What was even more nauseating was that the officers belonged to different factions. Even on the battlefield, they never forgot to scheme against one another. By comparison, victory or defeat in the war seemed far less important.
Had Franz not carried out his reforms, the Austrian Empire would not have been much better off. Russia's situation was simply more extreme. After all, to a monarch, the army's loyalty would always come first.
Especially after Nicholas I had lived through the Decembrists' rebellion, he had remained constantly wary of officers with overly radical ideas.
What kind of people were truly loyal and reliable?
Naturally, it was the children of nobles whose interests were deeply bound to those of the royal family. These people benefited from the existing system, so they were naturally more inclined to preserve the status quo than to change it.
Moreover, as time passed, many institutions had already rotted and ossified. For example, noble military service had initially been more of an obligation, yet it had gradually evolved into a privilege.
Senior officers in particular had been completely monopolized by the great nobility. For instance, a direct descendant of a great noble, even without having attended military academy, would start out as a field-grade officer upon joining the army.
Meanwhile, for a commoner of this era to become a field-grade officer, they needed not only to survive near-death trials, but also to fight through countless obstacles at military academy and smooth over relationships with everyone above and below them.
Of course, the major premise behind all this was that one had to earn sufficient merit for promotion at every stage. Otherwise, it was all merely a fantasy.
Take General Benedek of the Austrian Empire. He could be considered a legend among officers of common birth.
Yet even after