Streltsy
Streltsy (
Стрельцы in
Russian), the
units of
Russian guardsmen (
sl. strelets, стрелец) in the 16th - early 18th centuries, armed with
firearms (
riflemen). They are also collectively known as
Strelets Troops (Стрелецкое 'ойско).
The first Streltsy unit was created between
1540s and
1550s on the basis of the
harquebus units. Initially, they
recruited free
tradepeople and
rural population for the Streltsy unit. Subsequently,
military service in this unit became lifelong and
hereditary.
Streltsy were subdivided into
выборные (viborniye), or electives (later " of
Moscow) and
городские (gorodskiye), or
municipal (in different Russian cities). The Streltsy of Moscow guarded
the Kremlin, performed general guard duty, and participated in
military operations. The Municipal Streltsy performed
garrison and
border duty and carried out orders of the local
administration. Streltsy subordinated to the
Streltsy Department (
Стрелецкий приказ, or Streletsky prikaz), however, in times of war they subordinated to their superiors. The Municipal Streltsy were also under the
jurisdiction of the local
voevodes. Streltsy had identical
uniforms, training and
weapons (harquebuses,
muskets,
poleaxes,
sabers, and sometimes
pikes).
The biggest military administrative unit of the Streltsy forces was
прибор (pribor), that would later be renamed into
prikaz and in
1681 " into
regiment (
полк, or
polk).
Commanders of the Streltsy unit (
стрелецкие головы, or streletskiye golovy) and
colonels in charge of regiments were chiefs of prikazi. They had to be
nobles and appointed by the
government.
The regiments (prikazy) were subdivided into
sotni (
сотни, or hundreds) and
desyatki (
десятки, or tens). They could be mounted (
стремянные, or stremyanniye;
стремя (stremya) in Russian means "
stirrup") and unmounted (
пешие, or peshiye;
пеший (peshiy) means "
foot soldier"). Streltsy lived in secluded
settlements and received money and bread
allowance from the State
Treasury. In certain locations, Streltsy were granted strips of land instead of money.
At the end the 16th century, there were 20,000-25,000 Streltsy, in 1681 " 55,000, including 22,500 in Moscow alone. Streltsy's engagement in
handicrafts and trade led to a significant proprietary
inequality among them and their blending with tradepeople. Even though Streltsy demonstrated their fighting efficiency on several occasions, such as the
siege of
Kazan in
1552, the war with
Livonia, the
Polish-
Swedish invasion in the early 17th century and military operations in
Poland and
Crimea, in the second half of the 17th century Streltsy started to display their backwardness compared to the regular soldier or
reiter regiments (see
Regiments of the new type). Military service hardships, frequent salary delays, abuse on the part of local administration and commanders made for regular Streltsy's (especially the poorest ones) participation in anti-
serfdom uprisings in the 17th and early 18th centuries, such as the
peasant wars in the beginning of the 17th century and in
1670-
1671 (leader "
Stepan Razin),
urban uprisings (
Moscow Uprising of 1682,
Streltsy Uprising of
1698,
Astrakhan Uprising of
1705-
1706).
At the same time, those Streltsy, who had been on top of the
hierarchy, enjoyed their
social status and, therefore, tried to hold back the regular Streltsy forces and keep them on the government's side. In the late 17th century, Streltsy of Moscow began to actively participate in a struggle for power between different government groups, supporting the
dissidents and showing hostility towards any foreign
innovations.
After the fall of
Sophia Alekseyevna in
1689, the government of
Peter the Great engaged in a process of gradual limitation of Streltsy's military and political influence. Eight Moscow regiments were removed from the city and transferred to
Belgorod,
Sevsk, and
Kiev.
After the Streltsy Uprising in 1698 and their
unrest in
Azov,
Peter I ordered their disbandment. However, after having suffered a defeat at
Narva in
1700, the government stopped their disbandment. The most efficient Streltsy regiments took part in the most important military operations of the
Great Northern War and in Peter's
Prut Campaign of
1711. Gradually, Streltsy were incorporated into the regular army. At the same time, they started to disband the Municipal Streltsy.
Liquidation of the Streltsy units was finally finished in
1720s, however, the Municipal Streltsy were kept in some cities until the late 18th century.
Image:Streltsy.jpgImage:Streltsi.jpgImage:Ryabushkin strelets ilynsky.JPGImage:Orenburgsky.jpgAlexander Moutchnik: Der "Strelitzen-Aufstand" von 1698, in: Volksaufstände in Russland. Von der Zeit der Wirren bis zur "Grünen Revolution" gegen die Sowjetherrschaft, hrsg. von Heinz-Dietrich Löwe. Forschungen zur osteuropäischen Geschichte, Bd. 65, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2006, S. 163-196. ISBN 3-447-05292-9 (The Streltsy Uprising of 1698) http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3447052929/qid%3D1142940604/sr%3D1-1/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F8%5F1/303-6481256-5877052
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History of Russian military ranks
