Guards (Russian: гвардия) or Guards units ([гвардейские части, gvardeyskiye chasti] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) were and still are elite military units of Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The tradition goes back to the a chieftain's druzhina of medieval Kievan Rus' and the Marksman Troops (Стрелецкое Войско), the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550. The exact meaning of the term "Guards" varied over time.
Imperial Russian Guard[]
Badge of the Imperial Russian Guard Izmaylovsky Regiment.
In the Russian Empire, Imperial Russian Guard units ("Leib-Guards", лейб-гвардия, leyb-gvardiya), derived from German 'Leibwächter' (body-guards), were intended to ensure the security of the sovereign, initially, that of Peter the Great in the 1690s. These were based on the Prussian Royal Life Guards. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Imperial Guards consisted of 13 infantry, 4 rifles and 14 cavalry regiments and a few other support units, they were abolished in 1918.
The Imperial Russian Guard units were not exclusively composed of Russian troops, they also included Lithuanian, Finnish and Ukrainian personnel.
Russian Revolution[]
The Red Guards ([Krasnaya Gvardiya] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) were armed groups of workers formed during the Russian Revolution of 1917. They were the main strike force of the Bolsheviks, and were created in March 1917 at industrial enterprises by Factory and Plant Committees and by Bolshevik party cells. When the Soviet Red Army was formed in 1918, the Red Guards became the Army Reserve and the basis for the formation of regular military detachments.
The White Guard ([Belaya Gvardiya] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) or White Army (Belaya Armiya, whose members were called belogvardeytsy), comprised both the political and military forces of the Russian White Movement, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and fought against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921.
Soviet Guards[]
Badge of the Soviet Guards (1941).
The Guards units ([Гвардия, Gvardiya] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) were again awarded to units and formations which distinguishing themselves during the second world war by the order of People's Commissar for Defence of USSR No.303 on the 18 September 1941, and were considered to have elite status. However, the Guards badge was not introduced until 21 May 1943.
There were total 11 Guard Armies and 6 Guard Tank Armies:
- 1st Guards Army
- 2nd Guards Army
- 3rd Guards Army
- 4th Guards Army
- 5th Guards Army
- 6th Guards Army
- 7th Guards Army
- 8th Guards Army
- 9th Guards Army
- 10th Guards Army
- 11th Guards Army
- 1st Guards Tank Army
- 2nd Guards Tank Army
- 3rd Guards Tank Army
- 4th Guards Tank Army
- 5th Guards Tank Army
- 6th Guards Tank Army
Russian Federation Guards[]
The Guards distinction was retained as designations of units and formations in the armed forces of the former Soviet Union: Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.
The original article can be found at Russian Guards and the edit history here.