Imperial Russian Army formations and units (1914)

The Eastern Front, as it was in 1914, with the long-occupied territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the top centre.

This article lists Imperial Russian Army formations and units in 1914 prior to the mobilisation for the Russian invasion of Prussia and the offensive into the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia.

The prewar chain of command was: military district, corps (or Army corps), then to division, brigade, regiment, and then the regiment's battalions.

After mobilisation in the event of war the chain of command of the Imperial Russian Army ran from Stavka, the Russian general headquarters, which was created during mobilization, to Front-level (Army group) also created during mobilization, to the Army level. Army headquarters were created during mobilization by transformation of the military district headquarters. Below Army level the chain was the same as in peace-time; corps (or Army corps (terms used interchangeably), division, brigade, and regiment.

Abbreviations used
  • ACorps = Army Corps (ak = armeysky korpus)
  • MD = Military district (VO = voenny okrug)
  • GrenCorps = Grenadier Corps (Gren. k = Grenadersky korpus)
  • LGrd = Lifeguard (l.-gv. = leyb-gvardi)
  • SibCorps = Siberian Corps (Sib. k = Sibirsky korpus)
  • TurkCorps = Turkestan Corps (Turk. k = Turkestansky korpus)

Fronts

Armies

see List of Russian armies in World War I

The Guards

1st Guards Corps

Located in Saint Petersburg and surroundings — Pushkin, Petergof and Gatchina, excepted the 3rd Infantry Division (3 ID) and the Independent Cavalry Brigade (ICavBr), located in Warsaw and subordinated to the XXIII AC

Formation, unit established
Infantry
LGrd Preobrazhensky Regiment
1683
LGrd Semyonovsky Regiment
1683
LGrd Izmaylovsky Regiment
1730
LGrd Jaeger Regiment
1796 – battalion (1806)
LGrd Moscow Regiment
1811 (established as LGrd Litovsky Regiment, in 1817 — renamed to LGrd Moscow Regiment)
LGrd Grenadier Regiment
1756 – 1st -й Grenadier Regiment (1813)
LGrd Pavlovsky Regiment
1796, under the patronage of Paul I of Russia (ru: Pavel), received the name of the Imperator, as Pavlovsky Regiment (1813)
LGrd Finland Regiment
1806 – Battalion of the Imperial Militsiya (1808)
from 1915 Division
Cavalry
in Warsaw
LGrd Uhlan Regiment
1817
LGrd Grodnensky Hussars Regiment
1824

Fortresses

Army Corps

Cavalry Corps

Cavalry Divisions

Cossack Divisions

See also

Bibliography

  • Ėmmanuelʹ, V. A. (2013). The Russian Imperial Cavalry in 1914 (First Winged Hussar Publishing ed.). Point Pleasant, NJ: Winged Hussar Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-0988953215.
  • Deyo, Daniel C. (2016). A Compendium of the Russian Army in the First World War (Legions of the East ed.). Great Falls, VA: Counterintelligence Consulting LLC. ISBN 9781540399311.

Further reading

  • Florinsky, Michael T. "The Russian Mobilization of 1914," Political Science Quarterly (1927) 42#2 pp. 203–227 in JSTOR