The Table of Ranks (Russian: Табель о рангах, romanized: Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a struggle with the existing hereditary nobility, or boyars. The Table of Ranks was formally abolished on 11 November 1917 by the newly established Bolshevik government. During the Vladimir Putin presidency, a similar formalized structure has been reintroduced into many governmental departments, combined with formal uniforms and insignia: Local Government, Diplomatic Service, Prosecution Service, Investigative Committee.
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👉 Table of Ranks in the context of List of Russian field marshals
General-feldmarshal (Russian: Генерал-фельдмаршал, from German: general-feldmarschall) was, with the exception of Generalissimo, the highest military rank of the Russian Empire. It was a military rank of the 1st class in the Imperial Russian Army and equal to those of Chancellor and Active Privy Councillor, 1st class in civil service, and General Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the rank was abolished, alongside the Table of Ranks. In 1935 however, the Red Army introduced the equivalent rank of "Marshal of the Soviet Union" (Russian: Маршал Советского Союза) as the highest military rank of the Soviet Union, when ranks were restored under Stalin's rule.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Table of Ranks
- 👉 Table of Ranks in the context of List of Russian field marshals
- Table of Ranks in the context of Russian nobility
- Table of Ranks in the context of Boyar scions
- Table of Ranks in the context of Chancellor (Russia)
- Table of Ranks in the context of Active Privy Councillor, 1st class
- Table of Ranks in the context of Decree on the Abolition of Estates and Civil Ranks
- Table of Ranks in the context of Military ranks of the Soviet Union
Table of Ranks in the context of Russian nobility
The Russian nobility or dvoryanstvo (Russian: дворянство) arose in the Middle Ages. In 1914, it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members, out of a total population of 138,200,000 (1.38% of the population). Up until the February Revolution of 1917, the Russian noble estates staffed most of the Russian government and possessed a self-governing body, the Assembly of the Nobility.
The Russian word for nobility, dvoryanstvo derives from Slavonic dvor (двор), meaning the court of a prince or duke (knyaz), and later, of the tsar or emperor. Here, dvor originally referred to servants at the estate of an aristocrat. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the system of hierarchy was a system of seniority known as mestnichestvo. The word dvoryane described the highest rank of gentry, who performed duties at the royal court, lived in it (Moskovskie zhiltsy, "Moscow dwellers"), or were candidates to it, as for many boyar scions (dvorovye deti boyarskie, vybornye deti boyarskie). A nobleman is called a dvoryanin (plural: dvoryane). Pre-Soviet Russia shared with other countries the concept that nobility connotes a status or social category rather than a title. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the title of the nobleman in Russia gradually became a formal status, rather than a reference to a member of the aristocracy, due to a massive influx of commoners via the Table of ranks.
Table of Ranks in the context of Boyar scions
Boyar scions (Russian: дети боярские, сыны боярские; transliteration: deti/syny boyarskie) were a rank of Russian gentry that existed from the late 1300s through the 1600s. In the late 1700s—early 1800s descendants of the boyar scions who failed to prove nobility or regain it through the Table of Ranks were enrolled within the social group named odnodvortsy.
Table of Ranks in the context of Chancellor (Russia)
Chancellor of the Russian Empire (Russian: канцлер Российской империи, romanized: kantsler Rossiyskoy imperii) was a civil position (class) in the Russian Empire, according to the Table of Ranks introduced by Peter the Great in 1722. Chancellor was a civil rank of the 1st class and equal to those of Active Privy Councillor, 1st class, General Field Marshal in the Army, and General Admiral in the Navy. The rank holder should be addressed as Your High Excellency (Russian: Ваше Высокопревосходительство, Vashe Vysokoprevoskhoditelstvo).
Table of Ranks in the context of Active Privy Councillor, 1st class
Active Privy Councillor, 1st class (Russian: действительный тайный советник первого класса, deystvitelnyi taynyi sovetnik pervogo klassa) was the civil position (class) in the Russian Empire, according to the Table of Ranks introduced by Peter the Great in 1722. That was a civil rank of the 1st class and equal to those of Chancellor, General Field Marshal in the Army, and General Admiral in the Navy. The rank holder should be addressed as Your High Excellency (Russian: Ваше Высокопревосходительство, Vashe Vysokoprevoskhoditelstvo).
Table of Ranks in the context of Decree on the Abolition of Estates and Civil Ranks
The Decree on the Abolition of Estates and Civil Ranks was a decree approved by the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies at its meeting on November 23, 1917 and agreed to by the Council of People's Commissars on November 24, 1917. Published on November 25, 1917 in the Newspaper of the Provisional Workers and Peasants Government and Izvestia, on December 21, 1917 published in the Assembly of the Laws and Regulations of the Workers and Peasants Government. The decree contained a provision (Article No. 7) on the entry into force "from the date of its publication".
The decree was intended to abolish the estates and estate legal instruments — classes, titles and civil ranks of the Russian Empire on the territory of Soviet Russia, to introduce the legal equality of all citizens of the new state.
Table of Ranks in the context of Military ranks of the Soviet Union
The military ranks of the Soviet Union were those introduced after the October Revolution of 1917. At that time the Imperial Russian Table of Ranks was abolished, as were the privileges of the pre-Soviet Russian nobility.
Immediately after the Revolution, personal military ranks were abandoned in favour of a system of positional ranks, which were acronyms of the full position names. For example, KomKor was an acronym of Corps Commander, KomDiv was an acronym of Division Commander, KomBrig stood for Brigade Commander, KomBat stood for Battalion Commander, and so forth. These acronyms have survived as informal position names to the present day.