Description of the attraction
The Central Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia is the country's largest military history museum. The museum was founded in 1919. Since 1965, the modern museum has been located in a building on the street of the Soviet Army. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
After the October Revolution, employees of the old military museums made an attempt to create a unified military museum. The People's Commissariat of Education did not have the money for this, and the military department considered it unnecessary to glorify the exploits of the defenders of the old regime, the tsars and the bourgeoisie. The military department began to create the museum in 1919, after the defeat of Denikin's troops.
In December 1919, Deputy Chairman of the RVSR Sklyansky, signed an order to organize an exhibition - museum "Life of the Red Army and Navy". In 1920, the Moscow City Council handed over to the museum the lower floors of the Upper Trading Rows building (now the GUM building). However, in March 1922, a special commission decided to vacate the shopping arcade, and the museum was transferred to an old mansion on Prechistenka. The mansion could not accommodate large-sized exhibits. Many of them have been returned to their former owners. In 1924, the museum was transferred to the subordination of the Military Academy of the Red Army and occupied part of the suitable premises on the street. Vozdvizhenka 6. Earlier than a year later, the museum was returned to the subordination of the Headquarters of the Red Army, but the premises of the Academy remained with the museum.
The exposition of the museum was created with great difficulty. The lack of professionals in the museum business affected. Only 4 researchers worked in the museum. From 1927 to 1965, the museum was located in the left wing of the Central House of the Red Army on Ekaterininskaya Square (nowadays Suvorov Square). During the war, the collection of the museum was used in the process of educating the soldiers and all the people of the country in the spirit of patriotism. The museum organized all kinds of traveling exhibitions. Museum staff ensured the preservation of historical values during the war and accumulated materials for new exhibitions.
After 1991, there was a need to revise the concept of the museum's activities. The museum was supposed to reflect in the expositions the new structure of the army and navy, the change in their functions, new uniforms and insignia, and a new reward system.
Nowadays, the funds of the museum have more than a million exhibits: these are all kinds of documents from the times of different wars, trophy banners of World War II and the Civil War, weapons, photographic documents, awards, personal belongings of soldiers and officers. The museum exposition, located in an open area, displays 157 units of various military equipment: armored, rocket, artillery, naval, missile. From tanks and guns during the Civil War, to the most modern means of warfare.
The main excursions for museum visitors are: “Museum - a treasury of relics of military glory”, “Returned relics of the Russian army”, “Great feat of the Soviet people”.
