The legendary marine sweatshirt - how much meaning is invested in these words! This is the story of more than one generation. A vest is treasured along with a shrine. In Russia, it became not only a part of the form of the marine corps and the underwater navy, but also the airborne armed forces, the Ministry of Emergencies, the border troops, special forces and the internal army of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Each Russian army has its own vest with a unique color of stripes, the selection criteria of which, we can assume, characterize the field of activity of each ...
Navy
German opponents spoke of sailors and marines of the times of World War II as "striped devils." This type of army wears T-shirts with black stripes. It was not a matter of color, not of how many strips on a vest, and not even of the extremely strong-willed qualities of Russian sailors. The roots of such a nickname go back to the history of Europe, where in the past a very long time striped clothes were worn by heretics rejected by society, lepers, executioners who do not own any rights. When the Germans saw land Marines on land, they were overwhelmed by fear at the genetic level. Sailors, even in battles on land, refused to change their main parts of the form: a cap and a vest with a pea jacket. That is what distinguished them from infantry soldiers.
To disguise the marines disguised themselves in the form of ground forces. But even in her, the vest remained a body shirt. If someone wore it in a duffel bag, because they wanted to keep it longer, then before the fight she wore on. After all, from ancient times there is a Russian tradition: to put on a clean underwear shirt before the start of the battle. Someone thinks that the power of Russian sailors is hidden in a special sweatshirt - its color and how many strips on the soldier's vest.
After all, at one time the French Navy adopted the standard in 1852, according to which, there should be 21 stripes on the vest. This is the number of victories of the great Napoleon.
Fearlessness
Sailors have always been distinguished by a special bold spirit. Throwing an overcoat and a pea jacket on the ground, dressed in a vest, they with a bayonet in their hands went towards the enemy. The first battle on land at the sailors took place in June 1941, on the 25th.
Petty Officer Prostorov at the head of the Baltic corsairs, under the cry of "Polundra," with shame drove the Germans, who were reputed to be victors in Europe. Of the fighters in vests formed the shock composition of the Russian army. The whole point is not how many strips on the vest, but in the internal strength of the Russian spirit. The command knew that these warriors would not retreat! They were where the most dangerous fight. The Marine Corps of the Soviet Union panicked and instilled fear in the enemy ...
Origin
The history of the vest itself dates back to the time of the conquest of the geographical space of the Earth - in the seventeenth century. Then maritime professions only developed. Accordingly, there was a lack of personnel. Most of the fleet of Europe were sailors from Brittany. Most likely, the Bretons did not care how many strips on the vest - they wore black-and-white work shirts, which played the role of a talisman from sea scum.
In addition, in such a shirt the sailor against the background of the surrounding landscapes is better visible. In addition, dirt is not so evident. Most of the Breton seafarers were on Dutch ships. They paid well and did not prohibit the Bretons from wearing striped workwear. By the end of the 17th century, it would become a wearable uniform for sailors throughout Europe.
Spread
The Russians were no exception. It is not known for sure how many stripes are on the sailor's vest and when exactly did it enter the life of the Russian fleet. But, most likely, the Dutch brought the vest to Russia in the middle of the seventeenth century. Their merchant ships began to sail to Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory. The Netherlands and the British were known as legislators of fashionable marine ammunition. Therefore, Peter I took over the Dutch form for the Russian flotilla, which was in its infancy.
But she was still without Breton's striped shirts. They spread more widely among Russian sailors of the second half of the 19th century. There is a legend that in 1868 Prince Konstantin Romanov, being also an admiral, received the crew of the frigate. All sailors came to a meeting in European striped sweatshirts.
They so praised their merits that after a while the prince signed a decree with the emperor on the official inclusion of a vest in the ammunition of Russian sailors (1874).
She became cult clothes later - after the Russo-Japanese war. When there was a demobilization, sailors filled the cities. All around were heard the rhythms of sea dances and tales of the brave battles for Port Arthur.
They were looking for adventure. This is the time when the culture of the flotilla widely entered the masses of the people, the concept of the "sea soul" appeared, the symbol of which was a vest.
Airborne and striped sweatshirt
When and how did the cult clothing of the fleet become a body paraphernalia of blue berets and how many stripes are on the vest of the Russian paratrooper? History says that back in 1959 they were handed over to a skydiver for a jump into the water, which is considered one of the most dangerous.
Then the vests appeared in the paratrooper uniforms (unofficially). But the key person who made the marine sweatshirt a form of the Airborne Forces was the legendary commander Margelov Vasily. It does not matter at all how many strips there were on the navy's vest - it did not matter for the paratroopers. The introduction of the "sea soul" in the blue berets was opposed by Sergei Gorshkov, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy of the USSR. He said that these were anarchist manifestations in the troops of the paratroopers.
But Margelov firmly said that he fought in the Marine Corps. And so he knows that paratroopers deserve and are not!
The vest with blue stripes officially debuted at the events of Prague in August 1968: Soviet paratroopers dressed in a striped sweatshirt proved to be a decisive force in ending the Prague spring. Blue berets received a baptism of fire, bypassing all bureaucratic moments - with the blessing of Margelov.
The new form has not been spelled out by any official document. And it doesn’t matter how many strips on the vest of the Airborne Forces (the quantity simply depends on the size of the sweatshirt) - it has become a symbol of masculinity and a special spirit of fearlessness. Even future fighters have the honor of walking in a striped sweatshirt.
Modernity
Today, Russian troops of all kinds wear a vest. The set of cadets of naval, civilian river and marine educational institutions includes a marine vest as an obligatory element of the form. Although the border guards, thanks to the creation of the border fleet of the White, Baltic and Caspian Seas, donned it back in 1893, and in 1898 it became with green stripes. In the 90s of the XX century, officially developed vests for border guards - green, special forces of the explosives - speckled, special forces of the FSB and the presidential regiment - cornflower, Ministry of Emergencies - orange.
Of course, you can simply count how many stripes there are on the marine vest, but this will not work. Since the period of the USSR, the number of strips depends on the size of each military, be it a sailor, a marine or a border guard. Conditionally: the forty-sixth size contains 33 strips, the fifty-sixth - 52.
The issue of the number of stripes is rooted in symbolic numerology in French vests. The same symbolism was among the Dutch and the British. They preferred shirts with 12 stripes, as the number of human ribs, thus wanting to deceive fate: as if it were not a man, but a ghost-skeleton of the deceased ...