Salary of officers of the tsarist army. "Army of the Russian Empire: composition, salaries of officers, allowances"
What is the salary in the tsarist army? This is a fixed monthly fee for the service. It was part of the content, which, in addition to salaries, included table money, apartment money, additional content. All this together was the salary of generals and officers. As for the rank and file, there was both a social and financial gulf between them and the officer corps. Therefore, non-commissioned officers and privates received many times less noble gentlemen.
But in order to fully experience the money that the military received, it is necessary to know their purchasing power. A loaf of white bread cost 7 kopecks, pasta cost 10 kopecks (this is for 1 pound). Rafinad per pound cost 30 kopecks. A liter of milk cost 14 kopecks, but a liter of sour cream cost 80 kopecks. Veal cost 35 kopecks per pound, and pork could be bought for 15 kopecks. A pound of black caviar was estimated at 90 kopecks, as for red caviar, it cost 1 ruble. 20 kop.
A good shirt could be purchased for 3 rubles. A business suit cost 8 rubles. Cowhide boots in which she walked most of men were estimated at 5 rubles. Light summer boots cost 2 rubles. A good horse could be bought for 150 rubles, and a cash cow for 60 rubles.
Unskilled workers received 35 rubles. per month, and a highly skilled working class pocketed from 80 to 120 rubles a month. Zemstvo hospital doctors had a salary of 80-110 rubles. Teachers' salaries ranged from 90 to 150 rubles. At the highest state ranks, the salary reached 1000-1500 rubles.
Renting an apartment somewhere on the outskirts of the city was 5 rubles. In the center of Moscow or St. Petersburg, renting a good spacious apartment cost 70-75 rubles. These are the prices and salaries of civilians were in tsarist Russia before the start of the First World War.
Now let's look at the salary in the tsarist army. As already mentioned, it was part of the content, that is, the total amount received by the military. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was as follows: a full general was paid 770 rubles. per month. The lieutenant general got 500 rubles, and the colonel received 325 rubles. The captain was entitled to 145 rubles, and the lieutenant had a monthly allowance of 55 rubles.
Mess allowance received officers from the captain and above, and their amount directly depended on the position. According to army tradition, senior commanders regularly gathered subordinate officers for general dinners. It was for this purpose that the so-called table money was allocated. The regiment commander received 175 rubles for such needs. But with proper savings, he could spend 80-110 rubles on dinners, and what remained he put in his pocket.
Imperial army officers
I must say that in 1909, junior officer ranks were introduced additional maintenance or additional salary. This was due to low wages. The lieutenant was given 15 rubles, the captain 40 rubles, and the lieutenant colonel as much as 55 rubles a month. This improved the financial situation of junior and middle-level officers.
The salary in the tsarist army also depended on the place of service. It is one thing to serve in the European part of the Russian Empire, and another body to carry the service somewhere in the Caucasus, in Siberia, Central Asia. These poor fellows were paid increased salary. And, of course, the sovereign and his closest subordinates did not forget about guards units. So the payments were made according to their grid. For example, the captain of the guards immediately received the same amount as the army lieutenant colonel.
Now let's talk about housing money. They were received by those officers who rented housing. This took into account the rank of officer, the locality of residence and the specific place of residence. In the capital and provincial cities, they paid more, as housing prices were high. So in Moscow the captain received 45 rubles of apartment money. This amount included the maintenance of the stables. And if the captain was transferred to small town somewhere in Poland, he was already paid 14 rubles in apartment money.
The higher ranks received not only housing, but also fodder money. The latter went to feed the horses and amounted to 15 rubles per horse per month. There was also travel allowance. It was paid during business trips. Consisted of running money and per diem payments.
Young officers who had just graduated from military schools were not forgotten either. They were paid lump sum in the amount of 300 rubles. With this money they bought themselves a complete set of officer uniforms, a horse, a harness, a saddle. That is, they were equipped full program to worthily serve the tsar and the fatherland.
When did the first World War, servicemen of the Russian army were paid lifting money. The amounts directly depended on the ranks. Generals received 250 rubles each, senior officers 150 rubles each, and junior officers 100 rubles each. But those who were in the active army received 2 times more. Staff officers were paid 1.5 times more, and the rear was given a lift, but not a penny was added.
It should also be said that salaries in the tsarist army increased by 1.4 times since the beginning of the war. For example, the salary of a lieutenant colonel was 90 rubles, and reached 124 rubles. And so it happened with all the ranks. In addition to salaries, table money, additional salaries have increased, and portioned money has been introduced. The latter compensated for the hardships experienced by the officers in the field life. Such compensation amounted to 2.5 rubles for the lower officer ranks. per day, and for higher - 20 rubles per day.
And what was the situation with pensions in the tsarist army? Military pensions were received by those officers who had a length of service of 25 years. They were paid 50% of latest content. Only housing, one-time allowances and wartime surcharges were deducted. For each year of service over 25 years, 3% was added. And if the total length of service was 35 years, then the amount of the pension reached 80% of the last content.
During hostilities, one month of service in a belligerent army was counted as two. And if a person fought surrounded or in a fortress besieged by the enemy, then one month was counted as a year. If an officer was captured, then he went to the usual military experience. There were also personal pensions for special merits. They were appointed personally by the sovereign.
Officers' widows and children were paid pensions for husbands and fathers if they fell on the battlefield or died from wounds received in battle. Widows received such pensions for life, and children received them until they came of age.
Were there many military pensioners in tsarist Russia? At the beginning of 1915, 4 million 700 thousand people were drafted into the Russian army. And pensions were paid by 40,000 former servicemen. That is, there were relatively few such people throughout the vast empire.
If during the hostilities an officer was captured, then his family received half of the support of the breadwinner. But apartment money was paid in full if the family lived in a rented apartment. Returning from captivity, the officer received half of the payments not paid to the family. They were not given only to those who went over to the side of the enemy, that is, traitors.
Now let's talk about lost officers and soldiers. They were fully supported by the state, but they were paid a small salary for pocket expenses. Privates in peacetime were given 50 kopecks. per month. During the war they received 75 kopecks. Non-commissioned officers were paid 9 rubles. per month. In the guard, privates received 1 ruble, and non-commissioned officers 10 rubles.
Soldiers of the tsarist army
Those non-commissioned officers who remained on long-term service received 25-35 rubles. depending on the position and military service. And if their families rented housing, then they paid extra from 5 to 15 rubles. per month. Soldiers were given salaries at the beginning of each month, and when they were drafted into the army, they were given a one-time allowance of 5 rubles.
In principle, the soldiers did not live badly at all. They were shod, dressed, well fed 3 times a day. In some cases, such a life was even better than in the countryside. After the hospital, soldiers wounded in battles were given a lump sum of 10-25 rubles. If a soldier lost his ability to work after being wounded, then he was entitled to a pension.
Its maximum value reached 20 rubles per month. And if the ability to work was partially lost, then they paid 3-8 rubles a month. The families of the mobilized soldiers were paid a fodder ration. It was 4 rubles per month per person. And the family could be large: a wife and several children.
For most officers, salaries in the tsarist army were the only source of income. Therefore, in October 1917, when the old government collapsed, the officer corps found itself on the verge of poverty. But the rank and file came from peasant families, so they survived the revolution less painfully. Many of them did not care about penny salaries at all. Quite different issues came on the agenda, on which the future of each individual person in the new country depended.
The main type of officer's allowance in the Russian army was the salary, which consisted of the officer's regular salary, canteens and additional money. As a rule, staff salaries were assigned depending on the rank, and only in some institutions were officers and generals holding administrative posts salaries assigned depending on the position held. Doctors (including veterinarians) were paid salaries, canteens and additional money depending on the position, rank assigned to them and length of service, and military officials - on the position and length of service.
In remote areas (the Turkestan military district, Omsk, Irkutsk, Arkhangelsk provinces, Primorsky Krai, Sakhalin, Kamchatka and Yakutia), officers, officials and military doctors were assigned increased salaries. The same salaries were received by doctors working in clinics for the nervous and mentally ill, students of military academies and officer schools, the permanent staff of officer schools, as well as military personnel of aeronautic and aviation units.
Since 1909, the so-called additional money began to be paid to combat officers, depending on the rank. So, chief officers received additional money for length of service for 4 years of service in the ranks, and headquarters officers - for 5. At the same time, lieutenant colonels received them if the total amount of salary received, canteens and additional money did not exceed 2400 rubles, and colonels - 2520 rubles.
Table money, in contrast to salaries and additional money, was appointed depending not on the rank, but on the position held. Guards officers received a salary one step higher than their existing rank (i.e., the captain of the guard received as an army colonel). In addition, they received an annual increase in the amount of half the salary of the salary according to the report card of 1859. The deductions from salaries and table money were fictitious and were paid from the so-called special allowances for salaries and table money. They were:
- from the salary: 6% - to the Emeritus Fund, 1.5% - for medicines and 1% - for the hospital,
- from table money: 6% - to the emerital fund and 2% - to the disabled capital.
From July 1912, pilots and personnel of the army aviation were given additional pay. So, pilot officers received an additional 200 rubles per month, and ensigns and non-commissioned officers - 75 rubles per month.
The following surcharges were issued in aeronautical units:
- airship commander - 150 rubles,
- assistant commander and senior mechanic - 90 rubles,
- junior mechanic - 60 rubles,
- minders from the lower ranks - 30 rubles.
The rest of the lower ranks were paid one ruble for each day of flights. The accrual of the specified additional money began from the day of the first departure and was carried out 6 months a year, subject to a flight time of at least 10 hours per month.
There were also various additional payments, for example, in some remote areas, officers received additional special per diem money. In addition, daily allowances were laid down in peacetime during a campaign lasting more than 3 days as part of a unit, during business trips, camp gatherings, etc. AT war time instead of daily allowance, portion money was paid, which was divided into field portion money (directly at the theater of operations) and marching portion money, and depended on the position held.
In addition to regular payments, in some cases, officers received lump sum payments - for tailoring uniforms, buying a horse and saddle, purchasing edged weapons and equipment, for completing the academy course in 1st category, when an officer leaves for further service in remote areas, when mobilization is announced and etc.
All generals and officers had the right to receive a state-owned apartment, and if it was impossible to provide it, apartment money for renting an apartment. In addition, money was relied on for heating, lighting the apartment and maintaining the stables. The amount of payments depended on the category of the area. All locations Russian Empire subdivided into 9 categories. The 1st group included the most expensive cities- St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv, Odessa, Vladivostok, and by the 9th - small county towns and towns.
Money for renting a stable, as well as fodder, was paid to generals and officers if they were entitled to a horse in their service. Officers purchased uniforms at their own expense, which seriously affected the officer's budget due to its high cost. The peacetime uniform was divided into front, ordinary, service and everyday, and in the guard - additionally ballroom front and everyday. The peacetime form of each kind and type of troops, and sometimes for each unit and institution, had its own distinctive features. The wartime uniform was basically unified and was worn both in the theater of operations and in units prepared to be sent to the front, and in peacetime - at exercises, maneuvers and camp gatherings.
The standard set of wartime uniforms included:
- a marching tunic (in summer) or a khaki uniform,
- cropped trousers of a protective color (in the cavalry and among the Cossacks - dark blue),
- high boots, who are supposed to - with spurs,
- a cloth cap of a khaki color or a gray lambskin hat,
- coat, hood, headphones and gloves.
With this form, it was supposed to have a saber on a waist or shoulder (in cavalry) harness, a revolver in a leather holster (or a pistol of an authorized brand), binoculars and an officer's bag.
Gabriel Tsobechia
Sometimes it's interesting to know how people used to live. What did they eat, what did they read, what did they do? It is interesting to compare the life of our ancestors with modern life. Now every person knows what salary is small, and what is quite decent, when buying a product, you can absolutely reliably decide for yourself whether it is expensive or not, and many quite fair curiosity arises - how much did people earn before and what were the prices?
Salary of hired workers.
most underpaid part of the workers in Russia, the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, was a servant who received a month: from 3 to 5 rubles - for women, and from 5 to 10 rubles - for men. But, the employer, in addition to monetary allowance, provided the servants with free accommodation, food and even clothing.
Further, there are workers of provincial factories, rural manufactories, laborers and loaders. Their salary ranged from 8 to 15 rubles a month. Moreover, it was not uncommon when one tenth of the salary was issued by cards, which could only be bought in a factory store and, of course, at inflated prices. Workers of metallurgical plants in Moscow and St. Petersburg received more than their provincial counterparts, their salary ranged from 25 to 35 rubles, and skilled workers turners, locksmiths, craftsmen, foremen or workers of rare specializations - for example, electricians received from 50 to 80 rubles a month.
Salaries of employees in pre-revolutionary Russia.
The smallest salaries were for junior ranks of civil servants, as well as for zemstvo teachers lower grades, assistants to pharmacists, orderlies, librarians of postal workers, etc. they were paid 20 rubles a month. Doctors received much more, their monthly salary was 80 rubles, and the head of the hospital received 125 rubles a month. The salary of paramedics was 35 rubles, and where only one paramedic worked in the state, 55 rubles. Senior school teachers in women's and men's gymnasiums received from 80 to 100 rubles a month. Heads of postal, railway, steamship stations in major cities had monthly salaries from 150 to 300 rubles. Deputies of the State Duma received a salary of 350 rubles, governors had salaries of about one thousand rubles, and ministers and senior officials, members of the State Council - 1,500 rubles a month.
Salary of officers of the Russian Empire.
The lieutenant had a salary of 70 rubles a month, plus 30 kopecks a day for guards and 7 rubles for renting housing, all together 80 rubles. The lieutenant received a salary of 80 rubles, plus the same apartment and guards, in total approximately 90 rubles . The staff captain received a salary of 93 to 123 rubles, the captain - from 135 to 145 rubles, and the lieutenant colonel from 185 to 200 rubles a month. The colonel of the Tsarist army received a salary of 320 rubles per month, the general as division commander had a salary of 500 rubles, and the general as corps commander received 725 rubles per month.
The cost of various public and private services.
For a trip at the beginning of the 20th century inside the city, cab drivers took 15-20 kopecks. But the price was mostly negotiable and they could request 30-40 kopecks to remote areas. Station drivers were even then the most expensive, they could demand 50 kopecks without a twinge of conscience for a not very long trip from the station to the nearest hotel. I must say that the profession of a cab driver was not very profitable, for a day a horse could eat 3 rubles worth of oats. A tram ride cost 5 kopecks to the end of the route; if a transfer was necessary, a free transfer ticket was issued. Travel around the Garden Ring cost 7 kopecks. The students had free travel tickets with photographs so that they could not give them to others.
Over long distances in those years traveled mainly by railway. A first-class ticket to St. Petersburg from Moscow cost 16 rubles, and in a seated carriage you could get there for 6 rubles 40 kopecks. It was possible to get to Tver from Moscow in the first class for 7 rubles 25 kopecks, and in the third - to get for 3 rubles 10 kopecks. The porter service at the station cost 5 kopecks, and if the luggage was large, it was transported on a cart, and the cost was 10 kopecks.
Traveling people needed somewhere to stop. Luxurious room with all amenities - telephone, restaurant, etc. in hotels it cost 5-8 rubles a day. A decent room without frills cost from 70 kopecks to 2 rubles per day. Furnished rooms cost 15-60 kopecks per day. But many came for a long time and they had to rent housing for a long time. In the center of Moscow, a luxurious multi-room apartment cost 100-150 rubles a month. A small apartment on the outskirts cost 5-7 rubles. A bed in a working hostel - 2 rubles.
For owners of their own property, of course, there were utilities. A home telephone cost 71 rubles a year, electricity - 25 kopecks per 1 kWh. In manual dishes on the column - free of charge.
Treatment, as now, was a very noticeable item of expenditure. An ordinary home doctor charged 3 rubles for a visit, an academy professor had to pay 20 rubles, and the most famous and fashionable doctors provided services for no less than a hundred.
In addition to everyday worries, people had to somehow relax. The easiest way to relax was to go to a tavern or restaurant. In a cheap tavern, or as it was then called - "pyrke", on the outskirts provincial town, for 5 kopecks, you could drink half a stack, that is, 50 grams of vodka. For a snack, the most popular snack for vodka at all times was offered - pickled cucumber for only 1 kopeck. And you could eat your fill in such cheap taverns for 10 kopecks. In addition to cheap taverns, there were also more expensive taverns, respectively, and the class of service in them was better and the prices were higher. It cost 30-50 kopecks to dine in such taverns, a mug of beer or a glass of vodka cost 10 kopecks, but this vodka was good quality and certainly not diluted. For 3 kopecks there you could eat a plate of cabbage soup, for 5 - noodles in hemp oil or fried potatoes. Drinking tea with 2 pieces of sugar cost 5 kopecks, pancakes with fresh granular caviar and vodka cost 1 ruble. In good and well-known restaurants, one could pay for lunch in the range of 1.5 - 3 rubles, but in principle everything depended on the ability and desire of the client. In addition to restaurants and taverns, one could also have fun culturally, for example, go to the theater. Tickets to the Bolshoi Theater for an opera in privileged boxes cost up to 30 rubles, for seats in the front rows of a porter they paid from 3 to 5 rubles, and it cost only 30-60 kopecks to watch a performance in the gallery. A subscription to the Small Hall of the Conservatory for 3 musical evenings with a good performer was sold from 2 rubles 40 kopecks - up to 7 rubles 30 kopecks.
Average all-Russian prices for various goods of the early 20th century.
Products:
- A loaf of black stale bread weighing 400 grams - 3 kopecks,
- rye long loaf fresh bread weighing 400 grams - 4 kopecks,
- A loaf of white butter bread weighing 300 grams - 7 kopecks,
- Raw alcohol bucket - 75 kopecks,
- Potato fresh harvest 1 kilogram - 15 kopecks,
- Potato old crop 1 kilogram - 5 kopecks,
- Rye flour 1 kilogram - 6 kopecks,
- Oat flour 1 kilogram - 10 kopecks,
- Wheat flour of the highest grade 1 kilogram - 24 kopecks,
- Potato flour 1 kilogram - 30 kopecks,
- Simple pasta 1 kilogram - 20 kopecks,
-Vermicelli from flour of the highest grade 1 kilogram - 32 kopecks,
-Syrup sweet bottle - 25 kopecks,
- Granulated sugar of the second grade 1 kilogram - 25 kopecks,
- Lumpy refined sugar selected 1 kilogram - 60 kopecks,
- Tula gingerbread with jam 1 kilogram - 80 kopecks,
- Chocolate sweets 1 kilogram - 3 rubles,
- Coffee beans 1 kilogram - 2 rubles,
- Leaf tea 1 kilogram - 3 rubles,
- Water fruit bucket - 2 rubles, a bottle of 10 kopecks,
- Salt 1 kilogram - 3 kopecks,
-Fresh milk 1 liter - 14 kopecks,
- Fatty cream 1 liter - 60 kopecks,
- Sour cream 1 liter - 80 kopecks,
- Cottage cheese 1 kilogram - 25 kopecks,
- Cheese "Russian" 1 kilogram - 70 kopecks,
-Cheese by foreign technology"Swiss" 1 kilogram - 1 ruble 40 kopecks,
- Butter 1 kilogram - 1 ruble 20 kopecks,
- Sunflower oil 1 liter - 40 kopecks,
- Steam chicken 1 kilogram - 80 kopecks,
- Egg selected dozen - 25 kopecks,
- Meat veal steam tenderloin 1 kilogram - 70 kopecks,
- Meat beef shoulder blade 1 kilogram - 45 kopecks,
- Meat pork neck 1 kilogram - 30 kopecks,
- Fresh river perch fish 1 kilogram - 28 kopecks,
- Fresh fish pike perch 1 kilogram - 50 kopecks,
- Fresh fish catfish 1 kilogram - 20 kopecks,
- Fresh fish bream 1 kilogram - 24 kopecks,
- Frozen fish pink salmon 1 kilogram - 60 kopecks,
- Frozen salmon fish 1 kilogram - 80 kopecks,
- Frozen fish sturgeon 1 kilogram - 90 kopecks,
- Salted salmon fish 1 kilogram from 50 kopecks to 1 ruble
- Black granular caviar 1 kilogram - 3 rubles 20 kopecks,
- Black pressed caviar of the 1st grade 1 kilogram - 1 ruble 80 kopecks,
- Black pressed caviar 2 grades 1 kilogram - 1 ruble 20 kopecks,
-Black pressed caviar 3 grades 1 kilogram - 80 kopecks,
- Salted red caviar 1 kilogram - 2 rubles 50 kopecks,
- Vegetables fresh cabbage 1 kilogram - 10 kopecks,
- Vegetables sauerkraut 1 kilogram - 20 kopecks,
-Vegetables onion 1 kilogram - 5 kopecks,
-Vegetables carrots 1 kilogram - 8 kopecks,
-Vegetables tomatoes selected 1 kilogram - 45 kopecks.
Civil wear:
- Weekend shirt - 3 rubles,
- Short fur coat and sheepskin coat - 10 rubles,
- Business suit for clerks - 8 rubles,
- Long coat - 15 rubles,
- Steam mittens - 40 kopecks,
- pair of gloves - 50 kopecks,
- Cowhide boots - 5 rubles,
-Summer boots - 2 rubles,
-Women's boots of black leather - from 3 rubles 50 kopecks, colored leather - more expensive by 1 ruble
- Steam stockings - 40 kopecks.
Military uniform and equipment:
-Ceremonial officers' boots - 20 rubles,
-Ceremonial officer's uniform - 70 rubles,
- Chief officer's cap - 3 rubles,
- Uhlan cap - 20 rubles,
- Hussar staff hat - 12 rubles,
- Gold-plated headquarters officer's epaulettes - 13 rubles,
- Spurs - 14 rubles,
- Dragoon and Cossack sabers - 15 rubles,
-Officer satchel - 4 rubles.
Animals:
-Horse for carriage -100 rubles,
-Draft horse, working horse - 70 rubles,
-Old horse for sausage - 20 rubles,
- A good riding horse - from 150 rubles,
- A good cash cow - from 60 rubles.
Miscellaneous:
- Accordion - 7 rubles 50 kopecks,
- Samovar - 10 rubles 50 kopecks,
- Gramophone - 40 rubles,
- Telephone set - 50 rubles,
- Sickle - 20 kopecks,
- Piano of a famous brand - 200 rubles,
- Blanket - 6 rubles 75 kopecks,
- Car without additional equipment - 2,000 rubles,
- Portfolio - 4 rubles 80 kopecks,
- Radio receiver - 75 rubles,
-Hive - 5 rubles,
- Camera - 10 rubles,
- electric light bulb - 40 kopecks,
- Leather suitcase - 12 rubles,
-Ink 35 kopecks.
Prices, of course, are averaged, in different regions of the country they could differ, but only slightly.
"Of all the subjects of the Russian Empire who had reached the draft age (20 years), they were called up by lot for a valid military service about 1/3 - 450,000 out of 1,300,000 people. The rest were enrolled in the militia, where they were trained at short training camps.
Call once a year - from September 15 or October 1 to November 1 or 15 - depending on the timing of the harvest.
Service life in the ground forces: 3 years in infantry and artillery (except cavalry); 4 years in other branches of the military.
After that, there was an enrollment in the reserve, which was called up only in case of war. The term of the stock is 13-15 years.
in the fleet emergency service 5 years and 5 years in stock.
Not subject to conscription for military service:
Residents of remote places: Kamchatka, Sakhalin, some areas of the Yakutsk region, Yenisei province, Tomsk, Tobolsk provinces, as well as Finland. Foreigners of Siberia (except Koreans and Bukhtarma), Astrakhan, Arkhangelsk provinces, the Steppe region, the Transcaspian region and the population of Turkestan. They pay a monetary tax instead of military service: some foreigners of the Caucasian region and the Stavropol province (Kurds, Abkhazians, Kalmyks, Nogais, etc.); Finland deducts from the treasury 12 million marks annually. Persons of Jewish nationality are not allowed in the fleet.
Benefits based on marital status:
Not subject to call:
1. The only son in the family.
2. The only son able to work with an incapacitated father or a widowed mother.
3. The only brother with round orphans up to 16 years old.
4. The only grandson with an incapacitated grandmother and grandfather without adult sons.
5. Illegitimate son with the mother (in his care).
6. Lonely widower with children.
Subject to conscription in case of shortage of fit conscripts:
1. The only son capable of work, from an elderly father (50 years old).
2. Following a brother who died or went missing in the service.
3. Following the brother, still serving in the army.
Deferments and benefits for education:
Receive a deferment from the call:
up to 30 years of age, state scholarship holders who are preparing to occupy scientists and educational positions, after which they are completely released;
up to 28 years old students of higher educational institutions with a 5-year course;
up to 27 years in higher education institutions with a 4-year course;
up to 24 years old students of secondary educational institutions;
students of all schools, upon the request and agreement of the ministers;
for 5 years - candidates for Evangelical Lutheran preaching.
(In wartime, persons with the above benefits are taken into service until the end of the course by the Highest permission).
Reduction of active service life:
serve 3 years in the troops of persons with higher, secondary (1 category) and lower (II category) education;
serve 2 years of persons who have passed the exam for an ensign of the reserve in the service;
doctors and pharmacists serve in the ranks for 4 months, and then serve in their specialty for 1 year 8 months
in the fleet, persons with an education of the 11th category (lower educational institutions) serve 2 years and are in the reserve for 7 years.
Benefits based on professional affiliation
Exempt from military service:
- The clergy are Christian, Muslim (muezzins are not younger than 22 years old).
- Scientists (academicians, adjuncts, professors, projectors with assistants, lecturers of oriental languages, associate professors and assistant professors).
- Artists of the Academy of Arts sent abroad for improvement.
- Some officials for the scientific and educational part.
Privileges:
- Teachers and officials in the scientific and educational department serve 2 years, and according to the temporary 5-year position from December 1, 1912 - 1 year.
- Paramedics who graduated from special naval and military schools serve 1.5 years.
- Graduates of schools for soldiers' children of the guard troops serve for 5 years, starting at the age of 18-20.
- Technicians and pyrotechnics of the artillery department serve after graduation educational institution 4 years.
- Freelance sailors are given a delay until the end of the contract (no more than a year).
- Voluntarily, from the age of 17, volunteers with higher and secondary education are recruited into the service. Service life - 2 years.
Those who passed the service exam for the rank of reserve officer serve 1.5 years.
Volunteers in the fleet - only with higher education- service life 2 years.
Persons who do not have the above education can enter the service voluntarily without drawing lots, the so-called. hunters. They serve on a common basis.
Military service of the Cossacks
(The Don army was taken as a sample, others Cossack troops serve in accordance with their traditions).
All men are required to serve without ransom and replacement on their horses with their equipment.
The whole army gives servicemen and militias. Servicemen are divided into 3 categories: 1 preparatory (20-21 years old) undergoes military training. II combatant (21-33 years old) directly serves. III reserve (33-38 years old) deploys an army for the war and replenishes the losses. During the war, everyone serves without regard to ranks.
Militia - all capable of service, but not included in the service, form special units.
Cossacks have benefits: by marital status (1 worker in the family, 2 or more family members are already serving); on property (fire victims who became impoverished for no reason); by education (depending on education, they serve from 1 to 3 years in the ranks).
2. The composition of the land army
All ground troops are divided into regular, Cossack, militia and militia. - The militia is formed from volunteers (mainly foreigners) as needed in peacetime and wartime.
By branch, the troops consist of:
- infantry
- cavalry
- artillery
- technical troops (engineering, railway, aeronautical);
- moreover - auxiliary parts ( border guard, convoy, disciplinary units, etc.).
- b) the cavalry is subdivided into guards and army.
- 4 - cuirassier
- 1 - dragoon
- 1 - equestrian grenadier
- 2 - uhlan
- 2 - hussars
An army cavalry division consists of; from 1 dragoon, 1 uhlan, 1 hussar, 1 cossack regiment.
Guards cuirassier regiments consist of 4 squadrons, the rest are army and guards regiments- from 6 squadrons, each of which has 4 platoons. The composition of the cavalry regiment: 1000 lower ranks with 900 horses, not counting officers. In addition to the Cossack regiments included in the regular divisions, special Cossack divisions and brigades are also formed.
3. Fleet Composition
All ships are divided into 15 classes:
1. Battleships.
2. Armored cruisers.
3. Cruisers.
4. Destroyers.
5. Destroyers.
6. Minoski.
7. Minelayers.
8. Submarines.
9. Gunboats.
10. River gunboats.
11. Transports.
12. Messenger ships.
14. Training ships.
15. Port ships.
The infantry is subdivided into guards, grenadiers and army. The division consists of 2 brigades, 2 regiments in the brigade. Infantry regiment consists of 4 battalions (some of 2). The battalion consists of 4 companies.
In addition, the regiments have machine gun teams, communications teams, mounted orderlies and scouts.
The total strength of the regiment in peacetime is about 1900 people.
Guards regular regiments - 10
In addition, 3 Guards Cossack regiments.
Source: Suvorin's Russian calendar for 1914. SPb., 1914. P. 331.
The composition of the Russian army in April 1912 by type of troops and services of the department (by state / by lists)
Source:Military Statistical Yearbook of the Army for 1912. St. Petersburg, 1914. S. 26, 27, 54, 55.
The composition of army officers by education, marital status, class, age, as of April 1912
Source: Military Statistical Yearbook of the Army for 1912. SPb., 1914. S.228-230.
The composition of the lower ranks of the army by education, marital status, class, nationality and occupation before entering military service
Source:Military Statistical Yearbook for 1912. SPb., 1914. S.372-375.
Monetary allowance of officers and ranks of the military clergy (rubles per year)
(1) - Reinforced salaries were appointed in remote districts, in academies, officer schools, in aeronautical troops.
(2)- No deductions were made from the extra money.
(3) - Additional money was issued to headquarters officers in such a way that the total amount of salaries, canteens and additional money did not exceed 2520 rubles for colonels, 2400 rubles for lieutenant colonels. in year.
(4) - In the guard, captains, staff captains, lieutenants received a salary 1 step higher.
(5) - The military clergy received an increase in salary of 1/4 of the salary for 10 and 20 years of service.
Officers were issued upon transfer to a new duty station and on business trips, the so-called. running money for hiring horses.
When in various types business trips outside the limit of the part are issued per diem and portion money.
Table money, unlike salaries and additional money, was assigned to officers not by rank, but depending on the position:
- corps commanders - 5700 rubles.
- chiefs of infantry and cavalry divisions - 4200 rubles.
- bosses separate brigades- 3300 rubles.
- commanders of non-separate brigades and regiments - 2700 rubles.
- commanders separate battalions and artillery battalions - 1056 rubles.
- commanders of field gendarmerie squadrons - 1020 rubles.
- battery commanders - 900 rubles.
- commanders of non-separate battalions, chiefs of the economic unit in the troops, assistants to cavalry regiments - 660 rubles.
- junior staff officers of the artillery brigade, company commanders of the fortress and siege artillery - 600 rubles.
- commanders of individual sapper companies and commanders of individual hundreds - 480 rubles.
- company, squadron and hundred commanders, heads of training teams - 360 rubles.
- senior officers (one at a time) in batteries - 300 rubles.
- senior officers (except one) in artillery batteries in companies, heads of machine-gun teams - 180 rubles.
- official officers in the troops - 96 rubles.
Deductions were made from salaries and table money:
- 1% for hospital
- 1.5% for medicines (regimental pharmacy)
- 1% of canteens
- 1% of salary
into pension capital
- 6% - to the emerital fund (for additions to pensions)
- 1% of table money in disabled capital.
When awarding orders, an amount is paid in the amount of:
- St. Stanislaus 3 tbsp. - 15 rubles, 2 tbsp. - 30 rubles; 1 st. — 120.
- St. Anne 3 tbsp. - 20 rubles; 2 tbsp. - 35 rubles; 1 st. - 150 rubles.
- St. Vladimir 4 tbsp. - 40 rubles; 3 art. - 45 rubles; 2 tbsp. - 225 rubles; 1 st. - 450 rubles.
- White Eagle - 300 rubles.
- St. Alexander Nevsky - 400 rubles.
- St. Andrew the First-Called - 500 rubles.
For other orders, no deductions are made.
The money went into the order capital of each order and was used to help the knights of this order.
The officers were given housing money, money for the maintenance of stables, as well as money for heating and lighting apartments, depending on the location of the military unit.
The settlements of European Russia and Siberia (1) are divided into 9 categories depending on the cost of housing and fuel in them. The difference in payment for apartments and fuel prices between settlements of the 1st category (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Odessa, etc.) and 9th category. (small settlements) was 200% (4 times).
Soldiers taken prisoner and who were not in the service of the enemy, upon returning from captivity, receive a salary for all the time spent in captivity, except for table money. The family of a prisoner has the right to receive half of his salary, and is also supplied with apartment money, and if anyone was supposed to, an allowance for hiring servants.
Officers serving in remote areas are entitled to an increase in salary, depending on the length of service in these areas, for every 5 years 20-25% (depending on the place), and for every 10 years a one-time allowance.
Talk about the fact that “under the tsar-priest you could buy a cow for 3 rubles”, as a rule, evoke nostalgia. Moreover, it is customary to settle these “three-ruble cows” not in the time, for example, of Nikolai Pavlovich, but in the blessed year 1913, in the last peaceful times of Tsarist Russia. I would like to believe that in an era when there were balls, and beauties, and junkers, and the crunch of a French roll, life was cheaper and somehow, perhaps, more natural, fairer than now.
In many ways, this very “three-ruble cow” – and even “large salaries of skilled workers” – played the role of a trigger for popular discontent in the not-so-distant 80s, when in intellectual kitchens and newspapers they talked about rights and freedoms, and in common carriages and factory smoking rooms - about the real, "dobezzar", life. After that, 1913 has been reborn in Russia for 20 years, with all its forgotten charms like a class society and the absence of social guarantees.
Meanwhile, the relationship between real wages and prices in Russia in 1913 was not at all as rosy as it is commonly portrayed today.
So let's slowly figure it out: what were the prices and salaries in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, based only on real documents: orders and resolutions of the government and ministries of the Russian Empire, price lists, price tags, reports, extracts from books of income and expenses, menus and accounts that time. Let's start our journey to the 1900s and get acquainted with the prices of the early 20th century with the most popular product in Russia at all times. That's right, you guessed it, vodka. In those days, vodka in Tsarist Russia was sold only in special state-owned wine shops. Above the entrance to the liquor store, as at the entrance to any government agency, the state emblem flaunted: a double-headed eagle. The state maintained a monopoly on the production and sale of vodka. Here, without any queue, vodka of two varieties was always sold. Krasnogolovka (red cap), vodka, popularly called "breech". The price for a bottle of such vodka (0.61 liters) at the beginning of the 20th century was 40 kopecks. And the second grade of vodka is "Belogolovka" (white cap), this is double-cleaned vodka. A bottle of such vodka in pre-revolutionary Russia cost 60 kopecks. Bottles with a capacity of a quarter (1/4 bucket) were sold in wicker baskets, which amounted to 3 liters. And the smallest bottles of vodka were 1/10 of a regular bottle, which the people even then called the "bastard" 0.061 liters. For such a bottle, one had to pay only 6 kopecks in a state-owned wine store. At the same time, draft beer of cheap varieties "Light", "Vienna", "Starogradskoye", "Munichskoye" at the beginning of the 20th century cost from 6 to 10 kopecks per 1 liter. Bottled beer was more expensive due to the cost of glass, about 20 kopecks per bottle. Wine of expensive and prestigious brands reached 5-9 rubles per bottle. The capacity of a wine bottle in the pre-revolutionary years was 0.75 liters. At the same time, for cheap draft wine in different provinces of Russia, it was necessary to pay only 5-20 kopecks per liter. Cognacs cost from 3 rubles and ended in prices up to 100 rubles per bottle.
Well, these are all store prices, but how much did you have to pay for a shot of vodka (1/6 bottle = 100 grams) in a tavern, which in those days of pre-revolutionary Russia were already called taverns. In general, the difference between the tavern and its more ancient predecessor “tavern” is that in the tavern you could only buy alcohol, and in the tavern you could also eat besides alcohol. So, in a cheap tavern on the outskirts of a provincial town, having paid 5 kopecks, you could drink half a stack, i.e. 50-60 grams of cheap and most likely highly diluted vodka. For a quick snack, the most popular snack for vodka at all times was offered - this is, correctly, a pickle for just 1 kopeck. And you could eat "to satiety" in these cheap taverns for only 10 kopecks. By the way, in the market for two kopecks, you could easily choose a dozen selected pickles (12 pieces). It was not very comfortable and safe to be in such cheap drinking establishments. Suspicious, semi-criminal personalities, drunken draft drivers, laborers constantly scurried around. Murders and robberies were not uncommon there. Quite another matter, these are decent taverns, in our opinion cafe-restaurants. In these decent and so popular taverns in the early 20th century, it was very pleasant to pass the evening. The cutlery was sparkling clean, the tablecloths were starched and amazingly white, efficient and tidy sex (waiters) flickered everywhere, and wonderfully appetizing and tasty smells spread from the kitchen. It cost 30-50 kopecks to dine here in the 1900s in Russia. But this, judging by the memoirs of contemporaries, justified it. A glass of vodka in such a cultural institution already cost 10 kopecks, but it was definitely state-owned vodka! Not spoiled. For a mug of beer (0.61 liters) it was necessary to pay up to 10 kopecks. Tea with two pieces of sugar cost only 5 kopecks. In good well-known restaurants, of course, the food was more expensive. On average, for a dinner in a decent restaurant of the 20th century in Imperial Russia, one had to pay 1.5 - 2 rubles. This is a payment for an ordinary lunch: first, second, salad, a couple of shots of vodka, dessert, no frills. After dinner, well-fed and respectable Russian citizens at the exit of the restaurant vied with each other trying to persuade cab drivers to go by cab. In large cities in those years, the only public transport was a tram, as a rule, the price was 5 kopecks without a transfer, and 7 kopecks with a transfer. But, of course, the main mode of transport was cabs driven by dashing cabbies. Usually for a trip in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century inside the city, cab drivers took 20 kopecks. But, the price has always been negotiable and changed from the degree of supply / demand ratio. Although, even in those pre-revolutionary times, station cab drivers were the most expensive, who shamelessly announced 50 kopecks for an often not very long trip from the station to the nearest hotel. About train stations and travel. Naturally, in those years, mostly traveled by rail. A first-class ticket to St. Petersburg from Moscow cost 16 rubles, and in a seated carriage you could get there for 6 rubles 40 kopecks. It was possible to get to Tver from Moscow in the first class for 7 rubles 25 kopecks, and in the third - to get for 3 rubles 10 kopecks. The porters were happy to offer the service of carrying suitcases for 5 kopecks. Large luggage, occupying the entire cart, was taken to the train or back for a maximum fee of 10 kopecks. Let's get back to the hotels ... In hotels for very wealthy gentlemen in luxurious rooms with all amenities, telephone, restaurant, etc. the cost of the room cost 5-8 rubles per day. A hotel room without frills, but quite decent, cost 0.7-2 rubles per day. Furnished rooms cost 15-60 kopecks per day. In general, in pre-revolutionary Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, rented housing cost an average of 20 kopecks per month per square meter. In the center of Moscow, a luxurious multi-room apartment furnished and renovated with the latest technology of that time cost 100-150 rubles a month. And a small apartment with a tasteless atmosphere on the outskirts of 5-7 rubles. The usual cost of a rented apartment for a family with an average income, i.e. about 80 rubles, was about 15 rubles a month. To call friends and acquaintances from the hotel and tell them how they got settled cost from St. Petersburg to Moscow 50 kopecks per minute, but they paid at least 1.50 rubles for the connection. It was cheaper to write a letter, for sending it you had to pay only 3-4 kopecks. Or send a telegram. It cost only 5 kopecks to send a telegraphed word to another city, and only 1 kopeck per word to send a message to someone in a dacha in the suburbs. Sending a parcel within the Russian Empire weighing up to 1 kilogram cost only 25 kopecks, and for sending a parcel weighing up to 5 kilograms you had to pay 65 kopecks. In addition to restaurants, it was possible to have fun and culturally by going to the theater. For example, to be in Moscow and not go to the Bolshoi Theater for opera or ballet was considered indecent. Tickets to individual privileged boxes cost up to 30 rubles, for seats in the front rows of a porter one had to pay from 3 to 5 rubles, and to watch a performance in the gallery cost only 30-60 kopecks. With cultural food at the beginning of the 20th century, now everything is clear, let's return to the pre-revolutionary market prices in Russia for food.
Here is a list of prices for products of that time, although then everything was measured in pounds, the cost is indicated per kilogram for ease of perception:
A loaf of black stale bread weighing 400 grams - 3 kopecks,
A loaf of fresh rye bread weighing 400 grams - 4 kopecks,
A loaf of white butter bread weighing 300 grams - 7 kopecks,
Potato fresh crop 1 kilogram - 15 kopecks,
Potato old crop 1 kilogram - 5 kopecks,
Rye flour 1 kilogram - 6 kopecks,
Oat flour 1 kilogram - 10 kopecks,
Wheat flour of the highest grade 1 kilogram - 24 kopecks,
Potato flour 1 kilogram - 30 kopecks,
Pasta simple 1 kilogram - 20 kopecks,
Vermicelli from premium flour 1 kilogram - 32 kopecks,
Granulated sugar of the second grade 1 kilogram - 25 kopecks,
Lump refined sugar selected 1 kilogram - 60 kopecks,
Tula gingerbread with jam 1 kilogram - 80 kopecks,
Chocolate sweets 1 kilogram - 3 rubles,
Coffee beans 1 kilogram - 2 rubles,
Leaf tea 1 kilogram - 3 rubles,
Salt 1 kilogram - 3 kopecks,
Fresh milk 1 liter - 14 kopecks,
Fatty cream 1 liter - 60 kopecks,
Sour cream 1 liter - 80 kopecks,
Cottage cheese 1 kilogram - 25 kopecks,
Cheese "Russian" 1 kilogram - 70 kopecks,
Cheese according to foreign technology "Swiss" 1 kilogram - 1 ruble 40 kopecks
Butter 1 kilogram - 1 ruble 20 kopecks,
Sunflower oil 1 liter - 40 kopecks,
Steam chicken 1 kilogram - 80 kopecks,
A dozen selected eggs - 25 kopecks,
Meat veal steam tenderloin 1 kilogram - 70 kopecks,
Meat beef shoulder blade 1 kilogram - 45 kopecks,
Meat pork neck 1 kilogram - 30 kopecks,
Fish fresh river perch 1 kilogram - 28 kopecks,
Fresh fish zander river 1 kilogram - 50 kopecks,
Fresh fish catfish 1 kilogram - 20 kopecks,
Fresh fish bream 1 kilogram - 24 kopecks,
Frozen pink salmon fish 1 kilogram - 60 kopecks,
Frozen salmon fish 1 kilogram - 80 kopecks,
Frozen fish sturgeon 1 kilogram - 90 kopecks,
Black granular caviar 1 kilogram - 3 rubles 20 kopecks,
Caviar black pressed 1st grade 1 kilogram - 1 ruble 80 kopecks,
Caviar black pressed 2 grades 1 kilogram - 1 ruble 20 kopecks,
Caviar black pressed 3 grades 1 kilogram - 80 kopecks,
Salted red caviar 1 kilogram - 2 rubles 50 kopecks,
Vegetables fresh cabbage 1 kilogram - 10 kopecks,
Vegetables sauerkraut 1 kilogram - 20 kopecks,
Vegetables onion 1 kilogram - 5 kopecks,
Vegetables carrots 1 kilogram - 8 kopecks,
Selected vegetables tomatoes 1 kilogram - 45 kopecks.
A little about the cost of things at the beginning of the 20th century in Tsarist Russia:
Let's start with the cost of uniforms and military uniform clothes that Russian officers were forced to purchase with their own money, and, taking into account the low officer salary (which will be given at the end of the article), it clearly cost them a lot.
Ceremonial officers' boots - 20 rubles,
Dress officer's uniform - 70 rubles,
Chief officer's cap - 3 rubles,
Lancer's hat - 20 rubles,
Hussar staff hat - 12 rubles,
Gilded staff officer epaulettes - 13 rubles,
Spurs - 14 rubles,
Dragoon and Cossack sabers - 15 rubles,
Officer's satchel - 4 rubles.
Clothing for the civilian population was much cheaper:
Weekend shirt - 3 rubles,
Business suit for clerks - 8 rubles,
Long coat - 15 rubles,
Cowhide boots - 5 rubles,
Summer boots - 2 rubles,
Harmonica - 7 rubles 50 kopecks,
Gramophone - 40 rubles,
Grand piano of a famous brand - 200 rubles,
Car without additional equipment - 2,000 rubles,
An alternative and primary means of transportation in those times
Naturally, there was a horse that cost:
Horse for carriage - 100 rubles,
Draft horse, working horse - 70 rubles,
Old horse for sausage - 20 rubles,
A good horse, on which it was not a shame to appear in front of people - from 150 rubles,
A good cash cow - from 60 rubles.
Well, with prices now everything is more, less clear, let's approach salaries at the beginning of the 20th century. So, the average salary in the Russian Empire for workers in factories and plants and employees of junior ranks from 1880 to 1913 increased from 16 to 24 rubles per month. This figure is quite small compared to the average wages in other developed European countries over the same period. For the convenience of comparing salaries, all data are given in rubles at the gold parity of the currency exchange of that time. For example, in Italy, the average salary in production and among low-ranking civil servants increased from 19 to 32 rubles per month, in Austria-Hungary - from 28 to 44 rubles, in France - 30 to 41 rubles, in Germany - from 42 to 57 rubles, in England - from 47 to 61 rubles, in the USA - from 63 to 112 rubles. But we must not forget the cheapness of products and goods of our own production in Tsarist Russia in comparison with these countries.
An approximately similar situation is observed in the change in annual income per capita for the period from 1894 to 1913. In Russia, the increase in national annual income per unit of the country's population increased from 67 to 101 rubles. In Japan, the increase was from 24 to 60 rubles, in Italy from 104 to 230 rubles, in Austria-Hungary - from 127 to 227 rubles, in France - from 233 to 355 rubles, in Germany - from 184 to 292 rubles, in England - from 273 to 463 rubles, in the USA - from 290 to 545 rubles. The only thing we must not forget is that population growth in Russia was ahead of everything European countries and was second only to the USA, where the growth was supported by a fairly large flow of labor migration. All these figures show that the growth of the gross domestic product and the standard of living in Russia was still slower than in other developed countries. But, having huge natural resources, which were already so necessary for industrial development at the beginning of the 20th century, Russia could very well use this natural "handicap" for more rapid development own economy. If not for the war, a weak, weak-willed government (after the death of Stolypin) and, unfortunately, much, much more ...
But, back to salaries in Tsarist Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1913. The average salary of workers and small employees of 24 rubles is a very relative concept, so let's take a closer look: who and how much earned per month.
So, the lowest paid part of the hired workers in Russia was the servants, who received a month: from 3 to 5 rubles for women and from 5 to 10 rubles for men. But, the employer, in addition to monetary allowance, provided the servants with a free roof over their heads, food, and, as a rule, also clothes from the "master's shoulder". Very often this profession was hereditary, and the children of the servants, growing up and becoming in the service, saw life only from the window of the manor house. Further, according to the increasing wages in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, there were workers of provincial factories, village manufactories, laborers, loaders. Their salary ranged from 8 to 15 rubles a month. Moreover, it was not uncommon when one tenth of the salary was issued by cards, which could only be bought in a factory store at inflated prices with products that were far from the first freshness. Mostly, workers at the metallurgical plants in Moscow and St. Petersburg earned more. The salary of these workers at the beginning of the 20th century in Tsarist Russia ranged from 25 to 35 rubles. And the representatives of the so-called labor aristocracy, ie. professional turners, locksmiths, craftsmen, foremen received from 50 to 80 rubles a month.
Now about the salaries of employees in pre-revolutionary Russia. The smallest salaries at the beginning of the 20th century were for junior civil servants in the amount of 20 rubles per month. The same amount was received by ordinary postal employees, zemstvo primary school teachers, assistant pharmacists, orderlies, librarians, etc. Doctors received much more, for example, in zemstvo hospitals they had a salary of 80 rubles, for paramedics 35 rubles, and the head of the hospital received 125 rubles a month. In small rural hospitals, where there was only one medical assistant in the state, he received a salary of 55 rubles. Senior school teachers in women's and men's gymnasiums received from 80 to 100 rubles a month. The heads of postal, railway, steamship stations in large cities had monthly salaries from 150 to 300 rubles. Deputies of the State Duma received a salary of 350 rubles, governors had salaries of about one thousand rubles, and ministers and senior officials, members of the State Council - 1,500 rubles a month.
In the army officer salaries at the beginning of the 20th century in the Russian Empire, after being raised in 1909, there were the following. The lieutenant had a salary of 70 rubles a month, plus 30 kopecks a day for guards and 7 rubles for renting housing, totaling 80 rubles all together. The lieutenant received a salary of 80 rubles plus the same room and guards for another 10 rubles, in the amount of 90 rubles . The staff captain received a salary of 93 to 123 rubles, the captain - from 135 to 145 rubles, and the lieutenant colonel from 185 to 200 rubles a month. The colonel of the Tsarist army received from the Sovereign a salary of 320 rubles a month, a general in the position of division commander had a salary of 500 rubles, and a general in the position of corps commander - 725 rubles a month.
To understand what were the daily expenses in comparison with the daily incomes of our ancestors, we will recalculate the then prices and wages in the present.
The conversion methodology was based on the gold equivalent - the price of a troy ounce in 1913 and 2010. Based on the average annual gold prices and exchange rates available in open sources, an approximate exchange rate of the 1913 Russian ruble against the 2010 ruble was calculated. This course amounted to 1335 modern rubles for one "Nikolaev". Based on this value, it is possible to recalculate the cost of the main elements of life in one of the Russian capitals in 1913 into modern money.