Our country is the largest in the world by territory. And how great and huge the Soviet Union was! On its truly gigantic - there is no other word for it - square there were many various enterprises, organizations, educational institutions, including military schools. We invite you to learn more about the military schools of the former USSR (number, specialization, location, etc.).
Features of such institutions and a brief historical excursion
Before listing the cities and towns in which military schools were located during the Soviet Union, it is necessary to deal with this phrase properly. It is clear that future military schools are trained and educated in military schools, but what are the features and characteristics of these educational institutions?
We will dive a little to start with the story. It is logical to assume that the formation of current military institutions is rooted deep in the past. At the same time, it is interesting that there is no reliable information about the existence in ancient times of some military schools and / or the like. On the other hand, it is undoubted and indisputable that the armed forces, be it the army or navy, were organized perfectly by the ancients, which means that at least something similar to an institution where future warriors were trained was even at that distant time. Ancient Rome, for example, could boast of similar institutions.
The Middle Ages were marked by the popularization of chivalry. In special "knightly schools" the future soldiers were taught fencing and horseback riding. The first institutions of this profile appeared for the first time in Italian Naples and spread from there all over the world. In addition, some more experienced knight could teach the necessary manners. Often they received at their complete disposal a young page, whom they taught in practice all the tricks of the service. This order of things was maintained until the appearance of firearms. After his invention, a need arose for a truly qualified military education. Activities began to improve it. Nobles needed more skills. Becoming an officer was not easy. The future warrior was to demonstrate skills in using a musket, attacks of various fortifications and the like.
In the fifteenth century, the first general schools appeared, and not just anywhere, but again in Italy. After the idea was picked up in other countries of the world. Adopted and began to develop. So, the knight academies of Scandinavia were very famous, where along with military disciplines - fencing, horseback riding, etc. - future knights were first taught mathematics, drawing and other sciences. Also for the first time they began to teach artillery art. Soon, popular and still cadet corps appeared. The palm this time belonged to Prussia, it happened in the mid-seventies of the seventeenth century.
The first higher educational institutions, whether schools or academies, began to appear in the eighteenth century both in Europe and in Russia, which, of course, was obliged to Peter the Great to establish and further popularize these institutions.
At the very beginning of the century, he founded a navigational school in St. Petersburg. However, it taught not only naval affairs, but also mathematics, military wisdom. Since then, everything went on as usual: military schools were opened and closed, developed, improved, divided into different profiles and categories. At present, military schools, military academies, and even specialized departments in institutes, and the institutes themselves, military, of course, belong to military educational institutions in our country. Cadets, Suvorov, Nakhimov’s are all students of the country's best military educational institutions.
Types of military schools
Currently, all military educational institutions in Russia are supervised by the Ministry of Defense. These include military academies, higher schools, military departments at higher educational institutions of the country, military institutes, cadet schools and corps, Nakhimov and Suvorov military schools, military training centers at civilian higher educational institutions, such as medical ones, and refresher courses for officers.
How to enter a military school
To begin with, it should be clarified what is the difference between a military school and a military academy or institute. In a military school, like in any other, you can enter on the basis of nine classes and receive a secondary specialized education. Getting a diploma in higher education is a direct road to academies and institutes. It is necessary, however, to make a reservation that after graduating from the eleventh grade one can go not only to higher educational institutions. They will take everyone to schools.
How to get there? Everything is very simple, despite the fact that in any military institution entrance examinations are much stricter and more complicated than in an ordinary university. Special requirements are imposed on a potential student of a military school, for example, the indispensable presence of the citizenship of our country, the passing of mandatory standards, excellent health, and so on. You must have a certain list of documents: an application addressed to the leadership of the institution, a description from the place of study / work, autobiographical information, photographs, and the like. Children entering after the ninth grade must also have the written consent of their parents. It is also very important to be the owner of high physical education scores.
Military schools of the USSR: list
With the military institutions of our time, everything is clear. But what about the higher military schools of the USSR? How many were there, where were they, who were they cooking in? Let's try to tell more about this later.
The list of military schools of the USSR included such institutions as the Radio Electronics Engineering School in Voronezh and a similar one in Cherepovets, the Red Banner Special Communication School of Krasnodar, the Topographic Command of Leningrad, the Command and Engineering Air Defense in Odessa, the Automotive Command in Samarkand, etc. military schools of the USSR more than a hundred items, including Nakhimov and Suvorov. It is impossible to list them all, but to talk about some is quite acceptable.
Naval schools of the USSR
Among the naval educational institutions of the Soviet Union , there was little choice: there were only three: in St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Tbilisi and Riga. They all wore a proud title - Nakhimovskys.
St. Petersburg
The school in St. Petersburg was founded in the middle of the last century, in 1944. In the first year of work, there were not so many future naval commanders: a little more than four hundred people, the youngest of them turned ten years old, and the oldest - fourteen. Despite such a young age, these guys had already gulped the hardships of the war, and someone even distinguished himself at the front and was presented for the award. At that time, in this military school of the USSR (in the photo you can see the glorious city in which it is located) four years were mastered, now it’s seven years.
In addition, now the educational institution has branches in Sevastopol, Murmansk and Vladivostok. The founding date of the school and, accordingly, the day of great celebration is June 23.
Tbilisi and Riga
Tbilisi Nakhimov School appeared a year earlier, in 1943. However, it did not last long, only twelve years, and in 1955 it was disbanded.
Their Baltic counterpart, the Riga Nakhimov Naval School, opened in 1945, did not last long afloat. It was disbanded in 1953, having existed for only eight years. All employees and students were transferred to Leningrad.
Aviation establishments
And what was the situation with aviation military schools in the USSR? There were many more. One of the oldest educational institutions is the Kachinsky Red Banner Pilot School. In November 2010, the Sevastopol Aviation Officer School was opened. First, his place of deployment was Sevastopol, then - Kacha, a small village in the vicinity of the city, by whose name the school was named. Its last location was Volgograd - it was in this glorious city that the educational institution was based from 1954 until its closure in 1998.
This military school of the USSR had insignia. One of them, like the institution itself, bore the name of Alexander Myasnikov - a revolutionary named Martuni. This school has seen a lot in its lifetime and could rightfully be proud of many, in particular its graduates: more than sixteen thousand pilots left its walls. Among them are the heroes of the Soviet Union (more than three hundred) and the heroes of Russia. By the way, an interesting fact: it was in the Kachinsky school that the youngest son of Joseph Stalin, Vasily, studied.
The oldest aviation was disbanded because it was necessary to reduce the number of schools in the country, and, choosing between Volgograd, where the institution was then located, and Armavir, they chose the first. The second aviation military school of the USSR was opened in Tambov nine years later than the above. It is not just aviation, but also engineering. It lasted a little longer than Kaczynski: it was closed nine years ago.
Orenburg
Among the aviation schools it is impossible not to single out the Orenburg, which rightfully takes an honorable third place in the list of aviation schools of the Union. The year of its foundation is considered to be 1921, the year of dissolution - 1993. It is curious that initially it was not a school, let alone an aviation school, but a school of air combat and bombing. She came to Orenburg by a difficult roundabout route from Moscow, having transit to Serpukhov. The school is famous for the fact that it is in front of its entrance that the only plane surviving in the whole world flies on which Yuri Gagarin flies. The legendary Soviet pilot and astronaut was a graduate of this institution, like Valery Chkalov. In addition, the school was recognized as the best in the country for several years.
In 1993, the Aviation School in Orenburg was disbanded, and a cadet corps was created on its basis, which provides initial training in helicopter, fire, flight, missile, aviation engineering, and anti-aircraft missile business. In the same year, the Berlin Order of Kutuzov's military transport aviation regiment, which was withdrawn from the Baltic, was placed on the territory of the educational institution.
Daugavpils
It is impossible not to say a few words about one more military school of pilots of the USSR - Daugavpils Higher Military Engineering. Founded in 1948, it lasted exactly forty-five years. It was located on the territory of the Daugavpils fortress, erected even under Alexander I. This school was one of the largest in the Union and had very valuable teaching staff.
He also had a chic technical base: the latest laboratories equipped with modern equipment, his own airfield, hospital, and so on. And in 1993, the school was merged with the Stavropol educational institution, and its history as a separate independent unit ended.
Barnaul
Thirty years and three years existed in Siberia, Altai, in the beautiful city of Barnaul, an aviation school, created in 1966. It trained front-line aviation specialists. The school was disbanded in April 1999. The cadets were transferred to Armavir, and the service and teaching staff were fired. All educational and auxiliary facilities, as well as the territory of the school, were transferred to the Barnaul Law Institute. By the way, it was the Barnaul School that graduated from the pilot Konstantin Pavlyukov, who died heroically in Afghanistan.
About military-political
This category of schools also existed in the Union. So, the list included educational institutions located in Leningrad, Kurgan, Kiev, Minsk, Lviv, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk, Riga and other cities.
Minsk, Novosibirsk and Leningrad
The Minsk school was a combined arms school and existed for only eleven years, from 1980 to 1991, releasing, however, in this relatively short period of time almost two thousand officers. Among them, about 900 representatives of foreign countries.
Among the military-political schools of the USSR is an educational institution in St. Petersburg, which was named after Yuri Andropov. It also did not last long, from 1967 to 1992, and trained air defense specialists for four years. Disbanded because the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
The school in the Siberian capital, Novosibirsk, was named after the sixtieth anniversary of the October Revolution. It functions successfully and now, however, is now called a little differently - the Higher Military Command School. This reorganization occurred fourteen years ago. This school is different in that many of its graduates at various sites participated in the hostilities and received awards, including the title of Hero of Russia. This school was graduated from the now-famous Oleg Kukhta, now an actor, and before that - an employee of special forces.
Tallinn
One of the USSR military schools was in Tallinn - this educational institution was not just military-political, but also construction. Over the entire period of its existence (13 years), it has released more than one thousand eight hundred people, preparing them for political work in the construction, road and railway parts. This institution possessed not only the mark of the USSR Military School, but also the Battle Banner received in 1980.
Schools of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Separately, it is worth mentioning about military schools of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. There were only four of them: in Saratov, Novosibirsk, Perm and Ordzhonikidze (now - Vladikavkaz).
Ordzhonikidze-Vladikavkaz
The Ordzhonikidze Higher Military Command School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR existed from the thirty-eighth year, then, of course, the name did not include the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the NKVD, and it bore the name of S. M. Kirov. It exists to this day, but is now the Institute of Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (renamed in the last year of the last century).
During the war, students of the Ordzhonikidze Higher Military Command School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs distinguished themselves at the front, many had state awards, the educational institution itself received the Order of the Red Banner.
Novosibirsk
The Novosibirsk Military Institute - this is exactly what the former higher military command school of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in this city is proudly called. Created in 1971, according to the initial idea, it was supposed to train cadets for three years, but after two years the training became four-year-old, and the institution itself received the status of a higher command. Later, the drill was extended for another year, and in 1999 the school became an institute. It is functioning now and can be proud of its graduates, among whom there are enough heroes, including those who were awarded posthumously.
Other establishments
Briefly say a few words about a few schools. For example, about the Dzerzhinsky Higher Red Banner School - a military school of the KGB of the USSR. In addition to this educational institution, numerous higher education courses appear in this industry in various cities of the former Union: Alma-Ata, Minsk, Kiev, Leningrad, Tashkent, Sverdlovsk, etc. The aforementioned Dzerzhinsky school is now called the Academy of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (since 1992 ), and its very first name was the Central School of the OGPU (back in the thirties of the last century). As you might guess, the Chekists were trained at this military school of the USSR.
On the territory of Ukraine is the city of Kharkov, which was formerly one of the Soviet settlements. Institutions of interest to us are also in it. So, among the Kharkov military schools of the USSR can be called the Higher Tank Command. It was founded during the war, in 1944. At first, they studied there for three years, and since 1966 the training period was increased to four years. From the same time, graduates receive an engineering degree. Having the Order of the Red Banner, this military school of the USSR in 1997 was renamed the Institute.
And in 1918, the Guards Higher Airborne School has been successfully operating in Ryazan, named after Army General Vasily Filippovich Margelov, the founder of modern airborne troops. First, infantry courses were organized in this town, and already on their basis an educational institution was later formed. His cadets especially distinguished themselves on the fronts of World War II. The school itself has two orders of the Battle Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov. Since 1962, the educational institution has been paying special attention to the study of foreign languages, from the same period cadets from abroad began to take in the school. And already in the new century, a decade ago, for the first time as girls, the girls crossed the threshold of the Ryazan airborne school .
What else distinguishes this institution is that it trains special intelligence officers and special forces. By the way, the honorary word "guard" in the name of the school appeared only in February this year. It was a kind of gift for the centenary of the institution.
A little older, but a military-engineering school is still operating in Tyumen. The date of its foundation is 1957. Throughout its existence, the school has undergone many reorganizations and changes. At the moment, it is the main center of Tyumen for the training of engineers in the military field. You can study in it for five years and get a higher education, or you can stop at a secondary specialized education and then spend only two years and ten months on study.
The post-war "child" is an institution in Ulyanovsk - the Higher Military-Technical. They trained professionals in two engineering areas: technologists and mechanics. Of course, both were military. The school, which existed until 2011, included cadet battalions, a warrant officer school, training companies, and so on, and also bore the name of Bohdan Khmelnitsky.
But the Stavropol School was named in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the October Revolution and trained in it signalmen for the missile forces. It did not exist for very long - from 1962 to 2010, but during this time it managed to prepare a lot of valuable personnel. Now on the territory of the former educational institution is the headquarters of the army.
This is not a complete list of military schools of the former Union. However, at least a small idea of the geography and activities of the military schools of the USSR this information gives.