"The Russian Army" Topic

"At the accession of Alexander I to the Russian Imperial throne, the empire had about 44 million citizens, meaning that the Czar had access to almost infinite numbers of manpower for his armies. The following article deals with the Russian Army of the Napoleonic Wars, with special emphasis on the Russo-Swedish war, of course. For more on the Swedish tactics and soldier, see the article Life in the Line of Fire.

When Catherine the Great died in 1796 all her military reforms were undone by mad Czar Paul. Instead the Russian army returned to an outdated form of military discipline and uniform á la Friedrich the Great. Many were the disastrous reforms of Czar Paul. Among other things he had steel plates fitted to the knees of the infantry soldiers, to teach them to march stiff-legged! When Russia had had enough of Paul I, he was assassinated and Alexander I took the throne. By the time of his accession, the army was in a terrible, outdated, state. The army Alexander inherited was vast. In 1795 The College of War counted its numbers to 541.741 men, 46.601 enrolled Cossacks, and in times of war a further 100.000 irregular cavalry could be mobilized. From 1796 to 1815, eighteen levies produced some 1.600.000 troops for the Czar's army…"
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>>Instead the Russian army returned to an outdated form of military discipline and uniform

As we know, military and government regimes moved like moalsses often.
Why is it that anywhere outside St.Pets would have been affected by such radical reverasal of regime.

>>When Russia had had enough of Paul I, he was assassinated..
ahh so it was an unquantifiable entity called 'Russia' who did the deed. Very good… just gets better ne betterer…
No I'm not biting.