Imperial Russian Army

Russian Imperial Army
Russian Imperial Army
Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия (Russian)
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Motto	За Веру, Царя и Отечество; "For Faith, Tsar, and Fatherland"
Founded	2 November 1721
Disbanded	22 November 1917
Service branches	Regular troops; Cossack troops; Muslim troops; State militia;
Headquarters	Imperial Main Headquarters
Leadership
Commander-in-chief	Emperor of Russia
Governing body	General Staff Stavka of the Supreme Commander (1914–17);
Supreme Commander (World War I)	Grand Duke Nicholas (first); Nikolay Dukhonin (last)
Chief of the General Staff	Pavel Gavrilovich Gagarin (first); Vladimir Marushevsky (last)
Personnel
Military age	21–43
Conscription	3–4 years; compulsory service
Active personnel	1,000,000–1,300,000 (1913); 15,000,000+ (total served; 1914–17)
Expenditures
Budget	325.6 million rubles (1902)
Related articles
History	Military history of the Russian Empire
Ranks	Ranks of the Imperial Russian military

Military summary
Wars^[b]	Notable commanders^[c]
Great Northern War Russo-Turkish Wars Russo-Swedish Wars Russo-Persian Wars Russo-Polish Wars Seven Years' War Great French War Caucasian War Crimean War Russo-Japanese War World War I Russian Revolution	Peter the Great Alexander I Boris Sheremetev Alexander Menshikov Mikhail Golitsyn Peter Lacy Khristofor von Münnich Pyotr Saltykov Pyotr Rumyantsev Alexander Suvorov Grigory Potemkin Ivan Gudovich Andrei Rosenberg Mikhail Kutuzov (Golenishchev-Kutuzov) Mikhail Barclay de Tolly Pyotr Bagration Peter Wittgenstein Mikhail Vorontsov Pyotr Kotlyarevsky Nikolay Kamensky Leonty Bennigsen Mikhail Miloradovich Ivan Paskevich Aleksey Yermolov Ivan Diebitsch Nikolay Muravyov Mikhail Gorchakov Konstantin von Kaufmann Dmitry Milyutin Mikhail Dragomirov Mikhail Skobelev Aleksei Brusilov Nikolai Ivanov Alexey Kaledin Nikolai Yudenich Anton Denikin Pyotr Wrangel

The Imperial Russian Army or Russian Imperial Army (Russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, romanized: Rússkaya imperátorskaya ármiya) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of regular troops and two forces that served on separate regulations: the Cossack troops and the Muslim troops.^[3]

In March 1917, the Imperial Army swore loyalty to the Russian Provisional Government after the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II.^[8] Even after the February Revolution, despite its ineffectiveness on the offensive, the majority of the army remained intact and the troops were still at the front lines. The "old army" did not begin disintegrating until early 1918.^[9]

^ Ziemke 2004, p. 22.
^ Reese 2019, p. 411.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g General Staff, War Office 1914, pp. 7–12.
^ ^a ^b ^c General Staff, War Office 1914, pp. 18–19.
^ ^a ^b Reese 2019, p. 316.
^ General Staff, War Office 1914, pp. 20–23.
^ Stepanov 2022, p. S728.
^ Reese 2019, pp. 365–370.
^ Reese 2019, pp. 285–286.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[FOOTNOTEZiemke200422-1] Ziemke 2004, p. 22.

[FOOTNOTEReese2019411-2] Reese 2019, p. 411.

[FOOTNOTEGeneral_Staff,_War_Office19147–12-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g General Staff, War Office 1914, pp. 7–12.

[FOOTNOTEGeneral_Staff,_War_Office191418–19-5] General Staff, War Office 1914, pp. 18–19.

[FOOTNOTEReese2019316-6] Reese 2019, p. 316.

[FOOTNOTEGeneral_Staff,_War_Office191420–23-7] General Staff, War Office 1914, pp. 20–23.

[FOOTNOTEStepanov2022S728-8] Stepanov 2022, p. S728.

[FOOTNOTEReese2019365–370-11] Reese 2019, pp. 365–370.

[FOOTNOTEReese2019285–286-12] Reese 2019, pp. 285–286.

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