An excursion into history: elected archers as the basis of the regular Russian army
Period XV-XVI centuries. was marked by the transformation of Rus' into a single centralized state and the strengthening of the country's economic base. It was Emperor Ivan Vasilyevich IV (the Terrible) who eliminated the remnants of the feudal fragmentation of Rus', becoming an unlimited autocratic ruler.
Rus' was actively turning into a country of cities, in which at that time more than 20% of the population already lived. The craft was actively developing, which led to a qualitative breakthrough in production weapons. In particular, firearms.
Under Ivan the Terrible, a number of most important reforms for our country were carried out, including military ones, thanks to which a full-fledged regular army appeared in Rus'.
In 1550, it was formed by a detachment of “elected archers from arquebuses” numbering 3000 people. “Squeakers” or “streltsy” became a new type of infantry, armed with hand-held squeakers (firearms with a caliber of 11 to 15 mm) or squeaker guns.
In addition, the archers were armed with a saber and a reed. The latter was an ax with a long shaft and a wide blade, which, in addition to performing the direct functions of a bladed weapon, also served as a stand for a arquebus. It was impossible to use XNUMXth-century firearms without support due to their impressive mass.
The above-mentioned detachment of 3000 people was divided into six “articles” of 500 people each. The latter, in turn, were divided into hundreds. The commanders (heads) of the streltsy detachments were nobles.
Typically, service in the tsarist infantry was for life and was often passed down through the family. Thus, entire military dynasties were formed.
At the same time, the archers were paid a salary, were allocated plots of land, were given uniforms, and were allowed to engage in crafts in their free time. In peacetime, the archers performed guard duty.
According to historical According to data, by the end of the 12th century there were about 2 thousand archers in the Moscow kingdom: 5 thousand stirrups (a special cavalry detachment), 5 thousand Moscow and XNUMX thousand policemen (gunners, Cossacks, collars, etc.).
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