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The Military of the Soviet Union was the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from their establishment, before the USSR itself was formed, by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918, to the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991. Image File history File links Crystal_128_clock. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (651x685, 746 KB) Summary Version of Image:State Coat of Arms of the USSR (1958-1991 version). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with RVSN. (Discuss) The Strategic Rocket Forces are a major division of the Russian armed forces that controls Russias land-based ICBMs. ... The short forms Red Army and RKKA refer to the Workers and Peasants Red Army, (in Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия - Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya), the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918. ... Voyska PVO (Russian: Войска ПВО, or PVO Strany until 1981) was the air defense branch of the Soviet military. ... The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily), formed the official designation of the airforce of the Soviet Union. ... The Soviet Navy (Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР, Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR, literally Naval military forces of the USSR) was the naval arm of the Soviet armed forces. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Joseph Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov depicted saluting a military parade in Red Square above the message Long Live the Worker-Peasant Red Army— a Dependable Sentinel of the Soviet Borders! The military history of the Soviet Union began in the days following the 1917 October Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks... Soviet redirects here. ... Bolshevik Party Meeting. ... Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000,000 Casualties 939,755... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ...

According to the compulsory service law of September 1918, the Soviet Armed Forces as a whole consisted of the Ground Forces, the Air Forces, naval forces, the OGPU, predecessor of the KGB and MVD, and convoy guards. ^[1] Later the state security apparatus was made independent. After the Second World War the Strategic Rocket Forces and the Air Defence Forces were added, standing first and third in the official Soviet reckoning of comparative importance (with the Ground Forces being second, the Air Forces being fourth, and the Navy fifth). Soviet poster of the 1920s: The GPU strikes on the head the counter-revolutionary saboteur State Political Directorate was the secret police of the RSFSR and USSR until 1934. ... Modern emblem of Russian MVD Russian Gendarme officers in the 1860s The Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del (MVD) (Министерство внутренних дел) was the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the imperial Russia, later USSR, and still bears the same name in the Russian Federation. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with RVSN. (Discuss) The Strategic Rocket Forces are a major division of the Russian armed forces that controls Russias land-based ICBMs. ... Voyska PVO (Russian: Войска ПВО, or PVO Strany until 1981) was the air defense branch of the Soviet military. ...

Origins

"Have you signed up as a volunteer?" Red Army recruiting poster of the Russian Civil War period

The Council of People's Commissars set up the Red Army by decree on January 15, 1918 (Old Style) (January 28, 1918), basing it on the already-existing Red Guard. The official Red Army Day of February 23, 1918 marked the day of the first mass draft of the Red Army in Petrograd and Moscow, and of the first combat action against the occupying imperial German army. February 23 became an important national holiday in the Soviet Union, later celebrated as "Soviet Army Day", and it continues as a day of celebration in present-day Russia as Defenders of the Motherland Day. Credit as the founder of the Red Army generally goes to Leon Trotsky, the People's Commissar for War from 1918 to 1924. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (511x760, 157 KB) Summary Source: [1] Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Red Army ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (511x760, 157 KB) Summary Source: [1] Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Red Army ... Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000,000 Casualties 939,755... Sovnarkom (Russian language СовНарКом, the abbreviation of the phrase Совет Народных Комиссаров, Sovet Narodnykh Komissarov, the Council of Peoples Commissars, sometimes... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... In Britain and countries of the British Empire, Old Style or O.S. after a date means that the date is in the Julian calendar, in use in those countries until 1752; New Style or N.S. means that the date is in the Gregorian calendar, adopted on 14 September... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... In the context of the history of Russia and Soviet Union, Red Guards (Russian: Красная Гвардия) was armed groups of workers formed in the time frame of the Russian Revolution. ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Saint Petersburg  listen (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2005)    - Density 10,415,400   8537. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 23 is celebrated as Defender of the Motherland Day (День защитника Отечества) in Russia and many neighboring countries. ...   (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий) (Latinized: Lev Davidovič Trokij; also transliterated Leo, Lev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7, 1879 [O.S. October 26] – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Лев Давидович Бронштейн), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

At the beginning of its existence, the Red Army functioned as a voluntary formation, without ranks or insignia. Democratic elections selected the officers. However, a decree of May 29, 1918 imposed obligatory military service for men of ages 18 to 40. To service the massive draft, the Bolsheviks formed regional military commissariats (военный комиссариат, военкомат (voenkomat)), which as of 2005 still exist in Russia in this function and under this name. (Note: do not confuse military commissariats with the institution of military political commissars.) May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A political commissar is an officer appointed by a communist party to oversee a unit of the military. ...

After General Aleksei Brusilov offered the Bolsheviks his professional services in 1920, they decided to permit conscription of former officers of the army of Imperial Russia. The Bolshevik authorities set up a special commission under the chair of Lev Glezarov (Лев Маркович Глезаров), and by August 1920 had drafted about 315,000 ex-officers. Most often they held the position of military advisor (voyenspets: "военспец" for "военный специалист", i.e., "military specialist"). A number of prominent Soviet Army commanders had previously served as Imperial Russian generals. In fact, a number of former Imperial military men, notably a member of the Supreme Military Council, Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich, had joined the Bolsheviks earlier. General Brusilov at 64 (1917) Aleksei Alekseevich Brusilov (Russian: Алексей Алексеевич Брусилов) (August 19, 1853 - March 17, 1926) was a Russian cavalry general most noted for the development of a military offensive tactic used in the Brusilov offensive of 1916. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Military advisors, or combat advisors, are soldiers sent to foreign nations to aid that nation with its military training, organization, and other various military tasks. ... Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic or Revvoyensoviet (Революционный Военный Совет, Реввоенсовет) was the supreme military authority... Mikhail Dmitrievich Bonch-Bruevich (Михаил Дмитриевич Бонч-Бруевич 1870—1956) was an Imperial Russian and Soviet military commander, Lieutenant General (1944). ...

The Bolshevik authorities assigned to every unit of the Red Army a political commissar, or politruk, who had the authority to override unit commanders' decisions if they ran counter to the principles of the Communist Party. Although this sometimes resulted in inefficient command, the Party leadership considered political control over the military necessary, as the Army relied more and more on experienced officers from the pre-revolutionary Tsarist period. A political commissar is an officer appointed by a communist party to oversee a unit of the military. ... In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, the sociopolitical ideology based on Marxism. ... Monomakhs Cap symbol of Russian autocracy, the crown of Russian grand princes and tsars Czar and tzar redirect here. ...

Lenin, Trotsky and soldiers of the Red Army in Petrograd

Lenin, Trotsky, and soldiers of the Red Army in St. ... Lenin, Trotsky, and soldiers of the Red Army in St. ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a...   (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий) (Latinized: Lev Davidovič Trokij; also transliterated Leo, Lev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7, 1879 [O.S. October 26] – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Лев Давидович Бронштейн), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... Saint Petersburg  listen (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991...

Personnel

Ranks and Titles

The early Red Army abandoned the institution of a professional officer corps as a "heritage of tsarism" in the course of the Revolution. In particular, the Bolsheviks condemned the use of the word "officer" and used the word "commander" instead. The Red Army abandoned epaulettes and ranks, using purely functional titles such as "Division Commander", "Corps Commander", and similar titles. In 1924 it supplemented this system with "service categories", from K-1 (lowest) to K-14 (highest). The service categories essentially operated as ranks in disguise: they indicated the experience and qualifications of a commander. The insignia now denoted the category, not the position of a commander. However, one still had to use functional titles to address commanders, which could become as awkward as "comrade deputy head-of-staff of corps". If one did not know a commander's position, one used one of the possible positions - for example: "Regiment Commander" for K-9. In military organizations, an officer is a member of the service who holds a position of responsibility. ... An officer is a member of a military service who holds a position of responsibility. ... Insignia of a United States Navy Commander Commander is a military rank used in many navies but not generally in armies or air forces. ... Epaulette pronunciation: ĕp-ǝ-lĕt, a French word meaning little shoulders (epaule, referring to shoulder), originally meant only one type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia or rank by military or other organizations. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... A title is a prefix or suffix added to a persons name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... ...

On September 22, 1935 the Red Army abandoned service categories and introduced personal ranks. These ranks, however, used a unique mix of functional titles and traditional ranks. For example, the ranks included "Lieutenant" and "Comdiv" (Комдив, Division Commander). Further complications ensued from the functional and categorical ranks for political officers (e.g., "Brigade Commissar", "Army Commissar 2nd Rank"), for technical corps (e.g., "Engineer 3rd Rank", "Division Engineer"), for administrative, medical and other non-combatant branches. September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Lieutenant is a military, paramilitary, fire service or police officer rank. ... Comdiv (or Komdiv, Russian: комдив, komdiv, abbreviated командир дивизии Commander of the division) was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s. ...

On May 7, 1940 further modifications to the system took place. The ranks of "General" or "Admiral" replaced the senior functional ranks of Combrig, Comdiv, Comcor, Comandarm; the other senior functional ranks ("Division Commissar", "Division Engineer", etc) remained unaffected. On November 2, 1940, the system underwent further modification with the abolition of functional ranks for NCOs and the introduction of the Podpolkovnik (sub-colonel) rank. May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... A General is an officer of high military rank. ... Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. ... Combrig (or Kombrig, Russian: комбриг, kombrig, abbreviated командир бригады Commander of the brigade) was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s, corresponding roughly to Brigadier or Brigadier General. ... Comdiv (or Komdiv, Russian: комдив, komdiv, abbreviated командир дивизии Commander of the division) was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s. ... Comcor (or Komkor, Russian: комкор, komkor, abbreviated Командир корпуса Commander of the Corpus) was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s. ... Comandarm (also Komandarm, Commandarm, Russian командарм - abbreviated командир армии, Commander of the Army) was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... A non-commissioned officer (sometimes noncommissioned officer), also known as an NCO or noncom, is a non-commissioned member of an armed force who has been given authority by a commissioned officer. ... Podpolkovnik, a Sub-Polkovnik, is equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel. ...

In early 1942 all the functional ranks in technical and administrative corps became regularised ranks (e.g., "Engineer Major", "Engineer Colonel", "Captain Intendant Service", etc.). On October 9, 1942 the authorities abolished the system of military commissars, together with the commissar ranks. The functional ranks remained only in medical, veterinary and legislative corps. 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

In early 1943 a unification of the system saw the abolition of all the remaining functional ranks. The word "officer" became officially endorsed, together with the epaulettes that superseded the previous rank insignia. The ranks and insignia of 1943 did not change much until the last days of the USSR; the contemporary Russian Army uses largely the same system. The old functional ranks of Combat (Battalion or Battery Commander), Combrig (Brigade Commander) and Comdiv (Division Commander) continue in informal use. 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Epaulette pronunciation: ĕp-ǝ-lĕt, a French word meaning little shoulders (epaule, referring to shoulder), originally meant only one type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia or rank by military or other organizations. ... ... In russian, word army means armed forces in general. ... Combat (or Kombat, Russian: комбат, kombat, abbreviated Командир батальона Commander of the battalion) was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s. ... Combrig (or Kombrig, Russian: комбриг, kombrig, abbreviated командир бригады Commander of the brigade) was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s, corresponding roughly to Brigadier or Brigadier General. ... Comdiv (or Komdiv, Russian: комдив, komdiv, abbreviated командир дивизии Commander of the division) was a military rank in the Red Army until the end of the 1930s. ...

General Staff

On September 22, 1935, the authorities renamed the RKKA Staff as the General Staff, which essentially reincarnated the General Staff of the Russian Empire. Many of the former RKKA Staff officers had served as General Staff officers in the Russian Empire and became General Staff officers in the USSR. General Staff officers typically had extensive combat experience and solid academic training. September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ... A General Staff is a group of professional military officers who act in a staff or administrative role under the command of a general officer. ... Official language Russian Official Religion Russian Orthodox Christianity Capital Saint Petersburg (Petrograd 1914-1924) Area Approx. ...

Military Education

During the Civil War the commander cadres received training at the General Staff Academy of the RKKA (Академия Генерального штаба РККА), an alias of the Nicholas General Staff Academy (Николаевская академия Генерального штаба) of the Russian Empire. On August 5, 1921 the Academy became the Military Academy of the RKKA (Военная академия РККА), and in 1925 the Frunze (М.В. Фрунзе) Military Academy of the RKKA. The senior and supreme commanders received training at the Higher Military Academic Courses (Высшие военно-академические курсы), renamed in 1925 as the Advanced Courses for Supreme Command (Курсы усовершенствования высшего начальствующего состава); in 1931, the establishment of an Operations Faculty at the Frunze Military Academy supplemented these courses. April 2, 1936 saw the re-instatement of the General Staff Academy; it would become a principal school for the senior and supreme commanders of the Red Army, as well as a centre for advanced military studies. Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000,000 Casualties 939,755... General Staff Academy may refer to one of the following. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... A military academy is a military educational institution. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (Russian Михаил Васильевич Фрунзе) (1885 – 31 October 1925) was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. ... April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Voroshilov Military Academy of the USSR Army General Staff () was foundeded in 1936 in Moscow by Leonid Govorov. ...

Kursants (cadets) of the Red Army's Artillery School in Chuhuyiv, 1933

One should note that Red Army (and later Soviet Army) educational facilities called "academies" do not correspond to the military academies in Western countries. Those Soviet Academies were the post-graduate schools, mandatory for officers applying for senior ranks (e.g., the rank of Colonel since 1950s). While a basic officer education in the Red Army was provided by the facilities named военная школа or военное училище - which may be generally translated as "School" and compared to Western "academies" like West Point or Sandhurst. Image File history File links RedArmy_kursants1933. ... Image File history File links RedArmy_kursants1933. ... A cadet is a person who is junior in some way. ... Chuhuyiv (Ukrainian: ) is a city in Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine. ... This article is about the armed forces of the Soviet Union. ... There are three types of military academies: High school level institutions (up to age 19), university level institutions, and those only serving to prepare officer cadets for commissioning into the armed services of a state ( such as RMA Sandhurst ). United States usage The term Military School primarily refers to (middle... There were a number of military academies in the Soviet Union of different specialties. ... Degree ceremony at Cambridge. ... Colonel (IPA: or ) is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the world. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ... Officer may refer to: Holders of an office Academia Chief Academic Officer · Sabbatical officer Military Officer (armed forces) Officers Training Corps · Reserve Officers Training Corps Corporate Law enforcement Customs officer · Peace officer · Police officer · Prison officer · Probation officer Politics and government Chief medical officer · Political commissar · Presiding Officer · Returning Officer... Alternate meanings: West Point (disambiguation). ... New College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre. ...

Purges

The late 1930s saw the so-called "Purges of the Red Army cadres", occurring against the historical background of the Great Purge. The Purges had the objective of cleansing the Red Army of the "politically unreliable element", mainly among the higher-ranking officers. This inevitably provided a convenient pretext for settling personal vendettas and eventually resulted in a witch hunt. Some observers believe that the Purges weakened the Red Army considerably, but this remains a hotly debated subject. Many commentators overlook the fact that the Red Army grew significantly in numbers during the peak of the Purges. In 1937, the Red Army numbered around 1.3 million, and it grew to almost three times that number by June 1941. This necessitated quick promotion of junior officers, often despite their lack of experience or training, with obvious grave implications. In another important consideration, by the end of the Purges the pendulum swung back, restoring and promoting many of the purged officers. The Great Purge (Russian: , transliterated Bolshaya chistka) is the name given to campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the late 1930s. ... A witch-hunt was traditionally a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, which could lead to a witchcraft trial involving the accused person. ...

Recently declassified data indicate that in 1937, during the culmination of the Purges, the Red Army had 114,300 officers, of whom 11,034 suffered repression and did not gain rehabilitation until 1940. Yet, in 1938, the Red Army had 179,000 officers (56% more compared to 1937), of whom a further 6,742 suffered repression and did not gain rehabilitation until 1940.

In the highest echelons of the Red Army the Purges removed 3 of 5 marshals, 13 of 15 army generals, 8 of 9 admirals, 50 of 57 army corps generals, 154 out of 186 division generals, 16 of 16 army commissars, and 25 of 28 army corps commissars.

Party Control of the Armed Forces

Weapons and Equipment

The Soviet Union established an indigenous arms industry as part of Stalin's industrialization program in the 1920s and 1930s. // At the fourteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in December 1927, Stalin attacked the left by expelling Trotsky and his supporters from the party and then moving against the right by abandoning Lenins New Economic Policy which had been championed by Nikolai Bukharin and Alexei...

The five round, magazine fed, bolt action Mosin-Nagant rifle remained the primary shoulder firearm of the Red Army through World War II. Over 17 million model 91/30 Mosin-Nagant rifles were manufactured from 1930 to 1945 by various Soviet arsenals. In 1943 design started on the M44. The rifle deisgned to replace the M91/30. Full production began in 1944, and remained in production until 1948, when it was replaced by the SKS semiautomatic rifle.^[2] The Mosin-Nagant (Мосин-Наган) is a military rifle of Russia and later the Soviet Union, in service in various forms from 1891 until the 1960s, when it was finally replaced in its final function as a sniper rifle by the SVD... The SKS is a Russian semi-automatic carbine, designed in 1945 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. ...

The Red Army suffered from a shortage of adequate machine guns and semiautomatic firearms throughout WWII. The semiautomatic Tokarev SVT Model 38 and Model 40, chambered for the same 7.62x54R cartridge used by the Mosin-Nagants. The rifle, though of sound design, was never manufactured in the same numbers as the Mosin-Nagants and did not replace them. Sveriges Television- Swedish Television Ford Special Vehicle Team Supraventricular tachycardia Samozaryadnaya Vintovka Tokareva, a WW2 semi-automatic rifle Categories: Disambiguation ... The 7. ...

Soviet experimentation with small-arms began during the Second World War. In 1945 the Red Army adopted the Siminov SKS, a semi-automatic 7.62x39mm carbine. In 1949 production of the 7.62x39mm Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle began: planners envisaged troops using it in conjunction with the SKS, but it soon replaced the SKS completely. In 1978 the 5.45x39mm AK-74 assault rifle replaced the AK-47: it utilized no less than 51% of the AK-47's parts. Designers put together the new weapon as a counterpart to the American 5.56x45mm cartridge used in the M-16 assault rifle, and the Russian army continues to use it today. The SKS is a Russian semi-automatic carbine, designed in 1945 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. ... Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 g. ... AK74 assault rifle The AK-74 assault rifle is the modernized version of the AK-47 developed in 1974, chambered in a smaller cartridge (5. ... 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Civil War

Main article: Russian Civil War

Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000,000 Casualties 939,755...

Polish-Soviet War

Main article: Polish-Soviet War

The Polish-Soviet War represented the first foreign campaign of the Red Army. The Soviet counter-offensive following the 1920 Polish invasion of Ukraine at first met with success, but Polish forces halted it at the disastrous (for the Soviets) Battle of Warsaw (1920). Combatants Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic Second Polish Republic Commanders Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Joseph Stalin Józef Piłsudski Edward Rydz-Śmigły Strength 950,000 including reserves 5 million 360,000 including reserves 738,000 Casualties Unknown, dead estimated at 100,000 - 150,000 Unknown, dead estimated at... Combatants Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic Second Polish Republic Commanders Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Joseph Stalin Józef Piłsudski Edward Rydz-Śmigły Strength 950,000 including reserves 5 million 360,000 including reserves 738,000 Casualties Unknown, dead estimated at 100,000 - 150,000 Unknown, dead estimated at... Combatants Poland Soviet Russia Commanders Józef Piłsudski, Edward Rydz-Śmigły Aleksandr Yegorov, Semyon Budionny Strength 8 Infantry Divisions, 1 Cavalry Division, 2 understrength Ukrainian divisions 8 Infantry Divisions, 2 Cavalry Divisions, later also 1st Cavalry Army Casualties ? ? The Kiev Offensive (or Kiev Operation) was an attempt by... The Battle of Warsaw (sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, Polish Cud nad Wisłą) was the decisive battle of the Polish-Soviet War, the war that began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga in 1921. ...

Far East

This article appears to contradict another article: Battle of Khalkhin Gol. Please see discussion on the talk page.

Main article: Battle of Khalkhin Gol

In 1934, Mongolia and the USSR, recognising the threat from the mounting Japanese military presence in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, agreed to co-operate in the field of defence. On March 12, 1936, the co-operation increased with the ten-year Mongolian-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, which included a mutual defence protocol. Image File history File links Circle-contradict. ... Broadly speaking, a contradiction is an incompatibility between two or more statements, ideas, or actions. ... Combatants Soviet Union Mongolia Japan Commanders Georgy Zhukov Michitaro Komatsubara Strength 57,000 30,000 Casualties 6,831 killed, 15,952 wounded 8,440 killed, 8,766 wounded The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, sometimes spelled Halhin Gol or Khalkin Gol after the Halha River passing through the battlefield and known... Combatants Soviet Union Mongolia Japan Commanders Georgy Zhukov Michitaro Komatsubara Strength 57,000 30,000 Casualties 6,831 killed, 15,952 wounded 8,440 killed, 8,766 wounded The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, sometimes spelled Halhin Gol or Khalkin Gol after the Halha River passing through the battlefield and known... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Manchuria (Manchu: Manju; Traditional Chinese: 滿洲; Simplified Chinese: 满洲; pinyin: MÇŽnzhōu, Russian: ) is a vast territorial region in northeast Asia. ... Inner Mongolia (Mongolian: ᠥᠪᠦᠷ ᠮᠣᠨᠺᠤᠯᠤᠨ ᠥᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠺᠡᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠬᠤ ᠣᠷᠤᠨ r Mongghul-un bertegen Jasaqu Orun; Chinese: 内蒙古自治区; Hanyu Pinyin: N... March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in leap years). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Red Army flag

In May 1939, a Mongolian cavalry unit clashed with Manchukuoan cavalry in the disputed territory east of the Halha River (also know in Russian as Халхин-Гол, Halhin Gol). There followed a clash with a Japanese detachment, which drove the Mongolians over the river. The Soviet troops quartered there in accordance with the mutual defence protocol intervened and obliterated the detachment. Escalation of the conflict appeared imminent, and both sides spent June amassing forces. On July 1 the Japanese force numbered 38,000 troops. The combined Soviet-Mongol force had 12,500 troops. The Japanese crossed the river, but after a three-day battle their opponents threw them back over the river. The Japanese kept probing the Soviet defences throughout July, without success. Image File history File links Red_Army_flag. ... Image File history File links Red_Army_flag. ... Kircholm, a 1925 painting by Wojciech Kossak. ... Manchukuo (1932 to 1945) (Simplified Chinese: 满洲国; Traditional Chinese: 滿洲國; Pinyin: MÇŽnzhōu Guó Kanji: 満州国) was a former country in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia under the leadership of the Emperor Puyi, the last emperor of Qing Dynasty. ... Halha River (Russian: Халхин-Гол, Khalkhin Gol) is a river flowing down through the valleys in Mongolia and China. ... A detachment is a military unit. ... Conflict is a state of opposition, disagreement or incompatibility between two or more people or groups of people, which is sometimes characterized by physical violence. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ...

On August 20 Georgy Zhukov opened a major offensive with heavy air attack and three hours of artillery bombardment, after which three infantry divisions and five armoured brigades, supported by a fighter regiment and masses of artillery (57 thousand troops in total), stormed the 75,000 Japanese force deeply entrenched in the area. On August 23 the entire Japanese force found itself encircled, and on August 31 largely destroyed. Artillery and air attacks wiped out those Japanese who refused to surrender. Japan requested a cease-fire, and the conflict concluded with an agreement between the USSR, Mongolia and Japan signed on September 15 in Moscow. Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, GCB (Russian: ) (December 1, 1896 [O.S. November 19]–June 18, 1974), was a Soviet military commander who, in the course of World War II, led the Red Army to liberate the Soviet Union from the Nazi occupation, to overrun... Offensive may relate to In sports or combat, the team which is attacking, pitching or moving forwards In language or morals, terms and concepts which are unacceptable to some people, such as swearing and profanity. ... In military science, an attack is the aggressive attempt to conquer enemy territory, installations, personnel, or equipment or to deny the enemy the use of territory, installations, personnel, or equipment, for example by destroying the equipment. ... Historically, artillery (from French artillerie) refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, or other means. ... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to fifteen thousand soldiers. ... Alternative meanings: vehicle armour, Armor (novel) A hoplite wearing a helmet, a breastplate and greaves (and nothing else). ... Brigade is a term from military science which refers to military echelon under a division, above a regiment where that exists as such, nowadays often a group of several battalions (typically two to four), and directly attached supporting units (normally including at least an artillery battery and additional logistic support). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a group of battalions, usually four and commanded by a colonel. ... August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining. ... An armistice is the effective end of a war, when the warring parties agree to stop fighting. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2005)    - Density 10,415,400   8537. ...

In the conflict, the Red Army losses were 9,703 KIA and MIA and 15,952 wounded. The Japanese lost 25 thousand KIA; the grand total was 61 thousand killed, missing, wounded and taken prisoner.

Shortly after the cease-fire, the Japanese negotiated access to the battlefields to collect their dead. Finding thousands upon thousands of dead bodies came as a further shock to the already shaken morale of the Japanese soldiers. The scale of the defeat probably became a major factor in discouraging a Japanese attack on the USSR during World War II, which allowed the Red Army to switch a large number of its Far Eastern troops into the European Theatre in the desperate autumn of 1941. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Far East is a term often used for East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i. ... German Führer Adolf Hitler Preceding events Main article: Events preceding World War II in Europe Main article: Causes of World War II Germany was in debt after World War I, due to the Great Depression and the forced payments to the victors of World War I. Germans wanted a... This article is about the year. ...

World War II

The Scope of the War

As its name implies, World War II involved many countries and military theatres. It subsumed many different conflicts, which some historians may or may not consider part of the same war, depending on the perception and, alas, prejudice of the examiner. However, common usage accepts that World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and ended on August 15, 1945, when Japan surrendered. Consequently, we may regard all major military conflicts within this period as episodes of World War II. This method of analysis has special significance for the European theatre, where any “independent” use of military force within this period had the potential to affect the balance of power and thus directly influence the course of World War II. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Balance of power is a central concept of realist theories of international relations. ...

The Polish Campaign

Main article: Invasion of Poland (1939)

On September 17, 1939 the Red Army marched its troops into the western Belarusian and Ukrainian territories controlled by Poland in the interbellum, using the official pretext of coming to the aid of the Ukrainians and the Belarusians threatened by Germany,^[3] which had attacked Poland on September 1, 1939. The Soviet invasion opened a second front for the Poles and forced them to abandon plans for defense in the Romanian bridgehead area, thus hastening the Polish defeat. The Soviet and German advance halted roughly at the Curzon Line. Combatants Poland Nazi Germany Soviet Union Slovakia Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South) Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front) Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front) Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions 16 brigades 4,300 guns 880 tanks 400 aircraft Total... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... An interbellum is a period between wars. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Romanian Bridgehead (Polish Przedmoście rumuńskie) was an area in South-Eastern Poland, nowadays located in Ukraine. ... The Curzon Line was a demarcation line proposed in 1919 by the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, as a possible armistice line between Poland, to the west, and Soviet Russia to the east, during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–20. ...

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which had included a secret protocol delimiting the “spheres of interest” of each party, set the scene for the remarkably smooth partition of Poland between Germany and the USSR. The defined Soviet sphere of interest matched the territory subsequently captured in the campaign. The territory became part of the Ukrainian and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republics. Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ... State motto: Пралетарыі ўсіх краін, яднайцеся! Belarusian: Workers of the world, unite! Official language None. ... Evolution of the Soviet Republics from 1922 to 1958. ...

Even though water barriers separated most of the spheres of interest, the Soviet and German troops met each other on a number of occasions. The most remarkable event of this kind happened in Brest-Litovsk on 22 September, 1939. The German 19th panzer corps under the command of Heinz Guderian had occupied Brest-Litovsk, which lay within the Soviet sphere of interest. When the Soviet 29th Tank Brigade under the command of S. M. Krivoshein approached Brest-Litovsk, the commanders negotiated that the German troops would withdraw and the Soviet troops enter the city saluting each other.^[4] Just three days earlier, however, the parties had a more damaging encounter near Lviv, when the German 137th Gebirgsjägerregimenter (mountain infantry regiment) attacked a reconnaissance detachment of the Soviet 24th Tank Brigade; after a few casualties on both sides, the parties turned to negotiations, as a result of which the German troops left the area, and the Red Army troops entered L'viv on 22 September. For a city in France, see Brest, France. ... September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ... Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (ca. ... Motto: Semper fidelis Location Map of Ukraine with Lviv. ... September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ...

According to Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century edited by Colonel-General Krivosheev, the Red Army force in Poland numbered 466,516.^[5] The Red Army troops faced little resistance, mainly due to the entanglement of the majority of the Polish forces in fighting Germans along the Western border, but partly due to an official order by the Polish Supreme Command not to engage in combat with the Soviet troops, and also partly because many Polish citizens in the Kresy region - Ukrainians and Belarusians - viewed the advancing troops as liberators, welcoming them with flowers and "bread and salt".^[6] Nonetheless the Red Army sustained losses of 1,475 killed and missing and 2,383 wounded.^[7] The losses of the opposing Polish troops remain unknown; the Red Army reported that it had "disarmed" 452,536 men (Ibid.) but this figure probably included a large number not enrolled as regular Polish Army servicemen. The Polish PWN encyclopaedia gives the number of approximately 240,000 prisoners taken by the Red Army. The Soviet Union did not consider such prisoners as POWs, but as interned persons. This action saved many Polish Jews from the Nazis, though German authorities killed many of them later after the German invasion of the USSR began in June 1941. The name Kresy (Polish for borderlands, or more correctly Kresy Wschodnie, Eastern Borderlands) is used by Poles, mostly in historical context, to refer to the eastern part of Poland before the II World War. ... Bread and salt presented to Stefan Batory during his unsuccessful Siege of Pskov. ... Polish Army (Polish Wojsko Polskie) is the name applied to the military forces of Poland. ... A Norwegian soldier (a Corporal, armed with an MP-5) A soldier is a person who has enlisted with, or has been conscripted into, the armed forces of a sovereign country and has undergone training and received equipment to defend that country or its interests. ... Wielka Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN (Great Universal Encyclopedia) is the largest Polish encyclopedia ever written. ... Combatants Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Joseph Stalin Strength ~ 3. ...

The Finnish Campaigns

See the Winter War (1939 - 1940) and the Continuation War (1941 - 1944). Combatants  Finland  USSR Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov, later Semyon Timoshenko Strength 250,000 men 30 tanks 130 aircraft 1,000,000 men 3,000 tanks 3,800 aircraft[1][2] Casualties 22,830 dead 43,557 wounded 1,000 captured (at least) 126,875 dead or missing... The Continuation War or War of Continuation (Finnish: , Swedish: ) June 25, 1941-September 19, 1944, was the war that was fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II. The United Kingdom declared war on Finland on December 6, 1941, but did not participate actively. ...

The Great Patriotic War, 1941 - 1945

Main article: Great Patriotic War

The Soviet Army, Victory Monument after WWII. Riga

By the autumn of 1940 a new world order had emerged. The Third Reich and its allies dominated most of the European continent. Only the United Kingdom (in the West) and the Soviet Union (in the East) could challenge fascist hegemony. The Third Reich and Britain had no common land border, but a state of war existed between them; the Germans had an extensive land border with the Soviet Union, but the latter remained neutral, bound by a non-aggression pact and by numerous trade agreements. The Eastern Front of World War II was the theatre of war covering the conflict in central and eastern Europe from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1402x1152, 212 KB) Victory Monument of the Soviet Army erected after World War II. Riga, 2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1402x1152, 212 KB) Victory Monument of the Soviet Army erected after World War II. Riga, 2006. ... Map of Latvia Coordinates: Founded 1201 Mayor Aivars Aksenoks Area    - City 307. ... The term new world order has been used to refer to a new period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... This article is about the continent. ... List of Land Borders International borders Country/Region Total Borders Neighbours and Borders Afghanistan 5,529 km China: 76 km Iran: 936 km Pakistan: 2,430 km Tajikistan: 1,206 km Turkmenistan: 744 km Uzbekistan: 137 km Akrotiri N/A N/A Albania 720 km Greece: 282 km The Former... A Declaration of War is a formal declaration issued by a national government indicating that a state of war exists between that nation, and one or more others. ... A non-aggression pact is an international treaty between two or more states, agreeing to avoid war or armed conflict between them even if they find themselves fighting third countries, or even if one is fighting allies of the other. ... A trade pact is a wide ranging tax, tariff and trade pact that usually also includes investment guarantees. ...

For Hitler, no dilemma ever existed in this situation. Drang nach Osten (German for "Drive towards the East") remained the order of the day. This culminated, on December 18, in the issuing of ‘Directive No. 21 – Case Barbarossa’, which opened by saying “the German Armed Forces must be prepared to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign before the end of the war against England”. Even before the issuing of the directive, the German General Staff had developed detailed plans for an anti-Soviet campaign. On February 3, 1941, the final plan of Operation Barbarossa gained approval, and the attack was scheduled for the middle of May, 1941. However, the events in Greece and Yugoslavia necessitated a delay — to the second half of June. Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... Look up Dilemma in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For the Nelly song, see Dilemma (song). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Combatants Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Joseph Stalin Strength ~ 3. ... The armed forces of a state are its government sponsored defense and fighting forces and organizations. ... Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Russian: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital (largest city) Moscow None; Russian de facto Government Federation of Soviet Republics  - Last President Mikhail Gorbachev  - Last Premier Ivan Silayev Establishment October Revolution   - Declared 30... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... A General Staff is a group of professional military officers who act in a staff or administrative role under the command of a general officer. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in all South Slavic languages, Југославија in Serbian and Macedonian Cyrillic) is a term used for the three separate political entities that existed during most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. ...

At the time of the Nazi assault on the USSR in June 1941, the Red Army had 303 divisions and 22 brigades (4.8 million troops), including 166 divisions and 9 brigades (2.9 million troops) stationed in the western military districts. Their Axis opponents deployed on the Eastern Front 181 divisions and 18 brigades (5.5 million troops). The first weeks of the war saw the annihilation of virtually the entire Soviet Air Force on the ground, the loss of major equipment, tanks, artillery, and major Soviet defeats as German forces trapped hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers in vast pockets. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... This article is about the year. ... The Eastern Front of World War II was the theatre of war covering the conflict in central and eastern Europe from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945. ... The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily), formed the official designation of the airforce of the Soviet Union. ...

Soviet forces suffered heavy damage in the field as a result of poor levels of preparedness, which was primarily caused by a reluctant, half-hearted and ultimately belated decision by the Soviet Government and High Command to mobilize the army. Equally important was a general tactical superiority of the German army, which was conducting the kind of warfare that it had been combat-testing and fine-tuning for two years. The hasty pre-war growth and over-promotion of the Red Army cadres as well as the removal of experienced officers caused by the Purges offset the balance even more favourably for the Germans. Finally, the sheer numeric superiority of the Axis cannot be underestimated. The Great Purge (Russian: , transliterated Bolshaya chistka) is the name given to campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the late 1930s. ...

A generation of brilliant Soviet commanders (most notably Zhukov) learned from the defeats, and Soviet victories in the Battle of Moscow, at Stalingrad, Kursk and later in Operation Bagration proved decisive in what became known to the Soviets as the Great Patriotic War. Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, GCB (Russian: ) (December 1, 1896 [O.S. November 19]–June 18, 1974), was a Soviet military commander who, in the course of World War II, led the Red Army to liberate the Soviet Union from the Nazi occupation, to overrun... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Fedor von Bock Georgi Zhukov Strength ~ 1,500,000 ~ 1,500,000 Casualties 250,000 700,000 The Battle of Moscow refers to the defense of the Soviet capital of Moscow and the subsequent counter-offensive against the German army, between October 1941 and January... Combatants Germany Italy Romania Hungary Soviet Union Commanders Friedrich Paulus Erich von Manstein Hermann Hoth Georgiy Zhukov Vasiliy Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilyevskiy Strength German Sixth Army German Fourth Panzer Army Romanian Third Army Romanian Fourth Army Hungarian Second Army Italian Eighth Army 500,000 Germans Unknown number Reinforcements Unknown number Axis... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein, Hans von Kluge, Walther Model Georgiy Zhukov, Konstantin Rokossovskiy, Nikolay Vatutin Strength 800,000 infantry, 2,700 tanks, 2,000 aircraft 1,300,000 infantry, 3,600 tanks, 2,400 aircraft Casualties 500,000 dead, wounded, or captured 500 tanks 200... Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders Ernst Busch Konstantin Rokossovski Georgy Zhukov Aleksandr Vasilevsky Strength 800,000 1,700,000 Casualties (Soviet est. ... The Eastern Front1 was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ...

The Soviet government adopted a number of measures to improve the state and morale of the retreating Red Army in 1941. Soviet propaganda turned away from political notions of class struggle, and instead invoked the deeper-rooted patriotic feelings of the population, embracing pre-revolutionary Russian history. Propagandists proclaimed the War against the German aggressors as the "Great Patriotic War", in allusion to the Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon. References to ancient Russian military heroes such as Alexander Nevski and Mikhail Kutuzov appeared. Repressions against the Russian Orthodox Church stopped, and priests revived the tradition of blessing arms before battle. The Communist Party abolished the institution of political commissars — although it soon restored them. The Red Army re-introduced military ranks and adopted many additional individual distinctions such as medals and orders. The concept of a Guard re-appeared: units which had shown exceptional heroism in combat gained the names of "Guards Regiment", "Guards Army", etc. Class struggle is class conflict looked at from a Marxist, libertarian socialist, or anarchist perspective. ... The Eastern Front1 was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ... The invasion of the Russian Empire led by Napoleon in 1812 was a critical turning point in the Napoleonic wars. ... Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from... For other uses, see Russian) (May 30, 1220?–November 14, 1263) was a Russian statesman and Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir (from 1252). ... Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (September 16, 1745 – April 28, 1813 (n. ... The Russian Orthodox Church (Russian: ), also known as the Orthodox Catholic Church of Russia, is that body of Christians who are united under the Patriarch of Moscow, who in turn is in communion with the other patriarchs and primates of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... A political commissar is an officer appointed by a communist party to oversee a unit of the military. ... Guards (Russian: гвардия) or Guards units (Russian: гвардейские части) were and are elite military units in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and Russian Federation. ...

During the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army drafted a staggering 29,574,900 in addition to the 4,826,907 in service at the beginning of the war. Of these it lost 6,329,600 KIA, 555,400 deaths by disease and 4,559,000 MIA (most captured). Of these 11,444,100, however, 939,700 re-joined the ranks in the subsequently-liberated Soviet territory, and a further 1,836,000 returned from German captivity. Thus the grand total of losses amounted to 8,668,400. The majority of the losses comprised ethnic Russians (5,756,000), followed by ethnic Ukrainians (1,377,400).^[8]

The German losses on the Eastern Front comprised an estimated 3,604,800 KIA/MIA (most killed) and 3,576,300 captured (total 7,181,100); the losses of the German satellites on the Eastern Front approximated 668,163 KIA/MIA and 799,982 captured (total 1,468,145). Of these 8,649,300, the Soviets released 3,572,600 from captivity after the war, thus the grand total of the Axis losses came to an estimated 5,076,700.

A comparison of the losses demonstrates the cruel treatment of the Soviet POWs by the Nazis. Most of the Axis POWs were released from captivity after the war, but the fate of the Soviet POWs differed markedly. Nazi troops who captured Red Army soldiers frequently shot them in the field or shipped them to concentration camps and executed them^{[citation needed]}. Hitler's notorious Commissar Order implicated all the German armed forces in the policy of war crimes. It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... The commissar order was an order given by Adolf Hitler prior to Operation Barbarossa that any captured Soviet political officer be immediately shot. ...

When the Red Army entered German territory it exacted often brutal revenge for German atrocities, including engaging in plunder, rape, and murder of civilians. While the laws of the Red Army officially prohibited such activities, the leadership nonetheless tolerated them. Note however that some historians say they refuted allegations that Soviet officials actively encouraged such behaviour^{[citation needed]}, despite the fact, that evidence exists that Soviet propagandists serving the Red Army, such as Ilja Ehrenburg, actively called on Soviet troops to rape and murder once they had reached ethnic German territory in East Prussia.^[9] At the end of World War II, Red Army soldiers raped more than 200,000 German females who then were murdered, died from injuries or committed suicide. ... Look up Leadership in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (Russian: ), January 27 [O.S. January 15] 1891 (Kiev, Ukraine) – August 31, 1967 (Moscow, Soviet Union) was a Soviet Russian writer and journalist whose 1954 novel gave name to the Khrushchev Thaw. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ...

US-Government poster showing a friendly Russian soldier as portrayed by the Allies during WWII.

In the first part of the war, the Red Army fielded weaponry of mixed quality. It had excellent artillery, but it did not have enough trucks to manoeuvre and supply it; as a result the Wehrmacht (which rated it highly) captured much of it. Red Army T-34 tanks outclassed any other tanks in the world, yet most of the Soviet armoured units were less advanced models; likewise, the same supply problem handicapped even the formations equipped with the most modern tanks. The Soviet Air Force initially performed poorly against the Germans. The quick advance of the Germans into the Soviet territory made re-inforcement difficult, if not impossible, since much of the Soviet Union's military industry lay in the west of the country. Until the Soviet authorities re-established the industry in the East, the Red Army had to rely on improvised weapons and partly on British and American supplies (see Lend-lease for details). Image File history File links Poster_russian. ... Image File history File links Poster_russian. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank first produced in 1940. ... The Lend-Lease program was a program of the United States during World War II that allowed the United States to provide the Allied Powers with war material without becoming directly involved in the war. ...

The Manchurian Campaign

As a postscript to the war in Europe, the Red Army attacked Japan and Manchukuo, Japan's puppet state in Manchuria, on 9 August 1945 (Operation August Storm) and in combination with Mongolian and Chinese Communist forces rapidly overwhelmed the outnumbered Kwantung Army. Soviet forces also attacked in Sakhalin, in the Kuril Islands and in northern Korea. Japan surrendered unconditionally on 2 September 1945. Manchukuo (1932 to 1945) (Simplified Chinese: 满洲国; Traditional Chinese: 滿洲國; Pinyin: MÇŽnzhōu Guó Kanji: 満州国) was a former country in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia under the leadership of the Emperor Puyi, the last emperor of Qing Dynasty. ... A puppet state is a state whose government, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. ... Manchuria (Manchu: Manju; Traditional Chinese: 滿洲; Simplified Chinese: 满洲; pinyin: MÇŽnzhōu, Russian: ) is a vast territorial region in northeast Asia. ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Combatants Soviet Union Japan Commanders Alexandr Vasilevskij Otsuzo Yamada Strength Soviet Union 1,577,225 men, 26,137 artillery, 1,852 sup. ... The Kwantung Army or Guandong Army (関東軍 Japanese: Kantōgun) was a unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that originated from a Guandong garrison established in 1906 to defend the Kwantung Leased Territory and the areas adjacent to the South Manchurian Railway. ... Location of Sakhalin in the Western Pacific Sakhalin, GOST transliteration Sahalin, (Russian: , Korean: Traditional Chinese: 庫頁島; Simplified Chinese: 库页岛; pinyin: kùyèdÇŽo Japanese: 樺太 romaji: karafuto), also Saghalien, is a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45° 50 and 54° 24 N. It is part of the Russian... Location of Kuril Islands in the Western Pacific. ... Korea (Korean: ì¡°ì„  or 한국, see below) is a geographic area, civilization, and former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Cold War

Main article: Cold War

Soviet army conscript hat insignia.

The Soviet Union only had Ground Forces, Air Forces, and the Navy in 1945. ^[10] The two Narkomats, one supervising the Ground Forces and Air Forces, and the other directing the Navy, were combined into the Ministry of the Armed Forces in March 1946. A fourth service, the Troops of National Air Defence, was formed in 1948. The Ministry was briefly divided into two again from 1950 to 1953, but then was amalgamated again as the Ministry of Defence. Six years later the Strategic Rocket Forces were formed. Also falling within the Soviet Armed Forces were the Tyl, or Rear Services, of the Armed Forces, the Troops of Civil Defence, and the Border and Internal Troops, neither of which came under command of the Ministry of Defence. For other uses, please see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Soviet army conscript hat insignia. ... Soviet army conscript hat insignia. ... ... From 1919 to 1946, functions of ministers in the government of Russia and, later, the Soviet Union were performed by Peoples Commissars (Russian title: Narodny Komissar, or Narkom). ... The Soviet Navy (Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР, Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR, literally Naval military forces of the USSR) was the naval arm of the Soviet armed forces. ... Voyska PVO (Russian: Войска ПВО, or PVO Strany until 1981) was the air defense branch of the Soviet military. ... // Peoples Commissariat of Military and Sea Affairs of the USSR Peoples Commissars: Vasily Blyukher 1921 – 1922 Leon Trotsky 28 August 1923 – 26 January 1925 Mikhail Frunze 26 January – 31 October 1925 Kliment Voroshilov 6 November 1925 – 20 June 1934 Peoples Commissariat of Defence of the USSR People... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with RVSN. (Discuss) The Strategic Rocket Forces are a major division of the Russian armed forces that controls Russias land-based ICBMs. ... The Rear Services of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian: ) is a part of the Russian Armed Forces. ...

Men within the Soviet Army dropped from around 13 million to approximately 5 million after the war. In order to control this demobilisation process, the number of military districts was temporarily increased to thirty-three, dropping to twenty-one in 1946. ^[11] The size of the Army throughout the Cold War remained between 3 million and 5 million, according to Western estimates. Soviet law required all able-bodied males of age to serve a minimum of 2 years. As a result, the Soviet Army remained the largest active army in the world from 1945 to 1991. Soviet Army units which had liberated the countries of Eastern Europe from German rule remained in some of them to secure the régimes in what became satellite states of the Soviet Union and to deter and to fend off NATO forces. The greatest Soviet military presence was in East Germany, in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, but there were also smaller forces elsewhere, including the Northern Group of Forces in Poland, the Central Group of Forces in Czechoslovakia, and the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary. In the Soviet Union itself, forces were divided by the 1950s among fifteen military districts, including the Moscow, Leningrad, and Baltic Military Districts. Military districts are territorial entities used for the purposes of military planning and strategizing. ... For other uses, please see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The term satellite state, by analogy to stellar objects orbiting a larger object, such as planets revolving around the sun, refers to a country that is formally sovereign but that is in fact dominated by a larger hegemonic power. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... GDR redirects here. ... Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1949--1988), also known as Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (1945--1949) and Western Group of Forces (1988-1990) were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. ... Military districts are territorial entities used for the purposes of military planning and strategizing. ... The Moscow Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ... The Leningrad Military District is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. ... The Baltic Military District was a military district of the Soviet armed forces, formed briefly before the German invasion, and then reformed after World War II and disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. ...

The trauma of the devastating German invasion of 1941 influenced the Soviet cold-war military doctrine of fighting enemies on their own territory, or in a buffer zone under Soviet hegemony, but in any case preventing any war from reaching Soviet soil. In order to secure Soviet interests in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Army moved in to quell anti-Soviet uprisings in the German Democratic Republic (1953), Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968). As a result of the Sino-Soviet border conflict, a sixteenth military district was created in 1969, the Central Asian Military District, with headquarters at Alma-Ata. ^[12] To improve capabilities for war at a theatre level, in the late 1970s and early 1980s four high commands were established, grouping the military districts, groups of forces, and fleets. ^[13]The Far Eastern High Command was established first, followed by the Western and South-Western High Commands in Europe, and the Southern High Command at Baku, oriented toward the Middle East. Anthem: Auferstanden aus Ruinen   Capital East Berlin, in spite of status as part of an occupied city Government Socialist state  - Last Head of State Sabine Bergmann-Pohl  - Last Head of Government Lothar de Maizière History    - Established October 7, 1949   - Final Settlement September 25, 1990   - Disestablished October 3, 1990  Area... Combatants People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Mao Tse-Tung Leonid Brezhnev Strength 814,000 658,000 Casualties 800 killed, 620 wounded, 1 lost [1] 58 killed, 94 wounded [2] The Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969 was a series of armed clashes between the Soviet Union and... Almaty Former Pioneers palace Russian Orthodox Cathedral Night city. ...

Confrontation with the US and NATO during the Cold War mainly took the form of threatened mutual deterrence with nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union invested heavily in the Army's nuclear capacity, especially in the production of ballistic missiles and of nuclear submarines to deliver them. Open hostilities took the form of wars by proxy, with the Soviet Union and the US supporting loyal client régimes or rebel movements in Third World countries. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ...

Manpower and Enlisted Men

The Soviet Armed Forces were manned through conscription, which had been reduced in 1967 from three to two years. This system was administered through the thousands of military commissariats (военный комиссариат, военкомат (voyenkomat)) located throughout the Soviet Union. Between January and May of every year, every young Soviet male citizen was required to report to the local voyenkomat for assessment for military service, following a summons based on lists from every school and employer in the area. The voyenkomat worked to quotas sent out by a department of the General Staff, listing how young men are required by each service and branch of the Armed Forces.^[14] The new conscripts were then picked up by an officer from their future unit and usually sent by train across the country. On arrival, they would begin the Young Soldiers' course, and become part of the system of senior rule, known as dedovshchina, literally "rule by the grandfathers." There were only a very small number of professional non-commissioned officers (NCOs), as most NCOs were conscripts sent on short courses^[15] to prepare them for section commanders' and platoon sergeants' positions. These conscript NCOs were supplemented by praporshchik warrant officers, positions created in the 1960s to support the increased variety of skills required for modern weapons.^[16] Dedovshchina (Russian: ) is the name given to the informal system of subjugation of new junior recruits for the Russian armed forces, MVD, and border guards to soldiers of the last year of service. ... A non-commissioned officer (sometimes noncommissioned officer), also known as an NCO or noncom, is a non-commissioned member of an armed force who has been given authority by a commissioned officer. ... Praporshchik (Russian: ) was originally a name of a junior officer position in Strelets New Regiments. ...

"You were born under the red banner in the stormy year of 1918", a poster produced in the 1970s for the annual Red Army Day holiday.

You were born under the red banner in the threatening year of 1918, translation of Родилась ты под знаменем алым в восемнад&#1094... You were born under the red banner in the threatening year of 1918, translation of Родилась ты под знаменем алым в восемнад&#1094...

Military Doctrine

The Soviet meaning of military doctrine was much different from U.S. military usage of the term. Soviet Minister of Defence Marshal Grechko defined it in 1975 as 'a system of views on the nature of war and methods of waging it, and on the preparation of the country and army for war, officially adopted in a given state and its armed forces.' Soviet theorists emphasised both the political and 'military-technical' sides of military doctrine, while from the Soviet point of view, Westerners ignored the political side. However the political side of Soviet military doctrine, Western commentators Harriet F Scott and William Scott said, 'best explained Soviet moves in the international arena'.^[17]

The limited contingent in Afghanistan

In 1979, however, the Soviet Army intervened in a civil war raging in Afghanistan. The Soviet Army came to back a Soviet-friendly secular government threatened by Muslim fundamentalist guerillas equipped and financed by the United States. Technically superior, the Soviets did not have enough troops to establish control over the countryside and to secure the border. This resulted from hesitancy in the Politburo, which allowed only a "limited contingent", averaging between 80,000 and 100,000 troops. Consequently, local insurgents could effectively employ hit-and-run tactics, using easy escape-routes and good supply-channels. This made the Soviet situation hopeless from the military point of view (short of using "scorched earth" tactics, which the Soviets did not practise except in World War II in their own territory). The understanding of this made the war highly unpopular within the Army. With the coming of glasnost, Soviet media started to report heavy losses, which made the war very unpopular in the USSR in general, even though actual losses remained modest, averaging 1670 per year. The war also became a sensitive issue internationally, which finally led Gorbachev to withdraw the Soviet forces from Afghanistan. The "Afghan Syndrome" suffered by the Army parallels the American Vietnam Syndrome trauma over their own lost war in Vietnam. This page refers to the year 1979. ... A Soviet soldier on guard in Afghanistan in 1988. ... Politburo is short for Political Bureau. ... A scorched earth policy is a military tactic which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...   (Russian: , Mihail Sergeevič Gorbačëv, IPA: , commonly anglicized as Mikhail Gorbachev; born March 2, 1931) was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... This article is in need of attention. ...

Eventually, the enormous cost of maintaining a 5-million-man peacetime army, as well as of waging a 9-year war in Afghanistan, would prove a major factor contributing to the decay of the Soviet economy and the Soviet Union as a whole.

The end of the Soviet Union

Monument to the Red Army, still standing in Berlin

From around 1985 to 1990, the new leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to reduce the strain the Army placed on economic demands. His government slowly reduced the size of the army. By 1989 Soviet troops had completely left their Warsaw Pact neighbors to fend for themselves. That same year Soviet forces left Afghanistan. By the end of 1990, the entire Eastern Bloc had collapsed in the wake of democratic revolutions. As a result, Soviet citizens quickly began to turn against the Communist government as well. In March 1990, nationalism in Lithuania caused that republic to declare its independence. A series of out-lying republics would also declare their independence that year. Gorbachev reacted in limited fashion, declining to turn the Army against the citizenry, and a crisis developed. By mid-1991, the Soviet union had reached a state of emergency. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (430x629, 64 KB) Beskrivning Sowjetisches Ehrenmal (Berlin-Tiergarten) photo taken by Mangan2002 in 2004 Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Red Army ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (430x629, 64 KB) Beskrivning Sowjetisches Ehrenmal (Berlin-Tiergarten) photo taken by Mangan2002 in 2004 Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Red Army ... Berlin is the capital city and a state of Germany. ...   (Russian: , Mihail Sergeevič Gorbačëv, IPA: , commonly anglicized as Mikhail Gorbachev; born March 2, 1931) was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... Unofficial Seal of the Warsaw Pact Distinguish from the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement among airlines about financial liability. ...

According to the official commission (the Academy of Soviet Scientists) appointed by the Supreme Soviet (the higher chamber of the Russian parliament) immediately after the events of August 1991, the Army did not play a significant role in what some describe as coup d'état of old-guard communists. Commanders sent tanks into the streets of Moscow, but (according to all the commanders and soldiers) only with orders to ensure the safety of the people. It remains unclear why exactly the military forces entered the city, but they clearly did not have the goal of overthrowing Gorbachev (absent on the Black Sea coast at the time) or the government. The coup failed primarily because the participants didn't take any decisive action, and after several days of their inaction the coup simply stopped. Only one confrontation took place between civilians and the tank crews during the coup, which led to the deaths of three civilians. Although the victims became proclaimed heroes, the authorities acquitted the tank crew of all charges. Nobody issued orders to shoot at anyone. Soviet redirects here. ... During the Soviet Coup of 1991, also known as the August Putsch, Vodka Putsch or August Coup, a group of hardliners within the Soviet Communist party briefly deposed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and attempted to take control of the country. ... A coup détat (pronounced ), or simply coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government through unconstitutional means by a part of the state establishment — mostly replacing just the high-level figures. ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2005)    - Density 10,415,400   8537. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ; Pronunciation: mih-kha-ILL ser-GHE-ye-vich gor-bah-CHOFF) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ...

Following the coup attempt of August 1991, the leadership of the Soviet Union retained practically no authority over the component republics. Nearly every Soviet Republic declared its intention to secede and began passing laws defying the Supreme Soviet. On December 8, 1991, the Presidents of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine declared the Soviet Union dissolved and signed the document setting up the Commonwealth of Independent States. Gorbachev finally resigned on December 25, 1991, and the following day the Supreme Soviet, the highest governmental body, dissolved itself, officially ending the Soviet Union's existence. For the next year and a half various attempts to keep its unity and transform it into the military of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) failed. Steadily, the units stationed in Ukraine and some other breakaway republics swore loyalty to their new national governments, while a series of treaties between the newly independent states divided up the military's assets. After the following collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Army dissolved and the USSR's successor states divided its assets among themselves. The divide mostly occurred along a regional basis, with Soviet soldiers from Russia becoming part of the new Russian Army, while Soviet soldiers originating from Kazakhstan became part of the new Kazakh Army. As a result, the bulk of the Soviet Army, including most of the nuclear missile forces, became incorporated in the Russian Ground Forces. December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Headquarters Minsk, Belarus Member states 11 member states 1 associate member Working language Russian Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushailo Formation December 21, 1991 Official website http://cis. ... December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining for the year. ... Headquarters Minsk, Belarus Member states 11 member states 1 associate member Working language Russian Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushailo Formation December 21, 1991 Official website http://cis. ... The rise of Gorbachev Although reform stalled between 1964–1982, the generational shift gave new momentum for reform. ... The succession of states theory asserts that all possessions and territory held by a state are automatically transferred to the successor state, the state which succeeds it. ... Military branches: Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Naval Force, Border Services, Republican Guard Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 4,545,168 (2002 est. ... A nuclear missile is a type of: missile nuclear weapon It could also refer to a missile with some form of nuclear propulsion, such as the Project Pluto cruise missile. ... The Russian Ground Forces (Russian: Сухопутные силы России) are the land forces of Russia, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. ...

In mid-March 1992, Yeltsin appointed himself as the new Russian minister of defence, marking a crucial step in the creation of the new Russian armed forces, comprising the bulk of what was still left of the military. The last vestiges of the old Soviet command structure were finally dissolved in June 1993. // History Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Russians have discussed rebuilding a viable, cohesive fighting force out of the remaining parts of the former Soviet armed forces. ...

In the next few years, the former Soviet forces withdrew from central and Eastern Europe (including the Baltic states), as well as from the newly independent post-Soviet republics of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia(partially), Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. Now-Russian forces remained in Tajikistan, and at isolated outposts including the Garbala space tracking station in Azerbaijan, the Baikonur Cosmodrome and other space facilities in Kazakstan, and a naval test centre at Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. While in many places the withdrawal took place without any problems, the Russian army remained in some disputed areas such as the Sevastopol naval base in the Crimea as well as in Abkhazia, Georgia, where the Russian military presence was deeply resented, and Transnistria. Baltic states and the Baltic Sea The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a term which nowadays refers to three countries in Northern Europe: Estonia Latvia Lithuania Prior to World War II, Finland was sometimes considered, particularly by the Soviet Union, a fourth Baltic state. ... The Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakh: Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, Bayqoñır ÄŸarış aylağı; Russian: Космодром Байконур, Kosmodrom Baykonur), also called Tyuratam, is the worlds oldest and largest working space launch facility. ... Issyk Kul from space, September 1992 Issyk Kul at sundown (2002) Issyk Kul beach (2002) Issyk Kul (also Ysyk Köl, Issyk-kol) (located at 42°30′N 77°30′E) is an endorheic lake in the northern Tian Shan mountains in northwestern Kyrgyzstan. ... now. ... Motto: Процветание в единстве - Prosperity in unity Anthem: Нивы и горы твои волшебны, Родина - Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Capital Simferopol Largest cities Simferopol, Eupatoria, Kerch, Theodosia, Yalta Official language Ukrainian. ... This page needs revision Abkhazia, Apsny, is an independent republic. ... Motto: For the right to live on this land Anthem: Anthem of Transnistria Capital Tiraspol Largest city Tiraspol Official languages Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian Government President Parliamentary Republic Igor Smirnov Recognition Independence Recognition From Moldova none September 2, 1990 none Area  â€¢ Water (%) 4,163 km²  1,607 sq mi 2. ...

Further reading

• The Warsaw Pact: Arms, Doctrine and Strategy, Lewis, William J.; Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis; 1982. ISBN 0-07-031746-1. This book presents an overview of all the Warsaw Pact armed forces as well as a section on Soviet strategy, a model land campaign which the Soviet Union could have conducted against NATO, a section on vehicles, weapons and aircraft, and a full-color section on the uniforms, nations badges and rank-insignia of all the nations of the Warsaw Pact.

NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Category:Red Army

• Russian military ranks
• Comparative military ranks of World War II
• Great Patriotic War
• Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
• Leon Trotsky
• List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS
• Marshal of the Soviet Union
• Military history of the Soviet Union
• Military of Russia
• Russian Civil War
• Soviet Navy
• Warsaw Pact
• Mikhail Tukhachevsky
• List of equipment of the Russian Ground Forces

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wikimedia Commons logo by Reid Beels The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Modern Russian military ranks trace their roots to Table of Ranks established by Peter the Great. ... The following table shows comparative officer ranks of major Allied and Axis powers during World War II. For modern ranks refer to Comparative military ranks. ... The Eastern Front1 was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ... Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1949--1988), also known as Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (1945--1949) and Western Group of Forces (1988-1990) were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. ...   (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий) (Latinized: Lev Davidovič Trokij; also transliterated Leo, Lev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7, 1879 [O.S. October 26] – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Лев Давидович Бронштейн), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker Attack Ilyushin Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik Ilyushin Il-10 Sukhoi Sukhoi Su-2 Sukhoi Su-7 Sukhoi Su-24 Sukhoi Su-25 Yakovlev Yakovlev Yak-38 Bomber Ilyushin Ilyushin DB-3 Ilyushin Il-4 Ilyushin Il-28 Myasishchev Myasishchev M-4 Myasishchev M-50/M-52... The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union (Russian: Marshal Sovietskogo Soyuza [Маршал Советского Союза]) was in practice the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. ... Joseph Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov depicted saluting a military parade in Red Square above the message Long Live the Worker-Peasant Red Army— a Dependable Sentinel of the Soviet Borders! The military history of the Soviet Union began in the days following the 1917 October Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks... // History Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Russians have discussed rebuilding a viable, cohesive fighting force out of the remaining parts of the former Soviet armed forces. ... Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000,000 Casualties 939,755... The Soviet Navy (Russian: Военно-морской флот СССР, Voyenno-morskoy flot SSSR, literally Naval military forces of the USSR) was the naval arm of the Soviet armed forces. ... Unofficial Seal of the Warsaw Pact Distinguish from the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement among airlines about financial liability. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky (Russian: Михаил Николаевич Тухачевский, Polish: MichaÅ‚ Tuchaczewski) (February 16, 1893 [O.S. February 4] – June 12, 1937), Soviet military commander, was one of the most prominent victims of Stalins Great Purge of the late 1930s. ... This is a list of equipment of the Russian Ground Forces currently in service today. ...

References

1. ^ Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, Westview Press, 1979, p.13
2. ^ Terence W. Lapin, The Mosin-Nagnat Rifle (3rd Ed., North Cape 2003)
3. ^ Telegram from the German Ambassador in the Soviet Union, (Schulenburg) to the German Foreign Office, 10 September 1939, at Yale Law School's Avalon Project: Nazi-Soviet Relations 1939-1941.
4. ^ Кривошеин С.М. Междубурье. Воспоминания. Воронеж, 1964. (Krivoshein S. M. Between the Storms. Memoirs. Voronezh, 1964. in Russian); Guderian H. Erinnerungen eines Soldaten Heidelberg, 1951 (in German — Memoirs of a Soldier in English)
5. ^ Krivosheev, Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century, ISBN 1-85367-280-7.
6. ^ Piotrowski, Tadeusz (1988). “Ukrainian Collaborators”, Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947. McFarland, 177-259. ISBN 0-784-0371-3. “How are we ... to explain the phenomenom of Ukrainians rejoicing and collaborating with the Soviets? Who were these Ukrainians? That they were Ukrainians is certain, but were they communists, Nationalists, unattached peasents? The answer is "yes" - they were all three.”
7. ^ Ibid.
8. ^ See Г. Ф. Кривошеев, Россия и СССР в войнах XX века: потери вооруженных сил. Статистическое исследование (G. F. Krivosheev, Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study, in Russian)
9. ^ Soviet Authors: Ilja Ehrenburg Biography.
10. ^ Scott and Scott, 1979, p.131
11. ^ Scott and Scott, The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, Westview Press, Boulder, CO., 1979, p.176
12. ^ Scott and Scott, 1979, p.176
13. ^ William E Odom, The Collapse of the Soviet Military, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1998, p.29
14. ^ Carey Schofield, Inside the Soviet Army, Headline, London, 1991, p.67-70
15. ^ Viktor Suvorov, Inside the Soviet Army, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1982, gives the figure of six months with a training division
16. ^ William E Odom, The Collapse of the Soviet Military, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1998, p.43
17. ^ Scott and Scott, 1979, p.37,59

• Sovietarmy.com
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