Aware of their role in society and their relative isolation from other social strata, many advanced Russian officers expressed the idea of creating a kind of community, partnership, where similar in spirit and hobbies, unit commanders, staff officers could meet in their free time to discuss interesting issues for many people related to improving their professional skills, organizing the organization of professional activities, etc. shared vacations, etc.

Such proposals found a response in the officer's environment, but they were rarely implemented.

It was necessary to find a form of spiritual connection between officers that would give real chances of moral and professional unity of commanders and staff members of units and divisions. The first military communities, later called officers ' meetings, in Russia begin to appear in the second half of the XVIII century. So, in 1779, the club of senior and junior officers of the Novgorod Infantry regiment was formed in the city of Tikhvin, and three years later a military club was created in the St. Petersburg garrison. In the evenings, the officers gathered in the clubs talked about military topics, had a rest together, which helped to strengthen good relations between colleagues and spiritually brought them closer.

But it would probably be premature to consider these associations as officer meetings, since they did not have officially drawn up club rules, there was no highest permission for organizing and holding events, and meetings of colleagues often took place in random places, as well as in the apartments of unit commanders or any of the senior officers.

And the prehistory of the emergence of officer meetings is as follows. The commander of the port of Kronstadt, Admiral Samuel Karlovich Greig, the hero of the Battle of Chesma, an educated and humane man, sympathizing with the dull and meager lifestyle of his subordinates, correctly assessed the moral damage inflicted on young officers who spent the long autumn and winter months when ships were forced to stay in port, in rough entertainment in inns and unsettled bachelor apartments.

With the best of intentions, wanting to help young officers, Admiral S. K. Greig in 1786 suggested that his subordinate commanders establish a club, or noble assembly, in Kronstadt, having previously enlisted the support of Empress Catherine II. This was the prototype of the naval assembly, the first experience of uniting naval officers for useful pastime and pleasant entertainment.

Initially, 70 officers supported the formation of the club, but soon the number of club members increased to 120 people. Military sailors gathered daily, and they were allowed to stay in the club from 17.00 to midnight. As entertainment was offered: reading newspapers and magazines, playing chess, billiards, cards. There were friendly dinners twice a week and a ball once a month. "The simplicity of morals," a contemporary noted, " mutual love, the friendly treatment of superiors with subordinates, and the unconditional respect of the latter for the former showed useful consequences: families became closer to each other, and young officers, having become acquainted with the best society, became more moral."

With the accession of Paul 1, the breakdown of the established order in the country began, which did not bypass the military department. This is an unfavorable time for various public institutions and clubs, including the Kronstadt Maritime Club.

As a result of the palace coup, which took place with the active participation of Guards officers on the night of

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On March 12, 1801, Alexander I became Emperor and implemented a series of liberal reforms. The revival of public life in the state could also have a beneficial effect on the army reality. The traditions that were persecuted under Paul began to revive. So, in the Kronstadt garrison, amateur performances began to be arranged. The troupe consisted of 30 officers, performances were given daily in a crowded auditorium thanks to the skillful selection of popular plays and talented staging and performance.

One of the active participants in the performances, Lieutenant I. P. Bunin, expressed the idea of recreating the marine club, or noble assembly. His proposal was supported, and the club's rules were drawn up. 150 people joined the newly formed community of officers. On January 28, 1802, the creation of the club was highly approved, and on February 6, its grand opening took place. The club became known as the Kronstadt Noble Assembly, later transformed into the Kronstadt Naval Assembly. From him, apparently, the official officer communities of the Russian army should be counted. The naval assembly had: a library, a dining room, a buffet, a newspaper room, two drawing rooms, two billiard rooms, a dance hall. The meeting was served by 6-8 sailors, 6 waiters from freelancers and a doorman. The following magazines were issued for the members of the meeting: "Son of the Fatherland", "Vestnik Evropy", as well as newspapers: "Morskie Vedomosti", "St. Petersburg Newspaper", "Severnaya Pchela", "Russian Invalid", "Khudozhestvennaya Gazeta". The experience of the naval assembly gradually spread to other regions of the empire.

The specifics of the organization of officer societies often depended on the nature of the policy pursued by the state in a particular period of time. .For example, in the first quarter of the XIX century, by order of Emperor Alexander I, military settlements were founded in a number of provinces, where military service was combined with farming. The settled troops retained the structure of the regular army and were divided into regiments, brigades, divisions, and corps. In 1824, at the initiative of the chairman of the Military Department of the State Council, General A. A. Arakcheev, instructions were sent to the part of the settled troops about the arrangement of libraries and "officers ' restaurants"in the regiments. For the units, the Charter of the military assembly was developed, which took into account the specifics of settlements, as well as paid attention to the issues of officers ' everyday life and their nutrition. The document regulated in detail the behavior of officers in public places, prohibited the use of alcoholic beverages. When attending the meeting, officers could take part in musical evenings, play chess, checkers, and cards. In the assembly, conditions were created for temporary residence of visiting officers. Military meetings discussed the life of officers and their families, relationships with soldiers and non-commissioned officers, organization and performance of military service. In May 1857, military settlements were abolished, and along with them, military meetings of regiments ceased to exist.

However, the experience gained by some units in creating officer communities was not in vain. Officers ' clubs and meetings began to appear in the military garrisons of the European part of Russia. The conditions of their occurrence in each case had specific features, but the trend was important - the irreversibility of the process that had begun. In 1859, by common consent of the officers, a military meeting was organized in the 37th Yekaterinburg Infantry Regiment of the 10th Infantry Division. Then a circle of engineering officers appeared in St. Petersburg, who in their free time gathered in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where they exchanged views on military-technical issues, and deepened their professional knowledge. The circle was popular, officers of other branches of the armed forces began to join it, it acquired the significance of the military-scientific community and after a while was transformed into the Imperial Russian-Technical Society.

In 1864, the Dinaburg Officers ' Club was established, which was located in the Baltic fortress, in a private house. The number of community members reached 70 people. The club hosted family dinners twice a month.

In 1869, the Grodno military Assembly was organized, and in Kazan, from the same time, classes were held in the halls of the local cadet school for garrison officers to improve the level of special training, as well as paid dance evenings for officers. Family members attended these evenings for free. Dinner and dessert were being prepared for the ladies in attendance.

The military reforms of 1860-1870, which were carried out under the leadership of the Minister of War, General D. A. Milyutin, played a significant role in the further development of officers ' clubs and officer meetings. In these public formations, Dmitry Alekseevich saw real opportunities to increase the level of military training and improve the moral climate among officers of regiments, ships, and divisions. In 1869, he ordered the creation of a special commission to study the activities of officers ' meetings. The Commission comes to the conclusion that the work of these communities is useful, which contributed to the improvement of the culture and education of the command staff, and the development of military affairs. In the same year, a special commission at the General Staff (established in 1865 as the central body for managing troops) developed an Approximate charter, which provided for provisions concerning the internal organization of officer meetings.

By 1871, with the approval of the Minister of War, many military units in the Warsaw, Vilna and Finnish military districts were being created

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officers ' meetings. The commanders of regiments and ships were sympathetic to the idea of forming these communities, whose goals were "to provide the officers' society with the means to bring its members closer together and maintain proper comradeship between officers in accordance with the spirit and requirements of military service; to promote the development of military education among officers; to provide officers with entertainment in their free time; to reduce the cost of officers".

The reforms in the navy were carried out by Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, the son of the tsar, who was appointed to the post of Minister of the Sea at the age of 27. The merits of the minister were that after the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War (1853-1856), he managed to revive the Russian fleet and raise its power and combat readiness to a high level. The Grand Duke paid great attention to personnel training. Having already accumulated positive experience by that time, naval meetings began to deal more specifically with the moral side of the life of officers. Libraries were created on the bases of the fleet and on large ships, the magazine "Marine Collection" was transformed, where articles were published that raised issues of improving naval tactics, using new equipment, and improving the morale of military sailors. These publications were eagerly discussed in naval meetings, where officers not only rested after strenuous combat work and long campaigns, but also listened to lectures and solved tactical tasks.

The Minister of Marine was keenly interested in the experience of maritime assemblies, listened to the statements of ship commanders. The result of this communication was a noticeable improvement in the situation of naval officers: their salaries increased, various types of benefits were introduced, and pensions for retiring officers were increased.

In the interests of generalizing the accumulated experience in organizing and operating officer meetings, a special commission of the military department was created, which in 1873 prepared the first official Regulation on officer meetings in certain units of the troops, announced by order of the Minister of War. By the same order, on the basis of the highest approval, special funds were allocated to units and formations for the organization and maintenance of officers ' meetings. In November 1874, Order No. 289 on the military department was issued, according to which officer meetings should be organized in all individual units.

The same order introduced the Charter for all regimental meetings with the right to supplement it, based on the specifics of the service and the location of each unit. In addition, a provision was established according to which every officer who was a member of one of the assemblies had the right to attend other regimental meetings. Thus, the norm of mutual solidarity and corporateness of all officer meetings of the army was fixed.

This was followed by a decade of establishing and developing officer meetings in the army and navy, painstakingly collecting all the positive things and spreading the accumulated experience to all units, ships and formations. Information about the activities of officers ' meetings and suggestions showing ways to improve them were carefully collected and analyzed by specialists from one of the departments of the Ministry of War. The result of this long-term work was the publication of a new Regulation on the officers ' assembly in certain Units of the troops, which was approved and announced for guidance in Order No. 279 of the Military Department of September 15, 1884.

By the beginning of the 90-ies of the last century, the creation of officer meetings in the army and navy units was almost completed. This process did not always develop smoothly and calmly. There were many difficulties and unresolved issues. The majority of officers were convinced of the need for this institution in the system of the armed forces. The officer assemblies of regiments and ships did much to encourage their members to cultivate such qualities as honesty, decency, and a zealous attitude to the performance of their military duty.

After the establishment of officer meetings in separate military units and garrisons, proposals for the formation of a general meeting of army and navy officers began to be made on the pages of military magazines and newspapers. The idea itself was new and required reflection, studying public opinion, and a new approach to solving many issues. After numerous approvals, consultations and petitions at the highest level, it was decided to create an army and Navy officers ' assembly in the capital. On August 1, 1895, the emperor ordered to allocate 1 million 345 thousand rubles (at that time - a huge amount) for the construction of a building for the general officers ' meeting of the St. Petersburg garrison. The grand opening of the officers ' meeting of the Army and Navy took place on March 22, 1898.

The last Provision on the officers ' assembly, supplemented and revised, was approved by Order of the Minister of War No. 209 of March 7, 1914. After the October (1917) armed uprising, the activities of the officers 'meetings of the Russian army and Navy were interrupted, and on December 20, 1917, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a decree entitled "On the equalization of all military personnel in rights", according to which all ranks and ranks in the army and navy, all public organizations of the armed forces, including including officer meetings of regiments and ships.

Colonel Alexander NAZAROV, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Professor of the International Slavic Academy

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