Notebook of a soldier of the Russian Imperial Army
Faith and class
And it all starts with a memo or the language of a document - with a behest to a soldier, and the following portrait of the reigning emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich, so that, therefore, it is clear to whom to fulfill the oath.
Then there is a short memo on stories units, the date of the regimental holiday and the regiment's awards. So to speak, a simple way to introduce a young soldier to the course of the matter and charge him with patriotism. The book was issued after the oath, counting on literate people. The lyrics end at this point and the specifics begin.
What attracts attention?
First, the columns "estate" and "religion", which are not now, but which then were of great importance. In theory, it was Alexander the Liberator who began to dismantle the class partitions, but the document printed before the World War clearly says that all this remained and influenced, including the passage of military service.
Religion too - Jews, Muslims and Catholics with Lutherans were not required to visit the garrison church, they had a number of differences in everyday life, they were even buried in special areas of the garrison cemetery in case of death. In fact, the priests played the role of Soviet political officers and, among other things, in theory, they were also supposed to be engaged in missionary activities among the soldiers of other faiths. But with all this, religious differences were respected and taken extremely seriously.
The career ladder of a conscript soldier at the bottom of the page is also interesting. Here, in addition to replacing non-commissioned officers with sergeants, nothing has changed.
A standard medical certificate, and each regiment had its own doctor, and there was an infirmary in the garrison to accommodate patients. Further, there is a list of fines and vacations, and there is a graph on the vacation list - he was on time or late.
Satisfaction
And we are smoothly moving on to the basis of the armed forces - contentment, monetary and clothing.
An interesting note - one thing from the list per year, and not necessarily new, it could well be used. On the other hand, the same suede gloves are not to be missed at all; today, the very idea of issuing such things to ordinary servicemen of a motorized rifle unit looks wild. But in general, again, the difference with the current military personnel is not strong and big: two uniforms, ceremonial and everyday (then - marching), a list of received ...
But the equipment then and now is different, the era of rusks has passed, and otherwise everything has changed a lot. The same musicians no longer go on a campaign, revolvers are even then, one must think, for non-commissioned officers, not for privates, there are no sapper blades yet, but a wide range of instruments. The infantry has always dug a lot, whether at the head of the country Nikolai Aleksandrovich or Joseph Vissarionovich, or Vladimir Vladimirovich, and smart people try to shed not blood, but sweat. The whistles are gone, the means are different, and the shovel and the saw are still the soldier's best friends.
Salary (salary) and bed linen. It is not indicated here that a private conscript received 6 rubles a year, a junior non-commissioned officer - 24, a senior non-commissioned officer - 48 rubles a year. From 50 kopecks to 4 rubles per month. Tradition, under Gorbachev, a private conscript will receive 3,89 per month, which, taking into account inflation, is quite comparable, now - 2086 rubles, which is better, but it hasn't gone far. Under the tsar, they still relied on welding, grain money, and soap allowance, it was given in kind. But welding and grain were spent exclusively on food, and not by a soldier, but by an artel worker chosen by the company.
The soldier could keep his capital with the commander.
Or on a passbook. It was not forbidden to carry cash with you, but it was also inconvenient, barracks, summer camps, constant training ... They can steal or simply lose.
Shooting business
And finally, the book turns to shooting.
First comes instruction, somewhat archaic.
I was touched by the statement that rifle fire should pave the way for a bayonet, in something similar to propaganda, with passages about the protection of the emperor, and in something with sensible advice written in simple language for illiterate people. Moreover, the emphasis was placed on accurate shooting. And a lot of attention in the instruction is paid precisely to the moments of how to hold a rifle, how to aim, how to take into account the influence of weather and wind, how to stay cool. The Russian army knew how to shoot in 1914, to which the history of the Dorogobuzh regiment is evidence, but in the conditions of the First World War, super-sharp shooting was not so important.
Pension
This is followed by a provision on charity (pension provision) for the lower ranks.
Based on it, the annual pensions for orphans of soldiers were supposed to be in the amount of 48 to 84 rubles for widows per year, depending on the length of service. And for disabled people - from 21 to 30 rubles a year, depending on the percentage of disability. At the same time, those who found themselves in shelters, who took monastic vows, who were employed and convicted were deprived of their pensions. On the positive side - the pension could not be taken for debts, from the negatives - its size of 4 rubles per month at that time is about nothing, and the disabled 2,5 rubles were not happy. The maximum pension ceiling was set for complete disability if a permanent nurse was needed. Still, we must pay tribute - there was a system of social assistance for servicemen, and its nuances were brought to every soldier.
Well, in the end of the book, the favorite entertainment of the Russian army of all eras.
The scheme of laying out things for verification, considered, judging by the placement of the page, the most important: more important than money, what instructions, what a portrait of Nicholas II.
But in general ...
As a result, comparing that army with a modern army, you understand that now a serviceman, whether it is urgent or contract service, lives, of course, more prosperous and physically works less, but has not become much richer and more protected. And in Soviet times, there was not much difference. It is not strange, the Red Army grew out of the Imperial army, and the current Russian - from the Soviet, tradition and continuity have not gone anywhere. Although it is not easy to call a Russian soldier hungry or poorly trained, we have found funds for the army in almost all epochs of history, and the supply of soldiers was, albeit not rich, as in the United States, but quite solid. Not counting, of course, the Time of Troubles, but this is a different conversation.
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