What is the Guards? Courage, honor and valor!

In our turbulent times, so rich in "local conflicts," which are mostly full-fledged wars, the media mentions the Guard and Guards units more and more often. But few know about what a Guards are. Let's try to correct this misunderstanding.

To begin with, the very word "guard" appeared in the heyday of slave-owning Rome. Then they called elite, selective units of soldiers, who were put on the most dangerous and difficult sectors, where the probability of breakthrough of the enemy was the greatest. However, this term was firmly entrenched only in the 12th century, and then the guards called the special unit responsible for keeping the banner. In our country, the Imperial Guard (which became an imperial one a little later) appeared in 1690, when Peter I by his decree created the famous Preobrazhensky and Semenov regiments.

Guards units were formed from selected soldiers and officers, who showed unprecedented courage in battle. Such principles of the formation of these parts were followed later and abroad. Thus, the Guard of Napoleon, to which the illustrious general laid his last hopes at Waterloo, was formed from young people who were exclusively devoted to him personally, courageous and courageous.

It was to such soldiers that the Russian Empire was obliged by many of its victories in the countless wars that fell to its share in the future. After 1917, when the young Soviet Republic had to re-create the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), there were no guards in it. In many respects this was due to the negative perception of all "bourgeois". However, do not discount the fact that at that time in the army of the USSR simply did not have parts that would be able to win the title of Guards by their real combat merits. Therefore, in those years the question of what the Guard was and what its significance was in battle, the leadership of the country did not stand.

However, in the sad 1941, everything changed. The troops, which were deeply demoralized by the mean and brutal blows of the enemy, required not only reinforcements and weapons, but also some other support. Then it was decided to revive the high title of the Guard. They were rewarded with parts that showed incredible courage and steadfastness in battle. In particular, in the first months of the war the title was awarded to the 100th, 127th, 153rd and 161rd Infantry Divisions, which bravely defended the country from the fascist invasion. Then the country's leadership decided that it was not worth remembering what the Guard was like in relation to the tsarist regime, returning to its original definition of an elite type of troops.

However, it should not be considered that the appropriation of a part or division of the Guards rank was only propagandistic. Soldiers and officers of such military formations were entitled to increased allowance, they were given the best outfit, and their equipment was often replaced by advanced equipment at that time. In particular, all the units, which were armed with the famous "Katyusha", were Guards.

We hope that from our article you learned about what the Guards are.