Nevertheless, the Russians did have a fine artillery arm manned by soldiers trained in academies and who would regularly fight hard to prevent their pieces from falling into enemy hands.

In August 1806, King Frederick William III of Prussia made the decision to go to war independently of any other great power except neighbouring Russia.

The French emperor put his troops into winter quarters east of the Vistula River, but the new Russian commander Levin August von Bennigsen refused to remain passive.

The Ottoman Empire, encouraged by the Russian defeat in the Battle of Austerlitz, deposed the Russophile hospodars of its vassal states Moldavia (Alexander Mourouzis) and Wallachia (Constantine Ypsilantis).

In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia to compel Alexander I to remain in the Continental System and to remove the imminent threat of Russian invasion of Poland.

As the French retreated, the Russians pursued them into Poland and Prussia, causing the Prussian Corps under Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg that had been formerly a part of the Grande Armée to ultimately change sides in the Convention of Tauroggen.

By the early 19th century, the empire also was firmly ensconced in Alaska reached via Cossack expeditions to Siberia, although only a rudimentary military presence was possible due to the distance from Europe.

The campaign in France was marked by persistent advances made by the Russian-led forces towards Paris despite attempts by Alexander's allies to allow Napoleon an avenue for surrender.

The Quadruple Alliance, confirmed by a number of international conferences, ensured Russia's influence in Europe, if only because of the proven capability of its army to defeat that of Napoleon and to carry the war to Paris.

In the same year, under the influence of religious mysticism, Alexander initiated the creation of the Holy Alliance, a loose agreement pledging the rulers of the nations involved—including most of Europe—to act according to Christian principles.

The modernization of the Imperial Army included reorganizing the Ministry of War for better centralized leadership, the creation of new technical and support organizations, changes to finances, and the system of military training getting a complete overhaul.

[31] The mobilization for the Russo-Japanese War also brought large numbers of reservists into the ranks who were more politicized, and began spreading revolutionary ideas among the troops.

Although the army had conventional European parts within it such as the monarch's guard, the infantry and cavalry of the line and field artillery, it also included a very large contingent of semi-regular Cossacks that in times of rare peace served to guard the Russian Empire's southern borders, and in times of war served as fully-fledged light cavalry, providing invaluable reconnaissance service often far better than that available to other European armies due to the greater degree of initiative and freedom of movement by Cossack detachments.

Its connection with other similar units was based on particular instances of past glories, a common allegiance to the tsar and—despite religious diversity—the ideal of an Orthodox empire."

[43] The majority of the regiments were stationed either on the borders of Prussia and Austria-Hungary or on the frontiers of Siberia, Central Asia, or the Caucasus Mountains, while a smaller number of them were in the Russian interior.

[44] The peacetime strength of the Imperial Army was estimated in 1913 to be around 1,300,000, including 811,000 infantrymen, 133,000 cavalrymen, 209,000 artillerymen (and 3,904 guns), 59,000 engineers, and 88,000 support and auxiliary troops.

[45] The decree of 14 January 1874[e] mandated military service across the Russian Empire for men between the ages of 21 and 43, with a few exceptions: the Grand Duchy of Finland was exempt from conscription entirely in exchange for an annual financial payment, Cossacks served on their own separate terms, and Muslim populations in territories like Dagestan or Turkestan were also exempt, though they could volunteer in special units and the militia.

The ethos of the army was summarized by its motto "for faith, tsar, and fatherland," and the main value that was instilled in the enlisted troops was obedience to the officers and ultimately to the Emperor.

By the end of the century, as conscripts entering the army were no longer serfs, and with some being from urban areas and literate, they started having higher expectations for how they were treated and a stronger conception of their rights.

[55] After being commissioned for at least four years, interested officers also had the opportunity to apply to the Nikolaev General Staff Academy, which required passing the competitive entrance examinations.

[59] Junker schools were created by Dmitry Milyutin's reforms after the Crimean War and became the largest source of officers, being open to both educated commoners and nobles who spent one year serving in a regiment first.

[56] The cadet corps provided a four- or five-year education to the sons of the wealthy landed nobility, which included both academics and military subjects.

Cadets were given the option upon graduation to apply to a regiment, work in the civil service, go to a specialty military school (such as engineering or artillery), or to join the individual reserve.

[64] Before the Milyutin reforms, the only way for a peasant conscript to become an officer was by being promoted after demonstrating good conduct, intelligence, and potential ability to command.

For nobles, the most common method would be to commission by joining a regiment directly as a junker, who served in the same role as NCOs, then to be promoted to praporshchik and begin their officer apprenticeship.

Cossacks were required to provide their own uniform, horses, and saddles, though the Russian government began giving them subsidies as they faced financial problems in the late 19th century.

During the Great Retreat in 1915 the Cossacks performed a scorched earth campaign in Polish and Ukrainian lands that were being abandoned and enforced the mandatory evacuation of hundreds of thousands of local peasants further east.

[79] During the October Revolution, two Don Cossack regiments led by Alexander Kerensky and Pyotr Krasnov tried to stop the Bolshevik takeover in Petrograd, but were defeated.

[102] During and after the post-Crimean War reforms there was an effort to improve the treatment of Jews in the army, such as to assimilate them to become like other Russian soldiers and to even convert them to Orthodox Christianity.

The distinguishing marks could include one or a combination of the following: the number of the regiment (or the number of the corps, division, or brigade for each of their staff officers), sometimes with letters that the indicated the region or the branch of service; the monogram or the initials of the titles of the monarch or other royalty that were the honorary colonel-in-chief of the regiment; a symbol for artillery or technical units, or small letters for medical, transportation, and other support units.