Puzyrevskii, Aleksandr

Puzyrevskii, Aleksandr Kazimirovich 

Born Feb. 3 (15), 1845; died May 10 (23), 1904, in Warsaw. Russian military historian and theorist, general of the infantry (1901); professor (1889). Son of an officer.

Puzyrevskii graduated from the First Cadet Corps in 1863 and from the Academy of the General Staff in 1873. He saw service in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. He served in staff positions and at the same time from 1876 taught the history of wars, the history of the art of war, and tactics at the Academy of the General Staff. Puzyrevskii became chief of staff of the Warsaw Military District in 1890 and assistant commander of the district’s forces in 1901. He was a member of the State Council from 1904.

Puzyrevskii represented a progressive orientation in military theory that rejected the “eternal and immutable” principles of the art of war advocated by the “academic” school headed by G. A. Leer. He viewed the development of the art of war as a natural historical process influenced by social factors. He advocated the applied method of teaching military history, examining problems that are of practical interest. He emphasized the originality of the Russian art of war.

WORKS

Istoriia voennogo iskusstva v srednie veka, parts 1–2. St. Petersburg, 1882.
Razvitie postoiannykh reguliarnykh armii i sostoianie voennogo iskusstva v vek Liudovika XIV i Petra Velikogo. St. Petersburg, 1889.
Pol’sko-russkaia voina 1831 g., 2nd ed., vols. 1–2. St. Petersburg, 1890.
Perekhod cherez Balkany otriada general-ad”iutanta Gurko zimoiu 1877 g. St. Petersburg, 1881.
Desiat’let nazad: Voina 1877–1878 gg. St. Petersburg, 1887.
Russkaia armiia pered voinoi 1877–1878 gg. St. Petersburg, 1889.

L. B. LEONIDOV