28/03/2012
Swords and edged weapons: with reference to 19 thth C. French swords and their influence on Russian sword design
by Dr. Peter Busch
2727 thth March 2012
Swords and edged weapons
Swords are generally either eastern or western This talk is ‘western‘western--biased’biased’ We focus on the last couple of centuries The focus is also on massmass--productionproduction more so than individual handcrafted approaches
2727 thth March 2012 flicker.com
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Swords and edged weapons
Blade manufacture … (see film) 1.1. Hammering out steel 2.2. Rolling in to shape 3.3. Grinding 4.4. Heat treating 5.5. Proving 6.6. Polishing 7.7. Etching 8.8. Mounting
2727 thth March 2012 swordforum.com
armor.com
Swords and edged weapons
Hilt manufacture … formerly forgeforge--weldingwelding Casting or Stamping
Scabbard manufacture Timber covered with leather Thick leather with metal mounts Sheet metal shaped over a mandrel
2727 thth March 2012 antiqueswordsonline.com
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Zlatoust
1818 thth CC Weapon manufacture took place in Tula (south of Moscow) 1811 Zlatoust (Urals) gets underway with edged weapon production Visit made to Solingen, Germany to encourage German masters to emigrate train Russian smiths in sword manufacture 1837 32 of the 42 masters now Russian
2727 thth March 2012
Alexander I 18011801--18251825
Prussian styles in place … Peter III (1728(1728--1762)1762) Catherine the Great (1762(1762--1796)1796) … a move to French styles
ma-shops.com
ebay.com 2727 thth March 2012 ma-shops.com
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Nicholas I (1825(1825--1855)1855)
old-swords.com
Increase of French influence Infantry sabre 1826 pattern i.e French 1821 pattern Start to see the Shashka (formally) appear Dragoon 1841 pattern i.e. French 1829 pattern horse artillery sabre This sabre sets the scene for Russian swords until today
collectiblefirearms.com 2727 thth March 2012 swordforum.com
Alexander II (1855(1855--1881)1881)
‘Indigenous’ Russian styles continue i.e. 1841 pattern dragoon and 1834/38 pattern cossack shashkas Start to see St. George award strap being worn with golden award swords …
tsarsarsenal.com
ebay.com 2727 thth March 2012
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Alexander III (1881(1881--1894)1894)
Introduction of the ‘system of 1881’ Too many styles of swords in the military, need to standardise/simplify Influence of firearms in combat … means sword less likely to be ‘front‘front--line’line’ weapons
leibstandart.com
tsarsarsenal.com
2727 thth March 2012
Nicholas II (1894(1894--1917)1917)
Styles continued with the 1881 system as before However 19041904--19051905 Russia beaten by Japan in the RussoRusso--JapaneseJapanese war ramifications for ‘white power’ to be beaten by asian country loss of morale led to introduction of 1909 patterns with monogram of monarch tsarsarsenal.com eskoff.net/porskuva/Tera/Anna13.htm
tsarsarsenal.com
2727 thth March 2012
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Soviet era (1917(1917--1991)1991)
Zlatoust still manufacturing 1927 standardised on swordsandantiqueweapons.com Dragoon sabre
Cossack Shashka tsarsarsenal.com 1940 collectrussia.com Sword for commanding officers Generals sabre Swords now for senior officers
tsarsarsenal.com
2727 thth March 2012
References
Mollo, E., (1969) Russian Military Swords: 18011801--19171917 Historical Research Unit Publication London ProkudinProkudin--GorskiiGorskii (1909--1912)(1909 1912) The Empire that was Russia: The ProkodinProkodin--GorskiiGorskii Photographic Record Recreated Library of Congress collection Washington U.S.A. WilkinsonWilkinson--Latham,Latham, R., (2012) Sword Making: Craftsmanship in Action DVD
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