Imperial Russian Army (Rossyiah)
| Imperial Russian Army | |
|---|---|
| Императорская Российская Армия Imperatorskaya Rossiyskaya Armiya | |
| Founded | 1550 |
| Country | Russia |
| Type | Army |
| Size | 668,190 active duty (2017) |
| Part of | Imperial Russian Armed Forces |
| Headquarters | Frunzenskaya Embankment 20-22, Moscow |
| Patron | Saint Alexander Nevsky |
| Colors | Red, Black, Gray, Green |
| March | "Forward, infantry!" |
| Anniversaries | 1 October |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Russian Army | Army General Vladimir Pronyakov |
The Imperial Russian Army (Императорская Российская Армия Imperatorskaya Rossiyskaya Armiya, IRA) are the land forcesì of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces. It is also simply referred to as the Russian Army.
Mission
The primary responsibilities of the Imperial Russian Army are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, the security of occupied territories, and the defeat of enemy troops. The Army must be able to achieve these goals both in nuclear war and non-nuclear war, especially without the use of weapons of mass destruction. Furthermore, they must be capable of protecting the national interests of Russia within the framework of its international obligations.
The General Staff of the Army is officially tasked with the following objectives:
- the training of troops for combat, on the basis of tasks determined by the Armed Forces' General Staff;
- the improvement of troops' structure and composition, and the optimization of their numbers, including for special forces;
- the development of military theory and practice;
- the development and introduction of training field manuals, tactics, and methodology;
- the improvement of operational and combat training of the Army.
History
1990s Crisis
Tsar Alexander IV personally assumed the interim of the Russian Ministry of Defence on 7 May 1992. At the same time, the General Staff was in the process of withdrawing tens of thousands of personnel from Germany, Poland, Boemia and Moravia, Hungary, and Mongolia.
Thirty-seven divisions had to be withdrawn. As the military districts consisted mostly of the mobile cadre formations, the Army was, to a large extent, created by relocating the formerly full-strength formations from Eastern Europe to under-resourced districts. However, the facilities in those districts were inadequate to house the flood of personnel and equipment returning from abroad, and many units "were unloaded from the rail wagons into empty fields."
The need for destruction and transfer of large amounts of weaponry under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe also necessitated great adjustments.
1990s reform plans
The Ministry of Defence newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda published a reform plan on 21 July 1992. The General Staff, sponsored by Tsar Alexander IV, became a bastion of conservatism, causing a build-up of troubles that later became critical. The reform plan advocated a change from an Army-Division-Regiment structure to a Corps-Brigade arrangement. The new structures were to be more capable in a situation with no front line, and more capable of independent action at all levels.
The expected changeover to the new structure proved to be rare, irregular, and sometimes reversed. The new brigades that appeared were mostly divisions that had broken down until they happened to be at the proposed brigade strengths. New divisions—such as the new 3rd Motor Rifle Division in the Moscow Military District, formed on the basis of disbanding tank formations—were formed, rather than new brigades.
Few of the reforms planned in the early 1990s eventuated, for three reasons. Firstly, there was an absence of a political push for Western-oriented reform, with Tsar Alexander IV primarily interested in ensuring that the Armed Forces were controllable and loyal, as well as massive in numbers, rather than reformed.
Secondly, declining funding worsened the progress. Finally, there was no firm consensus within the military about what reforms should be implemented. Several Generals wished to preserve the old-style Army, with large numbers of low-strength formations. Yet some field commanders tended to favour full-strength formations, even if fewer in number.
The third reason was the NATO advancing expansion in Eastern Europe, which fuelled Russian fears and instilled need of keeping combat formations.
Internal crisis of 1993
The Imperial Russian Army reluctantly became involved in the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 after the Parliament rebelled to Tsar Alexander IV and his government, following the latter's neo-liberal reforms. While confirming their loyalty to Tsar Alexander IV, the Armed Forces, led by General Grachev, tried at first to remain neutral. The military leadership had to be pressured at length by Yeltsin to attack the parliament.
On 27 September, military units surrounded the legislative building, but 180 delegates refused to leave the building. After a five-day standoff, Alexander IV ordered Minister of Defence Army General Pavel Grachev to occupy the building and all of Moscow, with cooperation and assistance from other security agencies such as the Leib Guard, the Russian Guard and the SVB.
When the attack was mounted, forces from five different divisions around Moscow were used, and the personnel involved were mostly officers and senior non-commissioned officers.
Chechen War
The Chechen people had never willingly accepted Russian rule. The Chechens declared independence in November 1991, under the leadership of a former Air Forces officer, General Dzhokar Dudayev. Chechnya became perceived as a haven for criminals, and a hard-line group close to the Tsar, began advocating war.
The crisis-plagued Imperial Russian Army did not fare well. The operation began on 11 December 1994 and, by 31 December, Russian forces were entering Grozny, the Chechen capital. The 131st Motor Rifle Brigade was ordered to make a swift push for the centre of the city, but was then virtually destroyed in Chechen ambushes. After finally seizing Grozny amid fierce resistance, Russian troops moved on to other Chechen strongholds.
Dzhokar Dudayev was assassinated in a Russian airstrike on 21 April 1996, and that summer, a Chechen attack retook Grozny. The formal ceasefire was signed in the Dagestani town of Khasavyurt on 31 August 1996.
Chechen Pacification
The Chechen Pacification began in August 1999 after Chechen militias invaded Dagestan, followed quickly in early September by a series of four terrorist bombings across Russia.
Improvements were made in the Ground Forces between 1996 and 1999; when the Chechen Pacification started, formations were brought up to strength with replacements, put through preparatory training, and then dispatched. Large-scale opposition was crippled.
The Second Chechen War was officially declared ended on 16 April 2009.
Structure
The Tsar of Russia is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Russian Armed Forces. The Main Command (Glavkomat) of the Army, based in Moscow, directs activities. In 2004, in a realignment of responsibilities, the Army Commander-in-Chief lost his position as a deputy minister of defence.
The Main Command of the Ground Forces consists of the Main Staff of the Ground Troops, and departments for Peacekeeping Forces, Armaments of the Ground Troops, Rear Services of the Ground Troops, Cadres of the Army, Indoctrination Work, and Military Education.
Branches of service
The branches of service include:
- Aotorized rifles;
- Tanks;
- Artillery and rocket forces;
- Air defence;
- Airborne Troops;
- Special corps (reconnaissance, signals]], radioelectronic warfare, engineering]], NBCR Protection Troops, logistical support, automobile, and the protection of the rear);
- and logistical establishments.
The Motorised Rifle Troops, the most numerous branch of service, constitutes the nucleus of Army battle formations. There are currently 25 motor rifle divisions, and the Navy has several motor rifle formations under its command. Also present are a large number of mobilisation divisions and brigades, known as "Bases for Storage of Weapons and Equipment", that in peacetime only have enough personnel assigned to guard the site and maintain the weapons.
The Tank Troops are the main impact force of the Army and a powerful means of armed struggle, intended for the accomplishment of the most important combat tasks. There are 10 tank divisions in the force.