Russia's "Naval Assemblies" (300th Anniversary of the Baltic Fleet).

The naval assemblies were patterned on the assemblies that Emperor Peter the Great had started late in 1718. They were devised as a novel form of communication among the nobility and an attempt to teach the upper class European manners. The emperor wished to extend the new traditions to the army and navy officers and to use the opinion of the majority on the affairs of honor and dignity to teach others. Peter the Great was absolutely convinced that promotion in the army should not be determined by the officer's parentage, wealth and connections. Officers should be valued for their patriotism, courage, honor, and other virtues. There rules served the cornerstone of military assemblies and officer clubs that appeared in Russia in the latter half of the eighteenth century. In 1779 a club of staff- and subaltern officers of the Novgorod Infantry Regiment was opened in Tikhvin, in 1782 a military club appeared in St. Petersburg, it was at the same time that officer assemblies were organized at the Belozerskiy, Ol onetskiy, Schlisselburgskii and other infantry regiments.

The aim of these clubs was to rally the officers together around the commanding officers and to create a climate of high moral values. They were also instrumental in upgrading the officers' knowledge, exchanging practical experience and organizing leisure. The officer assemblies also did their best to help their members support their families.

The Navy got naval assemblies, the eldest among them being the naval assembly in Kronstadt ceremoniously opened on March 11, 1786. This was the first ever experience of uniting the naval community "for pleasant, useful, and noble pursuits."

Other large ports imitated this experience, the process being especially dynamic in the Baltic in the latter half of the nineteenth century when Russia was carrying out military reforms. The tasks and organizational structure of the naval assemblies in the Baltic were more or less similar yet their practical activities differed from place to place. In the course of time these distinctions were registered in rules. The naval assemblies got unified rules endorsed by the Navy Minister Ivan Grigorovich as late as 1912.

As a rule the naval assemblies were directed by the commanding officers of ports and naval depots, their highest body being the general meeting convened not less than once a year with a permission of the port commander. It discussed major issues, endorsed results of voting, expelled those who violated the rules, introduced changes into the charter, etc.

There were elected councils or committees of syndics which supervised the clubs' daily routine, one of the syndics elected the bursar and the clerk. All of them enjoyed equal rights irrespective of their posts and ranks which made it possible to settle all issues democratically. The meetings were chaired by the most senior officer present; in case of equal number of votes cast for and against his vote was decisive.

The council has the right to issue decisions on the assembly's internal life and arrangement that were binding on all members. Violators were invited at the council's meetings that could either excommunicate the delinquent for some time or expel him altogether. Since many looked at the assembly as their home from home where officers with no families spent their leisure excommunication was a severe punishment and was taken for a banishment from the officer community.

In general, membership in the naval assembly was an honor: every newcomer could apply and was adopted yet there were certain reservations. The members were divided into obligatory and non-obligatory. The former were all admirals and generals, staff- and subaltern naval officers in the active service. Naval, construction and mechanical engineers, medical doctors and people serving in the navy courts were also obligatory members. The naval assemblies of the Admiralty and Izhora plants accepted civilians with higher education on an equal footing with officers. Retired officers with 25 years of obligatory membership in a naval assembly could be adopted on a syndics' decision. Those who worked in the ports and who used to work in the naval ministry were non-obligatory members with the same rights as all other members. There was an institute of honorary members. Normally they were prominent statesmen, outstanding shipbuilders, and naval officers. Widows and the closest relatives of the former members and permanent guests were given tickets to the assembly. The guests had access to all services, they could bring their families and friends.

The naval assemblies did a lot to preserve the memory of the glorious past of the Baltic Fleet: there were galas and celebrations of anniversaries. Such occasions were always attended by veterans which ensured the continuity of the best traditions and taught young officers to cherish honor, dignity, and courage above everything else.

The naval assemblies were engaged in active educational activities: starting with the 1850s they organized lectures and discussions for their members and disseminated scientific and general knowledge. With this aim in view they invited prominent scholars and scientists; the Naval Learned Committee and the Chief Naval Staff also contributed to these efforts. Stepan Makarov, the outstanding naval strategist and scientist, Alexander Popov who invented the radio, Alexei Krylov, the prominent shipbuilder, frequently spoke in the Kronstadt naval assembly. Family members were offered lectures on subjects close to their interests such as shortsightedness in children, tuberculosis, etc.

Libraries were important parts of the naval assemblies--they allowed the officers to broaden their horizons and to prepare for collective discussions of topical problems. Naturally enough the libraries concentrated on the naval subjects yet they also contained many periodicals, including foreign press.

Much attention was paid to leisure of the assembly members. There were literary events in which famous singers, poets, writers, and actors participated. The families attended balls and charity events which promoted wann and friendly relations; children were invited to Christmas parties, they received presents bought by the assembly, etc.

Financial and economic activity of the naval assemblies deserves special mention. The money they had was divided into backup and active capital. The former allowed the assembly to function without increasing membership dues or borrowings. The latter was designed for current payments: assemblies could buy movable property and real estate and form loan capital. The assemblies owned all its property: furniture, utensils, books, pictures, etc. They were exempt from the patent tax as organizations not involved in commercial activity.

The Rules of the officer assemblies identified the following sources of money: the state budget, membership fees, and the assemblies' incomes. The state budget paid three types of grants: for improving the officers' living conditions; for renting, heating and lighting the assembly premises and for non-recurring grants to officers. The membership fees were divided into monthly, nonrecurring, and annual. Those who were invited to the assembly paid no fees. The size could change depending on a decision of the general meeting which was registered in the Rules. The assembly's own incomes varied from one assembly to another and depended on its location, period of its functioning, and the skills of those who looked after its economic activity. Public lectures, gala events, and renting out premises also brought certain amounts of money.

The naval assemblies of prerevolutionary Russia had the right to hoist their flags on their buildings, yachts and boats--obviously their activity was highly appreciated.

After the 1917 revolution and the Civil War over two thousand naval officers of the former Russian navy found themselves in emigration. They stuck to the best traditions and gathered together into naval societies, organizations and wardrooms. By the mid-1930s there were over 40 organizations of Russian emigrants in the United States, France, Belgium, Tunisia, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and elsewhere. Legal heirs of some of them are still functioning.

Unfortunately, the positive experience of the naval assemblies was disregarded when the Red Navy of Workers and Peasants and an officer corps was created from scratch. On December 16, 1917 the Council of People's Commissars of RSFSR passed a decree that abolished all old ranks, titles, orders and organizations, the naval assemblies among them.

In the twenties and thirties there were attempts to set up Red Navy clubs based on the nearly forgotten experience but they never struck root.

During the Great Patriotic War the navy bases of the Baltic and other fleets organized officer clubs which slightly resembled the naval assemblies. They were designed to inculcate specifically naval qualities in officers, develop their creative though, teach them dignity and honor, give them the chance to exchange fighting experience and know better their colleagues, and also offer better organized leisure. Later, the clubs were closed down because they had no clear legal and organizational foundations.

After the war wardrooms on warships became the place where young officers learned to love their profession and upgraded their naval and general culture. They became places where officers united by shared interests, traditions, and customs, met.

In 1998 the Kaliningrad Naval Assembly as a regional public organization was registered; it was set on the initiative of the commander of the Baltic Fleet and founded by the Baltic Fleet, the Federal Borderguard Service, the Maritime Administration of the port of Kaliningrad, and the Administration of Kaliningrad region. The naval assembly is working toward strengthening the positions of the Russian Federation as a great maritime power, and is also concerned with social protection of those whose professional activity is connected with the World Ocean and the inland water arteries, promoting the prestige of naval service, supporting the naval veterans and inculcating the best naval traditions in young people. The council of syndics of the Kaliningrad naval assembly is actively cooperating with the Military Council, the commanders of the Baltic Fleet, organizations of war veterans. The council is also building up the assembly's material basis and is greatly contributing to the future celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the Baltic Fleet. The assembly members have also contributed to the five-volume history of the Baltic Fleet.

The Kaliningrad Naval Assembly has set an excellent example of reviving the best traditions of officer assemblies in the army and navy.