Military reforms related to the reorganization of the army and the transformation of the military department lasted for several years. The urgent need for them arose after the failure in the Crimean War. Most of the transformations were carried out under the leadership of D. A. Milyutin. In an effort to reduce cash costs, he reduced his life to fifteen years. Moreover, having served seven years, each soldier could go on vacation, as a result of which, in peacetime, the army was significantly reduced. The company schools began to systematically teach soldiers literacy, beatings and physical punishments were canceled.
In 1864, the local military administration was reformed. Since then, the territory of the state has been divided into several military districts. This led to the fact that the management became closer to its troops, and therefore could have mobilized them much faster if necessary. The army has become much more stable. Since 1865, the troops began to manage the General Staff - the central authority. The cadet corps, in which officers were previously trained, were transformed into military gymnasiums; military schools were opened to train future officers. The established cadet schools allowed young people who were not of noble descent to eventually get into the officer corps. The new military education system required the General Staff Academy to create a new training program.
Now they began to devote more time to combat training. The infantry and cavalry were equipped with Berdan rifles, the corps was abolished, and the troops were divided into local and field. For the first time, artillery received new guns, rifled, which were charged from the breech. The whole complex of these measures led to the need to create a different military service.
The military reform of 1874 was the approval by Alexander II of the Charter on military service. According to the new decree, all men who have reached the age of 21 and up to and including 40 years old were obliged to perform military service. They served in the army for six years and remained in reserve for another nine years, and in the navy for seven years and three years in reserve. Then all those liable for military service were enrolled in the state militia (those who were exempted from the draft were also listed there). The present period of active service in the army depended on the level of education, which was not a privilege of all classes. The military reform of 1874 led to a significant increase in literacy among men, since only illiterates served in the army, who studied reading, writing and mathematics in the army. For those with primary education, service was reduced to four years, former high school students served one and a half years, and people with higher education - only six months.
On the one hand, the military reform of 1874, like no other reform of Alexander II, concerned the whole of society, all classes. On the other hand, the principle of social inequality was most expressed in it. The fact is that all kinds of exemptions and benefits directly depended on the draftee's estate and on his material well-being. Some peoples of the Far North, Central Asia, the Far East, the Caucasus were exempted from service for national and religious reasons.
The military reform of 1874 was not approved by part of the generals led by Field Marshal A. Baryatinsky. He and his associates reproached Milyutin for the fact that the army was mired in bureaucracy and the command staff was very weak. However, participation in the Russian-Turkish war showed that the army was combat-ready, and the officers and soldiers were well trained.
The military reform of 1874 could not change the class character of the corps of officers, and did not pursue this goal, but made the army modern. Among the shortcomings of the transformations, one can also note the fact that little attention was paid to the quartermaster, which nevertheless made itself felt during the war between Russia and the Turks.