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Infantry of the Russian Empire: history, uniform, weapons.

Smoothbore guns constituted the main armament of Russian artillery by the beginning of the 18th century. By 1805, the reorganization of weapons was completed, which consisted of reducing the number of calibers and improving artillery guns. One of the main contributions to this success was made by the Military Commission. Over the course of three years, the number of gun calibers was identified and the best of them were left in the army. Thus, Russian field artillery troops had a 3-, 6- and 12-pounder small-proportion cannon, a 12-pounder medium-proportion cannon and a quarter- and half-pound unicorn.

Foundry

The siege artillery was armed with 18-pounder cannons, 24-pounder cannons, one-pound unicorns and five-pound mortars. They produced guns, ammunition and other artillery from cast iron and copper in the Urals, in the central and northwestern part of the country. By the beginning of the 19th century, Russia did not have time to establish mass production of weapons from iron and steel, despite the fact that it had enormous advantages, such as lightness, strength and wear resistance. The firing range of such weapons is 2 times higher than that of copper or cast iron.

Moscow. Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812. Guns and mortars

Several large metallurgical plants operated in the northwestern part of the country. The largest of them was the Aleksandrovsky plant. It smelted about 170 thousand poods per year. Before the break in relations in 1808 Russian Empire with England, the Aleksandrovsky plant worked on coal, and then on wood. In the 12 years before the start of the war with Napoleon, the company transferred 5,701 guns to the artillery department. Thus, the Aleksandrovsky plant worked to supply fortresses and the fleet. The Kronstadt foundry also had a great influence in the metallurgy of the north-west. From 1801 until the start of the war, this plant produced up to 60-61 thousand pounds of shells per year. The St. Petersburg foundry produced 50 thousand pounds annually. Due to a shortage of fuel in 1811, these largest enterprises significantly reduced their production volumes, the government decided to transfer part of the load to enterprises in the central and southern regions.

The famous Shuvalovsky Unicorn

One of the largest in the center of the country was the Bryansk foundry. In 1806, the Bryansk Foundry was obliged to master the production of guns for mounted troops. It was necessary to produce 120 units of guns. In the year the war began, the plant handed over 180 guns to the army. The Gusevsky plant produced 120 units of 24-pound guns for the Black Sea Fleet and Western fortresses. In 1802, the enterprise began to produce exclusively ammunition, just like the Batashev factories in the center and the Lipetsk plant in the south.

In the south of the country the largest were the Lugansk and Lipetsk plants. From 1799, for 12 years, the Lugansk plant produced 50 thousand pounds of guns and ammunition every year. In 1812 - about 90 thousand pounds of ammunition and 20 thousand pounds of guns. Factories in the central and southern parts of the country produced half of the artillery weapons during the War of 1812. They also received metal from the Urals.

12-pounder small proportion gun of the 1805 model.

By the beginning of the 19th century, 158 metallurgical plants operated in the Ural region, 25 of which belonged to the state, the rest worked for private capital. Enterprises of the Urals provided other factories with metal and produced guns and ammunition independently. The largest center production of guns in the Urals in 1811 became Kamensky metallurgical plant, which previously produced only ammunition. During the period 1811-1813, the company produced 1,415 cannons in blanks. They took their final form at other factories. The Yekaterinburg plant also produced guns. In 1811 alone, he produced 30 thousand pounds of guns and ammunition for the country, and in the year the war began, he increased productivity to 87 thousand pounds. State factories were unable to cope with the required production volumes, so private enterprises were actively involved in government orders. Of the private factories involved in the casting of cannons, the most noticeable in the Urals was the Zlatoust plant. But the Ural factories played the biggest role in the production of ammunition. In 1811, the War Ministry ordered the Ural metallurgical enterprises to produce 400 thousand pounds of guns and almost five hundred thousand pounds of ammunition, and the Naval Department of ammunition ordered 33 thousand pounds.

Model 1801 24-pounder gun in stowed position. The weight of the gun is 5.3 tons, the barrel length is 21 caliber.

The factories of the Russian Empire fully provided the army with guns and ammunition. Even during the War of 1812, the Russian army did not need additional artillery weapons. To more efficiently supply the army, artillery parks were organized in 1812. There were 58 parks in total, consisting of 3 lines. The first line parks were intended to supply divisions and had their own transport. The second line parks existed to replenish the supplies of the first line, just as the third line parks replenished the second, the delivery of guns was carried out using local transport. The distance between the first and second line was 200-250 km, and between the second and third 150-200 km. Thus, retreating to the east, the army could be supported by artillery parks. All parks had a stock of guns of 296 thousand units and more than 40 million combat shells.

Weapons of infantry and cavalry

The Russian army also consisted of infantry troops and cavalry, armed with several types of firearms and bladed weapons. Light infantry in those days were called “jaegers”, their weapons were screw guns (16.5 mm with 6 grooves) with bayonets of the 1805 model, the best 12 shooters of the company and non-commissioned officers were armed with rifles (16.5 mm with 8 rifling) of the 1805 model, the firing range of which is 1000 steps. The musketeer and grenadier troops were armed with infantry flintlock smoothbore rifles mod. 1805 (19 mm) and mod. 1808 (17.7 mm). Among other things, the Russian Empire purchased some weapons in Europe. In England they bought Enfield infantry muskets mod. 1802 (19 mm), in Austria - infantry rifles mod. 1807 g (17.6 mm). The melee weapon of privates and non-commissioned officers was a cleaver with a single-edged blade mod. 1807 All officers and generals of the Russian infantry troops were armed with an infantry sword with a single-edged straight blade. 1798

The squadron of hussars was armed with 16 blunderbuss and light carbines, and the dragoons and cuirassiers were armed with smoothbore guns of the 1809 model. In addition, all squadrons of cavalry troops had 16 people with a cavalry rifled fitting of the 1803 model.

The cavalrymen of the Russian army were armed with 2 saddle pistols in holsters attached to both sides of the saddle. Horse artillerymen, infantry pioneers, and officers of all branches of the military had pistols in the troops of the Russian Empire. In the Russian army, just like the French, there were a wide variety of pistols, because officers could buy them at their own expense. One could see how the most common cavalry soldier pistols mod. 1809, as well as expensive examples made by the best European gunsmiths. The Cossacks also armed themselves with pistols at their own expense.

Cavalry pistol model 1809

Straight broadswords with single-edged blades became melee weapons for heavy cavalry; for dragoons - broadswords of the 1806 model, 102 cm long and weighing 1.65 kg. The scabbard for them was wooden, with metal plates and covered with leather. Cuirassier units kept their broadswords mod. 1810 in a steel scabbard. The Russian light cavalry used curved sabers of the 1798 and 1809 models. At the same time, the saber mod. 1798 was popular among the hussars; it was worn in a wooden sheath with metal overlays and a leather-covered scabbard. And the saber arr. 1809 were armed primarily by the lancers, who kept it in steel sheaths of 2 types. The Cossacks' edged weapons were amazing in their variety; they were often captured examples, passed down by inheritance.

Cavalry saber mod. 1809

The main problem of the Russian troops was the different calibers of the weapons, while some samples had already been taken out of production by that time. For example, rifle guns had 13 different calibers, and infantry guns had 28. Some of the weapons were domestic production, and some - foreign. In 1809, it was decided to leave a single caliber for all guns - 7 lines (17.7 mm). But constant wars, causing significant losses of weapons, did not allow the army to be completely re-equipped and brought to a single caliber.

Cuirassier officer's broadswords of the 1810 model.

In Russia weapon was produced mainly at three factories - Tula, Sestroretsk and Izhevsk. The arsenals of St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kyiv were also involved in the manufacture and repair of guns. The Tula plant became a center for the production of shotguns, with an annual volume of up to 43-45 thousand units. In 1808 he began to produce the latest designs weapons in the amount of 59.6 thousand guns per year, and the production volumes of the Tula plant grew every year. In 1812, a standard of 144 thousand units was established, of which 127 thousand were completed jointly with contractors.

The Sestroretsk plant was second in importance in the production of guns, and the Izhevsk plant, founded in 1807, was third. However, their productivity was tens of times lower than Tula. The arsenals were engaged in the repair of small arms. So in St. Petersburg in 1812, more than 80 thousand were repaired, in Moscow slightly less than 35 thousand, and in Kyiv - 35.1 thousand weapons.

Together, Russian arms factories at the beginning of the 19th century produced up to 150 thousand guns a year, about the same amount repaired arsenals, and do not forget about craft workshops. So Pavlovsk craftsmen in 1812-1813 made approximately a thousand guns for the militia. Russian industry in the 19th century it was able to fully provide the army with weapons for current tasks, the creation of new troops and some reserves. Thus, by the beginning of 1812, the arsenals of the Russian Empire included 162.7 thousand infantry, 2.7 thousand cuirassier, 3.5 thousand dragoon rifles, 3.9 thousand pairs of pistols and 6.9 thousand carbines. Most of them went into service with new regiments created during the war.

The armament of the militia was not so good. They required 250-300 thousand guns. Russian military factories were unable to provide this volume in a short time. We purchased 50 thousand guns from England, but they were not complete and arrived late. As a result, these guns were sent to Arzamas only in November 1812 to equip spare parts of the militia.

Edged weapons for the army were manufactured at the same enterprises where small arms were made. The Tula plant, for example, in 1808 produced more than 18 thousand cutlasses and about 600 sapper picks, and in 1812 it produced 8.6 thousand pike tips, 7 thousand sabers and 14.3 thousand cutlasses. Sestroretsk plant from 1805 to 1807 he produced 15.4 thousand cutlasses, and two years before the war about 20 thousand cutlasses. At the Izhevsk plant in 1812, 2.2 thousand cutlasses were produced. In 1812, the arsenals surpassed the largest factories in the production of edged weapons and provided the army with more than 100 thousand units various weapons. By the end of the modernization of the army of 1810-1812, there were 172 thousand units of bladed weapons in the warehouses of factories and arsenals, including cutlasses, cuirassier and dragoon broadswords, hussars and lancers. All of them were used to equip new regiments. But enterprises quickly replenished this stock again; by the beginning of August 1812, a third of the previous volumes were in the arsenal warehouses.

Gunpowder production

Much attention in the Russian Empire was paid to the production of gunpowder. In 1804, the government issued a regulation that state gunpowder factories should produce 47.5 thousand pounds of gunpowder annually, and private ones - 9 thousand pounds. This load was distributed according to production capacity between the largest Russian factories- Okhtensky, Shostensky and Kazansky. The Moscow private enterprises of Behrens and Gubin divided the load of 9 thousand poods among themselves. It was decided that 35 thousand poods each year would be transferred to military needs for combat training, the rest of the volume would be used to replenish combat reserves.

The experience of 1805-1807 showed that such a reserve was not enough to supply the army during hostilities, so from 1807 production volumes were ordered to be doubled. Now the productivity of gunpowder enterprises has reached the level of 116.1 thousand pounds per year; they maintained this rate of production until 1812. Thanks to such production volumes, by the end of 1811 Russia had a sufficient supply of gunpowder to conduct active military operations. In 1812, the country's gunpowder enterprises produced 95.1 thousand pounds of gunpowder, part of these reserves remained for 1813.

September 10, 2012
Few people remember that before the 1917 revolution, weapons were freely sold in hunting stores. Mausers, Nagans, Brownings, Smith-Wessons, and here are the Parabellums. Ladies' models that fit in women's handbag. "Velodogs" are revolvers for cyclists, for effective protection against dogs. Without much hassle, you could even buy a Tula-made Maxim heavy machine gun...

Let's open, for example, the Easter issue of the magazine "Ogonyok", 1914. Peaceful pre-war spring. We read the advertisement. Along with advertising for the “wonderful smelling cologne of Dralle,” photographic cameras “Ferrotype” and the anti-hemorrhoid remedy “Anuzol,” there is an advertisement for revolvers, pistols, and hunting rifles. And here is our old friend! The same Browning model 1906:

The magazine especially advertises EXACTLY Browning. In A. Zhuk's classic book "Small Weapons" the number of this model is 31-6. Made in Belgium, model 1906, caliber 6.35 mm. Weights only 350 grams, but has 6 rounds. And what cartridges! The cartridges were created specifically for this model. Jacketed bullet, smokeless gunpowder (3 times more powerful than smoke gunpowder). Such a cartridge was more powerful than a revolver cartridge of the same caliber. Browning's 1906 model was very successful. The dimensions of the pistol were only 11.4 x 5.3 cm and it easily fit in the palm of your hand. What else was needed for a safe trip to the market??? Market traders before the revolution were armed. It is not surprising that the concept of “racketeering” was completely absent in those days...

Browning could be worn secretly - it could even fit in a vest pocket and a lady's travel bag. Because of its light weight and low recoil, women willingly bought it, and the name “ladies' pistol” was firmly attached to it. Browning was a popular model among wide sections of Russian society long years. Students, high school students, students, businessmen, diplomats, even officers - even gardeners! - had it at hand. Thanks to its low price, it was available even to schoolchildren, and teachers noted the fashion among high school students and students to “shoot themselves because of unhappy love.” Small-caliber pistols were also called “suicide weapons.” Pistols large caliber they smashed the head like a pumpkin, and after a shot in the head from Browning, the dead man looked good in the coffin, which should have led to tears of remorse from the unfaithful traitor... But Browning was dangerous not only for its owner.

It was an effective self-defense weapon. A small-caliber shell bullet pierced a layer of muscle and got stuck inside the body, completely giving it its energy. The level of medicine at the beginning of the twentieth century often did not allow saving a person affected by internal organs Thanks to its compact size and its fighting qualities, the Browning Model 1906 was a popular model. In total, more than 4 MILLION of them were made! But how did they look at “exceeding the limits of necessary defense” in tsarist times? The term “necessary defense” first appeared in the decree of Paul I (whom our citizens often imagine as almost half-crazy) and it meant absolutely not what we are all used to. In the 18th century in Russia there was such a predatory trade - river piracy.

Isn’t this the kind of brass knuckles that journalists and writers walked around hot places with in their pockets? Isn’t this what V. A. Gilyarovsky mentions in his book “Moscow and Muscovites”?

Gangs of vagabonds attacked and robbed riverboats sailing along the main rivers. Emperor Paul I adopted a decree on the strict deprivation of the nobility of all nobles who were attacked on the rivers and did not offer armed resistance. The nobles then were, naturally, with swords, and if they did not carry out the NECESSARY DEFENSE, they were deprived of this sword, as well as their estates and titles... Thanks to this formulation of the question, at the very a short time the robbers were killed or fled and robbery on the rivers stopped. That is, the necessary defense was the NECESSITY for the armed man to DEFEND.

The Velodog pistol was very popular in the 19th century. It was designed for cyclists who were often attacked by dogs.

There were no “limits.” In Soviet times, this useful concept was distorted and, if found, it was only in the combination “EXCEEDING THE LIMITS OF NECESSARY DEFENSE.” A criminal offense was introduced for armed resistance to robbers, and the weapons themselves were taken away from the population. The Bolsheviks confiscated weapons from the population. For the complete “disarmament of the bourgeoisie”, detachments of the Red Guard and Soviet police worked hard, conducting mass searches. However, some irresponsible “kulaks,” as we see, were in no hurry to part with Brownings until the mid-30s. And I understand them, it’s a beautiful and necessary thing...

The pistol, from an everyday item, has since turned into a symbol of belonging to the security forces or the highest party elite in the USSR. The caliber of a pistol was inversely proportional to one's position in society. (The higher the official, the smaller the caliber of his pistol.) ... This Browning model was so popular that it gradually went out of circulation only with the creation of the Korovin pistol in 1926. Compared to the Browning, its cartridge was strengthened and the barrel was slightly lengthened, and the magazine capacity increased to 8 rounds. It is interesting that despite the small caliber, it enjoyed great success among command staff Red Army.

And all that remains for the ordinary Russian man in the street, exhausted by street crime, is to look longingly at the pages of pre-revolutionary magazines: “REVOLVER WITH 50 CARTRIDGES. ONLY 2 RUBLES. A safe and reliable weapon for self-defense, intimidation and raising alarm. Completely replaces expensive and dangerous revolvers. It hits amazingly hard. Everyone needs it. No permit is required for this revolver. 50 additional cartridges cost 75 kopecks, 100 pieces - 1 ruble. 40 kopecks, for postage by cash on delivery 35 kopecks are charged, to Siberia - 55 kopecks. When ordering 3 pieces, ONE REVOLVER is included FREE OF CHARGE. Address: Lodz, Partnership "SLAVA" O.»»

To be fair, it must be said that there were also some restrictions on the circulation of firearms: 1) the Supremely approved Opinion of the State Council of June 10, 1900, approved by Nicholas II, “On the prohibition of the manufacture and import from abroad of firearms of samples used by the troops” 2) the highest Emperor's decree "On the sale and storage of firearms, as well as explosives and on the construction of shooting ranges." Accordingly, customs restrictions on the import and export of military-style firearms were tightened. There were also secret circulars from the tsarist government ordering local authorities, at their discretion and taking into account the current situation, to confiscate weapons from disloyal subjects.

This is what Professor of the Imperial Moscow University I.T. wrote about the right of ordinary citizens to acquire, store and use civilian weapons in “Essay on the Science of Police Law”. Tarasov: “Despite the undoubted danger from careless, inept and malicious use of weapons, the prohibition of having weapons in no way can be a general rule, but only an exception that occurs when:

1. disturbances, disturbances or insurrections give reasonable cause to fear that the weapon will be used for dangerous criminal purposes;

2. the special situation or condition of those persons, for example, minors and minors, the insane, hostile or warring tribes, etc., which give rise to such fear;

3. past facts of careless or malicious use of weapons, ascertained by the court or otherwise, indicated the advisability of confiscating weapons from these persons.”

It is safe to say that in the Russian, then Russian, state, the right to arms was an inalienable right of every law-abiding and mentally healthy citizen; it was naturally subject to some temporary and local restrictions. Over time, this right underwent changes, meeting the needs of the era. In the 19th - early 20th centuries. Granting citizens the right to weapons, their acquisition, storage and use can be considered a progressive phenomenon, since at that time such a right did not exist in all countries. In the process of evolution, legislation has developed a rather strict procedure for storing, carrying and acquiring firearms by citizens. Since the 17th century, the right to bear arms was granted only to certain categories of persons. At the beginning of the 20th century, they were persons who had weapons as part of their uniform (for example, police or gendarmerie officials) who needed them for self-defense; for some, the carrying of weapons was obligatory due to custom, not prohibited by law; for hunting or sporting purposes.

With the development of firearms, legislation began to divide them into types: military - non-military models; rifled - smoothbore; guns - revolvers, etc. Thus, from 1649 to 1914, a coherent legislative system was formed in the Russian state, which avoided the extremes of permissiveness, on the one hand, and blanket prohibition, on the other.

A.S. Privalov, category III expert. Legislation on weapons in Russia in the 19th century

PURCHASED WEAPONS ALLOWED TO CARRY IN UNIFORM

Since the 18th century, commemorative inscriptions were most often made on donated army weapons: “For courage,” “God is with us!”, “Army of Free Russia.” Freedom as a state of society exists as long as the ownership of weapons is recognized as a natural right. A society ceases to be free when the natural right to own arms is replaced by a privilege granted by the state. Since the times of the Roman Empire, the main difference between a slave and a free citizen, along with political rights, was the right to carry and use weapons - from a dagger under a tunic to a Berdanka in a barn or a pistol in a holster. Incredibly, but true - throughout almost its entire history, the inhabitants of Russia were almost all of them were armed (as, indeed, were the inhabitants of neighboring Europe), until the middle of the 20th century.

"Clement" and "Bayard", convenient for concealed carry:

People without weapons easily became prey to highwaymen or nomads on the borders, as well as wild animals. Everyone had weapons, even the serfs. While liberal journalism was full of bile about “wild Asians” and “serfs,” the “slaves” owned hunting rifles and bladed weapons. This did not require any licenses or permits. They carried weapons freely where it was dictated by local customs that were not prohibited by law - for example, in the Caucasus or in places where the Cossacks lived, but this concerned mainly bladed weapons. By the way, in the Caucasus, not only the local “mountain eagles” freely carried weapons; Russians who came to the Caucasus had weapons with them almost without fail, and not only daggers, but also pistols.

The weapons culture in Russia developed in a very unique way. It had very significant differences by region, and there were also differences between city and countryside. In the European part of Russia, revolvers and pistols were considered “the master’s weapon” and absolutely useless for rural farming. “Risk people” - hunters, Siberian explorers and Cossacks - were armed with long-barreled rifled weapons; these passionaries of that time had a rifle or carbine in every house. Another thing is a gun - a useful thing in all respects. Coachmen without guns, especially in postal service, did not start the journey. The tavern keepers kept it under the counter, with cartridges loaded with coarse salt. The watchmen, preserving the master's property, used it as well. Traveling doctors were armed with pistols. The right to purchase, store and carry weapons was practically unlimited.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the first acts began to appear establishing categories of subjects who could own weapons, and the further, the more these categories became. Somewhere from the 19th century, in some regions of the Empire, the acquisition system formally became permissive - the governor-general or mayor issued mentally healthy and law-abiding residents permission to purchase “non-combatant” types of firearms (except for hunting ones, their possession was free). They, in the presence of “extraordinary circumstances” (unrest, riots, as well as specific facts of careless or malicious use of weapons), could deprive a person of weapons or introduce a special procedure for their sale, but only for the duration of these circumstances. But in practice, weapons permits were obtained everyone who contacted, because At that time, the state did not yet suspect that every student was a Marxist and a Narodnaya Volya member, or that every officer was a Decembrist. For violation of the regime of carrying weapons, the code of laws of the Russian Empire established liability, but the same Code minimized cases of its use.

Moreover, in villages and rural settlements, where most of the population then lived, there were no gendarmes or officials at all, and every peasant considered it his duty to keep a gun behind the stove from robbers. Such liberalism, by the way, gave rise to the very controversial practice of duels. For ardent students, young poets, proud officers and other nobles, it was never a problem to resolve a male dispute by force of arms. The government did not like this practice, which led to the prohibition of duels and strict punishment for participation in them, but never to the restriction of the right to arms. Well-known pre-revolutionary Russian lawyers (Koni, Andreevsky, Urusov, Plevako, Alexandrov) drew attention to the fact that subjects of the Russian Empire very often used manual firearms for self-defense, protecting the right to life, health, family and property. Needless to say, most of the lawyers brought up in the spirit of European freedoms directly supported the right of Russian people to Fluency weapons.

In cities before 1906, Nagan or Browning pistols could be purchased completely freely at affordable price 16 - 20 rubles (minimum monthly salary). The more advanced Parabellum and Mauser already cost more than 40 rubles. There were cheap samples, 2-5 rubles each, although they were not of particular quality. After the first Russian revolution, the confiscation of firearms began. Now only a person who presented a personal certificate (similar to a modern license) issued by the chief of the local police had the right to buy a pistol. During 1906 alone, tens of thousands of revolvers and pistols acquired by the Russians before the adoption of new rules were confiscated (1,137 “barrels” were confiscated in Rostov alone). But this campaign only affected powerful pistols(over 150 J of muzzle energy) and military samples. In native Russia, military-style rifles and carbines were also confiscated, including from “gentlemen,” except for award and prize items. For the “civilian public”, for hunting in the European part of Russia, rifled single and double-barreled fittings or “tees” were considered permitted. And on the “outskirts of the Empire” people were still quite armed.

The exceptions were officers of the army and navy, ranks of the police and gendarmerie, border guards, as well as government bodies, who had the right to purchase as personal property, for official needs, any small arms. These “sovereign” people could and were even obliged to use weapons for personal self-defense or maintaining public order even during off-duty periods. Upon retirement, these categories of civil servants retained the right to own weapons.

At the beginning of the century, when scientific and technological progress was gaining momentum, and residential buildings and hotels were already appearing in Russia, modern in all respects, where there was hot water, elevators, telephones and refrigeration units. Electricity illuminated not only the apartments, rooms and entrances, but also the areas adjacent to the new buildings, where electric city trams ran briskly.

At the same time, a new word was said in the field of self-defense weapons - a hammerless semi-automatic (self-loading) pocket pistol, which combined the compactness of a small-caliber revolver, or derringer, but the safety and quantity of self-loading ammunition:

Hammerless pistols allowed a potential victim to use such a weapon without much preparation. A fragile, frightened and confused lady could hit an attacker without even damaging her manicure. However, there were various kinds hybrids, quite successful and in demand.

1. Hammerless shotgun from the Liege Manufactory according to the Anson and Delay system. Steel barrels from the "Liège Manufacture" tested with smokeless powder, left-handed choke-bor, guilleché rib, triple bolt with Greener bolt, block with cheeks protecting the barrels from loosening, safety on the neck of the stock, if desired, the strikers can be lowered smoothly without hitting the piston, Perdet forend , small English engraving, caliber 12, 16 and 20. Price 110 rub.2. A hammerless cage gun made by the Liege Manufactory according to the Anson and Delay system. Steel barrels from the "Liège Manufacture" tested with smokeless powder, both chock-boron, guilleché rib, quadruple "Rational" bolt with Griner bolt, block with cheeks protecting the barrels from loosening, safety on the neck of the stock, if desired, the strikers can be released smoothly without hitting the piston , Perde handguard, fine English engraving, caliber 12, barrel length 17 inches, weight about 8 pounds. Price 125 rubles. There were also much cheaper and quite reliable single-barreled and double-barreled guns available to the poor, at a price of 7-10 rubles.

Anatoly Fedorovich Koni, chief prosecutor of the criminal cassation department of the Government Senate (highest prosecutorial position), member of the State Council of the Russian Empire “On the right of necessary defense”: “Man has an inherent sense of self-preservation. It is inherent in him both as a morally rational being and as a higher animal creation kingdom. This feeling is implanted by nature in a person so deeply that it almost never leaves him; a person strives for self-preservation on the one hand, instinctively, and on the other, realizing his right to exist. Due to the desire for self-preservation, a person tries to avoid danger and accepts everything measures to avert it; - he has the right to this and, moreover, a right that should be considered as innate. Conscious of his right to exist, a person protects this right from any encroachment by others, from any wrong." The most reliable pistol was still revolver, the misfire of one cartridge did not lead to the removal of the revolver from the combat state, since the next time the trigger was pressed, another cartridge was fed. And the drums of small-caliber revolvers of the "Velodog" type could hold up to 20 cartridges:

Apart from hunting rifles, for the purchase of which in Russia, until 1917, permission was never required from anyone or anyone. There were also pistols, which were essentially sawn-off shotguns of single- and double-barreled hunting rifles, both the simplest and those stylized as antique or combat pistols. These are very formidable weapons (some examples are capable of completely blowing off an attacker’s head), along with hunting rifles, they were used demand from those who did not want to burden themselves with a trip to the police station or, due to the specifics of the work, transferred it, for example, from one watchman to another or from one salesman who passed his shift to another:

Almost all coachmen and car owners had such a pistol under their seat or a cheaper, but no less effective domestic analogue, the abundance of which was provided by various kinds of artels and partnerships, which did not need advertising because of their cheapness. And the state Imperial Tula Arms Plant (ITOZ), in addition to the low price, also provided high quality thanks to constantly conducted research and testing. But guns and pistols camouflaged as a cane (some models also did not require any permits at all) could always be in the hand and ready for use. It is very difficult even for an experienced robber to take the owner of such a weapon by surprise:

Among the pragmatic Russian peasantry, as a rule, domestic hunting rifles were in greatest demand; in addition to the always necessary practical benefits, they were also an excellent guarantee against any encroachment by uninvited guests. The ratio of price and quality put the famous state Imperial Tula Arms Factory beyond any competition , on free Russian market civilian weapons. These “economy class” guns, but of excellent quality and reliability, were offered even by expensive metropolitan gun showrooms:

And so began state control over the quality of manufactured products, in particular weapons, which remained at the highest level until 1917:

It is safe to say that the traditionally high quality of Russian weapons and the strictest responsibility for the state mark were laid down precisely by the Russian tsars. By the way, those who like to whine and moan about the constantly offended unarmed and defenseless peasants and lie about the patronage of the Russian tsars to landowners, capitalists, and other “evil exploiters "and officials, I advise you to pay attention to what punishments these groups of people were subjected to, and how the punishment was softened in accordance with the reduction in the rank of a particular responsible person and vice versa... I also want to draw attention to the fact that almost all serious trading establishments provided customers with installment payments, in the presence of a guarantee ( letter of guarantee, income certificates) from military authorities for military personnel or employer for civilians.

Naturally, with the onset of 1917, the beginning of mass desertion from the front, and the weakening of the government, control over the armament of citizens decreased significantly. In addition, soldiers leaving the hated war often returned home with rifles and pistols, or even something heavier. Thus, the total armament of Russian times Civil War contributed not only to bloodshed, but also to the self-defense of the inhabitants of Russia from numerous gangs, as well as, for example, the expulsion of the interventionists and a widespread guerrilla war against Kolchak in Siberia without any Red Army. An interesting point is that after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks were able to immediately gain a foothold only in the central provinces of Russia, whose population was armed less than in the Caucasian and Cossack outskirts. The harsh actions of the food detachments did not meet any resistance only in central Russia, from which people most willingly joined the Red Army - weapons restored a sense of freedom.

Having seized power, the Bolsheviks tried to limit the right to own weapons by introducing a corresponding ban into the Criminal Code. However, the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1926 contained a completely ridiculous sanction for those times - six months of correctional labor or a fine of up to a thousand rubles with confiscation of weapons. In 1935, imprisonment for up to 5 years was established, when the situation in the world became more complicated, and various types of terrorists were operating in the country, the “authorities” actually turned a blind eye to the violation of this article. Plus, this did not apply to hunting weapons. Smoothbore guns, berdanks, and small guns were sold and stored completely freely, like fishing rods or gardening tools. To purchase them, you had to present a hunting license.

It is important to understand here that the Bolsheviks did not ban, but simply transferred the ownership of weapons to a different plane. And the “tightening of the screws” was compensated by the free circulation of hunting weapons and the general militarization of civilian life. In addition, the majority of civil passionaries of that time were plant managers, party commissars and all politically important people up to the collective farm foreman had a pistol with them and could open fire on those who seemed to them to be a bandit or terrorist. During a period of constant tension on the borders, weapons were generally an integral attribute of tens of millions of people living in threatened territories. And, for example, “excesses on the ground” during collectivization immediately met with an adequate armed rebuff, which was one of the reasons for course correction and recognition of “vertigo” from success." Operational reports from the NKVD departments of that time are full of reports of how peasants met particularly zealous “collectivizers” with merciless shooting.

After 1953, there was also a legislative relaxation of the procedure for the circulation of weapons among the population. Thus, citizens were given the right to freely purchase hunting smooth-bore weapons from trading organizations without “problems” with hunting tickets. At the same time, a group of lawyers of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR prepared the first bill on weapons. According to it, “reliable citizens” (as in tsarist times, loyal to the regime) were supposed to be allowed to purchase firearms, including short-barreled ones, as personal property. It was planned to sell to citizens removed weapons (except automatic ones), as well as captured and Lend-Lease weapons (no restrictions on the power of the ammunition used were planned). The law was approved by almost all authorities, except for one, the most important one - by the end of the 50s, the “nuts” returned to their original position.

Everything changed in the late 1960s. The free possession of even hunting weapons was prohibited and the requirements for hunting licenses were restored. Since then, no one except police and military personnel could freely own weapons. Weapons have become the privilege of police officers and security officers. For an ordinary citizen, even a hunting rifle meant a humiliating “walking around on certificates.” A campaign began to pass the “hunting minimum”, which resulted in the police permit system. And the number of police officers has increased fivefold.

Few people know that before the 1917 revolution, weapons were freely sold in hunting stores. Mausers, Nagants, Brownings, Smith-Wessons... Parabellums. Ladies' models that fit in a woman's handbag.

“Velodogs” are revolvers for cyclists, for effective protection against dogs. You could even buy a Tula-made Maxim heavy machine gun...

Let's open, for example, the Easter issue of the Ogonyok magazine, 1914. Peaceful pre-war spring. We read the advertisement. Along with advertising for the “wonderful smelling cologne of Dralle,” photographic cameras “Ferrotype” and the anti-hemorrhoid remedy “Anuzol,” there was advertising for revolvers, pistols, and hunting rifles. And here is our old friend! The same Browning model 1906:

The magazine especially advertises EXACTLY Browning. In A. Zhuk’s classic book “Small Weapons” the number of this model is 31-6. Made: Belgium, model 1906, caliber 6.35 mm. Weights only 350 grams, but has 6 rounds. And what cartridges! The cartridges were created specifically for this model.

Jacketed bullet, smokeless gunpowder (3 times more powerful than smoke gunpowder). Such a cartridge was more powerful than a revolver cartridge of the same caliber. Browning's 1906 model was very successful. The dimensions of the pistol were only 11.4x5.3 cm, and it easily fit in the palm of your hand. What else was needed for a safe trip to the market??? Market traders were armed before the revolution. It is not surprising that the concept of “racketeering” was completely absent in those days...

Students, high school students, students, businessmen, diplomats, even officers - even gardeners! — had it at hand. Thanks to its low price, it was available even to schoolchildren, and teachers noted the fashion among high school students and students to “shoot because of unhappy love.” Small-caliber pistols were also called “suicide weapons.” Large-caliber pistols smashed the head like a pumpkin, and after a shot in the head from Browning, the dead man looked good in the coffin, which should have led to tears of repentance from the unfaithful traitor... But Browning was dangerous not only for its owner.

In total, more than 4 MILLION pieces were made! But how did they look at “exceeding the limits of necessary defense” in tsarist times? The very term “necessary defense” first appeared in the decree of Paul I (whom our citizens often imagine as almost half-crazy), and it meant something completely different from what we are all used to. In the 18th century in Russia there was such a robbery industry - river piracy.

Isn’t this the kind of brass knuckles that journalists and writers walked around hot spots with in their pockets? Isn’t this what V. A. Gilyarovsky mentions in his book “Moscow and Muscovites”?

The nobles then naturally had swords, and if they did not carry out the NECESSARY DEFENSE, they were deprived of this sword, as well as their estates and titles... Thanks to this formulation of the issue, in a very short time the robbers were killed or fled, and robbery on the rivers stopped. That is, the necessary defense was the NECESSITY for the armed man to DEFEND.

The Velodog pistol was very popular in the 19th century. It was designed for cyclists who were often attacked by dogs.

There were no “limits”. In Soviet times, this useful concept was distorted and, if it occurs, it is only in the combination “EXCEEDING THE LIMITS OF NECESSARY DEFENSE.” A criminal offense was introduced for armed resistance to robbers, and the weapons themselves were taken away from the population. The Bolsheviks confiscated weapons from the population. To completely “disarm the bourgeoisie,” detachments of the Red Guard and Soviet police did a lot of work, conducting mass searches. However, some irresponsible “kulaks,” as we see, were in no hurry to part with Brownings until the mid-30s. And I understand them, it’s a beautiful and necessary thing...

This Browning model was so popular that it gradually went out of circulation only with the creation of the Korovin pistol in 1926. Compared to the Browning, its cartridge was strengthened and the barrel was slightly lengthened, and the magazine capacity increased to 8 rounds. It is interesting that despite its small caliber, it enjoyed great success among the command staff of the Red Army.

No permit is required for this revolver. 50 additional cartridges cost 75 kopecks, 100 pieces - 1 ruble. 40 kopecks, for postage by cash on delivery 35 kopecks are charged, to Siberia - 55 kopecks. When ordering 3 pieces, ONE REVOLVER is included FREE OF CHARGE. Address: Lodz, Partnership “SLAVA” O.”

Accordingly, customs restrictions on the import and export of military-style firearms were tightened. There were also secret circulars from the tsarist government ordering local authorities, at their discretion and taking into account the current situation, to confiscate weapons from disloyal subjects.

1. disturbances, disturbances or insurrections give reasonable cause to fear that the weapon will be used for dangerous criminal purposes;

2. the special situation or condition of those persons, for example, minors and minors, the insane, hostile or warring tribes, etc., which give rise to such fear;

3. past facts of careless or malicious use of weapons, ascertained by the court or otherwise, indicated the advisability of confiscating weapons from these persons.”

In the XIX - early XX centuries. Granting citizens the right to weapons, their acquisition, storage and use can be considered a progressive phenomenon, since at that time such a right did not exist in all countries. In the process of evolution, legislation has developed a rather strict procedure for storing, carrying and acquiring firearms by citizens. Since the 17th century, the right to bear arms was granted only to certain categories of persons.

At the beginning of the 20th century, they were persons who had weapons as part of their uniform (for example, police or gendarmerie officials) who needed them for self-defense; for some, the carrying of weapons was obligatory due to custom, not prohibited by law; for hunting or sporting purposes.

With the development of firearms, legislation began to divide them into types: military - non-military models; rifled - smooth-bore; guns - revolvers, etc. Thus, from 1649 to 1914, a harmonious legislative system was formed in the Russian state, which avoided the extremes of permissiveness, on the one hand, and blanket prohibition, on the other.

PURCHASED WEAPONS ALLOWED TO CARRY IN UNIFORM

Since the 18th century, commemorative inscriptions were most often made on donated army weapons: “For courage”, “God is with us!”, “Army of Free Russia”. Freedom as a state of society exists as long as gun ownership is recognized as a natural right. A society ceases to be free when the natural right to own arms is replaced by a privilege granted by the state.

Since the time of the Roman Empire, the main difference between a slave and a free citizen, along with political rights, was the right to carry and use weapons - from a dagger under a tunic to a gun in a barn or a pistol in a holster. Incredible, but true - throughout almost its entire history, the inhabitants of Russia were almost entirely armed (as, indeed, were the inhabitants of neighboring Europe), until the middle of the 20th century.

They carried weapons freely where it was dictated by local customs that were not prohibited by law - for example, in the Caucasus or in places where the Cossacks lived, but this concerned mainly bladed weapons. By the way, in the Caucasus, not only the local “mountain eagles” freely carried weapons; Russians who came to the Caucasus had weapons with them almost without fail, and not only daggers, but also pistols.

Another thing is a gun - a useful thing in all respects. Coachmen, especially in the postal service, were not allowed to travel without a gun. The tavern keepers kept it under the counter, with cartridges loaded with coarse salt. The watchmen, preserving the master's property, used it as well. Traveling doctors were armed with pistols. The right to acquire, store and bear arms was practically unrestricted.

They, in the presence of “extraordinary circumstances” (unrest, riots, as well as specific facts of careless or malicious use of weapons), could deprive a person of weapons or introduce a special procedure for their sale, but only for the duration of these circumstances.

But in practice, everyone who applied received a weapons permit, because At that time, the state did not yet suspect that every student was a Marxist and a Narodnaya Volya member, or that every officer was a Decembrist. For violation of the regime of carrying weapons, the code of laws of the Russian Empire established liability, but the same Code minimized cases of its use.

In addition, in the villages and rural settlements, where most of the population then lived, there were no gendarmes or officials at all, and every peasant considered it his duty to keep a gun behind the stove from robbers. Such liberalism, by the way, gave rise to the very controversial practice of duels.

For ardent students, young poets, proud officers and other nobles, it was never a problem to resolve a male dispute by force of arms. The government did not like this practice, which led to the prohibition of duels and strict punishment for participation in them, but never to the restriction of the right to arms. Well-known pre-revolutionary Russian lawyers (Koni, Andreevsky, Urusov, Plevako, Alexandrov) drew attention to the fact that subjects of the Russian Empire very often used handguns for self-defense, defending the right to life, health, family and property. Needless to say, the majority of lawyers educated in the spirit of European freedoms directly supported the right of Russian people to freely own weapons.

In cities before 1906, Nagan or Browning pistols could be purchased completely freely at an affordable price of 16 - 20 rubles (minimum monthly salary). The more advanced Parabellum and Mauser already cost more than 40 rubles.

There were cheap samples, 2-5 rubles each, although they were not of particular quality. After the first Russian revolution, the confiscation of firearms began. Now only a person who presented a personal certificate (similar to a modern license) issued by the chief of the local police had the right to buy a pistol.

During 1906 alone, tens of thousands of revolvers and pistols acquired by the Russians before the adoption of new rules were confiscated (1,137 “barrels” were confiscated in Rostov alone). But this campaign affected only powerful pistols (over 150 J of muzzle energy) and military models. In native Russia, military-style rifles and carbines were also confiscated, including from “gentlemen,” except for award and prize items. For the “civilian public”, for hunting in the European part of Russia, rifled single and double-barreled fittings or “tees” were considered permitted. And on the “outskirts of the Empire” people were still quite armed.

At the beginning of the century, when scientific and technological progress was gaining momentum, residential buildings and hotels were already appearing in Russia, modern in all respects, with hot water, elevators, telephones and refrigeration units. Electricity illuminated not only the apartments, rooms and entrances, but also the areas adjacent to the new buildings, where electric city trams ran briskly.

Hammerless pistols allowed a potential victim to use such a weapon without much preparation. A fragile, frightened and confused lady could hit the attacker without even damaging her manicure. However, there were various kinds of hybrids that were quite successful and in demand.

Due to the desire for self-preservation, a person tries to avoid danger and takes all measures to avert it; - he has the right to this and, moreover, a right that should be considered as innate. Conscious of his right to exist, a person protects this right from any encroachment by others, from any wrong.” The most reliable pistol was still a revolver; the misfire of one cartridge did not lead to the revolver being taken out of combat mode, since the next time the trigger was pulled, another cartridge was fired. And the drums of small-caliber revolvers of the “Velodog” type could hold up to 20 rounds.

This very formidable weapon (some samples are capable of completely blowing off an attacker’s head), along with hunting rifles, was in demand among those who did not want to burden themselves with a trip to the police station or, due to the specifics of the work, passed it on, for example, from one watchman to another or from one the seller who handed over the shift to another.

And the state-owned Imperial Tula Arms Plant (ITOZ), in addition to low prices, also ensured high quality thanks to constantly ongoing research and testing. But guns and pistols camouflaged as a cane (some models also did not require any permits at all) could always be in hand and ready for use. It is very difficult even for an experienced robber to take the owner of such a weapon by surprise:

Among the pragmatic Russian peasantry, as a rule, domestic hunting rifles were in greatest demand; in addition to the always necessary practical benefits, they were also an excellent guarantee against any encroachment by uninvited guests. The ratio of price and quality placed the famous state Imperial Tula Arms Factory beyond any competition on the free Russian market for civilian weapons.

And so began state control over the quality of manufactured products, in particular weapons, which remained at the highest level until 1917:

And how the punishment was mitigated in accordance with the reduction in the rank of a particular responsible person and vice versa... I also want to draw attention to the fact that almost all serious trading establishments provided customers with installment payments, in the presence of a guarantee (letter of guarantee, certificate of income) from the military superiors for military personnel or employer for civilians.

Thus, the universal armament of the Russians during the Civil War contributed not only to bloodshed, but also to the self-defense of the inhabitants of Russia from numerous gangs, as well as, for example, the expulsion of the interventionists and a widespread guerrilla war against Kolchak in Siberia without any Red Army. An interesting point - after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks were able to immediately gain a foothold only in the central provinces of Russia, whose population was less armed than in the Caucasian and Cossack outskirts. The harsh actions of the food detachments did not meet any resistance only in central Russia, from which people most willingly joined the Red Army - weapons restored a sense of freedom.

In 1935, imprisonment for up to 5 years was established, when the situation in the world became more complicated, and various types of terrorists were operating in the country, the “authorities” actually turned a blind eye to the violation of this article. Plus, this did not apply to hunting weapons. Smoothbore guns, berdanks, and small guns were sold and stored completely freely, like fishing rods or gardening tools. To purchase them, you had to present a hunting license.

During a period of constant tension on the borders, weapons were generally an integral attribute of tens of millions of people living in threatened territories. And, for example, “excesses on the ground” during collectivization immediately met with adequate armed resistance, which was one of the reasons for course correction and recognition of “dizziness from success.” Operational reports from the NKVD departments of that time are full of reports of how peasants met particularly zealous “collectivizers” with merciless shooting.

According to it, “reliable citizens” (as in tsarist times, loyal to the regime) were supposed to be allowed to purchase firearms, including short-barreled ones, as personal property. It was planned to sell to citizens removed weapons (except automatic ones), as well as captured and Lend-Lease weapons (no restrictions on the power of the ammunition used were planned). The law was approved by almost all authorities, except for one, the most important one - by the end of the 50s, the “nuts” had returned to their original position.

When Russia was an empire, it had no tanks, no jets, no nuclear weapons. The Russians won wars and defended the country with completely different weapons.

Checker

A piercing-cutting weapon with a long, slightly curved blade without a guard. Among the Circassian tribes, the saber was initially used as a household tool for cutting twigs, and from the end of the 18th century it became widespread as a weapon, gradually replacing the saber.

During Caucasian War became widespread among regular Russian troops and in 1835 was adopted by the Cossacks. Before other regular units, the saber found use in the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment.

The saber is an exclusively offensive weapon. Fighting with checkers, in fact, excludes the possibility of fencing (as, for example, with sabers or swords), but represents a set of techniques, performing which the fighter sought to evade the enemy’s blow and deliver a quick chopping blow. If you try to parry an enemy's blow, there is a high probability of breaking your own blade. Therefore, in the 19th century there was a saying: “They cut with sabers, but they cut with checkers.”

At the moment, very few real Circassian checkers have survived in collections - much more often you can see skillfully decorated ones, but partly lost their fighting qualities Dagestan checkers. In a number of cases, the highlanders used a burqa wrapped around their arm to parry enemy attacks. There are, however, a number of interesting cases. For example, Denis Davydov in his “Military Notes” mentions that upon entering Dresden: “ my clothes consisted of a black checkman, red trousers and a red hat with a black band; I had a Circassian saber on my hip and orders on my neck: Vladimir, Anna, decorated with diamonds».

It is very difficult to say for sure where Denis Vasilyevich got the saber and whether the famous partisan owned it. But in Dubourg’s engraving of 1814, Davydov is depicted with a saber. Since 1881, the saber was adopted by all Russian cavalry, and later became widespread in infantry units. And since the second half of the 20th century it has been used as a ceremonial weapon.

Union

Individual rifled, muzzle-loading small arms with a relatively short barrel. It is almost impossible to hammer a bullet into the grooves with just one ramrod - a special hammer was used for this purpose. With a longer barrel length this was difficult to do.

In the Russian army, the best shooters and huntsmen were armed with rifles. The main task of the rangers is to engage enemy artillerymen from long distances, operating in loose formation. The enemy artillery in response could not use grapeshot due to the considerable distance, and firing cannonballs at a loose formation was ineffective. On occasion, the rangers also hit enemy officers. Thus, in the infamous battle for the Russian army on the Black River in 1855 (near Sevastopol), two Sardinian generals were killed by Russian riflemen, who imprudently approached Russian positions in bright dress uniforms.
The high cost of production, the need for good training of the shooter and the duration of loading were the reasons why the fittings were not widely used in the Russian army. After finishing Crimean War these weapons were supplanted by rifles, and the term shtuzer began to be used in relation to breech-loading rifled hunting rifles.

Guns

The small arms system is quite conservative in the Russian army small arms preserved for decades and examples of the most different eras. At the beginning of the 19th century, guns of the 1805 and 1808 models were adopted. The service life of guns in the Russian army in the first half of the 19th century was determined to be 40 years. The Russian army used smooth-bore muzzle-loading guns. Since there were no unitary cartridges, a cartridge was a measure of gunpowder placed in a cloth or paper shell. The soldier poured gunpowder onto the shelf and into the barrel of the weapon, hammered the bullet with a ramrod, using the cartridge shell as a wad.

Shooting was carried out in volleys and on command. In a dense formation it was almost impossible to do otherwise. Accuracy was low, which was compensated by the power of the salvo, and a wound inflicted by a soft spherical bullet very often doomed the enemy to death or amputation of a limb. In essence, handling a gun came down to a series of automated loading, shooting and bayonet fighting techniques.

Contrary to popular belief, the soldier himself never cleaned the weapon - if you try to clean the barrel with a ramrod, it means clogging the seed hole. The gun had to be disassembled for cleaning, which only a gunsmith could do. And especially inquisitive lower ranks, who tried to do something more with a gun, were harshly and visually punished by non-commissioned officers.

Massive triangular bayonets were usually kept attached to the weapon. And again the bayonet was not sharpened. There was no need for wit to inflict a terrible, ragged, unhealed wound, which is why the line from Lermontov’s memorable “Borodino” is a beautiful literary device.

Sapper cleaver model 1834

In the Peter the Great era, a long straight sword was initially introduced for both officers and lower ranks. However, in the infantry, when using dense linear formations, this weapon was perhaps only suitable for self-defense, and fencing training was not carried out. As a result, the soldier did not need a long sword, and since the time of Anna Ioannovna it has been replaced by half sabers and cutlasses.

In the 19th century, cutlasses could be used in hand-to-hand combat as an auxiliary weapon if a soldier lost his gun. The sapper units had cutlasses with teeth on the butt of the blade. But they were never conceived as the main weapon and no fencing techniques were practiced. The formidable teeth were not intended to frighten or chop the enemy, but for completely routine work as a saw.

Dirk

Dirks are known in Western Europe as a formidable boarding weapon since the 16th century. In a desperate fight on the deck and in the interior of a ship, you cannot turn around with a long broadsword or sword. At the dawn of the New Time, dirks had a very impressive length from 60 to 80 cm. Subsequently, the length of the weapon gradually decreased. In Russia, daggers have been known since the 18th century.

Boarding battles and, accordingly, the use of dirks in the Russian fleet could be in Northern War, where four battles on the water were noted (two of them at sea) when large boarding battles took place. True, even though the sailors had daggers, impact force Russian boarders consisted of infantry units that sat on the oars of galleys during the movement, and used the usual infantry weapons in battle. Therefore, there is no need to talk about a massacre on the deck of a ship, where Russian sailors used daggers en masse.

The dirk, however, became an attribute of the form naval officer. The dirk could act as a reward weapon for St. George or Annensky. It is known that with the help of a dagger, Peter I closed the question of electing a new patriarch, when, in response to the dissatisfied murmur of the clergy, the tsar drew the dagger and stuck it into the table with the words: “ And for those who are opposed to this, here is the damask patriarch».

On the one hand, in the last decades of the Russian Empire, the country rapidly modernized. On the other hand, there was a sense of technical backwardness and dependence on foreign technologies and imported components. With an impressive aircraft fleet, for example, there was virtually no production of aircraft engines. With the increased role of artillery, equipment Russian army guns and ammunition were clearly insufficient. While the Germans actively used an extensive railway network to transport troops, ours railways did not meet the needs of a huge country and its army. Having had serious successes in the war with Germany's allies - patchwork Austria-Hungary and the Turks, Russia lost almost all the major battles with the Germans and ended the war with territorial losses and the Brest-Litovsk Treaty imposed by the winners. Then Germany collapsed, but quickly rose again as a dangerous, well-armed and aggressive enemy. However, the lessons of the First World War were learned. It took the colossal effort of the first five-year plans for the USSR to be able to provide the energy base for a large military industry, build factories and create its own weapons systems in order, although at the cost of colossal sacrifices, to still end the war in Berlin.

1. Airplane “Ilya Muromets”

On the eve of the First World War, Russia had an impressive fleet of military aircraft (about 250 units), but these were mainly models assembled under foreign licenses from foreign components. Despite the general weakness of the domestic aviation industry of those years, Russia built an aircraft that broke many records. “Ilya Muromets” designed by I.I. Sikorsky became the world's first serial multi-engine aircraft and the first heavy bomber.

2. Battleship "Sevastopol"

The defeat in the Russo-Japanese War seriously weakened the Baltic Fleet, from which squadrons were formed for the Pacific theater of operations. Russia made enormous efforts to restore its potential in the Baltic on the eve of the First World War. One of the important steps in this direction was the laying down of four Sevastopol-class battleships at the shipyards of St. Petersburg. These ships, built in the image of English dreadnoughts, had great firepower, being armed with twelve 305 mm guns in four three-gun turrets.

3. Revolver "Nagant"

"Nagan" became mass weapons The Russian army as a result of the rearmament campaign organized by the government of the Russian Empire in late XIX century. A competition was announced in which mainly Belgian gunsmiths competed. The competition was won by Leon Nagant, but according to the terms of the competition he had to simplify his model and remake it to 7.62 mm - the “three-ruler” caliber. In Russia, an “officer” version (with a double platoon system) and a soldier version (simplified) were produced.

4. “Three-line” 1891

In the last third of the 19th century in Europe, the transition to repeating rifles began, which made it possible to increase the rate of fire of weapons. Russia also joined this process in 1888, creating a special commission for rearmament. A member of the commission was the head of the workshop of the Tula Arms Plant, Sergei Mosin. Subsequently, the “three-line” rifle he created competed with Leon Nagant’s rifle, but the Russian design demonstrated greater reliability and was adopted for service.

5. 76-mm gun model 1902

The rapid-fire field gun, one of the most common light guns in the Russian Army, was developed at the Putilov plant in St. Petersburg by designers L.A. Bishlyak, K.M. Sokolovsky and K.I. Lipnitsky. The infantry division included an artillery brigade of two three-battery battalions of these guns. Sometimes the “three-inch” was used as an anti-aircraft gun: in the photo it is installed for shooting at airplanes.

6. 122 mm field howitzer

The army corps, which consisted of two infantry divisions, had a light howitzer division of 12 guns. It is interesting that two models of this type of gun were immediately put into service - one developed by the French company Schneider (with a piston breech, model 1910), the other by the German company Krupp (with a wedge breech, model 1909) . In addition, the Russian army was armed with heavy 152-mm howitzers.

7. Machine gun "Maxim"

The legendary British machine gun was initially an exclusively imported product and fired a 10.62 mm cartridge from a Berdan rifle. Subsequently, it was converted to use the 7.62 mm Mosin cartridge, and in this modification it was adopted for service in 1901. In 1904, the machine gun began to be mass-produced at the Tula Arms Plant. One of the disadvantages of the machine gun was the heavy carriage, which the troops sometimes replaced with a lighter platform.

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