The Page Corps (; ) was a military academy in

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

. Similarly, the

Imperial School of Jurisprudence The Imperial School of Jurisprudence () was, along with the Page Corps, a school for boys in Saint Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire. The school for would-be imperial administrators was founded by Duke Peter of Oldenburg in 1835. T ...

prepared boys for

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

. The present-day equivalent of the Page Corps and other Imperial military academies may be said to be the

Suvorov Military School The Suvorov Military Schools () are a type of boarding school in the former Soviet Union and in modern Russia and Belarus for boys of 10–17. Education in these schools focuses on military related subjects. The schools are named after Alexander ...

s, though none of these was established before 1943.

History

The Page Corps was founded in 1759 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

as a school for teaching and training pages and chamber pages. In light of the need for properly trained

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

for the Guard units, the Page Corps was reorganized in 1802 into an educational establishment similar to

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

schools. It would accept the sons of the hereditary nobility of Russian lands, and the sons of at least Lieutenant Generals/Vice Admirals or grandsons of full Generals/Admirals.Daniel E. A. Perre
The Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta and the «Corps des Pages», Russia's Dream of Chivalry
In 1810, the school was moved to the palace of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, also known as Vorontsov Palace. It continued at this location in Saint Petersburg for over one hundred years, until the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in 1917. The ''Corps des Pages'', as it was generally referred to in pre-Revolutionary Russia, was the only military academy (out of about twenty) to prepare future officers for all arms. The others were devoted to specialized training for cavalry, infantry, artillery, engineers, cossacks, topographical studies, etc.

Life in the Page Corps

1914 Page of Russian Pages His Imperial Majesty Corps

In common with the other Russian military schools, the Page Corps imposed a harsh regime on its cadets. Corporal punishment involved beatings with a birch for even minor offences, and bullying of younger students by their seniors was common.

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

detail the

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

and other abuse of pages for which the Corps had become notorious.

Court role and privileges

The students served on a rotational basis as pages at Court and provided services at ceremonies, including attendance upon individual members of the Imperial family. Graduates from the Page Corps had the unique privilege of joining the regiment of their own choice, regardless of the existing vacancies (however, as a matter of etiquette, the consent of the unit's commander was sought beforehand). As serving officers, they wore, on the left side of their tunic, the badge of the Page Corps, modeled after the cross of the Order of Saint John.

Graduation

Upon graduation, the cadets received the rank of ''

podporuchik ''Podporuchik'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, потпоручник, potporučnik, , , , , ) is the most junior officer in some Slavic armed forces, and is placed below the rank of lieutenant, typically corresponding to rank of second lieutenant in English ...

'' (

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

). While most graduates entered the Russian Imperial Army as officers, a minority opted for diplomatic or civil service careers.

Uniform

The Page Corps had a range of uniforms for different purposes. The most spectacular of these was the gala uniform worn for Court functions. This comprised a spiked helmet with white plume, a dark green tunic with gold braid covering the front, white breeches and high boots.

Disbandment

From its inception until 1917, the Page Corps graduated 4,505 officers. An additional 200 were unable to complete their courses because of the revolution of 1917. The school effectively ceased to function following the overthrow of

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

in February 1917, and it was finally closed in June of the same year on the orders of

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 ( N.S.). After th ...

, War Minister of the Provisional Government.

References

External links

*
Russian Imperial Corps of Pages. An Online Exhibition Catalog // Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML) of Columbia University
{{coord missing, Russia Military academies of the Russian Empire Military history of Saint Petersburg Education in Saint Petersburg 1759 establishments in the Russian Empire 1917 disestablishments in Russia 1750s establishments in the Russian Empire 18th century in Saint Petersburg