ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the issue of change in its institutional and operational context to determine what inspired Russian departure from the 'unalterable precedent' of European military practice. Russian military historians have traditionally explained change by seizing on the first variant and parts of the third, dressing them respectively in Prussian and nativist clothing, then pitting them against one another in a Manichean-like struggle of opposites. The Russian experience both before and after the Seven Years' War aptly illustrates the persistent influence of the Frederician model on Russian military development. A sustained emphasis on logistics, together with innovations of a tactical, operational, and organizational nature, enabled the Russians to project military power into the steppe on a predictable basis. The foregoing analysis underscores the importance of operational context in explaining military adaptation and innovation. In reality, genius flowered in response to a set of unique military problems which the Russians faced during the last three decades of the eighteenth century.
