The tsarist government brought the country to complete ruin. The situation became even more complicated with the seizure of a number of the most important economic regions by interventionists and White Guard rebel troops. Zhukov, G.K. Memories and reflections. /T.1: In 3 volumes. - M.: News Press Agency, 1988. - P. 63.
The civil war began in November 1917. After several days of armed clashes, which resulted in hundreds of casualties, power in Moscow passed to the Bolsheviks. In the provinces, according to D. Kip’s classification, the Bolsheviks seized power in three ways. In cities and regions with old working-class traditions, where the working class was relatively homogeneous (Ivanovo, Kostroma, the mines of the Urals), the Soviets and factory committees, even before October, consisted mainly of Bolsheviks. In these cities, the revolution was expressed simply in the peaceful legitimation of this majority in new revolutionary institutions, for example, in the committees of people's power. In large industrial and shopping centers. Socially less homogeneous and filled with refugees, the Soviets were dominated by Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. In October, a Bolshevik, second government was created there, most often on the basis of a garrison or factory committee. After a short struggle, this government gained the upper hand, which did not exclude the future temporary participation of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries in local government. The seizure of power by the Bolsheviks was accompanied by armed, bloody clashes.
Nevertheless, a month after the October Revolution, the new government controlled most of the north and center of Russia up to the middle Volga. As well as a significant number of settlements up to the Caucasus and Central Asia. The influence of the Mensheviks remained in Georgia. In many small cities of the country, the Socialist Revolutionaries dominated the Soviets.
June 24, 1918 The Central Committee of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, who sharply opposed the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and increasingly criticized Lenin’s agrarian policy, decided “in the interests of the Russian and international revolution ... to organize a series of terrorist attacks against the most prominent representatives of German imperialism” N. Werth. History of the Soviet State. 1900-1991: studies. allowance / N. Vert; - 2nd ed., corrected - M.: INFRA-M: Ves Mir, 2002. - P. 125.. The Left Socialist Revolutionaries are incorrigible utopians, faithful followers of the political views of Lavrov and Bakunin and the terrorist traditions of populism, prepared an assassination attempt on the German Ambassador in Moscow von Mirbach. He was killed on July 6 by the left Socialist Revolutionary, an employee of the Cheka, Blumkin. After this, the Socialist Revolutionaries unsuccessfully attempted to carry out a coup d'etat by arresting the Bolshevik leaders of the Cheka, Dzerzhinsky and Latsis. Only one detachment managed to capture the Central Telegraph and send several telegrams to the provinces suspending all orders signed by Lenin. A few hours later the uprising was suppressed. The Bolsheviks gave an order for the urgent arrest of all Socialist Revolutionary leaders and Left Socialist Revolutionary deputies of the Congress of Soviets. The Bolsheviks took advantage of the uprising and decided to get rid of the Socialist Revolutionaries politically. A few months later the Socialist Revolutionaries were removed from all local bodies.
The forces opposing the Bolsheviks were very homogeneous. They fought both with the Bolsheviks and among themselves. Summer 1918 opposition groups seemed to have united and became a real threat to the Bolshevik government, under whose control only the territory around Moscow remained. Foreign intervention was soon added to the internal opposition.
The Entente countries were hostile to the Bolshevik regime. They were sure that the “coup” of October 25 was carried out with the assistance of Germany. However, not seeing an alternative government in the country and the fact that the Bolsheviks were resisting the fulfillment of the German demands put forward in Brest-Litovsk, they were forced to maintain neutrality in relation to the new regime for some time. At first, the intervention pursued mainly anti-Hitler goals. To prevent a massive German offensive in the west, it was necessary to preserve the Eastern Front at any cost. At the end of the summer of 1918. the nature of the intervention has changed. The troops received instructions to support the anti-Bolshevik movement. In August 1918 mixed units of the British and Canadians occupied Baku, where, with the help of local moderate socialists, they overthrew the Bolsheviks, and then retreated under the pressure of Turkey. The Americans who arrived in the Far East were more likely to limit Japanese ambitions than to fight the Bolsheviks. They took minimal part in the anti-Bolshevik crusade, which in the summer of 1918. posed a mortal threat to Soviet power. “The first stage (of international intervention in the affairs of the Soviet country. - G.Zh.), naturally more accessible and easier for the Entente,” wrote V.I. Lenin, “was its attempt to deal with Soviet Russia with the help of its own troops” Lenin IN AND. Full composition of writings. T.39: June - December 1919: In 55t. - 5th ed. - M.: Politizdat, 1974 .- P.389..
What problems did the new government face in relation to the army? The country's armed forces consisted of detachments of the Red Guard, workers' militia, and the old army, part of which supported Soviet power.
Firstly, based on the concept of eliminating the standing army and replacing it with universal armament initially of the entire people, and then this position was clarified by the universal armament of the working people and the reluctance of soldiers to continue the war, the Soviet state carried out a gradual demobilization of the old army.
Secondly, there was a process of democratization of the old army. II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies October 26, 1917 proposed that all armies create temporary revolutionary committees, which were entrusted with responsibility “for the preservation of the revolutionary order and the firmness of the front,” the commanders-in-chief were obliged to obey the orders of the committees History of State and Law of Russia: a textbook for universities / resp. ed. Yu. P. Titov.- M.: Bylina, 1996.- P.308.. The commissioners of the provisional government were eliminated and commissars of the Second All-Russian Congress were appointed, who went to the army. In the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the elective principle and on the organization of power in the army" dated December 16, 1917. it was noted that the army was subordinate to the Council of People's Commissars. All power within each military unit or formation belonged to soldiers' committees and Soviets. The principle of election of command personnel was introduced. Moreover, commanders up to and including the regimental commander were elected by voting of their sections, platoons, companies, squadrons, batteries, divisions and regiments. Commanders above the regimental level up to and including the Supreme Commander-in-Chief were elected by the corresponding congresses or meetings of the relevant committees. By another decree of the Council of People's Commissars, “On the equal rights of all military personnel,” adopted on the same day as the previous one, all ranks and ranks, insignia and associated privileges in the army were abolished, and officer organizations were dissolved.
Thirdly, the difficult internal and external situation forced us to move to the creation of a permanent, regular new army.
One of the reasons for the fall of the Provisional Government was the reluctance of the soldiers to continue the war. In view of the obvious danger that an unorganized stream of armed deserters would pour from the front into the interior of the country, the Soviet state immediately began to demobilize the old army. At the same time, the process of creating a new permanent and regular army was begun (the possibility of reorganizing the old army without its demobilization was also discussed, but it was recognized as unrealistic) Syrykh V. M. Theory of State and Law: textbook / V. M. Syrykh; under general ed. S. A. Chibiryaeva.- M.: Bylina, 1998.- P.348.
red army navy revolution
1. The initial stage of the creation of the Red Army and Navy
Given the complexity of the situation, the Bolsheviks quickly formed an army, created a special method of managing the economy, calling it “war communism,” and established a political dictatorship.
The problem of armed defense of power required an immediate solution; the Bolsheviks were faced with a choice: either to use the structures of the old army, which had already begun to demobilize, or to introduce compulsory service for workers, thus expanding the Red Guard and depriving factories of manpower, or to create armed units of a new type from soldiers- volunteers and selected commanders.
January 15, 1918 The Council of People's Commissars adopts the decree "On the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army." The Red Army was created on the following basis:
Firstly, it was created on the class principle “from the most conscious and organized elements of the working classes.”
Secondly, the new army was recruited on the principle of voluntariness. To join the Red Army, recommendations were required from military committees or public democratic organizations that stood on the platform of Soviet power, party and professional organizations, or at least two members of these organizations. When joining in whole parts, mutual responsibility of everyone and a roll-call vote were required. The principle of voluntary construction of a new army during this period was caused, firstly, by the fact that the population had not yet realized the need to protect Soviet power, the people were tired of the war, the soldiers were rushing home; secondly, the old apparatus of military control was liquidated, and a new one had not yet been created and there was no one to mobilize into the army History of State and Law of Russia: a textbook for universities / resp. ed. Yu. P. Titov.- M.: Bylina, 1996.- P. 308-309..
Until the fall, the battles were fought by units of hastily recruited volunteers and Red Guards, weakly armed and each fighting their own enemies: the Red Guard - with the “internal partisans”, and the volunteers - with the White Czechs and the White Army, treating with complete contempt for traditional military science. The growth of opposition and the beginning of foreign intervention revealed the inadequacy of these forces, and the government returned to old practice: June 9, 1918. it announced compulsory military service. The size of the army increased from 360 thousand people in July 1918. up to 800 thousand in November of the same year, and then up to 1.5 million in May 1919. and up to 5.5 million at the end of 1920 Vert N. History of the Soviet State. 1900-1991: studies. allowance / N. Vert; - 2nd ed., revised - M.: INFRA-M: Ves Mir, 2002.- P. 133..
The supreme governing body of the workers' and peasants' army was the Council of People's Commissars, and the direct leadership and management of the army was concentrated in the Commissariat for Military Affairs and the All-Russian Collegium created under it. January 29, 1918 The Council of People's Commissars adopted a decree on the creation of a workers' and peasants' Red Fleet on the same basis as the Red Army. Specific management of the creation of the new army was entrusted to the All-Russian Collegium for the Formation of the Red Army, created by the Council of People's Commissars. The institute of military commissars was introduced in the army. History of State and Law of Russia: a textbook for universities / resp. ed. Yu. P. Titov.- M.: Bylina, 1996.- P. 309..
In the spring of 1918 The situation in the country worsened and foreign military intervention began. Under these conditions, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of April 22, 1918. universal conscription was introduced, i.e. The army was no longer recruited on the principle of voluntariness. Citizens aged 18 to 40 who had completed compulsory military training were registered. A step was taken towards the transition from the election of commanders to their appointment. The military commissariats created locally recruited the army on a new basis. In the Constitution of the RSFSR, adopted on July 10, 1918. Article 19 established the duty of all citizens to defend the socialist fatherland and established universal military service. However, the Constitution granted the honorable right to defend the revolution with arms only to the working people, entrusting non-working elements with other military duties. In the resolution of the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets “On the organization of the Red Army” dated July 10, 1918. in particular, it was noted that in order to create a centralized, well-trained and equipped army, it was necessary to use the experience and knowledge of numerous military specialists from among the officers of the former army. They had to be registered and “obliged to take up those positions that the Soviet government indicates to them.” It must be said that back in March 1018. The Council of People's Commissars legalized the involvement of military specialists in the Red Army. In the first months, over 8 thousand former officers and generals voluntarily joined the Red Army. History of State and Law of Russia: a textbook for universities / resp. ed. Yu. P. Titov.- M.: Bylina, 1996.- P.310..
By decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of September 2, 1918. The revolutionary Military Council of the Republic was created - the Revolutionary Military Council as the highest military body. In a manner typical of the laws of those years, the powers of the Revolutionary Military Council, its relationship with the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, and other executive bodies of the state were not fully disclosed. It contained only general provisions that “all the forces and means of the people are placed at the disposal of the Revolutionary Military Council for the needs of the defense of the borders of the Soviet Republic,” and all Soviet institutions undertake to fulfill its requirements. It is clear that such formulations allowed the Revolutionary Military Council to use emergency measures and invade the sphere of activity of other state bodies without violating existing laws.
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of December 5, 1918. The position of Commander-in-Chief of all the country's armed forces was established. The Commander-in-Chief was appointed by the Council of People's Commissars and had full power in matters of command and control of troops. At the same time, a maritime department was established under the Revolutionary Military Council to direct the actions of sea fleets, lake and river flotillas. The commander of the naval forces of the republic was subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces of the republic.
To lead the fronts and armies, corresponding revolutionary military councils were created. They included: a front (army) commander, a military specialist and two political commissars, one of whom was appointed Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic.
The highest military power in the provinces, districts, volosts and cities was held by the military commissariats, as bodies ensuring the general mobilization of the population and conscription into the ranks of the Red Army.
From the very first days of the February coup of 1917, the sailors showed the greatest devotion to the new government and very actively supported the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and Bolsheviks. It is on the conscience of the revolutionary “brothers” - the Baltic sailors - that massacres of naval officers in the first days of the so-called “bloodless revolution” lie. The sailors took part in the October events in Petrograd and the first battles with the Whites in almost all regions of Russia.
After the Bolsheviks came to power, they were faced with the need to create their own fleet, loyal to their power. The sailors - “the beauty and pride of the revolution” - for the most part entered service in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF), which was part of the Armed Forces of the RSFSR and consisted of fleets, sea and river military flotillas.
On February 11, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a Decree on the organization of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet. The very next day, a document signed by the People's Commissar for Maritime Affairs P.E. was sent to all fleets and flotillas. Dybenko, an order in which a decree was announced: “the fleet, existing on the basis of universal conscription under tsarist laws, is declared disbanded and the Socialist Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Fleet is organized...”. The order stated that the new fleet was recruited on the principles of voluntariness. By decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR dated February 22, 1918, the People's Commissariat for Maritime Affairs was established, and the Supreme Maritime Collegium was renamed the Collegium of the People's Commissariat for Maritime Affairs.
In the short period from December 16, 1917 to February 11, 1918, the scale of naval ranks did not exist at all. Most often, naval servicemen were named either by their positions and (or) by previous ranks with the addition of the abbreviation “6.” in front.
In the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of February 11, 1918 on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet, the military personnel of the fleet were called "Red Military Sailors." This name was instantly changed to “krasvoenmor” Internet source - www.armor.kiev.ua/army/ (Anatomy of the Army. Authors: Yu. Veremeev, I. Kramnik).
Creation of the Red Army
The main part of the armed forces of the RSFSR during the Civil War, the official name of the ground forces of the RSFSR is the USSR in 1918-1946. Arose from the Red Guard. The formation of the Red Army was announced in the “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People,” approved on January 3, 1918 by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. 01/15/1918 V.I. Lenin signed a decree on the creation of the Red Army. The formations of the Red Army received a baptism of fire when repelling the German offensive on Petrograd in February - March 1918. After the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty in Soviet Russia, full-scale work began on the creation of the Red Army under the leadership of the Supreme Military Council created on March 4, 1918 (the Air Force headquarters was partly created on the basis of the former Headquarters Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and later, on the basis of the council headquarters, the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) arose). An important step to strengthen the Red Army and to attract former officers to it was the order of the Supreme Military Council of March 21, 1918, which abolished the elective principle. To move from the volunteer principle of army recruitment to universal conscription, a military-administrative apparatus was needed, which was created in Soviet Russia in the spring of 1918. An important advantage of the Bolsheviks over their opponents was the ability to rely on the ready-made management apparatus of the old army.
On March 22-23, 1918, at a meeting of the Supreme Military Council, it was decided that the division would become the main unit of the Red Army. On the twentieth of April 1918, the states of units and formations were published. In those same days, work was completed on a plan for the formation and deployment of a million-strong army.
Creation of military bodies and military districts
In April 1918, under the leadership of the Air Force, the formation of local military administration bodies began, incl. military districts (Belomorsky, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Oryol, Priuralsky, Volga and North Caucasus), as well as district, provincial, district and volost commissariats for military affairs. When forming the military-district system, the Bolsheviks used the front and army headquarters of the old army; the former corps headquarters played a role in the formation of the headquarters of the veil troops. The former military districts were abolished. New districts were formed by uniting provinces based on population composition. During 1918-1922. 27 military districts were formed or restored (after capture by the Whites or liquidation). The districts played a vital role in the formation of the Red Army. The rear districts were subordinate to the General Staff, the front-line districts were subordinate to the Field Headquarters of the RVSR, the RVS of the fronts and armies. A network of provincial, district and volost military commissariats was created locally. By the end of the Civil War, there were 88 provincial and 617 district military registration and enlistment offices. The number of volost military registration and enlistment offices was measured in the thousands.
At the beginning of July 1918, the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets decided that every citizen between the ages of 18 and 40 must defend Soviet Russia. The army began to be recruited not voluntarily, but by conscription, which marked the beginning of the formation of a massive Red Army.
Organization of the political apparatus of the Red Army
The political apparatus of the Red Army was formed. By March 1918, to organize party control and restore order in the troops, the institution of commissars was formed (two in all units, headquarters and institutions). The body that controlled their work was the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars, headed by K.K. Yurenev, originally created by the Air Force. By the end of 1920, the party-Komsomol layer in the Red Army was about 7%, the communists made up 20% of the command staff of the Red Army. By October 1, 1919, according to some sources, there were up to 180,000 party members in the army, and by August 1920 - over 278,000. During the Civil War, over 50,000 Bolsheviks died at the front. To strengthen the Red Army, the Communists repeatedly carried out party mobilizations.
The Air Force organized a record of military units and united them into veil detachments under the leadership of experienced military leaders. The forces of the curtain were grouped in the most important directions (Northern section and the Petrograd region of the curtain, Western section and the Moscow defense region, later, by decree of the Air Force of August 4, 1918, on the basis of the Voronezh region of the Western section of the curtain, the Southern section of the curtain was formed, and on August 6 for defense from the interventionists and whites in the North, the North-Eastern section of the curtain was created). The sections and districts were subordinate to the veil detachments, which, according to the Air Force order of May 3, 1918, were deployed into territorial divisions, which were named after the names of the corresponding provinces. The first conscription into the Red Army took place on June 12, 1918. The Air Force outlined a plan for the formation of 30 divisions. On May 8, 1918, the All-Russian General Staff (VGSH) was created on the basis of the GUGSH (i.e., the General Staff) and the General Staff.
RVSR
On September 2, 1918, by a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the initiative of Trotsky and the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Ya.M. Sverdlov, the RVSR was created, to which the functions of the Air Force, the operational and military-statistical departments of the Higher General Staff and the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs were transferred. The composition of the new body was as follows: chairman L.D. Trotsky, members: K.Kh. Danishevsky, P.A. Kobozev, K.A. Mekhonoshin, F.F. Raskolnikov, A.P. Rozengolts, I.N. Smirnov and commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the republic. The Air Force headquarters was transformed into the headquarters of the RVSR. N.I. became the chief of staff of the RVSR. Rattel, who previously served as head of the Air Force headquarters.
Almost all military administration bodies were gradually subordinated to the RVSR: the Commander-in-Chief, the Higher Military Inspectorate, the Military Legislative Council, the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars (abolished in 1919, the functions were transferred to the Political Department, later transformed into the Political Directorate of the RVSR), the administration of the RVSR, the Field headquarters, Higher General Staff, Revolutionary Military Tribunal of the Republic, Central Army Supply Directorate, Higher Attestation Commission, Main Military Sanitary Directorate. In fact, the RVSR absorbed the People's Commissar for Military Affairs, especially since the key positions in these two bodies were occupied by the same people - People's Commissar for Military Affairs L.D. Trotsky, who is also the chairman of the RVSR and his deputy in both bodies, E.M. Sklyansky. Thus, the RVSR was entrusted with solving the most important issues of the country's defense. As a result of the transformations, the RVSR became the highest body of military command of Soviet Russia. According to the plans of its creators, it was supposed to be collegial, but the realities of the Civil War led to the fact that, despite the fictitious presence of a large number of members, few actually participated in the meetings, and the work of the RVSR was concentrated in the hands of Sklyansky, who was in Moscow, while Trotsky was the hottest time of the Civil War spent traveling around the fronts, organizing local military control.
The post of commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the republic was introduced in Soviet Russia by a resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on September 2, 1918. The first commander-in-chief was the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front, former Colonel I.I. Vatsetis. In July 1919, he was replaced by former Colonel S.S. Kamenev.
The headquarters of the RVSR, which arose on September 6, 1918, was deployed to the Field Headquarters of the RVSR, which actually became the Soviet Headquarters of the Civil War era. At the head of the headquarters were former general staff officers N.I. Rattel, F.V. Kostyaev, M.D. Bonch-Bruevich and P.P. Lebedev.
The field headquarters was directly subordinate to the commander in chief. The structure of the Field Headquarters included departments: operational (departments: 1st and 2nd operational, general, cartographic, communications service and magazine section), intelligence (departments: 1st (military intelligence) and 2nd (intelligence intelligence) intelligence departments, general department and journal section), reporting (duty) (departments: accounting (inspector), general, economic) and military-political. As in the High School, the structure changed. The following departments were created: operational (departments: operational, general, intelligence, communications service), organizational (accounting and organizational department; later - administrative and accounting department with an accounting and organizational department), registration (agent department, intelligence department), military control, Central Directorate of Military Communications and Field Directorate of the Air Fleet. An important achievement of Soviet military development was that the dream of many old-school General Staff officers finally came true: the Field Headquarters was freed from organizational and supply issues and could concentrate on operational work.
On September 30, 1918, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense was created under the chairmanship of V.I. Lenin, designed to coordinate the resolution of military issues with civilian departments, as well as to restrain the almost unlimited power of the chairman of the RVSR, Trotsky.
The structure of the field control of the fronts was as follows. At the head of the front was the Revolutionary Military Council (RMC), to which the front headquarters, the revolutionary military tribunal, the political department, military control (counterintelligence), and the department of the chief of supplies of the front armies were subordinate. The front headquarters included departments: operational (departments: operational, reconnaissance, general, communications, maritime, topographical), administrative and military communications, inspection of infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers, and the department of the chief of aviation and aeronautics.
Fronts of the Red Army during the Civil War
During the Civil War, 11 main fronts of the Red Army were created (Eastern June 13, 1918 - January 15, 1920; Western February 19, 1919 - April 8, 1924; Caucasian January 16, 1920 - May 29, 1921; Caspian-Caucasian December 8 1918 - March 13, 1919; Northern September 11, 1918 - February 19, 1919; Turkestan August 14, 1919 - June 1926; Ukrainian January 4 - June 15, 1919; South-Eastern October 1, 1919 - January 6, 1920 .; South-Western January 10 - December 31, 1920; Southern September 11, 1918 - January 10, 1920; Southern (second formation) September 21 - December 10, 1920).
Armies in the Red Army during the Civil War
During the Civil War, 33 regular armies were created in the Red Army, including two cavalry ones. The armies were part of the fronts. The field administration of the armies consisted of: RVS, headquarters with departments: operational, administrative, military communications and inspectors of infantry, cavalry, engineers, political department, revolutionary tribunal, Special department. The operational department had departments: intelligence, communications, aviation and aeronautics. The army commander was a member of the RVS. Appointments to the RVS of fronts and armies were carried out by the RVSR. The most important function was performed by reserve armies, which provided the front with ready-made reinforcements.
The main formation of the Red Army was the rifle division, organized according to a ternary scheme - three brigades of three regiments each. The regiments consisted of three battalions, each battalion had three companies. According to the staff, the division was supposed to have about 60,000 people, 9 artillery divisions, an armored vehicle detachment, an air division (18 aircraft), a cavalry division and other units. Such a staff turned out to be too cumbersome; the actual number of divisions was up to 15 thousand people, which corresponded to the corps in the white armies. Because staffing levels were not followed, the composition of the various divisions varied greatly.
During 1918-1920. The Red Army gradually grew stronger and stronger. In October 1918, the Reds could field 30 infantry divisions, and in September 1919 - already 62. At the beginning of 1919, there were only 3 cavalry divisions, and at the end of 1920 - already 22. In the spring of 1919, the army numbered about 440,000 bayonets and sabers with 2,000 guns and 7,200 machine guns in combat units alone, and the total number exceeded 1.5 million people. Then superiority in strength over the whites was achieved, which then increased. By the end of 1920, the strength of the Red Army exceeded 5 million people, with a combat strength of about 700,000 people.
Command cadres represented by tens of thousands of former officers were mobilized. In November 1918, an order was issued by the RVSR on the conscription of all former chief officers under 50 years of age, staff officers under 55 years of age, and generals under 60 years of age. As a result of this order, the Red Army received about 50,000 military specialists. The total number of military experts of the Red Army was even higher (by the end of 1920 - up to 75,000 people). The “military opposition” opposed the policy of attracting military experts.
Personnel training
Red commanders were also trained through an extensive network of military educational institutions (about 60,000 people were trained). Such military leaders as V.M. were promoted to the Red Army. Azin, V.K. Blucher, S.M. Budyonny, B.M. Dumenko, D.P. Zhloba, V.I. Kikvidze, G.I. Kotovsky, I.S. Kutyakov, A.Ya. Parkhomenko, V.I. Chapaev, I.E. Yakir.
By the end of 1919, the Red Army already included 17 armies. By January 1, 1920, the Red Army at the front and in the rear numbered 3,000,000 people. By October 1, 1920, with a total strength of the Red Army of 5,498,000 people, there were 2,361,000 people at the fronts, 391,000 in reserve armies, 159,000 in labor armies and 2,587,000 in military districts. By January 1, 1921, the Red Army numbered 4,213,497 members, and the combat strength included 1,264,391 people or 30% of the total. At the fronts there were 85 rifle divisions, 39 separate rifle brigades, 27 cavalry divisions, 7 separate cavalry brigades, 294 light artillery divisions, 85 howitzer artillery divisions, 85 field heavy artillery divisions (a total of 4888 guns of different systems). Total in 1918-1920. 6,707,588 people were drafted into the Red Army. An important advantage of the Red Army was its comparative social homogeneity (by the end of the Civil War, in September 1922, 18.8% of workers, 68% of peasants, 13.2% of others served in the Red Army. By the fall of 1920, 29 different charters had been developed in the Red Army , another 28 were in operation.
Desertion to the Red Army
A serious problem for Soviet Russia was desertion. The fight against it was centralized and concentrated from December 25, 1918 in the Central Temporary Commission for Combating Desertion from representatives of the military department, the party and the NKVD. Local authorities were represented by the corresponding provincial commissions. Only during raids on deserters in 1919-1920. 837,000 people were detained. As a result of amnesties and explanatory work, from mid-1919 to mid-1920, more than 1.5 million deserters voluntarily turned up.
Armament of the Red Army
On Soviet territory in 1919, 460,055 rifles, 77,560 revolvers, and over 340 million were produced. rifle cartridges, 6256 machine guns, 22,229 checkers, 152 three-inch guns, 83 three-inch guns of other types (anti-aircraft, mountain, short), 24 42-line rapid-fire guns, 78 48-line howitzers, 29 6-inch fortress howitzers, about 185,000 shells , 258 airplanes (50 more repaired). In 1920, 426,994 rifles were produced (about 300,000 were repaired), 38,252 revolvers, over 411 million rifle cartridges, 4,459 machine guns, 230 three-inch guns, 58 three-inch guns of other types, 12 42-line rapid-fire guns, 20 48- linear howitzers, 35 6-inch fortress howitzers, 1.8 million shells.
The main branch of the ground forces was infantry, and the striking maneuver force was cavalry. In 1919, the equestrian corps of S.M. was created. Budyonny, then deployed to the 1st Cavalry Army. In 1920, the 2nd Cavalry Army of F.K. was created. Mironov.
The Red Army was turned by the Bolsheviks into an effective means of widely disseminating their ideas among the masses. By October 1, 1919, the Bolsheviks opened 3,800 Red Army literacy schools; in 1920, their number reached 5,950. By the summer of 1920, over 1,000 Red Army theaters were operating.
The Red Army won the Civil War. Numerous anti-Bolshevik armies were defeated in the South, East, North and North-West of the country. During the Civil War, many commanders, commissars and Red Army soldiers distinguished themselves. About 15,000 people were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. The honorary Revolutionary Red Banner was awarded to 2 armies, 42 divisions, 4 brigades, 176 regiments.
After the Civil War, the Red Army underwent a significant reduction of approximately 10 times (by the mid-1920s).
near Narva 23.02.1918
With the coming to power of the Bolshevik Communist Party in November 1917, the country's leadership, relying on K. Marx's thesis about replacing the regular army with the universal armament of the working people, began to actively liquidate the Imperial Army of Russia. On December 16, 1917, the Bolsheviks issued decrees of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars "On the elective principle and organization of power in the army" and "On the equal rights of all military personnel." To protect the gains of the revolution, under the leadership of professional revolutionaries, Red Guard detachments began to be formed, headed by the Military Revolutionary Committee, which directly led the October armed uprising, led by L.D. Trotsky.
On November 26, 1917, the “Committee on Military and Naval Affairs” was created, instead of the old War Ministry, under the leadership of V.A. Antonova-Ovseenko, N.V. Krylenko and P.E. Dybenko.
V.A. Antonov-Ovseenko N.V. Krylenko
Pavel Efimovich Dybenko
The "Committee on Military and Naval Affairs" was intended to form armed units and lead them. The committee was expanded to 9 people on November 9 and transformed into the "Council of People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs", and from December 1917 it was renamed and became known as the College of People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs (Narkomvoen), the head of the board was N. AND. Podvoisky.
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Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky
The Collegium of the People's Commissariat of Defense was the governing military body of Soviet power; in the first stages of its activity, the collegium relied on the old War Ministry and the old army. By order of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs, at the end of December 1917, in Petrograd, the Central Council for the Management of Armored Units of the RSFSR - Tsentrabron - was formed. He supervised the armored vehicles and armored trains of the Red Army. By July 1, 1918, Tsentrobron formed 12 armored trains and 26 armored detachments. The old Russian army could not provide the defense of the Soviet state. There was a need to demobilize the old army and create a new Soviet army.
At a meeting of the military organization under the Central Committee. RSDLP (b) On December 26, 1917, it was decided, according to the installation of V.I. Lenin created a new army of 300,000 people in a month and a half, the All-Russian Collegium for the organization and management of the Red Army was created. IN AND. Lenin set before this board the task of developing, in the shortest possible time, the principles of organizing and building a new army. The fundamental principles for building the army developed by the board were approved by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which met from January 10 to 18, 1918. To protect the gains of the revolution, it was decided to create an army of the Soviet state and call it the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
On January 15, 1918, a decree was issued on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and on February 11 - the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet on a voluntary basis. The definition of “worker-peasant” emphasized its class character - the army of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the fact that it should be recruited only from working people of the city and countryside. The "Red Army" said that it was a revolutionary army.
10 million rubles were allocated for the formation of volunteer detachments of the Red Army. In mid-January 1918, 20 million rubles were allocated for the construction of the Red Army. As the leadership apparatus of the Red Army was created, all departments of the old War Ministry were reorganized, downsized or abolished.
In February 1918, the Council of People's Commissars appointed the leading five of the All-Russian Collegium, which issued its first organizational order on the appointment of responsible department commissars. German and Austrian troops, more than 50 divisions, violating the truce, began an offensive on February 18, 1918 in the entire zone from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In Transcaucasia, on February 12, 1918, the offensive of Turkish troops began. The demoralized old army could not resist the attackers and abandoned their positions without a fight. From the old Russian army, the only military units that retained military discipline were the regiments of Latvian riflemen, who went over to the side of Soviet power.
In connection with the offensive of German and Austrian troops, some of the generals of the tsarist army proposed forming detachments from the old army. But the Bolsheviks, fearing that these detachments would act against Soviet power, abandoned such formations. To attract officers from the tsarist army to serve, a new form of organization called the “veil” was created. A group of generals, led by M.D. Bonch-Bruevich, consisting of 12 people on February 20, 1918, who arrived in Petrograd from Headquarters and formed the basis of the Supreme Military Council, began to recruit officers to serve the Bolsheviks.
Mikhail Dmitrievich Bonch-Bruevich
By mid-February 1918, the “First Corps of the Red Army” was created in Petrograd. The basis of the corps was a special-purpose detachment, consisting of Petrograd workers and soldiers, consisting of 3 companies of 200 people each. During the first two weeks of formation, the strength of the corps was increased to 15,000 people.
Part of the corps, about 10,000 people, was prepared and sent to the front near Pskov, Narva, Vitebsk and Orsha. By the beginning of March 1918, the corps included 10 infantry battalions, a machine gun regiment, 2 horse regiments, an artillery brigade, a heavy artillery division, 2 armored divisions, 3 air squads, an aeronautical detachment, engineering, automobile, motorcycle units and a searchlight team. In May 1918 the corps was disbanded; its personnel were sent to staff the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th rifle divisions formed in the Petrograd Military District.
By the end of February, 20,000 volunteers had signed up in Moscow. The first test of the Red Army took place near Narva and Pskov; it entered into battle with German troops and repulsed them. February 23 became the birthday of the young Red Army.
When the army was formed, there were no approved states. Combat units were formed from volunteer detachments based on the capabilities and needs of their area. The detachments consisted of several dozen people from 10 to 10,000 or more people, the created battalions, companies and regiments were of different types. The company size ranged from 60 to 1600 people. The tactics of the troops were determined by the heritage of the tactics of the Russian army, the geographical, political and economic conditions of the combat area, and also reflected the individual traits of their leaders, such as Frunze, Shchors, Chapaev, Kotovsky, Budyonny and others. This organization excluded the possibility of centralized command and control of troops. A gradual transition began from the volunteer principle to the construction of a regular army based on universal conscription.
The Defense Committee was disbanded on March 4, 1918 and the Supreme Military Council (SMC) was formed. One of the main creators of the Red Army was People's Commissar L.D. Trotsky, who on March 14, 1918 became the head of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs and chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic. Being a psychologist, he was involved in the selection of personnel in order to know the state of affairs in the army. Trotsky created March 24 .
death of the commissar
The Revolutionary Military Council decided to create cavalry as part of the Red Army. On March 25, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars approved the creation of new military districts. At a meeting in the Air Force on March 22, 1918, a project for organizing a Soviet rifle division was discussed, which was adopted as the main combat unit of the Red Army.
When recruited into the army, fighters took an oath approved on April 22 at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the oath was taken and signed by each fighter.
Solemn Promise Formula
approved at the meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Councils of Workers, Soldiers, Peasants and Cossack Deputies on April 22, 1918
1. I, the son of the working people, a citizen of the Soviet Republic, accept the title of warrior of the workers' and peasants' army.
2. In the face of the working classes of Russia and the whole world, I undertake to bear this title with honor, to conscientiously study military affairs and, like the apple of my eye, to protect people's and military property from damage and theft.
3. I undertake to strictly and unswervingly observe revolutionary discipline and unquestioningly carry out all orders of commanders appointed by the authority of the Workers' and Peasants' Government.
4. I undertake to refrain myself and to restrain my comrades from all actions that discredit and humiliate the dignity of a citizen of the Soviet Republic, and to direct all my actions and thoughts towards the great goal of the liberation of all working people.
5. I undertake, at the first call of the Workers' and Peasants' Government, to come out in defense of the Soviet Republic from all dangers and attempts by all its enemies, and in the struggle for the Russian Soviet Republic, for the cause of socialism and the brotherhood of peoples, to spare neither my strength nor my life itself .
6. If, out of malicious intent, I deviate from this solemn promise of mine, then may universal contempt be my lot and may the harsh hand of revolutionary law punish me.
Chairman of the Central Election Commission Y. Sverdlov;
The first holder of the order was Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher.
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VC. Blucher
The command staff consisted of former officers and non-commissioned officers who went over to the side of the Bolsheviks and commanders from the Bolsheviks, so in 1919 1,500,000 people were called up, of which about 29,000 were former officers, but the combat strength of the army did not exceed 450,000 people. The bulk of the former officers who served in the Red Army were wartime officers, mainly warrant officers. The Bolsheviks had very few cavalry officers.
From March to May 1918, a lot of work was done. Based on the experience of three years of the First World War, new field manuals were written for all branches of the military and their combat interaction. A new mobilization scheme was created - the system of military commissariats. The Red Army was commanded by dozens of the best generals who had gone through two wars, and 100 thousand excellent military officers.
By the end of 1918, the organizational structure of the Red Army and its management apparatus had been created. The Red Army strengthened all the decisive sectors of the fronts with communists; in October 1918 there were 35,000 communists in the army, in 1919 - about 120,000, and in August 1920 300,000, half of all members of the RCP (b) of that time. In June 1919, all the republics that existed at that time - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia - concluded a military alliance. A unified military command and unified management of finance, industry, and transport were created.
By Order of the RVSR 116 of January 16, 1919, insignia were introduced only for combatant commanders - colored buttonholes on collars, by branch of service and commander stripes on the left sleeve, above the cuff.
By the end of 1920, the Red Army numbered 5,000,000 people, but due to a shortage of uniforms, weapons and equipment, the army's combat strength did not exceed 700,000 people; 22 armies, 174 divisions (of which 35 cavalry), 61 air squadrons (300-400 aircraft) were formed. , artillery and armored units (units). During the war years, 6 military academies and more than 150 courses trained 60,000 commanders of all specialties from workers and peasants.
During the Civil War, about 20,000 officers died in the Red Army. There are 45,000 - 48,000 officers left in service. Losses during the Civil War amounted to 800,000 killed, wounded and missing, 1,400,000 died from serious illnesses.
red army badge
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On January 15 (28), 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a Decree on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) on a voluntary basis. On January 29 (February 11), the Decree on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF) was signed. Direct management of the formation of the Red Army was carried out by the All-Russian Collegium, created under the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs.
In connection with the violation of the truce concluded with Germany and its troops going on the offensive, on February 22, 1918, the government turned to the people with a decree-appeal signed by V.I. Lenin “The Socialist Fatherland is in danger!” The next day, mass enrollment of volunteers into the Red Army and the formation of many of its units began. In February 1918, Red Army detachments offered decisive resistance to German troops near Pskov and Narva. In honor of these events, on February 23, a national holiday began to be celebrated annually - the Day of the Red (Soviet) Army and Navy (later Defender of the Fatherland Day).
DECREE ON THE FORMATION OF THE VOLUNTARY WORKERS' AND PEASANTS' RED ARMY JANUARY 15(28), 1918
The old army served as an instrument of class oppression of the working people by the bourgeoisie. With the transfer of power to the working and exploited classes, the need arose to create a new army, which will be the stronghold of Soviet power in the present, the foundation for replacing the standing army with national weapons in the near future and will serve as support for the coming socialist
revolutions in Europe.
In view of this, the Council of People's Commissars decides:
organize a new army called the "Workers' and Peasants' Red Army", on the following grounds:
1) The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army is created from the most conscious and organized elements of the working masses.
2) Access to its ranks is open to all citizens of the Russian Republic at least 18 years of age. Anyone who is ready to give his strength, his life to defend the gains of the October Revolution, the power of the Soviets and socialism, joins the Red Army. To join the Red Army, the following recommendations are required:
military committees or public democratic organizations standing on the platform of Soviet power, party or professional organizations or at least two members of these organizations. When joining in whole parts, mutual responsibility of everyone and a roll-call vote are required.
1) Warriors of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army are on full state pay and on top of this receive 50 rubles. per month.
2) Disabled members of the families of Red Army soldiers, who were previously their dependents, are provided with everything necessary according to local consumer standards, in accordance with the decrees of local bodies of Soviet power.
The supreme governing body of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army is the Council of People's Commissars. Direct leadership and management of the army is concentrated in the Commissariat for Military Affairs, in the special All-Russian Collegium created under it.
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars
V. Ulyanov (Lenin).
Supreme Commander-in-Chief N. Krylenko.
People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs:
Dybenko and Podvoisky.
People's Commissars: Proshyan, Zatonsky and Steinberg.
Administrator of the Council of People's Commissars
Vlad.Bonch-Bruevich.
Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars N. Gorbunov.
Decrees of the Soviet government. T. 1. M., State Publishing House of Political Literature, 1957.
APPEAL OF THE BOLSHEVIK GOVERNMENT
In order to save an exhausted, tormented country from new military trials, we made the greatest sacrifice and announced to the Germans our agreement to sign their peace terms. On the evening of February 20 (7), our envoys left Rezhitsa for Dvinsk, and there is still no answer. The German government is apparently slow to respond. It clearly doesn't want peace. Fulfilling the instructions of the capitalists of all countries, German militarism wants to strangle the Russian and Ukrainian workers and peasants, return the lands to the landowners, factories and factories to the bankers, and the authorities to the monarchy. German generals want to establish their “order” in Petrograd and Kiev. The Socialist Republic of Soviets is in the greatest danger. Until the moment when the German proletariat rises and wins, the sacred duty of the workers and peasants of Russia is the selfless defense of the Soviet Republic against the hordes of bourgeois-imperialist Germany. The Council of People's Commissars decides: 1) All forces and means of the country are entirely allocated to the cause of revolutionary defense. 2) All Soviets and revolutionary organizations are charged with the duty of defending every position to the last drop of blood. 3) Railway organizations and the Soviets associated with them are obliged to do their best to prevent the enemy from using the communications apparatus; during retreat, destroy tracks, blow up and burn railway buildings; all rolling stock - carriages and locomotives - should be immediately sent east into the interior of the country. 4) All grain and food supplies in general, as well as any valuable property that is in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, must be subject to unconditional destruction; supervision of this is entrusted to local Councils under the personal responsibility of their chairmen. 5) The workers and peasants of Petrograd, Kyiv and all cities, towns, villages and hamlets along the new front must mobilize battalions to dig trenches under the leadership of military specialists. 6) These battalions must include all able-bodied members of the bourgeois class, men and women, under the supervision of the Red Guards; Those who resist are shot. 7) All publications that oppose the cause of revolutionary defense and take the side of the German bourgeoisie, as well as those seeking to use the invasion of the imperialist hordes for the purpose of overthrowing Soviet power, are closed; able-bodied editors and staff of these publications are mobilized to dig trenches and other defensive work. 8) Enemy agents, speculators, thugs, hooligans, counter-revolutionary agitators, German spies are shot at the scene of the crime.
The socialist fatherland is in danger! Long live the socialist fatherland! Long live the international socialist revolution!
Decree “The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger!”
DECISION OF THE ALL-Russian Central Executive Committee ON FORCED RECRUITMENT INTO THE WORKERS' AND PEASANTS' ARMY
The Central Executive Committee believes that the transition from a volunteer army to a general mobilization of workers and poor peasants is imperatively dictated by the entire situation of the country, both for the struggle for bread and for repelling the insolent counter-revolution, both internal and external, due to hunger.
It is necessary to move immediately to forced recruitment of one or more ages. In view of the complexity of the matter and the difficulty of carrying it out simultaneously over the entire territory of the country, it seems necessary to begin, on the one hand, with the most threatened areas, and on the other hand, with the main centers of the labor movement.
Based on the foregoing, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decides to order the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs to develop within a week for Moscow, Petrograd, the Don and Kuban regions a plan for implementing forced recruitment within such limits and forms that would least disrupt the course of production and social life of the designated regions and cities.
The corresponding Soviet institutions are ordered to take the most energetic and active part in the work of the Military Commissariat to fulfill the tasks assigned to it.
VIEW FROM THE WHITE CAMP
Back in mid-January, the Soviet government promulgated a decree on organizing a “workers’ and peasants’ army” from “the most conscious and organized elements of the working class.” But the formation of a new class army was unsuccessful, and the council had to turn to old organizations: units from the front and from reserve battalions were allocated. respectively, screened out and processed, Latvian, sailor detachments and the Red Guard, formed by factory committees. They all went against Ukraine and the Don. What force moved these people, mortally tired of the war, to new cruel sacrifices and hardships? Least of all is devotion to Soviet power and its ideals. Hunger, unemployment, prospects for an idle, well-fed life and enrichment through robbery, the inability to get back to their native places in any other way, the habit of many people during the four years of war to soldiering as a craft (“declassed”), and finally, to a greater or lesser extent, a sense of class malice and hatred, nurtured over centuries and fueled by the strongest propaganda.
A.I. Denikin. Essays on Russian Troubles.
DEFENDER OF THE FATHERLAND DAY - HISTORY OF THE HOLIDAY
The holiday originated in the USSR, then February 23 was celebrated annually as a national holiday - the Day of the Soviet Army and Navy.
There was no document establishing February 23 as an official Soviet holiday. Soviet historiography linked the commemoration of the military to this date with the events of 1918: on January 28 (15 old style) January 1918, the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), headed by Chairman Vladimir Lenin, adopted a Decree on the organization of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), and February 11 (January 29, old style) - Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF).
On February 22, the decree-appeal of the Council of People's Commissars "The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger!" was published, and on February 23, mass rallies took place in Petrograd, Moscow and other cities of the country, at which workers were called upon to stand up for the defense of their Fatherland. This day was marked by the massive entry of volunteers into the Red Army and the beginning of the formation of its detachments and units.
On January 10, 1919, the Chairman of the Higher Military Inspectorate of the Red Army, Nikolai Podvoisky, sent to the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee a proposal to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, timing the celebration to the nearest Sunday before or after January 28. However, due to the late submission of the application, no decision was made.
Then the Moscow Soviet took the initiative to celebrate the first anniversary of the Red Army. On January 24, 1919, its presidium, which at that time was headed by Lev Kamenev, decided to coincide these celebrations with the day of the Red Gift, held with the aim of collecting material and monetary resources for the Red Army.
A Central Committee was created under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) to organize the celebration of the anniversary of the Red Army and Red Gift Day, which took place on Sunday, February 23.
On February 5, Pravda and other newspapers published the following information: “The organization of the Red Gift Day throughout Russia has been postponed to February 23. On this day, celebrations of the anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, which was celebrated on January 28, will be organized in cities and at the front.”
On February 23, 1919, Russian citizens celebrated the anniversary of the Red Army for the first time, but this day was not celebrated either in 1920 or 1921.
On January 27, 1922, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee published a resolution on the fourth anniversary of the Red Army, which stated: “In accordance with the resolution of the IX All-Russian Congress of Soviets on the Red Army, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee draws the attention of the executive committees to the upcoming anniversary of the creation of the Red Army (February 23).”
The Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, Leon Trotsky, organized a military parade on Red Square on this day, thereby establishing the tradition of an annual national celebration.
In 1923, the five-year anniversary of the Red Army was widely celebrated. The resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, adopted on January 18, 1923, stated: “On February 23, 1923, the Red Army will celebrate the 5th anniversary of its existence. On this day, five years ago, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of January 28 of the same year, which marked the beginning of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the stronghold of the proletarian dictatorship."
The tenth anniversary of the Red Army in 1928, like all previous ones, was celebrated as the anniversary of the Council of People's Commissars decree on the organization of the Red Army of January 28, 1918, but the date of publication itself was directly linked to February 23.
In 1938, in the “Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)” a fundamentally new version of the origin of the date of the holiday was presented, which was not related to the decree of the Council of People’s Commissars. The book stated that in 1918, near Narva and Pskov, “the German occupiers were given a decisive rebuff. Their advance to Petrograd was suspended. The day of repulse to the troops of German imperialism - February 23 - became the birthday of the young Red Army.” Later, in the order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR dated February 23, 1942, the wording was slightly changed: “The young detachments of the Red Army, which entered the war for the first time, completely defeated the German invaders near Pskov and Narva on February 23, 1918. That is why February 23 was declared a day birth of the Red Army."
In 1951, another interpretation of the holiday appeared. In the “History of the Civil War in the USSR” it was stated that in 1919 the first anniversary of the Red Army was celebrated “on the memorable day of the mobilization of workers for the defense of the socialist Fatherland, the mass entry of workers into the Red Army, the widespread formation of the first detachments and units of the new army.”
In the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 "On the Days of Military Glory of Russia", the day of February 23 was officially called "The Day of the Red Army's Victory over the Kaiser's troops of Germany (1918) - the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland."
In accordance with the amendments made to the Federal Law “On the Days of Military Glory of Russia” by the Federal Law of April 15, 2006, the words “Victory Day of the Red Army over the Kaiser’s troops of Germany (1918)” were excluded from the official description of the holiday, and also stated in the singular the concept of "defender".
In December 2001, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation supported the proposal to make February 23 - Defender of the Fatherland Day - a non-working holiday.
On Defender of the Fatherland Day, Russians honor those who served or are currently serving in the ranks of the country's Armed Forces.
In 1918 - 1922 and the Ground Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922 - 1946. After the war, it was the largest army in Europe.
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The supreme governing body of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR (since the formation of the USSR - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR). The leadership and management of the army was concentrated in the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, in the special All-Russian Collegium created under it, since 1923, the Labor and Defense Council of the USSR, and since 1937, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. In 1919 - 1934, direct leadership of the troops was carried out by the Revolutionary Military Council. In 1934, to replace it, the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR was formed.
At the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, on June 23, 1941, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command was formed (from July 10, 1941 - the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, from August 8, 1941, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command). From February 25, 1946 until the collapse of the USSR, the control of the armed forces was carried out by the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Organizational structure
Detachments and squads - armed detachments and squads of sailors, soldiers and workers, in Russia in 1917 - supporters (not necessarily members) of left parties - Social Democrats (Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and “Mezhraiontsev”), Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists, as well as detachments of Red partisans became the basis of the Red Army units.
Initially, the main unit of formation of the Red Army, on a voluntary basis, was a separate detachment, which was a military unit with an independent economy. The detachment was headed by a Council consisting of a military leader and two military commissars. He had a small headquarters and an inspectorate.
With the accumulation of experience and after attracting military experts to the ranks of the Red Army, the formation of full-fledged units, units, formations (brigade, division, corps), institutions and establishments began.
The organization of the Red Army was in accordance with its class character and military requirements of the early 20th century. The combined arms formations of the Red Army were structured as follows:
- the rifle corps consisted of two to four divisions;
- division - consisting of three rifle regiments, an artillery regiment (artillery regiment) and technical units;
- regiment - consisting of three battalions, an artillery division and technical units;
- division - consisting of three rifle regiments, an artillery regiment (artillery regiment) and technical units;
- cavalry corps - two cavalry divisions;
- cavalry division - four to six regiments, artillery, armored units (armored units), technical units.
The technical equipment of the military formations of the Red Army with fire weapons (machine guns, guns, infantry artillery) and military equipment was basically at the level of modern advanced armed forces of that time. It should be noted that the introduction of technology brought changes to the organization of the Red Army, which were expressed in the growth of technical units, in the emergence of special motorized and mechanized units and in the strengthening of technical cells in the rifle troops and cavalry. The peculiarity of the organization of the Red Army was that it reflected its openly class character. In the military bodies of the Red Army (in divisions, units and formations) there were political bodies (political departments (political departments), political units (political units)), conducting political and educational work in close cooperation with the command (commander and commissar of the unit) and ensuring the political growth of the Red Army soldiers and their activity in combat training.
During the war, the active army (that is, those troops of the Red Army that conduct military operations or support them) is divided into fronts. Fronts are divided into armies, which include military formations: rifle and cavalry corps, rifle and cavalry divisions, tank, aviation brigades and individual units (artillery, aviation, engineering and others).
Compound
Rifle troops
Rifle troops are the main branch of the military, constituting the main backbone of the Red Army. The largest rifle unit in the 1920s was the rifle regiment. The rifle regiment consisted of rifle battalions, regimental artillery, small units - communications, engineers and others - and the regimental headquarters. The rifle battalion consisted of rifle and machine gun companies, battalion artillery and battalion headquarters. Rifle company - made up of rifle and machine gun platoons. Rifle platoon - from squads. A squad is the smallest organizational unit of rifle troops. It was armed with rifles, light machine guns, hand grenades and a grenade launcher.
Artillery
The largest unit of artillery was an artillery regiment. It consisted of artillery battalions and regimental headquarters. The artillery division consisted of batteries and division control. The battery is made up of platoons. There are 4 guns in a platoon.
Breakthrough Artillery Corps (1943 - 1945) - a formation (corps) of artillery of the Red Army in the armed forces of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. The breakthrough artillery corps were part of the reserve artillery of the Supreme High Command.
Cavalry
The basic unit of cavalry is the cavalry regiment. The regiment consists of saber and machine gun squadrons, regimental artillery, technical units and headquarters. Saber and machine gun squadrons consist of platoons. The platoon is divided into sections. The Soviet cavalry began to form simultaneously with the creation of the Red Army in 1918. From the disbanded old Russian army, only three cavalry regiments became part of the Red Army. In the formation of cavalry for the Red Army, a number of difficulties were encountered: the main areas that supplied the army with cavalrymen and riding horses (Ukraine, South and South-East Russia) were occupied by the White Guards and occupied by the armies of foreign states; There were not enough experienced commanders, weapons and equipment. Therefore, the main organizational units in cavalry were initially hundreds, squadrons, detachments and regiments. From individual cavalry regiments and mounted detachments, the transition soon began to the formation of brigades, and then divisions. Thus, from the small equestrian partisan detachment of S. M. Budyonny, created in February 1918, in the fall of the same year, during the battles for Tsaritsyn, the 1st Don Cavalry Brigade was formed, and then the combined cavalry division of the Tsaritsyn Front.
Particularly energetic measures to create cavalry were taken in the summer of 1919 to confront Denikin’s army. To deprive the latter of its advantage in cavalry, cavalry formations larger than the division were needed. In June - September 1919, the first two cavalry corps were created; By the end of 1919, the number of Soviet and opposing cavalry was equal. The fighting in 1918 - 1919 showed that Soviet cavalry formations were a powerful striking force, capable of solving important operational tasks both independently and in cooperation with rifle formations. The most important stage in the construction of the Soviet cavalry was the creation in November 1919 of the First Cavalry Army, and in July 1920 of the Second Cavalry Army. Cavalry formations and associations played an important role in operations against the armies of Denikin and Kolchak at the end of 1919 - beginning of 1920, Wrangel and the army of Poland in 1920.
During the Civil War, in some operations, Soviet cavalry accounted for up to 50% of the infantry. The main method of action of cavalry units, units and formations was an attack on horseback (mounted attack), supported by powerful fire from machine guns from carts. When terrain conditions and stubborn enemy resistance limited the actions of cavalry in mounted formation, it fought in dismounted battle formations. During the Civil War, the Soviet command was able to successfully resolve the issues of using large masses of cavalry to carry out operational tasks. The creation of the world's first mobile units - cavalry armies - was an outstanding achievement of military art. Cavalry armies were the main means of strategic maneuver and development of success; they were used en masse in decisive directions against those enemy forces that at this stage posed the greatest danger.
Red cavalry on the attack
The success of the combat operations of the Soviet cavalry during the Civil War was facilitated by the vastness of the theaters of military operations, the extension of enemy armies on wide fronts, and the presence of gaps that were poorly covered or not occupied by troops at all, which were used by cavalry formations to reach the enemy’s flanks and carry out deep raids in his rear. Under these conditions, the cavalry could fully realize its combat properties and capabilities - mobility, surprise attacks, speed and decisiveness of action.
After the Civil War, cavalry in the Red Army continued to be a fairly numerous branch of the military. In the 1920s, it was divided into strategic (cavalry divisions and corps) and military (units and units that were part of rifle formations). In the 1930s, mechanized (later tank) and artillery regiments and anti-aircraft weapons were introduced into the cavalry divisions; New combat regulations were developed for the cavalry.
As a mobile branch of troops, strategic cavalry was intended to develop a breakthrough and could be used by decision of the front-line command.
Cavalry units and units took an active part in the hostilities of the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. In particular, in the battle for Moscow, the cavalry corps under the command of L. M. Dovator showed itself valiantly. However, as the war progressed, it became increasingly clear that the future lay with new, modern types of weapons, so by the end of the war, most cavalry units were disbanded. At the end of the Great Patriotic War, cavalry as a branch of the military finally ceased to exist.
Armored forces
Tanks produced by KhPZ named after Comintern - the largest tank plant in the USSR
In the 1920s, the USSR began producing its own tanks, and with it the foundations for the concept of combat use of troops were laid. In 1927, the “Combat Manual of the Infantry” paid special attention to the combat use of tanks and their interaction with infantry units. For example, in the second part of this document it is written that the most important conditions for success are:
- the sudden appearance of tanks as part of the attacking infantry, their simultaneous and massive use over a wide area in order to disperse the enemy’s artillery and other anti-armor weapons;
- echeloning tanks in depth while simultaneously creating a reserve from them, which makes it possible to develop an attack to great depth;
- close interaction of tanks with infantry, which secures the points they occupy.
The issues of use were most fully discussed in the “Temporary Instructions for the Combat Use of Tanks,” issued in 1928. It provided for two forms of participation of tank units in battle:
- for direct infantry support;
- as an advanced echelon operating outside of fire and visual communication with it.
The armored forces consisted of tank units and formations and units armed with armored vehicles. The main tactical unit is the tank battalion. It consists of tank companies. A tank company consists of tank platoons. The composition of a tank platoon is up to 5 tanks. An armored vehicle company consists of platoons; platoon - of 3-5 armored vehicles.
T-34 in winter camouflage
Tank brigades began to be created for the first time in 1935 as separate tank brigades of the reserve of the High Command. In 1940, tank divisions were formed on their basis and became part of the mechanized corps.
Mechanized troops, troops consisting of motorized rifle (mechanized), tank, artillery and other units and subunits. The concept of "M. IN." appeared in various armies by the early 1930s. In 1929, the Central Directorate of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army was created in the USSR and the first experimental mechanized regiment was formed, which was deployed in 1930 into the first mechanized brigade consisting of tank, artillery, reconnaissance regiments and support units. The brigade had 110 MS-1 tanks and 27 guns and was intended to study issues of operational-tactical use and the most advantageous organizational forms of mechanized formations. In 1932, on the basis of this brigade, the world's first mechanized corps was created - an independent operational formation, which included two mechanized and one rifle-machine-gun brigades, a separate anti-aircraft artillery division and numbered over 500 tanks and 200 vehicles. By the beginning of 1936 there were 4 mechanized corps, 6 separate brigades, as well as 15 regiments in cavalry divisions. In 1937, the Central Directorate of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army was renamed the Automotive and Tank Directorate of the Red Army, and in December 1942 the Directorate of the Commander of Armored and Mechanized Forces was formed. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945, armored and mechanized troops became the main striking force of the Red Army.
Air Force
Aviation in the Soviet Armed Forces began to take shape in 1918. Organizationally, it consisted of separate aviation detachments that were part of the district Air Fleet Directorates, which in September 1918 were reorganized into front-line and army field aviation and aeronautics directorates at the headquarters of fronts and combined arms armies. In June 1920, field directorates were reorganized into air fleet headquarters with direct subordination to front and army commanders. After the Civil War of 1917-1923, the air forces of the fronts became part of the military districts. In 1924, the aviation detachments of the air forces of the military districts were consolidated into homogeneous aviation squadrons (18-43 aircraft each), transformed into aviation brigades at the end of the 20s. In 1938-1939, the aviation of the military districts was transferred from a brigade to a regimental and divisional organization. The main tactical unit was the aviation regiment (60-63 aircraft). Aviation of the Red Army was based on the main property of aviation - the ability to inflict fast and powerful air strikes on the enemy over long distances, inaccessible to other branches of the military. Aviation combat assets were aircraft armed with high-explosive, fragmentation and incendiary bombs, cannons and machine guns. Aviation at that time had high flight speed (400-500 or more kilometers per hour), the ability to easily overcome the enemy’s battle front and penetrate deep into his rear. Combat aviation was used to destroy enemy personnel and technical equipment; to destroy its aircraft and destroy important objects: railway junctions, military industry enterprises, communications centers, roads, etc. Reconnaissance aircraft were intended to conduct aerial reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Auxiliary aviation was used to correct artillery fire, for communications and surveillance of the battlefield, for transporting sick and wounded to the rear requiring urgent medical care (ambulance aviation), and for the urgent transportation of military cargo (transport aviation). In addition, aviation was used to transport troops, weapons and other means of combat over long distances. The main unit of aviation was the aviation regiment (air regiment). The regiment consisted of air squadrons (air squadrons). An air squadron is made up of flights.
"Glory to Stalin!" (Victory Parade 1945)
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the aviation of military districts consisted of separate bomber, fighter, mixed (assault) aviation divisions and separate reconnaissance aviation regiments. In the fall of 1942, aviation regiments of all types of aviation had 32 aircraft; in the summer of 1943, the number of aircraft in the attack and fighter aviation regiments was increased to 40 aircraft.
Corps of Engineers
Divisions were to have an engineer battalion, and rifle brigades - a sapper company. In 1919, special engineering units were formed. The leadership of the engineering troops was carried out by the inspector of engineers at the Field Headquarters of the Republic (1918-1921 - A.P. Shoshin), the chiefs of engineers of fronts, armies and divisions. In 1921, command of the troops was entrusted to the Main Military Engineering Directorate. By 1929, there were full-time engineering units in all branches of the military. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War in October 1941, the post of Chief of the Engineering Troops was established. During the war, the engineering troops built fortifications, created obstacles, mined the area, ensured the maneuver of troops, made passages in the enemy’s minefields, ensured the overcoming of his engineering obstacles, crossed water obstacles, participated in the assault on fortifications, cities, etc.
Chemical forces
Chemical forces began to form in the Red Army at the end of 1918. On November 13, 1918, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic No. 220, the Chemical Service of the Red Army was created. By the end of the 1920s, all rifle and cavalry divisions and brigades had chemical units. In 1923, anti-gas teams were introduced into the staff of rifle regiments. By the end of the 1920s, all rifle and cavalry divisions and brigades had chemical units. During the Great Patriotic War, the chemical forces included: technical brigades (for setting up smoke and camouflaging large objects), brigades, battalions and companies of anti-chemical protection, flamethrower battalions and companies, bases, warehouses, etc. During military operations they maintained high readiness anti-chemical protection of units and formations in case the enemy used chemical weapons, destroyed the enemy with the help of flamethrowers and carried out smoke camouflage of troops, continuously conducted reconnaissance in order to reveal the enemy’s preparations for a chemical attack and timely warning of their troops, participated in ensuring the constant readiness of military units, formations and associations to carry out combat missions in conditions of the possible use of chemical weapons by the enemy, destroyed enemy personnel and equipment with flamethrower and incendiary weapons, and camouflaged their troops and rear facilities with smoke.
Signal Corps
The first units and communications units in the Red Army were formed in 1918. October 20, 1919 Signal troops were created as independent special troops. In 1941, the post of Chief of the Signal Corps was introduced.
Automotive troops
As part of the Logistics Service of the Armed Forces of the USSR. They appeared in the Soviet Armed Forces during the Civil War. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, they consisted of subunits and units. In the Republic of Afghanistan, military motorists were given a decisive role in providing OKSVA with all types of materiel. Automobile units and subunits transported goods not only for troops, but also for the civilian population of the country.
Railway troops
In 1926, military personnel of the Separate Corps of Railway Troops of the Red Army began to conduct topographical reconnaissance of the future BAM route. 1st Guards Naval Artillery Railway Brigade (transformed from the 101st Naval Artillery Railway Brigade) Red Banner Baltic Fleet. The title "Guards" was awarded on January 22, 1944. 11th Guards separate railway artillery battery of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. The title "Guards" was awarded on September 15, 1945. There were four railway buildings: two BAM were built and two in Tyumen, roads were laid to each tower, bridges were erected.
Road Troops
As part of the Logistics Service of the Armed Forces of the USSR. They appeared in the Soviet Armed Forces during the Civil War. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, they consisted of subunits and units.
By mid-1943, the road troops consisted of: 294 separate road battalions, 22 military highway departments (VAD) with 110 road commandant areas (DKU), 7 military road departments (VDU) with 40 road detachments (DO), 194 horse-drawn transport companies, repair bases, bases for the production of bridge and road structures, educational and other institutions.
Labor Army
Military formations (associations) in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Republic in 1920-22, temporarily used in work to restore the national economy during the Civil War. Each labor army consisted of ordinary rifle formations, cavalry, artillery and other units engaged in labor activities and at the same time maintaining the ability to quickly transition to a state of combat readiness. A total of 8 labor armies were formed; in military-administrative terms they were subordinate to the RVSR, and in economic-labor terms - to the Council of Labor and Defense. The predecessor of military construction units (military construction detachments).
Personnel
A political commissar, or political instructor, was appointed to each Red Army unit with the authority to cancel orders from the unit commander. This was necessary, since no one could know which side the former tsarist officer would take in the next battle. When enough new command cadres had been raised by 1925, control was relaxed.
Number
- April 1918 - 196,000 people.
- September 1918 - 196,000 people.
- September 1919 - 3,000,000 people.
- Autumn 1920 - 5,500,000 people
- January 1925 - 562,000 people.
- March 1932 - 604,300 people.
- January 1937 - 1,518,090 people.
- February 1939 - 1,910,477 people.
- September 1939 - 5,289,400 people.
- June 1940 - 4,055,479 people.
- June 1941 - 5,080,977 people.
- July 1941 - 10,380,000 people.
- Summer 1942 - 11,000,000 people.
- January 1945 - 11,365,000 people.
- February 1946 5,300,000 people.
Conscription and military service
Red Army soldiers go on the attack
Since 1918, the service has been voluntary (based on volunteers). But the self-awareness of the population was not yet high enough, and on June 12, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars issued the first decree on the conscription of workers and peasants of the Volga, Ural and West Siberian military districts for military service. Following this decree, a number of additional decrees and orders on conscription into the armed forces were issued. On August 27, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars issued the first decree on the conscription of military sailors into the Red Fleet. The Red Army was a police force (from the Latin militia - army), created on the basis of a territorial police system. Military units in peacetime consisted of an accounting apparatus and a small number of command personnel; Most of it and the rank and file, assigned to military units on a territorial basis, underwent military training using the method of non-military training and at short-term training camps. The system was based on military commissariats located throughout the Soviet Union. During the conscription campaign, young people were distributed on the basis of General Staff quotas by branch of the armed forces and services. After distribution, the conscripts were taken from the units by officers and sent to the young fighter course. There was a very small stratum of professional sergeants; Most of the sergeants were conscripts who had undergone a training course to prepare them for positions as junior commanders.
The term of service in the army for infantry and artillery is 1 year, for cavalry, horse artillery and technical troops - 2 years, for the air fleet - 3 years, for the navy - 4 years.
Military training
The military education system in the Red Army is traditionally divided into three levels. The main one is the system of higher military education, which is a developed network of higher military schools. Their students are called cadets. The duration of training is 4-5 years, graduates receive the rank of lieutenant, which corresponds to the position of platoon commander.
If in peacetime the training program in schools corresponds to obtaining a higher education, in wartime it is reduced to secondary specialized education, the duration of training is sharply reduced, and short-term command courses lasting six months are organized.
One of the features of military education in the USSR was the system of military academies. Students who study there receive higher military education. This is in contrast to Western countries, where academies typically train junior officers.
The military academies of the Red Army have experienced a number of reorganizations and redeployments, and are divided into various branches of the military (Military Academy of Logistics and Transport, Military Medical Academy, Military Academy of Communications, Academy of Strategic Missile Forces, etc.). After 1991, the factually incorrect point of view was propagated that a number of military academies were directly inherited by the Red Army from the tsarist army.
Reserve officers
Like any other army in the world, the Red Army organized a system for training reserve officers. Its main goal is to create a large reserve of officers in case of general mobilization in wartime. The general trend of all armies of the world during the 20th century was a steady increase in the percentage of people with higher education among officers. In the post-war Soviet Army, this figure was actually increased to 100%.
In keeping with this trend, the Soviet Army viewed virtually any civilian with a college education as a potential wartime reserve officer. For their training, a network of military departments has been deployed at civilian universities, the training program in them corresponds to a higher military school.
A similar system was used for the first time in the world, in Soviet Russia, and adopted by the United States, where a significant part of officers are trained in non-military training courses for reserve officers, and in officer candidate schools.
Weapons and military equipment
The development of the Red Army reflected the general trends in the development of military equipment in the world. These include, for example, the formation of tank troops and air forces, the mechanization of infantry and its transformation into motorized rifle troops, the disbandment of cavalry, and the appearance of nuclear weapons on the scene.
Role of the cavalry
A. Varshavsky. Cavalry advance
The First World War, in which Russia took an active part, differed sharply in character and scale from all previous wars. A continuous multi-kilometer front line and protracted “trench warfare” made the widespread use of cavalry almost impossible. However, the Civil War was very different in nature from the First World War.
Its features included the excessive extension and unclearness of front lines, which made possible the widespread combat use of cavalry. The specifics of the civil war include the combat use of “carts,” which were most actively used by the troops of Nestor Makhno.
The general trend of the interwar period was the mechanization of troops, the abandonment of horse-drawn traction in favor of automobiles, and the development of tank forces. However, the need to completely disband the cavalry was not obvious to most countries of the world. In the USSR, some commanders who grew up during the Civil War spoke in favor of the preservation and further development of cavalry.
In 1941, the Red Army consisted of 13 cavalry divisions, deployed to 34. The final disbandment of the cavalry occurred in the mid-50s. The US Army command issued an order to mechanize the cavalry in 1942; the existence of cavalry in Germany ceased with its defeat in 1945.
Armored trains
Soviet armored train
Armored trains were widely used in many wars long before the Russian Civil War. In particular, they were used by British troops to protect vital railway communications during the Boer Wars. They were used during the American Civil War, etc. In Russia, the “armored train boom” occurred during the Civil War. This was caused by its specifics, such as the virtual absence of clear front lines, and the intense struggle for railways, as the main means for the rapid transfer of troops, ammunition, and grain.
Some of the armored trains were inherited by the Red Army from the tsarist army, while mass production of new armored trains, many times superior to the old ones, was launched. In addition, until 1919, mass production of “surrogate” armored trains continued, assembled from scrap materials from ordinary passenger cars in the absence of any drawings; such an armored train had worse protection, but could be assembled literally in a day.
By the end of the Civil War, the Central Council of Armored Units (Tsentrobron) was in charge of 122 full-fledged armored trains, the number of which was reduced to 34 by 1928.
During the interwar period, armored train production technology was constantly improved. Many new armored trains were built, and railway air defense batteries were deployed. Armored train units played an important role in the Great Patriotic War, primarily in protecting the railway communications of the operational rear.
At the same time, the rapid development of tank forces and military aviation that occurred during the Second World War sharply reduced the importance of armored trains. By a resolution of the USSR Council of Ministers of February 4, 1958, further development of railway artillery systems was stopped.
The rich experience accumulated in the field of armored trains allowed the USSR to add to its nuclear triad also railway-based nuclear forces - combat railway missile systems (BZHRK) equipped with RS-22 missiles (in NATO terminology SS-24 “Scalpel”). Their advantages include the ability to avoid impact due to the use of a developed railway network, and the extreme difficulty of tracking from satellites. One of the main demands of the United States in the 80s was the complete disbandment of the BZHRK as part of a general reduction in nuclear weapons. The United States itself has no analogues to the BZHRK.
Warrior rituals
Revolutionary Red Banner
Each individual combat unit of the Red Army has its own revolutionary Red Banner, awarded to it by the Soviet government. The revolutionary Red Banner is the emblem of the unit and expresses the internal unity of its fighters, united by a constant readiness to act at the first request of the Soviet government to defend the gains of the revolution and the interests of the working people.
The revolutionary Red Banner is in the unit and accompanies it everywhere in its military and peaceful life. The banner is awarded to the unit for the entire duration of its existence. The Order of the Red Banner awarded to individual units is attached to the revolutionary Red Banners of these units.
Military units and formations that have proven their exceptional devotion to the Motherland and have shown outstanding courage in battles with the enemies of the socialist fatherland or have shown high success in combat and political training in peacetime are awarded the “Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner”. The “Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner” is a high revolutionary award for the merits of a military unit or formation. It reminds military personnel of the ardent love of the Lenin-Stalin party and the Soviet government for the Red Army, of the exceptional achievements of the entire personnel of the unit. This banner serves as a call to improve the quality and pace of combat training and constant readiness to defend the interests of the socialist fatherland.
For each unit or formation of the Red Army, its Revolutionary Red Banner is sacred. It serves as the main symbol of the unit, and the embodiment of its military glory. In case of loss of the Revolutionary Red Banner, the military unit is subject to disbandment, and those directly responsible for such disgrace are subject to trial. A separate guard post is established to guard the Revolutionary Red Banner. Each soldier, passing by the banner, is obliged to give it a military salute. On especially solemn occasions, the troops perform a ritual of solemnly carrying out the Revolutionary Red Banner. To be included in the banner group directly conducting the ritual is considered a great honor, which is awarded only to the most worthy military personnel.
Military oath
It is mandatory for recruits in any army in the world to take an oath. In the Red Army, this ritual is usually carried out a month after conscription, after the young soldier has completed the course. Before being sworn in, soldiers are prohibited from being entrusted with weapons; There are a number of other restrictions. On the day of the oath, the soldier receives weapons for the first time; he breaks ranks, approaches the commander of his unit, and reads a solemn oath before the formation. The oath is traditionally considered an important holiday, and is accompanied by the ceremonial carrying out of the Battle Banner.
The text of the oath read as follows:
I, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, joining the ranks of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, take the oath and solemnly swear to be an honest, brave, disciplined, vigilant fighter, strictly keep military and state secrets, unquestioningly carry out all military regulations and orders of commanders, commissars and bosses.
I swear to conscientiously study military affairs, to protect military property in every possible way and to my last breath to be devoted to my people, my Soviet Motherland and the workers' and peasants' government.
I am always ready, by order of the workers' and peasants' government, to defend my Motherland - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and, as a warrior of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, I swear to defend it courageously, skillfully, with dignity and honor, not sparing my blood and life itself to achieve complete victory over the enemy.
If, out of malicious intent, I violate this solemn oath of mine, then may I suffer the severe punishment of Soviet law, the general hatred and contempt of the working people.
Military salute
When moving in formation, the military greeting is performed as follows: the guide puts his hand to the headdress, and the formation presses his hands at the seams, all together moving to a formation step and turning his head as he passes by the authorities he meets. When passing towards units or other military personnel, it is enough to perform a military salute by the guides.
When meeting, the junior in rank is obliged to greet the senior first; if they belong to different categories of military personnel (soldier - officer, junior officer - senior officer), a senior in rank may perceive failure to perform a military greeting when meeting as an insult.
In the absence of a headdress, a military salute is given by turning the head and adopting a combat position (arms at your sides, body straightened).