Download or read book Reforming the Tsar's Army written by David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-03-18 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines how Imperial Russia's armed forces sought to adapt to the challenges of modern warfare. From Peter the Great to Nicholas II, rulers always understood the need to maintain an army and navy capable of preserving the empire's great power status. Yet they inevitably faced the dilemma of importing European military and technological innovations while keeping out political ideas that could challenge the autocracy's monopoly on power. Within the context of a constant race to avoid oblivion, the impulse for military renewal emerges as a fundamental and recurring theme in modern Russian history.