Russia has its own specifics, a special mentality; you won’t find marshal’s batons in a soldier’s satchel, except with Corporal Alexander Suvorov. But for them it was possible to arrive on a cart drawn by oxen, they could be found on a tray with pies, in a folder with notes, and if you really tried, then under the pillow in the bedchamber of the empress.

Of the 66 Russian field marshals, only a few were gifted with military talents. They, as a rule, went to the coveted peak gradually, with a fight (more precisely, in a fight) receiving each new rank. The young Tsar Peter dreamed of such generals when, in 1699, he ordered that the chief commander of the Big Regiment should henceforth be called Field Marshal General, who “There is a commander-in-chief general in the army. His order and orders should be respected by all, since the whole army was handed over to him by his sovereign..

But even before that, Peter introduced in 1696 the highest military rank generalissimo when he granted it to the governor Alexei Shein, who commanded the ground forces in the second Azov campaign. The king only groped new system army officials. Since 1699, the niche that he originally assigned to the generalissimo was occupied by the rank field marshal general. And Peter did not give the rank of generalissimo to anyone else - he did not see worthy ones. After his death, Alexander Menshikov received this rank as a result of a complex intrigue.

In Russia, two more people had this rank. Prince Anton Ulrich was promoted to generalissimo only because he was the father of the infant emperor John VI. Only Alexander Suvorov rightfully deserved this rank. In October 1799, he was awarded the rank Generalissimo of all Russian troops crowned the unparalleled Swiss campaign.

The first Russian field marshal was in 1700 an associate of Peter the boyar Fedor Golovin. He received the highest military rank not for the nobility of the family or the merit of his ancestors (although there were plenty of them), but for outstanding successes in the military, diplomatic and administrative fields.

Peter did not scatter high rank, he gave it to only four more: three born Russians, already crowned with many victories - Boris Sheremetev, Alexander Menshikov and Anikita Repnin. With the only foreigner, the tsar clearly miscalculated - Duke Charles de Croa turned out to be of little use for military affairs. All that he managed to Russian service, is to surrender with your headquarters to the Swedes. Two more foreigners, Ogilvy and Goltz, were promoted by Peter to the strange rank of Field Marshal Lieutenant General, which was no longer used in Russia. Yes, and the bearers of this rank turned out to be mediocre commanders and cared not about the glory of Russian weapons, but about their own well-being.

Our history has so developed that next to Suvorov, out of more than six dozen Russian field marshals, few can be placed. Unless Peter Rumyantsev and Mikhail Kutuzov. Yes, not far away there will be another dozen and a half commanders who received the field marshal's baton by right of brilliant military victories and military talent, these are Boris Sheremetev, Mikhail Golitsyn, Yakov Bruce, Burchard Munnich, Pyotr Lassi, Pyotr Saltykov, Grigory Potemkin, Mikhail Kamensky, Mikhail Barclay de -Tolly, Peter Wittgenstein, Ivan Gudovich, Ivan Dibich, Ivan Paskevich, Alexander Baryatinsky, Joseph Gurko. Their path to the heights of military glory was different.

Among the far from timid "chicks of Petrov's nest," Mikhail Golitsyn was distinguished by desperate courage and aversion to the word "retirade", no matter who it came from. At the beginning of his military career, he distinguished himself during the assault on Noteburg. When the first attacks on the fortress bogged down, Peter sent a messenger to Golitsyn with the order to retreat. But he, passing in response: “I do not belong to Peter now, but to God”, ordered to push the boats away from the banks of the Neva in order to cut off the path to retreat, and led the soldiers to attack. As a result of a bloody battle, the fortress was taken.

In the middle of the 18th century, the glory of Peter Saltykov thundered in Europe. As a result of his brilliant victories in 1759, Prussia was on the verge of collapse, and Frederick II was forced to begin the evacuation of Berlin. And only the betrayal of the allies - France and Austria - saved the Prussians from the final defeat.

They betrayed their own, and not only on the battlefield. In 1772, Field Marshal Saltykov, who was in disgrace, died. The Moscow mayor, knowing about the attitude of the empress to the commander, not only did not organize a funeral in accordance with the rank of the deceased, but did not even send a guard of honor. And then the former subordinate of Saltykov, General-in-Chief Count Pyotr Panin, in full dress with all orders, stood with a drawn sword next to the coffin of his military commander and declared: “Until then, I will stand here on watch until the guard of honor is sent to take over.” The guard was forced to send. The count put his career at stake, but ensured that the winner of Frederick II was escorted on his last journey with dignity.

Pyotr Rumyantsev decisively broke the established military canons. He was one of the first to abandon linear tactics, which in the West was considered the pinnacle of military art, and began to use columns, divisional squares and loose formation in battle. His victorious battles are still studied in military academies.

In the most difficult war in the Caucasus, Ivan Paskevich and Alexander Baryatinsky deserved the field marshal's batons. Today, unfortunately, in military reports the names of the same mountain villages are again heard, which a century and a half ago were taken by storm by their subordinates.

During the war with Turkey 1877−78. the military star of Joseph Gurko shone. Just as Suvorov once led his miraculous heroes through the snowy Alps, so he led the winter march through the Balkans. Then, descending into the valley, he drove the Turks until he freed Sophia.

Among the best commanders of Russia, a third have foreign surnames. But foreigners are different for foreigners. If some were only listed as Russian field marshals, having received a rank for noble origin or family ties with monarchs, then others did not shame the honor of the Russian uniform. However, it is difficult to call Barclay de Tolly and Wittgenstein foreigners. Growing up in Russia, they were pupils of the Russian military school, which they demonstrated in the wars with Napoleon.

Burchard Munnich served in many European armies before joining the Russian service. He was no stranger to intrigues, ambitious and cruel, but he was brave, intoxicated in battle, and was distinguished by a good knowledge of fortification. A native of an ancient Irish family, Peter Lassi received his first officer rank at the age of 19 in the French army. With the beginning of the Northern War, he joined the Russian army, where he rose to the rank of Field Marshal, having earned all the ranks on the battlefield. He was brave and unpretentious, unstoppable in attack, staunch in defense and, which was rare for foreigners in Russian service, caring for the soldiers.

However, more often the rank of Field Marshal was awarded not for military merit, but as a sign of royal favor. Some field marshals never served in the army at all. The Cossack son Alexei Razumovsky, who had a beautiful voice, by the will of fate ended up in the court choristers. Here, the future Empress Elizabeth drew attention to him. And with her accession to the throne, the favorite’s rapid career growth began. Soon, his younger brother Kirill came to him from Little Russia, who at the age of 22 received the rank of field marshal. By the way, the favorite himself received the field marshal's baton 6 years later than his brother. It is worth noting that the brothers did not boast of their high position and did a lot of useful things for their native Ukraine.

The monarchs did not forget themselves either. After the war with Turkey, at the request of the brothers, who were already field marshals, Alexander II elevated himself to this rank.

Many senior dignitaries received the rank of field marshal for many years public service. There were many such: Vasily Dolgoruky, Ivan Trubetskoy, Alexander Shuvalov, Zakhar Chernyshev, Nikolai Saltykov, Pyotr Volkonsky and others.

It happened that people who headed the allied states or armies became Russian field marshals. Their names are for meticulous historians. For human memory - Sheremetev and Rumyantsev, Suvorov and Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly and Gurko ...

The ranks of the Russian Army 1716-1722.

Preface.
In the article "Tables of military ranks. Russian Army 1716-1722" due to the lack of complete and reliable information that can be obtained exclusively from primary sources, I outlined the system of military ranks in a greatly simplified form, and I collected it from a large number of secondary sources, the authors of which were historians who did not take the trouble to understand this complex system in due measure, and often just people are incompetent. To my deepest regret, I went along with them, although partly due to the fact that it is extremely difficult to find the original documents of the Petrine era today. However, thanks to V.V. Golubtsov from St. Petersburg, I acquired a copy of the Military Charter of 1716, although, unfortunately, not a reprint edition, and now I have the opportunity to present the system of military ranks in a more correct form, although it is not completely accurate and correct. the creators themselves were able to state.

First of all, it should be noted that in those days military ranks in the sense in which we understand them today simply did not exist. For example, today a person with the rank of "captain" can perform the positions of company commander, head of the regiment's first-aid post, orchestra conductor, battery commander, commander of the special forces group, head of the missile crew, head of the financial service of the regiment, assistant chief of staff of the regiment, head of physical training and sports of the regiment, and many more positions.
Those. the rank of an officer is divorced from his duties and, in fact, simply means the level of his military qualifications.

In the 18th century, things were very different. Military ranks did not exist at all. There were well-defined positions, or as they were then called - ranks. For example, the captain was an officer who commanded a company. If he was removed from command of the company, he ceased to be a captain. Those. based on philology, the words "captain" and "company commander" are synonyms.
If an officer of this level (rank) performed a different position, then he was called differently. For example, in the artillery, he was called the "Shtik-Hauptmann", and the officer used by the Field Marshal General to carry out his assignments was called the "Adjutant Wing of the Field Marshal General". Everything is strictly according to the duties performed.

Actually, in civilian life it is the same now. If a person manages a plant, then he is called "Director" or "Director of the plant". And if he was fired, then he is no longer a director.

From the author. Analyzing the ranks in the Charter, it turned out to be extremely difficult to build their hierarchy. Basically, there is a listing of ranks, i.e. positions available in a company, regiment, higher management structures without division into lines, say, command, rear, legal, medical. In many cases, the rank or level of a particular rank is not indicated, which will be determined somewhat later (Table of Ranks of 1722). Perhaps the only criterion by which it turned out to be possible to at least somehow arrange the ranks according to their levels is the number of portions and rations, i.e. products issued to military personnel. For example, a field marshal general received 200 servings, and a soldier received one serving. All other ranks received the appropriate amount of products, obviously depending on the hierarchical position of this rank in the army.

Readers' attention should also be drawn to the frequently used word "general". At that time the word was used in two senses. Firstly, "General" as the designation of the highest military leader, and secondly, "General" as the designation of the chief specialist (auditor general, professional general). Therefore, one should not be surprised to meet generals of rank below the captain in the table below.

I tried to give the names of the ranks in the spelling in which they are in the Charter. I did not dare to compare them with modern ranks in the way I usually do in the rank tables (using the coding of ranks that I developed). This will not be correct in all cases.

The names of the ranks given in the tables will in some cases be incomprehensible to the modern reader. Therefore, below the tables a brief explanation of these ranks is given, i.e. what did the military man wearing this rank do.

Each cell of the table lists all available ranks of the same level (rank). The charter divides all ranks into the following groups:
* General ranks;
* Headquarters officer ranks;
* Chief officer ranks;
* Non-commissioned officer ranks.

From the author. It is curious that later the non-commissioned officers in the Russian Army were somehow gradually and imperceptibly shifted to the soldiers and ceased to be considered related to the officers, while the Charter of 1716 considered them to be officers, and not sergeants (as this category is called today) composition.

* It is not clear why the chief engineer was separated from the engineering troops and assigned to the administrative bodies. Obviously due to the fact that his place was with the commander.
** This rank in a number of cases is referred to in the Charter as "General-Kriegskalmeister". It turned out to be impossible to distribute on the table such ranks of this service as Kriegscalmeister, Kriegskasirer and Pisar. The ranks of these ranks are not defined in any way and the portion norms are not defined by them.

* It is not entirely clear why the ranks of Schanz-Hauptmann and Brukenmeister are assigned to artillery, while these are just engineering specialists. The first is a specialist in the field of field fortification, and the second in the field of building bridges and crossings.

Let us explain the essence of the duties performed by some ranks.

Brigadier- this is the commander of a temporary formation, made up of 2-3 regiments, and the regiments of dragoons and infantry, or only dragoons, or only infantry, can be combined into a brigade. Since this connection is temporary, the rank of brigadier is also temporary.

The division and the corps were also temporary associations (a division of several brigades, a corps of several brigades or divisions). Naturally, it is wrong to correlate the ranks of major general and lieutenant general with the positions of division and corps commander. Actually, at the head of the army was a field marshal general, who had a deputy (field marshal lieutenant general). He was assisted by three generals (general of infantry, general of cavalry and general feldzeugmeister). The first of them was responsible for all infantry, the second for all cavalry, the third for artillery and engineering troops.

In general, they were only considered real generals. Below were lieutenant generals, i.e. assistant generals and even lower major generals, i.e. "chief majors", who, on an army scale, played approximately the same role as majors in regiments, i.e. senior officers are really responsible for everything. Usually in the army with real generals there was one lieutenant general and 4-6 major generals each. Naturally, as needed, several regiments were temporarily reduced to brigades, divisions, and sometimes even corps. Naturally, the general from infantry (from the cavalry) instructed one of his assistants to head one of these temporary associations.

But due to the importance of these ranks, they were all reduced to the category of generals.

The Feldzegmeister General was responsible for all the artillery and engineer troops, as well as for the infantry and cavalry transferred to him.

But regiments and companies, these were permanent military formations. Here the ranks were more stable.

Colonel. Regiment in command.

Lieutenant colonel. Substitutes for the Colonel in his absence. In battle, he leads one of the two or three battalions into which the front of the regiment is divided.

Major. Senior officer of the regiment. Supervises the daily activities of the regiment, training personnel.

Captain. Commands a company.

Lieutenant Captain. Deputy captain.

Lieutenant. Senior assistant to the captain.

Sub-lieutenant. Mate.

Ensign. Junior Assistant Captain. Responsible for the safety of the company banner, but wears it only in battle. Also responsible for the supervision of the sick, wounded and otherwise infirm. In the campaign, he is responsible for the stragglers from the company.

From the author. It is worth noting that in the Russian Army, companies began to be divided not into corporals, but into platoons already in the middle of the 19th century. But even then the platoon was commanded not by an officer, but by a senior non-commissioned officer. Lieutenants, second lieutenants and warrant officers were assistants to the company commander, but not platoon commanders. True, it was a common practice that the company commander entrusted constant supervision of the first two platoons to a lieutenant and the second two platoons to a second lieutenant. In army usage, the name "half-company" has taken root. But this division was unofficial.

The officer position of a platoon commander, at least in the Red Army, became only by the mid-thirties.

Kriegskomisar General(in the text of the charter, this rank is written both as General-Krigs-Komisar and as General-Krigskomisar) speaking in modern terms, this is the deputy commander for rear. He is responsible for all aspects of financial and economic activity, for providing the troops with money, clothing, food, transport property.
Due to the great importance of logistical support, the Kriegskommissar General was considered the second leader in the army after the Field Marshal, although he was not the head of other generals.

Ober Ster Kriegskomisar Deputy General-Kriegskommissar.

Officials who have the word "commissar" in the name of their ranks, respectively, perform similar duties in the lower levels of the army hierarchy.

Quartermaster General. Although he is called a general, his rank is colonel and the word general here means the concept of "chief". He is responsible for providing the army with maps, drawing up maps, laying out routes for movement, for placing defensive fortifications and fortified camps on the ground. He also, during military operations and campaigns, assigns tasks to engineering troops for the construction of defensive structures, the repair and construction of roads and crossings on the routes of movement of troops. He also distributes the shelves to the places of quartering.

Officials who have the word "quartermaster" in the name of their ranks, respectively, perform similar duties in the lower levels of the army hierarchy. In the company, these duties are assigned to the furier.

General Auditor. Head of the Legal Service of the Army. Performs the duties of the main supervising body for the observance of laws in the army, i.e. prosecutor. But he also has the rights of a military judge.

Adjutants. This is far from what we are accustomed to understand by this word (something like a lackey in officer's shoulder straps or an officer for small personal assignments). They are rather the chiefs and employees of the personal headquarters of the corresponding generals. Their duties included the written fixation of orders and instructions given by the military leaders, the transfer of these orders to the appropriate lower commanders, control over the execution of orders and reporting to the military leaders of the results. Actually, all official communication of military leaders with subordinate units was carried out just through adjutants.
* The emperor had three adjutant generals (I remind you once again that the concept of "chief adjutant" is meant here) in the rank of colonels, and four adjutant wing in the rank of captains;
* The Field Marshal General had three adjutant generals in the rank of lieutenant colonels, and four adjutant wing in the rank of captains;
* Field Marshal Lieutenant General had two adjutant generals in the rank between lieutenant colonel and major, and three adjutant wing in the rank of captains;
* The general (from the infantry, from the cavalry, feldzeugmeister) had one adjutant general (pay attention to the name of the rank) in the rank of major, and two adjutant wing in the rank of captains;
* The lieutenant general had one adjutant wing in the rank of captain;
*Major General had one adjutant in the rank of ensign.

And finally, the regiment had an adjutant in non-commissioned officer rank.

It is worth noting that each general also had secretaries and a clerk. Thus, we see that the post-graduate course really was a kind of headquarters system.

It is already much later with the development of a real staff service, which will happen by early XIX century, the service of adjutants will really be reduced to the execution of personal assignments, and the rank of adjutant general and adjutant wing of the emperor will become just an honorary title.

Callmeister. Modern accountant.

The captain of the reins. An official responsible for ensuring that the troops move along the desired routes and arrive at the intended points. He is obliged to find guides among the local residents who know the surrounding area and provide them to the troops. Something like the head of the conductor service.

Wagenmeister. Starting from the highest position in this service, the General Wagenmeister, and down to the lowest - the Convoy, these are the persons responsible for the convoys, i.e. carts with horses, on which items and supplies necessary for the troops are loaded. Wagenmeister determines the number of wagons in each convoy, the routes and order of their movement, directs the movement. He is also responsible for the repair of roads and bridges, through which convoy cargo is delivered.

Furier. There is the name furier. Responsible for the distribution of houses between units and military personnel, the location of units in the camp, the organization of the arrangement of tents in the camps, the placement of personnel in houses and tents.

Hoff headquarters. Court servants, providing comfortable accommodation and service to the reigning persons. At their head is Gough-Furier.

General Gewaldiger. He is Rumor Meister. The head of the service, which can be called the military police service. He oversees order and discipline among the soldiers, searches for and catches deserters, marauders. It has the right to execute fugitives and marauders.

Fiscal. What we now call the Special Section. He watches over all military personnel in order to timely identify enemy spies, traitors, pests, persons preparing to desert, entering into relations with the enemy. Investigates complex crimes. Reports to the top about all emergencies, disorders.

Prof. A person supervising prisoners and maintaining cleanliness in the locations of units. He also performs corporal punishment. The General Profos is responsible for the service of all Profos.

Sergeant. There is one sergeant in the company. talking modern language, this is the foreman of the company. In the cavalry, this rank is called Wahmister, in artillery Ober-Fierwerkmeister, in engineering units Feld-vebel. Manages all affairs in the company and commands all personnel in the absence of officers.

Captainarmus. A non-commissioned officer is one step below a sergeant. Responsible for the provision of ammunition, for the condition of weapons and their repair.

Ensign. In the campaign he carries the company banner, in battle he assists the ensign. Directly oversees the sick and those lagging behind on the march, being an assistant ensign in this matter.

Corporal. The name of this rank quickly transformed into a corporal. He commanded a corporal, i.e. 1/6 of the company (approximately 25-35 people. The company at that time was divided into 6 corporals.

From the author. A corporal is usually considered the most junior non-commissioned officer in command of a squad. However, it is worth knowing that the company was not divided into platoons and squads. The company was divided into corporals, which can be compared to a modern platoon. So corporal is a very high rank.

Corporal. Corporal's assistant.

From the author. For unclear reasons, this rank is not in the Charter in the lists of ranks of infantry and dragoon companies. He is mentioned only among the engineers, where he is called corporal. Obviously, before its publication, the Charter was not carefully read by anyone, ambiguities, uncertainties and inconsistencies were not eliminated by anyone.
Modern statutes Russian Army they are also guilty of this.

Leibshitz. A soldier in charge of the safety of an officer in combat. bodyguard.

The charter does not explain the ranks of artillery - Zeugdiner equestrian and Zeigdiner infantry, but apparently, based on consonance with German words, this is a horse and foot artilleryman. Later, they will obviously be renamed gunners.

Also, the charter does not explain the ranks of Pioneer, Underminer, Petarier among engineers, but most likely this is a sapper, a miner and a bomber, respectively.

Sources and literature.

1. Charter of the military land. Printed by the command of the Tsar's Majesty in the St. Petersburg printing house of the Lord's Letter, 1716.
2. The book of the Charter of the sea. About everything related to good governance when the fleet was at sea. Printed by the command of the ROYAL MAJESTY in the St. Petersburg Printing House of the Lord's Letter 1720 April on the 13th day
3.O.Leonov, I.Ulyanov. Regular infantry. 1698-1801. AST. Moscow. 1995

PORTRAIT
Chin field marshal general Introduced by Peter I in 1699 instead of the existing post of "Chief Voivode of a Large Regiment". The rank was also established Field Marshal Lieutenant General, as deputy field marshal, but after 1707 he was not assigned to anyone.

In 1722, the rank of field marshal was introduced in the "Table of Ranks" as a military rank of the 1st class. It was assigned not necessarily for military merit, but also for long-term public service or as a sign of royal favor. Several foreigners, not being in the Russian service, were granted this rank as an honorary title.
In total, 65 people were awarded this rank (including 2 Field Marshal Lieutenant General).

The first 12 people were granted by the emperors Peter I, Catherine I and Peter II:

01. gr. Golovin Fedor Alekseevich (1650-1706) since 1700
Copy of Ivan Shpring from an unknown original of the early 18th century. State. Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.

02. grts. Croa Charles Eugene (1651-1702) from 1700
Portrait not found. There is only a photograph of his surviving body, which until 1863 lay in a glass coffin in the Reval (Tallinn) Church of St. Nicholas.

03. gr. Sheremetev Boris Petrovich (1652-1719) since 1701
Ostankino Palace-Museum.

04. Ogilvie George Benedict (1651-1710) from 1702 (Field Marshal Lieutenant General)
Engraving from an unknown 18th century original. Source - Beketov's book "Collection of portraits of Russians, famous for their deeds ...", 1821.

05. Heinrich Goltz (1648-1725) from 1707 (Field Marshal Lieutenant General)

06. St. book. Menshikov Alexander Danilovich (1673-1729) from 1709, Generalissimo from 1727

07. book. Repnin Anikita Ivanovich (1668-1726) since 1724
Portrait of the work of unknown. artist of the early 18th century. Poltava Museum.

08. book Golitsyn Mikhail Mikhailovich (1675-1730) from 1725

09. gr. Sapieha Jan Casimir (1675-1730), from 1726 (Great Hetman of Lithuania in 1708-1709)
Unknown artist of the 18th century. Rawicz Palace, Poland.

10. gr. Bruce Yakov Vilimovich (1670-1735) from 1726
Unknown artist of the 18th century.

11. book. Dolgorukov Vasily Vladimirovich (1667-1746) since 1728
Portrait by Groot. 1740s. State Tretyakov Gallery.

12. book. Trubetskoy Ivan Yurievich (1667-1750) from 1728
Unknown artist of the 18th century. State Tretyakov Gallery.

Field Marshals granted the rank by Empresses Anna Ioannovna, Elizaveta Petrovna and Emperor Peter III:

13. gr. Minich Burchard Christopher (1683-1767) from 1732
Portrait by Buchholz. 1764 State Russian Museum.

14. gr. Lassi Petr Petrovich (1678-1751) from 1736
Unknown artist of the 18th century. Source M. Borodkin "History of Finland" vol. 2 1909

15. Pr. Ludwig Wilhelm of Hesse-Homburg (1705-1745) from 1742

16. book. Trubetskoy Nikita Yurievich (1700-1767) since 1756
Unknown artist ser. XVIII century. State Museum of Arts of Georgia.

17. gr. Buturlin Alexander Borisovich (1694-1767) from 1756
19th century copy from a painting by an unknown artist mid-eighteenth in. Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.

18. gr. Razumovsky Alexei Grigorievich (1709-1771) since 1756
Unknown artist of the 18th century.

19. gr. Apraksin Stepan Fedorovich (1702-1758) since 1756
Unknown artist of the 18th century.

20. gr. Saltykov Pyotr Semyonovich (1698-1772) since 1759
A copy of Loktev from a portrait by Rotary. 1762 Russian Museum.

21. gr. Shuvalov Alexander Ivanovich (1710-1771) from 1761
Portrait by Rotary. Source - Vel. Book. Nikolai Mikhailovich"Russian portraits of the XVIII-XIX centuries"

22. gr. Shuvalov Petr Ivanovich (1711-1762) from 1761
Portrait by Rokotov.

23. Pr. Peter August Friedrich of Holstein-Beck (1697-1775) from 1762

24. Pr. Georg Ludwig of Schleswig-Holstein (1719-1763) from 1762
Tyulev's lithograph from unknown. 18th century original. The source is Bantysh-Kamensky's book "Biographies of Russian Generalissimos and Field Marshals" of 1840. At the link: http://www.royaltyguide.nl/images-families/oldenburg/holsteingottorp/1719%20Georg.jpg - there is another portrait of him of unknown origin and doubtful authenticity.

25. grts. Karl Ludwig of Holstein-Beck (1690-1774) from 1762
He was not in the Russian service, he received the rank as an honorary title. Unfortunately, despite a long search, it was not possible to find his portrait.

Field Marshal General granted the rank by Empress Catherine II and Emperor Paul I. I draw your attention to the fact that c. I.G. Chernyshev was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal in 1796. "by fleet".

26. gr. Bestuzhev-Ryumin Alexei Petrovich (1693-1766) c 1762
Copy of G. Serdyukov, from the original by L. Tokke. 1772. State Russian Museum.

27. gr. Razumovsky, Kirill Grigorievich (1728-1803) from 1764
Portrait by L. Tokke. 1758

28. book. Golitsyn Alexander Mikhailovich (1718-1783) from 1769
Portrait of the work of unknown. artist late XVIII century. State. military history. museum of A.V. Suvorov. St. Petersburg

29. c. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky Petr Alexandrovich (1725-1796) since 1770

30. gr. Chernyshev Zakhar Grigorievich (1722-1784) since 1773

31. lgr. Ludwig IX of Hesse-Darmstadt (1719-1790) from 1774. He was not in the Russian service, he received the rank as an honorary title.
Portrait of the work of unknown. artist ser. XVIII century. Museum of History. Strasbourg.

32. St. book. Potemkin-Tavrichesky Grigory Alexandrovich (1736-1791) from 1784
Portrait of the work of unknown. artist. 1780s State Historical Museum.

33. book. Suvorov-Rymniksky Alexander Vasilievich (1730-1800), from 1794, Generalissimo from 1799
Portrait of the work of unknown. artist (Levitsky type). 1780s State Historical Museum.

34. St. book. Saltykov Nikolay Ivanovich (1736-1816) from 1796
Portrait by M. Kvadal. 1807 State Hermitage.

35. book. Repnin Nikolai Vasilievich (1734-1801) from 1796
Portrait of the work of unknown. artist con. XVIII century. State Historical Museum.

36. gr. Chernyshev Ivan Grigorievich (1726-1797), Field Marshal General in the Navy from 1796
Portrait by D. Levitsky. 1790s. Pavlovsk Palace.

37. gr. Saltykov Ivan Petrovich (1730-1805) since 1796
Miniature by A.Kh. Ritt. end of the 18th century. State Hermitage. St. Petersburg

38. gr. Elmpt Ivan Karpovich (1725-1802) from 1797
Tyulev's lithograph from unknown. 18th century original. The source is the book of Bantysh-Kamensky "Biographies of Russian Generalissimos and Field Marshals" 1840.

39. gr. Musin-Pushkin Valentin Platonovich (1735-1804) from 1797
Portrait by D. Levitsky. 1790s

40. gr. Kamensky Mikhail Fedotovich (1738-1809) from 1797
Portrait of the work of unknown. artist con. XVIII century. State. military history. museum of A.V. Suvorov. St. Petersburg

41. Count de Broglie Victor Francis (1718-1804), from 1797 Marshal of France from 1759
Portrait of the work of unknown. fr. artist con. XVIII century. Museum "House of the Invalides" Paris.

Field Marshal Generals granted the rank by Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I.

42. gr. Gudovich Ivan Vasilyevich (1741-1820) since 1807
Portrait by Breze. Source N. Schilder's book "Emperor Alexander I" v.3

43. book. Prozorovsky Alexander Alexandrovich (1732-1809) since 1807
Portrait of the work of unknown. artist con. XVIII - beginning. XIX century.

44. St. book. Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky Mikhail Illarionovich (1745-1813) from 1812
Miniature by K. Rosentretter. 1811-1812 State Hermitage. St. Petersburg

45. book. Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich (1761-1818) from 1814
Copy of unknown artist from the original Zenf 1816 State Museum. Pushkin. Moscow.

46. ​​Wellington Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852) from 1818 British field marshal from 1813. He was not in the Russian service, he received the rank as an honorary title.
Portrait by T. Lawrence. 1814

47. St. book. Wittgenstein Peter Khristianovich (1768-1843) from 1826

48. book. Osten-Saken Fabian Wilhelmovich (1752-1837) from 1826
Portrait by J. Doe. 1820s military gallery Winter Palace. St. Petersburg

49. gr. Dibich-Zabalkansky Ivan Ivanovich (1785-1831) from 1829
Portrait by J. Doe. 1820s Military gallery of the Winter Palace. St. Petersburg

50. St. book. Paskevich-Erivansky-Varshavsky Ivan Fedorovich (1782-1856) since 1829
Miniature of S. Marshalkevich from the portrait of F. Kruger, 1834 State Hermitage Museum. St. Petersburg

51. archer. Johann of Austria (1782-1859) since 1837 Austrian field marshal since 1836. He was not in the Russian service, he received the rank as an honorary title.
Portrait by L. Kupelweiser. 1840 Schenna Castle. Austria.

We treat the German Emperor of the Russian Empire Nicholas II of Holstein-Gottorp differently. Losers from history believe that he bore the surname Romanov and was Russian. This is not so bad, although it still needs to be recalled: Nikolay Holstein-Gottorp became “Romanov” only in 1917.

And here is a more serious gap in our knowledge of the "own" emperor. It's about: What army did Nicholas II serve in?

Do not rush to answer that, they say, he was a colonel. This real colonels had higher ranks.

So, the criminal emperor Nicholas II Alexandrovich was born on May 6, 1868 in Tsarskoe Selo. His title is Emperor of All Russia, Tsar of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. Colonel (1892).

However, the non-Russian "Russian" Emperor Nicholas II was in the military service of Great Britain. From the British monarchs, Nicholas II had the ranks of admiral of the fleet (1908) and field marshal of the British army (1915).

The first rank is mentioned in the Government Gazette of May 29 (June 11), 1908 (No. 116, p. 1) and in the Government Gazette of May 30 (June 12), 1908 (No. 117, p. 1 ). About the second rank - in the telegraph message “London, December 18th. King George granted the Sovereign Emperor the rank of Field Marshal of the British Army, published in the Government Gazette of December 20, 1915 (January 2, 1916; No. 295, p. 6).

Let's ask ourselves a question: how would such a possession of the ranks of a foreign army by, say, our president look like today? The answer is simple - monstrous!

And then, before the revolution, it looked monstrous. On the Russian throne operated by a field marshal of the British army. Naturally, he brought the country to the Zionist revolution - he literally threw the Russian people into the crucible of the Semitic demon.

In the photo: a fragment of the painting by Valentin Serov "Nicholas II in the uniform of a colonel of the Scottish Gray Dragoons" (1902). Recall that Nicholas II received this title in Great Britain in 1896.

I hope that now the political game that the Romanov clan has been playing for 100 years on Russian soil will be better understood.

Andrey Tyunyaev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "President

By the way, it hangs in Edinburgh

All our emperors were chiefs of foreign regiments, and I suspect that there may be many such portraits abroad.

Portrait of Nicholas II in the form of Scottish Dragoons.

Prince of Edinburgh :)
True uniforms are similar.

Valentin Serov. "Emperor Alexander III in the uniform of the Royal Danish Life Guards Regiment against the background of the northern facade of Fredensborg Castle". 1899.

Fredensborg Castle is the place where Alexander III stayed during his trips to his wife's homeland, Denmark. The main nationalist of all Russia - and in the uniform of one of the NATO countries!

Nicholas II

Ruled in 1894-1917, 1/128 Russian, 127/128 German, wife German.
In general, he continued the line of the pope, Alexander III. During the first all-Russian population census in 1897, Nicholas II also filled out a census form, where he indicated in the column "occupation": the owner of the Russian land.

Then the revolution of 1905 began, the essence of which was just that, from what hangover one, unelected German is "the master of the Russian land." At first, the owner tried to suppress everything by force, troops, Cossacks (who played the role of OMON), but it did not work out. In October 1905, driven to the wall by a general strike in the country, Nicholas II signed the Manifesto, which turned Russia into a parliamentary monarchy. Yes, truncated, but... Compared to today, after 1905, Nicholas II had less power than Putin has today. Real opposition parties sat in the Duma, there was no nationwide system of electoral fraud. The tsar did not have his own pocket party in power and did not give it 2/3 of the votes in the Duma.

Stanislav Maslovsky. "Spring 1905"
OMON makes money on chipped enamel.

The next crisis came during the First World War. Things at the front were not going very well, the people blamed the German queen for everything, who allegedly spied for the benefit of her fellow tribesmen. Yes, plus Rasputin, plus the tsar himself's complete lack of political talent. On December 30, 1916, the English ambassador Buchanan advised Nicholas to fire unpopular people in power and "earn the trust of the people." To which the proud descendant of the Holstein princelings replied: "Do you think that I should earn the trust of my people, or that they should earn my trust?"

In the end, with this approach, Nicholas II was left alone and was overthrown. February Revolution 1917 No one came to his defense, the country, on the contrary, rejoiced. Even the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church immediately recognized the new democratic authorities.

P.S.
Since 1924, the head of the Romanov dynasty was Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, (born from the marriage of the son of Alexander II and a German princess). And since 1938 - Vladimir Kirillovich, his son (also from marriage to a German princess, and moreover, his cousin). June 26, 1941 this Grand Duke, as Russian as Nicholas II (at 1/128), made a statement of full support for Hitler's attack on Russia:

APPEAL
HEADS OF THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL HOUSE
GRAND DUKE VLADIMIR KIRILLOVICH

In this terrible hour, when Germany and almost all the peoples of Europe declared crusade against communism-Bolshevism, which has enslaved and oppressed the people of Russia for twenty-four years, I appeal to all the faithful and devoted sons of our Motherland with an appeal: to contribute, to the best of their ability and ability, to the overthrow of the Bolshevik government and the liberation of our Fatherland from the terrible yoke of communism.

The end of the war in 1945, Vladimir Kirillovich met in the so-called. 1st Russian National Army (the former division of the Abwehr punishers "Russland" Smyslovsky), crossing the border of Liechtenstein with them. These are the ups and downs of the great German dynasty.

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Books

• No wonder the whole of Russia remembers ... Gift edition (number of volumes: 3), Ivchenko L.. For the 200th anniversary Patriotic War 1812 "Young Guard" prepared many new editions. Among them are the biographies of the commanders who survived the battles with the previously invincible Napoleon and ...
• Tsesarevna. Sovereigns of Great Russia, Krasnov Pyotr Nikolaevich. This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. Lieutenant General, Ataman of the Don Army P. N. Krasnov is also known as a writer. In the novel...