Let's remember interesting stories from the lives of Chapaev, Budyonny, Frunze, Shchors and Kotovsky.
Semyon Budyonny was born on April 25, 1883. Songs and legends were written about the main cavalryman of the Land of the Soviets; cities and towns were named after him. In the memory of many generations, the commander of the Cavalry remained a people's hero. One of the first Soviet marshals, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, lived to be 90 years old.
Vasily Chapaev
1. In February 1887, Vasily Chapaev was born in the village of Budaika, Cheboksary district, Kazan province. At his baptism he was registered as Gavrilov. He inherited the nickname “Chapai”, or rather “Chepai”, from his father, and he inherited it from his grandfather Stepan, who worked as a senior in an artel of loaders and constantly urged the workers on by shouting: “Chepai, chapai!” The word meant “chain,” that is, “take.” The nickname “Chapai” remained with Stepan Gavrilovich. The descendants were given the nickname “Chapaevs”, which later became the official surname.
Vasily Chapaev on a postcard from IZOGIZ, USSR
2. Vasily Chapaev was almost the first of the Red commanders to switch to a car. It was technology that was the real weakness of the division commander. At first he liked the American Stever, then this car seemed shaky to him. They sent a bright red, luxurious Packard to replace it. However, this vehicle was not suitable for combat in the steppe. Therefore, under Chapaev, two Fords were always on duty, easily squeezing out up to 70 versts per hour off-road.
When his subordinates did not go on duty, the commander raged: “Comrade Khvesin! I will complain about you to the Central Election Commission! You give me an order and demand that I carry it out, but I cannot walk along the entire front, it is impossible for me to ride a horse. I demand that one motorcycle with a sidecar, two cars, and four trucks for transporting supplies be immediately sent for the division and for the cause of the revolution!”
Vasily Ivanovich selected the drivers personally. One of them, Nikolai Ivanov, was almost forcibly taken from Chapaev to Moscow and made the personal driver of Lenin’s sister, Anna Ulyanova-Elizarova.
Vasily Ivanovich inherited the nickname “Chapai”, or rather “Chepai”, from his grandfather.
3. Chapaev did not learn to read and write, but tried to get a higher military education. It is known what Vasily Ivanovich displayed in his application form for applicants to the accelerated course of the Academy of the General Staff, filled out by him personally. Question: “Are you an active member of the party? What was your activity? Answer: “I belong.” Formed seven regiments of the Red Army." Question: “What awards do you have?” Answer: “Knight of St. George of four degrees. The watch was also presented.” Question: “What general education did you receive?” Answer: “Self-taught.” And finally, the most interesting thing is the conclusion of the certification commission: “Enroll as having revolutionary combat experience. Almost illiterate."
Semyon Budyonny
1. The legendary marshal managed to start a family only on his third attempt. The first wife, a front-line friend Nadezhda, accidentally shot herself with a pistol. About his second wife, Olga Stefanovna, Budyonny himself wrote this to the Main Military Prosecutor's Office: “In the first months of 1937... J.V. Stalin, in a conversation with me, said that, as he knows from Yezhov’s information, my wife is Budennaya-Mikhailova Olga Stefanovna behaves indecently and thereby compromises me and that, he emphasized, this is not beneficial for us in any way, we will not allow this to anyone...” Olga ended up in the camps... The marshal’s third wife was the cousin of the second. She was 34 years younger than Semyon Mikhailovich, but Budyonny fell in love like a boy. “Hello, my dear mommy! “I received your letter and remembered September 20, which connected us for life,” he wrote from the front to Maria. - It seems to me that you and I grew up together since childhood. I love you infinitely and will love you until the end of my last heartbeat. You are my most beloved creature, you who brought happiness to our dear children... Hello to you, my dear, I kiss you warmly, your Semyon.”
“This, Semyon, is not your mustache, but the people’s...” Frunze said to Budyonny when he decided to shave it off.
2. There is a legend that during the battles for the Crimea, when Budyonny checked the captured cartridges - whether they were smokeless or not - he brought a cigarette to them. The gunpowder flared up and singed one mustache, which turned gray. Since then, Semyon Mikhailovich has been painting it. Budyonny wanted to completely shave off his mustache, but Mikhail Frunze dissuaded him: “This, Semyon, is not your mustache, but the people’s...”
Semyon Budyonny on a postcard from IZOGIZ, USSR
3. Semyon Budyonny was an excellent rider until recent years. In Moscow, on Kutuzovsky Prospect, near the panorama, there is a famous monument - Kutuzov on horseback. So, the sculptor Tomsky sculpted the commander’s horse from Budyonny’s horse. It was Semyon Mikhailovich's favorite - the Sophist. He was incredibly handsome - a Don breed, reddish in color. When the marshal came to Tomsky to check on the horse, they say, Sophist recognized by the engine of the car that his owner had arrived. And when Budyonny died, the Sophist cried like a man.
Mikhail Frunze
1. Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was born in the city of Pishpek into the family of a retired paramedic and a Voronezh peasant woman. Misha was the second of five children. The father died early (the future military leader was only 12 years old at the time), the family was in need, and the state paid for the education of the two older brothers. Subjects were easy for Misha, especially languages, and the director of the gymnasium considered the child a genius. Mikhail graduated from the educational institution in 1904 with a gold medal, and without exams was enrolled in the economics department of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
Mikhail Frunze on a postcard from IZOGIZ, USSR
2. Frunze later recalled his rapid military career: he received his primary military education by shooting at the officers in Shuya, his secondary education against Kolchak, and his higher education on the Southern Front, defeating Wrangel. Mikhail Vasilyevich had personal courage and loved to be in front of the troops: in 1919, near Ufa, the army commander was even shell-shocked. Frunze did not hesitate to punish the rebel peasants for “class ignorance.” But most importantly, he showed his talent as an organizer and the ability to select competent specialists. True, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, Leon Trotsky, was not delighted with this gift. In his opinion, the military leader “was fascinated by abstract schemes, he had a poor understanding of people and easily fell under the influence of specialists, mostly secondary ones.”
The children of Mikhail Frunze - Tanya and Timur - were raised by Kliment Voroshilov.
3. After a car accident, Frunze once again developed a gastric ulcer - he contracted the disease while still a prisoner at the Vladimir Central Prison. The People's Commissar for Military Affairs did not survive the subsequent operation. According to the official version, the cause of death was a combination of difficult to diagnose diseases that led to cardiac paralysis. But a year later, the writer Boris Pilnyak put forward a version that Stalin thus got rid of a potential competitor. By the way, shortly before the death of Mikhail Vasilyevich, an article was published in the English “Airplane” where he was called the “Russian Napoleon”. Meanwhile, Frunze’s wife also could not bear the death of her husband: in despair, the woman committed suicide. Their children, Tanya and Timur, were raised by Kliment Voroshilov.
Grigory Kotovsky
1. Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky, the son of an engineer-nobleman, began his gangster career with the murder of his beloved’s father, Prince Kantakouzin, who opposed the lovers’ meetings. At the same time, he deprived his passion of property by burning down her estate. Hiding in the forests, Kotovsky put together a gang, which included former convicts and other professional criminals. Their robberies, murders, robberies, extortions shook the whole of Bessarabia. All this was done with insolence, cynicism and opposition. More than once, law enforcement officers caught the adventurer, but thanks to his enormous physical strength and dexterity, he managed to escape each time. In 1907, Kotovsky was sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, but in 1913 he fled from Nerchinsk and already in 1915 he led a new gang in his native land.
Grigory Kotovsky on a postcard from IZOGIZ, USSR
2. Kotovsky gave the impression of an intelligent, courteous person and easily aroused the sympathy of many. Contemporaries pointed to Gregory's enormous strength. Since childhood, he began lifting weights, boxing, and loved horse racing. This was very useful to him in life: strength gave independence, power, and frightened enemies and victims. Kotovsky of that time had steel fists, a frantic temper and a craving for all kinds of pleasures. In cities, he always appeared under the guise of a rich, elegant aristocrat, posing as a landowner, businessman, company representative, manager, machinist, and representative of the procurement of food for the army. He loved to visit theaters and brag about his brutal appetite, for example, scrambled eggs from 25 eggs. His weaknesses were thoroughbred horses, gambling and women.
Grigory Kotovsky's weaknesses were thoroughbred horses, gambling and women.
3. The death of Grigory Ivanovich is shrouded in the same unsolved mystery as his life. According to one version, the new economic policy of the Soviet state allowed the legendary brigade commander to legally and legally engage in big business. Under his leadership was a whole network of Uman sugar factories, trade in meat, bread, soap factories, tanneries and cotton factories. The hop plantations alone on the subsidiary farm of the 13th Cavalry Regiment brought in up to 1.5 million gold rubles per year in net profit. Kotovsky is also credited with the idea of creating Moldavian autonomy, in which he wanted to rule as a kind of Soviet prince. Be that as it may, Grigory Ivanovich’s appetites began to irritate the Soviet “elite”.
Nikolay Shchors
1. Nikolai Shchors was born in the small town of Snovsk. In 1909 he graduated from the parochial school. The career of a priest did not suit him very much, but Nikolai decided to go to the seminary. The son of a railway driver did not want to turn bolts and nuts in the depot. When the first shots of the German war rang out, Shchors responded with delight to the draft summons to the army. Being a literate guy, he was immediately assigned to the Kyiv school of military paramedics. After a year and a half of combat, he moved from the trenches of the First World War to the classrooms of the Poltava Military School, which trained junior warrant officers for the army in an accelerated four-month course. Intelligent and sensitive by nature, Nikolai realized that the school produced only likenesses of “their nobles.” This cemented in him a peculiar complex of resentment at the inequality of real officers and “cannon fodder.” Therefore, over time, Shchors willingly went under the scarlet banners, forgetting about the rank of second lieutenant received on the eve of the February revolution.
Until 1935, the name of Shchors was not widely known; even TSB did not mention him.
2. Until 1935, the name of Shchors was not widely known; even TSB did not mention him. In February 1935, presenting Alexander Dovzhenko with the Order of Lenin, Stalin invited the artist to create a film about the “Ukrainian Chapaev,” which was done. Later, several books, songs, even an opera were written about Shchors; schools, streets, villages and even a city were named after him. In 1936, Matvey Blanter (music) and Mikhail Golodny (lyrics) wrote “Song about Shchors”.
Nikolai Shchors on a postcard from IZOGIZ, USSR
3. When the body of Nikolai Shchors was exhumed in Kuibyshev in 1949, it was found well preserved, practically incorrupt, although it had lain in a coffin for 30 years. This is explained by the fact that when Shchors was buried in 1919, his body was previously embalmed, soaked in a steep solution of table salt and placed in a sealed zinc coffin.
Didactic goal: to create conditions for awareness and comprehension of a block of educational information, its consolidation, application and verification of the level of assimilation using the technology of independent group learning.
Lesson type: combined.
Educational: study the reasons for the creation of the Red Army, ensure repetition and in-depth study of previously studied concepts of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), the Revolutionary Military Council, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense.
Developmental: continue the development and formation of skills: present the main issues of the topic, prepare and deliver messages, work with a historical map and documents, additional literature, analyze them, draw conclusions, write down the main thing in a notebook.
Educational: education of civic and patriotic feelings.
Forms of organizing educational activities: group, frontal, pair.
Methods: partially – search, research
Equipment: textbook History of Russia, grade 9 (edited by A.A. Danilov, L.G. Kosulina), History of the Fatherland, grade 10 (edited by L.N. Zharova, I.A. Mishina), wall map “Civil War and Intervention in Russia,” a video film from the series “Russia of the 20th century”, an audio recording with music from the group “Lube” - “Horse”, student reports about V.K. Blucher; Vatsetise I.I.; Tukhachevsky M.M.; Trotsky L.D., historical documents, portraits, form, multimedia.
Teacher: The topic of the lesson and the purpose are reported.
The music sounds: “Seeing off” (as my own mother saw me off).
Teacher: During the lesson, it is necessary to write down the stages of the creation of the Red Army. Annex 1
Multimedia. 1 frame about the revolution.
Teacher: In October 1917, the October Revolution took place, the Bolsheviks came to power in the country, from October to March 1918, the formation of Soviet power took place throughout the country, where peacefully and where armed, and the first protests against the Bolsheviks were spontaneous and scattered, did not enjoy mass support from the population and took place against the backdrop of a relatively quick and peaceful establishment of Soviet power; this time was called the “Triumphal March of Soviet power in the country.” However, already at the very beginning of the confrontation, two main centers of resistance to the Bolshevik power emerged: east of the Volga, in Siberia, where wealthy peasants dominated, who were under the influence of the Socialist Revolutionaries, and also in the south - in the territories inhabited by the Cossacks, known for their love of freedom and special way of life . The main fronts of the civil war are the Eastern and Southern.
Lenin was an adherent of the Marxist position that after the victory of the socialist revolution, the regular army, as one of the main attributes of bourgeois society, should be replaced by the people's militia, which would be convened only in case of military danger. However, the scale of anti-Bolshevik protests required a different approach.
1. January 15, 1918, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars proclaimed the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). Among the first volunteers to join the Red Army were St. Petersburg workers - Red Guards. On January 29, 1918, the Red Fleet was formed.
Teacher: On everyone’s desks there are documents about the creation of the Red Army.
Teacher: Please answer the question, on what principles was the process of forming the Red Army?
Student answers: the army is created from conscious and organized elements of the working people, access to it is open to everyone who is ready to give their strength and life to defend the gains of the revolution, recommendations are needed: military committees or democratic organizations.
Teacher: Now we will watch a fragment with you video about the creation of the Red Army. I would like to draw your attention to watch the film carefully and answer the question.
Teacher: What does the documentary newsreel indicate? What is their training? Who were the first Red Army soldiers?
Answers: very poorly dressed, many do not have appropriate uniforms, many do not know how to shoot, there is no discipline.
Teacher: the answers are correct.
2. Teacher: In the autumn of 1917 - in the spring of 1918, the process of demobilization of the old tsarist army was underway. All old ranks and titles, estates were abolished, and election of command personnel was introduced.
Question. What is demobilization (remember the definition).
Answers: disarmament of the old army, dissolution of soldiers to their homes, all military ranks were abolished.
Teacher: Many soldiers and officers of the old tsarist army who did not agree with the new government, the power of the Bolsheviks, went to serve on the Don with the atamans Kaledin, Denikin, Alekseev and other generals and atamans. A Volunteer Army was formed on the Don under the command of General Lavr Kornilov, which marked the beginning of the white movement, so named in contrast to the red one - revolutionary. White color symbolized law and order. Participants in the white movement considered themselves the spokesmen for the idea of restoring the former power and might of the Russian state and a merciless struggle against those forces that, in their opinion, plunged Russia into chaos and anarchy - the Bolsheviks.
The initially applied volunteer principle of recruitment led to organizational disunity and decentralization in command and control, which had a detrimental effect on the combat effectiveness and discipline of the Red Army. She suffered a number of serious defeats.
That is why, in order to achieve the highest strategic goal - maintaining power Bolsheviks, Lenin considered it possible to abandon his views in the field of military development and return to traditional, “bourgeois”, as he said, principles, i.e. to universal conscription and unity of command.
3. Teacher: Back in the spring of 1918, a decree on compulsory military training was issued. Women could study military affairs voluntarily.
4. April 22, 1918 - the election of commanders was abolished and the first Soviet military oath was introduced, the text of which was compiled by L.D. Trotsky.
On the same day, an important step was taken towards the transition from the voluntary principle of army formation to universal military service: everyone who joined the ranks of the Red Army had to take an oath and serve in it for at least six months.
A Red Army soldier in uniform reads the Military Oath (document - history of the Fatherland).
Teacher: Answer the question, what was the most important, most important thing for those who joined the Red Army?
Student answers.
Teacher: Question one. How long was your service in the Red Army?
Teacher: Remember how many people serve in the modern Russian army?
U: Now let’s look at fragments of the film, pay attention to the first uniform of the Red Army soldiers, what is special about it, what distinguishes it from the modern uniform?
Multimedia frames about the form (3,4,5).
Students' answers: long overcoats, tunics, no insignia, unusual headdresses, many do not have boots, their legs are wrapped in foot wraps.
Teacher: absolutely right, there weren’t enough uniforms for everyone, they dressed according to who had what.
Teacher: On May 20, 1918, there were just over 322 thousand soldiers in the army of the Soviet Republic. Of these, about 200 thousand were armed, about 31 thousand were trained. With such forces it was impossible to resist the troops of the White Guards and interventionists.
“Any revolution is only worth something if it knows how to defend itself,” Lenin said in the fall of 1918.
5. In May 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued a decree “On the transition to the general mobilization of workers and poor peasants.”
In July 1918, the law was published, it stated: “persons from 18 to 40 years of age are required to perform military service.” During the summer - autumn of 1918, 300 thousand people were mobilized into the ranks of the Red Army. The resolution also stated that persons unworthy to serve in the army due to their moral qualities were not allowed into its ranks (subsequently a decree was issued “on exemption from military service for religious beliefs”). An alternative service was introduced for them.
The backbone of the army were members of the RCP (b). By the end of the civil war, the Red Army numbered 5.5 million fighters, of which over 700 thousand were workers, 4 million peasants. About 50 thousand officers and generals of the old army, 10 thousand military officials, 40 thousand doctors and medical personnel, mainly from the old tsarist army, were drafted into it. Old military specialists made up 35% of the entire command staff of the Red Army. By January 1, 1919, the ranks of the Red Army consisted of approximately 165 thousand former tsarist officers and soldiers. The involvement of military experts was accompanied by strict “class” control over their activities. And Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky was instructed to receive officers of the old army.
Student message. Portrait. Tukhachevsky Mikhail Nikolaevich, a man of exceptional abilities, while studying in the cadet corps, he made a violin with his own hands, they always said about him that he had golden hands, since he always preferred to do everything himself. He graduated from the cadet corps with honors and was accepted into the Alexander Military School; graduation from the school coincided with the beginning of the First World War. Tukhachevsky held the rank of second lieutenant of the Semenovsky Life Guards Regiment. In the spring of 1918, he was hired by the military department of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), and in April he joined the Bolshevik Party. He personally received former officers; his conversations were distinguished by exceptional tact. The new army commander made a huge impression on his interlocutors, and thanks to him, more than one hundred officers then went over to the side of Soviet power. This made it possible to quickly create a field command of the 1st Army, division and brigade headquarters, and organize staff work.
Teacher: Much attention was paid to the formation of new team personnel.
6. In 1917 - 1919, in addition to short-term courses and military schools, higher military educational institutions were opened to train mid-level commanders from the most distinguished Red Army soldiers. The recruitment of military specialists into the army was carried out simultaneously with the introduction of the position of military commissars, who were supposed to control the actions of the commander, were responsible for the combat effectiveness and resilience of the units, and carried out the political education of sailors and Red Army soldiers.
7. In September 1918, for the general management of military actions on the fronts, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR), consisting of the commander of the front (army) and two commissars, was created. Its members included L.D. Trotsky (chairman), E.M. Sklyansky, K.Kh. Danishevsky, P.A. Kobozev, I.I. Vatsetis and others.
L.D. Trotsky tells the teacher.
Trotsky L.D., while remaining People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, as Chairman of the RVSR, did a lot to transform the Red Army into a revolutionary, regular army. He actively fought against the so-called opposition, which resisted the introduction of conscription and the involvement of military specialists. He took part in the development of operations to defeat Kolchak, Denikin, Yudenich, and the White Poles. He worked closely with Lenin, who trusted him completely. Trotsky showed a penchant for administration and forceful pressure. Members of the RVSR were endowed with extraordinary powers (up to and including shooting traitors and cowards without trial) and went to the most dangerous sectors of the front.
8. Teacher: On September 2, 1918, the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces was established. Vatsetis I.I. became the first commander-in-chief of the republic
Student's speech. – portrait on multimedia.
Vatsetis I.I graduated from the Academy of the General Staff, and participated in the First World War with the rank of colonel. With his regiment he went over to the side of Soviet power. Suppressed
Teacher: Study the document yourself and answer the question, For what purpose was this document adopted?
Student answers: The Republic was in danger, the white units were advancing, it was necessary to defend the cause of the revolution, the power of the Bolsheviks.
Teacher: That's right, the Soviet Republic was in danger.
10. To coordinate the actions of the front and rear, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense was established at the end of November 1918.
Teacher: read the document on the formation of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense and answer the question: What functions were assigned to the Council?
Student answers: mobilization of all forces and means in the interests of defense.
Teacher: He had to mobilize all the country's resources to defend the Socialist Fatherland. The Defense Council was headed by Lenin. All people's commissariats and the RVSR were subordinate to the Defense Council. Twice a week, at meetings of the Defense Council, issues of the production of weapons, ammunition, supply of the front and rear, and the distribution of human resources were considered.
The greatest threat to Bolshevik power came from the east. To fight back, the Eastern Front was formed. The fighting on the eastern front was heavy and bloody.
A 10,000-strong partisan detachment under the command of V.K. Blucher provided great assistance to the troops of the eastern front.
Student's speech. Portrait.
Blucher V.K. was from peasant background. The landowner nicknamed his grandfather Blucher for his quickness and ingenuity, after the Prussian Field Marshal Blucher. The nickname turned into a surname. Young Vasily worked at a factory, where he became close to the Bolsheviks. During the First World War, he received two St. George Crosses, the St. George Medal, and was promoted to non-commissioned officer. In 1915 he was wounded. Then, with a detachment of Red Guards, he established Soviet power in Chelyabinsk. Organized a rebuff to Ataman Dutov near Orenburg and was cut off from the main forces of the Red Army. In incredibly difficult conditions, Blucher managed to lead his detachment through the rear of the whites. Blucher was the first to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner (since his forty-day journey of one and a half thousand kilometers was equated to Suvorov’s crossing of the Alps).
Teacher: But let's go back. When one of the first decrees the Soviet government abolished all old titles, ranks, estates, it also abolished the royal reward system. In the first years of Soviet power, there was no reward system as such during the year; the Red Heroes were content with modest gifts. For example: “for devotion to the revolution and skillful command of the battery, the red commander - artilleryman, Comrade Nalivaiko, is presented with red trousers.”
U: Let’s remember the film “Officers” (where the commander was also awarded red trousers)
There were often awards in the form of clothes, also because there simply wasn’t enough of it. The desired reward was a watch, a personal weapon, or simply gratitude in front of the line of soldiers.
The first order appeared in the award system of the Soviet government in 1918. It became the Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR. Order for multimedia. Annex 1
On September 30, 1918, for No. 1, the order was awarded to V.K. Blucher (later received four orders during the civil war, and the fifth in the mid-20s for his work as a military adviser to the revolutionary government of China).
Three more heroes of the Civil War, S.S. Vostretsov, I.F., received four Orders of the Red Banner. Fedko, Ya.F. Fabricius. More than thirty people were awarded this order three times, and about three hundred people - twice. In total, about 15 thousand people became holders of the Order of the Red Banner.
In 1924, the Order of the Red Banner of the USSR was established.
In addition to orders, honorary military breastplates, honorary revolutionary red banners, and honorary firearms appeared.
In the battles with intervention and the civil war, the Red Army was built and formed, young fighters were trained in military affairs, studied the Charter, various military disciplines. And more than once our Red Army was tested by invaders - militarists. The Patriotic War against fascism was a severe test for the people and their armed forces.
Teacher: We looked at the history of the creation of the Red Army. What stage do you think was the most difficult and why?
Student answers: probably the first, since the time was very difficult, uncertain, the demobilization of the tsarist army had just taken place, and then there was recruitment into the new Red Army, the danger of intervention loomed over the country, the strengthening of the new power of the Bolsheviks, the people were wondering where to go in white or red, which is better.
Teacher: sums it up.
With good reason we can assume that the current Russian army is the direct heir to the military glory, experience, and traditions of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Red Army. At the same time, she is the heir to the wonderful traditions and brilliant victories of the Russian army of pre-revolutionary times. She is the heir of those who glorified themselves on the ice of Lake Peipus, the Kulikovo Field, near Poltava, and Borodino, in the famous Brusilovsky breakthrough and the victories of the Great Patriotic War.
Music is playing. Preobrazhensky March. Music "Seeing Off".
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 transition 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 formation 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 affairs 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).
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 allocated entirely 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.