The Russian Empire

[Galveston Bay]

The Russian Empire






unofficial national song
God, save the Tsar!
To the glorious one, long days
Give on this earth!
To the subduer of the proud,
To the keeper of the weak
To the comforter of everyone,
Grant everything!

The land of the first throne,
Orthodox Rus',
God, do save!
(Make) her tsardom harmonious,
Calm in strength;
And everything unworthy
Drive away!

Ruler Tsar Alexander (Alexander takes the throne in Dec 1796, Catherine the Great makes her successor over his son Paul, who is found dead from unknown sickness). Russia is at war with Persia with the goal of conquering the North and South Caucasus region and secure historic Georgia and Azerbajiann as well as part of Armenia.

Russia has historic hostility with Sweden, a formal alliance with Denmark, and has a working relationship with Austria and Prussia and historic hostility with the Turks of all types

[Galveston Bay]

1797

Population
Russia – 21,248,000
Ukraine– 7,800,000
Russian Poland – 1,200,000
Governorate of Livonia and Courland Governorate – 725,000
Governorate of Estonia – 650,000
Grand Duchy of Lithuania – 600,000
Georgia- 780,000
Armenia- 300,000
Azerbaijan- 800,000
Few hundred traders located in Alaska region
Total Population: 35 million

Economy of Russia
Ports: 6 (Arkhangelsk, Riga, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Azov, Sevastopol, Odessa): 6 points
18 Commercial flotillas: (12 shipping units in Baltic Sea,6 shipping units in Black Sea): 9 points
Craft Centers: 6 (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Tallinn, Riga, Kazan)-6 points
Resources: (Moscow, Kharkov, Tver, Minsk, Vilnius , Grodno, Smolensk,Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan , Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Tbilisi, Baku, Krasnodar): 16 points
Trading Posts: 4 (Irkutsk, Chita, Krasnoyarsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky): 1 point
Russian Alaska
Trading post -Unalaska, Alaska ,Three Saints Bay, Alaska , Fort St. George in Kasilof, Alaska – .75 points
Peacetime taxes- 8.75 points
Total: 47.51 points

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Russian military
current forces

https://commonwealthe20.rpg-board.net/t230p25-the-russian-empire#3200

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1797 budget
Income 47.51
military upkeep 43.75 points

3 points are set aside to send promising young officers and officials to Germany, France and Britain to study organization, administration, tactics and other government and military arts and sciences.

[Galveston Bay]

Spring 1797
The Russian government orders a review of the 40 oblasti of the Russian Empire (provinces) which will be the basis of military recruitment once they are organized.  Names may be revised. This is the first change in internal organization being examined since the statute of 1775 instituted by Catherine the Great divided Russia into 40 provinces, each divided into an average of 10 counties.

In is planned that in 1797 each county will be divided into districts - volosti and villages - derevnya or selo, distinguished by the fact that a selo normally had a church. A stan was known to be a police jurisdiction.

A special extraterritorial Oblast to oversee notable minorities, such as the Jews, who reside in a multitude of Oblasts is also being examined, as well as smaller minority groups such as the Tatars, Cossacks, Armenians, Georgians etc and the more primitive tribal groups such as the Inuit type peoples.

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Summer 1797
The restrictions regarding Jewish people being allowed only in the Pale of Settlement are partially lifted.  They are given unrestricted rights to emigration to points east of the Urals including Central Asian territory, as well as given the ability to move to the cities if they have an employer sponser for the first 5 years.   In return, Jews are now subject to conscription.

This allows their conscription between the ages of twelve and twenty-five. Each year, the Jewish community have to supply four recruits per thousand of the population. ] At the age of twelve, they would be placed for their six-year military education in cantonist schools. They will then required to serve in the Imperial Russian army for 25 years after the completion of their studies, (and like others subject to conscription this will often mean never seeing their families again) Strict quotas were imposed on all communities and the qahals were given the unpleasant task of implementing conscription within the Jewish communities.

This is little different from the conscription burden on Russian and Ukranian subjects.   Discussions are under way for similar imposition of conscription on Poles, Balts, Kazakhs, and the various Siberian peoples.

[Galveston Bay]

Fall 1797
The Czar orders that beginning in 1810, no Russian civil official (including nobility) can hold the rank of Collegiete Assessor (equal in rank to an Army Major) without having competed a Bachelors degree or better from a University.  Foreign universities are acceptable for this purpose.  Officials already having a degree with receive a 20% bonus in pay beginning immediately.  

https://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/table-of-ranks/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20there%20were%2014%20grades%20of%20ranks%2C%20with,of%20Ranks%20also%20bore%20a%20very%20significant%20purpose.

The Czar also requires that all civil servants, court officials and army officers must be literate in Russian, subject to examination at time of initial recruitment.  A new order is also instituted requiring that conscripts or volunteers under the age of 20 (they can be drafted as young as 12) must be taught basic literacy and numeracy, and must be taught Russian fluency.   No soldier can be promoted above the rank of Sergeant unless literate in Russian and numeracy.  

All Russian titled and hereditary noble families are required to provide 1 boy age 12-17 each year to the Cadet Corps.  This boy must be literate in Russian and numeracy, but is not required to be of noble birth.   The noble family is required to pay for their travel to St Petersburg and Moscow and then their education and support until that boy completes his seven years of cadet education and is commissioned (or dies or is invalided out of the service).  Failure to provide such 3 years in a row results in the family seeing their title reduced to that of personal noble (title ends when person dies).  

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Cadet_Corps_(Russia)#:~:text=The%20Cadet%20Corps%20%28in%20Russian%3A%20Kadetskiy%20Korpus%2C%20%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9,Anna.%20The%20term%20of%20education%20was%20seven%20years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_nobility#Organization

In a final reform in a year full of activity, the Czar orders that term of service upon conscription reduced to 20 years or age 45, whichever comes first, and that completed of service result in permission to live anywhere in Russia desired and a small pension as well as guaranteed employment in the civil service (which could be anything from groundskeeper and janitor to more exalted and better paid positions).   Russian enlisted men are allowed to marry after 8 years of service or attainment of the rank of sergeant.  (a major change).

meanwhile many of the newly conscripted Jews (who are usually literate in at least two languages - Russian and Yiddesh) find themselves frequently assigned duties as company clerks and similar positions or assigned to the supply services. The Navy also grabs as many as it can get away with for similar duties, while also concentrating on grabbing as many Balts, Volga Boatmen, and similar people with some idea of what the ocean is.

[Galveston Bay]

Meanwhile in 1797 the Russian government begins a serious look at connecting the various cities of the Russian Empire by road.   Observers in the British Isles report that 25 miles of paved road a season is possible, requiring 500 men plus civilian support.  A tentative project is put together that would require 1,000 man regiments of construction laborers as a pilot.   This will be planned for next year as an experiment connecting the Kremlin in Moscow to the Alexander Palace which is about 30 miles from central Moscow.


OOC
based on the below
https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/55028/how-long-would-it-take-to-build-30-miles-of-roman-road

[Ottoman]

Late 1797

In light of recent conquest of the Caucasus region from Persia, Russian field commanders request funds to setup garrisons to keep a eye on the Mountain Peoples and as well building a Fortress in Tbilisi to allow Russians forces to have a base of operations in the region.

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1798 budget
1797 budget
Income 47.51
military upkeep 43.75 points

2 points to raise 1 construction (light infantry) regiment and build paved Roman style road central Moscow to Alexander Palace (pilot project)
.76 point foreign education of promising officials and officers
1 point start fortress at Tbilisi (Georgia) year 1 of 4

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1798 Garrisons installed in the Caucasus
5 infantry, 3 cavalry and 2 artillery regiments are converted into 4 garrison brigades to ensure control over newly acquired areas of the North Caucasus region.

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Imperial Oblastary Act of 1798
The Czar, after the formal review of the previous year, orders the Russian Empire to be divided into the following 53 Oblasts

Each Oblast will have a Governor (of titled noble rank) as Chief of State, and an Intendent General, with the rank of Court Councelor (equal to an Army Colonel) who is chief of government and head of the Oblast Civil Service in that Oblast. A review regarding judicial reform and improvement is also ordered, but for now Serfs are still subject to local justice from their noble superiors, but townspeople and other free Russians have the privilage of trial by court and a judge of equal rank (non nobles) or superior rank (nobles)

English name Russian name Russian transliterated Established (Julian Cal.)  
Archangelgorod Governorate Архангелогородская г. Arkhangelogorodskaya g. 1708-12-29[1]
Arkhangelsk Governorate Архангельская г. Arkhangelskaya g. 1784[1]
Astrakhan Governorate Астраханская г. Astrakhanskaya g. 1717
Azov/Voronezh Governorate Азовская г. Azovskaya g. 1708
Azov Governorate Азовская г. Azovskaya g. 1775
Chernigov Governorate Черниговская г. Chernigovskaya g. 1797
Courland Governorate Курля́ндская г. Kurlyandskaya g. 1795
Estonia Governorate Эстляндская г. Estlyandskaya g. 1796
Grodno Governorate Гродненская г. Grodnenskaya g. 1795
Irkutsk Governorate Иркутская г. Irkutskaya g. 1764
Kaluga Governorate Калужская г. Kaluzhskaya g. 1796
Kazan Governorate Каза́нская г. Kazanskaya g. 1708
Kharkov Governorate Ха́рьковская г. Khar'kovskaya g. 1780
Kiev Governorate Киевская г. Kievskaya g. 1708
Kostroma Governorate Костромская г. Kostromskaya g. 1796
Kursk Governorate Курская г. Kurskaya g. 1796
Lithuania Governorate Литовская г. Litovskaya g. 1795
Livonia Governorate Лифляндская г. Liflyandskaya g. 1796
Malorossiya Governorate Малороссiйская г. Malorossiyskaya g. 1796
Minsk Governorate Минская г. Minskaya g. 1793
Mogilev Governorate Могилёвская г. Mogilyovskaya g. 1772
Moscow Governorate Московская г. Moskovskaya g. 1708
Nizhny Novgorod Governorate Нижегородская г. Nizhegorodskaya g. 1714
Novgorod Governorate Новгоро́дская г. Novgorodskaya g. 1727
Novorossiya Governorate Новоросси́йская г. Novorossiyskaya g. 1764
Orenburg Governorate Оренбургская г. Orenburgskaya g. 1744
Oryol Governorate Орловская г. Orlovskaya g. 1796
Penza Governorate Пензенская г. Penzenskaya g. 1780
Perm Governorate Пермская г. Permskaya g. 1781
Podolia Governorate Подольская г. Podol'skaya g. 1793
Pskov Governorate Псковская г. Pskovskaya g. 1796
Reval Governorate Ревельская г. Revel'skaya g. 1719
Ryazan Governorate Рязанская г. Ryazanskaya g. 1796 Riga Governorate Рижская г. Rizhskaya g. 1712
Saint Petersburg Governorate Санкт-Петербургская г. Sankt-Peterburgskaya g. 1708
Saratov Governorate Саратовская г. Saratovskaya g. 1780
Siberia Governorate Сибирская г. Sibirskaya g. 1708
Simbirsk Governorate Симбирская г. Simbirskaya g. 1796
Sloboda Ukraine Governorate Слободско-Украинская г. Slobodsko-Ukrainskaya g. 1765
Smolensk Governorate Смоленская г. Smolenskaya g. 1708
 Tambov Governorate Тамбовская г. Tambovskaya g. 1796
Taurida Governorate Таврическая г. Tavricheskaya g. 1783
Tobolsk Governorate Тобольская г. Tobolskaya g. 1796
Tomsk Governorate Томская г. Tomskaya g. 1796
Tula Governorate Тульская г. Tul'skaya g. 1796
Tver Governorate Тверская г. Tverskaya g. 1796
Vilna Governorate Виленская г. Vilenskaya g. 1795
Vitebsk Governorate Витебская г. Vitebskaya g. 1796
Vladimir Governorate Владимирская г. Vladimirskaya g. 1796
Volhynian Governorate Волынская г. Volynskaya g. 1792
Vologda Governorate Вологодская г. Vologodskaya g. 1796
Voronezh Governorate Воронежская г. Voronezhskaya g. 1725
Vyatka Governorate Вятская г. Vyatskaya g. 1796
Vyborg Governorate Выборгская г. Vyborgskaya g. 1744
Yaroslavl Governorate Ярославская г. Yaroslavskaya g. 1777
Yekaterinoslav Governorate Екатеринославская г. Yekaterinoslavskaya g. 1796
Yeniseysk Governorate Енисейская г. Yeniseyskaya g. 1796

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1798  Garrisons installed in the Caucasus
5 infantry, 3 cavalry and 2 artillery regiments are converted into 4 garrison brigades to ensure control over newly acquired areas of the North Caucasus region.

additionally over the year, 10 infantry regiments, 3 cavalry regiments are broken up to provide troops to form depots for each of the 53 provinces plus 3 depots for Guards units (Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev for the Foot, Horse and Cossack guards units)

[Galveston Bay]

Russian military

Russian Army- mission is to defend the Rodina from foreign invasion and expand its borders when needed

Reorganization of 1798
The Army is reorganized and divided into the following branches:
The Imperial Guard
The Cossacks
The Imperial Army

Imperial Guard – 3 depots (Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev), 1 infantry, 2 cavalry regiments (Foot Guards, Horse Guards, Oprichnik Cossacks) .3 points, 4,000 men
The Cossacks- these are essentially the last of the feudal troops in the Russian Empire, consisting of 10 Cossack brigades (2.5 points) raised from the southern Steppe between the Volga, Prut and Dniester rivers. 25,000 men (militia quality)
The Imperial Army
53 depots (one for each Oblast), 18 artillery battalions , 35 infantry battalions , organized as Home Army (5.6 points, 32,000 men) plus 8 Fortress- Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Tallinn, Riga, Minsk, Vilnius, Sevastopol for 2 points

which is the training organization and framework for wartime expansion
Western Army- garrison of Poland, 20 garrison brigades (50,000 men) 2 points
Caucasus Army- garrison of North Caucasus – 4 garrison brigades (10,000 men) .4 points
Meanwhile, the Army dealing with the Persians is reduced to 24 cavalry regiments plus seasonal rotations of Cossacks, and tasked with the job of raiding and patrolling while the Caucasus region is brought to peace (8,000 men, 2.4 points, plus 2 brigades of Cossacks rotating in and out)
Total Army 15.2 points, 128,000 men

Ministry of Police (Okhrana)
The militia is now made subordinate to a new service, the Okhrana (Imperial Police) which is created by merging the Imperial Gendarme with smaller and similar forces around the Empire. The Okhrana is also given responsibility for the planned road construction the Czar wants instituted. The head of the Okhrana like the head of the Army and Navy will report directly to the Czar and his first minister. Missions are as follows:
Carrying out recruitment in the Army;
Protection of the state stocks of the foodstuffs;
The customs supervision;
The maintenance and use of the toil of convicted;
Maintenance of serviceability and safety of communications;
Also, the ministry should carry out obvious and secret supervision of foreigners in Russia, carry out censorship functions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Police_of_the_Russian_Empire

Each Oblast is given a police battalion (formerly an infantry battalion from the Army) so 53 police battalions
the Okhrana gets another 37 police battalions (formerly infantry battalions) to back up the local authorities in the 20 largest towns, with St Petersburg and Moscow getting an extra 5 apiece as well as 7 to serve specifically as Imperial protection battalions (bodyguards in effect). (90 police battalions, 3 points, 27,000 men total). Police battalions are recruited from now on at the Oblast Army Depot (and are recruited for political loyalty)
Total cost 5 points a year (includes internal intelligence gather functions)

Imperial Russian Navy
23 BB2s( 19 BB2s in Baltic Sea, 4 BB2s in Black Sea) -5.75 points
55 Frigates( 26 Frigates in Baltic , 14 Frigates in Black Seas, 5 in Pacific Fleet, 5 Frigates in White Sea, 5 in Caspian sea) for 11 points
25 Brigs( 13 Brigs in Baltic, 5 in Black Seas, 3 in White Sea, 2 in Caspian sea, 2 in Pacific ) for 2.5 points
4 Naval Yards( St. Petersburg, Riga, Tallinn, Sevastopol- 2 points
(2 BB2, 5 FF1, 5 Brigs scrapped as in poor repair in 1797)
Total 20.25

Total military and police budget: 41 points

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1799 budget

Income 47.51
military upkeep 41 points
2nd Stage pilot project road construction
Moscow to St Petersburg road (Roman style paved).  distance 500 miles (including detours)
maintain previous engineer brigade 1 point
raise a  supply train 2 points
raise 3 militia construction brigades 3 points
sufficient to build 100 miles road (materials .51 points)

raise taxes to pay for war with Persia
(gain 8.75 points)
.75 points for continueing education Russians sent to Europe for education
raise 7 infantry regiments for service against Persians (7 points)
continue (year 2 of 4) fortress at Tbilis (Georgia) 1 point

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1799 The first installment of the sale of Alaska is recieved (10 points)

These funds are used to start fortresses at Irkutsk, Chita, Krasnoyarsk, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (8 of 16 points, year 1 of 2)
and to raise 2 Imperial Guard Regiments (1 each Horse and Foot) 2 points

[Galveston Bay]

Russian military 1801
The Russian Army
The Imperial Army is in the process of reform.  It has been taken out of the business of internal security except in the relatively newly acquired regions of the Caucasus and Poland,  many of its best officers have had the chance to study in Europe, and recruitment and administration is being rationalized.    Although a conscript force, in terms of its enlisted men, the Army, conscription is however for 20 years, and is in effect a professional army.   Recent changes have finally allowed men with the rank of corporal or higher to marry, and their wives are now paid as civilian workers (washer women, clerks, nurses, cooks etc).  Each regiment now has an established recruiting area, and so men conscripted are all from at least the same region of the country.   Another change is that now Jews, Balts, Ukrainians, and Kazakhs are subject to conscription, and although the better educated are sent to support units or assigned to the artillery or as clerks, this has had an overall effect of increasing the general education of the army.   Indeed now each regimental depot has a small school, and literacy is taught (Russian writing and basic arithmetic) and the requirement that to reach corporal or higher a man must be literate, as well as allowing for marriage and support for wives, is gradually making the Army more than a mass of manpower.

The Army also has considerable combat experience, with most officers and many of the enlisted men having served against the Chechins, Persians, Turks, Swedes and others over the last 20 years.   While not the sophisticated instrument the Germans, British or French have, it is still a force to be reckoned with and will gradually growing larger.

Russian Army- mission is to defend the Rodina from foreign invasion and expand its borders when needed

Reorganization of 1798
The Army is reorganized and divided into the following branches:
The Imperial Guard
The Cossacks
The Imperial Army

Imperial Guard – 3 depots (Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev),4 infantry, 5 cavalry regiments (4 Foot Guards, 2 Horse Guards, Oprichnik Cossacks) .9 points, 9,000 men
The Cossacks- these are essentially the last of the feudal troops in the Russian Empire, consisting of 10 Cossack brigades (2.5 points) raised from the southern Steppe between the Volga, Prut and Dniester rivers. 25,000 men (militia quality)
The Imperial Army
53 depots (one for each Oblast), 18 artillery battalions , 35 infantry regiments (upgrading for same cost to 35 garrison brigades) , organized as Home Army (5.6 points, 32,000 men) (adding 120,000 conscripts in 1801, of which 79,500 will be retained)
The garrison brigades are primarily training units, organized to take in new conscripts and officer cadets, train them and then after a year send them to the armies or fortresses and they are the training organization and framework for wartime expansion

13 Fortress- Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Tallinn, Riga, Minsk, Vilnius, Sevastopol, Tblisi, Irkutsk, Chita, Kranoyarsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for 3.25 points (13,000 men)
Western Army- garrison of Poland, 5 garrison brigades, 6 cavalry regiments (18,500 men) 1.1 points
Caucasus Army- garrison of North Caucasus – 4 garrison brigades, 6 cavalry regiments (16,000 men) 1 point
Southern Army - 12 cavalry regiments + 10 Cossack regiments when dealing with Kazakhs (22,000 men) 1.2 points


Total Army 17.55 points, 131,000 men (+80,000 in 1801)


Imperial Russian Navy
23 BB2s( 5 BB2s in Baltic Sea, 4 BB2s in Black Sea) -2.25 points
in 1801 15 BB2 in the Baltic are laid up
55 Frigates( 6 Frigates in Baltic , 14 Frigates in Black Sea, 5 in Pacific Fleet, 25 Frigates in White Sea, 5 in Caspian sea) for 11 points
20 frigates are reassigned to the White Sea and become with the 5 present the Northern Fleet based out of Archangelsk with a forward anchorage at Murmansk
25 Brigs( 13 Brigs in Baltic, 5 in Black Seas, 3 in White Sea, 2 in Caspian sea, 2 in Pacific ) for 2.5 points
4 Naval Yards( St. Petersburg, Riga, Tallinn, Sevastopol- 2 points
(2 BB2, 5 FF1, 5 Brigs scrapped as in poor repair in 1797)
Total 17.75
Organized into 3 Fleets (Baltic, Black Sea, Pacific) and 2 Squadrons (White Sea and Caspian)

Ministry of Police (Okhrana)
The militia is now made subordinate to a new service, the Okhrana (Imperial Police) which is created by merging the Imperial Gendarme with smaller and similar forces around the Empire. The Okhrana is also given responsibility for the planned road construction the Czar wants instituted. The head of the Okhrana like the head of the Army and Navy will report directly to the Czar and his first minister. Missions are as follows:
Carrying out recruitment in the Army;
Protection of the state stocks of the foodstuffs;
The customs supervision;
The maintenance and use of the toil of convicted;
Maintenance of serviceability and safety of communications;
Also, the ministry should carry out obvious and secret supervision of foreigners in Russia, carry out censorship functions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Police_of_the_Russian_Empire

Each Oblast is given a police battalion (formerly an infantry battalion from the Army) so 53 police battalions
the Okhrana gets another 37 police battalions (formerly infantry battalions) to back up the local authorities in the 20 largest towns, with St Petersburg and Moscow getting an extra 5 apiece as well as 7 to serve specifically as Imperial protection battalions (bodyguards in effect). (90 police battalions, 3 points, 27,000 men total). Police battalions are recruited from now on at the Oblast Army Depot (and are recruited for political loyalty)
plus 1 Engineer Brigade, 3 militia construction brigades, 3 supply trains  (1.3 point) which overseas convict and militia labor working on Moscow to St Petersburg Imperial Road (1 point materials, 200 miles to be completed in 1800, giving 200 ot 650 needed
Total cost 6 points a year (includes internal intelligence gather functions)

Total Military and Police Budget 41.3 points

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Russian budget 1800
regular income 47
wartime taxes 8.75
purchase of Russian Alaska 10 points
total 65.75 points
defense budget 53.45 points
available 12.3 points

creation of the Imperial Bank 10 points
raise 2 supply trains (to support Moscow - St Petersburg highway construction) 2 points
.3 points used for various Imperial and Diplomatic entertainments

Civil servants who recieve training in Europe report the advantages to finance that a central bank would provide. Toward that end, the Czar orders that the proceeds for this years payment for the sale of Alaska be used to fund (as it is in foreign gold and silver after all) the creation of a central Imperial bank, to be located in Moscow and branches to be in Chita, Sevastapol and St Petersburg.

[Galveston Bay]

Spring 1800
15 Garrison brigades in Poland are broken up and their troops sent to the 53 Oblasts for to upgrade the Oblast infantry battalions into infantry regiments.

With peace reached with Persia (and successfully gaining the territory of OTL Georgia, Azerbajain, and Armenia SSRs), 7 infantry regiments there are formed into 2 garrison brigades (joining the 4 already present), with the remaining 2 promoted to the Georgian Foot Guards and Armenian Foot Guards, and sent join the Foot Guards at St Petersburg and Moscow respectively

the 24 cavalry regiments are also reassigned, with 6 remaining as border patrol, another 6 sent to the border to act as a patrol along the Prussian/Russian border, and the remaining 12 sent to the Ural region for future operations.

thus the Western Army shrinks to 6 cavalry regiments and 5 garrison brigades (from 50,000 to 18,500 men) . There are also police battalions available for internal security.

[Galveston Bay]

1800
Russian officials are sent to talk to the Swiss, Northern Italians, and English about what would be needed to organize Russia financially to enter the world of credit and finance. After some discussion,, bonds are suggested as a way to get Russia started, with the Fur Trade as the principal source of revenue, an area where Russia has a strong presence, as well as the potential of making the small Pacific port of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur available to ships of the American Fur Trading Company as well as British and American whaling ships

Increasing the population there is however a major issue, and one that may require active (aggressive as in forced resettlement) of people may be needed. However other measures are being looked at first.

All these plans and discussions continue through 1800

Meanwhile, in the principal part of the country, the Czar looks at ways to modernize Russia that will not endanger his power but at the same time allow for Russia to achieve the Great (possibly dominant) power that he dreams of for the Rodina. The strong diplomatic effort in Scandinavia was the first step in the plan, with the success in the Caucasus a major achievement as well. Avoiding entanglements in Europe (and expensive wars!) is another goal, and finally is the settling of accounts and domination of Central Asia.

For too long in Russian history the horse archers of the the Southern Steppes and Deserts between the Volga and China have threatened Russian existence. Indeed on they even extinguished its independence for long periods.

A time of reckoning is at hand for them, and it will be Russia that brings it about.....

[Galveston Bay]

1801 budget
The Russian Army calls up 120,000 conscripts (and will keep 85,000 of them) in 1801 as the Home Army expands from 53 infantry regiments to 53 garrison brigades (same cost)
The Navy is reduced in operational size, with a significant portion of the Baltic Sea battle fleet laid up, most of the Baltic Fleet frigates sent to the White Sea to form the Northern Fleet (and from there will start showing the flag outside of Russian waters) and with the war having ended against Persia, no significant conflict with the Ottomans currently expected, and a desire to be more active in Central Asia having been expressed by the Czar, much of the mobile army is sent to the Ural/Volga/Western Siberia regions

https://commonwealthe20.rpg-board.net/t230-the-russian-empire#3031 (military as of 1801)

Taxes are reduced to peacetime level, so income for 1801 is 47 points
military budget 41.3 points
road construction budget St Petersburg to Moscow highway 6.3 points (adds 200 more miles this year, only 260 more to go)

[Galveston Bay]

1801
With a reasonable likelihood of peace in the Baltic, the Russian government quietly sells 15 BB2 that have been recently laid up to the British Empire for 20 points

However defensive measures to ensure the safety of St Petersburg are in order.  The fortress is upgraded to a fortified area (8 points) which will take 2 years to complete (ready 1803) and a supply train and 2 infantry divisions which along with cavalry being sent to the area will serve as the basis of an expeditionary army for Kazakhstan (12 points). This adds another 30,000 conscripts to the Russian Army (60,000 are called up but some are released, others die of disease or desert)

[Galveston Bay]

1801
10 Frigates from the Northern Fleet make a series of port visits at British ports on their way from Archanglesk to the little port of Magadan on the Konstanhosk on the coast of the Sea of Japan just east of the channel between Sakkalin Island and Siberia

The voyage is expected to take almost 3 years including stops in Britain and North America, Capetown and Calcutta.  Several merchant ships will also travel with the small fleet which will be commanded by Admiral https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Senyavin

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Russian military 1803
The Russian Army
The Imperial Army is in the process of reform.  It has been taken out of the business of internal security except in the relatively newly acquired regions of the Caucasus and Poland,  many of its best officers have had the chance to study in Europe, and recruitment and administration is being rationalized.    Although a conscript force, in terms of its enlisted men, the Army, conscription is however for 20 years, and is in effect a professional army.   Recent changes have finally allowed men with the rank of corporal or higher to marry, and their wives are now paid as civilian workers (washer women, clerks, nurses, cooks etc).  Each regiment now has an established recruiting area, and so men conscripted are all from at least the same region of the country.   Another change is that now Jews, Balts, Ukrainians, and Kazakhs are subject to conscription, and although the better educated are sent to support units or assigned to the artillery or as clerks, this has had an overall effect of increasing the general education of the army.   Indeed now each regimental depot has a small school, and literacy is taught (Russian writing and basic arithmetic) and the requirement that to reach corporal or higher a man must be literate, as well as allowing for marriage and support for wives, is gradually making the Army more than a mass of manpower.

The Army also has considerable combat experience, with most officers and many of the enlisted men having served against the Chechins, Persians, Turks, Swedes and others over the last 20 years.   While not the sophisticated instrument the Germans, British or French have, it is still a force to be reckoned with and will gradually growing larger.

Russian Army- mission is to defend the Rodina from foreign invasion and expand its borders when needed

Reorganization of 1798
The Army is reorganized and divided into the following branches:
The Imperial Guard
The Cossacks
The Imperial Army

Imperial Guard – 3 depots (Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev),4 infantry, 7 cavalry regiments (4 Foot Guards, 4 Horse Guards, Oprichnik Cossacks) 1.1 points, 11,000 men
The Cossacks- these are essentially the last of the feudal troops in the Russian Empire, consisting of 10 Cossack brigades (2.5 points) raised from the southern Steppe between the Volga, Prut and Dniester rivers. 25,000 men (militia quality)
The Imperial Army
53 depots (one for each Oblast), 53 garrison brigades organized as Home Army (5.6 points, 150,000 men)
The garrison brigades are primarily training units, organized to take in new conscripts and officer cadets, train them and then after a year send them to the armies or fortresses and they are the training organization and framework for wartime expansion

12 Fortress- Moscow, Kiev, Tallinn, Riga, Minsk, Vilnius, Sevastopol, Tblisi, Irkutsk, Chita, Kranoyarsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for 3 points (12,000 men) 3 points
Western Army- garrison of Poland, 5 garrison brigades, 6 cavalry regiments (18,500 men) 1.1 points
Caucasus Army- garrison of North Caucasus – 4 garrison brigades, 6 cavalry regiments (16,000 men) 1 point
Southern Army – 10 garrison brigades, plus + 10 Cossack regiments when dealing with Kazakhs (35,000 men) 1.1 points
St Petersburg defense Army- fortified area (upgrading Fortress to Fortified area, paid for, complete in 1803) (Naval troops under Army command and maintenance support for now)

Total Army 15.3 points, 260,500 men


Imperial Russian Navy
9 BB2s( 5 BB2s in Baltic Sea, 4 BB2s in Black Sea) -2.25 points
55 Frigates( 6 Frigates in Baltic , 14 Frigates in Black Sea, 5 in Pacific Fleet, 15 Frigates on voyage Archanglesk to Sea of Okholsk, 10 Frigates in White Sea, 5 in Caspian sea) for 11 points
25 Brigs( 13 Brigs in Baltic, 5 in Black Seas, 3 in White Sea, 2 in Caspian sea, 2 in Pacific ) for 2.5 points
4 Naval Yards( St. Petersburg, Riga, Tallinn, Sevastopol- 2 points
Total 17.75
Organized into 3 Fleets (Baltic, Black Sea, Pacific) and 2 Squadrons (White Sea and Caspian)

Ministry of Police (Okhrana)
The militia is now made subordinate to a new service, the Okhrana (Imperial Police) which is created by merging the Imperial Gendarme with smaller and similar forces around the Empire. The Okhrana is also given responsibility for the planned road construction the Czar wants instituted. The head of the Okhrana like the head of the Army and Navy will report directly to the Czar and his first minister. Missions are as follows:
Carrying out recruitment in the Army;
Protection of the state stocks of the foodstuffs;
The customs supervision;
The maintenance and use of the toil of convicted;
Maintenance of serviceability and safety of communications;
Also, the ministry should carry out obvious and secret supervision of foreigners in Russia, carry out censorship functions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Police_of_the_Russian_Empire

Each Oblast is given a police battalion (formerly an infantry battalion from the Army) so 53 police battalions
the Okhrana gets another 37 police battalions (formerly infantry battalions) to back up the local authorities in the 20 largest towns, with St Petersburg and Moscow getting an extra 5 apiece as well as 7 to serve specifically as Imperial protection battalions (bodyguards in effect). (90 police battalions, 3 points, 27,000 men total). Police battalions are recruited from now on at the Oblast Army Depot (and are recruited for political loyalty)
plus 1 Engineer Brigade, 3 militia construction brigades, 3 supply trains  (1.3 point) which overseas convict and militia labor working on Moscow to St Petersburg Imperial Road (1 point materials, 200 miles to be completed in 1802, giving 600 of 650 needed
Total cost 6 points a year (includes internal intelligence gather functions)

Total Military and Police Budget 39 points

Income 47
military budget 39
available 7
Creation of Principality of Kazakhstan
Creation of Principality of Siberia
upgrading trading posts Irkutsk, Chita, Krasnoyarsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to colonies (income ends next year, become villages 1812, towns 1822) cost 12
planting of colonies at Semipalatinsk, Oskeman and Pavlador (upgrading border forts)  and Akmolinsk (new occupation).   cost 12

borrow 24 points from foreign banks (Italy, Britain, Netherlands, and Swiss equally at 6 points each) to cover costs

7 points used continued road construction St Petersburg to Moscow highway and survey work Moscow to Omsk highway

[Galveston Bay]

In Central Asia, the Russian Army and government pressure the Golden Horde in Kazakstan to accept status similar to that of the Cossacks in the Ukraine through military and diplomatic pressure

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