Training of Russian officers in line troops in the second half of the 17th - first half of the 18th century

This article considers the attempts of officer training directly in the troops of Russian army, which were undertook in the second half of the 17th -first half of the 18th centuries. The author gives the characteristic to the training of “commanding people” in reytar regiment of I. Fanbukoven in 1649-1653 and comes to conclusion that it was effective. The author thinks that the military educational activity of the “toy” army was focused on the training of soldiers, not officers. The attempt of Peter I to organize the military training of young courtiers abroad wasn’t successful because of their weak base preparation. The training of officers in guard regiments was more effective, but it quickly became sham because young noblemen only numbered in lists of military units. Besides, regiment schools which had been organized in the guard troops since 1721 didn’t give so much military knowledge as the technical one, moreover training was organized on a rather low level. The author comes to conclusion that difficulties which were connected with the organization of officer training directly in the troops (such as lack of qualified teachers, impossibility of regular conduct of classes, etc.) made the government to pay close attention to the development of boarding military schools - cadet corpses.