Scouts of the Russian Empire: What did the predecessors of the pioneers do under the patronage of Nicholas II

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

When we use the word "scouts", we most often represent American boys and girls, but this youth movement first originated in England, and at the beginning of the 20th century it was very popular in Russia. By October 1917, there were about 50,000 scouts in the country, and there were organizations in 143 cities. These children had a different fate: some of them with their parents ended up in exile and continued the development of the movement there, some peacefully turned into pioneers, and some, who did not want to part with colorful ties, were even exiled to Solovki.

The founder of the scout movement, British Colonel Robert Baden-Powell first came to Russia as a spy. In 1886, he appeared in Tsarskoe Selo and tried to penetrate the territory of the military unit. There, in closed hangars, revolutionary aircraft for their time were built - military balloons. For the secrets of Russian technology, foreign states were ready to shell out round sums, but our engineers jealously guarded their developments. The English spy was then detained, but he managed to escape and leave the country through the port of St. Petersburg.

Life pretty much threw Baden-Powell around the world. In the early 1900s, he participated in the Boer War, fought in the besieged in Mafeking (an English city in South Africa) and there for the first time gathered local boys 12-14 years old in a reconnaissance detachment. Returning then to his homeland, Baden-Powell wrote several books "To help the scouts", and some addressed to children. Ideas about what a real scout should be like: strong, healthy, active, a good rider and swimmer, he should be able to explore and read the surroundings, survive in the forest, and so on, turned out to be so attractive that in England detachments of young scouts began to be organized spontaneously (scouts).

Good ideas are known to be in the air. In 1908, in Russia, Nicholas II initiated the creation of the "Formation and Gymnastics Schools". Boys, dressed in paramilitary uniforms, under the guidance of officers, learned to march with wooden rifles and prepared for service for the good of the Motherland. Such "amusing" companies enjoyed the patronage of the emperor. Very soon there were detachments: "young sailors", "young sappers", "young scouts" and others. Literally a year later, in 1909, Baden-Powell's book Scouting for Boys, already well-known throughout the world, was translated and published in Russia, and the emerging movement received clear guidelines.

Soon the former English spy again came to Russia, but now - at the invitation of the emperor himself. In 1910, he met with Nicholas II and the leaders of the first scout units. Young scouts in our country were first dressed in caftans, long trousers and sheepskin fur hats. Then we switched to the “English style” uniform: shorts, a wide-brimmed hat and multi-colored ties. The Russian scouts also had badges, each one had to pass an exam, and six badges gave the right to the “Sign of the Polar Bear”.

The rules for our scouts were also largely copied from the English: to fulfill your duty to God, the Motherland and the Emperor; to be useful and honest citizens of Russia; help everyone; be always truthful; never lose heart; to be animal friends… The knot tied in the morning on the tie was supposed to remind the scout all day about his duty to do at least one good deed, and without fulfilling this duty, the young man could not untie the knot in the evening.

The movement expanded at a tremendous speed. Nicholas II supported this initiative in every possible way, considering it extremely useful for the education of young people. The book "Young Scout" was published in Russia with a circulation of 25 thousand copies and sent to all gymnasiums. Scout units were formed in all major cities of the empire and on the outskirts: in the Finnish principality, in Poland and in the Ukraine. The All-Russian Union of Scout Societies was created, the magazines “Russian Scout” and “Be Ready!” Were published. Even the heir to the throne, Alexei, joined the Tsarskoye Selo scout detachment, thus setting an example for the whole country.

During the First World War, the close-knit detachments of young assistants proved to be very useful. Scouts helped the wounded, refugees, worked in hospitals and public facilities, performing, in modern parlance, the functions of volunteers. The youth movement, having received real goals, has grown and become more serious. According to surviving testimonies, as early as 1918 in St. Petersburg in one of the large department stores, an entire floor was given to goods for scouts. You could buy everything there - from uniforms to backpacks.

Baden-Powell himself always believed that the scout movement should be far from politics, but in a country torn apart by internal conflicts, well-trained and close-knit groups of young people could not stay away from wars and revolutions. Many of the scout leaders were military, and during the Civil War they led their troops to the White Guard. On March 20, 1919, in Chelyabinsk, with the support of Kolchak, the Congress of Scout Leaders of Siberia and the Urals was held, at which a new All-Russian Organization of Scouts was established. There were also young scouts on the Don, with the Cossack troops. Of course, the film "The Elusive Avengers" was silent about this, but in fact the young defenders of their ideals were on the side of the white officers.

In 1922, the government of the Soviets decided not to lose such a powerful resource and to take the youth organizations into their own hands. After the formation of the All-Russian Pioneer Movement named after Spartak, some of the scout organizations were transformed into pioneer organizations. Exactly at the same time, in May 1922, a Russian foreign scout organization was founded in Constantinople. Young scouts-emigrants, expelled from the country, continued their work abroad.

By the fall of 1922, the scouting movement in Russia was banned. The remaining scattered detachments, which did not want to transform into pioneers, were captured for several more years. It is known that in April 1926 the OGPU made mass arrests of scouts. Most of these young people ended up in the Solovetsky camps. Apparently, the scouting Jewish organizations in Ukraine and Belarus lasted the longest, but after 1927 the new government managed to get rid of them too.

Children in white shirts and red ties were now marching across the expanses of the Soviet Union, the motto was "Be ready!" difficulties, to be a faithful and honest comrade … ". New victories awaited the youth organization that brought together Soviet children, because pioneers played an important role in the history of the USSR.