The Influence of Foreign Technical Developments and Techniques on the Methods of Acceptance of Military Bladed Weapons in Russia in the Second Half of the 19th Century

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the adaptation in Russia of Western European methods of acceptance of army bladed weapons, primarily sabers. This issue is an integral part of the study into the role of foreign scientific and technical relations in the development of domestic weapons. Despite the fact that cold steel significantly lost its former importance in the second half of the 19th century due to the massive introduction of rifled breech-loading, magazine-type, and automatic small arms into the army, it continued to remain in service. Data about foreign acceptance methods were provided by Russian military agents or officers posted abroad. This information was reviewed by permanent special institutions of the Russian military establishment, in this case, the Artillery Department of the Military Scientific Committee. These authorities analyzed the information received and creatively resolved the issue of the expediency of using these techniques in Russia. The research is based on documents from the Archive of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Troops and published reports of Russian officers sent abroad