September 2 is the Day of the Russian Guard, established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 22, 2000 in order to revive and develop domestic military traditions, increase the prestige of military service and included in the list of memorable days by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of May 31, 2006 “On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”
The guard (from the Italian guardia - security, guard) was traditionally called a selected, privileged, better trained and equipped part of the troops. It arose in the form of armed detachments, consisting directly of the monarchs, often performing the functions of his personal guard. This part of the troops was also assigned the most difficult tasks during military operations.
The Russian Guard was created by Peter I between 1696-1700 on the basis of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky "amusing" regiments.
The exact date of its creation is unknown. In the "Journal of Peter the Great" under the date September 2 (August 22, old style) 1700, for the first time, as is commonly believed, the regiments were officially called Guards. This day was established as a memorial day for the Russian Guard.
In the initial period of their formation, Tsar Peter I personally recruited the guards regiments. After the tsar accepted the imperial title in 1721, the guards units began to be called the “Russian Imperial Guard.”
In the same year, Peter I established the Life Guard (from the German leib - the first part of a compound word, meaning - directly attached to the monarch) as the personal guard of the monarch and an honorary name for selected privileged military units. Existed until March 1917. Almost all guards units of the Russian army bore this name.
The guard received its baptism of fire in the Battle of Narva in 1700 (Northern War of 1700-1721), where it saved the Russian army from complete destruction. The guards also took part in other battles with the Swedes.
In the 18th-19th centuries, guards regiments took part in all historically significant battles, on the fields of which warriors showed examples of heroism, courage and dedication.
With their steadfastness and courage, the guardsmen earned fame not only in their homeland, but also rave reviews from their allies. In peacetime, the guard carried out internal service, participated in the protection of members of the royal family, guards, parades, on campaigns within Russia, in camps and carried out various assignments.
For a long time, the guards did not have any advantages in rank with the rest of the troops. However, after the table of ranks was approved at the beginning of 1722, officers of the guard regiments received seniority of two ranks compared to the army.
Compared to other military units, the guard had differences in uniform, weapons, and enjoyed significant privileges and advantages. Her support predetermined the success of all palace coups of that time.
The Guards regiments trained officers for the entire army and were initially staffed almost exclusively by nobles. From the mid-1730s, the rank and file of the guard also began to be replenished with recruits from the tax-paying classes (peasants and townspeople who paid the poll tax), and after the release of the manifesto on freedom for the nobility (1762), this method became the main one. Soldiers were selected for the guard primarily for their skillful use of weapons, for their “quick mind,” courage and bravery in battle. Good physical data and political reliability were also taken into account.
The number and composition of the guard was constantly increasing. In 1813, in addition to the Old Guard, the Young Guard was established with fewer advantages over the army (its officers received seniority of one rank). This order existed until the end of the 19th century, when Alexander III curtailed the privileges of the Guard - the seniority of the Young Guard officers was abolished, and the Old Guard was reduced to one rank.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian Guard consisted of 12 infantry, four rifle and 13 cavalry regiments, three artillery brigades, a horse artillery brigade, an engineer battalion, a naval crew and several guards ships. During the First World War of 1914-1918, it suffered heavy losses in personnel.
The Guard ceased to exist along with the Russian army after the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was signed by the Soviet government on March 3, 1918.
The Russian Guard received its rebirth during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. By decision of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SHC) by order of the People's Commissar of Defense dated September 18, 1941, for mass heroism, courage of personnel, high military skill shown during the bloody battles of the Smolensk battle near Yelnya, four rifle divisions (100, 127, 153 and 161) were awarded this title and were renamed 1, 2, 3 and 4th Guards.
In the Navy, Guards ships appeared later than the first Guards coastal units. The first was the 71st Naval Rifle Brigade, which on January 5, 1942 became the 2nd Guards Rifle Brigade. Three days later, four coastal units of the Navy immediately became guards: three Baltic air regiments - the 1st mine-torpedo and 5th and 13th fighter, which turned into the 1st Guards mine-torpedo, the 3rd and 4th Guards fighter and the 72nd mixed air regiment of the Northern Fleet, which became the 2nd Guards. exterminatory. On March 18, 1942, the 75th Naval Rifle Brigade received the guards rank, becoming the 3rd Guards Rifle Brigade. Guards ships appeared only on April 3, 1942, when Admiral Kuznetsov issued order No. 72 conferring honorary guards titles on the first eight ships of the Soviet Navy. In the Northern Fleet, where the main combat force was submarines that had the ability to go on combat missions in the North Atlantic, four submarines became Guards submarines at once: D-3 "Krasnogvardeets", "K-22", "M-171" and "M-174". In the Baltic, where the brunt of the battles and numerous evacuations of army units fell on surface ships, the first Guards ships were the destroyer "Stoikiy", the minelayer "Marti" and the minesweeper "Gafel". On the Black Sea, the cruiser "Red Caucasus" was awarded the Guards rank.
Units and formations that received guards ranks were awarded special guards banners, and ships were awarded the guards naval flag. On May 21, 1942, the “Guard” badge was established for servicemen of the guards units, and for the naval guards - a rectangular plate with an orange moire ribbon with black longitudinal stripes. At the same time, guards military ranks were introduced.
Guards formations took an active part in all the decisive battles of the Great Patriotic War and made a significant contribution to the victory. During the war years, 11 combined arms and six tank armies became guards; one mounted mechanized group; 42 rifle, seven cavalry, 12 tank, nine mechanized and 13 aviation corps; 124 rifle, 10 airborne, 17 cavalry, six artillery, 62 aviation divisions, seven rocket artillery divisions, six anti-aircraft artillery divisions; 339 rifle, 37 mechanized, 20 motorized rifle, 245 tank, 76 anti-tank fighter, 177 rocket artillery, 101 self-propelled artillery, 65 airborne, six engineering brigades and regiments, one railway brigade; 60 cavalry, 325 artillery, 58 anti-aircraft artillery, 284 aviation regiments, 86 naval formations, including 34 ships; a large number of units of various types of troops.
In the guards units there was an organizational structure different from others. With the end of the war, differences in the staffing of formations and units were abolished. In peacetime, the transformation of military formations into guards was not carried out. However, in order to preserve military traditions, the guards rank of units, ships, formations and associations during reorganization was transferred to new military formations, but only if there was direct continuity of personnel.
The Guard of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was the successor and continuer of the military traditions of its predecessors: the Guards Motorized Rifle Taman and Guards Tank Kantemirovskaya divisions; Guards formations of the Airborne Forces, etc.
A special operation in Ukraine gives birth to a new Russian guard. For mass heroism and courage, perseverance and courage shown in hostilities, a number of Russian military formations received the honorary title of “Guards”.
For the personnel of the Guards military collectives, serving “like the Guards” means unswervingly being guided in life by the principle of “learning what is necessary in war.”
