Military ranks of Russia: history and modernity

The term "military ranks" means the position occupied by servicemen in the army and the navy in relation to other servicemen. Any title implies that the bearer has certain rights and duties, which are regulated by laws and military regulations.

Military ranks appeared, disappeared, mutated with the development of a state and society. Studying their history, one can learn a lot about the development of the Armed Forces of this or that state.

The first ranks appeared in Russia in the 12th-13th centuries, although they could be called military ones with great strains. Most often they denoted any administrative position. Under the influence of the Tatar-Mongol in Russia there are such military ranks as the Tenth, Sotsky, Tysyatsky, but they did not exist in all principalities and designated only the boss over this or that number of people. By the way, later they were used quite successfully by the same Cossacks.

The first truly military ranks of Russia can be attributed to the year 1647, when Alexei Mikhailovich adopted the first Military Charter in our country . This legislative act was necessary, since by this time, along with the traditional militia, the streltsy and the so-called "regiments of the new system" began to play an ever greater role in the country's defense capability. All military ranks under this Charter were divided into two categories - rank and file, which in essence resemble today's officers. Here, the titles already used by this time were fixed: the colonel, the half-colonel, the lieutenant. At the very end of the 17th century, the Russian army began to actively use the ranks of the foreman and the general, in parallel with the half-colonel, the more familiar title of Lieutenant-Colonel began to be applied.

An important role in the process of ordering military ranks in the Russian army was played by the introduction in 1722 by Peter the Great of the Table of Ranks. On this document, a clear list of titles, tied to specific positions, was introduced. It is worth noting that the Table included only military ranks, beginning with the chief officers, the lower ranks were regulated by the relevant charters.

An important feature of the Russian army was that the ranks received in the Life Guards were considered two steps higher than those received in conventional military units. This situation persisted until 1884, when all military ranks of Russia were equalized in their position.

Also in a somewhat privileged position were artillerymen, whose titles until 1884 were considered one step higher than in conventional formations. This was due to the increased demands that were made on the level of knowledge of people who served in these troops.

Military ranks of the USSR in the first years after the October Revolution were a combination of command posts and so-called "service categories": brigade commander, commander, kemesk, komkor. Only in 1935 military ranks, with some exceptions, were restored in the form in which they were in tsarist Russia. However, some of them began to sound different: for example, instead of the Field Marshal, the Marshal of the Soviet Union became the highest military rank of the country.

Just before the beginning of the war with Germany, in 1940, all command posts were finally replaced by general and admiral ranks, which was to symbolize the transition of the Soviet armed forces to a new level of development.

Military ranks of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War have undergone minimal changes: the guards began to use the prefix "guard", there were marshals and the main marshals of various arms (armored, artillery, aviation). In addition, in 1945 there was a new higher military rank - Generalissimo of the Soviet Union, which was appropriated to JV Stalin.

Military ranks of the USSR became the basis for ranks in the modern Russian army. At the same time, as a result of the latest military reform, the rank of ensign and midshipman were liquidated. The rank of junior lieutenant, although it exists, is practically not appropriated.