Military district (Russian Empire)

In the Imperial Russian Army, a military district (Russian: вое́нный о́круг, voyenny okrug) was a territorial association of military units, formations, military schools, and various local military establishments. This territorial division type was utilized to provide a more efficient management of army units, their training and other operations activities related to combat readiness.

In the Imperial Russian Army, military districts were first formed by Dmitry Milyutin in 1862–64 to replace the pre-existing Military Inspectorates. The military districts were organised to include civilian administration regions of gubernyas and uyezds. By 1892 there were 13 Military Districts in the Russian Empire, and one region with the status of a military district:

During World War I the remnants of occupied Vilno Military District were organized into two districts: Dvina and Minsk.

The Commander of the military district was named Commanding troops of (name) military district (in the Petersburg military district – Commander-in-Chief who was the Tsar), with all troops, military institutions and military ranks of the military region subordinated to them.

In some regions the military district commander was simultaneously the local Governor-General.

Control of military district included the military-district council and functional district staff and the administrations of artillery, engineers, commissariat and military medical service.

However by the beginning of the First World War there were 12 military districts remaining: Dvinsk, Irkutsk, Caucasus, Kazan, Kiev, Minsk, Moscow, Odessa, Omsk, Petrograd, Amur and Turkestan.

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