Tsar
Peter I (later to become known as "Peter the Great") first established the two senior units of the eventual Imperial Guard, the
Preobrazhensky and
Semyonovsky infantry regiments, as part of his so-called "
toy army" in the 1680s. Peter later built on both regiments as part of his professionalization of the Russian Army after its disastrous defeat in 1700 by the
Swedes at the
Battle of Narva, during the early phases of
Great Northern War of 1700–1721. He was influenced too by his distrust of the
streltsy, who had risen against him repeatedly, both
during his childhood, which traumatised him, and
during his reign. In 1730, Empress
Anna () formed the
Izmailovsky Regiment (recruited from her former domain, the
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia) out of distrust of the other guard regiments (especially the Preobrazhensky) as a result of her paranoia of losing power. The Izmaylovsky Regiment became the official palace guards during her reign. The term "Leib" was not used until the reign of Empress
Elizabeth (1741–1762) during her formation of the Leib Company made up of the grenadiers (especially the Preobrazhensky), who had helped put her on the throne.
Revolution of 1905 The Imperial Guard played a key role in suppressing the
Revolution of 1905, most particularly at
Saint Petersburg on Sunday, (
Bloody Sunday). The Semyonovsky Regiment subsequently repressed
widespread disturbances in Moscow. However, a full battalion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment mutinied in June 1906.
Russian Revolution of 1917 During the
February Revolution of 1917, the garrison of Saint Petersburg included 99,000 soldiers of the Imperial Guard. They were reserve battalions, made up of a mixture of new recruits and of veterans from the regiments of the Imperial Guard serving at the
Eastern Front of
World War I. While generally still recruited from rural districts, the Guards' rank and file were no longer the reliable instruments of
Tsarist autocracy that their predecessors had been during the abortive revolution of 1905. About 90% of the officers of the reserve units had been commissioned during the war, and they were often militarily inexperienced and sometimes sympathetic towards the need for political reform. The overall morale and leadership of the Saint Petersburg troops was poor although they still enjoyed the status of the historic regiments that they represented. During the early days of rioting in Saint Petersburg, the Semyonovsky,
Pavlovsky and
Volinsky Regiments obeyed their officers and fired on the crowds of demonstrators. However, on 27 February, the Volinsky and then the Semyonovsky,
Moskovsky, and Izmailovsky Regiments defected in large numbers to what had now become a revolution. Some officers were killed. An estimated 66,700 guardsmen in the capital had deserted or defected within about two days. This mass defection from units of the Imperial Guard marked the end of the Tsarist régime. During the
October Revolution of 1917, the Pavlovsky Regiment, though it was celebrated for its actions during the
Napoleonic Wars, was one of the first regiments to mutiny and to join the
Bolsheviks. It then participated in
the storming of the
Winter Palace. Much of the former Imperial Guard was still extant in October 1917. It retained its historic titles though its role was now that of politicised republican soldiers. In addition, the Semenovsky and the Ismailovsky Regiments rallied to the Bolsheviks at a crucial stage during the revolution. In December 1917, as the Bolsheviks consolidated their power, the remnants of the Imperial Guard were disbanded and integrated into the
Red Army. As such they saw combat in the
Polish-Soviet War in 1920. ==Organization==