Colonel (Eastern Europe)

Polkovnik (pułkownik; полковник) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states and oberst in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries. It was originally a rank in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire. However, in Cossack Hetmanate and Sloboda Ukraine, polkovnyk was an administrative rank similar to a governor. Usually this word is translated as colonel, however the transliteration is also in common usage, for the sake of the historical and social context. Polkovnik began as a commander of a distinct group of troops (polk), arranged for battle. The exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spellings in different languages, but all descend from the Old Slavonic word polk (literally: regiment sized unit), and include the following in alphabetical order: Belarus — палкоўнік Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia — pukovnik (pǔkoːʋniːk) Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Russia and Ukraine — полковник (pɐlˈkovnjɪk, polˈkɔu̯nɪk) Czech Republic and Slovakia — plukovník Poland — pułkownik (puwˈkɔvɲik) Slovenia — polkovnik It is also used in some non-Slavic languages: Latvia — pulkvedis Lithuania — pulkininkas Georgia — პოლკოვნიკი (pʼɔlkʼɔvnikʼi) Lithuania (and likely Latvia) inherited the term from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The rank of polkovnik was also used in the Estonian army until 1924. Georgia likely inherited it from the Russian Empire. In the 17th century, polkovnik became the position of a regimental commander of the streltsy; this position also made it into New Regiments of the streltsy and later into the new army of Peter the Great. The rank was legalized by Table of Ranks that placed it in the 6th grade as the second-top field officer, right under the brigadier. A promotion to the rank of polkovnik gave a privilege of hereditary nobility. The Red Army reintroduced the polkovnik rank in 1935, together with a number of other former Russian ranks, and it continued to be in used in many ex-USSR countries, including Russia.