Literary and historical notes of a young technician. Red revolutionary pants Decline of the Roman Empire

“Who was nothing will become everything!” - this quote from the revolutionary song “The Internationale” could be used as an epigraph to material about the history of trousers. As well as the biblical “and the last will be first.” Ordinary pants can serve as an excellent example of how the questionable becomes normal, the socially unacceptable becomes socially approved. “This, at first glance, simple thing nevertheless has an unusual history: after all, trousers are not only clothing, they are also a symbol,” writes French culturologist Christine Bar in the book “The Political History of Trousers,” which was published several years ago Russian language. This work is limited to the history of France of the last two centuries and the problem of women's equality. We will look at trousers from the heights of all human civilization.

Man sits on a horse

// VI–I millennium BC e. They were the first

Pants are not such a banal thing. Perhaps this innovation would never have been introduced if man had not begun to domesticate the horse. It is more comfortable to ride when your legs are covered with separate trouser legs. The first horsemen probably seemed strange people. But centuries later, it was the cavalry that would become the striking force of the army, and the hordes of nomads would terrify all of Eurasia. The most ancient are woolen trousers, recently found during excavations in western China. Their estimated age is 3,000 years. Most likely, they belonged to an Asian nomad.

Rise of Assyria

// IX century BC e. Women's bloomers

Assyria. In the 9th century BC, this state experienced its second heyday, turning into the world's first empire. It was the Assyrians who began to systematically use cavalry in wars. It is believed that women's trousers appeared then. They were worn by the legendary ruler Semiramis (her historical prototype is the Assyrian queen Shammuramat). During horseback riding, she pulled the long hem of her clothing with belts, and it turned out to be something like a trouser. The fashion trend has persisted in the East for many centuries. “And the old woman took her things and left, leaving the woman in a shirt and pants...” - we read in the tales of “A Thousand and One Nights.” Most likely, we are talking specifically about bloomers - wide translucent pants gathered at the ankles.

Decline of the Roman Empire

// III–V centuries. Barbarian trousers

Late Rome. The borders of the empire are cracking under the pressure of barbarians: Germans, Slavs, Huns who came from the depths of Asia. Some of them are included in Roman life - they become military men and officials. Indigenous citizens say contemptuously about such people: “I recently took off my pants” - in meaning, this is something between “rags to riches” and “they came in large numbers here.” The fact is that trousers were considered a purely barbaric garment, which a decent patrician should not wear. However, soon the military began to wear short woolen trousers under the traditional tunic: in cool times this saved them from colds, and the riders approved of it. And then the Roman Empire fell apart. And the wild barbarians in their pants began to build Europe.

French revolution

// 1789–1793. Commoners make history

The French Revolution is raging on the streets of Paris. Freedom, equality, brotherhood and other beautiful words. The main active force is sans-culottes. Initially, it was a contemptuous nickname that aristocrats gave to representatives of the mob. The word comes from the French sans culotte, that is, “without culottes.” In the 17th–18th centuries, aristocratic men wore culottes - short, tight-fitting pants made of velvet or suede, fastened under the knee. And the common people (cattle in modern terms) wore long trousers made of coarse material, like those that everyone wears now. Then they began to methodically chop off the heads of the aristocrats, and the word “sans-culottes” began to be used with pride - to designate the rebellious people. “The costume and image of the sans-culotte rightfully remain in the memory of republicans and workers, because they symbolize the transition from one world to another, from one value system to another. The spread of one piece of clothing, in this case trousers, up the social ladder from the bottom up is in itself a rather rare event, and for this reason its symbolic content should not be neglected,” writes Christine Bahr in her “Political History of Trousers”.

Europe: ships and factories

// Second half of the 19th century. Random fold

Western Europe is turning into the factory of the world. The industrial revolution also affects the production of clothing - it can now be made more, faster, and of better quality. Britain and other countries actively export their products by sea, since almost the entire globe is already covered with colonies. To save space in the holds, the trousers are folded in half and packed as tightly as possible. The resulting arrow folds are difficult to smooth out. It is then that entrepreneurs turn a minor flaw into a fashionable novelty (modern programmers in such cases say that this is not a bug, but a feature).

The era of cowboys and steamboats

// 60–90s of the XIX century. The birth of jeans

Look around: you will probably see at least one person wearing blue or light blue jeans, which have become one of the most popular types of clothing in the history of mankind. Levi Strauss is believed to have created the first jeans in 1853. But it is unlikely that they would have gained such popularity if several factors had not coincided. First, the gold rush in the western United States (1848–1860) - the first buyers were prospectors. Secondly, the massive spread of steamships (from the middle of the 19th century) - the capacity of factories that produced sails was freed up. Thirdly, the synthesis of artificial indigo (1880) - this ensured the cheapness of the dye. Fourth, ending Civil War in the USA and the beginning of the era of cowboys (1865–1885), at least a third of whom were freed blacks, it was with cowboys that jeans began to be associated over time... And then there were advertisements, films teaching ranch training for children. And the same trend: the first consumers of jeans were poor shepherds and gold miners - now this clothing is considered normal even for millionaires.

October Revolution and Civil War

// 1917–1922. Red bloomers

“Red Army soldier Trofimov is awarded red revolutionary trousers for outstanding success in combat and political training, as well as for understanding the current moment!” - the voice-over announces, and a wide smile appears on the young fighter’s face. The Soviet film “Officers” begins with this episode. Where did these bloomers come from? During the Civil War, it was necessary to somehow reward the Red Army soldiers, but there were no medals of their own yet, and not everyone had enough watches and personal weapons. Then the savvy Bolsheviks remembered that there were a lot of red cavalry trousers left in the warehouses of the tsarist army! They began to be awarded for feats of arms. "Reds revolutionary bloomers“singled out its lucky owner and treated him with special respect. These pants even came with a document certifying the right to wear them.

New victories for feminism

// 60s of the XX century. Enough trousers for everyone

“To serve their body, their gestures, their postures, their lives. “I wanted to accompany them in this great liberation movement,” wrote the famous fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. “I tell myself that it was I who invented the wardrobe of the modern woman, that it was I who participated in the transformations of my time.” It was he who introduced the unisex style into fashion, including women's trousers. Conservative society resisted. Ladies wearing trousers were not allowed into restaurants; during the establishment of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, they could be arrested or even shot for wearing trousers. But emancipation won. This was facilitated by the youth riots of the 60s and technological progress. “Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first female cosmonaut: in 1963, she spends more than two days in outer space, dressed in an orange jumpsuit. During training and parachute jumping, in which she has no equal, she always wears trousers,” writes Christine Bahr. Nowadays, most of humanity is calm about women's trousers. The only exceptions are religious fundamentalists, both Muslim and Christian.

Commodity shortage in the USSR

// 60–80s of the XX century. The case of the black marketeers

All western world I already wore jeans, but in the USSR they remained in terrible short supply. To purchase the coveted blue pants, one had to either go abroad (which was extremely difficult) or turn to illegal traders - black marketeers. The state fought them mercilessly. In 1961, Yan Rokotov, Vladislav Faibishenko and Dmitry Yakovlev were executed. They were accused of currency trading and foreign goods, including jeans. By today's standards, this is not a crime at all, but rather a socially approved business, and at least not a basis for the death penalty, which, especially in Russia, has been de facto abolished. In memory of the executed black marketeers, the Rokotov jeans brand was launched in the United States in 2013.

Bloomers of cadet Trofimov

Red Masquerade

Sometimes soldiers received scarlet shirts, caftans or trousers as gifts from home front workers. For example, Moscow workers...

This is one of the most unusual awards of the Civil War, which became a symbol of the Red Army. Soviet artists depicted valiant fighters in red trousers. Their images were preserved on Soviet posters, photographs, and films. But the red trousers have a complex and contradictory history at the front.

Bloomers of cadet Trofimov

The famous Soviet film "Officers" opens with a spectacular scene. Winter, snow-covered parade ground of the cavalry school. Alexey Trofimov stands in front of the line of red cadets. Holding his breath, he listens to the boss's speech. In a loud, commanding voice, he lists the merits of the young man. Cadet Trofimov shows labor consciousness and worker-peasant discipline, he is devoted to the cause of the world revolution and understands the current political situation, he distinguished himself during prize shooting. For all this, the cadet is awarded red revolutionary trousers.

Trofimov cannot hide his pride and happiness. He flaunts his riding breeches everywhere. In them he performs a courageous act - he saves a girl from bandits. And this wins her heart: the girl becomes the wife of a valiant cadet. Together they go to the front of the Civil War, in Central Asia.

Trofimov's revolutionary trousers are not a spectacular invention of the screenwriters. They were actually awarded to fighters for important services. But red trousers were not only a reward. And the attitude towards them at the front was not always positive.

Red Masquerade

During the Civil War, red was very popular among the Red Army soldiers. It symbolized the revolution and the young Soviet republic.

In addition, it was perfectly readable at a great distance and helped distinguish friends from strangers. The fighters looked for every opportunity to decorate their costume with some red thing or rag, although they violated the statutory uniform. However, this form existed only on paper. In fact, the supply agencies barely worked; they had to carry what they could get from front-line warehouses and confiscate from the population.

The Red Army soldiers made up their own uniforms. And no one was embarrassed even by the military, honored commanders in women's coats instead of greatcoats - whatever they found, they put on.

It was considered particularly lucky to find durable red fabric in some warehouse. Shirts and vests were sewn from it, the top of hats was decorated with a piece of material, or caps were covered with them. It happened that fighters were dressed from head to toe in an improvised uniform made of red material.

Ravich, of course, noticed that such bright patrol officers would be a good target. But the Sumy commandant, Comrade Kin, explained that he dressed them in such a way as to distinguish them from the “mismatched” Red Army soldiers.

The diplomat Mikhailovsky was no less surprised when he saw soldiers of the special detachment of the Crimean Cheka proudly prancing along the central street of Sevastopol - from head to toe in red and with high white spats on their feet. The diplomat dubbed them “Red Indians” - for their literary closeness to the heroes of Fenimore Cooper.

Sometimes soldiers received scarlet shirts, caftans or trousers as gifts from home front workers. For example, Moscow workers, having learned about the plight of Blucher's 51st Infantry Division, sent gifts to the fighters - red tunics.

Perhaps it was this ubiquitous red masquerade that inspired artist Dmitry Moor to create his famous 1920 poster “Have you signed up to volunteer?” The fighter is dressed almost the same as the Sumy patrol officers and the Crimean Cheka soldiers. Everything he wears is scarlet - his Budenovka with a star, his shirt, and his trousers.

"Red Pants"

The red trousers, however, were not only a military masquerade and forced “hazing”. Some units wore them quite legally. For example, in the spring of 1920, the Red Hussar Regiment of the Trans-Volga Brigade appropriated the uniform of the 10th Ingrian Hussar Regiment of the Tsarist Army. This happened because the Red Hussars were stationed in the town of Balakleya, where the Ingrians were located before the revolution. They were worn as dress uniform maroon (that is, bright red) chakchirs.

In the warehouses in Balakleya, the fighters, to their indescribable joy, discovered large deposits of old ceremonial uniforms of good quality and cut. The red horsemen transformed themselves into theatrical imperial hussars, wearing blue dolmans embroidered with cords and maroon chakchirs. But later the Makhnovists ended up with the hussars' trousers - they pulled them off the dead Red soldiers.

Many General Staff officers did not like this frivolous, clumsy uniform. And, if you believe the memoirs of contemporaries, of all the props, the officers wore only red caps and riding breeches. Raspberry cloth, intended for uniform shirts, was given to wives, and they sewed spectacular dresses for themselves.

In addition to the Red Hussars and General Staff officers, red trousers were worn by cadets of some military schools, for example, the Ryazan Cavalry Courses, including Georgy Zhukov.

At the front, the attitude towards young cadets and staff officers in red trousers was sometimes negative. The fighters called them pejoratively “red pants.” Zhukov, who had just completed the course and arrived at his new unit, was greeted with the murderous words of the regiment commander: “My soldiers do not like commanders in red pants.” The young commander had to explain to his subordinates that these trousers were given to him by his Motherland and he had no others.

A negative attitude towards the “red pants” is also evident in the notes of Isaac Babel. He called staff officers “red pants,” “little staff souls.” And this expressed the general opinion of the fighters of the First Cavalry, with which the writer participated in the Soviet-Polish war.

A piece of cloth as a reward

A civil war is a controversial time.

They didn't like the Red Pants. But at the same time, revolutionary red trousers were awarded for valor.

But why were they given the pants? The answer is simple. The reward system of the Red Army was just being formed. The soldiers were poorly dressed and shod. Receiving the order is, of course, an honor. But it’s more practical to get a good quality item from the commander. And therefore, Red Army soldiers were often awarded watches, boots, saddles, bekeshes, shirts, pieces of cloth or thick silk. Some were even rewarded with antiques. Historian Andrei Ganin, in a book dedicated to the General Staff of the Red Army, mentions the golden snuffbox of Catherine II, which was presented to one of the prominent military experts of the Red Army, the Rattel brothers.

In the First Cavalry Army, Semyon Budyonny practiced awarding red trousers. It is known that the mustachioed army commander personally issued revolutionary riding breeches to the valiant cavalryman Konstantin Nedorubov for his heroism in the battles with Wrangel. The commander of the 2nd battery of the 6th horse artillery division, Nalivaiko, received the same award - “for devotion to the revolution and skillful command of the battery.”

But there were plenty of such spectacular awards as in the film “Officers”. And the reason is that it was not easy to find good quality red pants on the Civil War front. The soldiers, of course, rejoiced when their commanders gave them maroon hussar chakchirs or poorly sewn cloth breeches. But more often the Red Army soldiers received as a reward not the trousers themselves, but a piece of red cloth.

There are many orders about such awards in the archives. Historian Alexey Stepanov, for example, found an interesting document. It describes the selfless work of Comrade Gabaidulin from the 1st Bukhara Rifle Regiment, who diligently trained young Red Army soldiers. For this he was awarded “a piece of scarlet cloth for trousers.” The order is dated 1923. The civil war ended, but commanders continued to reward those who distinguished themselves with trousers and scarlet cloth. Red revolutionary trousers remained a reward of the Civil War and a symbol of the young Red Army.

Olga Khoroshilova

Alexey Trofimov in red award trousers (left) and Ivan Varavva. Still from the film "Officers". Photo: TASS

Bloomers of cadet Trofimov

Red Masquerade

During the Civil War, red was very popular among the Red Army soldiers. It symbolized the revolution and the young Soviet republic. In addition, it was perfectly readable at a great distance and helped distinguish friends from strangers. The fighters looked for every opportunity to decorate their costume with some red thing or rag, although they violated the statutory uniform. However, this form existed only on paper. In fact, the supply agencies barely worked; they had to carry what they could get from front-line warehouses and confiscate from the population.

The Red Army soldiers made up their own uniforms. And no one was embarrassed even by the military, honored commanders in women's coats instead of greatcoats - whatever they found, they put on.

Journalist Nikolai Ravich, a participant in the Civil War, recalled that in the city of Sumy, patrol officers from the commandant squadron approached him to check his documents. Their appearance was impressive - scarlet caftans, red riding breeches, caps with red bands. And even the boots were brick-colored. Ravich, of course, noticed that such bright patrol officers would be a good target. But the Sumy commandant, Comrade Kin, explained that he dressed them in such a way as to distinguish them from the “mismatched” Red Army soldiers.

"Red Pants"

The red trousers, however, were not only a military masquerade and forced “hazing”. Some units wore them quite legally. For example, in the spring of 1920, the Red Hussar Regiment of the Trans-Volga Brigade appropriated the uniform of the 10th Ingrian Hussar Regiment of the Tsarist Army. This happened because the Red Hussars were stationed in the town of Balakleya, where the Ingrians were located before the revolution. They wore maroon (that is, bright red) chakchirs as their dress uniform.

Then, in 1920, red trousers became an element of the officially approved uniform of the General Staff of the Red Army. It was generally distinguished by its originality - gray-green caftans in the style of Streltsy, black velvet collars and buttonholes, bright crimson shirts, scarlet caps and riding breeches. Many General Staff officers did not like this frivolous, clumsy uniform. And, if you believe the memoirs of contemporaries, of all the props, the officers wore only red caps and riding breeches. Raspberry cloth, intended for uniform shirts, was given to wives, and they sewed spectacular dresses for themselves.

In addition to the Red Hussars and General Staff officers, red trousers were worn by cadets of some military schools, for example, the Ryazan Cavalry Courses, including Georgy Zhukov.

A piece of cloth as a reward

A civil war is a controversial time. They didn't like the Red Pants. But at the same time, revolutionary red trousers were awarded for valor.

In the First Cavalry Army, Semyon Budyonny practiced awarding red trousers. It is known that the mustachioed army commander personally issued revolutionary riding breeches to the valiant cavalryman Konstantin Nedorubov for his heroism in the battles with Wrangel. The same award was received by the commander of the 2nd battery of the 6th horse artillery division, Nalivaiko - “for devotion to the revolution and skillful command of the battery.”

It was 1992, I worked at Pravda and my office neighbor was I.I. He minded his own business, publishing a small newspaper dedicated to all sorts of discoveries and miracles.

We soon became friends with I.I. He recognized in a specific way my journalistic talents, which unexpectedly emerged in me; I never wanted to be a journalist; fate accidentally brought me into this environment. And so I somehow scribbled down a note and it was published.

I.I. with a feeling I couldn’t understand, he said: “Old man, I’m watching you, in 45 minutes you tapped out a text with two fingers without any strain, and this is the kind of text that many would dream of writing. Do you even understand that people live for this, journalism, are in love with it, work like horses, but nothing works out for them, and you bale-bale on the typewriter and you're done. Do you even know that many people specifically write with a pen or pencil, confident that it will work out better this way?”

Well, we sat opposite each other for a couple of months and gradually became friends. But it got into I.I.’s head. so that I could write a text for his newspaper. I refused, in fact, at that time I had not yet “finished the pen” and I was at a loss.

And to I.I. Interesting personalities came and brought him all sorts of articles about perpetual motion machines, new trends in biology, etc. And then one day the author, an elderly, polished and polite Jew, comes to him. Brings an article about superpotent women.

I.I. read the title, was amazed and asked me if I knew about this. I said that I know about superpotent men, but I don’t know about women.

You see, Sasha,” the Jew said to me, somehow thoughtfully raising his eyes to the ceiling, “a super-potent woman, she’s an ordinary woman in general, beautiful, and everything is fine with her...” And then he made scary eyes, “but here’s the fuck- and her teeth.

He said this so unexpectedly and looked at me so seriously that I went crazy for a second. At this time I.I. burst out laughing.

It turned out that a superpotent woman is a woman who has some kind of male chromosome, well, something like that. The three of us had a laugh, then the author left, and I.I., suddenly, asked me what a superpotent man is. I say that this is the kind of man whose sexual intercourse can last forty minutes or an hour.

Hour? – I.I. was amazed. “Well,” he said after thinking, “I need to tie two shafts.”

And then somehow I come to the office, there I.I. I’m sitting with another journalist, and suddenly I see a strange official paper on my table, with a Pravda stamp on it, a seal and text with the following content:

“I express my gratitude to A.V. Samovarov. for his selfless work and reward him with red revolutionary trousers.”

And the signature is the editor-in-chief of Pravda Selezenev.

I'm freaking out again for a second, these bastards are laughing.

I.I. says: “Old man, how much does Seleznev pay you a month? I will pay you your monthly salary for one article in my newspaper.”

And I wrote him an essay based on the works of the then fashionable Klimov, about legionnaires, i.e. about the people of Satan. But I wrote it not for the sake of money, but to get rid of it. How stupid I was, but I still haven’t wised up.

It’s funny, but I received a letter that began like this: “To Samovarov from a Legionnaire...” It said very respectfully that the world is not divided into black and white, there are other colors.