The appearance of the guard. Russian guard

Any of the existing modern armies
has in its ranks a certain number of parts,
imbued with a special spirit of self-respect,
based on an outstanding historical past...
These parts ... should serve as a guarantee of the continuity of those traditions,
which form the foundation of every army...
These elite troops must...
serve as a practical school,
hotbed for personnel of other parts of the army.

A. Gerua. "Hordes", 1923

Tsar Peter Alekseevich, creator of the Russian guard.
Chromolithography on metal. 1909

Throughout the thousand year history Russian state our ancestors constantly had to repel numerous aggressions with weapons in their hands, to defend the independence and integrity of the state. That is why military service has always been the most honorable and respected in Russia. Guardsmen have always deservedly occupied a special place among the armed defenders of the Fatherland.


Company banner of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. 1700

In Russia, the guard (life guard) was created by Peter I from amusing troops. Until now, historians do not have unity on the date of the creation of the Russian Guard. So, in the diary of Peter I, when explaining the failure near Narva in 1700, it is indicated that “only two regiments of the guard were on two attacks near Azov,” but in the list of troops that marched near Azov in 1696, Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments were not named guards . The famous historian P.O. Bobrovsky took May 30 (June 10), 1700 - the birthday of its "founding sovereign" for the birthday of the guard. In one of the letters, dated June 11 (22) of the same year, Peter calls Prince Yu.Yu. Trubetskoy "guard captain". And, finally, in the "Journal of Peter the Great" under the date August 22 (September 2), 1700, for the first time, as is commonly believed, the regiments are officially called guards. This day - September 2 (August 22, old style) is set as a memorable day of the Russian Guard.

In the initial period of their formation, Tsar Peter I was personally involved in the recruitment of the guards regiments. “Every soldier who wanted to enter the guards regiment was enrolled only with the permission of the Sovereign himself, who put his own resolutions on their petitions.” This "choice" principle of recruiting guards units with lower ranks, and even more so with officers, was subsequently preserved, although the criterion of the level of education and military professionalism was largely supplanted by Peter's successors by criteria of political interest, personal devotion, wealth, generosity, etc.

In the Petrine era, the guardsmen solved a triune task. Firstly, they were the political support of the tsarist government in carrying out reforms that were not always popular with the people. Not without reason, after the adoption of the imperial title in 1721, the guard units began to be called the "Russian Imperial Guard". Secondly, guards regiments not only served as a military school that trained command personnel for the army, but was also a training ground where all sorts of innovations in reforming the army were tested. Finally, thirdly, the guard was also a combat unit, sometimes the last and decisive argument on the battlefield.

The Russian guard received its baptism of fire in the Northern War of 1700-1721. In the battle near Narva in November 1700, two guards regiments held back the attacks of the Swedes for three hours. Their steadfastness saved the Russian army from complete defeat. For this feat, the officers of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments were awarded a badge of distinction with the inscription: "1700 November 19." The guards also participated in other battles with the Swedes: they took Noteburg (1702), won a victory near Narva (1704), distinguished themselves in battles near Lesnaya and Poltava (1709), etc.

For a long time, the guardsmen did not have any advantages in ranks with the rest of the troops. However, after the approval at the beginning of 1722 of the table of ranks, the officers of the guards regiments received the seniority of two ranks against the army.

To train officers in the army cavalry regiments in 1721, the Kronshlot Dragoon Regiment was formed, which was ordered to consist of only noblemen and be called the Life Regiment (from 1730 - Horse Guards, from 1801 - Life Guards Horse Regiment). In September 1730, another guards regiment was formed, the Izmailovsky Life Guards.

In the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739. a special guard detachment consisting of 3 infantry battalions from the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Izmailovsky regiments, 2 horse guard squadrons and 6 guns participated in the assault on Ochakov, the capture of Khotyn and in the battle of Stavuchany in 1739.

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna had the rank of colonel of all guards regiments. The grenadier company of the Preobrazhensky stick, with the help of which she ascended the throne, as a reward for the services rendered, the empress separated from the regiment and named it a life company.

During the reign of Catherine II, the consolidated guard battalions took part in the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790. and in two Russo-Turkish wars.


Cavalry guards in the reign of Emperor Paul I.
From a watercolor by A. Baldinger.

During the reign of Paul I, the numerical strength of the guard was significantly increased. Regiments were formed: the Life Guards Hussar (1796), the Life Guards Cossack (1798) and Cavalry Guards (1799), as well as the Life Guards Artillery and Jaeger battalions.

Under Emperor Alexander I, the Life Guards Jaeger (1806), Finnish (1811) and Lithuanian (1811) regiments were formed.

In 1805, the Life Guards Horse Artillery was formed, in 1811 - the Life Guards Artillery Brigade, in 1812 - the Life Guards Sapper Battalion.

During the reign of Alexander I, the guards participated in all the wars waged by Russia in the European theater of operations. In numerous battles, the guards covered themselves with unfading glory, giving an example of true service to the Fatherland.


The cavalry guards at the battle of Austerlitz fight with
Napoleon's cavalry.

The feat of self-sacrifice of the cavalry guards in the battle of Austerlitz on November 20 (December 2), 1805, is inscribed in blood in the military history of the Fatherland, when they went to certain death, saving the bleeding Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments from the vastly superior forces of the French cavalry that fell upon them. In total, in that terrible cabin, the Cavalry Guards regiment lost 13 officers and 226 lower ranks. The cavalrymen of the Life Guards of the Cavalry and Hussar regiments fought the enemy no less bravely in this battle. The Guards Cossacks of Colonel P.A. Chernozubov, who attacked the French in the vanguard of the second column of allied troops.

Miracles of stamina and courage were demonstrated by the guards in subsequent battles with the French. At Pultusk, on December 14 (26), 1806, the life cuirassiers of His Majesty's regiment (ranked in 1813 to the Young Guard) participated in a bold raid of the Russian cavalry on the right flank of the enemy, which decided the outcome of the battle in our favor.

In the battle of Friedland on June 2 (14), 1807, the Hussar and Cossack Life Guards regiments distinguished themselves, fighting with dragoons from the division of General Pear, as well as the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, which scattered the Dutch cuirassiers with a bold attack. The Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment, later assigned to the “Young” Guard, was awarded a special award for exceptional valor and stamina in battle: “he was ordered to leave his hats with him in the form in which he left the battlefield” (i.e. shot and hacked). During the battle, the regiment went to bayonets eleven times. Regiment chief, Major General N.N. Mazovsky, wounded in the arm and leg, and unable to sit in the saddle, ordered two grenadiers to carry themselves in front of the regiment in the last attack.

In the Patriotic War of 1812 and in the foreign campaign of the Russian army in 1813-1814. the guards confirmed the glory of Russian weapons. Polotsk and Smolensk, Borodino and Krasny, Kulm and Leipzig, Katsbach and Craon, La Rothiere and Fer-Champenoise - this is not a complete list of battlefields where the Russian guards distinguished themselves. And as a result - a solemn march in the defeated French capital: the Prussian guards cavalry walked in front, followed by the Russian light guards cavalry division guarding the monarchs, then the allied guards infantry. The 1st Cuirassier Division completed the solemn procession. The Russian emperor in a cavalry uniform with St. Andrew's ribbon over his shoulder rode a gray horse surrounded by his guards.

For military feats - honorary awards. All military awards granted for the Patriotic War had one common inscription: "For distinction in the defeat and expulsion of the enemy from Russia in 1812." The regiments of the Petrovsky brigade (Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky) were awarded the St. George banners for courage and steadfastness in the battle of Kulm. For heroism in the same battle, the Izmailovsky and Jaeger Guards regiments were awarded St. George's trumpets. The Life Guards Lithuanian Regiment received the same award for Leipzig. For the rescue of Emperor Alexander from captivity during the Battle of Leipzig, the Silver Pipes were awarded to the Life Guards Cossack Regiment and His Majesty's Own Convoy. St. George's standards were awarded to the regiments of the Guards Cuirassier Brigade - Cavalry Guards and Horse Guards. The Life Guards Dragoon Regiment in 1813 was awarded the St. George standard, and for the battle at Fer-Champenoise in 1814 - St. George's pipes. Silver trumpets were awarded to the 1st and 2nd Guards Artillery Brigades, as well as all Guards Cavalry Batteries.

In 1813, in addition to the Old Guard, the Young Guard was established in Russia. This name was originally given to two grenadier and one cuirassier regiments for military distinctions in the Patriotic War of 1812. In 1829, the Finnish Rifle Battalion was added to the Young Guard. He, like the regiments of the Life Guards Grenadier and Pavlovsky, was granted in 1831 the rights of the Old Guard for differences in the war with Poland.


Staff officer and bombardier of the 6th battery of the 3rd Guards and
Grenadier Artillery Brigade.

In 1814, in commemoration of the merits of the quartermaster unit and in memory of its "extremely zealous and useful activity for the troops in the era of the Napoleonic wars", a special institution was created as part of the retinue of His Imperial Majesty for the quartermaster unit called the "Guards General Staff ” with the rights of the “Old” guard. It was made up of the most excellent staff and chief officers of the quartermaster unit (at first 24 officers of the Retinue), who were awarded a special distinction on their uniforms. These officers were not intended to serve exclusively in the guards, but were distributed on an equal basis with other ranks of the Retinue among all the troops and teams that performed topographic surveys. It was a personal honorific given to particularly distinguished officers of the Quartermaster Unit, wherever they served.

In 1830, the Life Guards Don Horse Artillery Company was formed. In 1833, the guard was divided into two corps - Guards Infantry (from infantry and foot artillery) and Guards Reserve Cavalry (from cavalry and horse artillery).

In 1856, rifle companies were formed in all guards infantry regiments, one per battalion, and at the same time the guards 1st and 2nd rifle battalions were formed again. In the same 1856. The Life Guards Infantry Battalion of the Imperial Family was added to the composition of the guard (as the Young Guard).

In subsequent years, the number of units that were part of the Young Guard continued to increase. In wartime, the guards took part in all the wars waged by Russia. With their stamina and courage, the guardsmen earned fame not only in their own country, but also the rave reviews of the allies,

AT Peaceful time the guard carried out internal service, participated in the protection of persons royal family, guards, parades, on campaigns inside Russia, in camps and carried out various assignments,

The officers of the guard consisted mainly of representatives of the higher nobility. The soldiers in the guard were selected from physically strong people, politically reliable.

The appearance of the guards units was distinguished by the youthfulness of the soldiers, their bearing, the ability of officers to behave with dignity, uniforms.


Case near the village of Telishe in 1877.
Artist V.V. Mazurovsky.

In the second half of the XIX century. The Russian Imperial Guard participated in almost all military enterprises of Tsarist Russia. Particularly distinguished parts of the guard during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. in the battles for Gorny Dubnyak and Palishch, Dalny Dubnyak and the Shindarin position, at Tashkisen and Philippopolis.

At the same time, along with participation in hostilities, the guard continued to be used as a school for training military personnel in army units. The detachment of trained soldiers and officers from the guard continued until the First World War.


Life Guards Engineer Battalion. 1853
Artist A. I. Gebens.

By the beginning of the 20th century, 23.6% of regimental commanders and 28.8% of division commanders were transferred to the army from the guard. From the Semenovsky regiment, which was considered exemplary, they made a practical school for future army officers. The Life Guards Sapper Battalion served as a school for non-commissioned officers for sapper units. In artillery, this was the Life Guards Artillery Battalion,

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by Russia's participation in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China. In 1900-1901. As part of the expeditionary corps in the Chinese campaign, the Life Guards Rifle Artillery Division, which participated in the operations of Russian troops in Manchuria and northern China, took part.

In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. the Guards Naval crew took part. Many guard officers participated in the war as volunteers, staffing units and formations of Russian troops in the Far Eastern theater of operations with command staff.

After the war with Japan, there was an urgent need for military reforms in Russia. They also touched the guards. First of all, this was due to an increase in the numerical strength of the guards units.

The deployment of the guard was carried out by forming new units or by converting army units into guard units for combat distinctions. If at the beginning of the 20th century the guard consisted of 12 infantry, 4 rifle, 13 cavalry regiments, three artillery brigades, a sapper battalion and a naval crew, then the guard met the First World War as part of 13 infantry, 4 rifle and 14 cavalry regiments. She also had four artillery brigades. Sapper battalion, Navy crew and other units. In the Navy, in addition to the Guards Naval crew, the cruiser Oleg, two destroyers and the imperial yacht were also assigned to the guards. In total, by 1914, there were about 40 units and over 90 thousand people in the guard. The guards included, in addition, the Page Corps and the permanent staff of the Nikolaev Cavalry School (Officer Cavalry School). In peacetime, the Guard was subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Guards and the St. Petersburg Military District.

The First World War was a serious test for the Russian guard. Guards units successfully operated in the Battle of Galicia, Warsaw-Ivangorad and Lodz operations. Part of the Guards (3rd Guards Infantry, 1st and 2nd Guards Cavalry Divisions) participated in the East Prussian operation of 1914. Unfortunately, the actions of the Guards units here were less successful than on the Southwestern Front, the Life Guards The Keksholm Regiment and the 3rd battery of the Life Guards of the 3rd Artillery Brigade shared the tragic fate of the two army corps of the 2nd Army in the area of ​​the Masurian Lakes.

In the summer of 1916, as part of a special army, the guard took part in the offensive of the Southwestern Front. In the battles on the Stohod River, she fought bloody battles with the enemy. Bloodless, having suffered heavy losses, the guards were withdrawn to the Headquarters reserve, where they remained until the end of the war.

In connection with the most serious losses in the personnel, representatives of the peasantry and the working class began to be called upon to replenish the guard. This seriously influenced the political mood among the guards. As a result, after the victory February Revolution 1917 and the abdication of the king from the throne, the guards did not even make an attempt to intervene in the course of events, the Kornilov rebellion also left the guards indifferent. In February 1917, the soldiers of almost all the spare infantry units of the Petrograd garrison guard went over to the side of the rebels, which greatly contributed to the victory of the revolution.

The interim government retained the guard, abolishing the prefix "lab" and the name "Imperial". During the preparations for the October uprising, at a garrison meeting in Smolny on October 18 (31), representatives of almost all regimental committees of the guards reserve regiments (with the exception of Izmailovsky and Semenovsky) spoke in favor of armed action. They also took an active part in the course of the uprising itself. Thus, the Pavlovtsy and the Guards grenadiers participated in the storming of the Winter Palace, the reserve soldiers of the Finland Regiment established Soviet power on Vasilyevsky Island, etc.

The formal disappearance of the Guards was associated with the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty on March 3, 1918 by the Soviet government. However, already from the end of January, the demobilization of parts of the Petrograd garrison took place. At that time, it was recognized as necessary to get rid of the former military formations, including the guards, as soon as possible. The liquidation of the guards regiments was completed by April 1, 1918.

The Soviet Guard was born in the battles near Yelnya during the Battle of Smolensk, in the most difficult period of the Great Patriotic War. By decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme Command for mass heroism, courage of personnel, high military skill on September 18, 1941, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 308, four guards rifle divisions were transformed: 100th (commander Major General I.N. Russianov) into 1 -th Guards Rifle Division, 127th (commander Colonel A.Z. Akimenko) into the 2nd, 153rd (commander Colonel N.A. Hagen) into the 3rd and 161st (commander Colonel P.F. Moskvitin) to the 4th Guards Rifle Division. This was the beginning of the Soviet guard, which inherited the best traditions of the Russian guard from the time of Peter the Great, A.V. Suvorov, M.I. Kutuzov.

Guard formations took an active part in all the decisive battles of the Great Patriotic War and made a significant contribution to the victory. If in 1941 the Soviet guards included nine rifle divisions, three cavalry corps, a tank brigade, a number of rocket artillery units and six aviation regiments, then in 1942 various formations of the Navy, the country's air defense, many types of artillery, as well as rifle, tank and mechanized corps, combined arms armies, 10 airborne guards divisions, and since 1943 - tank armies, aviation divisions and corps.

As a result, by the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet guard was an invincible force. It consisted of 11 combined arms and 6 tank armies, one horse-mechanized group, 40 rifle, 7 cavalry, 12 tank, 9 mechanized and 14 aviation corps, 117 rifle, 9 airborne, 17 cavalry, 6 artillery, 53 aviation and 6 anti-aircraft -artillery divisions, 7 rocket artillery divisions; 13 motorized rifle, 3 airborne, 66 tank, 28 mechanized, 3 self-propelled artillery, 64 artillery, 1 mortar, 11 anti-tank, 40 rocket artillery brigades, 6 engineering and 1 railway brigades. 1 fortified area, 18 combat surface ships, 16 submarines, a number of other units and subunits of various branches of the armed forces, and a total of over four thousand military formations became Guards.

The recognition of their military prowess was the introduction of the Guards Banner (Flag), and for military personnel - guards ranks and the establishment of the badge "Guards". Badges of Guards Valor were established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 21, 1942. Thus, the military-political leadership of the country once again emphasized that it attaches special importance to the guard formations. importance in combat missions.

Breastplate "Guard", designed by the artist S.I. Dmitriev, is an oval framed with a laurel wreath, the upper part of which is covered with the Red Banner unfolded to the left of the staff. The banner is inscribed in golden letters: "Guard". In the middle of the wreath is a red five-pointed star on a white field. The banner and the star have a golden rim. The pole of the banner is intertwined with a ribbon: the tassels in the upper part of the pole hang down to the right side of the wreath. At the bottom of the wreath there is a shield with the inscription in raised letters: "USSR". The image of the guards sign was also placed on the guards banners awarded to the guards armies and corps. The only difference was that on the banner of the Guards Army the sign was depicted in a wreath of oak branches, and on the banner of the Guards Corps - without a wreath.

The presentation of the Banner (Flag) and the badge was usually carried out in a solemn atmosphere, which had a great educational value. The honorary title obliged each warrior to become a master of his craft. All this contributed to the growth of the authority of the Soviet guard.

In the post-war years, the Soviet guards continued the glorious traditions of previous generations of guardsmen. And although in peacetime the formations were not transformed into guards, in order to preserve military traditions, the guards ranks of units, ships, formations and associations were transferred to new ones during the reorganization military units and formations with direct succession in terms of personnel. Thus, the Kantemirovskaya tank division was created on the basis of the famous 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Corps. The honorary title was retained and the corps guards banner was transferred to her. The same thing happened with the 5th Guards Mechanized Division, whose servicemen subsequently performed their military duty in Afghanistan with dignity. Similar changes have taken place in Air force, landing troops and in the Navy. Newly formed units and formations of the Rocket Forces strategic purpose, anti-aircraft missile units and formations of the country's air defense forces were awarded the rank of artillery and mortar formations that distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War.

The Guards of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was the successor and continuer of the combat traditions of their predecessors. Guards motorized rifle Tamanskaya and guards tank Kantemirovskaya divisions; guard formations Airborne Troops... These titles still evoke memory, inspire and oblige.

The guardsmen of the late twentieth century are true to the traditions of the guard, developed and consolidated by their predecessors. Will we ever forget about the feat of contemporaries, when on March 1, 2000 in the Argun Gorge, during the counter-terrorist operation in the territory Chechen Republic The 6th Airborne Company of the 104th Guards Parachute Regiment of the 76th Airborne Division took on a fierce battle with the many times superior forces of the terrorists. The paratroopers did not flinch, did not retreat, fulfilled their military duty to the end, at the cost of their lives blocked the path of the enemy, showing courage and heroism. This feat is inscribed like a golden line in the recent history of the Russian Armed Forces, in the centuries-old chronicle of its guards. It inspires good deeds to those who today carry out difficult military service under the banner of the Guards, helps to instill in soldiers a sense of pride in their army, their Fatherland.

See: Military Encyclopedia I.D. Sytin. S.201.

Bobrovsky P.O. History of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. St. Petersburg, 1900. T.I. P.376.; Valkovich A.M. My beloved children.//Rodina, 2000, No. 11. P.26.

Letters and papers of Emperor Peter the Great. SPb. 1887. T. I. C. 365.

Journal or Daily note of the blessed and eternally worthy memory of Emperor Peter the Great from 1698 to the conclusion of the Neustadt Peace. SPb., 1770, part I, p.12.

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 31, 2006 No. 549 "On the establishment professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation".

Dirin P.N. History of the Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment. T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1883. S. 158-161.

A Brief History of the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment. SPb., 1830. S. 4

The material was prepared in
Military Research Institute
History of the Military Academy of the General Staff
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Task 1. Arrange in chronological order historical events. write down
the numbers that indicate historical events, in the correct sequence.
1) Pereyaslav Rada, unification of Left-bank Ukraine with Russia
2) Neva battle
3) signing the Munich Agreement
Task 2. Establish a correspondence between events and years: for each position of the first
column, select the appropriate position from the second column.
Developments
years
A) the Battle of Zorndorf
1) 1036
B) the transition of the Bolshevik government
2) 1097
towards a new economic policy
C) the congress of princes in Lyubech
3) 1597
D) the introduction of "lesson years"
4) 1758
5) 1921
6) 1964
Task 3. Below is a list of terms. All of them, with the exception of two, are
events, phenomena of the XIX century.
1) food dictatorship; 2) justices of the peace; 3) Decembrists; 4) Trudoviks;
5) zemstvo chiefs; 6) landlords.
Find and write down the ordinal numbers of terms related to another history.
the Czech period.
Task 4. Write down the missing word.
__________ regiments - special privileged units of the Russian army, created
Peter I from the "amusing" troops after the battle of Narva in 1700 and played a significant
role in the era palace coups.
Task 5. Establish a correspondence between processes (phenomena, events) and facts,
related to these processes (phenomena, events): for each position of the first column
select the appropriate item from the second column.
PROCESSES
(PHENOMENONS, EVENTS)

A) the reign of the Seven Boyars

1) the conclusion of the Stolbovsky peace between
Russia and Sweden
2) an invitation to the Russian throne
Polish prince Vladislav
3) Creation of the Salvation Union
4) military conflict with Japan on the river
Khalkhin Gol in Mongolia
5) the capture of Vasily II by Khan Ulu_Mukhammed
6) the offensive of the troops of General N.N. Yudenich on
Petrograd

B) internecine war in Moscow
state in the second quarter of the fifteenth century.
AT) Civil War in Russia
D) the Decembrist movement

Task 6. Establish a correspondence between fragments of historical sources and their brief
characteristics: for each fragment marked with a letter, select two
corresponding characteristics indicated by numbers.
FRAGMENTS OF SOURCES
A. “... The Great Prince obeyed their pleas: taking a blessing, he went to the Ugra and,

Arriving, he stopped at Kremenets with a small number of people, and let all the rest of the people go to the Ugra.
Then in Moscow, his mother, the Grand Duchess, with Metropolitan Gerontius, and Archbishop Vassian,
and Trinity Abbot Paisius asked the Grand Duke to welcome his brothers. The prince accepted them
request and commanded his mother, Grand Duchess, send for them, promising to welcome them.
The princess sent to them, ordering them to go straight to the Grand Duke as soon as possible for help.
B) “... And the blessed Prince Mikhail, whose name was Svyatopolk, died, a month
on April 16 outside Vyshgorod, they brought him in a boat to Kyiv, and brought the body into proper shape
him, and put him on a sleigh. And the boyars and his squad wept for him
all; having buried the songs over him, they buried him in the church of St. Michael,
which he built himself. The princess (wife) generously divided his wealth according to
monasteries, and priests, and the poor, so that people marveled, for no one
can create. After that, on the tenth day, the people of Kiev arranged a council, sent to Vladimir
(to Monomakh), saying: "Go, prince, to the table of your father and grandfathers." Hearing this, Vladimir cried a lot.
and did not go (to Kyiv), grieving for his brother.
The Kievans plundered the yard of Putyaty tysyatsky, attacked the merchants, plundered their property.
And the people of Kiev sent again to Vladimir, saying: "Go, prince,
to Kyiv; if you don’t go, then know that a lot of evil will happen, this is not only Putyatin’s yard or
Sotsky ... and they will also attack your daughter-in-law, and the boyars, and the monasteries, and you will keep the answer,
prince, if the monasteries are also plundered." Hearing this,
Vladimir went to Kyiv.
CHARACTERISTICS
1) The events described took place in the 15th century.
2) During the reign of the prince referred to in the passage, the Muscovite state was
Novgorod annexed.
3) Vsevolod the Big Nest was a contemporary of the events described.
4) The described events took place in the XII century.
5) During the reign of the prince, which is discussed in the passage, "Russian Truth" was supplemented.
6) The described events took place in the XIV century.
Task 7. Which of the following activities reflected the policy of "enlightened
absolutism" Catherine II? Choose three answers and write down the numbers under which
they are indicated.
1) establishment of provinces
2) convocation of the Legislative Commission
3) liquidation of the patriarchate
4) the proclamation of freedom of enterprise
5) publication of the Letter of Complaint to the cities
6) change in the order of succession to the throne
Task 8. Fill in the gaps in these sentences using the list below.
missing elements: for each sentence marked with a letter and containing_
number of the desired element.
A) In June 1941, the defense of _______ began.
B) Soviet designer small arms, which was in service with the Red Army in
years of the Great Patriotic War.
C) The Red Army launched a counteroffensive near Stalingrad in _______.
Missing items:
1) V.A. Degtyarev
2) 1943
3) Sevastopol
4) 1942
5) S.V. Ilyushin

6) Brest Fortress

Task 9. Write down the selected numbers in the table under the corresponding letters.
Establish a correspondence between events and participants in these events: for each position
the first column, select the corresponding position from the second
column.
Developments
Members
A) The first visit of the top leader of the USSR to
1) F.I. Sheludyak
USA
B) Battle of Grunwald
2) Vitovt
C) Cancellation of internal customs duties
3) L.I. Brezhnev
D) The uprising led by S.T. 4) N.S. Khrushchev
Razin
5) Elizaveta Petrovna
6) Yuri Dolgoruky
Task 10. Read an excerpt from the memories politician and indicate the sovereign
mentioned in the text.
“... The situation by this time was far from reassuring ... In the afternoon
telegrams were received from the capital, in one of which the Chairman of the State_
Noah Duma M.V. Rodzianko informed General Ruzsky that, in view of the removal from management_
of the entire former Council of Ministers, government power passed into the hands of the Times_
a committee of members of the State Duma, which, after all, was formed arbitrarily.
Then, from the Headquarters, information was received that an uprising had begun in Moscow and gar_
its nizon goes over to the side of the rebels; that the riots spread to Kronstadt,
and that the commander Baltic Fleet found it impossible to protest against the
knowledge by the fleet of the above-mentioned Provisional Committee of the State Duma,
All these data, General Ruzsky had to report to the sovereign upon his arrival in
Pskov.
Task 11.
Century

Domestic event
stories

Developments
foreign
stories

The beginning of the reign of Rurik
in Novgorod

Decay
Frankish
empire

__________(D) Beginning
board
Andrei Bogolyubsky in
Vladimir_Suzdal
principality
Missing items:

Education
sacred
Roman
empire

1) XIII century.
2) the defeat of the Khazar Khaganate
3) the invasion of Batu in Russia
4) IX century.
5) the defeat of the Pechenegs near Kyiv
6) the division of the Christian Church into Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic)
personal)
7) XII century.
8) the first convocation of the Estates General in France
9) Second Crusade
Task 12. Read an excerpt from the notes of a contemporary.
“As soon as a strong battle began, the Scythians, surrounded by the master Sklir,
could not withstand the aspirations of the cavalry phalanx, took to flight and, pursued
to the very wall, with infamy fell dead on the spot. Myself<...>, wounded and expired
blood, would not have survived if the coming night had not saved him.
The enemy, they say, in this battle, 15 thousand people were killed, it was taken
20 thousand shields and many swords; our dead had only 350 men and many
the wounded. The Romans won such a victory in this battle.<...>mourned all night
beating his rati, was annoyed and blazed with anger. But, feeling that nothing can
to make our army invincible, I considered it the duty of a prudent commander, not
indulging in sadness in extreme circumstances, try with all your might to save
the remaining soldiers. So, the next day, in the morning, he sends to the emperor to ask for peace
with the following conditions: the Tauro-Scythians must give Dorostol to the Romans, send the prisoners
and return to their own country, and the Romans must let them sail safely in ships
their own, not attacking them with fiery ships (for they were extremely afraid
Median fire, which can even turn stones into ashes), allow the transport of
bread and those sent for trade to Byzantium to count, according to the old custom,
friends.
The sovereign willingly accepted the offer of an alliance (he preferred peace to war, knowing that
one saves, and the other, on the contrary, destroys the peoples), approved the conditions and gave
each two measures of bread.
Those who received bread were 22,000 people who remained from the 60,000 Russian troops;
consequently, the other 38,000 fell by the Roman sword. According to the peace<...>requested
permission from the sovereign to come to him for personal negotiations. He agreed, and
gilded weapons, on a horse came to the coast of Istra, accompanied by a large_
by a detachment of horsemen, shining with armor.<...>crossed the river for some_
swarm the Scythian boat and, sitting at the oar, rowed along with the others, without any difference
chiya."
Using the passage and knowledge of history, choose three correct ones from the list below.
judgments.
1) The events described in the document refer to the X century.
2) During the battles mentioned in the text, the Russian army, according to the author, lost
almost two-thirds of its warriors.
3) The author writes about the thousands killed in the ranks of the Roman army.
4) The name of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich is missing in the text.
5) The agreement, the conclusion of which is mentioned in the document, maintained trade relations
between Russia and Byzantium.
6) The author of this document is the ancient Russian chronicler Nestor.
Task 13.

13. Insert a missing word in a sentence:
“The diagram shows the events that took place in one thousand nine hundred
year.
Task 14. Write the name of the commander in chief of the troops whose actions are noted in
legend of the scheme with arrows "1", in the area indicated on the diagram by the letter "B".
Task 15. Write the abbreviated name of the government, which during the period of events,
marked on the diagram, operated in the city marked with the letter "A".
Task 16. What judgments related to the events indicated in the diagram are
true? Choose three sentences from the six offered. Write down the numbers in the table
by which they are indicated.
1) Among the troops whose actions are indicated in the legend of the scheme by arrows "1" and "3",
were German military units.
2) The diagram shows the maximum success of the armies in this war, the actions of which
are marked in the scheme legend with arrows "1", in the area marked with the letter "B".
3) Troops, whose actions are indicated in the legend of the scheme by arrows "1", in the area,
marked with the letter "B", headed by A.I. Denikin.
4) The scheme covers the entire theater of military operations on the territory of the Russian state in
given historical period.
5) The government of the country that operated in the city indicated by the letter "A" moved there
about a year before the events indicated in the diagram.

6) The participants in the war, the events of which are indicated in the diagram, were M.V. Frunze and S.M.
Budyonny.
Task 17. Establish a correspondence between cultural monuments and their brief
characteristics: for each position of the first column, select the appropriate position from
second column.
cultural monuments
Characteristics
A) Tsar Cannon
1) Author - V.I. Surikov.
B) "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"
2) This cultural monument is dedicated to the struggle
Russ with Polovtsy.
C) the monument "Millennium of Russia"
3) This cultural monument was created
in the 18th century
D) the painting "The Rooks Have Arrived"
4) Author - M.O. Mikeshin.
5) This cultural monument was created
in the 16th century
6) Author - A.K. Savrasov
Task 18.

What judgments about this medal are correct? Pick two out of five
proposed. Write down the numbers under which they are indicated in the table.
1) The medal was issued during the reign of the last Russian emperor.
2) The beginning of the industrial development of the region mentioned on the medal is associated with the dynasty
Russian industrialists Demidovs.
3) The event to which this medal is dedicated took place during the Seven Years' War.
4) One of the emperors, whose symbolic monogram is present in this image,
published the Manifesto "On the Inviolability of Autocracy".
5) The industrial development of the region mentioned on the medal was suspended in the second
quarter of the 20th century

Task 19. What sculptural monuments were installed to the ruler in whose reign pro_
occurred the event to which this commemorative medal is dedicated? Answer two
the numbers under which these sculptural monuments are indicated.

Answers
Tasks
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

Answers
213
4523
14
Guards
2563
1245
245
614
4251
Nicholas II
245679
125
nineteenth
Kolchak
Council of People's Commissars
356
5241
12
23

Today is Russian Guard Day. This holiday appeared only in 2000, but the history of the guardsmen of Russia has already exceeded the fourth hundred years. What are they?

The Russian guard grew out of the "military amusements" of Peter I. In 1683, he organized the "amusing troops" of the foreign system. The first soldier to sign up for this new army is Sergei Bukhvostov. His distant descendant, Captain 1st Rank Nikolai Bukhvostov, died in the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, commanding the guards crew of the battleship Emperor Alexander III.

"War games of amusing troops of Peter I near the village of Kozhukhovo", A. Kivshenko

In 1691, two regiments were created in the "amusing troops" - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky.

"Amusement" rapidly flew from these real military formations, the officer corps of which became a reliable support for the reformer tsar.

On September 2, 1700, both of these regiments received the honorary title "Life Guards". This day is considered the birthday of the Russian guard.

In the same 1700, the guardsmen underwent a baptism of fire near Narva, against the Swedes. The battle turned out unsuccessfully for the Russian troops, but both regiments did not flinch and steadfastly held out against the Swedish army.

Narva became a legend of the Russian guard, born "knee-deep in blood."

"Battle of Narva", A. Kotzebue, 19th century

At first, the guard had no advantages over the army units. But since 1722, in the Table of Ranks, guards officers received seniority by two ranks before the army ones. Let's say junior officer guards (ensign) was considered equal in seniority to an army lieutenant (third officer rank).

In the time of Peter the Great, even noblemen were enlisted as privates, but later transfers from the army and direct recruitment of non-noble origin began to be allowed.

"Russian Guard in Tsarskoe Selo in 1832", F. Kruger, 1841

Very tall people were selected for the guard.

So, under Catherine I. I., the lower threshold for growth was 182.5 cm. Now these figures do not look very good, but remember that the food in those years was much worse than the current one, and the average (!) growth of an ordinary infantry recruit in the 18th century was about 160 −162 cm! No wonder that the guardsmen were constantly called "giants" or "heroes".

Selected and "by suit." The Preobrazhenians and the Guards Naval Crew were the first to take the healthiest "bullies" for themselves.

Semenovtsy took blue-eyed blondes. Izmailovtsy - dark-haired.

Guards chasseurs selected people of "graceful build" for themselves. The Moscow regiment collected redheads.

“A group of officers and soldiers of the Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment”, A. I. Gebens, 1853

The guard was distinguished not only by its exterior, but also by excellent training and courage in battle. Almost no major general battle of the Russian army in Europe was complete without the participation of the guards.

Such battles as Kunersdorf, Austerlitz, Borodino entered the track record of the Russian guard.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Russian guards were noted not only for their exploits on the battlefield, but also became famous in palace coups.

With the direct participation of guards officers, Catherine I, Anna Ioannovna, Anna Leopoldovna, Elizaveta Petrovna, Catherine I. I. came to power.

The guardsmen also participated in the assassination of Emperor Paul I. Among the Decembrists there were many officers of the guard.

In this sense, the Russian guard was a stronghold of the nobility: the vast majority officers came from this layer, while among the army officers by the end of the 19th century there were no more than 40% of the nobility.

The term "Young Guard" did not appear in the 20th century, but in 1813, when, following the results of the Patriotic War, the composition of the guard expanded: two grenadier and one cuirassier regiments were additionally included.

The new regiments began to be called the "Young Guard", distinguishing it from the "Old", more privileged (the latter had an advantage in seniority over the army men by two ranks, and the young had only one). Subsequently, some of the "young" regiments battle honor received a transfer to the number of "old".

Semyonovtsy on the Kulmsky field. Photo: Elena Klimenko, club of military-historical reconstruction "Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment"

In 1918 Soviet authority disbanded the imperial guard, among other "remnants". The notorious "Red Guard" did not stay long either: the nascent Red Army was distinguished by a democratic spirit, it was disgusted by the very idea of ​​\u200b\u200b"special" troops.

The Soviet Guard was reborn in the autumn of the first year of the Great Patriotic War.

On September 18, 1941, four rifle divisions, which demonstrated outstanding stamina and courage in the battle of Smolensk, received the honorary title of "Guards". The war was already ending with 17 guard armies and 215 guard divisions, as well as 18 ships of the navy.

Initially, the “guards” were mortar units equipped with rocket artillery- "Katyushas".

The Russian ground forces have several guard formations. The most famous are the Kantemirovskaya tank and Tamanskaya motorized rifle divisions, whose deployment near Moscow in Soviet times gave them the unofficial nickname of "court". But the guards serve everywhere, and in the Far East too.

The prototype of the new army

In the autumn of 1690, the first maneuvers took place, organized according to all the rules of military art. On the one hand, a regiment of archers acted, on the other, amusing battalions and a detachment of noble cavalry. The archers were defeated. A year later, the forces of the opposing troops increased significantly. The forces of amusing and soldier regiments were led by F. Yu. Romodanovsky, and I. I. Buturlin was at the head of another army, consisting of archers. Both "commanders" were in the rank of "generalissimo". Total population troops reached three thousand people. In general, all maneuvers have become a serious school of military science. The practical development of interaction in combat conditions, the training of siege techniques, the study of weapons skills - everything was laid down in improving the quality of the army. Representatives of many noble families of that time participated in the reforming activities of Peter.

PREOBRAZHENSKIY REGIMENT, Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment - one of the two (along with Semenovsky) of the first Russian guards regiments.

The Preobrazhensky Regiment had a leading position in Russian army. The colonel or colonel of this regiment were all Russian emperors or empresses.

The regiment was created by Tsar Peter I in the spring of 1692 from a "amusing" detachment stationed in the village of Podkovskaya near Moscow. Preobrazhenskoe. The final arrangement of the regiment was completed in 1693.

Preobrazhensky took part in all the main battles and campaigns of the time of Peter the Great. After the Azov campaigns, the company composition of the regiment was determined, which significantly outnumbered other parts of the army. It consisted of 16 fuselery (musketeers), 1 grenadier and 1 scorer companies. On August 22, 1700, when the Preobrazhensky regiment set out on the Narva campaign, it, together with the Semenovsky regiment, was first named the Life Guards. In the 1st floor. 18th century from the soldiers of the Preobrazhensky regiment, mostly nobles, officers were trained for army regiments.

Subsequently, the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1735–1739, distinguished himself at the siege of Ochakov (1737), Khotyn (1739), in the battle of Stavuchany in 1739, in coalition wars with Napoleonic France, distinguished himself in the battle near Friedland (1807), near Borodino (1812), at Kulm (1813). Some of his guard detachments took part in the Russian-Swedish wars of 1788-1790 and 1808-1809, the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. The Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment fought the enemy at Etropol, Adrianople, San Stefano and Tashkisen.

During the 1st World War, the Preobrazhensky participated in battles with German and Austro-Hungarian troops on the North-Western and South-Western fronts and distinguished themselves in the battle on the river. Stokhod (1916). The units of the regiment stationed in Petrograd took an active part in the revolutionary events of 1917.

In March 1918, the Preobrazhensky Regiment was disbanded. V.V.

SEMENOVSKY REGIMENT, Semenovsky Life Guards Regiment - one of the first (along with Preobrazhensky) Russian Guards Regiments.

The Semyonovsky regiment was formed by Tsar Peter I in the spring of 1692 from a “amusing” detachment stationed in the village of Semenovsky near Moscow. Semenovskoe. Semyonovtsy participated in all the main battles and campaigns of the time of Peter the Great. After the Azov campaigns, the composition of the regiment was determined, which was somewhat inferior in the number of companies to the Preobrazhensky regiment. The Semyonovsky regiment consisted of 12 fuselery (musketeers) and 1 grenadier company. In August 1700, when the Semyonovsky regiment, together with the Preobrazhensky, set out on the Narva campaign, they gave it the title of the Life Guards. In the 1st floor. 18th century from the soldiers of the Semenovsky regiment, mostly nobles, officer cadres were trained.

Subsequently, the Semenovsky regiment participated in the Russian-Turkish and Russian-Swedish wars, coalition wars with Napoleonic France. Its personnel distinguished themselves in the Stavuchany (1739) and Borodino (1812) battles, the Battle of Kulm (1813). In 1820, the soldiers of the Semyonovsky regiment rebelled against the inhuman treatment and drill. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. The Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment distinguished itself in battles near Gorny Dubnyak and Pravets. During the 1st World War, the Semenovites participated in hostilities with the German and Austro-Hungarian troops on the North-Western and South-Western fronts and distinguished themselves in the battle on the river. Stokhod (1916). The reserve and rear units of the regiment stationed in Petrograd took an active part in the revolutionary events of 1917.

In January 1918, the Semyonovsky regiment was disbanded. V.V.

A?RMIA - the totality of the enemy forces of the state; part of the armed forces, primarily the ground forces.

To con. 17 - beginning. 18th century the old structure of the army no longer met the requirements of the defense of the state and the tasks of foreign policy. Peter I started the military reform and finished it by 1709, the year of the Battle of Poltava. It can be divided into 3 stages.

The preparatory stage was 1690-1699, when the “amusing” regiments of Peter I turned into the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, and two “elective” Moscow regiments were formed from the most combat-ready archers - P. Gordon and F. Lefort.

The stage of transition to a regular army can be called 1699-1705. In 1699, royal decrees were issued on the entry into the soldier and dragoon regiments of "all kinds of free people", and then "private people". As a result, 29 infantry and 2 dragoon regiments were formed (1200 privates per regiment). Streltsy regiments and noble cavalry were eliminated after the battle of the Russian and Swedish armies near Narva on November 19, 1700. In November 1700, the Swedes destroyed 6,000 Russians and all artillery near Narva. Streltsy regiments and noble cavalry could not resist the army of Charles XII.

The final stage took place in 1705–1709. The place of the noble equestrian militia was taken by the dragoon-type cavalry. In 1705, recruitment duty was introduced in Russia. In all provinces of the country, "stations" were set up - points for collecting recruits. As a rule, 1 recruit was recruited from 500, less often from 300 and in exceptional cases from 100 male souls. The peasant lads who were recruited experienced the transition from domestic to military life very deeply. This was exacerbated by a harsh system of punishments for mistakes in exercises. Corporal punishment and the death penalty in the army of the 18th century. were commonplace. Disastrous for recruits were long transitions, and poor food, and lack of medicine. They got sick and died even when there was no hostilities.

In the 18th century recruits were recruited only among the Russian population. From con. 18th century Ukrainians and Belarusians began to be recruited, and in the 19th century. representatives of other Christian peoples of Russia. The term of service was then "before disability", in fact, life.

New regular army and Navy created according to the Western European model.

The army was divided into divisions and brigades, which, however, did not have a permanent composition. The only permanent unit in the infantry and cavalry was the regiment. The infantry regiment until 1704 consisted of 12 companies, consolidated into two battalions, after 1704 - from 9 companies: 8 fusilier and 1 grenadier. In each company there were 4 chief officers, 10 non-commissioned officers, 140 privates. The company was divided into 4 plutongs (platoons). Each of the plutongs had 2 corporals.

The infantrymen were armed with smooth-bore guns with a baguette (cold weapons in the form of a long blade, the handle of which during hand-to-hand combat inserted into the muzzle of a gun, forcing the soldiers to cease fire). In 1706–1708 these guns were replaced by guns with triangular bayonets. In addition to rifles (fuzei) and pistols, the infantrymen of the time of Peter the Great were armed with swords.

The infantry smooth-bore gun (fuzeya) had a caliber of 19.8 mm, weighed 5.69 kg with a bayonet, and reached 1560 mm in length. The mass of each bullet was 33 g.

The cavalry (dragoon) regiment consisted of 10 companies, including one cavalry grenadier. Every two companies made up a squadron. Each company had 3 chief officers, 8 non-commissioned officers and 92 dragoons.

The dragoons were armed with lightweight rifles (fuzei), broadswords and pistols in olsters (saddle holsters). The dragoon fuzeya had a caliber of 17.3 mm, weighed 4.6 kg with a bayonet, and reached a length of 1210 mm. The mass of each bullet was 21.3 g.

In 1708, grenadier regiments were created in the Russian army, which possessed great firepower. The grenadiers were armed, in addition to guns, also grenades, and some of them were hand mortars. Each grenadier regiment had 12 cannons, while the infantry regiments had only 2 light cannons and 4 mortars.

Artillery has undergone significant changes. Disappeared diverse calibers and types artillery pieces. In field artillery, the division into guns, howitzers and mortars has been preserved. There were permanent commands for the transportation of guns - furshtat.

In 1701, the first artillery regiment. According to the staff in 1712, it consisted of 6 companies (1 bombardment, 4 gunnery, 1 miner), engineering and pontoon teams.

The Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky Guards regiments were the training school for army officers. Young nobles served there as privates, and then received an officer rank. Military specialists were trained by artillery schools, for example, at the Bombardier School, opened in 1698, at the Moscow Cannon Yard, etc. The School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences was founded (1701, since 1715 the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg), the Nautical School in Azov, Engineering School in Moscow (1712, later moved to St. Petersburg).

The Russian army almost constantly lacked officers, since they usually became nobles. It was difficult for people from other classes to get into the officer service. However, according to the Petrine Table of Ranks, the lower ranks for “immaculate” service were promoted to non-commissioned officers, and those for special success in military service could be promoted to officers, which automatically brought the nobility.

The total number of Russian armed forces by 1725 (the end of the reign of Peter I) reached 220 thousand people. V.V.

GUARDIA, Life Guards (from Italian Guardia - protection) - originally military units that guarded royal persons; subsequently - selected and privileged military units. In Russia, guard units were formed at the end. 17th century from the "amusing" regiments of Peter I - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. On May 30, 1700 (another named date is 1687), on Peter's birthday, these regiments were given the status of guards.

The guard was a military school where officers were trained for the Russian army. In accordance with the Table of Ranks, guards officers had an advantage of two ranks over army officers. For example, a guards captain was equated with an army lieutenant colonel. Since 1884 this advantage has been reduced to one rank. Until con. 18th century the guards were mostly nobles, including privates. At this time, the guard had a large political influence, actively participated in the palace coups of the 18th century.

In the 18-19 centuries. the number of guards units was constantly growing. They were in all branches of the military. In 1722, the Horse Guards Regiment was formed, in 1730 - Izmailovsky, in 1796 - Jaeger, Hussar, Cossack, in 1799 - Cavalier Guard, in 1809 - Ulansky, in 1811 - Finland and Lithuania , 1813 - Cuirassier, Grenadier, Pavlovsky, in 1814 - Horse Jaeger. Subsequently, other guards units were formed. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the regiments assigned to the guards, starting from 1813, began to be called the "Young Guard", and the former guards regiments - the "Old Guard".

The guards selected men of high stature, good looks, strong, well-wielding weapons and politically reliable. In the 1830s there was a tradition to select recruits for the guards regiments according to the color of their eyes, hair and facial features. Blondes were recruited into the Preobrazhensky Regiment, brown-haired men into the Semyonovsky Regiment, brunettes into the Izmailovsky Regiment, red-haired men into the Moscow Regiment, blue-eyed blondes into the Kavalergardsky Regiment, snub-nosed blondes into the Pavlovsky Regiment, in memory of its creator, Emperor Paul I. Service in the guard was prestigious, but for officers - very expensive. The uniform and ammunition were expensive, and even more expensive was a horse worthy of a guards officer. Belonging to the guards corporation imposed certain restrictions on the officer: for example, he could not marry if the bride was not approved by the commander and the officers' meeting did not make an appropriate decision. All the great princes, including the princes, served in the guard. From the service of ordinary guards, sons from noble noble families began their careers. To get an officer's rank, one had to serve for several years. The chiefs of the guards regiments were members of the imperial family.

Guards regiments participated in all the wars waged by Russia in the 19th - early. 20th century In con. 1917 the guard was abolished. During the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. Guards status in the Red Army was revived. V. G.

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“... All the inconstancy of the world cannot be compared with the inconstancy of the Russian court,” wrote the Saxon envoy de Ford in January 1728, writing a report to his king. The diplomat's irritation can be understood: after the death of Emperor Peter the Great, there was no need to talk about a strong, stable position in the capital - palace coups, large and small, the fall of emperors and favorites, the disgrace of nobles and entire families. Petersburg layman fell asleep, not knowing exactly whose subject he would be declared in the morning.

How a typical upheaval took place in the 18th century can be judged from the “Notes” by B.X. Minich: “After the death of this great sovereign (Peter I. - Auth.) all the senators and dignitaries of the empire agreed to enthrone the Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich, the grandson of the emperor. The next day, early, before Prince Menshikov arrived, they gathered in the imperial palace. In general, everyone hated the prince, and in particular the Prosecutor General Yaguzhinsky. Guards were placed in front of the hall where the senators had gathered. Prince Menshikov appeared there, but they did not let him in; then, without making any noise, he returned to his palace, which now houses the cadet corps, called Ivan Ivanovich Buturlin, lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, and asked him to bring a company of guards as soon as possible. When this was done, Prince Menshikov went with a company straight to the imperial palace, broke down the door of the room where the senators and generals were, and declared Catherine the empress and legitimate Russian empress, crowned emperor in Moscow in the month of May of the previous year.

This vivid, although perhaps somewhat exaggerated, description of the coup of 1725, as a result of which the wife of Peter I, Ekaterina Alekseevna, was elevated to the Russian throne, is very revealing.

In particular, the behavior of the guardsmen in this situation attracts attention: they surrounded the palace, broke down the door and achieved their demands.

Researchers have noted more than once: the Life Guards Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments, created by Peter the Great, actively participated in the coups of 1725, 1730, 1741, 1762, 1801. However, pointing to this, it is customary to say that the guard was only a tool in the struggle for power.

The last statement is hardly substantiated: the guard was by no means a toy in the hands of certain political forces. By the time of the death of the reformer tsar, it had become an independent and extremely influential force, capable of formulating, expressing and implementing its own political program.

Elite military units, called guards, arose in modern times in many countries of the world. They exist to this day. In Russia, the guard appeared at the very beginning of the 18th century. It was then, in 1700, that the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments were declared the Life Guards. However, their history is much older and goes back to the previous century.

Back in 1682, before the accession of Tsarevich Peter to the throne, his choir in the village of Vorobyov had something like a military camp. A small area was cleared, on which a funny hut, a wooden tent, wooden cannons and slingshots were placed. In the troubled year of 1682, Peter did not particularly have to deal with games, in the next year - just the opposite. At this time, according to contemporaries, under the command of Peter there were probably up to 50 people. Thus a company was formed, later called Poteshnaya.

It accepted the children of boyars and commoners, Russians and foreigners. The first company commander was a Swiss, a descendant of a Huguenot who fled from France, Franz Lefort.

By 1689, the number of amusing people had grown to about 250. This fact is established for certain: on August 8, 1689, Peter, as you know, fled to the Trinity Monastery, and accompanied by them. For the Trinity campaign, a funny reward was granted at a salary of 5 rubles. And since Peter I personally took 1200 rubles from the monastery chamber, it is not difficult to make a calculation.

From the beginning of 1690 to 1692, judging by the number of sergeants, there were from 2 to 4 amusing companies. Since 1687 they were located in two villages - Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky, which, I think, had no fundamental significance for their then life. Firstly, both villages were adjacent and separated from each other only by the Khapilovsky stream. And secondly, according to the exact remark of Lieutenant General P.O. Bobrovsky, the author of a number of works on the Peter's army, "in essence, until 1690, both of them made up one common team, one squad." But if we talk about the commonality of ideas, plans and their direct implementation, then Preobrazhensky and Semenovtsy made up a single team for much longer.

It was these units, having received the honorary name "Life Guards", that became, as you know, the basis for the formation of the Russian regular army. It was they who turned the tide of events on the fields of wars in the first quarter of the 18th century. Preobrazhensky and Semenovtsy actively participated in the Azov campaigns of Peter I (1695, 1696), the battles of the Northern War (1700-1721), as well as in the Prut (1711) and Caspian (1722-1723) campaigns.

However, the functions performed by the Preobrazhenians and Semenovtsy in the time of Peter the Great, and much later, were never limited to military service proper. The Russian Guard of the first quarter of the 18th century, in fact, was a completely unique structure within the Russian system of statehood, because. had enormous powers in the field of government.

Information obtained from sources allows us to conclude that from the end of the 1690s. and until the death of Peter the Great, the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments performed a wide variety of functions related to almost all spheres of government and public life.

First of all, we are talking, of course, about state-representative duties: participation in ceremonies and rituals.

Military ceremonies, of course, were of paramount importance for the guard. These could be both small parades associated with the arrival of any army units, and celebrations national importance(entry of Russian troops to Moscow on the occasion of the Poltava battle
January 1, 1710, the celebration of the anniversary of this victory on July 8, 1710, the ceremony in honor of the victory over the Swedes at Gangut in 1714, and many others).

Moreover, any more or less significant ceremony was opened by the Preobrazhensky Regiment. The first company of the Preobrazhenians was often led by the emperor himself. The ceremony ended with a parade of Semenovites. If one of the guards regiments, for some reason, could not participate in the action, then the personnel of the other was divided into two parts. Thus, the ceremony looked as if the guards regiment or regiments "framed" the entire procession.

The guard is also beginning to be actively used in celebrations associated with religious holidays, or important events for the Church. This is connected, on the one hand, with the increasingly active interference of the authorities in the life of the latter, and, on the other hand, with the desire to give such rituals a secular character. An example is the participation of the guards in the transfer of the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky in St. Petersburg. Holidays, like the Epiphany blessing of water, turn into ceremonies that outwardly represent a cross between a religious rite and a review of troops.

In addition, a number of church ceremonials in the time of Peter the Great ended with fireworks. The guard, especially the bombardment company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, was indispensable in such cases.

The burial of any of the members of the royal family, the reception of ambassadors, the arrival of representatives of the ruling European dynasties, secular holidays and festivities also could not do without the participation of the Preobrazhenians and Semenovites.

At the same time, the need for the presence of the guard at the ceremonies seemed to the sovereign almost absolute. So, in 1709, the guards accompanied Peter I on his trip abroad.

In September, he returned to Moscow with a small retinue, leaving the main units in Poland to participate in the Northern War. However, soon the Preobrazhenians were ordered to immediately follow the tsar in order to be in time for the solemn parade in honor of Poltava victory scheduled for December of the same year. Probably, the replacement of the Life Guards with other units seemed to Peter I so unequal that he preferred to incur the costs associated with the unplanned return of the regiments to Russia.

However, in the first quarter of the XVIII century. the role of the Preobrazhenians and Semyonovites in the life of society becomes more significant. Guard at this time practically participates in the work of the state apparatus, becoming a kind of parallel control apparatus, a special superstructure over the main civil system.

Preobrazhenets and Semyonovtsy are used to perform police duties, such as the collection of indemnities, the seizure of contraband goods, the detention of the accused, the guard of the arrested and their property. During the first quarter of the XVIII century. they invariably deliver recruits for the army, craftsmen for "hasty" construction projects, clerks and clerks for work in the Holy Synod, carpenters for resettlement in the new capital, blacksmiths for the construction of wharfs. They “forced the governors and vice-governors and the voivode to deport to St. Petersburg any rank of people who should be a builder on Vasilevsky Island”, escorted those arrested, oversaw the felling of trees, performed various courier duties, accompanied cargo and the “treasury”.

The execution of minor police tasks was combined with participation in significant political actions, for example, in the suppression of the Streltsy rebellion of 1698, the Bulavin uprising of 1707-1708, the detention and subsequent delivery to Moscow of Tsarevich Alexei and his supporters.

The role assigned to the guards in this case was not limited to easy application military force. So, during the period of the Bulavin uprising, one of the battalions of the Preobrazhensky Regiment was sent to protect the shipyards of Voronezh, and individual guard officers who were confidants of Peter I (V.V. Dolgoruky, A.I. Ushakov, M.I. Shchepotev), controlled punitive actions in areas covered by the rebellion.

With time ranks of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments began to be involved in the investigation and trial procedure.

At the same time, the guardsmen were entrusted with investigations of a very different order, ranging from domestic theft to cases of state crimes and corruption.

The granting of a number of police, investigative and judicial powers to the guards was connected with the very system of command and control of the regiments. Being under the jurisdiction of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, the main investigative body of the country during the period under review, guardsmen of any rank were inevitably involved in cases of this kind. Regiment commanders gradually turned into heads of political police.

The guardsmen were involved in the investigation at all its stages. They could directly investigate the case. For example, the search that began in 1714 in the case of the Arkhangelsk governor was conducted by Major M. Volkonskaya of the Semyonovsky regiment. Cases on charges of the former Siberian governor M.P. Gagarin and his son, dated 1721, were also given into the hands of the guards.

In the middle of the 1710s. the participation of Preobrazhenians and Semyonovites in the procedure of investigation and trial became even more active. In 1715-1717. in Russia, by special decree, temporary commissions were established to consider cases of state crimes of "stealing the treasury", or the so-called major's search offices.

The course of affairs in these offices resembled the procedure of a military investigation and trial. Guard officers I. Pleshcheev, G. G. Skornyakov-Pisarev and others were authorized to head them by the same decree. The population was instructed to provide all possible assistance to the guards.

To complete the picture, it should be said that the work in the major’s search offices was carried out very regularly, and such persons as Prince A.D. Menshikov, Count F.M. Apraksin, the Siberian governor Prince M.P. Gagarin and many other.

According to the historian Yu.N. officials» .

The procedure of the major's search offices was also used during the investigation and trial in the case of Tsarevich Alexei. Even during his stay abroad, he was monitored by the captain of the guard A.I. Rumyantsev. After the return of the heir to Russia, the office of "secret investigation cases" was created, which included A.I. Ushakov, G.G. Skornyakov-Pisarev, I.I. Buturlin, P.A. Tolstoy. All of them, with the exception of the last one, were guardsmen. Tolstoy, who had nothing to do with either the Preobrazhensky or the Semyonovsky regiments before, at the end of the case received the rank of captain of the guard.

Major's investigative offices were liquidated in 1724, however, the Secret Office that arose after them, in its form and essence, practically repeated this entire system.

The Guard also took the most active participation in the system of administrative management of the country.

This concerned the management of front-line areas or territories occupied by Russian troops during the Northern War. So, the captain of the guard M.A. Sukhotin was the commandant of Narva from 1715 to 1723, and the Semyonov officer P. Lodyzhensky in 1714 became the vice-governor of the Arkhangelsk province, replacing A.A. Kurbatov in this post. However, guardsmen were often appointed to administrative positions in areas remote from the centers of war. For example, in 1719 the Senate announced a decree instructing the guards to captain-lieutenant Yu.A. Rzhevsky to manage the Nizhny Novgorod province.

In addition, a huge number of small, but extremely important cases for a state in a state of war, were entrusted to the Preobrazhenians and Semyonovites. As a rule, as leaders, they participated in strengthening urban structures (Azov, Kyiv, etc.), building the cities themselves (St. Petersburg and Kronstadt), fortifications, roads and bridges, canals and locks, wharves and ships, casting cannons and delivery of provisions, organization of work at shipyards and new industrial enterprises, planning of gardens and parks of the new capital, collection of statistical information.

The guardsmen were also used to carry out diplomatic missions. These were both minor assignments for the performance of the duties of diplomatic couriers, and serious political assignments. The appearance of the latter tradition can probably be dated back to the end of the 17th century. In 1697 Major A. A. Veide of the Preobrazhensky Regiment was sent to the Duke of Courland, the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony on a mission to prepare the arrival of the "Great Embassy" in Europe.

In the first quarter of the XVIII century. this practice has become widespread. So, in Poland, the guards were almost constantly (for example, V.V. and A.L. Dolgorukov, I.P. Izmailov). Captain of the Preobrazhensky Regiment L.V. Izmailov in 1719-1721 was the Russian envoy to China. The first Russian memoirist, who also served in the guard, B.I. Kurakin - the king's representative at the "papa's court" in Rome (1706-1707), Holland (1712), England and France (1720s). Major of the Preobrazhensky Regiment A.I. Rumyantsev defended Russian interests in Tsargrad (1724), S.G. Naryshkin became ambassador to Tuscany (1711). At the same time, the content of the missions assigned to the guardsmen could be very different - from official diplomatic representation to top-secret espionage activities.

The guardsmen were also entrusted with a kind of humanitarian mission. For example, in 1722, the Preobrazhensky G.G. Skornyakov-Pisarev was assigned to compile the New Chronicler. And although we do not have the opportunity to evaluate the results of his work, it is obvious that Skornyakov-Pisarev took the assignment seriously. According to the decree of February 16, 1722, for this work “from all the dioceses and monasteries” were taken “chronographers, power, chronographs and others”, as well as “curious”, i.e. informative, manuscripts for making copies of them.

Perhaps the guardsmen took part in the creation of some legislative acts. Historian S.M. Solovyov, dealing with the issue of authorship of the "Table of Ranks", believed that the specified document was actually written by Ya.V. Bruce, G.I. Golovkin, D.I. Dmitriev-Mamonov and M.A. Matyushkin. The last two were senior officers of the guard.

The number of duties assigned to the guards was so great, and the number of people who were, in the terminology adopted at that time, "in absences", increased to such an extent that the guards were actually unable to ensure the safety of the life of Peter I. That is why in his message from Dubna dated May 4, 1707, addressed to A.D. Menshikov, you can read: “... From the regiment of my soldiers, take someone with you on top ... I ask that several dragoons be sent towards Lublin to see off ... for the present need.” Three days later, on May 8, 1707, Peter once again pointed out to His Serene Highness the insecurity of such a situation: “... I confirm that I do not have with me more than three dragoons that went with me from Zholkeva” 10.

All these facts clearly show that in the time of Peter the Great, as mentioned above, the guard became a kind of parallel administrative apparatus, a superstructure over the civil administration and the judicial system. It is worth talking about the reasons for creating such a system ...

The active involvement of the guards in the system of government of the Russian Empire was initially associated with the need to establish an effective system of government, especially during the period of the breakdown of the old apparatus and the conduct of a difficult war.

The use of the Preobrazhenians and Semyonovites in the second half of the 1710s - early 1720s. apparently due to the fact that Peter I understood all the shortcomings of the civil structure he created. The sluggishness, sluggishness of the latter, as well as the corruption of officials, did not in any way combine with the tsar's desire to carry out reforms as quickly as possible.

It is also understandable that the choice of Peter I fell precisely on the Life Guards Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. In fact, this decision was the most acceptable.

Firstly, reliance on military structures in governing the state was quite traditional in Russia and was practiced long before the 18th century: the military element was an ordinary civil component. Let us recall the position of the archers at the court of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who, in addition to their military service, also performed police duties. The Streltsy Regiment, close to the court, was inseparable from the sovereign in his trips and campaigns to monasteries and surrounding villages, and took part in religious ceremonies at the court.

Secondly, it is necessary to mention the devotion of the guards to their emperor. It is quite understandable that Peter's desire to entrust responsible tasks to persons who enjoyed his special trust. And who was more devoted to the emperor than his "retinue", the guard? After all, it was Peter I who owed the guards their creation. They remembered him as a prince, for many of them he was a friend, for others even a relative (guardsman I.I. Dmitriev-Mamonov, for example, was married to the daughter of Tsar Ivan and, accordingly, Peter's niece, Princess Praskovya Ivanovna), for everyone but - he was a commander, a man whom they idolized.

And, finally, using the guards to participate in the system of state administration, the emperor created an extremely simple and effective structure based on the direct subordination of the guards to Peter I. Reporting for their actions to the emperor himself, the Preobrazhensky and Semenovtsy always realized the inevitability of the most severe punishment for failure to comply with one or another another duty or, moreover, for bribery.

So in the history of Russia in the first quarter of the XVIII century. a structure emerged that combined the military and civil beginning and gave life to a new self-awareness, which largely determined the further events of the 18th century - a sense of its significance, the importance of a common cause, the energy of public service and the desire for effective action.

Along with a huge number of duties, the guard during the period of Peter's reign received an incredibly many privileges.

So, from the first years of the Northern War, a higher status of guardsmen was established in relation to army soldiers and officers. On August 20, 1706, the Preobrazhenians and Semyonovites were granted seniority of one rank, and on January 24, 1722, guard officers received an advantage of two ranks in relation to the army and one in relation to the artillery ranks. And this despite the fact that the guards received the next rank much faster than in the army.

The privileged position of the guard was also associated with benefits in salary. This was expressed not only in the regularity of receiving payments, which was so rare for that time, in extraordinary awards, or in a constant increase in salaries. The sums of maintenance of the officers of the guard were exceptional for that time. The already mentioned B.I. Kurakin, talking about his receipt of the rank of colonel of the Semyonovsky regiment in 1706-1707, among other things, reports that "... the salary was paid close to 1000 rubles" 12 .

Indeed, officer and soldier salaries in the guards were 2-3 times higher than in the army. Judging by the available data, the content in the field regiments was meager. So, the captain received 8 rubles a month, the lieutenant 6 rubles, and the ensign 4 rubles. For comparison: at the same time, in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, the content of a captain-lieutenant was 20, and a lieutenant - 17 rubles. per month.

It is not surprising that officers who moved from the guard to the army, even with a promotion, often turned to the government with requests for a guards salary. For example, in 1712, G. Ovtsyn, a major of the Velyaminov-Zernov regiment, who once served as a lieutenant of the Semyonovsky regiment, achieved a Senate verdict, according to which he had to continue to receive a salary "according to the salary of the lieutenant of the Semyonovsky regiment, 12 rubles each." Thus, the colonel of an army regiment preferred a salary equal to the content of a lieutenant of the guard.

The desire of Peter I to make the guards regiments a structure with a high status both within the army and the whole society was expressed not only in good salaries and additional incentives. The government tried to solve any problems they had. The Preobrazhenians and Semyonovites got the most comfortable winter apartments, horses and fodder, they were allowed to build houses in the best areas of the new capital, in the event of conflicts or litigation, the decision in favor of the ranks of the guard was undeniable.

Over time, the number of privileges grew into quality, and the guard became a very special social unit. The position of a Preobrazhensky or Semyonovtsy gave a certain freedom in relation to a number of existing social norms in the first half of the 18th century. The rank of guards became a kind of safe-conduct in situations that, for the majority of the Russian population of that period, would have caused troubles and misfortunes. Understanding by Peter the Great of the value of the guard was accompanied by a desire to give people involved in it a certain protection from the arbitrariness and cruelty of the norms he himself created for all other subjects. .

At the same time, the functional purpose, the level of privileges, as well as the principles of replenishment of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments (the principle of nepotism was cultivated here) turned the guard of the first quarter of the 18th century. into an increasingly closed structure.

The special status of the guard influenced its relations with the army units and the metropolitan nobility. Emerged at the end of the 17th century. the superiority of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments, due to their exceptional combat capability, was now accompanied by an emphatically arrogant attitude of the guards towards the soldiers and officers of the army, based on an understanding of their superiority. The attitude of the Preobrazhenians and Semyonovites towards the metropolitan elite was also similar.

In essence, the guardsmen, who were in the vast majority of nobles, during the reign of Peter the Great were able to receive enormous rights, privileges and, in many respects, freedom of action. At the same time, we can talk about the formation of a special collective self-consciousness here. Moreover, we are not talking about a modest group of close associates of the sovereign, not about dozens or even hundreds, but about more than four thousand people.

That is why the opinion that in the era of palace coups the Preobrazhenians and Semenovtsy, for a number of reasons (among which minor awards and vodka are often mentioned) seems to be completely untenable, they became only a convenient and obedient tool for the fulfillment of someone's will.

Moreover, the self-identification of the guardsmen, their consciousness, belonging to a military corporation, the support of the Peter the Great reforms by the guards, personal devotion to the emperor allows us to see the roots of the ideas of the Russian officers and, in general, the Russian nobility of the second half of the 18th - early 19th centuries. about himself, his country, his monarch and, of course, his role in the life of the Empire. It is no coincidence that the lists of the personnel of the guards of the time of Peter the Great are full of names that made up the Russian noble elite of subsequent centuries. Rumyantsev, Bestuzhev, Tolstoy, Rokotov, Rachmaninov, Turgenev, Kutuzov, Bolotov, Ushakov, Naryshkin, Golitsyn, Lvov, Meshchersky, Durnovo, Musin-Pushkin - all these names determined the state, social and cultural development of Russia for a long time.

Notes

Diplomatic documents relating to the history of Russia in the XVIII century // Collection of the Russian Historical Society. SPb., 1870. T. 5. S. 295.

Minich B.X. Notes of Field Marshal Count Munnich. SPb., 1874. S. 27-28.

Bobrovsky P.O. History of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment (1683-1900). T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1900-1904. S. 153.

Bobrovsky P.O. Amusing and the beginning of the Preobrazhensky Regiment: By official documents. SPb., 1899. S. 13.

Letter from Peter I to M.M. Golitsyn dated October 31, 1709 // Letters and papers of Emperor Peter the Great (hereinafter - Letters and papers). SPb. - L. -M., 1887-1918-1992. T. 9. Issue. one.
pp. 443-444.

About not making denunciations and about anonymous letters and about burning them in front of witnesses on the spot,
January 25, 1715 // Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire since 1649 (hereinafter - PSZ). St. Petersburg, 1830. V. 5. No. 2877; About being at the search affairs of the guards to headquarters and chief officers, about sending them, according to their requirements, to search for various ranks of people and cases, and about giving without detention for the supply of running money, December 23, 1717 // PSZ. T. 5. No. 3138.

Smirnov Yu.N. The role of the guard in strengthening the authorities of Russian absolutism in the first half of the 18th century. // Government policy and class struggle in Russia during the period of absolutism. Kuibyshev, 1985, p. 24.

Manifesto on the deprivation of Tsarevich Alexei of the throne, February 3, 1718 // Ustryalov N.G. History of the reign of Peter the Great. T. 6. St. Petersburg, 1859. S. 438-444; Letter from A.I. Rumyantseva I.D. Titov dated July 27, 1718 // Ustryalov N.G. History of the reign of Peter the Great. T. 6. St. Petersburg, 1859.
pp. 619-628.

The highest decree of Emperor Peter I on the ancient chroniclers and the chronograph of February 16, 1722 // RNB. Manuscript fund. F. 542. D. 716. L. 1-1 rev.

Letter from Peter I to A.D. Menshikov dated May 4, 1707 // RNB. Manuscript fund. F. 1000. Op. 2.
D. 1443. L. 2v.-3; Letter from Peter I to A.D. Menshikov dated May 8, 1707 // Ibid. L. 3 about.

Militsin S.D. The legal status of the guard and its role in the state mechanism of Russia in the XVIII century. // Legal issues stories public institutions. Sverdlovsk, 1983, p. 63; Table of Ranks, January 24, 1722 // PSZ. T. 6. No. 3890.

Kurakin B.I. The life of Prince B.I. Kurakin. // Archive book. F.A. Kurakina. Book. 1. St. Petersburg, 1890. S. 276.

Painting salaries for officers and privates of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, October 19, 1708 // Letters and papers. T. 8. Issue. 1. S. 226.

Ekaterina BOLTUNOVA,
Candidate of Historical Sciences
(Institute of Russian History RAS)