Budenovka
Encyclopedia
- For the place in Azerbaijan, see Budenovka, AzerbaijanBudenovka, AzerbaijanBudenovka is a village in the Saatly Rayon of Azerbaijan.It is suspected that this village has undergone a name change or no longer exists, as no Azerbaijani website mentions it under this name....
.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Будёновка, budyonovka) is a distinctive type of hat and an essential part of the communist uniform of the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
and later. Its official name was the "broadcloth
Broadcloth
Broadcloth is a dense woollen cloth. Modern broadcloth can be composed of cotton, silk, or polyester, but traditionally broadcloth was made solely of wool. The dense weave lends sturdiness to the material....
helmet" (шлем суконный). Named after Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny , sometimes transliterated as Budennyj, Budyonnyy, Budennii, Budenny, Budyoni, Budyenny, or Budenny, was a Soviet cavalryman, military commander, politician and a close ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.-Early life:...
, it was also known as the "frunzenka" after Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917.-Life and Political Activity:Frunze was born in Bishkek, then a small Imperial Russian garrison town in the Kyrgyz part of Turkestan, to a Moldovan medical practitioner and his Russian wife...
. It is a soft, woolen hat that covers the ears and neck and that can be worn under a helmet.
The cap has a beak and folded earflaps that can be buttoned under the chin.
The hat was created as part of a new uniform for the Russian army by Viktor Vasnetsov
Viktor Vasnetsov
Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov , 1848 — Moscow, July 23, 1926) was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He was described as co-founder of folklorist/romantic modernism in the Russian painting and a key figure of the revivalist movement in Russian art.- Childhood ...
, a famous Russian painter, who was inspired by the Kiev Rus helmet. The original name was bogatyrka (богатырка) - hat of a bogatyr
Bogatyr
The bogatyr was a medieval heroic warrior of Kievan Rus' and the Novgorodian Republic, akin to a Western European knight errant.- Kievan Rus' :...
- and was intended to inspire Russian troops by connecting them with the legendary heroes of Russian folklore. Bogatyrkas were meant to be a part of a new uniform, so they had already been produced during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, but hadn't been officially adopted. Another version, quite popular in Russia, is that bogatyrkas were designed for a military parade as a part of a "historical" stylized uniform (which also included an overcoat with "designer" cross-pieces, which also were used in the Red Army to a limited extent). Some Russian historians even speculate the parade in question was a supposed victory parade in Berlin.
During the Russian civil war
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, communist troops, who had no obligation to comply with the uniform standards of the Imperial Russian army, used bogatyrkas, as they were abundant and distinctive. Bogatyrkas were commonly decorated with red star
Red star
A red star, five-pointed and filled, is an important ideological and religious symbol which has been used for various purposes, such as: state emblems, flags, monuments, ornaments, and logos.- Symbol of communism :...
pins as a distinguishing mark. Such decorations were often makeshift, but later were standardized, and a bigger star badge of broadcloth was sewn to the front of the hat, typically red but in some cases blue (for cavalry) or black (for artillery). This allowed the communists to use the image of "Red bogatyrs" fighting the old and corrupt Russian system, thus employing the original idea by Vasnetsov. At this time the hat was renamed the Budenovka after Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny , sometimes transliterated as Budennyj, Budyonnyy, Budennii, Budenny, Budyoni, Budyenny, or Budenny, was a Soviet cavalryman, military commander, politician and a close ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.-Early life:...
, the commander of the First Cavalry Army, as the hat (with the blue star) was particularly popular with cavalry units. It was also called as the Frunzenka after Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917.-Life and Political Activity:Frunze was born in Bishkek, then a small Imperial Russian garrison town in the Kyrgyz part of Turkestan, to a Moldovan medical practitioner and his Russian wife...
, one of Bolshevik army leaders.
The initial model with the high tip was replaced with a more practical low-tip model in 1927.
The hat didn't survive long as a part of the Red Army uniform, for both political and practical reasons. Although it was relatively easy to produce, it required expensive wool and didn't provide good cold-weather protection. It was also inconvenient to wear under the helmet. Another reason was that it belonged to the revolutionary period of Russian history in which artistic and political expression had been under less rigorous control by the state. It was abandoned during the army reforms of the mid-1930s. Phasing-out started in 1935. Budionovkas were still in use during the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
of 1939, but they were almost completely replaced by the start of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 with the garrison cap
Garrison cap
A Side cap is a foldable military cap with straight sides and a creased or hollow crown sloping to the back where it is parted. It is known as a garrison cap , a wedge cap , or officially field service cap, , but it is more generally known as the side cap.It follows the style which...
(called "pilotka") and ushanka
Ushanka
An ushanka , also known as a trooper, is a Russian fur cap with ear flaps that can be tied up to the crown of the cap, or tied at the chin to protect the ears, jaw and lower chin from the cold. The thick dense fur also offers some protection against blunt impacts to the head...
fur cap, but some were still in use by the Soviet partisans
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
.
Budenovka became part of history as Red Army cavalry men wearing budennovkas became an important cultural image from the Russian civil war, together with tachanka
Tachanka
The tachanka was a horse-drawn machine gun platform, usually a cart or an open wagon with a heavy machine gun installed in the back. A tachanka could be pulled by two to four horses and required a crew of two or three...
s, the Nagant revolver
Nagant M1895
The Nagant M1895 Revolver is a seven-shot, gas-seal revolver designed and produced by Belgian industrialist Léon Nagant for the Russian Empire. The Nagant M1895 was chambered for a proprietary cartridge, 7.62x38R, and featured an unusual "gas-seal" system in which the cylinder moved forward when...
or Mauser C96
Mauser C96
The Mauser C96 is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937...
, Maxim gun and rebelling sailors.
Stylized budyonovkas were popular children's headgear until late Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
times.
The Budenovka remains part of the uniform of the army of the unrecognised state of Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
.