182 The Imperial Century, 1725-1825even worse, the lowest rate being only 3. 75 roubles ( 1769).^42 On the other hand
in 1784, when a new regiment was set up in Tavrida province upon its forma-
:ion, a private might draw as much as 35 roubles; presumably these were men
lf privileged background.^43 At this time guards cavalrymen received 24 and
)rdinary hussars or dra~oons from 6 tn 1! .88 roubles {including a 'iation' uf
UO roubles where applicable).^44 Some infantrymen and chasseurs (yegery)
1lso improved their position towards the end of Catherine's reign. Tables
lrawn up in 1795 show them earning 9.40 to 9.90 roubles (net?) per annum,
Ut others, both in the field forces and the garrisons, had to be content with
he 1763 rates.^45 Senior NCOs now got 35 to 37 roubles, or about six times
nore than a private, so differentials were increasing.^46
It is puzzling that these tables do not reflect the award in June 1794 of an
.cross-the-board increase of 2 roubles per annum to men in the field forces,
nd 1 rouble to those in frontier and garrison units.47 Was this perhaps not
1aid until later? At any rate by Paul's accession all field-force men, infantry
nd cavalry, are listed as earning their previous highest rates, which were still
enerally in force two years later4^8 -when officers' salaries were raised con-
iderably. Alexander I also boosted officers' pay, by an even more significant
mount, and this time men in the ranks were not wholly neglected: in the field
lrces the highest-paid cavalryman received 12 roubles (1801) and the highest-
aid infantryman 14 roubles (1811).^49 The base rate was 9.50 roubles, and in
1ternal garrison units 7.50 roubles.so
But what could a soldier buy with his roubles? Pending a systematic study of
1e extensive material in the archives on major commodity prices, such as has
1ng been urged by Soviet scholars, we must be content with those for rye grain
1at have recently been tabulated by B. N. Mironov.^51 It is true that soldiers
d not normally need to buy grain, since this was issued to them; on the other
md, they did consume vodka, which was made from it,^52 and changes in the
·ice of this staple item in the popular diet will have been reflected in those of
any other commodities that they did buy. Grain prices varied greatly from
42 PSZ xliii. 13390 (7 Dec. 1769), pp. 132-3.
43 PSZ xliii. 15945 (I Mar. 1784), p. 2 IO.(^14) PSZ xliii. 16376 (10 Apr. 1786), p. 215.
15 PSZ xliii. 17369 (3 Aug. 1795). p. 264.
16 Ibid., p. 263.
17 PSZ xxiii. 17229 (28 June 1794).
18 PSZxliii. 19420(15 May 1799), Tables II, Ill, pp. 110. 114-15.
19 PSZ xliii. 23603 (22 Apr. 1809), 24729 (16 July 1811), pp. 125. 279; cf. Petrov, Russkaya
vennaya sila, ii. 271; Plotho, Entstehung. p. 42; Stein, Geschichte, p. 288. I stated incorrectly
ussian Army's Response', p. 511) that nothing was done for them.
·O PSZ xliii. 24703 (3 July 1811).
1 'Dvizheniye ... XVIII v.' (1970), pp. 156-63; 'Dvizheniye ... 1801-1914 gg.' (1975),
215-57. His decennial figures are based largely on those for selected years in each decade. No
a arc given for the years 1790-5. For the sources used (which arc not iden1ified further here),
I an evaluation of their reliability: id., 'O dostovernosti', pp. 249-62.
2 The cost of vodka, which was state-controlled, rose between 1770 and 1811 from 3 to 5-6
blcs a vedro: PSZ xviii. 13369 (13 Oct. 1769), xxxi. 24168 (Mar. 1810).