CLOTHING AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE PERSONNEL OF ARTILLERY AND ENGINEERING UNITS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 18TH CENTURY

Abstract

Since the early 18th century, signifi cant changes had been made in the military organisation of Russia, after which it received, in almost all respects, a new device, borrowed, in many cases, from European states. To maintain high combat readiness and combativity of the regular army being established, it was necessary to provide it with all necessary types of allowances, including fi nances, uniforms and other belongings. The article considers some problems of organisation of providing the personnel of the Russian army, including the artillery and engineering corps, with such types of allowances as clothing and fi nances, on the basis of previously unknown archival documents stored in the Archive of the Militaryhistorical Museum of artillery, engineering troops and signal troops and other sources. Special attention is paid to the issues of providing with monetary allowances, necessary uniforms and other belongings of employees, privates, non-commissioned offi cers and offi cers of artillery and engineering units. It is concluded that the existing order of proportional formation of the annual budget of the Department of artillery at the expense of one or another part of the income of various provinces and from other places led to chronic underfunding of Artillery Department, which, in turn, made it diffi cult to allocate funds in full for keeping and maintenance of daily life of the artillery and engineering corps. Some archival and other sources are for the fi rst time introduced in the study into scientifi c circulation.