Military Reforms (1905-1912)

In 1905, the General Staff of Russia was separated from the General Staff with the establishment of the post of Chief of the General Staff, directly subordinate to the Sovereign. Then followed the creation of the main directorate of the General Staff. But the situation of 1905 lasted only until 1908, when the chief of the General Staff, following the views established over the course of a century, was again subordinate to the Minister of War, and in 1909 was deprived of the right to directly report to the emperor. However, the establishment of the post of assistant minister of war with broad economic rights and powers led to the fact that the Minister of War and essentially laid down the duties outlined for the Chief of the General Staff under the provisions of 1906, and for his worries about the combat preparation of the state and troops for war, the Minister of War became much freer, while at the same time maintaining a personal report to the emperor and influence on all other matters.

With centralization in 1905 and in 1911 at the Main Headquarters of the Supreme Administrative Administration of the Army, a significant part of the affairs of the main directorates was transferred to the General Headquarters and the main Directorate for Apartment Contentment was re-established, and the Main Directorate of Cossack Troops was completely abolished.

The Main Engineering Directorate was renamed the Main Military Technical Directorate, which combined the technical side of the modern equipment of the troops and theaters of operations with all necessary means. This was followed by the development of corps control in the army, and at the same time, the expansion of the circle of operations of the division headquarters. The corps acquired completely independent significance not only in administrative and team relations, but also in economic relations. The corps reorganization also involved the transformation of command and control of artillery and engineer troops, which became part of the corps and divisions as a control command, and for the purpose of special technical supervision of the training of engineer troops, the post of inspector engineers (later - inspectors of the engineer section) was established in military districts, the duties of which were also assigned to the inspector in engineering terms and over the fortresses.

An artillery reorganization project was developed.

When transforming the military command of the army, attention was also paid to the ratio of reserve and field troops between their various arms and to the development of special military units. The new deployment of troops across the territory of the state achieved the benefits of its uniformity, ease of deployment of troops, improvement of their life and conditions for their concentration to the borders in case of war. The development of the railway and the general network of roads, the reconstruction of the fleet and the reconstruction of fortresses went to the level with this.

Deficiencies of weapons, modern technical means and various stocks were replenished. The productivity of state-owned factories of the land and sea departments has been increased to raise domestic industry and, if possible, avoid orders abroad. All combat units were equipped with machine guns; all field artillery was rearmed with new quick-firing guns; reserves of telephone, subversive, railway and aeronautical assets were created; a special automobile company was formed, etc. Special attention was also paid to the development of aeronautics.

The charters of all military branches and the Field Charter were revised and published again. A series of guidelines were published defining the terms of reference of various institutions on critical military issues, as well as a number of military-scientific works.

The new charter on military service that entered into force in 1913 introduced a significant change in the order of deployment of recruits, admission and examination of new recruits, as well as definition of benefits for conscription, and radically changed the order of admission and performance of voluntary service. To rejuvenate the lower ranks of the reserve, the period of active military service has been reduced (to 4 years, and in the infantry and light artillery to 3 years). The reserve is divided into 2 categories, and in the first stage, during mobilization, the youngest and the smallest families should come from the reserve to the troops. The emperor was instructed to take extensive measures to supply units with ultra-urgent lower ranks - with facilitating their access to officer ranks, especially in wartime.

The replenishment of troops with the required specialists was expanded. In order to prepare for military affairs the youth who were to serve military service, sports societies were involved.

Over 30 million rubles were allocated from the treasury to improve the life of the lower ranks of the army; the allowance of the lower ranks by salary was tripled; tea, soap and bed allowance were introduced; special attention was paid to the education of lower ranks in literacy and to the construction of libraries for them; the order of clothing allowance of the troops was fundamentally changed; measures (administrative) were taken to streamline the relationship between command and subordinate personnel of the army and navy.

Measures were taken to free the troops from worries about the economy, from non-combat duties and freelance work, in order to give the troops the significance of the purely combat and combat units with which he wants to see them. Special outfit workshops, garrison bakeries and other household establishments were organized in which soldier labor was replaced by civilian labor; many business affairs that encumbered the troops surrendered to private entrepreneurs; the number of non-combatant posts was reduced to the smallest size. Paying attention to the presence of combatant lower ranks, the number of officer ranks having the right to official servants was reduced, for which a monetary allowance was introduced for hiring servants. Broad measures of religious and moral education of the lower ranks were taken, which was expressed in the construction of many regimental churches and in drawing the greatest attention to questions of the spiritual life of a soldier. The improvement of soldier's life ended with the publication in 1910 of a new charter on internal service in the army.

Regarding the command staff of the army, concerns concerned the improvement of his life, rejuvenation of the staff and, above all, the proper training of officers, re-set. Improved all aspects of the life of the cadets and cadets, the setting of training sessions. All cadet schools were transformed into military schools, which significantly increased and, most importantly, brought about uniformity in the educational level of the officer corps. The Mikhailovsky and Konstantinovsky artillery schools were expanded to 2 batteries, and the Nikolaev engineering school to 2-company personnel, and they again made compulsory 3-year courses. New training programs in the cadet corps and the general curriculum of training in military schools were transferred to applied soil, as a result of which young officers graduated from the school arrived in combat units already sufficiently trained to train lower ranks and perform official duties. A particularly careful selection of educators and teachers was established for all military schools, ensuring their preliminary training. Great attention was paid to the confinement of officers to the needs of higher education troops. The Nikolaev General Staff Academy, which trained officers primarily for the service of this headquarters, was transformed into a military academy with the right to be called the Imperial Academy and now aimed at giving as many officers as possible a higher military education. The Quartermaster Academy was established to streamline the military economy in the troops and, in general, quartermaster affairs.

Further measures to raise the educational qualification in the troops were: establishing the rule that every artillery captain, before being appointed to the post of battery commander, would certainly take the course of an officer artillery school; the establishment in some districts of special courses for infantry headquarters captains intended for holding company commander positions; an institution for raising the level of special military education in the troops and their technical training for officer schools: aeronautical, railway, gymnastic-fencing and officer-class automobile companies. Along the way, programs in officer schools that previously existed were significantly expanded: the activities of the officer rifle school were expanded and the "Regulations on the officer cavalry school" was amended. The Manual for Officers was revised; in addition to the military game, tactical tasks on the plans and in the field, special attention was paid to the presentation in the officers' meetings of reports on various branches of military knowledge in order to better familiarize themselves with military equipment and the characteristics of all the armed forces. A higher certification commission was established and new rules for the certification of all military personnel in general (except for lower ranks) were developed, and the right to certification was granted to colleges, the composition of which depends on the official position of the certified person; with the same goal of raising the moral level in the troops, the action of the court of honor was significantly expanded, which extended to headquarters officers and employees in military departments.

Having recognized the necessary rejuvenation of the commanding staff and accelerating its renewal, a new procedure for increasing ranks was established, new standards for candidates for the position of regiment commander and age limit for commanding officers, from the battalion commander to the commander of troops in the district, inclusive. This age qualification was important not only for leaving the service, but also for enrolling in candidates for senior positions and appointments to them. Recognizing that these measures should affect property. the state of the military, it was indicated in addition to gradually introducing, from 1889, the new salaries of salaries and housing money, to increase from January 1909 the contents of all combatant officers. At the same time, daily, camp, and camp money were increased, and with the introduction of a new certification system and age limit, special reinforced pensions were established for combat officers, as well as benefits for other ranks leaving military service. The approved new pension charter retained 80% of the content they received in their last position when they retired combatant ranks, and it was indicated that the provision of the best pension should be extended to other military personnel as well.

A special institute of ensigns was established and the position of long-term non-commissioned non-commissioned officers was improved, measures were taken to train them as best as possible on special courses, and with the best support and arrangement of their life, more solid training of troops was achieved. For the same purpose, the admission to the training teams in units 2 times a year was approved, with the admission of young soldiers here. In general, in the training of troops, combat training is of paramount importance, while at the same time maintaining the observation training of troops.

In 1910, the Officer’s Course in Oriental Languages was abolished, and the training of officers with knowledge of Oriental languages ​​was entrusted to district special schools.

The transformation of the military prison unit, which was transferred to the main military court department, was begun, for which a special military prison department was established under it.

The military-medical unit was transformed into a military-sanitary unit, which was based on the creation of a corps of medical orderlies and the organization of military-medical assistance on a basis that was most appropriate to the needs of the army, especially in wartime; the situation of military doctors was improved and measures were taken to form an officer of the military sanitary corps from them; the Imperial Military Medical Academy was transformed in order to train doctors to the requirements of military service in peacetime and wartime; measures were taken to prepare the necessary number of orderlies in the troops, etc.

The life of sailors was improved and access to the maritime service was opened for the most energetic public elements by applying the naval school to an all-navy naval corps, measures were taken to rejuvenate the commanding staff of the fleet, combat requirements were increased, attention was paid to supplying ships with all technical improvements and generally everything that was required by the current state marine business. The management of the maritime department was reorganized and the Naval General Staff was established; ship management was streamlined; for each branch of the maritime service, both lower schools (the Jung school in Kronstadt) and higher schools were created; measures were taken to prepare the ranks of the Naval General Staff and the Nikolaev Naval Academy was transformed; the pilot part was expanded; scuba diving was greatly developed; introduced the air fleet in connection with the sea; a closer relationship was established between the work of the naval and military departments for the preparation of joint actions by naval and land forces; experience gained in subordinating the coastal fortress to the maritime department

Close attention was paid to the combat firing of the fleet and to all types of sea sports.

Particular attention was also paid to domestic shipbuilding: a significant part of the orders for the construction of fleet ships under the small shipbuilding program of 1912-1914 was transferred to private shipbuilding plants, only due to which some of them arose.

• Military Reforms of Paul I
• Military reform of Alexander II

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