Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin lived in 1816-1912. He became a famous Russian military historian and minister. It was he who developed and introduced the military reform in 1860. From 1878 he became the bearer of the title of count. In addition, Milyutin Dmitry Alekseevich entered the history as the last Russian person who had the rank of Field Marshal.
Beginning of life
The future figure was born in the Milyutin family, who became nobles in Peter's time due to the fact that they had equipped a silk factory in Moscow. Dmitry Milyutin studied at the gymnasium, and after that - at a noble boarding school in Moscow. There he spent 4 years, demonstrated the ability to exact sciences.
At the age of 16, the young man compiled a "Guide to shooting plans." After leaving the university boarding school, he received the right to the rank of 10th grade, was awarded a silver medal. Having entered the service in 1833, Dmitry Milyutin acquired the rank of ensign.
In 1835-1836, he studied at the Imperial Military Academy, and then received the rank of lieutenant. He was assigned to the general staff, his name was noted on the marble plaque of the Academy. ATIn 1837, Milyutin was already in the Guards General Staff.
In 1839, according to a brief biography, Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin graduated from the Imperial Military Academy, published several military articles for lexicons. He also translated the notes of Saint-Cyr. His authorship belongs to the article "Suvorov as a commander" in 1839.
In the Caucasus
In the same year, the lieutenant went on a business trip to the Caucasus. Here, to describe briefly, Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin participated in armed clashes with Shamil and his troops. They ended with the victory of the Russian troops after a 76-day siege of the Akhulgo rock. It was the residence of Shamil, who subsequently fled.
At this time, Dmitry Milyutin was wounded and awarded the Order of St. Stanislav, 3rd class, and the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class. He was promoted to captain. Dmitry stayed in the Caucasian district until 1844, participated in many armed conflicts.
At the academy
From 1845, he began to conduct professorial activities at the Imperial Military Academy. While in the Caucasian region, he continued to write. At that time, Milyutin published "Manual for the occupation, defense and attack of forests, buildings, villages and other local objects." In addition, he continued the scientific works of the military historian Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, who died before he could complete them. Dmitry Milyutin was directly instructed to deal with their continuation by the emperor.
He was also elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1854he met N. G. Chernyshevsky in Peterhof. By that time, the biography of Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin turned out to be closely connected with the post on special assignments under the Minister of War Sukhozanet. There were quite tense relations between them.
Return to the Caucasus
In 1856 he became chief of staff of the army in the Caucasus. In the next few years, Milyutin leads many operations, including the capture of the village of Gunib, where Shamil was captured. After that, in 1859, he became an adjutant general, and soon a deputy minister of war.
Military reforms
From 1861 he became Minister of War. He held this position for 20 years. From the very beginning, Dmitry Milyutin advocated military reforms, proclaiming the liberation innovations of Emperor Alexander II as an ideal. It is noteworthy that the minister remained quite close to scientific and literary circles. He closely interacted with K. D. Kavelin, E. F. Korsh and other well-known personalities in this field. This communication and close acquaintance with the processes that took place in the public life of those times determined many of the features of his work as a minister.
When he first took office, the most important task of the ministry was to reorganize the management of the military forces. Life in this area lagged far behind modern conditions at that time. One of the first reforms of Dmitry Milyutin was the reduction in the service of soldiers from 25 to 16 years.conditions, uniforms. He forbade manually cracking down on subordinates, the use of the rod became limited. In addition, Milyutin proved himself to be an enlightened supporter of the reform movements of that era.
He strongly influenced the abolition of the use of cruel criminal pen alties with rods, branding and whips. Considering judicial statutes, Count Dmitry Milyutin advocated that legal proceedings be rational. With the opening of public courts, he developed a military-judicial charter, which proclaimed the same principles for the military sphere. In other words, under him, proceedings in the military field became oral, public, built on a competitive beginning.
The most important place among the measures he introduced was conscription. It became universal, extended to the upper classes. The latter did not welcome such an innovation cordially. One of the merchants offered to support disabled people at his own expense in exchange for exemption from duty.
However, in 1874, universal conscription was introduced. In this, according to the memoirs of Dmitry Milyutin, he was supported by Alexander II. And the emperor actually issued the Supreme Manifesto on this measure, and sent Milyutin a personal rescript with a message to introduce the law “in the same spirit in which it was drawn up.”
Dmitry was very active in providing educational benefits, allocating them to those who had university degrees. He assigned them a service lasting 3 months. The main opponent of the Minister of War was the Minister of Public Education D. A. Tolstoy, whoproposed for those who had a diploma to increase the term of service to 1 year, thereby equalizing them with those who graduated from the 6th grade of the gymnasium.
Milyutin skillfully defended his ideas, and his project was adopted in the State Council. Tolstoy failed to ensure that the service was timed to coincide with the course at the university.
Education
Dmitry took many measures to ensure that education in the military environment spread. He developed a three-year course, opened schools with companies. In 1875 he issued general rules for the educational process. Milyutin sought to rid schools of early specialization, expand the general education program, and get rid of outdated methods. He replaced the cadet corps at the gymnasium.
It is noteworthy that the officer classes introduced by Milyutin in 1866 later became the military law academy. Thanks to the active work of the Minister, the number of military educational institutions has increased significantly. More scientific demands began to be made to officers. Thanks to him, women's medical courses were opened, which were extremely effective in 1877-1878 during the Russian-Turkish war. However, when Milyutin resigned, they were closed.
The Minister has introduced many measures in order to maintain the he alth of the troops at the proper level. He reorganized the hospital unit in the troops. Dmitry, according to the surviving data, did not seek to hush up the mistakes of his own subordinates. At the end of hostilities, he took many measures to uncover the abuses that took place in the commissaryparts. He retired in 1881.
Retired
In 1878 he became a count, and in 1898 Milyutin Dmitry Alekseevich was appointed Field Marshal General. He continued to sit in the State Council. Milyutin spent the rest of his life in the Crimea, where he had the seaside estate of Simeiz. During that period he worked on his memoirs. In recent works, Milyutin paid special attention to the technical equipment of the troops, the use of vehicles in military operations.
Dmitry took part in the coronation ceremony of Emperor Nicholas II in Moscow in 1896. He gave Metropolitan Pallady the imperial crown. Milyutin died at the age of 95. They buried him in Sevastopol, and buried him in Moscow at the Novodevichy Convent (next to other relatives). In Soviet times, the grave was destroyed, but it was restored in 2016.
In his will, the former minister established two scholarships - male and female - for the children of the poorest officers of the 121st Infantry Regiment. He was chief here in 1877.
Family
Dmitry Milyutin's wife was Natalia Mikhailovna Ponce (1821-1912). She was the daughter of Lieutenant General M. I. Ponset, who, in turn, was a descendant of the French Huguenots. Natalia met her future husband while in Italy. As Dmitry recalled, Ponce's young daughter was "an unprecedented impression in his life." They got married 2 years later.
According to the recollections of those who knew their family, the Milyutins' house always had a simple atmosphere that amazedmany. Natalya was a kind woman immersed in household chores. They had good-natured daughters (there were five of them), as well as a son. Elizabeth was a smart and focused girl who took after her mother, but her heart was not tender. Son Alexei became lieutenant general, governor of Kursk. He was not like his ancestor. Information has been preserved that numerous attempts were made to accustom him to serious occupations, but Alexei was only interested in horses and no one could cope with this.
The need for reforms
Although the introduction of universal military service caused resistance from the upper strata of society, this reform was in line with the spirit of the times. It was no longer possible to maintain the outdated method of replenishing troops with the then introduced reforms in other areas. Social classes were equalized before the law.
Besides, it was necessary to bring the Russian military system in line with the European one. In the Western powers there was universal conscription. Military affairs became popular. The old armies could not be compared with the new ones organized according to this principle. The method of replenishment of the army influenced both the mental development and the technical training of the armed forces. Russia should have kept up with neighboring countries.
The battle for reform
Resistance to Dmitry Milyutin's military reforms was overcome with a fight. So, in the memoirs of the Minister of the Navy Crabbe, information was preserved about how Dmitry fought for innovations: “he himself rushed at the enemy, so much so that it was terribly alien … Quite a lion. Our elders have gonefrightened.”
A lot of people admitted that under him the military forces of the Russian Empire were transformed fairly quickly. This reflected the general rise in the country, which was noted in the country under Alexander II. As a result, Russia overtook many leading states in its development. Alexander II especially noted Milyutin's victory on the issue of introducing a new military reform.
During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, the timeliness of these innovations was confirmed. Dmitry stayed at the front with the tsar for 7 months, noting changes in the troops. If before the soldiers without officers could not cope in any way, now they themselves understood where they should rush.
The capture of Plevna
In 1877, thanks to the firmness of Milyutin, Plevna was taken. By that time, she had been stormed three times, but each time it ended in failure. Many commanders suggested a retreat, but Dmitry insisted on continuing the siege. And then Plevna fell, which was the turning point of the Balkan war. After that, Milyutin received the Order of St. George, 2nd class. When hostilities ended, he was not afraid to lose the honor of his uniform. Milyutin independently opened a commission to investigate miscalculations committed in the war, took measures to curb abuses as soon as they were identified during the proceedings.
Influence on foreign policy
When the Berlin Congress of 1878 took place, Milyutin almost completely took over the leadership of the country's foreign policy. He advocated the unity of the empire, expanding its presence in Central Asia. In addition, throughout his entire service, he was very active for the transformation of a fairly liberal direction for those times.
