There was such an officer rank in the old Russian army - second lieutenant. Two small stars across one gap. Who today does not recognize lieutenant epaulettes in these insignia?
Having spent half a decade at a higher military school, cadets become officers. This event is solemnly celebrated, special military rituals are provided, including the obligatory passage of graduates in front of the ranks. After the ceremonial lieutenant shoulder straps are issued, all certified military specialists begin a new life associated with serving the Fatherland.
An interesting story of the emergence of this sign, which determines the rank of a serviceman. Officers in Peter's times did without stars on their shoulders. But since 1696, the rank and file had special straps that prevented the gun belt from slipping during the march.
Alexander I introduced a recognition system, which became the prototype of the modern army hierarchy, but epaulettes meant not ranks, but belonging to the regiment. The number, and if a military man served in the Life Guards, then the letter, was applied large on the shoulder strapthe corresponding color (red, blue, white or green) depending on the number occupied by the unit in the division.
In 1911, according to the order of the Military Department, as the Ministry of Defense was then called, insignia were established, which became the basis of the Soviet rank system.
From 1917 to 1943, our officers did without shoulder straps. They were replaced by "sleepers", "cubes", rhombuses on buttonholes. It was believed that the Red Workers 'and Peasants' Army (RKKA) is fundamentally different from the armed forces of other states (not to mention the Russian Empire) in that commanders are no longer bosses for soldiers, but simply friends and comrades.
After Stalingrad and Kursk, shoulder straps were returned to Soviet soldiers and officers. A significant role in this was also played by the fact that the enemies, out of habit, called all the soldiers of the Red Army Russians, regardless of nationality. In addition, patriotism is easier to propagate based on old traditions.
Where did the lieutenant's epaulettes come from? The photographs, yellowed with age, depicting Russian officers from the First World War, testify to the continuity. The dimensions, clearance width and stars are the same as those of the second lieutenant of the tsarist army, with the exception of the numbers indicating the unit number. This is understandable: it is not always necessary to make it easier for enemy intelligence to determine the location of military units.
"There is only one gap in life, and even that one is on shoulder straps," young officers who recently graduated from college joked. They meant a low official salary combined withdistribution to distant garrisons, with unsettled life and more than modest supplies. So it was in the fifties, and in the sixties, and in the seventies, and in the eighties. In the last decades of the existence of the USSR, lieutenant shoulder straps lost their prestige.
Then came the nightmarish nineties. The officer families, directly dependent on the state, found themselves in such a humiliating position that the Russian army had not known since 1917. Servicemen who wore not only lieutenant's shoulder straps, but also with bigger stars, were dismissed en masse from service or tried to earn extra money by any available means.
The officer corps in any civilized country is the elite of society. Protecting the homeland is an honorable occupation. In recent years, the country's leadership has realized the importance of this part of our society. Once Napoleon I expressed the idea that a state that poorly maintains its own army is forced to feed someone else well in the future.
Today, Russian officers, including junior ones, receive quite decent salaries. Lieutenant epaulettes are honorable and prestigious to wear again.
