Would you believe me if I told you these people are lucky and probably some of the wealthier? Even by 1910 the Russian empire had shifted from serfdom, to effectively share cropping. And former pestants not working on farms means they managed to earn enough to purchase back freedom
Mm. By 1910, payments for remission of serfdom had ended, and mining is generally not what people move on to when they have a reasonable choice. For that matter, they may only be mining as a supplement to their farmwork, as many pre-modern populations did.
At the time, France was ruled by Emperor Napoleon III who was the nephew of Napoleon I who had fought an early battle nearby: The Battle of the Pyramids. Of course Napoleon III was deposed during the Franco-Prussian War, 6 years after this photo was taken.
There some reason they were getting ready to instantly fall off if the horse spooked instead of just shooting while sat in the saddle like every other mounted firearms unit has done since firearms cavalry became a thing?
I’m theory: Height advantage. Stand up to engage over high cover. In reality, horseback gun fights were extremely uncommon, especially in the European theatre. Japan and China had some. Cavalry was more commonly used as mounted infantry or in support rules such as couriers, military police or escorts for motorized/mechanized combat assets. WW2 was an intense transitional period for equestrian warfare, maybe even more so then WW1 was shortly before.
Still, traditional exercises such as shown in the picture serve a purpose. Getting both horse and rider familiar and disciplined with a variety of unfamiliar situations, so they can hopefully react well to unexpected intense encounters.
The youtube channel Voices of the Past has a lot of readings of firsthand written accounts of first contacts, unusual voyages, etc for anyone interested in this kind of thing. It’s really fascinating to hear in their own words what they thought of these places, people, and of themselves.
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