This article is about the variant of the rank junior lieutenant used in some Slavophone countries. For the use in other Slavophone countries, see Junior lieutenant.
The rank was introduced first by Peter the Great in 1703[1] as an officer rank of the so-called ober-officer rank group. It belonged to rank class XIII (infantry), class XII (artillery, and engineer troops), and class X (guards) until 1884. In line with the military reforms in 1884, podpraporshik became in peace time. However, in the guards and the cossacks armed forces Cornet and Chorąży remained the lowest officer rank.[citation needed]
The equivalent to podpraporshik was Michman in the Imperial Russian Navy, and governmental secretary (Russian: губернский секретарь, romanized: gubernsky sekretar) in the civil administration.[citation needed]
Poland
In Poland, the rank of Podporucznik (lit.'sub-lieutenant'; abbreviated "ppor.") is the lowest officer rank used within the Polish Army.[2] It is roughly equivalent to the military rank of the Second lieutenant in the armed forces of English-speaking countries.