Bayonets Before Bullets: The Imperial Russian Army, 1861-1914. by Bruce W.

Menning
Review by: Daniel W. Graf
The Journal of Military History, Vol. 57, No. 3 (Jul., 1993), p. 558
Published by: Society for Military History
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2944006 .
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Book Reviews

Bayonets BeforeBullets: The Imperial Russian Army,1861-1914. By

Bruce W. Menning. Bloomington:Indiana UniversityPress, 1992. Maps.
Index. Pp. x, 334. $35.00.
Photographs.Notes. Bibliography.
In thisimportantaddition to the literatureon the tsaristarmy,Bruce
Menningpresentsan integratedstudyofmilitarydoctrine,organizational
evolution,and combat experienceas theyaffectedeach otherand werein
turnshaped by theprevailingpolitical,social, and economic forcesat work
in the Russian Empire. The period in question, 1861 to 1914, is highly
significant.It coversthe formative periodwhentheRussianswereforcedto
confrontthe destabilizingforces unleashed by the emergence of mass
armies equipped withincreasinglydeadly firepower.The effortsof D. A.
Miliutinand his successors,as well as theirlapses, shaped the armywhich
was bloodied by the Japanese in 1904-5 and again by the Germans in
WorldWarI. Moreover,thesignificanceoftheera in questiondoes not end
there.As theauthorpointsout,thereare "significant continuitiesbetween
the old imperialand thenew Sovietregimesin a numberofareas, ranging
fromweaponryto militarythought"(p. 3).
The book is highlyenlightening, particularlybecause ofthewaythatDr.
Menning draws subtle connections between the various factorswhich
servedto promote,inhibit,and frequently distorttheefforts ofthearmyto
learnfromitscombat experienceand to integratetheresultinglessonsinto
its organization and doctrine. For example, the author shows how the
experienceofthe Russo-Turkish Warof 1877-78, whichwas foughtagainst
a technologicallyprimitiveenemy,blunted the growingrealization that
modern firepowerwas transforming the battlefield.Thus, the "cult of the
bayonet"continuedto dominateRussiantacticalthought, leadingultimately
to whatthe authorcalls "ossificationofthoughtand regulation"(p. 275).
Two flawsmar thebook slightly.Like countlessotherstudentsoftsarist
Russia,Menningmistakenlyidentifiesa keymilitaryfigureofthetwentieth
century,Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich(the younger),as an uncle of
TsarNicholasII. In fact,thegranddukeand thetsarwerebothdescended-
throughseparate lines-from Nicholas I (the grand duke was a great-
grandson, Nicholas II a great-greatgrandson). Thus they were distant
cousins, not uncle and nephew.ProfessorMenningis also a bit cavalierin
his use of the term"fieldregulation"to referto a varietyof officialarmy
publications.By usingthe terminterchangeablyto referboth to the 1912
Ustav polevoi sluzhby and the 1914 Polozhenie o polevom upravlenii
voisk v voennoe vremia, whichwereverydifferent but equally important
documents,the authorintroducesan unnecessarysource ofconfusionfor
readerswho are not keepinga close eye on thebacknotes.
These are minor problems in an otherwisebrilliantsynthesisof the
evolutionof the Russianarmyin a criticalhalfcentury.This studycan be
read profitably by specialistsand by thegeneral readeralike.

Daniel W. Graf VirginiaWesleyanCollege

558 * THE JOURNAL OF

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