Some Aspects of the Organization of Combat Training for the Cossacks of the Russian Empire in the 1870s (On the Example of the Kuban Cossack Army)

In this article, the author uses the example of the organization of military service among the Cossacks to show how, by the mid-1870s, the military reforms of the second half of the 19th century in Russia had influenced the organization of combat training and education among the Cossacks. The program of rearmament of the army, its reform, the adoption of new regulations in the military field, the expansion of the network of military educational institutions, and the development of science and technology created the preconditions for the widespread use of new methods and tactics for combating the enemy. All of this had a positive impact on the restructuring of the entire system of combat training for both the armed forces of the Russian Empire and the Cossack military formations. The efforts made by the military department in this area were one of the most important factors in the success of the Russo-Turkish campaign (1877–1878) and the Central Asian campaigns of the Russian army in the 1870s and 1880s, in which the Cossacks played a significant role. Based on the methods of historicism and comparison, and guided by the regulatory documents and other official sources that were in effect during the period under study, the author argues that Milyutin’s military reforms in the second half of the 19th century had a significant impact on the quality of combat training for the entire military class of the Russian Empire, enhancing their combat capabilities.