Military Academies (entry)

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MILITARY ACADEMIES, educational institutions of the Military Department, the graduates of which are directed to military service according to the qualification they receive. They are classified as primary (education within the scope of the school curriculum), secondary (narrowly focused specialist preparation, including that of officers), upper (officers training) and advanced retraining (preparation of officers to serve in the upper ranks or in other military specialities). From the 18th to the early 20th centuries, St. Petersburg was the largest military education centre in the country, in Soviet period and nowadays it occupies the second place after Moscow. In the 18th century, the military academies of St. Petersburg comprised of Artillery and Engineering schools, Cadet Corps, the St. Peter and Paul Garrison school, Guard Regiment Schools (taught literacy to soldiers' children) and two cadet companies of the Izmailovsky Regiment (which prepared nobles' children for officer positions). In the first half of the 19th century the number of military academies increased, specialisation was extended. However, there was no common system for military academies, each institution worked in accordance to its own regulations. In St. Petersburg, there were regiment schools for soldiers' children (which trained handymen and non-commissioned officers), cadet corps (which trained officers), various schools (which trained and re-trained officers and non commissioned officers), and, from 1832, the General Staff Academy. The system of military academies was reorganised during the military reform of the 1860-70s: primary ones functioned in military units (schools for soldiers' children and training teams prepared soldiers to be non-commissioned officers), secondary ones were transformed into military high schools (which gave primary military education for those who wanted to continue it), upper ones - into military academies. At the same time a network of military academies was organised for retraining of officers. In 1880-82, military high schools were transformed into cadet corps. During WWI, numerous schools were organised for accelerated training and retraining of officers and military specialities. After October 1917, the old system of military academies was destroyed, but the Soviet government, needing trained military cadres, created many new military academies, some of them based on pre-revolutionary institutions. A new system of military academies was formed as a result of the reform of 1929-32: non-commissioned officers and specialists were prepared in special training military units (training regiments and battalions); officers - in military academies, which were organised as secondary, sometimes as higher military colleges. Some military academies dealing partly with retraining and partly - training of officers were restored. During the WWII (from 1939) the majority of military academies accepted an accelerated training schedule (1-6 months), and new military academies were also organised. In 1945-48, the system of military academies returned to pre-revolutionary principles of organisation. In the course of the reforms of the 1970s, the majority of military academies were turned into military high schools. In 1985-90, the system of military academies underwent changes: many of the institutions were abolished, merged together or renamed. From the 1990s, higher military academies were transformed into military universities and institutes; some of them preserved or restored historical names of academies, high schools and corps.

References: Лалаев М. С. Исторический очерк военно-учебных заведений, подведомственных Главному их Управлению: В 3 ч. СПб., 1880-1892; Гордеев Т. Ф. Военно-учебные заведения Советского Союза: Крат. ист. очерк. М., 1984; Кондрашин А. В. Военно-учебные заведения Санкт-Петербурга: история, реальность и перспективы развития // Санкт-Петербург и Вооруженные Силы: Науч.-практ. конф.: Сб. ст. СПб., 1995. Вып. 2. С. 9-11.

G. V. Kalashnikov. Петропавловская крепость
Лалаев М. С. Исторический очерк военно-учебных заведений, подведомственных Главному их Управлению: В 3 ч. СПб., 1880-1892
Гордеев Т. Ф. Военно-учебные заведения Советского Союза: Крат. ист. очерк. М., 1984
Кондрашин А. В. Военно-учебные заведения Санкт-Петербурга: история, реальность и перспективы развития // Санкт-Петербург и Вооруженные Силы: Науч.-практ. конф.: Сб. ст. СПб., 1995 Artillery and Engineer Schools of the 18th Century (entry)
Cadet Corps (entry)
General Staff Academy