The Number of Russian Troops on the Eve of the Smolensk War (1632–1634): The Enumerative List of 1630 and Compilation of the First National Estimates of Military People

Abstract

This article is focused on a controversial problem in historiography—that of determining the size of the Russian armed forces in the 17th century. It is dedicated to analyzing the enumerative list of 1630 in the work of the clerks of the Order-in-Charge Prikaz [razryadnyi prikaz, a department in charge of higher military and civil administration personnel—Tr.] to compile the earliest surviving nationwide estimate list of military men ready for service and its mobilization potential. The conclusion is substantiated that the enumerative list of 1630 reflected the initial stage of unification in the compilation of statistical reports by the country’s main military department coordinating issues of military development, which was determined by the task of preparing the country for an inevitable war with a formidable and significantly superior enemy.