“Where the storm of war rages…”: Composition and evolution of the high command of the Russian military and navy, 1725-1762
Chernikov, Sergey Vasil’evich
“Where the storm of war rages…”: Composition and evolution of the high command of the Russian military and navy, 1725-1762 - 2025.
50
The article draws on a large data corpus gathered from dozens of collections at the Russian State Archives of Ancient Acts (RGADA) and the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA). It marks the first attempt ever to reconstruct the composition of the high command of the Russian military and navy for the 1725-1762 period. The author’s analysis of the high command’s evolution, overall and by service branch, is based on numerical and age indicators, social origin, birthplace, and faith. In the period under study, 570 men from ranks 1 to 5 of the Table of Ranks served in the land force (field army, guards, artillery and engineers, land militia, administrative structures, garrison and other sections), which amounts to about half the ruling elite (49% of a total of 1,159); and 100 men (less than 9%) served in the navy. The number of generals grew from 63 to 225 (which represents an annual increase of 3.6%). The author shows the steady decrease of the military and navy’s dependence on foreign personnel, noting that this trend was also notable during Anna Ioannovna’s reign, and thus contradicting the latter’s “pro-German” reputation. However, foreign commanding officers continued to predominate in technically more complex areas such as artillery and fortification.
“Where the storm of war rages…”: Composition and evolution of the high command of the Russian military and navy, 1725-1762 - 2025.
50
The article draws on a large data corpus gathered from dozens of collections at the Russian State Archives of Ancient Acts (RGADA) and the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA). It marks the first attempt ever to reconstruct the composition of the high command of the Russian military and navy for the 1725-1762 period. The author’s analysis of the high command’s evolution, overall and by service branch, is based on numerical and age indicators, social origin, birthplace, and faith. In the period under study, 570 men from ranks 1 to 5 of the Table of Ranks served in the land force (field army, guards, artillery and engineers, land militia, administrative structures, garrison and other sections), which amounts to about half the ruling elite (49% of a total of 1,159); and 100 men (less than 9%) served in the navy. The number of generals grew from 63 to 225 (which represents an annual increase of 3.6%). The author shows the steady decrease of the military and navy’s dependence on foreign personnel, noting that this trend was also notable during Anna Ioannovna’s reign, and thus contradicting the latter’s “pro-German” reputation. However, foreign commanding officers continued to predominate in technically more complex areas such as artillery and fortification.
Réseaux sociaux