Another 04/02/20 Why the protection of Nicholas II was only the Cossacks
to Protect the highest person of the state – the king, Emperor, President, or President – was always considered extremely prestigious. After all, the special units entrusted not only to preserve the life of the head of the country, but also to perform representational functions. Hence, the requirements for candidates for the role of a bodyguard impose extremely strict. However, in the history of Russia it was not always so.
Reliance on the Cossacks
for a Long time, units that specialize exclusively in the protection of the Royal family and its chambers, simply does not exist. In the first century Ancient Rus ‘ to the protection of Rurik were engaged in their retainers. Later, under Ivan the terrible, this duty was entrusted to the sovereign’s horse regiment, which consisted of thousands of men of high position – the boyars and nobles.
Directly in the Royal chambers, the service carried members of the Royal guard – Rynda (from old Russian. “rydel” or “Randel” — bearer). Usually it was young men — members of noble families. Thus, Ivan IV tried to achieve the loyalty of the nobility. However, later security functions when the king was handed over to the guardsmen that the Emperor had more confidence.
Security first Romanov was entrusted to the archers, but by the end of the seventeenth century relying on them became problematic, as evidenced by a series of riot Musketeers. In the end, Peter decided to create the first regiments of the Russian Imperial guard the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. In 1700 they became lifeguards, then began officially to guard the king.
the guards, like all their predecessors, not only followed the peace of the rulers, but also directly participated in military actions in foreign campaigns, and internal coups. Precisely because of the “bodyguards” to the throne managed to climb to Catherine I and Catherine the great. The last and PRinala was the decision to gradually abandon the services of the guards. Her trips began to accompany the don Cossacks.
for a long time the Cossacks will be passed basic protective functions. The Cossacks, in particular, have served for the protection of Paul I and his family members, Alexander I during the campaigns were guarded by life-guards Cossack regiment.
With an eye on the Caucasus
In 1813, at the battle of Leipzig, the soldiers of the life guards Cossack regiment saved Alexander I from captivity. Later, the Emperor in gratitude will form His Imperial Majesty’s Own Convoy, the core of which will be hundreds of the black sea shelf, and then the Kuban and Terek Cossacks.
However, the first regular division of the convoy — lifeguards Caucasian-mountain platoon will be formed only in 1828. And it will be done primarily for political purposes.
Originally a platoon consisted of members of the noble Caucasian families Uzdenov and princes. In the first it consisted of 12 representatives from Large and Small Kabarda, nine Chechens, Kumyks seven, five MPD and Uzdenov Nogai Takhtamysheva, five representatives of the people Gambalevskaya, one from Edisanskie and Karanovich, two from Turkmenistan and Sabinskogo.
On the idea of the Emperor Nicholas I, this diversity was to guarantee the Russian Empire, the peace in the Caucasus on the background of ongoing war and compliance with local tribes all agreements. In addition, the service in the capital of the Empire was to instill mountaineers European culture and views, to “civilize” them. It is for this provided for periodic rotation of the lower orders of platoon – every four years.
In reality, things went a little differently. The highlanders continued to wear their national costumes, their daily life was built taking into account cultural and religious specifics, which obviously interfered with their “Europeanization”. In addition, the protection of the Emperor Caucasians were purely symbolic, primary importance in this case is still given to the Cossacks. For this composition escort in 1832, there was even a unit solely designed for the protection of the Emperor — the Command of the Caucasian line Cossacks. The other parts one way or another involved in the fighting, and mostly accompanied the Emperor on journeys – as a sign of the loyalty of the Caucasus.
nevertheless, the experiment was considered successful, as evidenced by the creation in the convoy of the new teams that were formed on ethnic and religious grounds. For example, there was a team Lezgins, the command of the Transcaucasian equestrian Muslim regiment, Crimean-Tatar squadron.
Trust but verify
At the same time, with all the visual tolerance, the selection of highlanders came very strictly, trying not to admit to the Emperor of people, which was not an absolute certainty. For example, in the convoy did not take the Chechens, because they were one of the main opponents of the Empire during the war in the Caucasus. Besides, unlike the Georgians or the Ossetians, they were Muslim, which complicated the assimilation.
But, most importantly, the Chechens were not of the nobility, affiliation to which was compulsory condition of contact with the convoy for the highlanders. No other qualities at the same time, of course, was not taken into account.
Though there are many exceptions. For example, in 1860, by order of the Emperor Alexander II the service was adopted by the son of the imprisoned leader of the Caucasian highlanders — Shamil Mohammed Shefi. However, this was almost the last manifestation of “taking hostages”.
With the accession of Alexander II the structure of the convoy has changed. It was formed of two divisions: the life guards of the Caucasian and the life guards of the Caucasian Cossack squadrons. The first consists of four platoons: command, Georgians, highlanders, Lezgins and Muslims. The second was divided into two parts, representing the Kuban and Terek armies. It was the Cossacks bore the brunt of the service, you will not tell about the highland games-the escort soldiers. So the decision to disband their unit in 1882, after the end of the war in the Caucasus cannot be considered unexpected. The same thing happened with the team of the Crimean TAtar in 1891.
Since then and until the end of the Empire the Emperor was guarded by only the Terek and Kuban Cossacks, among whom, however, were many representatives of different nationalities.
Ivan Resepi
Source:
© Russian Seven
see also: editor’s choice, “Russian Seven””Black storks”: how to fight the most brutal “spooks” against the Soviet армии5 uprisings of 1961 in the USSR: their sprovotsirovannogo Nikolai Gogol: why is there a version of lethargic sleep pisatelyami Black devil in Khakassia the most mysterious place in Sibirtelekoma statesalaska… Share: Comments Comments on the article “Why the security of Nicholas II was only the Cossacks” Please log in to leave a comment! br>
Share on Tumblr