Tables of ranks of the Russian Army

Russian army 1884-1917

The table shows the ranks of army ranks from 1884 to 1917. These are the years of reign Alexandra III(1881-1894), Nicholas II (1894-1917). During the period under review, the ranks in the guard were one class higher than in the army, i.e. The "old" and "young" guards are equal in rank. In 1891, Cossack ranks were established in the Cossack Life Guards and Ataman Life Guards Regiment (before that time, the ranks in these regiments were general cavalry). In 1884, the rank of “major” was finally abolished, and all officer ranks from second lieutenant to captain in the Table of Ranks were raised by one grade. The captain now has a staff officer grade of VIII, but is still listed in the chief officer ranks. Since 1884, the rank of warrant officer has been reserved only for wartime (assigned only during the war, and with its end, all warrant officers are subject to either retirement or the rank of second lieutenant). The rank of cornet in the cavalry is retained as the first officer rank. He is a grade lower than an infantry second lieutenant, but in the cavalry there is no rank of second lieutenant. This equalizes the ranks of infantry and cavalry. In Cossack units, officer classes are equal to cavalry classes, but have their own names. In this regard, the rank of military sergeant major, previously equal to a major, now becomes equal to a lieutenant colonel.

In 1912, the last Field Marshal General, Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin, who served as Minister of War from 1861 to 1881, dies. This rank was not assigned to anyone else, but nominally this rank was retained ( in 1910, the rank of Russian field marshal was awarded to King Nicholas I of Montenegro, and in 1912 to King Carol I of Romania. Note by A Shisharin 10.10.2000).

After October Revolution 1917 By decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars (Bolshevik government) of December 16, 1917, all military ranks were abolished. At this time, the Russian army was disintegrating. From individual military personnel, from the remnants of units of the imperial army, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Decree of the Central Executive Committee and Council of People's Commissars of January 15, 1918) and armed formations were simultaneously created White Movement(used throughout civil war the rank system presented here), the national armies of Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Poland, Finland (created their own rank systems).

Army infantry

Code*	Category	Rank class	Rank name
1a	Lower ranks		Private
2			Corporal
3	Non-commissioned officers		Junior non-commissioned officer
4a			Senior non-commissioned officer
4b			Sergeant Major
5a			Sub-ensign
5b			Ordinary ensign
7	Chief officers	XIV	Ensign
8a		XI	Second Lieutenant
8b		X	Lieutenant
9a		IX	Staff Captain
9b		VIII	Captain
11	Staff officers	VII	Lieutenant colonel
12		VI	Colonel
14	Generals	IV	Major General
15		III	Lieutenant General
16		II	General of Infantry
18		I	Field Marshal General

* Read more about rank encoding.

Army cavalry

Code*	Category	Rank class	Rank name
1	Lower ranks		Private
2			Corporal
3	Non-commissioned officers		Non-commissioned officer
4a			Junior Sergeant
4b			Senior Sergeant
7	Chief officers	XII	Cornet
8		X	Lieutenant
9a		IX	Staff Captain
9b		VIII	Captain
11	Staff officers	VII	Lieutenant colonel
12		VI	Colonel
14	Generals	IV	Major General
15		III	Lieutenant General
16		II	General of the Cavalry

Army Cossacks

Code*	Category	Rank class	Rank name
1	Lower ranks		Cossack
2			Orderly
3	Non-commissioned officers		Junior constable
4a			Senior constable
4b			Sergeant
5			Podkhorunzhy
7	Chief officers	XII	Cornet
8		X	Centurion
9a		IX	Podesaul
9b		VIII	Esaul
11	Staff officers	VII	Military foreman
12		VI	Colonel

Army Artillery / Corps of Engineers

Code*	Category	Rank class	Rank name
1	Lower ranks	.	Gunner
2			Bombardier
3	Non-commissioned officers		Junior fireworks
4a			Senior Fireworks Man
4b			Sergeant Major
5a			Sub-ensign
5b			Ordinary ensign
7	Chief officers	XIV	Ensign
8a		XI	Second Lieutenant
8b		X	Lieutenant
9a		IX	Staff Captain
9b		VIII	Captain
11	Staff officers	VII	Lieutenant colonel
12		VI	Colonel
14	Generals	IV	Major General
15		III	Lieutenant General
16		II	General-feldtsechmeister

In class II there were three ranks in the artillery and engineering troops: General of Artillery, General Engineer (General of Engineers) and General Feldzechmeister. The last rank was held by the chief chief of artillery and engineering troops.

During times Soviet Union many films were made in which the rank appeared Russian army- lieutenant. Today there is no such rank of military personnel, so many are interested in who in 2017 could be called a lieutenant, who is endowed with similar powers? To do this, it is worth looking into history.

Who is a lieutenant

The military rank of “lieutenant” is still used in some countries, but in Russia it is no longer used. This rank was first introduced in the 17th century, in the regiments of the “new order”. Lieutenant is a native Polish word; some people confuse its meaning, believing that military rank allowed entrusting private soldiers with important tasks. In fact, of course, the serviceman had the right to give instructions, which were agreed upon with the assistant commanders of the companies (the latter, by the way, were called squadrons). But his main professional activity consisted of accompanying marches when the privates were given to him “on bail.”

Later, the lieutenant could be found in the artillery and engineering troops, even in the guard. In 1798, the rank was abolished everywhere except among the guards. According to historical records, a similar rank was assigned to the Cossacks, but it was called “centurion”; the cavalry also did not lag behind - here the lieutenant was replaced by a staff captain. During the reign of the Tsar in Russia, a lieutenant in the navy was a midshipman; in civilian life, the rank was equivalent to collegiate secretary.

In 2017, the lieutenant still remains in the ranks of the Czech and Polish armies; he belongs to the junior officer corps, which means he can coordinate the actions of the rank and file and at the same time carry out the orders of senior officers.

Modern rank of lieutenant

Today, the lieutenant in the Russian army has been replaced by his equivalent - the lieutenant.

A lieutenant can be junior or senior, and he can also be retired or in reserve. IN the latter case The lieutenant is obliged to report for duty to defend the Motherland in the event of a confrontation between the Russian Federation and other states. If the service involves placement on a guards ship or a military unit of the guards type, the word “guards” is added to the rank.

Having received legal or medical education, lieutenant becomes lieutenant medical service or justice. You can determine that a senior lieutenant is next to you by looking at his shoulder straps:

• V longitudinal direction 2 stars are placed on the shoulder strap from the bottom edge;
• the third is fixed above the previous signs on the longitudinal axial strip;
• the diameter of the stars is small - 14 mm, the higher the rank of the serviceman, the larger the size of the insignia;
• the stars are arranged to form a triangle;
• if you measure the distance from the center of one star to the center of the other, it should be 29 mm;
• A button is sewn along the upper edge of the shoulder strap.

Lieutenant

The rank of lieutenant in the Russian army

Contrary to a common misconception, the name of the rank of lieutenant comes not from the word “assignment”, but from the word “bail”. Lieutenants were not “mission officers”, their main function was initially to accompany soldiers’ marching teams, while a junior officer was appointed who was officially (in writing) responsible for leading the soldiers to the specified point. This is where the name of the position came from, which later became a rank, and that is why there were no lieutenants in the Streltsy hundreds, orders and regiments - there were no soldiers there, and there was no need to vouch for the Streltsy, they had mutual responsibility.
At the same time, the word itself lieutenant in Russian long time was used as a synonym for comrade (i.e., one who vouches for another) and deputy. During the ministerial reform of 1802, the post of lieutenant minister was initially even established, which in the same year was renamed the post of comrade minister, which fell out of use only after the Civil War.
In the Russian army, lieutenant is a rank in most cases of chief officers, entitled “your honor.” The rank was first mentioned in the middle of the 16th century as an analogue of the rank of lieutenant in “foreign” companies. Since 1630, the rank has been used in the same capacity in the regiments of the “new order”, and, with the adoption of the Charter of 1647, it finally replaces the rank of lieutenant. By decree of 1680, Streltsy Pentecostals were renamed lieutenants. During this period, the lieutenant was considered to be higher in status than the ensign and lower than the captain (captain), this position was maintained according to the Charter of A. A. Weide of 1698. Initially, lieutenants were usually appointed as assistant commanders of companies (squadrons), and later as commanders of half-companies and plutongs.
The Naval Charter of 1720 introduced the rank of fleet lieutenant, equal to lieutenant; the status of a fleet lieutenant was higher than that of a second lieutenant of the fleet and lower than that of captain-lieutenant. In 1722, with the introduction of the Table of Ranks by Peter I, an attempt was made to remove the rank of lieutenant from use - in all branches of the army it was replaced by the rank of lieutenant and was retained only in the supply service (Furleit lieutenants, in status higher than the headquarters of the Fourier and lower than the Chief Wagenmeister). However, while in the navy the rank of lieutenant took root, in the army they soon returned to the rank of lieutenant. The army lieutenant initially belonged to the XII class of the Table and in status was higher than the second lieutenant and lower than the captain-lieutenant (since 1798 - staff captain). Artillery lieutenants belonged to class X, guards lieutenants to class IX. In the cavalry, lieutenants were considered lower in status than captains and higher than ensigns (since 1731, cornets, with the exception of the period 1765-1798, when cavalry ensigns were again introduced instead of cornets), since the ranks of captain-lieutenant and second lieutenant were not there, with the exception of some time dragoons (during the period when infantry ranks were used in dragoon regiments) and guards cavalry, where from 1731 (since its creation) the rank of second captain was established. In 1798, the rank of headquarters captain was introduced throughout the cavalry; from this year, cavalry lieutenants were considered to have a status higher than the cornet and lower than the headquarters captain.
In 1732, the rank of lieutenant of the fleet was restored, and until 1764 it belonged to the VIII class of the Table, and then, until abolition in 1798, to the IX class. Thus, naval lieutenants were for some time two classes higher than even guards lieutenants. During the period of the existence of the life campaign (1741-1761), the lieutenants of the life campaign also belonged to the VIII class of the Table. In 1798, the lieutenants of the guard were transferred to the X class of the Table and this state remained until the reform of 1826; in the “young guard”, the lieutenants until 1826 belonged to the IX class of the Table, then to the X class.
Until 1882, the rank of lieutenant was the primary chief officer rank in a separate corps of gendarmes.
In 1884, a reform was carried out, as a result of which the old and young guards, as well as officers of special troops (artillery, etc.) and the army, were equal in rights, after which army lieutenants belonged to class X of the Table, and guards - to class IX. This position remained until 1917, with the exception of the company of palace grenadiers, in which, since its creation in 1826, the lieutenants belonged to the VIII class of the Table.

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