Narodnoe Opolcheniye
Encyclopedia
Narodnoe Opolcheniye or Opolchenie was the name of irregular troops formed from the population in Russia
and Soviet Union
to fight alongside the regular army during several wars throughout its history.
The Narodnoe Opolcheniye is of the type known as "national troops" such as the Dnieper Cossacks, or German Landwehr
, and although often translated as the "people's militia",, "home guard",, "people-in-arms", "national popular
army", "civilian reserves", "popular levy", "People's Volunteer Army", "national guard...the factory regiments", "bataillons ouvriers", "all men fit to bear arms from their 21st year", like "British Local Defence Volunteers", "a hastily mustered militia, the opolchenie", "a reserve force", "Opolchenie (a kind of "Landsturm
")", "home guard militia", "volunteer militia", "territorial army", or "temporary militias composed of mostly peasant 'volunteers'" its members never belonged to an organised military force, but were in all cases selectively accepted from a body of volunteers during a national emergency.
Narodnoe Opolcheniye features prominently in early Russian history, for example in The Tale of Igor's Campaign
when it refers to the entire force led on a campaign. It was used for political purposes when the Grand Duchy of Moscow
assumed the leading role in the 16th-century Russia. It sought to emphasise the Tsar
as the "father" of all of Russians, which included other principalities which sought to remain independent. Before the unification of Russians under the leadership of Moscow
, each city and town had its own Opolcheniye not named Narodnoe, but named after the city or town, so Novgorodskoye Opolcheniye
, Suzdal
skoye Opolcheniye, Vladimir
skoye Opolcheniye, etc. These were not militia as such, but armed crowds that, when attacked, would arm themselves and gather into a polk, which is translated in its modern meaning as a regiment. Dal'
gives other usages such as rat, voisko, opolcheniye, tolpa and vataga.
Although formed into regiment
s, division
s and even armies during their existence, the Opolcheniye never had their own permanent units, and it was only during their last creation in 1941 that they were transferred to the regular units and formations en masse.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Soviet Union
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....
to fight alongside the regular army during several wars throughout its history.
The Narodnoe Opolcheniye is of the type known as "national troops" such as the Dnieper Cossacks, or German Landwehr
Landwehr
Landwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large scale, low strength fortifications...
, and although often translated as the "people's militia",, "home guard",, "people-in-arms", "national popular
army", "civilian reserves", "popular levy", "People's Volunteer Army", "national guard...the factory regiments", "bataillons ouvriers", "all men fit to bear arms from their 21st year", like "British Local Defence Volunteers", "a hastily mustered militia, the opolchenie", "a reserve force", "Opolchenie (a kind of "Landsturm
Landsturm
German-speaking countries used the word Landsturm to refer to third-class infantry or militias.- 1813 :King Frederick William III of Prussia established the Prussian Landsturm as irregular military forces on 21 April 1813 by royal edict – the decree appeared in the preussische Gesetzesammlung...
")", "home guard militia", "volunteer militia", "territorial army", or "temporary militias composed of mostly peasant 'volunteers'" its members never belonged to an organised military force, but were in all cases selectively accepted from a body of volunteers during a national emergency.
Narodnoe Opolcheniye features prominently in early Russian history, for example in The Tale of Igor's Campaign
The Tale of Igor's Campaign
The Tale of Igor's Campaign is an anonymous epic poem written in the Old East Slavic language.The title is occasionally translated as The Song of Igor's Campaign, The Lay of Igor's Campaign, and The Lay of...
when it refers to the entire force led on a campaign. It was used for political purposes when the Grand Duchy of Moscow
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....
assumed the leading role in the 16th-century Russia. It sought to emphasise the Tsar
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
as the "father" of all of Russians, which included other principalities which sought to remain independent. Before the unification of Russians under the leadership of Moscow
Vladimir-Suzdal
The Vladimir-Suzdal Principality or Vladimir-Suzdal Rus’ was one of the major principalities which succeeded Kievan Rus' in the late 12th century and lasted until the late 14th century. For a long time the Principality was a vassal of the Mongolian Golden Horde...
, each city and town had its own Opolcheniye not named Narodnoe, but named after the city or town, so Novgorodskoye Opolcheniye
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a large medieval Russian state which stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains between the 12th and 15th centuries, centred on the city of Novgorod...
, Suzdal
Suzdal
Suzdal is a town in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, situated northeast of Moscow, from the city of Vladimir, on the Kamenka River. Population: -History:...
skoye Opolcheniye, Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...
skoye Opolcheniye, etc. These were not militia as such, but armed crowds that, when attacked, would arm themselves and gather into a polk, which is translated in its modern meaning as a regiment. Dal'
Vladimir Dal
Vladimir Ivanovich Dal was one of the greatest Russian language lexicographers. He was a founding member of the Russian Geographical Society. He knew at least six languages including Turkic and is considered to be one of the early Turkologists...
gives other usages such as rat, voisko, opolcheniye, tolpa and vataga.
Although formed into regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
s, division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
s and even armies during their existence, the Opolcheniye never had their own permanent units, and it was only during their last creation in 1941 that they were transferred to the regular units and formations en masse.
- First Narodnoe Opolcheniye, was formed in 1611 during the Russo-Polish War of 1605–1618
- Second Narodnoe Opolcheniye, was formed in 1611–1612 during the Russo-Polish War of 1605–1618
- During the War of the Fourth CoalitionWar of the Fourth CoalitionThe Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
(1806–1807), the Narodnoe Opolcheniye was raise numbering some 612,000, but not used in combat - In 1812 Narodnoe Opolcheniye of 420,000 was formed during the French invasion of Russia and was used extensively during the war and into the 1813 campaignsWar of the Sixth CoalitionIn the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
. At this time the CossackCossackCossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
opolcheniye was also created that even included use of captured 18th- or even 17th -century Turkish cannon kept as trophies. - During the Crimean WarCrimean WarThe Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
(1853–1856), a new Narodnoe Opolcheniye numbering about 360,000 was called out, but not used in combat, although the 7,132 members of the Morskoye Opolcheniye formed from former naval and merchant officers and seamen did serve on active duty. http://flot.com/news/dayinhistory/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=5762 - During the reign of Alexander II of RussiaAlexander II of RussiaAlexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
from 1874 a Gosudarstvennoye Opolcheniye was created which existed until 1917. The primary organisational intent of the government was to offer administrative framework for the previously spontaneous creation of opolcheniye formations due to the ending of serfdomRussian serfdomThe origins of serfdom in Russia are traced to Kievan Rus in the 11th century. Legal documents of the epoch, such as Russkaya Pravda, distinguished several degrees of feudal dependency of peasants, the term for an unfree peasant in the Russian Empire, krepostnoi krestyanin , is translated as serf.-...
a decade earlier, and the increasing Socialist revolutionary activitiesInternational Workingmen's AssociationThe International Workingmen's Association , sometimes called the First International, was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist political groups and trade union organizations that were based on the working class...
. It was used in Siberia during the Russo-Japanese WarRusso-Japanese WarThe Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea... - The Narodnoe Opolcheniye was formed again in 1941 during the Great Patriotic War in significant numbers.
Sources
- Stephen Summerfield, Brazen Cross of Courage: Russian Opolchenie, Partizans and Freikorps During the Napoleonic Wars, Partizan Press, 2007 ISBN 1-85818-555-6
- Roger Chickering, Stig Förster, Bernd Greiner, A World at Total War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937-1945, German Historical Institute, Cambridge University Press, 2005 ISBN 0-511-08213-4
- Kirschenbaum, Lisa, The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941-1995: Myth, Memories, and Monuments, Cambridge University Press, 2006 ISBN 0-521-86326-0
- Russian Peasant Volunteers at the Beginning of the Crimean War, David Moon, Slavic Review, Vol. 51, No. 4, Winter, 1992
- Glantz, David, Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War, 1941-1943, University Press of Kansas, 2005 ISBN 0-7006-1353-6
- Dahl, Vladimir, Explanatory Dictionary of the Live Great Russian language, Vol.III (П), Diamant, St. Petersburg, 1998 (reprinting of 1882 edition by M.O.Wolf Publisher Booksellers-Typesetters)