The Imperial Russian Army (Russian: Русская императорская армия, romanized: Russkaya imperatorskaya armiya) was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of regular troops and two forces that served on separate regulations: the Cossack troops and the Muslim troops.
A regular Russian army existed before the end of the Great Northern War in 1721. During his reign, Peter the Great accelerated the modernization of Russia's armed forces, including with a decree in 1699 that created the basis for recruiting soldiers, military regulations for the organization of the army in 1716, and creating the College of War in 1718 for the army administration. Starting in 1700 Peter began replacing the older Streltsy forces with new Western-style regiments organized on the basis of his already existing Guards regiments.
After the Napoleonic Wars the active Russian Army was maintained at just over 1 million men, which was increased to 1.7 million during the Crimean War. It remained at around this level until the outbreak of World War I, at which point Russia had the largest peacetime standing army in Europe, about 1.3 million. The wartime mobilization increased this to a strength of 4.5 million, and in total 15 million men served from 1914 to 1917.
In March 1917 the Imperial Army swore loyalty to the Russian Provisional Government after the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II, though the official status of the monarchy was not resolved until September 1917, when the Russian Republic was declared. Even after the February Revolution, despite its ineffectiveness on the offensive, the majority of the army remained intact and the troops were still at the front lines. The "old army" did not begin disintegrating until early 1918.
Precursors: Regiments of the New Order
Russian tsars before Peter the Great maintained professional hereditary musketeer corps known as streltsy. These were originally raised by Ivan the Terrible; originally an effective force, they had become highly unreliable and undisciplined. In times of war, the armed forces were augmented by peasants.
The regiments of the new order, or regiments of the foreign order (Полки нового строя or Полки иноземного строя, Polki novovo (inozemnovo) stroya), was the Russian term that was used to describe military units that were formed in the Tsardom of Russia in the 17th century according to the Western European military standards.
There were different kinds of regiments, such as the regulars (infantry), dragoons, and reiters. In 1631, the Russians created two regular regiments in Moscow. During the Smolensk War of 1632–1634, six more regular regiments, one reiter regiment, and a dragoon regiment were formed. Initially, they recruited children of the landless boyars and streltsy, volunteers, Cossacks and others. Commanding officers comprised mostly foreigners. After the war with Poland, all of the regiments were disbanded. During another Russo-Polish War, they were created again and became a principal force of the Russian Army. Often, regular and dragoon regiments were manned with datochniye lyudi for lifelong military service. Reiters were manned with small or landless gentry and boyars' children and were paid with money (or lands) for their service. More than a half of the commanding officers were representatives from the gentry. In times of peace, some of the regiments were usually disbanded.
In 1681, there were 33 regular regiments (61,000 men) and 25 dragoon and reiter regiments (29,000 men). In the late 17th century, regiments of the new type represented more than a half of the Russian Army and at the beginning of the 18th century were used for creating a regular army.
Conscription in Russia was introduced by Peter the Great in December 1699, though reports say Peter's father also used it. The conscripts were called "recruits". They were not volunteers.
Peter formed a modern regular army built on the German model, but with a new aspect: officers not necessarily from nobility, as talented commoners were given promotions that eventually included a noble title at the attainment of an officer's rank (such promotions were later abolished during the reign of Catherine the Great). Conscription of peasants and townspeople was based on quota system, per settlement. Initially, it was based on the number of households, later it was based on the population numbers.
The term of service in the 18th century was for life. In 1793, it was reduced to 25 years. In 1834, it was reduced to 20 years plus five years in the reserve, and in 1855 to 12 years plus three years in the reserve.
In 1731, Field Marshal Christofor Münnich was appointed chairman of a commission aimed at reorganizing the army and finding ways to maintain it without placing an undue burden on the people. He drafted a new structure for the Guard, field, and garrison regiments; formed two new guards regiments—the Izmailovsky and the Horse Guards; introduced cuirassiers; separated the engineering branch from the artillery; and established the First Cadet Corps. He also took measures to standardise military uniforms and equipment and organised twenty regiments of the Ukrainian militia, drawn from the odnodvortsy (single-homesteaders) of the Belgorod and Sevsk districts.
Münnich's successes on the battlefield include Danzig, Stavuchany and other victories over the Ottoman Turks. Field Marshal Peter Lacy achieved such successes as Azov, the Crimean campaign and Villmanstrand.
The history of the Russian Army in this era was principally linked to the name of the Russian general and military theorist Alexander Suvorov, considered to be one of the few great military commanders in history who never lost a battle. He left behind a legacy of warfare for future generations of Russian military leaders of the empire. His teacher, in turn, was Pyotr Rumyantsev, who carried out army reforms and won such victories as Kolberg, Larga and, most notably, Kagul. Rumyantsev's mentor was Pyotr Saltykov, who defeated his Prussian opponent at Kay and Frederick the Great himself at Kunersdorf. Suvorov also managed to successfully fight the Prussians in small skirmishes.
From 1768 to 1774 Suvorov served in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), against the Bar Confederation, and fought victorious battles. From 1777 to 1783 he served in the Crimea and in the Caucasus, becoming a lieutenant-general in 1780, and general of infantry in 1783, on the conclusion of his work there. From 1787 to 1791, he again fought the Turks during another Russo-Turkish War and won many victories. Suvorov's leadership also played a key role in a Russian victory over the Poles during the Kościuszko Uprising. His victories over Ottoman Turkey and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ensured Russia's further expansion to the south and west. Suvorov's Italian campaign reversed Napoleon's gains of 1796 and 1797 while Napoleon himself was campaigning in Egypt and Syria. During it, he outmaneuvered and defeated in several battles the French Army of Italy (including its offshoot, the Army of Naples). However, the Austrians were unable to hold Italy back from Napoleon's renewed onslaught. The Swiss campaign, launched at the direction and initiative of Austria (the Habsburg monarchy), failed due to a lack of human and material resources and also largely due to the inept actions of Suvorov's colleague, Alexander Rimsky-Korsakov.
Suvorov's successes on a battlefield include such impressive military encounters as Orzechowo, Lanckorona, Stołowicze, Turtucaia, Kozludzha, Kinburn, Focsani, Rymnik, Izmail, Krupczyce, Brest, Praga, Adda, Trebbia, Novi and Muttental (the last victory is also in many ways the achievement of General of Infantry Andrei Rosenberg).
As a major European power, Russia could not escape the wars involving Revolutionary France and the First French Empire, but as an adversary to Napoleon, the leadership of the new emperor, Alexander I of Russia (r. 1801–1825), who came to the throne as the result of his father's assassination (in which he was rumoured to be implicated) became crucial.