DOCSLIB.ORG

Eugene Miakinkov

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Eugene Miakinkov Russian Military Culture during the Reigns of Catherine II and Paul I, 1762-1801 by Eugene Miakinkov A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Department of History and Classics University of Alberta ©Eugene Miakinkov, 2015 Abstract This study explores the shape and development of military culture during the reign of Catherine II. Next to the institutions of the autocracy and the Orthodox Church, the military occupied the most important position in imperial Russia, especially in the eighteenth century. Rather than analyzing the military as an institution or a fighting force, this dissertation uses the tools of cultural history to explore its attitudes, values, aspirations, tensions, and beliefs. Patronage and education served to introduce a generation of young nobles to the world of the military culture, and expose it to its values of respect, hierarchy, subordination, but also the importance of professional knowledge. Merit is a crucial component in any military, and Catherine’s military culture had to resolve the tensions between the idea of meritocracy and seniority. All of the above ideas and dilemmas were expressed in a number of military texts that began to appear during Catherine’s reign. It was during that time that the military culture acquired the cultural, political, and intellectual space to develop – a space I label the “military public sphere”. This development was most clearly evident in the publication, by Russian authors, of a range of military literature for the first time in this era. The military culture was also reflected in the symbolic means used by the senior commanders to convey and reinforce its values in the army. The dissertation posits that it was precisely during the reign of Catherine II, “Minerva on the Throne”, rather than during the reigns of Peter the Great or Paul I, which are usually associated with wars, armies, and militarism, that a military culture began to become increasingly self-aware, self-reflective, and autonomous in Russia. Paul I’s attack on its values, traditions and autonomy did not so much undermine or destroy Catherine’s military culture as confirm its existence. ii In memory of my mother, Lidia Vidmont. iii Acknowledgements I am pleased to express my gratitude to the people whose encouragement, humour, and advice have contributed so much to this project. My supervisor, Heather Coleman, has done more than anyone to shape my infant ideas about Russian military thought into a dissertation project about Russian military culture. Heather taught me the art of asking the right questions, challenged me to justify my answers, and made me think critically about the implications of my conclusion. I have learned a great deal from her not only about Russian Imperial history but also about being an academic and an historian. I am thankful for to my supervisory committee for generous suggestions and interest in my project over the years. Jelena Pogosjan provided excellent insight into eighteenth-century Russian culture and the reign of Peter the Great, which forced me to refine some of my assumptions and ideas. David Marples, Franz Szabo, and David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye have all given generous food for thought that helped me to think about how my project fits into the larger context. Their questions and suggestions challenged and motivated me. I had the pleasure of presenting several of my chapters to the East Europeanist “kruzhok” at the University of Alberta. I am thankful to everyone who participated, especially Victor Taki, Eduard Baidaus, Elena Krevsky, John-Paul Himka, and my committee members. The Russian State Military History Archive could have been an intimidating experience for a new researcher, but the staff and Kirill Tatarnikov especially, were patient, accommodating, and helpful in answering my questions and inquiries. The staff at the department of military literature in the Russian State Library showed a great interest in my project and made numerous suggestions about available literature. iv I also want to thank both the University of Alberta for its generous financial support over the years, and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the Canada Graduate Scholarship without which the following pages probably would have never seen the light of day. Not only has the funding enabled me to spend a year of research in Moscow, but a Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement provided me with a host supervisor, Elena Marasinova, a senior fellow of the Russian History Institute at the Russian Academy of Science, my host institution in Moscow. Professor Marasinova, an expert on the eighteenth-century Russian nobility, encouraged me to think in new ways about the Russian experience in the eighteenth century and introduced me to many of her Russian colleagues. Finally, my family and friends have provided continuous support and encouragement, which was sometimes mixed with puzzlement about my single-minded persistence in the of study eighteenth-century Russia. I am thankful to my Masters supervisor, Alex Statiev, for making me “the offer I could not refuse,” as he put it. By opening the doors to his family home, Alex had provided me not only with a home- away-from home in downtown Moscow, but also with piece of mind. I think back with warm memories to the many winter nights I spent reading and writing in his apartment, and to the many weekends I spent walking around the Kutuzovskii boulevard, thinking about Russia’s history. I want to thank Jordan Claridge, a friend and historian of Medieval England, for his dry wit during our trips in the Baltic and for the uplifting phone conversations when I was doing my research in the archives. Jordan’s mastery of Medieval Latin script encouraged me not to give up on the lazy handwriting of eighteenth-century Russian scribes. During my stays in Latvia my aunts, Olga and Larisa, and my cousin Edward, provided me with a warm welcome in Riga. My father, Valerij Miakinkov, drove me v from Riga to Moscow several times, over unlit, and broken Russian roads where many drivers have suffered more than just a tire puncture, and once there gave me advice and support. In Moscow, Raia, Lev, Victoria and Alexander, invited me for delicious food and fascinating conversations, which made my stay all the more enjoyable. Throughout my life, my mother, Lidia Vidmont, set an example of the highest standard for intellectual curiosity, personal integrity, and work ethic that I can only aspire to follow. She passed away a year before the completion of this work. It is dedicated to her. Last but not least I want to thank my fiancée, Hayley Orton, who over the years has become an expert in Russian history in her own right. Thank you for sharing this adventure with me, and for going on a new one, in Wales! vi Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE “Those who had a chance”: Patronage, Education, 23 and Becoming an Officer in the Age of Catherine II CHAPTER TWO “Your Excellency needs only to wish it”: 70 Promotions, Awards and the Meaning of Merit CHAPTER THREE “We must distinguish the military establishment 1 21 from other callings”: Values and Beliefs of Military Culture CHAPTER FOUR “Fantastic forms of folly”: Symbolic Displays 186 and Military Culture CHAPTER FIVE “The Russians have always beaten the Prussians, 227 why follow them now?” Russian Military Culture and Paul I CONCLUSION 2 61 vii List of Tables T ABLE 1 72 T ABLE 2 235 viii List of Illustrations Pictures 1 and 2 180 Pictures 2 and 4 181 Pictures 5, 6, and 7 183 ix INTRODUCTION This study explores military culture in eighteenth-century Imperial Russia. It is concerned with two unexplored questions: was there an autonomous military culture in Russia by the end of the eighteenth century and if so, what form did it take. Throughout that period Russia faced an almost uninterrupted series of largely successful wars that stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and that committed an increasing number of people, resources, and thoughts to its cause. The century began with the Great Northern War, which persisted for over twenty years, where Russia effectively challenged the hegemony of Sweden in the Baltic, and ended with the Russians on the shores of Holland, in southern Italy, and then in the Swiss Alps, on the offensive against the French Revolution. The pages below concentrate on the second half of that turbulent century, specifically on the reign of Catherine II and Paul I, which coincided with seven military conflicts – the two Russo-Turkish wars (1768-74 and 1787-91), the two wars with Poland (1768-72 and 1794-5), the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790), the Persian Expedition (1796), and the War of the Second Coalition (1798-1802). While the Great Northern War (1700-1721) could rival this period in military scope, success, and impact, it was only during Catherine’s reign that the military began to generate enough cultural and intellectual capital to give shape to an autonomous 1 culture. It was only beginning from the 1760s that the contours of a Russian military 1 During the Great Northern War Peter gave the military an institutional and legal framework, developed mechanisms for recruitment and organization, and laid the foundations for military promotion and education. However, his greatest achievement, according to James Cracraft, was not the military modernization, which had already begun in the Muscovite era anyway, but the cultural revolutions in visual and linguistic matters. Whether or not the military had a distinctive culture during Peter’s reign, and what shape it took, Cracraft does not address directly, which leaves scope for further research.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Understanding Russia Better Through Her History: Sevastopol, an Enduring Geostrategic Centre of Gravity
    UNDERSTANDING RUSSIA BETTER THROUGH HER HISTORY: SEVASTOPOL, AN ENDURING GEOSTRATEGIC CENTRE OF GRAVITY Recent events in Crimea, Eastern Ukraine and Syria have aerospace industries, made Sevastopol a closed city during brought Russia’s increasingly assertive foreign policy and the Cold War. Thereafter, despite being under Ukrainian burgeoning military power into sharp relief. Such shows of jurisdiction until March 2014, it remained very much a force surprised those in the West who thought that a new, Russian city, in which the Russian national flag always flew pacific and friendly Russia would emerge from the former higher than the Ukrainian. Soviet Union. That has never been Russia’s way as a major Furthermore, the Russian world power. This monograph argues that Vladimir Putin’s Navy continued to control the “” Russia has done no more than act in an historically consistent port leased from the Ukraine, Sevastopol’s and largely predictable manner. Specifically, it seeks to including its navigation systems. population, explain why possession of Sevastopol – the home of the Sevastopol’s population, Black Sea Fleet for more than 200 years – provides Russia containing many military containing many with considerable geostrategic advantage, one that is being retirees and their dependants, military retirees and exploited today in support of her current operations in Syria. remained fiercely loyal to Russia their dependants, and never accepted Ukrainian Sevastopol, and more particularly its ancient predecessor, rule – which they judged as a remained fiercely the former Greek city of Chersonesos, has a highly-symbolic historical accident at best, or, at loyal to Russia and place in Russia’s history and sense of nationhood.
    [Show full text]
  • Odessa : Genius and Death in a City of Dreams Pdf, Epub, Ebook
    ODESSA : GENIUS AND DEATH IN A CITY OF DREAMS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Charles King | 336 pages | 20 May 2011 | WW Norton & Co | 9780393070842 | English | New York, United States Odessa : Genius and Death in a City of Dreams PDF Book Other Popular Editions of the Same Title. Great introduction to a city with a very unique history. With more tournament opportunities, which make it possible to earn a living, the number and level of women in chess has really risen in the last twenty years. A diverse mix of nationalities: Armenian, Greek, Turkish, Jewish, Italian and, of course, Russian that mostly lived together in toleration. It built itself as a city of many nationalities and religions and became a place for cultures to merge and clash. Chapter Thirteen War and Nonsense. He thinks Putin is a wise leader, and that Ukraine could use someone like him; he once spent hours explaining to me that Stalin had ingeniously trapped Hitler into invading Russia. And I think I was always fascinated by the idea that people who live as far away as Europe or even in the Soviet Union must be real people, need not have two heads. All there. Marissa's Romance Recommendations! Skip to main content. But then of course the thing being proclaimed in Britain, France, US, or elsewhere is also increasingly 19th century. Convert currency. Italian merchants, Greek freedom fighters, and Turkish seamen; a Russian empress and her favorite soldier-bureaucrats; Jewish tavern keepers, traders, and journalists-these and many others seeking fortune and adventure rubbed shoulders in Odessa, the greatest port on the Black Sea.
    [Show full text]
  • THE BRITISH ARMY in the LOW COUNTRIES, 1793-1814 By
    ‘FAIRLY OUT-GENERALLED AND DISGRACEFULLY BEATEN’: THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE LOW COUNTRIES, 1793-1814 by ANDREW ROBERT LIMM A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. University of Birmingham School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law October, 2014. University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The history of the British Army in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars is generally associated with stories of British military victory and the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington. An intrinsic aspect of the historiography is the argument that, following British defeat in the Low Countries in 1795, the Army was transformed by the military reforms of His Royal Highness, Frederick Duke of York. This thesis provides a critical appraisal of the reform process with reference to the organisation, structure, ethos and learning capabilities of the British Army and evaluates the impact of the reforms upon British military performance in the Low Countries, in the period 1793 to 1814, via a series of narrative reconstructions. This thesis directly challenges the transformation argument and provides a re-evaluation of British military competency in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
    [Show full text]
  • Architect on the Imperial Throne Or Fools' Tower by Joseph II.Pages
    Die approbierte Originalversion dieser Diplom-/ Masterarbeit ist in der Hauptbibliothek der Tech- nischen Universität Wien aufgestellt und zugänglich. http://www.ub.tuwien.ac.at The approved original version of this diploma or master thesis is available at the main library of the Vienna University of Technology. http://www.ub.tuwien.ac.at/eng Masterarbeit Architect on the Imperial Throne or Fools’ Tower by Joseph II ausgeführt zum Zwecke der Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Diplom-Ingenieurin unter der Leitung Ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. Ing. Dörte Kuhlmann E251 Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Bauforschung und Denkmalpflege Abteilung für Baugeschichte & Bauforschung eingereicht an der Technischen Universität Wien Fakultät für Architektur und Raumplanung von Jekaterina Medvecka Matr. Nr.:0828369 Wien, am Abstract The Narrenturm, which is located within the medical complex of the University of Vienna, was the first dedicated medical institution for the mentally ill worldwide. In 2012 the Narrentum was integrated into the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (the Museum of Natural History in Vienna) and since then houses the pathological-anatomical collection of the museum. The cylindrical building was erected in 1784 and was financed privately by Emperor Joseph II. It was ahead of it’s time in many ways and indicates the emperor’s embracement of the ideas of Enlightenment. The construction of the building raises several unanswered questions and mysteries. Up to this day, it is unknown where the emperor got the idea for the peculiar form of the building and why helping mentally ill patients was so important to him. The circular floor plan suggests a possible connection to Bentham’s idea of the Panopticon which deserves further investigation.
    [Show full text]
  • Guides to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va
    GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. No. 32. Records of the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police (Part I) The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1961 This finding aid has been prepared by the National Archives as part of its program of facilitating the use of records in its custody. The microfilm described in this guide may be consulted at the National Archives, where it is identified as RG 242, Microfilm Publication T175. To order microfilm, write to the Publications Sales Branch (NEPS), National Archives and Records Service (GSA), Washington, DC 20408. Some of the papers reproduced on the microfilm referred to in this and other guides of the same series may have been of private origin. The fact of their seizure is not believed to divest their original owners of any literary property rights in them. Anyone, therefore, who publishes them in whole or in part without permission of their authors may be held liable for infringement of such literary property rights. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 58-9982 AMERICA! HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE fOR THE STUDY OP WAR DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECOBDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXAM)RIA, VA. No* 32» Records of the Reich Leader of the SS aad Chief of the German Police (HeiehsMhrer SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei) 1) THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (AHA) COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY OF WAE DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA* This is part of a series of Guides prepared
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Museums Visit More Than 80 Million Visitors, 1/3 of Who Are Visitors Under 18
    Moscow 4 There are more than 3000 museums (and about 72 000 museum workers) in Russian Moscow region 92 Federation, not including school and company museums. Every year Russian museums visit more than 80 million visitors, 1/3 of who are visitors under 18 There are about 650 individual and institutional members in ICOM Russia. During two last St. Petersburg 117 years ICOM Russia membership was rapidly increasing more than 20% (or about 100 new members) a year Northwestern region 160 You will find the information aboutICOM Russia members in this book. All members (individual and institutional) are divided in two big groups – Museums which are institutional members of ICOM or are represented by individual members and Organizations. All the museums in this book are distributed by regional principle. Organizations are structured in profile groups Central region 192 Volga river region 224 Many thanks to all the museums who offered their help and assistance in the making of this collection South of Russia 258 Special thanks to Urals 270 Museum creation and consulting Culture heritage security in Russia with 3M(tm)Novec(tm)1230 Siberia and Far East 284 © ICOM Russia, 2012 Organizations 322 © K. Novokhatko, A. Gnedovsky, N. Kazantseva, O. Guzewska – compiling, translation, editing, 2012 [email protected] www.icom.org.ru © Leo Tolstoy museum-estate “Yasnaya Polyana”, design, 2012 Moscow MOSCOW A. N. SCRiAbiN MEMORiAl Capital of Russia. Major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation center of Russia and the continent MUSEUM Highlights: First reference to Moscow dates from 1147 when Moscow was already a pretty big town.
    [Show full text]
  • The Education of Alexander and Nicholas Pavlovich Romanov The
    Agata Strzelczyk DOI: 10.14746/bhw.2017.36.8 Department of History Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań The education of Alexander and Nicholas Pavlovich Romanov Abstract This article concerns two very different ways and methods of upbringing of two Russian tsars – Alexander the First and Nicholas the First. Although they were brothers, one was born nearly twen- ty years before the second and that influenced their future. Alexander, born in 1777 was the first son of the successor to the throne and was raised from the beginning as the future ruler. The person who shaped his education the most was his grandmother, empress Catherine the Second. She appoint- ed the Swiss philosopher La Harpe as his teacher and wanted Alexander to become the enlightened monarch. Nicholas, on the other hand, was never meant to rule and was never prepared for it. He was born is 1796 as the ninth child and third son and by the will of his parents, Tsar Paul I and Tsarina Maria Fyodorovna he received education more suitable for a soldier than a tsar, but he eventually as- cended to the throne after Alexander died. One may ask how these differences influenced them and how they shaped their personalities as people and as rulers. Keywords: Romanov Children, Alexander I and Nicholas I, education, upbringing The education of Alexander and Nicholas Pavlovich Romanov Among the ten children of Tsar Paul I and Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, two sons – the oldest Alexander and Nicholas, the second youngest son – took the Russian throne. These two brothers and two rulers differed in many respects, from their characters, through poli- tics, views on Russia’s place in Europe, to circumstances surrounding their reign.
    [Show full text]
  • Istanbul Bids Final Farewell to Mesrob II
    MARCH 23, 2019 Mirror-SpeTHE ARMENIAN ctator Volume LXXXIX, NO. 35, Issue 4579 $ 2.00 NEWS The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 INBRIEF Guns Used by New Zealand Terrorist Had Armenian, Georgian Writing YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Armenia’s Foreign Ministry was in contact with the authorities of New Zealand regarding the note in Armenian and other languages found on one of the weapons used for the attack on the two mosques in the city of Christchurch, on Friday, March 15, MFA spokesper- son Anna Naghdalyan noted. “We are in contact with New Zealand’s relevant authorities on all issues linked with the incident,” Naghdalyan said. Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian, was charged with the deadly attacks on two mosques in the city, which killed 50 and injured as many. One of the weapons used for the attack on the two mosques in New Zealand was covered with notes in different languages, including Armenian and Georgian, the videos released from the incident show. The Georgian state security service has already The funeral of Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II reacted to these reports, stating that it is cooperat- ing with its partners. The gun covered in white lettering featured the names of King Davit Agmashenebeli and Prince Istanbul Bids Final Farewell to Mesrob II David Soslan, the second husband of Queen Tamar, in Georgian, the Battle of Kagul 1770 (Russian- ISTANBUL (Public Radio of Armenia) referred to the Sisli Armenian cemetery in Zeytinburnu district on March 8 where he Turkish war) and the Battle of Bulair 1913 were — Archbishop Mesrob II Mutafyan, the 84th an area designated for patriarchs for burial.
    [Show full text]
  • Refractions of Rome in the Russian Political Imagination by Olga Greco
    From Triumphal Gates to Triumphant Rotting: Refractions of Rome in the Russian Political Imagination by Olga Greco A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Comparative Literature) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Valerie A. Kivelson, Chair Assistant Professor Paolo Asso Associate Professor Basil J. Dufallo Assistant Professor Benjamin B. Paloff With much gratitude to Valerie Kivelson, for her unflagging support, to Yana, for her coffee and tangerines, and to the Prawns, for keeping me sane. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ............................................................................................................................... ii Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter I. Writing Empire: Lomonosov’s Rivalry with Imperial Rome ................................... 31 II. Qualifying Empire: Morals and Ethics of Derzhavin’s Romans ............................... 76 III. Freedom, Tyrannicide, and Roman Heroes in the Works of Pushkin and Ryleev .. 122 IV. Ivan Goncharov’s Oblomov and the Rejection of the Political [Rome] .................. 175 V. Blok, Catiline, and the Decomposition of Empire .................................................. 222 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 271 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Rus Sian Jews Between the Reds and the Whites, 1917– 1920
    Rus sian Jews Between the Reds and the Whites, 1917– 1920 —-1 —0 —+1 137-48292_ch00_1P.indd i 8/19/11 8:37 PM JEWISH CULTURE AND CONTEXTS Published in association with the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies of the University of Pennsylvania David B. Ruderman, Series Editor Advisory Board Richard I. Cohen Moshe Idel Alan Mintz Deborah Dash Moore Ada Rapoport- Albert Michael D. Swartz A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher. -1— 0— +1— 137-48292_ch00_1P.indd ii 8/19/11 8:37 PM Rus sian Jews Between the Reds and the Whites, 1917– 1920 Oleg Budnitskii Translated by Timothy J. Portice university of pennsylvania press philadelphia —-1 —0 —+1 137-48292_ch00_1P.indd iii 8/19/11 8:37 PM Originally published as Rossiiskie evrei mezhdu krasnymi i belymi, 1917– 1920 (Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2005) Publication of this volume was assisted by a grant from the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation. Copyright © 2012 University of Pennsylvania Press All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. Published by University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104- 4112 www .upenn .edu/ pennpress Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 -1— Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data 0— ISBN 978- 0- 8122- 4364- 2 +1— 137-48292_ch00_1P.indd iv 8/19/11 8:37 PM In memory of my father, Vitaly Danilovich Budnitskii (1930– 1990) —-1 —0 —+1 137-48292_ch00_1P.indd v 8/19/11 8:37 PM -1— 0— +1— 137-48292_ch00_1P.indd vi 8/19/11 8:37 PM contents List of Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Civil- Military Relations and Diffusion of Military Power
    Strong armies, slow adaptation: civil- military relations and diffusion of military power Article Published Version Kadercan, B. (2014) Strong armies, slow adaptation: civil- military relations and diffusion of military power. International Security, 38 (3). pp. 117-152. ISSN 1531-4804 doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/ISEC_a_00146 Available at http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/36163/ It is advisable to refer to the publisher’s version if you intend to cite from the work. See Guidance on citing . Published version at: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/international_security/v038/38.3.kadercan.pdf To link to this article DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/ISEC_a_00146 Publisher: MIT Press All outputs in CentAUR are protected by Intellectual Property Rights law, including copyright law. Copyright and IPR is retained by the creators or other copyright holders. Terms and conditions for use of this material are defined in the End User Agreement . www.reading.ac.uk/centaur CentAUR Central Archive at the University of Reading Reading’s research outputs online Strong Armies, Slow Adaptation: Civil-Military Relations and the Diffusion of Military Power Burak Kadercan International Security, Volume 38, Number 3, Winter 2013/2014, pp. 117-152 (Article) Published by The MIT Press For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ins/summary/v038/38.3.kadercan.html Access provided by University of Reading (21 Feb 2014 04:15 GMT) Strong Armies, Slow Adaptation Strong Armies, Slow Burak Kadercan Adaptation Civil-Military Relations and the Diffusion
    [Show full text]
  • The Grand Duke Constantine's Regiment of Cuirassiers of The
    Johann Georg Paul Fischer (Hanover 1786 - London 1875) The Grand Duke Constantine’s Regiment of Cuirassiers of the Imperial Russian Army in 1806 signed and dated ‘Johann Paul Fischer fit 1815’ (lower left); dated 1815 (on the reverse); the mount inscribed with title and dated 1806 watercolour over pencil on paper, with pen and ink 20.5 x 29 cm (8 x 11½ in) This work by Johann Georg Paul Fischer is one of a series of twelve watercolours depicting soldiers of the various armies involved in the Napoleonic Wars, a series of conflicts which took place between 1803 and 1815, when Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. The series is a variation of a similar set executed slightly earlier, held in the Royal Collection, and which was probably purchased by, or presented to, the Prince Regent. In this work, Fischer depicts various elements of the Russian army. On the left hand side, the Imperial Guard stride forward in unison, each figure looking gruff and determined. They are all tall, broad and strong and as a collective mass they appear very imposing. Even the drummer, who marches in front, looks battle-hardened and commanding. On the right-hand side, a cuirassier sits atop his magnificent steed and there appear to be further cavalry soldiers behind him. There is a swell of purposeful movement in the work, which creates an impressive image of military power. The Russian cuirassiers were part of the heavy cavalry and were elite troops as their ranks were filled up with the best soldiers selected from dragoon, uhlan, jager and hussar regiments.
    [Show full text]