the direct control of Ivan the Terrible, yielded tangible results. The Russian army became much more organized, discipline was strengthened, combat skill increased, due to the development of artillery in its firepower, it became one of the strongest armies in Europe at that time.
In the 17th century, the military reforms of Ivan the Terrible were further developed. These transformations were caused by several reasons, these are:
Achievement of not only political, but also economic unity of Russia;
Finalization of the serfdom system;
The need to have in the hands of the autocratic power (which grew into absolutism) a permanent, reliable army;
Long and difficult wars waged by Russia in the 17th century. with Poland, Sweden, Turkey, Crimea.
The main directions of these transformations:
First. In the 1930s, new military formations appeared - the so-called "regiments of a new order," or regiments of a foreign order. They were created in the image of Western European armies: soldier's regiments (infantry), Reitar and dragoon regiments (cavalry).
At first, such regiments were recruited by voluntary recruitment of servicemen and military personnel in case of war or border service. But by the middle of the 17th century. the government moved to the compulsory recruitment of "tributary people". The recruitment was based on one person from 20-25 peasant or settlement households. "Datachnye people" were recruited for lifelong service in wartime, and in peacetime some of them were released home. In 1681, the "regiments of the new system" constituted the most efficient part of the Russian army and numbered more than 90 thousand people, while the noble militia and archers made up about 66 thousand.
Second. The introduction for the first time in the Russian army of officer and general ranks. The first Russian generals were Shepelev, Krevkov, Kosyagov, Zmiev. They are mentioned for the first time in state documents of 1667-1678.
Third. In the 80s of the XVII century, a reform was carried out, the purpose of which was to further centralize the recruitment and management of the country's armed forces. In 1680 the regiments were scheduled according to "ranks" and large military-administrative districts. The entire European part of the country was divided into 9 categories. On the territory of each of them, in peacetime and in wartime, there was a permanent military formation of several "regiments of the new order" and rifle regiments.
In the same 1680, the centralization of the country's government was strengthened. If before that, the command of the army was carried out by numerous orders, now it was concentrated in three orders: Razryadny, Reitarsky and Inozemny.
In the same period, an attempt was made to create the basis of the naval forces: in 1667, the ship "Eagle" was built by Dutch craftsmen to protect sea trade in the Caspian Sea. For the captain of this ship, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich issued a decree, which is practically the first Russian naval charter.
Thus, the military transformations of the 17th century. to a large extent laid the foundations for the creation of a future regular Russian army at the beginning of the 18th century, although they did not eliminate many of the shortcomings in the organization of the Russian armed forces. The diversity of their composition has been preserved ("regiments of the new order", the noble militia, rifle regiments). The noble cavalry and rifle regiments were not efficient enough. Unity and centralization in the command and control of the armed forces were not achieved either. All this, along with serious successes in the conduct of wars, was often the cause of a number of failures and defeats in the fight against the enemy.
An important role in strengthening the Russian centralized state was played by Ivan IV Vasilievich (ruled 1533-1584). In January 1547 he accepted the title of tsar, which marked the transition to a new stage in the development of the state. At the beginning of the reign of Ivan IV, the Russian state stretched from the White and Barents Seas in the north to the Ryazan fields in the south; from the shores of the Gulf of Finland and Smolensk in the west to the spurs of the Northern Urals in the east. The area of the country reached 2.8 million km 2, and the population was 5-6 million people. The population of the capital city of Moscow was about 100 thousand people. The capital was the cultural and industrial center of the state. Before the Moscow government in the field of foreign policy, the main task was put forward: to ensure access to the Baltic Sea. The economic growth of the growing state insistently demanded ties with the countries of Western Europe and the elimination of the threat from the Kazan Khanate, which with constant raids ravaged the Nizhny Novgorod, Murom and Ustyug outskirts of the state. In the middle of the XVI century. there were about 100 thousand Russian prisoners in the khanate. In these conditions, in order to successfully solve the problems facing the Russian state, it was necessary to restructure state administration and create a strong army on a different basis - the need for civil and military reforms was ripe. And in the 50s. XVI century they were carried out.
The most important document that laid the foundations for a permanent army in the Russian state and streamlined the military service of large feudal lords was the sentence issued by Ivan IV on October 1, 1550 "On the placement in Moscow and surrounding districts of a select thousand service people." Then the 1556 "Code of Service" finally formalized the local system as the main military force of the Russian state. All patrimonials were obliged to carry out military service according to the norms established by the Code for landowners and turned into service people for life. In addition to the estate, service people received a monetary salary, which was usually issued before the campaign. It created the interest of the nobility in the service, attracted a large number of feudal lords into military service. The noble cavalry was distinguished by military training, quick actions and swift attacks on the battlefield. She fully met the requirements of the growing Russian state. Nevertheless, the local cavalry, despite its large numbers, did not solve the main problem. It was required to create a standing army with command personnel under the jurisdiction of the supreme power. According to the verdict of October 1, 1550, there were 1,078 "landowners" from the provincial nobles, "children of the boyars and the best servants," such servants, who were endowed by the tsar with estates around Moscow. This elite thousand (later "Moscow ranks") became the Tsar's armed force and his guards. They obeyed only the supreme power in the person of the tsar and did not depend on the metropolitan aristocracy and large feudal lords - appanage princes. By the decree of the same 1550, 6 rifle regiments of 500 people each were created. They were recruited by recruiting free townspeople and free hunting people - free Cossacks, black-nosed state peasants. Organizationally, the streltsy army was divided into orders (regiments) of 500 people each, orders - into hundreds, fifty and tens. Each regiment had 6-8 guns. Unlike the noble cavalry, the archers had uniform weapons and clothing, and they periodically underwent military training. Having good combat training, armed with firearms and melee weapons, they represented the most prepared part of the army of the Russian state. By the end of the XVI century. the number of rifle infantry reached 18-20 thousand soldiers. Thus, as a result of the reform and further military development, a permanent, well-organized and combat-ready rifle army was created, gradually replacing the temporarily convened militiamen, the first step was taken towards organizing a regular army in Russia. Due to the widespread use and improvement of firearms, the Russian army, especially the rifle regiments, in the middle of the 16th century. change their order of battle, elements of new, linear tactics are emerging. The noble cavalry gradually acquired an auxiliary value. The Russian army continued to include a trooper army. In the course of the reforms, a more clear-cut system of military control has developed than before. The general leadership of the troops and all affairs was carried out by the king. Direct management of the construction and training of troops was concentrated in orders. Military affairs were dealt with by the Discharge Order, which becomes the highest body of military administration in the state apparatus.
One of the central places in strengthening the defense capability of the state was taken by the reorganization of the border service. The constant military threat from the aggressive Crimean Khanate and nomadic peoples in the southeastern outskirts of the Russian state demanded an urgent improvement in the defense of the borders. By the middle of the XVI century. along the entire southeastern border, a fortified chain of strongholds was formed: fortified cities, fortifications and fortifications, which formed the basis of the notch lines. They housed city troops, consisting of archers, gunners and city Cossacks. For the timely repulse of the predatory raids of the nomads and Crimean Tatars, sentry and stanitsa detachments were organized. In 1571, the boyar M.I. Vorotynsky drew up the "Boyarsky verdict on the stanitsa and guard service" - the first Russian military charter.
In the course of military construction under Ivan IV, the largest army in Europe was created, designed to protect vast borders and solve foreign policy problems. The troops numbered over 250 thousand people, which was approximately 3% of the total population.
The results of the reform: the transition from the militia troops to the creation of a permanent army of noble cavalry, archers, city Cossacks and gunners; the introduction of a new, clearer system of military control, the supreme body of which was the Discharge Order.
Wars and military campaigns of the 2nd half of the 16th century. In 1547-1550. Tsar Ivan IV twice undertook campaigns against Kazan, but they did not achieve the result. The third campaign in 1552 was distinguished by more thorough preparation and thoughtfulness of the strategic plan. The siege of the city, which lasted 38 days, ended successfully and on October 2, 1552, Kazan fell. The threat to the eastern outskirts of the state, which brought captivity and ruin to the Russian population, was eliminated. The liquidation of the Kazan Khanate, which relied on the support of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and the Crimean Khanate, had enormous political consequences for the Russian state. Following Kazan in 1556-1557. The Astrakhan Khanate and the Nogai Horde recognized vassal dependence on the Russian state, and Chuvashia, Bashkiria and Kabarda voluntarily became part of it. Trade routes were opened to the markets of Transcaucasia and Central Asia. With the security of the southeastern borders, it became possible to break the blockade in the west, where the Livonian Order stubbornly pushed Russia away from the countries of Western Europe, from the outlet to the Baltic Sea. In January 1558, the Livonian War began, which lasted 25 years. The troops of the Livonian Order could not resist for a long time, and in 1560 Livonia disintegrated. In 1569 Poland and Lithuania formed a single state - Rzeczpospolita - and opposed Russia. The war became protracted. Russia failed to defeat the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. The Livonian War ended with the conclusion of the Plyus truce between Russia and Sweden in 1583. Russia did not achieve victory, did not reach the Baltic Sea, but her opponents abandoned their claims to Pskov, Novgorod and Smolensk. While Russia was waging the Livonian War, the Krymchaks continued to threaten it from the south. In the early 70s. XVI century the invasion of the troops of the Crimean Khanate to Moscow was reflected. The Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey in 1571 raided Moscow and burned its posad. In the summer of 1572 Devlet-Girey made a second campaign, with the aim of capturing Moscow, seizing Kazan and Astrakhan. In fierce battles on August 1 and 2, the Russian army defeated the hordes of Devlet-Girey. Only 20 thousand Tatars returned to Crimea. Moscow was saved from ruin. The raids of the Crimean Tatars on the Russian lands almost stopped.
Overcoming the Troubles and strengthening the Russian state in the 17th century The beginning of the century (1601) for Russia and its army was fraught with the hardest trials. Time of Troubles - the period of the struggle of the boyar clans for power in the country, the Polish intervention (1604-1612), the peasant uprising led by I.I. Bolotnikov (1606-1607), the Swedish intervention (1610-1617) - devastated the country, significantly weakened its military potential. After the death of Tsar Ivan IV in 1584, and then Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich in 1598, the Rurik dynasty was suppressed. Meanwhile, in the struggle for the throne, the boyar Boris Godunov, close to Ivan IV, and his followers defeated the boyar family of the Romanovs, relatives of Ivan the Terrible. Tsar Boris took the throne not at the best time for the country (17.02.1598 by the decision of the Zemsky Sobor). Barren 1601 - 1603 entailed hunger. Feudal oppression (the abolition of the exit of peasants on "St. George's Day") intensified. On the southern outskirts of the state, peasant unrest took place, which subsequently resulted in the Peasant War at the beginning of the 17th century. On April 13, 1605, Tsar Boris Godunov died suddenly. The tsarist army did not swear allegiance to his 16-year-old son Fedor. The boyars went over to the side of False Dmitry I and the army of the impostor moved to Moscow. Unrest in the capital of the Russian state led to the fall of the Godunov government. Tsar Fyodor was killed and on June 20, 1605, False Dmitry I entered Moscow. His reign lasted less than a year, on May 17, 1606, at dawn, to the sound of an alarm, the Moscow people spoke out against the foreigners. Muscovites, led by the Shuisky boyars, killed more than a thousand Poles and broke into the Kremlin. False Dmitry, fleeing from his pursuers, jumped out of the window of the Kremlin tower, but was overtaken and killed. Vasily Shuisky was proclaimed tsar. From the end of 1608 a partisan movement arose in the country. A number of cities rebelled and did not recognize the power of the Polish protege and the "seven-boyars" - the government of seven Russian boyars, who formed the "Duma" under him. The cities of Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Kolomna and others were freed from the invaders.
February 28, 1609 V.I. Shuisky signed with Sweden the Vyborg treaty on a defensive alliance against Poland, for which he ceded the city of Korel and the Korelsky district to the Swedes. In response, the Polish king Sigismund III undertook an open intervention. In the fall of 1609, he moved a 12,000-strong army to Smolensk. In 1610, the traitorous boyars ("seven-boyars") overthrew Tsar Vasily Shuisky and treacherously allowed the Polish army and German mercenaries into the capital on the night of September 21. However, the Russian people did not bow their heads before the invaders and resolutely rose to fight them. In Nizhny Novgorod, the zemstvo headman, merchant Kuzma Minin led the 5,000-strong militia. Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky was elected head of the militia. Vologda, Kazan, Yaroslavl and other cities joined Nizhny Novgorod. In July 1612, the militia set out from Yaroslavl and on August 20 approached Moscow. The Poles were surrounded on all sides, starved and on October 26, 1612 capitulated. Moscow was liberated from the Polish invaders. In the Russian Federation, the date of the liberation of Moscow (November 4, O.S.) is celebrated as National Unity Day.With the end of the Time of Troubles, the boyar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was elected to the Russian throne in 1613. But the country's position remained difficult. In addition to restoring order in the state, it was necessary to finally repel external threats. In 1617, a peace treaty was concluded between Sweden and Russia in Stolbovo. Under this agreement, Russia ceded to Sweden Russian lands from Narva to Korela, that is, the entire coast of the Baltic Sea, Sweden in return liberated the captured Russian cities of Novgorod, Staraya Russa, Ladoga, Porkhov and Gdov. As a result, Russia was pushed back from the shores of the Baltic Sea for a long time. In October 1618 the Poles and the detachments of the Zaporozhye Cossacks who joined them approached Moscow, but the attack was repulsed. In December 1618. the Deulinskoe truce was concluded for a period of 14.5 years. Under this agreement, the Polish government refused to seek the Moscow throne by force of arms, and the Russians temporarily ceded Smolensk and several Seversky (on the Seversky Donets) cities to Poland. Since 1648 the Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples started a war against Polish oppression and for reunification with Russia. In January 1654, the Rada was convened in the city of Pereyaslav for the nationwide proclamation of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. In the last quarter of the 17th century. The Russian state had to repel the invasion of Turkish troops in the south (June 1678)
Military reforms of the 17th century began to be carried out from 1621 (with the adoption of the "Charter of military, cannon and other matters related to military science") until the 70s of the 17th century. Results of the reform: regiments (troops) of the "new system" were created - a permanent armed force, consisting of dragoon (horse and foot), reitar (cavalry), soldier (foot) regiments (by 1680, the regiments of the new system accounted for up to 67% of the total army, they numbered up to 90 thousand people); the regiments of the "new order" were given artillery and the Pushkar regiment was formed; the army of the "new system" received a single organization (regiment - company); new bodies of higher military command were formed: the Foreign Order, the Order for the collection of military men, the Order for the collection of tributary people, etc .; in 1649 the Sobornoye Ulozhenie was adopted, which was the prototype of the disciplinary statute of the Russian army. To participate in minor combat operations, the army was formed from three regiments. In major operations, it consisted of five regiments: the "large regiment", "forward regiment", "right hand regiment", "left hand regiment" and "patrol regiment". Depending on the scale of the campaign, the number of regiments varied from several hundred to several thousand soldiers. However, after the campaign, the rank and file and some of the officers were dismissed to their homes, the weapons were surrendered, i.e. these were not yet regular troops in the full sense of the word.
The role of the Ministry of Defense in the Moscow state was played by the Discharge Order, which was in charge of appointing to positions, forming field armies and serf garrisons, as well as providing service people with land.
7.4. Military reorganization of Russia in the XVIII-XIX centuries
The military reorganization of Russia in the 18th-19th centuries began with the tsar's state and military reforms Peter I (reigned 1689-1725). Then Russia was a large feudal state. More than 13 million people lived on its territory. The economic basis of the state was made up of feudal-serf land ownership, manufacturing and small-scale handicraft production. In terms of economic indicators, cultural development, and military organization, it lagged significantly behind the Western countries. One of the reasons for this situation was the long-term isolation of the state, its isolation from the Baltic and Black Seas. In the XVI-XVII centuries. predecessors of Peter I repeatedly tried to break through to them, but these attempts were unsuccessful. Real preconditions for solving this urgent task appeared only at the end of the 17th century. and are associated with the name of Peter I. Under his leadership, a powerful economic base was created in Russia, financial and monetary, administrative and judicial reforms were carried out aimed at maximum centralization of state administration, strict regulation of all aspects of society. The most important component of Peter's reforms was the complete reorganization of the military organization of the state, and above all, the creation of a regular army and navy based on a recruitment system. In Russian historiography, the opinion is that the formation of the regular army was initiated by the decrees of 1699, which envisaged the admission of "free people" to the service of soldiers and the recruitment of "tribute" ones. The war with Sweden that began in 1700 caused an acute shortage of people in the army, which could no longer be covered by the "free" and "free" people. In 1705, the next step was taken - by decree of Peter I, a unified system of manning for troops was introduced - recruitment, in accordance with which the army's soldiers were formed from peasants and other taxable estates, and the officer corps - from nobles. Recruitment sets were brought in from a definable in each specific case, the number of peasant souls. Thus, a stable system of manning the armed forces with people was created, which was the most advanced for that time. It existed practically unchanged for almost 170 years (until the introduction of universal military service in Russia in 1874). Much attention was paid to the creation of the officer corps. At the beginning of the 18th century. a system of manning the army with officers was developed. It was formed mainly from the nobility, who, before receiving the officer's rank, were required to comprehend the basics of military service as privates and non-commissioned officers in the guards regiments. However, all this could not fully provide the Russian army with well-trained officers. Peter I paid special attention to the creation of military schools. In a short time, seafaring, artillery, engineering and other educational institutions were created, in which officers began to be trained. This was the beginning of the formation of military educational institutions in Russia.
The new system of manning the armed forces turned out to be very rational. Having established personal military service for the nobility, Peter I gave the recruitment of other estates a communal character. Each community was obliged to supply one recruit from a certain number of households. The recruiting system was territorial in nature and retained the national character of the Russian army, and recruiting into regiments from certain territories created a good base for military comradeship, and increased the moral and fighting qualities of soldiers. The main tactical unit with permanent staffs was the regiment. The infantry was originally armed with a rifle (fuse, hence the fusilier companies). Simultaneously with the infantry, the organizational structure of the cavalry was improved. Peter I followed the path of creating dragoon-type cavalry, which could operate both on horseback and on foot. Artillery underwent significant changes in the course of the reforms. Peter I attached great importance to this type of weapon. Under Peter I, artillery began to be divided into regimental, field, siege and serf artillery, which provided ample opportunities for its tactical use. The guns were of three types: cannons, howitzers and mortars. In the course of Peter's reforms, horse artillery appeared in the Russian army.
Military reforms significantly influenced the structure and armament of fortifications. Fortresses such as Peter and Paul, Shlisselburg, Pskov, Narva, Ivangorod, Kronstadt were powerful defensive structures. They possessed large combat reserves, were well armed and could deploy strong garrisons in the event of a threat.
Navy. The creation of a fleet for Peter I was the first task. The official decree on the beginning of the creation of the fleet was the verdict of the Boyar Duma on October 20, 1696: "There will be sea vessels." There were already about 10 shipyards in Russia to implement this decision. At the beginning of the 18th century. built 14 more. Supervised all these works, created in 1696 in Moscow, Ship order, later renamed the Order of Admiralty Affairs, headed by F.M. Apraksin. The actual organizer and creator of the domestic military fleet was Peter I. During the years of Peter the Great's reign, the domestic fleet turned into a formidable force - 111 battleships, 38 frigates, 60 brigantines, 8 shnyavs, 67 large galleys, a significant number of scampaways (semi-galleys) were built. , bombarding ships, fire ships and other sea vessels. The Russian regular navy played an extremely important role in the final establishment of Russia in the Baltic and then in the Black Seas. The brilliant victories of Peter I went down in history and are celebrated in the Russian Federation as the days of military glory of Russia - the Day of the victory of the Russian army under the command of Peter the Great over the Swedes in the Battle of Poltava (1709) and the Day of the first naval victory in Russian history of the Russian fleet under the command of Peter the Great over by the Swedes at Cape Gangut (1714).
In detail and deeply, Peter I developed a command and control system for the armed forces. The recruiting, organization and other issues of the army and navy were in charge of the central institutions - Razryadny, Admiralty, Oruzheiny, Artillery and other orders. In 1718-1719. instead of a number of military orders, the Military Collegium was created, the Admiralty Order was transformed into the Admiralty Collegium (Admiralty Collegium), which contributed to a qualitative improvement in military management. During the war, control of active forces was carried out by the commander-in-chief and the "army field headquarters" that was with him. The charter of 1716 legislatively consolidated the organization of the field administration of the Russian army.
Under Peter I, the art of war was further developed. The main goal of hostilities was not the capture of the enemy's fortresses, as it was before, but the defeat of his troops in a field battle or battle. Accordingly, the system of training military formations for combat operations, their training and education also changed. To replace the previous reviews once a year, rare practice firing, comes constant training, which turned the recruit into a skillful soldier and was focused on combining single and group training with bringing to automatism various types of rebuilding of the company, battalion, regiment, which ensured the mobility and efficiency of their maneuvering on the battlefield. At the same time, the most serious attention was paid to coordinated and accurate firing with rifles, its skillful combination with bayonet strikes, precise control of the battle by officers, which was not only based on the requirement of unquestioning diligence, but also assumed the necessary independence of subordinates.
Transformations in the training and education system began with the development of new military regulations and instructions, the development of which proceeded on the basis of combat practice in the conditions of the Northern War.The results of the reform: a Russian regular army and navy were created, manned on the basis of recruitment (compulsory) recruitment, with a life-long military service; the army and navy began to be supported by the state treasury; the previously existing army of the "new order" was disbanded; introduced a new unified centralized system of military command, the same type of organization and weapons in the infantry, cavalry and artillery, a unified system of military training and education, regulated by regulations; military schools have been opened for the training of officers; a military-judicial reform was carried out. As a result of the military reforms of Peter I, a combat-ready national army was created in Russia, the largest of the armies of European states.
After the death of Peter I in 1725, the young empire entered a difficult period of its development. Things in the military and naval departments began to decline. However, the progressive direction in the improvement of the armed forces, the development of the art of war, which received a brilliant start in the wars of Peter the Great, was preserved. During this period, Russia took part in the war for the Polish inheritance of 1733-1735, and also waged a war with Turkey in 1736-1739, which was preceded by the Crimean campaign of 1735. The Russian-Turkish war of 1736-1739. was led by Russia in order to seize the Black Sea region, to provide access to the Azov and Black Seas. The main goal of the war - access to the Black Sea - was not achieved. In July 1741, Sweden, dissatisfied with the conditions of the Nystadt Peace, at the instigation of France, decided to take revenge for the defeat in the Northern War and declared war on Russia, which took place with a significant superiority of Russian troops and ended on August 7, 1743, the Abo Peace Treaty, according to which Sweden not only recognized the terms of the Nystadt Peace of 1721, but also ceded part of Eastern Finland to Russia.
2nd half of the 18th century was more saturated with dynamic military operations. Russia pursued an active foreign policy. And its participation in solving international issues was often decisive. The most significant event during this period was the Seven Years War (1756-1763), in which two coalitions of European states participated. One included Prussia and Great Britain, the other - France, Austria, Sweden, Saxony. Russia also took the second side. In September 1760, the Russian army entered Berlin. Prussia found itself on the brink of disaster. Frederick II was ready to make peace on any terms. But in December 1761, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna died. Peter III (an admirer of Frederick II), who ascended the Russian throne, on April 24, 1762, concluded a peace treaty with Prussia, according to which the latter returned the entire territory conquered by the Russian army. The Seven Years' War was ingloriously over. However, it became a good school of combat experience and had a great influence on the development of military art and the formation of the leadership qualities of Russian generals. Russian troops began to use new tactics of columns and loose formation, maneuver by separate units of the battle formation, the use of artillery fire over the heads of their troops, light infantry, adapted for action in loose formation (rangers). The Russian army showed its undoubted superiority over the hired Prussian army and emerged from the war stronger and stronger than it was before. The Russian soldier demonstrated his excellent fighting qualities: courage, bravery, fortitude and sharpness. At the same time, the experience of this war has clearly shown that the military system that existed in Russia suffers from many shortcomings. In order to eliminate them, by decree of the new empress, Catherine II (ruled from 1761 to 1796) in July 1762, a special Military Commission was created under the chairmanship of Field Marshal P.S. Saltykov. The results of the Commission's work had a positive impact on the further development of the country's armed forces. After the Seven Years War, the main focus of the Russian government was on the southern strategic direction. Russia's national interests demanded access to the Black Sea, free navigation along it and the Black Sea straits. Turkey hindered this in every possible way. At the end of 1768, she declared war on Russia. In the Chesme naval battle in June 1770, the Russian squadron defeated the enemy, who outnumbered it 2 times in number of ships. The Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy peace treaty signed on July 10, 1774 was concluded in the conditions of Russia's military superiority over
Turkey. Russian-Turkish relations worsened even more after the final annexation of the Crimea to Russia at the end of 1783, and a little over three years later, in August 1787, Turkey again declared war on Russia. Under the leadership of General-in-Chief A.V. Suvorov, the Turks were defeated at Foksani and on the Rymnik River. Ishmael was taken by storm. In the Russian Federation, this victory is immortalized as the day of Russia's military glory - the Day of the capture of the Turkish fortress Izmail by Russian troops under the command of A.V. Suvorov (1790). The victories of the Russian troops on land were supplemented by the victories of the Black Sea Fleet, headed by the outstanding Russian naval commander Rear Admiral F.F. Ushakov. On August 29, 1790, a naval battle took place near Tendra Island between the Russian Black Sea Fleet (37 ships, frigates and other ships) under the command of Ushakov and the Turkish fleet (45 ships, frigates and other ships). As a result of this battle, the dominant position of the Russian fleet in the northeastern part of the Black Sea was ensured. In the Russian Federation, the date of this brilliant victory is immortalized as the day of Russia's military glory - the Victory Day of the Russian squadron under the command of F.F. Ushakov over the Turkish squadron at Cape Tendra (1790).During the reign of Paul I (1796-1801) Russia, as part of the coalition, fought against France. The first step of the anti-French coalition was the unification of the fleets of Russia and Turkey in order, together with the British fleet, to oppose the French army. In early April 1799 Suvorov arrived in Verona, where he took command of the allied army, which began offensive military operations against the French army in Northern Italy. In April, Suvorov's victory on the Adda River opened the way for him to Milan and Turin and forced the French to withdraw their troops. On June 6-8, a counter battle took place on the Trebbia River. The defeat of the French forces ended in an organized pursuit. In August, the battle of Novi took place, which Suvorov called "the most stubborn and bloody". The Russian-Austrian troops achieved complete victory over the French. The brilliant victories won under the leadership of Suvorov in Italy caused serious concern among the members of the anti-French coalition. Great Britain did not want to see Russian troops on the Mediterranean coast. Austria was interested in the early withdrawal of Russian troops in order to single-handedly rule on Italian soil. The result of all this was the decision to move Russian troops from Italy to Switzerland - ostensibly to join the Austrian army, which put Suvorov's army in an extremely difficult situation. The Swiss campaign is the final stage of military activity and the highest achievement of the military leadership of A.V. Suvorov. The famous crossing of the Saint Gotthard Pass, the capture of the Devil's Bridge, the battles at Schwyz and other hostilities, including the exit from the encirclement, made a significant contribution to the tactics of mountain warfare. One of the most important features of the activities of the Russian commander during this period was the desire to constantly maintain the morale of the troops. He infinitely believed in the moral strength of the Russian soldier. After a two-week march with difficulties and hardships, overcoming abysses and mountain paths, resistance of enemy troops, Suvorov led his army to Austria. For his feat, he was awarded the title of Generalissimo and received the title of Prince of Italy.
The exploits of our soldiers and sailors immortalized the name of the Russian soldier in Europe. The Italian and Swiss campaigns of Field Marshal Suvorov and the Mediterranean expedition of Admiral Ushakov became some of the most brilliant pages of Russian military history.Wars of Russia in the XIX century. The main military and political events at the beginning of the nineteenth century. took place over vast areas of Europe, and Napoleonic France and the Russian Empire became their main participants. The situation in Europe was extremely tense. France, under the leadership of the talented military and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte, strove for world domination. Attempts by European countries to resist it ended in vain. The Russian Empire entered the 19th century. in the prime of glory and power. The Russian government, accustomed from Catherine's times to actively intervene in European affairs, could not indifferently look at the aggressive actions of Napoleon, who was redrawing the map of Europe. All this inevitably led to the participation of Russia in the European wars, which were fought to oppose the hegemony of France. Russia was part of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th anti-French coalitions. Taking part in the Russian-Austro-French war of 1805 and the Russian-Prussian-French war of 1806-1807, Russia did not achieve success. The campaign ended with the defeat of the Russian-Austrian army in the battle of Austerlitz on November 20, 1805. In 1806, Napoleon defeated the Prussian-Saxon army at Jena and Auerstedt and occupied Berlin. Alexander I, having failed in providing military assistance to Austria and Prussia, was forced on June 25, 1807 in Tilsit (on the river Neman) to sign a Russian-French treaty of peace, friendship and alliance. Russia recognized all the conquests of Napoleon and his imperial title, entered into an alliance with France, pledged to break off diplomatic relations with Great Britain and join the continental blockade.
By the time of the signing of peace with Napoleon, Russia was waging wars with Iran and Turkey to defend its possessions in the Transcaucasus.
In 1801, Eastern Georgia (the Kartli-Kakhetian kingdom) voluntarily joined Russia, and the Mingrelian principality (1803), the Imeretian kingdom and the Gurian principality (1804) passed under its patronage. In June 1804, Iranian troops invaded Transcaucasia, but were stopped, and then on June 19-20, 1804 were defeated near Echmiadzin. In 1805, the Karabakh, Shirvan and Sheki khanates voluntarily passed into Russian citizenship. The following year, the Derbent and Baku khanates were occupied. According to the Gulistan Peace Treaty, signed on October 12, 1813, Dagestan, Northern Azerbaijan and Georgia were annexed to Russia. Turkey also dreamed of revenge for previous defeats. In December 1806, the Turkish sultan, pushed by Napoleon, declared war on Russia in the hope of regaining Crimea and Georgia. Russian troops occupied Moldavia and Wallachia, in 1807 they repulsed the Turkish offensive on the Danube and the Caucasus. Russian squadron of Vice Admiral D.N. Senyavina, who came from the Baltic Sea, defeated the Turkish fleet in the Dardanelles and Athos battles. Russia provided military assistance to the Serbs who rebelled against Turkish rule. In the spring of 1809 hostilities resumed. In the Caucasus, Russian troops took Poti (1809), Anapa and Sukhum-Kale (1810), the Akhalkalaki fortress (1811), at the Danube theater they occupied Dobrudzha (1809), a number of fortresses in Eastern Bulgaria (1810). The point was set by the new commander of the Danube Army, General of Infantry M.I. Kutuzov's victories in the Battle of Ruschuk on June 22 and at Slobodzeya on November 23, 1811. The Bucharest Peace Treaty of 1812 secured the annexation of Bessarabia and Western Georgia to Russia. It was also restless on the north-western borders of Russia. Alexander I strove to establish complete control over the northern part of the Baltic Sea and ensure the security of the Russian capital. On February 9, 1808, the Russian army under the command of Infantry General F.F. Buxgewden crossed the Finnish border, by the end of the year Finland was conquered. In March 1809, Russian troops, having crossed the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice, transferred military operations to the territory of Sweden. Under the influence of a series of defeats, a coup d'etat took place in Stockholm. Having exhausted its forces, Sweden under the Friedrichsgam Peace Treaty on September 5, 1809 ceded Finland and the Aland Islands to Russia. Russia is firmly entrenched in the Baltic Sea. Thus, having failed to stop Napoleon in the fields of Europe, Russia nevertheless strengthened its northern and southern borders and deprived France of potential allies in the coming war in the person of Sweden and Turkey.
