Military reform was carried out. Introduction of universal conscription in Russia: date, year, initiator

A set of measures to transform the Russian army, carried out in the 60-70s. 19th century Minister Milyutin.

Prerequisites for military reform

The need to reform the Russian army has been brewing for a long time, but it became obvious after Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War. The Russian army not only lost the war, but also showed its complete incompetence and weakness, all its shortcomings were exposed - poor equipment, poor training of soldiers and lack of human resources. The loss greatly affected the prestige of the government, and Alexander II decided that it was necessary to urgently change state policy and carry out a complete reform of the army.

Changes in the army began in the 50s, immediately after the war, but the most noticeable reforms were carried out in the 60s by an outstanding military figure, then Minister of War V.A. Milyutin, who clearly saw all the shortcomings of the system and knew how to get rid of them.

The main problem of the army was that it required too much money for its maintenance, but did not pay for itself in the war. Milyutin's goal was to create an army that would be very small in peacetime (and would not require much money to maintain), but could be quickly mobilized in case of war.

The main event of the entire military reform is the Manifesto on universal conscription. This is what made it possible to create a new type of army, which would not suffer from a lack of soldiers, but would not require huge amounts of money for maintenance. The recruitment system was abolished, and now every Russian citizen over the age of 20 with no criminal record was required to serve in the army.

The term of service in most troops was six years. It was impossible to buy off military service or avoid it in any other way; in the event of war, the entire population who had undergone military training was mobilized.

However, before introducing universal conscription, it was necessary to significantly change the system of military administration so that citizens of all categories could serve in it. In 1864, Russia was divided into several military districts, which greatly simplified the management of a huge power and its army. Local ministers were in charge, reporting to the War Ministry in St. Petersburg.

The division into districts made it possible to transfer affairs that did not concern the entire state from the Minister of War and transfer them to the jurisdiction of the districts. Now management was more systematized and efficient, since each military official had a certain range of responsibilities in his territory.

After the abolition of the old control system, the army was completely re-equipped. The soldiers received new modern weapons that could compete with the weapons of Western powers. Military factories were reconstructed and could now produce modern weapons and equipment themselves.

The new army also received new principles for training soldiers. Corporal punishment was abolished, and soldiers became more trained and educated. Military educational institutions began to open throughout the country.

Only new laws could consolidate the transformations, and they were developed. In addition, a military court and a military prosecutor's office appeared - this made it possible to improve discipline in the army and introduce officers' responsibility for their actions.

And finally, thanks to universal conscription, the army became more attractive to peasants, who could count on a good military career.

Results and significance of military reform

As a result of the reforms, a completely new army appeared, as well as a system of military command and control. The soldiers became more educated, their numbers increased significantly, and the army became well armed and trained. Thanks to the mobility of the new system, the state could spend significantly less money on maintaining the military, but still count on better results.

The country was ready for a possible war.

Zemstvo and city reforms

An integral part of the ongoing transformations were reforms of local self-government, during which the state tried to involve the emerging entrepreneurial strata of the nobility, peasantry, and local residents in local economic management and development of the local economy.

The zemstvo and city reforms partially revived Catherine's dilapidated self-government and transformed it, expanding the range of its economic powers. Zemstvo reform (“Regulations on provincial and district zemstvo institutions” of January 1, 1864 d) created a system of representative bodies in the provinces and districts - district and provincial zemstvo assemblies. Their members were called "vowels" and were elected for 3 years in a two-stage election in which the entire local population, divided into three electoral curias, participated: landowners(these included land owners from 200–800 dessiatines in different counties), city ​​owners(owners of enterprises or houses valued at 500–3 thousand rubles in different cities), representatives of peasant societies, previously put forward at volost gatherings.

These curiae elected electors, and the electors at their meetings elected deputies (vocals) to the district assemblies (from 10 to 96). At district meetings, members of the provincial assembly were elected (from 15 to 100). Men at least 25 years of age who had not been disgraced in court could become deputies to zemstvo assemblies.

Zemstvo assemblies, both in the district and in the province, met once a year (sort of sessions), sat for several days, solving pressing problems. In between they acted councils(chairman and 2–6 members), elected from among the members. Members of the councils worked constantly and received salaries from zemstvo taxes, the amount of which was determined by the meeting. The chairman of the zemstvo assembly was the leader of the nobility.

Zemstvo bodies were created “to assist the government in conducting local economic affairs.” Zemstvos were involved in the economy, education, medical care, road construction, agronomic and zootechnical assistance, public charity, etc. The competence of zemstvo bodies also included the distribution of state and approval of local taxes. Schools and hospitals, almshouses and shelters, homes for the elderly and orphans were built using zemstvo taxes established for all categories of the population. Zemstvo bodies worked under direct control and in close contact with government agencies. District police officers helped them make collections and implement decisions; their most important decisions required the sanction of the governor, who also approved the elections of district zemstvo councils. The chairmen of provincial governments were approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Without being involved in politics, zemstvos made a huge contribution to the development of the domestic economy and culture. They paved the way for the introduction of universal primary education in the country. Work in zemstvo bodies contributed to the formation of civic consciousness and the Russian intelligentsia, coming from different strata of the population. In 1865–1867, for example, nobles made up 46% of the vowels, over 34% were peasants, 10.2 % merchants, the remaining part was divided among themselves by the clergy and representatives of other classes.

Zemstvo reform was carried out in 34 of the 59 Russian provinces. Its provisions were not valid in Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states, where they had their own special national administration. They did not extend to Siberia, some vast northern and southern provinces (Arkhangelsk and Astrakhan), in which there was no nobility and landownership.

The urban reform was carried out according to the zemstvo principle (“City Regulations” were approved in 1870). In cities, classless city councils were created - administrative bodies - and city councils were created as their permanent executive body. The functions and control of these bodies were similar to those of the zemstvo bodies. They were built on a purely bourgeois, census basis, without taking into account class affiliation. All city tax payers, starting from the age of 25, divided into 3 categories, participated in the elections. Each category consisted of owners who paid 1/3 of the total amount of taxes: large, medium, small. Each rank gave 1/3 of the members of the Duma. Naturally, the representation of the first two categories of owners (real estate owners) was large. The property qualification limited the number of voters participating in the elections.

City councils and councils operated for 4 years. The Duma consisted of from 30 to 72 deputies (in Moscow - 180, in St. Petersburg - 250). mayor, who headed the council, and its members were elected by the Duma and received a salary. The competence of the city administration included landscaping, care for the development of trade, the establishment of hospitals, schools, fire prevention measures and city taxation. By the end of the century, city government had been introduced in 621 out of 707 cities.

The suffrage introduced in Russia by the reforms was not yet direct, universal and equal. It was based on the division of voters by gender, property (for owners) and age qualifications, multi-degree (for peasants). And yet it has become more democratic than before. Peasants had the right to vote, in whom the tsarist government saw the support of its power. Women, without receiving active rights, had passive suffrage. Their property qualifications could be used by husbands and sons by proxy.

Military reform

Internal (the backwardness of the Russian army from the armies of Western countries, revealed in the Crimean War) and external (the emergence of a new, militarized Bismarckian Germany in the neighborhood of Russia) circumstances forced the government of Alexander II to carry out military reform. It was carried out for 12 years under the leadership of Minister of War D.A. Milyutin and included a number of important measures, including reorganization of the military department(creation of military districts and centralization of military command), strengthening the combat capability of troops(rearmament of the army, including the replacement of flintlock rifles with military weapons), improving the military personnel training system, introducing a new military manual, and carrying out military-judicial reform. During these transformations, military gymnasiums and cadet schools were created with a two-year training period, which accepted people of all classes. The new regulations focused on the combat and physical training of soldiers. The length of active military service was shortened.

But The central element of the military reform was the change in the feudal-class structure of the army and the principles of recruiting the armed forces. The Charter “On Military Service” of January 1, 1874 in Russia introduced instead of recruitment all-class conscription. The law extended military service to males of all classes who have reached the age of 21. The new order of classless conscription into the army allowed Russia, while reducing the period of active military service, to create large trained reserves. This greatly facilitated the maintenance of the army and made it possible in the event of war to mobilize a significant trained military force.

The introduction of universal conscription did not mean, however, that all military personnel who had reached the age of 21 were subject to conscription into the army. Only a portion of those liable for military service were called up for active service. There were numerous privileges, related to family status, exempt from service (only sons, breadwinners of elderly parents, etc. were not drafted) The fate of the rest was determined by drawing lots. Certain peoples of the Far North (for physiological reasons), as well as the peoples of Central Asia, Kazakhstan and part of the Caucasus (due to lifestyle and other reasons, including reluctance to hand over weapons to the latter) were also exempt from military service. Servants of religion were exempt from military service, although a significant part of them were in the army, some were sectarians who, according to the laws of their faith, could not bear arms. So, for the Mennonites, part of the German colonists, it was introduced alternative service in forestry teams (in peacetime) and sanitary units (in wartime).

The service life was determined to be 6 years, followed by enlistment in the reserve for 9 years in the ground forces and 7 and 3 years in the navy. The duration of service, however, is directly depended on the level of education. Those who graduated from a higher educational institution had to serve only 6 months, a gymnasium - 1.5 years, a city school - 3 years, and an elementary school - 4 years. This was a serious incentive for young people to get an education. Its implementation was ensured by the reformed public education system. In Russia, in addition to state and parish schools, zemstvo and Sunday schools began to operate, the purpose of which was recognized as “the dissemination of initial useful knowledge.” The gymnasium and pro-gymnasium accepted children of all classes and religions.

Thus, the Russian state system acquired a new quality, the absolute monarchy was transformed into neo-absolutism, with its inherent features of the bourgeois system. Particularly noticeable changes have occurred in the Russian judicial system and legal proceedings. They were a consequence of the judicial reform of 1864, which introduced a bourgeois court in Russia with all its attributes.

On January 1 (13), 1874, the “Manifesto on the introduction of universal military service” was published, according to which military service was imposed on all classes of the Russian Empire. On the same day, the “Charter on Military Service” was approved, in which the defense of the throne and the Fatherland was declared the sacred duty of all Russian subjects. According to the Charter, the entire male population of the country “without distinction of condition” was subject to military service. Thus, the foundations of a modern type of army were laid, capable of performing not only military tasks, but also peacekeeping functions (an example of this is the victorious Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878).

Starting from Peter I, all classes in Russia were involved in military service. The nobles themselves had to undergo military service, and the tax-paying classes had to provide the army with recruits. When Catherine II freed the “noble nobility” from compulsory service, conscription turned out to be the lot of the poorest strata of society. The fact is that before the adoption of the Charter on Military Service, conscription was not in the nature of a personal obligation to perform military service. In a number of cases, it was possible to replace the supply of a recruit in kind, a monetary contribution, or the hiring of a hunter - a person who agreed to go to service instead of a called-up recruit.
Reforms in the military field were stimulated by the disappointing results of the Crimean War of 1853-1856. Already at the end of the 1850s, the institution of military cantonists was abolished and the service life of lower ranks was reduced to 10 years. A new round of reforms was associated with the appointment in 1861 of Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin to the post of Minister of War. Military reforms unfolded in several directions at once, including: the introduction of new military regulations, the reduction of army personnel, the preparation of trained reserves and officers, the rearmament of the army and the reorganization of the quartermaster service. From 1864 to 1867, the number of armed forces was reduced from 1132 thousand to 742 thousand people, without reducing the real military potential.
The cornerstone of the military reform was the principle of decentralization of military command and control through the creation of military districts, the commanders of which were supposed to combine in their hands the highest command of the troops and control over the military administration. On August 6, 1864, the “Regulations on Military District Directorates” were adopted, according to which first 9 military districts were created, and on August 6, 1865 - 4 more military districts. At the same time, the War Ministry was reorganized. In 1865, the General Staff was established - the highest body of operational-strategic and combat command and control of troops, subordinate to the Minister of War. In turn, the General Staff, created back in 1827, became a structural subdivision of the General Staff. The main goal of these reforms was to reduce the army in peacetime and at the same time ensure the possibility of its deployment during war.
Since 1865, a military-judicial reform began, which was based on the introduction of the principles of openness, competition between the parties and the abandonment of corporal punishment. Three courts were established: regimental, military district and main military court. In the 1860s, on the initiative of the military department, the construction of strategic railways began, and in 1870 special railway troops were formed. The reorganization of the army was accompanied by a radical restructuring of old weapons factories and the construction of new ones, thanks to which the rearmament of the army with rifled weapons was completed in the 1870s.
The terms of the Paris Peace Treaty significantly limited the development of the navy. Prior to 1864, the primary focus on coastal defense was evident. This is confirmed by the construction at Russian shipyards, primarily of gunboats intended for coastal defense. At the same time, the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade, created in 1856 and under the Highest patronage, was entrusted with the task of creating schools for training maritime personnel. In practice, these measures represented the implementation of a plan to create a naval reserve, capable of partially compensating for the lack of one. In the second half of the 1860s. The Russian government begins to build tower frigates designed for ocean cruising operations.
The reform of military educational institutions provided for the creation of military and cadet schools, which, from 1876, began to accept people of all classes. Of the 66 cadet corps, only two were preserved - Page and Finland, and the rest were reorganized into military gymnasiums or military schools. In 1877, the Military Law Academy was created and the Academy of the General Staff, founded by Nicholas I, was expanded.
Also, the issues of the prestige of military service and the corporatism of the military class were put at the forefront of the military reform. These goals were served by the creation of military libraries and military clubs, first for officers, and in 1869 the first soldiers' meeting was created, with a refreshment room and a library. An integral part of the reform was the improvement of the financial situation of officers: from 1859 to 1872, payments and salaries were increased by at least 1/3 (and for many categories by 1.5 - 2 times). Officers' table money ranged from 400 to 2 thousand rubles. per year, while lunch at the officers' club cost only 35 kopecks. Since 1859, cash offices began to be created for officers and other ranks to pay pensions, etc. Moreover, borrowed loans were given to all ranks at a uniform 6% per annum.
However, all these innovations could not eliminate the class structure of the army, based on a system of recruitment, primarily among peasants and the monopoly of nobles on occupying officer positions. Therefore, in 1870, a special commission was formed to develop the issue of military service. Four years later, the Commission submitted for consideration to the Emperor the Charter of universal all-class military service, which was highly approved in January 1874. The Rescript of Alexander II dated January 11 (23) of the same year instructed the minister to carry out the law “in the same spirit in which it compiled."
According to the Charter, people were called up for military service by lot, which was done once in a lifetime, upon reaching 20 years of age. Those who, according to the number of the drawn lot, were not subject to enlistment in the standing troops, were enlisted in the militia. The charter determined the total period of military service in the ground forces to be 15 years, in the navy - 10 years, of which active military service was 6 years on land and 7 years in the navy. The rest of the time was spent in reserve service (9 years in the ground forces and 3 in the navy). That is, upon entering the reserve, a soldier could from time to time be called up for training camps, which did not interfere with his private studies or peasant labor.
The charter also provided for educational benefits and deferments for marital status. Thus, the only sons of their parents and the only breadwinners in the family with young brothers and sisters were subject to exemption from service. Priests of all Christian denominations, some members of the Muslim clergy, full-time university teachers and holders of academic degrees were exempt from military service due to their social status. On the basis of nationality, non-Russian native residents of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, some districts of Siberia, Astrakhan, Turgai, Ural, Akmola, Semipalatinsk, Semirechensk and Trans-Caspian regions, and Arkhangelsk province were subject to release. The population of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia of non-Christian religions was attracted to the service under special conditions: for them, serving military service was replaced by paying a special fee. Shortened terms of service were established for graduates of higher, secondary and lower educational institutions. According to the charter of 1874, for the first, the period was determined at six months, for the second, one and a half years, and for the third, three years. Subsequently, these periods were increased to two, three and four years respectively. The practice of deferments for students of higher and secondary educational institutions was also envisaged.
To carry out conscription, provincial conscription presences were established in each province, which were under the jurisdiction of the Directorate for Conscription Affairs of the General Staff of the Ministry of War. The charter on military service, with amendments and additions, was in force until January 1918.

Characteristic

Military reforms began after the Crimean War in the late 1850s and were carried out in several stages. Since 1862, military districts were introduced. The central element of the reform was the Manifesto on universal conscription and the Charter on conscription on January 1, 1874, which marked the transition from the principle of conscription in the army to all-class conscription.

The purpose of military reforms was to reduce the army in peacetime and at the same time ensure the possibility of its deployment during war.

As a result of military reforms, the following happened:

• reduction in army size by 40%;
• the creation of a network of military and cadet schools, which accepted representatives of all classes;
• improvement of the military command system, introduction of military districts (1864), creation of the General Staff;
• the creation of public and adversarial military courts and a military prosecutor's office;
• abolition of corporal punishment (with the exception of canings for those specially “fined”) in the army;
• rearmament of the army and navy (adoption of rifled steel guns, new rifles, etc.), reconstruction of state-owned military factories;
• the introduction of universal conscription in 1874 instead of conscription and a reduction in terms of service. According to the new law, all young people who have reached the age of 21 are conscripted, but the government determines the required number of recruits every year, and by lot takes only this number from the conscripts, although usually no more than 20-25% of conscripts were called up for service. The only son of his parents, the only breadwinner in the family, and also if the conscript's older brother is serving or has served in service were not subject to conscription. Those recruited for service are listed in it: in the ground forces for 15 years - 6 years in the ranks and 9 years in the reserve, in the navy - 7 years of active service and 3 years in the reserve. For those who have completed primary education, the period of active service is reduced to 4 years, for those who have graduated from a city school - to 3 years, a gymnasium - to one and a half years, and for those who have had a higher education - to six months.
• development and introduction of new military regulations to the troops.

Charter on military service

From the charter:

1. Defense of the throne and fatherland is the sacred duty of every Russian subject. The male population, regardless of condition, is subject to military service.
2. Cash ransom from military service and replacement by a hunter is not allowed. ...
3. …
10. Entry into conscription service is decided by drawing lots, which are drawn once for life. Persons who, according to the number of the lot they drew, are not eligible for enlistment in the standing troops, are enlisted in the militia.
11. Every year, only the age of the population is called up for drawing lots, namely young people who have turned 21 years old since October 1 of the year when the selection is made.
12. …
17. The total period of service in the ground forces for those entering by lot is determined at 15 years, of which 6 years of active service and 9 years in reserve...
18. The total service life in the navy is determined to be 10 years, of which 7 years of active service and 3 years in reserve.
19. …
36. The state militia is made up of all the male population not enrolled in the standing troops, but capable of bearing arms, from conscripts to 43 years of age inclusive. Persons under this age and persons discharged from the army and navy reserves are not exempt from conscription into the militia.

The renewal of the army began with changes in military uniforms. In the first year of the reign of Alexander II alone, 62 orders were issued concerning changes in uniforms. Such activity caused confusion in society:

The only transformations that the new sovereign immediately set about consisted of changing uniforms. Everyone who valued the fate of the fatherland looked at this with sorrow. We asked ourselves in amazement: is there really nothing more important than uniforms in the difficult circumstances in which we find ourselves? Is this really all that matured in the thoughts of the new king during his long tenure as heir? They recalled poems written, it seems, at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I, and applying them to the present, they repeated:

“And a renewed Russia
I put on red pants."

The uninitiated did not suspect that samples of new uniforms were ready already in the last days of Nikolai Pavlovich’s reign, and the young sovereign, issuing orders to change uniforms, carried out only what he considered the last will of his father.

- B.N. Chicherin “Literary movement at the beginning of a new reign”

Notes

Literature

• Dmitriev S. S. Reader on the history of the USSR. Volume III.
• *Military clothing of the Russian army. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1994. - 382 p. - ISBN 5-203-01560-0

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Leonid

Timonin

Life story

General Serzhanov

Tolyatti

2011 - 2015

Instead of a preface

Different people, different destinies. In the stormy stream of the city, everyone is on their own until they meet a person akin to their destiny, thoughts, actions and deeds. In our case, we are talking about people whose lives were in one way or another connected with the past 20th century, to which humanity gave a strict definition - atomic. These are veterans of special risk units - soldiers and officers who took part in military atomic exercises, in testing new types of nuclear and thermonuclear charges, in the operation of underwater nuclear missile carriers. These include scientists, engineers, technicians, laboratory assistants, workers of secret research centers and production facilities for the production of components for filling nuclear and thermonuclear charges...

During meetings with Togliatti residents, sometimes random, I heard more than once that in their lives they too had to come into contact with the atomic secrets of the past century. Most of them do not have any official supporting document, but this does not make their memories lose their value as evidence of large-scale historical events that descendants should know about. Major General Alexander Ilyich Serzhanov is one of those people whose part of his life was connected with the creation of the Motherland’s atomic shield. The Chernobyl disaster did not escape him either. And all life is military labor for the benefit of the Motherland, including during the harsh times of the Great Patriotic War.

Sergeant's Farm...

They say you can’t run away from your own name - to ak the ship will be named, So he will float! The life story of Major General Serzhanov is a clear confirmation of this. The well-known and often quoted aphorism of Napoleon Bonaparte: “In the knapsack of every soldier lies a marshal’s baton,” akin to the life path of a person with a telling military surname. This family name has seven generations. For years, Alexander Ilyich corresponded with the archives, picking up all the documents that were available... And all this in order to establish all the facts of his genealogy. Later he will say about these searches:

– The work is monotonous, but at the same time interesting. Maybe someone will find it useful. According to the pedigree, my great-grandfather, from whom the surname came, was called up as a recruit and ended up in the navy. Emperor Alexander II reduced his service life from twenty-five years to twenty*, and therefore my ancestor was dismissed a year earlier. And we can say that he was lucky - he spent only 24 years in the navy and army.

* In the Russian army and navy (Armed Forces) from 1705 to 1874, a recruit is a person enrolled in the army under conscription, to which all tax-paying classes (peasants, townspeople, etc.) were subject and for whom it was communal and lifelong and they supplied a certain number of recruits (soldiers) from their communities. The recruitment of serfs into the army freed them from serfdom. The nobility was exempted from conscription duties. Later, this exemption was extended to merchants, families of clergy, honorary citizens, residents of Bessarabia and some remote areas of Siberia. Since 1793, the indefinite period of service was limited to 25 years, from 1834 - to 20 years, followed by a stay on the so-called indefinite leave for 5 years. In 1855 - 1872, 12, 10 and 7-year terms of service and, accordingly, stay on leave 3 were successively established; 5 and 8 years old.

Recruitment sets were not produced regularly, but as needed and in varying quantities. Only in 1831 were annual recruitments introduced, which were divided into regular: 5-7 people per 1,000 souls, reinforced - from 7 to 10 and emergency - over 10 people. In 1874, after the start of the military reform of Alexander II, conscription was replaced by universal military service, and the word “recruit” was replaced by the word “recruit”. In the USSR and modern Russia, the term “conscript” is applied to persons subject to service and called up for service.

The military reform developed by Minister of War D. A. Milyutin and carried out on January 1, 1874 by Alexander II was approved by the manifesto on universal conscription and the Charter on conscription. It marked the transition from the principle of conscription in the army to all-class military service. It is worth noting that reforms in the army began to be implemented from the late 1850s, that is, immediately after the Crimean War, and were carried out in several stages. Their main goal was to reduce the size of the army in peacetime while allowing it to be deployed during war. The main content of the military reform of Alexander II was as follows:

1. Reducing the size of the army by 40%;

2. Creation of a network of military and cadet schools, where representatives of all classes were accepted;

3. Improvement of the military administration system, the introduction of military districts (1864), the creation of the General Staff;

4. Creation of public and adversarial military courts, military prosecutor's office;

5. Abolition of corporal punishment (with the exception of canings for those specially “fined”) in the army;

6. Re-equipment of the army and navy (adoption of rifled steel guns, new rifles, etc.), reconstruction of state-owned military factories;

The introduction of universal conscription in 1874 instead of conscription and a reduction in terms of service.

According to the new law, all young people who have reached the age of 21 are conscripted, but the government determines the required number of recruits every year, and by lot takes only this number from the conscripts, although usually no more than 20-25% of conscripts were called up for service. The only son of his parents, the only breadwinner in the family, and also if the conscript's older brother is serving or has served in service were not subject to conscription. Those recruited for service are listed in it: in the ground forces 15 years in service and 9 years in reserve, in the navy - 7 years of active service and 3 years in reserve. For those who have completed primary education, the period of active service is reduced to 4 years, for those who have graduated from a city school - to 3 years, a gymnasium - to one and a half years, and for those who have had a higher education - to six months.