Military district (Russian Empire)

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In the Russian Empire, a military district (Russian: вое́нный о́круг, voyenny okrug) was a territorial association of military units, formations, military schools, and various local military establishments. This territorial division type was utilized to provide a more efficient management of army units, their training and other operations activities related to combat readiness.

[edit] History

In the Russian Empire, military districts were first formed in 1862–64 to replace the pre-existing Military Inspectorates. The military districts were organised to include civilian administration regions of gubernyas and uyezds. By 1892 there were 13 Military Districts in the Russian Empire, and one region with the status of a military district:

1) Saint Petersburg military district (Russian: Питербургский вое́нный о́круг) – Petersburg, Olonets, Arkhangelsk, Novgorod, Pskov, Estland and four uezds of the Livland gubernya (Pernov, Fellinskiy, Valkskiy and Verrosskiy)

2) Finland military district (Russian: Финнский вое́нный о́круг) - all eight gubernyas of Finland

3) Vilno military district (Russian: Вилленский вое́нный о́круг) - Vilno, Grodno, Kovno, Kurlandia, Livland (without above mentioned four uyezds), Vitebsk, Mogilev, Minsk and Suvalky (without the Shchuchinsk uyezd)

4) Warsaw military district (Russian: Воршавский вое́нный о́круг) - Warsaw, Plotskaya, Kalishskaya, Petrokovskaya, Keletskaya, Radomskaya, Lyublinskaya, Sedletskaya, Lomzhinskaya and the Shchuchinskiy uyezd of the Suvalky gubernya

5) Kiev military district (Russian: Киевский вое́нный о́круг) - Kiev, Podolsk, Volhynya, Chernigov, Poltava, Kharkov, Kursk

6) Odessa military district (Russian: Одесский вое́нный о́круг) – Bessarabia, Kherson, Yekaterinoslav, Tavrichesk

7) Moscow military district (Russian: Московский вое́нный о́круг) - Moscow, Smolensk, Tver, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vologda, Vladimir, Nizhniy-Novgorod, Kaluga, Tula, Ryazan, Orel, Tambov, Voronezh

8) Kazan military district (Russian: Казанский вое́нный о́круг) - Kazan, Vyatka, Perm, Ufa, Simbirsk, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Astrakhan (with the Astrakhan, Ural and Orenburg Cossack host troops)

9) Caucasus military district (Russian: Кавказский вое́нный о́круг) - Stavropol gubernya with the entire Caucasus and Transcaucasia (including the Kuban and Terek Cossack host troops)

10) Turkestan military district (Russian: Туркестанский вое́нный о́круг) - the region (область): Syrdar (with the Amu Dar'ya subdivision), Samarkand and Fergana

11) Omskmilitary district (Russian: Омский вое́нный о́круг) - Tobolsk and Tomsk guberniyas, the Akmolinskaya, Semipalatinsk and Semirechensk regions (with the local Cossack troops).

12) Irkutsky military district (Russian: Иркутский вое́нный о́круг) - Irkutsk and Yenisei guberniyas and the Yakutsk region (with the local Cossack troops).

13) Amursky military district (Russian: Амурский вое́нный о́круг) – regions of Transbaikal, Amur (with the local Cossack troops), Pacific coast region and the Sakhalin island

The Transcaspian oblast’ had separate military district administrative rights.

The Commander of the military district was named Commanding troops of (name) military district (in the Petersburg military district - Commander-in-Chief who was the Tsar), with all troops, military institutions and military ranks of the military region subordinated to them.

In some regions the military district commander was simultaneously the local Governor-General.

Control of military district included the military-district council and functional district staff and the administrations of artillery, engineers, comissariat and military medical service.

In the Donskoy military district the right and responsibility of the Commander of forces and Governor-Generalship were entrusted to the appointed ataman; control of the military district consisted of Don Cossack host staff and administration.

However by the beginning of the First World War there were 12 military districts remaining: Dvinsk, Irkutsk, Caucasus, Kazan, Kiev, Minsk, Moscow, Odessa, Omsk, Petrograd, Amur and Turkestan.