Cuirassier

Image:Cuirasse-1854-p1030165.jpg Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armor and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armored knights. The term is derived from cuirass, the breastplate armor which they wore.

The first cuirassiers did not appear very different from the medieval knights; they wore full-body armor, and the only items of equipment which differentiated them from knights were leather riding boots and the use of wheel-lock pistols, in addition to lances and swords.

Cuirassiers wore armour long after it had become superfluous in the face of the ever-increasing use of firearms. However, the extent of the armor worn was gradually decreased so that, by the end of the 17th century, it was comprised only of a breastplate (the cuirass or plastron), the backplate (carapace), and the helmet.

The first recorded cuirassiers were formed as 100-man strong regiments of Austrian kyrissers who where croats from Croatia in 1484 to serve the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. They fought the Swedes and their allied in 1632 in Lũtzen and killed the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf. The French introduced their own cuirassiers in 1666. By 1705, the Holy Roman Emperor's personal forces in Austria included twenty cuirassier regiments. Imperial Russia formed its own cuirassier regiments in 1732, including a Leib Guards regiment. The Russian cuirassier units took part in the Russo-Turkish War.

Cuirassiers played a prominent role in the armies of Frederick the Great of Prussia and of Napoleon I of France. The latter increased the number of French cuirassier regiments to 14 by the end of his reign.

Cuirassiers were generally the senior branch of the mounted arm retaining their status as heavy cavalry; "big men on big horses". Eventually most cuirassier regiments evolved into other forms of cavalry such as lancers, hussars, or dragoons (essentially mounted infantry).

In 1914 there were still cuirassiers in the German army (10 regiments including the Gardes du Corps and the Garde-Kurassiers); the French (12 regiments) and the Russian (three regiments all of the Imperial Guard). The German and Russian cuirassiers only wore their breastplates as part of their peacetime parade dress but the French regiments wore the cuirass (with a cloth cover) and plumed helmet on active service during the first weeks of World War I.

A few present-day cavalry regiments continue to use cuirasses as part of their parade equipment on formal occasions. The term has become mainly honorific, as a link to the traditions and history of the regiment. An example are the Life Guards and Blues and Royals of the British Household Cavalry, who perform ceremonial duties but also serve in combat as an armoured reconnaissance regiment.

Another example is the Italian Corazzieri, the honour guard of the President of the Italian Republic.de:Kürassiere fr:Cuirassier he:קירסירים no:Kyrassér pl:Kirasjerzy ru:Кирасир sl:Kirasirji sv:Kyrassiär uk:Кірасири