Glitter and poverty of the royal officers

54


After the collapse of the USSR, the concept of "officer" and "low salary" became inseparable satellites. In the last decades of the Soviet Union’s existence, they belonged to one of the most well-to-do categories of society, officers rapidly lost this status. And more and more often in conversations with them one has to hear complaints about the current situation, especially in comparison with the life in that pre-revolutionary Russian army. Say, how much better it was for the lieutenant gentleman than for his comrade lieutenant. Another great myth ...



From the beginning of this century, the material situation of officers, of course, has become noticeably improved. However, this problem cannot be completely solved.

Not as a consolation to current fathers-commanders and military pensioners, but simply to restore historical In fairness, we note that out of a far from beautiful present, everything that has long passed usually seems much better. So, even ordinary things, covered with a patina of time, begin to be valued as rare antiques.

A man in a tavern more officer gets

So, how did the Russian officers live in the last decades before the revolution? The best way to answer this question is historical documents.

“The continuous and supremely hard work of the officers is not rewarded in any way satisfactory, not only in comparison with all other professions, but even in relation to the most limited daily needs of the officer's life. The severity of the economic situation of officers has become particularly harsh in recent years due to the excessively high cost of living, ”Minister of War Vannovsky wrote in an ever-present report to Emperor Alexander the Third.

General Kuropatkin, who replaced Vannovsky as minister, faced the same problem. In his diary he wrote: “Vannovsky said to the sovereign that the main need of the army is an increase in the content of officers.

The man in the tavern more officer gets. I told the sovereign about the same thing, and said that in Moscow, officers shoot out because of wasting 150 rubles. ”

The last protopresbyter of the Russian army and fleet Shavelsky wrote in his memoirs: “The officer was an outcast of the royal treasury ... The officer received beggarly maintenance that did not cover all his urgent expenses. And if he didn’t have his own means, then - especially if he was family - he eked out a miserable existence, malnourished, confused in debt, denying himself the most necessary. ”

We all knew that the salary will never see

How so?! The textbook image of the hussar, to which we are accustomed, does not fit into such a miserable life. And where are the grand revels with buckets of champagne and gypsy choirs, luxurious bouquets for theater divas and other ordinary entourage? There was this. But only a relatively small part of Russian officers who had their own, rather large state. Such, as a rule, served in the guard.

In the Guards units, especially in the cavalry, there could be no question of the existence only due to the accrued salary. The former officer of the Guards Cavalry Regiment, Alexei Ignatiev, recalled:

“When we went out to the regiment, we all knew very well that we would never see a salary: it would go entirely to bouquets to the empress and regimental ladies, to wreaths to former cavalry guard officers, to gifts and tokens leaving the regiment, to extra-long blowers, to the construction of a church, to an anniversary a regiment and the associated luxurious edition of regimental history, etc. The salary will not be enough even to pay for farewell dinners, receptions of other regiments, where French champagne will not only be drunk, but will also go into the pockets of bartenders and regimental suppliers. At least one hundred rubles a month was required to pay bills for the officers' artel, and at the camp time, when drinking bouts were an integral part of any show, and this money could not be enough. For the rest, there was no money left from the paycheck. And the costs were high. For example, a chair in the front row of the theater cost almost ten rubles. Officers of our regiment were forbidden to sit beyond the seventh row. ”

Not much cheaper cost the service in the Guards infantry. Here is what the former Guards infantry hero Gerua recalled: “Even in the modest Guards regiments, to which Leib - the Jäger Guards, belonged, it was impossible to serve without any personal funds or help from home. In some regiments, leading an important and broad lifestyle, the necessary supplements to the salary should have exceeded the last three to four times or more. In the Life - Guards Egersky regiment could manage fifty rubles or even less. " Naturally, the scions of not just high-born, but also very wealthy surnames could afford to serve in the Guards regiments, and, moreover, they often had to stop serving in the Guard after three or four years of heavy spending. True, rich guardsmen made up a relatively small percentage of the total number of Russian officers. And the overwhelmingly officer corps of army infantry consisted of people for whom a more than modest salary was the only source of livelihood.

In a particularly difficult situation were junior officers who received thirty-nine rubles seventy-five kopecks a month. Money is more than modest. At the same time, a skilled worker in St. Petersburg received no less than twenty rubles, and often much more. But the proletarian, unlike "his nobility", was not forced to spend money on maintaining military prestige. Even when visiting the theater, the officer had to avoid buying the cheapest tickets - the gallery was not for him.

Bachelors by order of command

It was because of the difficult financial situation that the officers had no right to marry for up to twenty-three years, and from twenty-three to twenty-eight were to make the so-called reverse, giving annually at least two hundred and fifty rubles as interest. Later it was required that the interest be at least three hundred rubles. But even after twenty-eight years, an officer who received less than a thousand two hundred rubles a year was obliged to make the same ill-fated reversal. They did this in order to provide the officer family with a decent living wage. Thus, it turned out that an adult with a higher military education received two hundred and fifty - three hundred rubles a year less than was required for the maintenance of himself and his family.

According to the calculations of the famous Russian historian P. Zayonchkovsky, the total monthly deficit of the officer budget was ten rubles, forty-five kopecks. And with the most modest expenses, the officer did not even have the opportunity to eat normally, making tea and bread for breakfast and having dinner every day. Moreover, these calculations were made without taking into account the needs for tobacco, strong drinks and entertainment, especially necessary for a single man.

The Russian officer was the lowest paid among his colleagues from serious European armies. In 1898, a Russian lieutenant received six hundred and seventy-seven rubles a year, a German one — eight hundred ninety-five (in terms of rubles), an Austro-Hungarian — nine hundred fifteen, and a French — nine hundred thirty-six. And, say, the lieutenant colonel in Russia is one thousand eight hundred eighty, in Germany three thousand three hundred eighteen, in Austria-Hungary two thousand five hundred thirty and in France two thousand six hundred thirty five rubles.

Equally difficult was the financial situation of the officers, who had retired and existed solely on retirement. General Anton Ivanovich Denikin, whose father retired as a major of the border guard, very colorfully described the conditions of "decent poverty" in which their family lived. Once, Ivan Denikin, a heavy smoker, went so far as to promise to quit smoking for reasons of economy. And he smoked the cheapest tobacco, on which you will not save much. True, having seen the suffering of her husband, Mrs. Denikina herself asked him to refuse such a painful means of replenishing the family budget.
Naturally, many did not maintain such living conditions. At the end of the past - the beginning of the present centuries, war ministers did not cease to complain that army officers were resigning en masse. They left for private service, border guards, who received substantial income as a percentage of the cost of confiscated contraband, and even in a separate corps of gendarmes.

Only after defeating 1904 - 1905 in the war with Japan, did the state finally find the opportunity to adequately maintain its defenders. True, they were no longer happy for the improvement in their position ...
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  1. +3
    21 January 2018 06: 45
    Poor country. Poor sovereign people. Well, and the habit of gambling is present. It’s not a problem that they paid a little. It’s a problem that there is nowhere to take money. the ratio is less than in the Russian army.
    1. +37
      21 January 2018 07: 36
      Kuprin has a wonderful story "The Duel", not entirely about this, but truthfully showing the life of a provincial garrison, and through it the writer makes a social generalization as a whole of that time. Reading, we plunge into the everyday life of that tsarist army, drill, pushing by subordinates, mockery of soldiers, and in the evenings drunkenness and debauchery among officers, which, in fact, is a reflection of the whole picture of the life of tsarist Russia! That's why Kuprin belongs to the galaxy of Great Russian writers, and the director and screenwriter, for example, the film "Admiral", to the mediocre clowns from the cinema ... laughing
      Now lovers of French rolls will come running and with foam at the mouth they will prove that Kuprin lied, in the article, are bullies and in general, if heaven existed on earth, then only with the tsar-priest! laughing
      1. +13
        21 January 2018 07: 55
        "Lovers of French rolls" usually argue that the revolution has not changed anything. The authorities always come to power. And an honest officer in a provincial garrison eked out his existence both in 1900 and in 1990 the same.
        1. +2
          21 January 2018 07: 58
          You are not quite right! A little lower, I wrote a little about Olgovich about this!
      2. +6
        21 January 2018 09: 11
        Quote: Finches
        Now lovers of French rolls will come running and with foam at the mouth will prove that Kuprin lied

        Kuprin was from army officers, served in the outback and, of course, knew the whole wrong side of this life. He even boasted that censorship did not give him full .... turn around.
        The story is, of course, disgusting, which is characteristic - was published in 1905.
        Quote: Finches
        and in the evenings drunkenness and debauchery among officers, which, in fact, is a reflection of the whole picture of the life of tsarist Russia!

        The same debauchery and drunkenness was in the Soviet Army, it was simply incredible, and before the collapse of the Union, they began to literally propagate this topic, a kind of "fights" and numerous fighters with this shameful phenomenon began to appear in the press, as it turned out that in the tsarist army, that in the Soviet. As a result, the Soviet Army was demoralized at the time of the collapse of the country and was helpless.
        1. +11
          21 January 2018 09: 16
          But it was possible to live humanly! In terms of money! wink
          1. +3
            21 January 2018 09: 19
            I agree, they were not beggars, I didn’t count money, and I even drank it (I played a trick).
        2. +7
          21 January 2018 09: 56
          To a beaver what a crap about the USSR to write! Though earlier about youth, even now about
          Soviet officers, !!!!!!!! If only the tsar and the bourgeois were white and fluffy to represent! Such debauchery, a kind of debauchery !!!!!!? ..... Again, a lie !!!!!!! And the examples are exactly such debauchery and drunkenness were somehow not mentioned! ... And how then to equate to what? .... debauchery and drunkenness everywhere under capitalism, he likes the government !!!!! As for October1917, that after the 90s !!!!!! Both in our country and in others !!!!!
          1. +11
            21 January 2018 12: 01
            You would Dmitry in the archive of the CPSU and in personal affairs ... There are drunkenness and b ... va - at least eat anal. And you are "capitalism" .. people are everywhere ... people!
            1. +4
              21 January 2018 14: 17
              The fact of the matter is that there were personal cases and there was an officer court of honor including.
              1. +2
                21 January 2018 14: 47
                I am far from the topic - am I now not a court of officer honor? If not, it’s bad. But the fact that I read in the documents of that era is also not good enough. I want to write everything about it, but there is no time. True, the storage of one Penza archive has already been shot. It remains to shoot the OK CPSU archive. But it is necessary to take permission ... such a fuss ...
              2. +1
                22 January 2018 21: 56
                avva2012 But they have not eradicated everything!
              3. +1
                23 January 2018 20: 16
                Quote: avva2012
                There were personal files and there was an officer court of honor including.

                So what, the Court of Honor came from the time of tsarist times, very special cases were considered at the HSP or at the party bureau. A quiet drunkenness and debauchery, as a rule, ended in massacre and medical unit.
            2. +3
              21 January 2018 14: 32
              It’s good that Vyacheslav Olegovich met you today !!!!!! What did Yeltsin have there, and who else? Who was there who looked like someone ????? It’s somehow difficult for me in the 90s, there are a lot of events and everything is complicated! Also then what. That’s what the speech is about --- people are people! Every now and then, the greyhounds of the past are today's power-holders. Ancient Rome nervously smokes aside !!!!!
              The topic of the article is providing officers before the revolution. What does the bastard about the Soviet!
              1. +1
                21 January 2018 14: 50
                Of course Rome smokes. There was no heroin, no “crocodile”, no one drank the polish passed through the bread and the BF glue did not smell. Times were simple! And here ... everything else was! And why do people write nasty things about the Soviet era not in topic? Associations are different for everyone, so they write.
                1. +5
                  21 January 2018 15: 37
                  Quote: kalibr
                  Of course Rome smokes. There was no heroin, no “crocodile”, no one drank the polish passed through the bread and the BF glue did not smell. Times were simple! And here ... everything else was! And why do people write nasty things about the Soviet era not in topic? Associations are different for everyone, so they write.

                  And who had this assortment, Vyacheslav? Again, in tsarist times, the assortment was completely different! And you know that. Debauchery? ! Well, there are all kinds of ballerinas. They even say that some officers had one for two ?! Horror !!!!
                  Bad things are written by those who regret the Vlasovites, but the Germans.
                  1. +6
                    21 January 2018 15: 59
                    Dear Dmitry, you Pavel Perts about the "Romanov without snot" listen to how the Life Guards had fun. And with reference even in the story. You can check. A Soviet officer would not even understand how, SO, it is possible. For example, lapping the crowd naked, vodka from the trough and at the same time biting and pushing for the place. And to Vyacheslav Olegovich, in vain, you explain it all. He knows the difference even without you. He simply cannot stand the shovel with a certain content in the Soviet homeland.
                    1. +2
                      21 January 2018 16: 11
                      Be sure to always listen to the mentioned Pepper, dear Alexander! It turns out that this is just another program, and not the cycle, where about the bombers?
                      I know that Vyacheslav knows about the depravity of the tsarist officers and much more. And here I am tormented by terrible suspicions about how different people fled from RI abroad in the 20th century .....
                      1. +5
                        21 January 2018 16: 27
                        Yes, this is a new series about various great princes and princes. In my opinion, without any blackening, it speaks of people. And the emigration of the beginning of the century, you, correctly remembered, say little about it. If I'm not mistaken, something is about a million. But in our country it is customary in the liberal environment only to speak of a “philosophical ship”. Although, we are distracted from the topic.
                      2. +2
                        21 January 2018 16: 39
                        Sorry, Alexander, I’ve gone away from drunkenness and debauchery. Then you remind me how there 2 young people fled abroad .....
                        I’ll definitely watch the new gear cycle.
                      3. +3
                        21 January 2018 17: 27
                        Dmitry, well, it’s you in vain; laughing laughing laughing, a very burning topic. wassat
                      4. +4
                        21 January 2018 18: 00
                        Well, I'm not far away. Here I listen to the cycle, here I read on the topic, now I remember who scolded those two officers with one ballerina .....

                        I hate all sorts of dirt about Soviet officers. They ---- defeated fascism, and the memory of them is destroyed in the near and far abroad. They are internationalist warriors, they are rarely remembered. Under socialism, a state secret. Under capitalism ----- silence.
        3. +3
          21 January 2018 12: 27
          A large army that has not been at war for a long time begins to decompose, such is the law ... From this point of view, the time of the reign of the Tsar, peacekeeper Alexander III, the time of stagnation, the time of the reign of a popularly elected alcoholic - is no different
        4. 0
          15 January 2019 10: 52
          In the days of Kuprin I did not have a chance to serve. And I strongly disagree about drunkenness and debauchery in the Soviet Army. military district, we were engaged in planned combat training, conducted exercises, improved the training and material base. After night firing, we stood on guard, in the morning we did physical exercises with the soldiers, were not present at the evening check, etc. And when was there to drink? After the lights out before the rise? No, there were of course "bouncers." and the mass dismissal of officers to nowhere undermined the basis of not only the army, but also the state. All these Shaposhnikovs, rooks, swans, etc., contributed to the collapse of the careerist adventurers from the top army leadership, if only decent decisive ones were at the head of the army. people, then the country could be saved. And the collapse of the USSR that began, added more chaos and confusion ... Here's what they did with the officers. For example: a part of one of my friends was taken from Germany to Belarus. On TV they showed what a wonderful town they were building there with German money. We were happy ... But on the spot he was immediately declared that only Belarusian officers should serve in the Belarusian army and he was quickly fired for his Russian origin (born in Siberia). He had to go to Ukraine, where there was an apartment. There was nowhere else. They said that they did not pay him a pension. And the pension, they say, should be paid by Russia. In the Russian Ministry of Defense, his request to pay the pension was very surprised ... And such a "carousel" with mutual kick-offs continued for about a year and a half, until the countries reached an agreement among themselves. And everywhere they had to go and to seek personally, provided there is no money for tickets and family support ...
      3. +7
        21 January 2018 09: 47
        Quote: Finches
        Lovers of French buns are now raiding

        That "lovers" that "orthodox Bolsheviks" - one hell.
        And with the maintenance of the army, and not only with the content, but also with manning, the order of service, etc. You can’t joke.
        The fate of Nicholas II is a confirmation of this.
        It is important to understand here that by the beginning of the 20th century the degeneration of the nobility as an employee class had ended, the officer corps for the most part was not at all “countesses”, and the attitude of the powerful nobility towards him (and not only towards him) was consumer.
        For which subsequently paid. Unfortunately, not so much to know how much everything ...
      4. +3
        21 January 2018 11: 43
        When I read Denikin’s memoirs, I was also surprised precisely at the material poverty of the Russian officers. Before, it seemed to me that everything was the other way around.
      5. 0
        22 January 2018 21: 59
        There are very interesting magazines: "Homeland", "Questions of History", "History of State and Law". There were articles on the maintenance of officers of the Russian army with links to documents. Very interesting and to a greater extent than here. You read these magazines ...
    2. 0
      21 January 2018 13: 54
      Quote: apro
      Poor country. Poor sovereign people. Well, and the habit of gambling is present. It’s not a problem that they paid a little. It’s a problem that there is nowhere to take money. the ratio is less than in the Russian army.

      If possible, then write, where did you get such information? About the percentage of officers in the tsarist army and European armies? The Military Statistical Yearbook of the Army for 1912 reads; officers and military officials in the army were 49610 people. 1322274 lower ranks That is, somewhere 1 to 27 (with military officials), the Germans somewhere 1 to 25.
      This in the Red Army was the ratio of 1 to 7, in the American army 1 to 13, and in the German 1 to 20.
      1. +6
        21 January 2018 18: 22
        The Red Army was cropped almost until the end of the 30s. The Soviet army is the same. In the unit where I served there were 16 officers and 36 soldiers. The old technology, which had to be written off a long time ago, was in bulk. Moreover, they worked mainly on the old equipment, and the new one was preserved, gradually turning into the old one. I have great suspicions that in the 41st there was exactly the same situation. Hence, such bloated figures of the presence of what in reality simply did not exist.
    3. +4
      21 January 2018 14: 36
      In the Soviet army, officers were a fairly well-off category of people receiving a salary, and their number was much larger than in tsarist Russia.
  2. +5
    21 January 2018 06: 51
    The article clarified a lot, thanks to the author.
    "The HUSAR CHRISTOMATIC IMAGE" by no means combined with those officers who somehow had Kuprin, Chekhov.
  3. +15
    21 January 2018 06: 53
    And when was military service a particularly profitable business?
    Officers, I think this state eliteconsciously going to difficulties in the name of their Fatherland.
    Deserved and deserve the deepest respect from society.
    1. +15
      21 January 2018 07: 57
      Olgovich, my respect! hi

      I agree with your position, but still add that under socialism that you hated: besides all that, the officer received a very decent monetary allowance! Even now, when much has changed for the better in terms of financial support for the army, the USSR lieutenant and lieutenant, even in today's Russia, are like heaven and earth!
      1. +8
        21 January 2018 09: 10
        Quote: Finches
        Olgovich, my respect! hi

        I agree with your position, but still add that under socialism that you hated: besides all that, the officer received a very decent monetary allowance! Even now, when much has changed for the better in terms of financial support for the army, the USSR lieutenant and lieutenant, even in today's Russia, are like heaven and earth!

        Hello, Eugene! hi
        In my beloved country, the officer received decent money before and after 17.
        But life and health, which he risks, does not pay off with any money.
        And they know it, but they serve. And it is worthy of all respect.
        PS Kuprin has a wonderful romance "Junker"written much later than the Duel"
        1. +6
          21 January 2018 09: 17
          I also read "Junker" hi
        2. +2
          21 January 2018 23: 23
          In my beloved country, the officer received decent money before and after 17.

          I read that in the tsarist army an officer wrote a report on the commander asking for permission to marry, and the commander could accordingly ban. The main reason for the ban is a lack of funds for the maintenance of the family.
          You can’t call it worthy of such a salary.
  4. +3
    21 January 2018 07: 16
    Under the USSR, the red commanders were rich like the sons of Vanderbild.
  5. +9
    21 January 2018 07: 42
    I allow myself a short excerpt from Ignatieff:
    - Tomorrow, His Imperial Highness, Grand Duke, Commander-in-Chief, will rehearse the highest parade. You, gentlemen, should be in the uniforms of the first term and, of course, not in thread gloves like yours, - while he pointed to the captain on duty, who had turned red with shame, - but in pure suede.
    After a moment of embarrassed silence, one of the battalion commanders, a lieutenant colonel with a flabby, colorless face, a voice in which fear was felt, asked permission to be in the uniforms of the second term, since all officers made themselves new uniforms for the highest parade and light yellow collars can at a time fade in the sun.
    “Then it is necessary to have not one, but two new uniforms,” the regiment commander answered in a tone that did not allow objections.
    Nobody dared to stutter about the gloves, although I felt that the officers, of course, did not have them.

    Uniforms yes, sewn at their own expense.
    But there were additional payments. For example, "dining rooms" and "apartment". Here are the figures for the end of the XNUMXth century.
    Since 1872 there was an increase in table money, divided into 12 categories from 2400 to 180 rubles. The highest level was intended for the heads of divisions, who were also assigned an additional surplus of 1500 rubles. The regiment commanders were assigned 1500 rubles each. canteens and 1200 surplus money, to battalion and company commanders - 600 and 300 rubles each. dining rooms respectively. All the junior officers who did not receive canteen money were assigned portion-wise - 96 rubles each. in year. The allowance for the army cadets for the army during their production as officers was increased from 100 to 150 rubles.
    Housing money was paid depending on the cost of housing in the area where the officer served. For example, in St. Petersburg, junior officers received 114 rubles a year, in Vilna - 168, in the Caucasus married in the I category - 246, unmarried - 162, married in the II category - 126, unmarried - 78. Staff officers - respectively 284, 200 -300, 408, 324, 204 and 156 rubles., Major General - 857, 1000, 720, 636, 396 and 288 rubles. etc.
    Nevertheless, given the rise in prices at the end of the XNUMXth and beginning of the XNUMXth centuries, this was categorically insufficient.
  6. +11
    21 January 2018 07: 56
    Well-known military life, the main priest of the army and navy Protopresbyter Shavelsky wrote in his memoirs: "The officer was an outcast of the tsarist treasury. You cannot specify a class of tsarist Russia that was worse off than the officers. The officer received beggarly content that did not cover all his urgent expenses .... "In particular, if he was a family man, eked out a miserable existence, was malnourished, confused in debt, denying himself the most necessary."
  7. +7
    21 January 2018 08: 21
    Everything is simple, the officers went out to a nobleman who served not for a salary, but for an estate, therefore they were initially determined a miserable salary, and it is difficult to rebuild the system in conditions of perpetual deficit.
  8. +21
    21 January 2018 08: 34
    Interesting article
    Denikin’s subject is a well-written Path of a Russian officer.
    And in the memoirs of others. Shaposhnikov then for example
  9. +3
    21 January 2018 08: 36
    The cost of the armed forces is the headache of any state at all times. Often a professional military man from a defender turns into a parasite. How to assess the readiness of the army in peacetime? Which sane general would say less money is needed?
  10. +1
    21 January 2018 09: 29
    The position of the Russian officers cannot be called brilliant. Therefore, he, the officers, so hated "Russian public opinion."
  11. +7
    21 January 2018 09: 32
    Not as a consolation to current fathers-commanders and military pensioners, but simply for comparison and information.
    In Germany, in addition to the basic salary, a large number of all kinds of surcharges are provided - allowances for each overtime hour of service - from $ 0,88 to $ 3,75 depending on the position. Supplements to the flight crew of the Air Force reach $ 611 per month. Personnel regularly parachuting has a premium of $ 150 per month. Special forces and combat swimmers - $ 1170 to the main salary. Personnel of surface ships - $ 105 per month, and submariners - $ 300. On long trips, another $ 150 is added. Travel allowances depend on the category of travel area. There are six such categories. The first is where living conditions differ slightly from points of permanent deployment. Nevertheless, get $ 33 per day! The second - living in tents, difficult living conditions, life support costs and calls to relatives. There is less than $ 53 a day to do. The highest category, sixth, is war zones with a risk to life. Here payouts are $ 120 per day. In addition to money, the Bundeswehr is lured by the opportunity to get an education and one of 60 civilian specialties.
    Someone will say that this is Germany. You can see India.
    In India, officers receive, on average, a bit - about $ 1000 per month. True, the average income in the country is somewhere around $ 100. But further interesting.
    Food and accommodation for officers - at the expense of the state. Plus, they have discounts on any goods up to 50% in specialized stores. The officer is given a house, and if he has a family, then the area of ​​housing is determined by the number of its members. Housing (with subsequent privatization) is allocated immediately after the assignment of the first officer rank. Every officer - from a company commander and above - has the right to acquire a military servant (sahayak). The servant, or the batman, lives in the officer’s house and receives a salary from the budget. An Indian officer has the right to additional extramural education paid by the state. And also - on a two-month annual vacation with "health" rupees.
    1. +2
      21 January 2018 23: 17
      In the 80's in Germany, when an officer received a major rank, his wife quit her job and raised children because her husband's salary was enough. The German military’s pension depends on whether he served in the rear or in the rear, participated in the hostilities or not.
      In the 90's, he spoke with Indian students, among them was a former senior lieutenant of the Indian army. He unlearned as an officer and served 5 years to save up money to study in Russia. When he saved up, quit and came to study as a doctor.
  12. +4
    21 January 2018 10: 27
    In the modern Russian Army the same situation! All pay only, contract soldiers, warrant officers, officers! They pay for posts, for the work of commissions, for the repair of equipment from the time of “King Gorokh,” for the delivery of physical training and much more!
  13. 0
    21 January 2018 14: 37
    they were hungry and loafers as a result of ... wrecked an empire
  14. +2
    21 January 2018 18: 24
    ... no sugar, no tea
    There is no coffee, no wine.
    Now I understand
    That I am an ensign wife. © (EMNIP, a ditty of the XIX century).
  15. +3
    21 January 2018 18: 57
    Reptiloid,
    Dmitry, in the archive of the Ministry of Defense there is evidence that during the war years for criminal offenses (not military) 80 thousand officers and 500 thousand soldiers were brought to justice. This does not detract from anyone's feat. All sorts of people were among the officers and among the rank and file. It is a pity the articles on which they were all punished in court have just not been declassified (again, there were extrajudicial, unauthorized executions, and there is data on them, but not all). This is all due to the fact that on the basis of omissions and stupid prohibitions, all sorts of myths and insinuations arise. Truth is the best weapon against those who embellish history and those who denigrate it.
    1. +2
      22 January 2018 00: 36
      Myths and insinuations arise from the desire to rewrite history. The availability of archival data, even living witnesses, do not bother the scribes of history. As they say, spit in the eyes ---- God's dew !!!!!!
      1. +1
        22 January 2018 21: 51
        You can wish for anything. But it is impossible to rewrite what everyone knows. What is in the public domain and what anyone can see. But human laziness, stupidity and mystery create fertile ground for scribes. And here is an example for you: how many times have I suggested here to see the TRUTH for June 11, 1944? And at least someone said - "I looked!" Well, God himself ordered such people to be deceived, they want to be deceived!
        1. 0
          22 January 2018 23: 49
          Vyacheslav Olegovich! I’ll try my own thought differently. The Russian Federation did not bring down the Boeing and there is different evidence for it. The Russian Federation did not bring down the Poles. Although you don’t show it, the opponents blame. And so on. Although there is some knowledge. For opponents ---- not an argument. ONLY your desire.
          And as for newspapers ----- the time has not come yet. When your press article was small with 2 years, not only did I not understand the article, I did not understand the newspaper either, although I went to the reading room. I'll go again.
          In the meantime, I am reading a children's magazine of 1924. And another book, AVIATION OF THE GREAT NEIGHBOR, 1 VOLUME. I wanted for a long time that I would have it and read a little, taken from friends. But not all
  16. 0
    22 January 2018 15: 40
    We are waiting for the author to finally take up the description of the life of a modern officer.
  17. +2
    23 January 2018 12: 52
    In the 70s and 80s they didn’t die of hunger, the taverns on the weekend were jam-packed and mostly officers.

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

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