Abstract. The article is devoted to the consideration of economic, socio-political and military factors that determined the features of military education in the Russian army in the second half of the 19th century - early 20th century. It is emphasized that the main catalyst for progressive trends in military education were the military reforms of the period under study. It is concluded that the central event in the development of the Armed Forces within the designated period of the history of the Russian army, which had a significant impact on the nature of military education of servicemen, was the transition to a new method of recruiting the armed forces based on universal military service.

Keywords: Russian army, military education, officers, lower ranks, method of coercion, method of persuasion, military reforms, military service.