Who was hired to serve in the personal protection of Russian princes, tsars and emperors

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Despite the fact that in Russia, starting from princely times, the image of the ruler was presented to the people as an "anointed of God" (which implied fear, respect and awe in front of him on the part of commoners), everyone was well aware that without personal protection, "the first person of the state "Well, no way. And the fact that at all times there were enough dissatisfied with the policy of this or that sovereign, only added the need for the formation of his reliable protection.

Who served as bodyguards for Russian princes, tsars and emperors at different stages in the history of the Russian state?

Druzhinniki, oprichniki and archers

Since the formation of the first state in Russia, the guard of its rulers - princes, was in charge of the "squad". It was a militarized formation of the most loyal people to the prince, mainly from noble families. The guards always had a good military bearing and followed their prince everywhere. The first who began to reform the personal guard was the Moscow Tsar Ivan III, nicknamed the Great by the people (1462-1505).

Under Ivan the Great, the bells became personal guards and part-time royal squires. They were recruited from the children of the upper boyar class. It is noteworthy that the bellies, although they lived in the royal chambers on full allowance, did not receive any salary for their service. Serving as a bell was considered the height of prestige and royal recognition.

To demonstrate the wealth of the royal court and its grandeur, the "uniform" of the bells was entirely befitting their status. They wore luxurious Turkish silk caftans trimmed with ermine fur with two long gold chains crossed on the chest in the form of a harness, pointed boots and high hats. As a weapon, the bellies had "ambassadorial hatchets" with a rounded blade or reeds.

In addition to the bells (which were rather the official guard), the duties of the personal guard of the tsars were performed by the soldiers of the Kremlin guard and guard units. Ivan IV the Terrible relied more on the archers' guards detachments: both foot and cavalry. Some of the commanders of such detachments at one time were the future Moscow tsars Boris Godunov and Fedor Nikitich Romanov, as well as the "faithful dog of the sovereign" Malyuta Skuratov. It was Malyuta who later became the leader of the guardsmen - a security, and, concurrently, punitive organization under Tsar Ivan the Terrible.

With the beginning of the reign of the Romanov dynasty, the archers were the main "elite troops" at the court of the sovereign. They received generous royal salaries and were considered almost the highest caste in the then society. This played a cruel joke with the archers in the future. Rifle units were very easy to buy, which automatically made them unreliable, prone to riots and betrayals.

Life Guards of His Imperial Majesty

Back in 1691, the young Tsar Peter created two guards regiments from his "amusing troops": Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky. Later, these military units helped to cope with the riot of the archers and actually destroy them. Having become the sole ruler of the Moscow state in 1696, Peter established the Life Guard as his personal guard. So the "Transfiguration" and "Semenovites" became tsarist and later imperial bodyguards.

It is noteworthy that in subsequent years it was the Guards regiments that repeatedly became the real "arbiters of the fate of the throne." The guards helped to ascend to the royal throne, first to the wife of the first Russian emperor, Catherine I, and later to her son, Peter II (neutralizing and, in fact, sending into oblivion the once all-powerful Prince Alexander Menshikov).

After that, practically not a single change of emperor took place without the participation of the guards. At the same time, quite often the "sympathies" of the Life Guards changed very quickly. So, after the death of Anna Ioanovna, the "Transfiguration" helped to arrest the duke-regent Biron - thus making Princess Anna Leopoldovna the de facto ruler of Russia. However, dissatisfaction with the "dominance of the Germans", as well as the forced to unleash a war with the Swedish crown led to the fact that the same guardsmen of the Preobrazhensky regiment, prompting the daughter of Peter I Elizabeth to take action, at the end of November 1741 helped her become the new Russian empress.

Later, the Life Guards helped another royal person - Ekaterina Alekseevna (née Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst), to overthrow Peter III and ascend the throne, becoming Empress Catherine II the Great. By the way, Catherine thanked the guardsmen truly "despised for the kindest": seeing and understanding the character, as well as feeling a certain danger to her royal position, the empress gradually abolished the Life Guard.

Cossack bodyguards

Since the reign of Catherine II, Russian emperors have "taken the fashion" to surround themselves with bodyguards - people from the conquered peoples. So, in the journey of Empress Catherine the Great across Novorossiya and Taurida, Cossacks, as well as Turks and Tatars, predominated in her personal protection. Thus, the Russian rulers not only gained prestige among the peoples who were annexed to the empire (often "by fire and sword"), but also ensured loyalty from the local nobility. After all, it was the children of representatives of these classes who were recruited into the personal protection of the Russian emperors.

Catherine gained even greater authority among the Cossacks after she gave him liberties in the Kuban and freed the Cossacks from serfdom. Naturally, in exchange for "service with faith and truth." Since that time, the Don and Kuban Cossacks have always been part of the elite garrisons of the Russian emperors.

Bodyguards with a Caucasian accent

By direct analogy with the Cossacks (in terms of attracting Cossacks to service in elite military units), the Russian Empire also acted with the conquered peoples of the Caucasus. Georgian and Armenian princes with honor and pride sent their sons to serve the Russian crown. Whole cavalry units and corps were formed from the mountaineers. In which the most skillful and desperate horsemen were selected.

Often the Caucasian garrisons fought shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield with Cossack detachments. At the same time, both one and the other in battle stayed closer to the emperor, performing "in combination" the functions of His Majesty's personal guard.

In 1828, Emperor Nicholas I established the Life Guards Caucasian Gorsky half-squadron. The first commander of this elite cavalry unit was a descendant of the Crimean khans, Sultan Azamat-Girey. The half-squadron was assembled from the most noble highlanders. It included the "sons" of various Caucasian peoples, but the largest representation in this military unit was among the Kabardians - 12 people.

Already in 1831, the half-squadron distinguished itself in armed clashes with the Polish rebels. Further, in each military campaign, the Life-Guards Caucasian Gorsky half-squadron with enviable constancy was distinguished by heroic actions and real feats.

Bodyguards of the last emperor

After a series of attempts on the life of the Russian tsars, the requirements for the protection of the "first person of the state" increased. As a result, the personal guard of the last Russian emperor for the most part consisted of Cossacks - the "defenders of the faith, the tsar and the fatherland", proven for decades. At the door of the tsar's office in the residences, two Cossacks under the command of a non-commissioned officer were constantly on duty. During the official ceremonies, the emperor was obligatorily accompanied by 7 fellow cavalrymen from the convoy squadron of His Majesty.

This charter was established under Nicholas I, but already during the reign of Alexander III (after the death of his father as a result of an assassination attempt), secret services and units to protect the emperors began to be organized in the empire. Although officially the personal guard, which everyone could see, consisted of the Russian Cossacks. The Cossacks were the Tsar's bodyguards until his official abdication. From February 1917 to 1920, they guarded the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and were active participants in the White movement in the Civil War.

After the victory of the Bolsheviks, the Cossacks from the former guard of the emperor emigrated to Serbia, where they continued the struggle against the Bolshevik ideology, strongly supporting the restoration of autocracy. It is interesting and noteworthy that in those years Serbian parents, in order to pacify or pacify their children, frightened them with "terrible Cossacks."