Measures to strengthen discipline among enlisted men of the Naval Guards Crew in the beginning of Alexander II reign

The paper considers the level of discipline among the Naval Guards Crew in the Russian Empire during the first years of the Emperor Alexander II reign, namely from 1856 to 1860. It presents attempts by the highest naval and guards command to improve discipline both in the armed forces as a whole and in the Crew separately, and provides a detailed assessment of these actions. The paper analyzes relationship between the Naval Inspectorate Department and the Guards Crew Command on the issues of drunkenness, violation of dress code, disdainful attitude to the barracks regulations, and provides information on inappropriate behavior among the naval enlisted men and non-commissioned officers. The focus is on half-measures taken by commanders at various levels, reluctance to radically influence the situation, frivolous attitude of not all, but most officers to the discipline problems among the sailors. Opinion of Emperor Alexander II himself is given regarding the low level of order in the capital of the Russian Empire among sailors of all the naval units, including the Marine Guards Crew. Conflicts between the Crew Commander and the Inspectorate Department on issues related to the naval enlisted men and their discipline are considered. Much attention is paid to using documents and materials from the Russian State Archive of the Navy making it possible to consider the issues of discipline not from the perspective of the general military level, but on the example of a separate unit.

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