PERSONNEL OF THE OFFICER CORPS IN SIBERIAN DIVISION’S FIELD REGIMENTS AT THE END OF THE 18TH CENTURY

The paper attempts to identify the features inherent in the military reforms of Emperor Paul I (1796–1801) on a regional scale, on the territory of Siberia. The personnel composition of the staff and chief officer ranks of the field regiments of the Siberian Division is considered according to the data for 1798–1799. The parameters such as the age and social origin of officers, the time of their military service and combat experience, disciplinary indicators are analyzed. As a result of the research, it was found that not all of Paul I’s innovations were put into practice in the field units of the Russian army stationed in Siberia by the end of the 18th century. In particular, the Russian nobles made up a significant but not dominant group among the officers, and most of them belonged to small-scale or had no serfs at all. The group of hereditary military, persons of non-noble origin, staff and chief officers’ children, was increased. Neither the widespread idea of the predominance of foreigners in command positions during the reign of Paul I, nor the popular thesis about the massive spread of severe disciplinary punishments in the Russian army, could be confirmed. In addition, the reforms resulted in decreasing to a certain extent the combat capability of these units, as evidenced by the significant rejuvenation of the personnel of their officer corps and the obvious lack of experience of participation in hostilities among most officers.