Ministry of War

Categories / Army. Navy/Military Administration
Categories / Capital/Superior and Central State Institutions
MINISTRY OF WAR (in 1802-08, called the Ministry of Land Forces), a central government institution, military headquarters in the 19th - early 20th centuries. Instituted according to the Manifesto of 8 September 1802. The structure of the Ministry of War was determined by the Establishing Principles of 1812 and 1815 (the Council, two offices, seven departments) and by the Regulations of 1869 (Military Council, office, the General Staff, Chief Military Court, Emperor's Main Quarters, seven Central Departments, two General Departments, and a number of committees). The Ministry was initially accommodated in Count Z.G. Chernyshev's former palace on Moika River Embankment, which was bought by the State Treasury for the Military Collegium in 1795 (later it was rebuilt and transformed into the Mariinsky Palace). In 1824, the mezzanine and the first floor of the Lobanov-Rostovsky Residence (12 Admiralteysky Avenue) were rented for the Ministry of War for 63,000 roubles a year. On 23 June 1828, the entire building was bought by the State Treasury for one million roubles, and in 1829-30 it was renovated to meet the Ministry's needs. It housed the principal establishments of the Ministry until its dissolution in 1918.

References: Столетие Военного министерства. СПб., 1902-1914. Т. 1-13; Данилов Н. А. Исторический очерк деятельности Канцелярии Военного министерства и Военного совета. СПб., 1907. Ч. 1; Двухсотлетие Военного министерства, 1802-2002 гг.: Очерки истории Воен. министерства. М., 2003.

D. N. Shilov. Chernyshev Zakhar Grigorievich, Count
Lobanov-Rostovsky Alexander Yakovlevich, Duke
Admiralteysky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 12
Moika River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Данилов Н. А. Исторический очерк деятельности Канцелярии Военного министерства и Военного совета. СПб., 1907
Столетие Военного министерства. СПб., 1902-1914