Type of troops of the USSR armed forces. Soviet army

The year 1917 became a turning point in the history of our country, in the course of two revolutions the former monarchical state system was liquidated, in all spheres of life, outdated institutions and bodies of tsarist power were destroyed. The internal situation in the state was quite complicated: it was necessary to defend the new socialist system and the achievements of the October Revolution. The external situation was also extremely dangerous for the Bolsheviks: hostilities continued with Germany, which was leading an active offensive and approached directly to the borders of our homeland.

The birth of the workers 'and peasants' Red Army

The young Soviet state needed protection. In the first months after the October Revolution, the functions of the army were performed by the Red Guard, which by the beginning of 1918 had over 400 thousand soldiers. However, the poorly armed and untrained guard could not seriously oppose the Kaiser's troops, so on January 15, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a decree on the creation of the Red Army (Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army).

Already in February, the new army entered into battles with German fighters in the Pskov and Narva regions, on the territory of Belarus and Ukraine. It is worth noting that the initial service life was equal to six months, but after some time (in October 1918) it increased to one year. Shoulder straps and insignia were abolished in the army as a relic of the tsarist regime. The Red Army troops took the most active part in the struggle against the White Guards, with the interventionists from the Entente countries, and played an important role in consolidating Soviet power in the center and in the localities.

Army of the USSR in the 1920s-1930s

The goal of the Red Army, which the Soviet government set for it, was fulfilled: the internal situation in the state after the end of the Civil War became peaceful, the threat of expansion from the Western powers also gradually began to fade away. On December 30, 1922, a significant event took place not only in the history of Russia, but of the whole world - four countries (RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, ZSFSR) united into one state - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The progressive development of the USSR army took place:

1. Special military schools were created to train officers and command personnel.
2. In 1922, another decree of the Council of People's Commissars was issued, which proclaimed universal military service, and also established new terms of service - from 1, 5 to 4 years (depending on the type of troops).
3. All citizens of the union republics, regardless of their national, religious, racial, or social origin, at the age of 20 (from 1924 to 21) were obliged to serve in the army in the USSR.
4. A system of deferrals was envisaged: they could be obtained due to study in educational institutions, as well as for family reasons.

The geopolitical situation in the world was heated to the limit due to the aggressive foreign policy of Nazi Germany, another threat of war was created, in this regard, the army was modernized: the military industry was actively developing, including aircraft and shipbuilding, and the production of weapons. The size of the army in the USSR in the 1930s steadily increased: in 1935 it amounted to 930 thousand people, three years later this figure reached 1.5 million soldiers. By the beginning of 1941, there were more than 5 million soldiers in the Soviet army.

Red Army of the USSR at the first stage of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1942)

On June 22, 1941, there was a treacherous attack by German troops on the Soviet Union. It was a real test of the strength of not only the entire people, but also the Red Army. It is worth noting that, in addition to progressive trends in military development, there were also negative ones:

1. In the 1930s. a number of prominent military leaders (Tukhachevsky, Uborevich, Yakir, etc.) and commanders were accused of crimes against the Soviet state and shot, which contributed to the deterioration of the situation with military personnel. There was a shortage of talented and competent army commanders.
2. In fact, the not very successful conduct of hostilities by the Soviet army in the war with Finland (1939-1940) showed its unpreparedness for battles with a serious enemy.

A number of statistical indicators indicate the military superiority of the Third Reich at the beginning of the war:

• in terms of the total number of troops, Germany surpassed the army of the USSR - 8.5 million people. against 4.8 million people;
• in the number of guns and mortars - 47.2 thousand from the Nazis against 32.9 thousand from the Soviet Union.

During the summer and autumn of 1941, German troops swiftly seized territory after territory, approaching Moscow in the fall of the same year. Only the heroic actions of the Red Army in the battle of Moscow did not allow the "blitzkrieg" plans to come true, the enemy was driven back from the capital. The myth of the invincible German war machine was destroyed.

However, the first half of 1942 was not so rosy: the Nazis went on the offensive, were successful in the battles in the Crimea and in the Kharkov battle, the threat of the capture of Stalingrad was created. In the second half of 1942, the quantitative growth of our army and qualitative changes took place:

• the volume of supplies of military equipment and ammunition increased;
• the system of training officer-command personnel was improved;
• the role of tank troops and artillery increased.

The Battle of Stalingrad, which began in 1942, ended in February 1943 with a successful counteroffensive by the Red Army, which defeated the troops of Field Marshal von Paulus. From now on, the strategic initiative in the Great Patriotic War passed to the USSR.

1943 was a turning point for the Soviet army: our soldiers successfully carried out military operations, won a victory in the Battle of Kursk, liberated Kursk, Belgorod from the Nazis, and gradually began to liberate the country's territory from the aggressor. The troops became much more combat-ready, in comparison with the first stage of the war, the army leadership skillfully implemented complex tactical maneuvers, brilliant strategy and ingenuity. At the beginning of the year, previously canceled shoulder straps were introduced, the system of ranks in the army in the USSR was restored, Suvorov and Nakhimov schools were opened throughout the country.

In the spring of 1944, the Soviet army reached the borders of the territory of the USSR and began the liberation of the European countries oppressed by German Nazism. In April 1945, a successful offensive began on Berlin, the capital of the Third Reich. On the night of May 8-9, the German military leadership signed an act of surrender. In August 1945, the Soviet Union launched a war against militaristic Japan, defeated the Kwantung Army and forced Emperor Hirohito to admit defeat.

In total, over 34 million Soviet citizens took part in these long four years of hostilities, a third of whom did not return from the fields of the Second World War. During the war, the Red Army demonstrated its readiness to fight mercilessly against any enemy encroaching on our homeland, liberated the countries of Europe from fascist enslavement, and gave them a peaceful sky overhead.

Cold war

After the end of World War II and the death of JV Stalin, the foreign policy doctrine of the USSR changed: peaceful rivalry and coexistence of the countries of the socialist and capitalist camp were proclaimed. However, this doctrine was a kind of formality, since in fact, already in the 1940s. the so-called cold war began - a state of political, cultural confrontation between the Soviet Union, the ATS member states, on the one hand, and against the United States and the West (NATO), on the other.

Conflicts that threatened the world with another military clash regularly flared up: the Korean War (1950-1953), the Berlin (1961) and Caribbean (1962) crises. But despite this, N.S. Khrushchev, as the leader of the Soviet state, believed that it was necessary to reduce the army, the arms race led to uneven economic development. During the 1950-1960s. the size of the army decreased from 5.7 million people. (1955) up to 3.3 million people. (1963-1964). During this period, the vertical of power in the domestic army was finally formed: its leadership belonged to the Minister of Defense, and the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR also owned the possibility of management. The composition of the Soviet armed forces is being formed. They included:

• ground troops;
• air Force;
• Navy;
• strategic missile forces (Strategic Rocket Forces).

The armed forces of the USSR in the era of detente

In the early 1970s. an important event took place - the signing of agreements in Helsinki (1972), which for some time managed to suspend the arms race and confrontation between the countries of the socialist and capitalist camps. However, this period was not calm for the Soviet army: the leadership of the CPSU Central Committee actively used it to support regimes friendly to the Soviet Union in African countries.

The largest armed conflicts of the 70s of the twentieth century, in which the USSR and the Soviet army were directly involved, were the Arab-Israeli war (1967-1974), the war in Angola (1975-1992) and Ethiopia (1977-1990) .). In total, more than 40 thousand soldiers were involved in the wars in Africa, the death toll from the Soviet side was more than 150 people.

In addition, the regimes friendly to the USSR received a large amount of ammunition, armored vehicles, aviation, a huge amount of money was sent to the countries, as well as party workers and technical specialists. Soviet troops were stationed in the territories of the countries of the socialist camp: in Czechoslovakia, Cuba, Mongolia, their largest representation was on the territory of the German Democratic Republic, the 20th Panzer and 6th Guards Motorized Rifle Divisions were located in the Polish People's Republic.

The size of the Soviet army gradually declined, reaching in the early 1970s. a mark of 2 million people. The war in Afghanistan (1979-1989) became the culmination and, of course, tragic event that marked the end of the era of detente in international relations and claimed thousands of soldiers' lives.

This is the scary word "Afghan"

1979 became the starting point for a new local armed conflict, in which the USSR army took an active part. In Afghanistan, a conflict erupted between the country's leadership and the opposition. The Soviet Union supported the ruling People's Democratic Party, and the US and Pakistanis supported the local mujahideen.

On December 12, the Central Committee of the CPSU made a decision to send a limited contingent of troops to the Asian country. Especially for these purposes, the 40th Army was created, headed by Lieutenant General Yu. Tukharinov. Initially, more than 81 thousand Soviet servicemen, most of them conscripts, went to Afghanistan. Despite the successful actions of the 40th Army, the Afghan mujahideen, who received financial and military support from the United States and Pakistan, did not stop fighting. Every year the number of Soviet troops stationed in this country increased, reaching by 1985 a maximum level of 108.8 thousand people.

In 1985-1986. The 40th Army conducted a number of successful military operations in the Kunar Gorge, in Khost. In 1987, Kandahar became the main military arena, the battles for which were particularly fierce.

After M.S. Gorbachev's rise to power, there was a gradual transition from the doctrine of rivalry to the doctrine of peaceful coexistence between the ATS and NATO countries. In 1988, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee decided to withdraw Soviet troops from Afghanistan. On February 15, 1989, this decision was finally implemented: the 40th Army returned to the USSR.

Over the ten years of the Afghan war, the Soviet Union suffered massive losses: in total, over 600 thousand Soviet soldiers took part in the monstrous "meat grinder", of which about 15 thousand people did not return home. During the fighting, several hundred aircraft, helicopters, and tanks were destroyed. Afghan has inflicted huge mental wounds on thousands of former soldiers, generations of young children have become victims of the ideological interests of the state.

1989 - 1991 became a turning point in our history: the former once mighty Soviet state collapsed before our eyes, the Baltic republics adopted declarations of sovereignty and began to secede from the Union, local conflicts broke out between the peoples of the republics over disputed territories. One of the largest was the clash between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over Nagorno-Karabakh, in the suppression of which parts of the Soviet army took part.
Changes took place in the geopolitical world system: the unification of Germany took place, velvet revolutions swept away the socialist regimes in the Balkans. Military units previously deployed abroad began to be forced to leave the territories of the countries.

The army was in decline: military units were disbanded en masse, the number of generals was reduced, thousands of tanks, aircraft, and armored vehicles were written off.

Liquidation of the Armed Forces of the USSR and the creation of national armies

The agony of the Soviet Union continued: the August events of 1991 demonstrated the impossibility of the existence of a union state. The parade of sovereignties began.

By the summer of 1991, the total number of the Armed Forces was almost 4 million people, but in the fall events took place that put an end to the existence of a unified union army: in the fall in a number of republics (Belarus, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, etc.), presidential decrees announced the creation of national military formations ...

On December 25, 1991, President M.S. Gorbachev de jure announced the liquidation of the Soviet Union as a state, thus, the question of the existence of the Soviet Armed Forces was a foregone conclusion. A new page began in the history of the Russian armed forces, the general army of the former USSR split into many independent units.

The army of the USSR is one of the most powerful military enclaves of the 20th century, on the creation of which considerable resources, primarily human resources, were spent. It is worth noting that it was formed relatively quickly and firmly took the place of a leader in world history, primarily due to the heroism and endurance on the verge of human capabilities that Soviet soldiers showed in the fight against the fascist invaders. After unconditional surrender, perhaps, few of the world powers could challenge the obvious fact: the army of the USSR was the strongest in the world at that time. However, she retained this unspoken title almost until the end of the last century.

Formation stages

Throughout its history, since the emergence of a more or less organized form, the Russian army was famous for its incredible courage, strength and faith in the cause for which the blood of the soldiers was shed. The fall of the empire, in particular, entailed not only demoralization of the armed forces, but also their almost complete destruction. This was also explained by the destructive zeal to eliminate most of the officer corps. In parallel, Red Guards were formed throughout the country from those wishing to serve new ideas and the newborn state. However, the First World War was still going on, despite the internal events, Russia did not officially leave it, which means that there was a need for regular connections. This marked the beginning of the formation of the Red Army, in the name of which a year later the phrase "workers and peasants" was added. The official birthday is February 23, 1918. At the time of the beginning of civil strife, there were 800 thousand volunteers in its ranks, a little later - 1.5 million.

The basis for the creation of an army of a new, not yet fully formed state was based on such principles as class, internationalism (citizens from other countries were admitted to the army), elective leadership, double-command, which provided for the mandatory presence of military commissars, so-called political workers in all divisions. ...

The basic components are land and sea. The army of the USSR became a full-fledged military association only in 1922, that is, when the Soviet Union had already legally begun to exist. Until the disappearance of this state from the map of the world, the army did not change its external forms. After the formation of the USSR, it was replenished by the troops of the NKVD.

Organizational and management structure

Both in the RSFSR and later in the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars functioned to perform managerial functions, as well as control over various structures, including the army. The People's Commissar for Defense was created in 1934. During the Great Patriotic War, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command was formed, headed directly by Joseph Stalin. Later, the Ministry of Defense was formed. The same structure has survived to this day.

Initially, there was no orderliness in the army. Volunteers formed squads, each of which was a separate and independent military unit. In an effort to cope with this situation, the army attracted appropriate specialists who were engaged in structuring it. Initially, the rifle and cavalry corps were formed. A powerful technological breakthrough, expressed in the production of planes, tanks, armored vehicles, put on stream, contributed to the expansion of the USSR army, mechanized and motorized units appeared in it, and technical units were strengthened. During the war, regular units turn into an active army. According to military rules, the entire length of hostilities is divided into fronts, which, in turn, include armies.

Since its inception, the strength of the USSR army numbered almost two hundred thousand fighters; by the time Nazi Germany attacked, there were already more than five million people in its ranks.

Types of troops

The armies of the USSR included rifle, artillery troops, cavalry, signal troops, armored vehicles, engineering, chemical, automobile, railway, road troops.In addition, horse cavalry, which was formed simultaneously with the Red Army, also occupied a significant place. However, the leadership encountered serious difficulties in the formation of this unit: those regions in which the formations could be formed were in the power of the White Guards or were occupied by a foreign corps. There was a serious problem with the lack of weapons and professional personnel. As a result, it was possible to form full-fledged cavalry units only by the end of 1919. During the civil war, such units already reached almost half of the number of infantrymen in some combat actions. In the first months of the war with the most powerful German army at that time, the cavalry, I must say, showed itself selflessly and courageously, especially in the battle for Moscow. However, it was all too obvious that their combat power could not be compared with modern methods of warfare. Therefore, most of these troops were abolished.

Firepower of iron

The twentieth century, especially its first half, was marked by rapid military progress. And the Red Army of the USSR, like the military forces of any other country, actively acquired new technological capabilities for maximum destruction of the enemy. This task was greatly simplified by the assembly line production of tanks in the 1920s. When they appeared, military specialists developed a system of productive interaction between new equipment and infantry. It was this aspect that was central to the infantry combat manual. In particular, surprise was indicated as the main advantage, and among the capabilities of the new technology, it was noted with their help the strengthening of positions captured by the infantry, the execution of maneuvers to deepen attacks on the enemy.

In addition, the tank armies of the USSR included paramilitary units equipped with armored vehicles. The formation of armies began in 1935, when tank brigades appeared, which later became the base of future mechanized corps. However, at the very beginning of the war, these formations had to be disbanded due to serious losses of equipment. Separate battalions and brigades were formed again. However, by the beginning of the second year of the war, the supply of equipment resumed and was established on an ongoing basis, the mechanized troops were restored, they already included entire tank armies of the USSR. This is the largest formation in such. As a rule, they were entrusted with the solution of independent combat missions.

Military aviation

Aviation is another very serious enhancer of the armed forces. Since the first aircraft began to appear at the beginning of the 20th century, military aviation formations began to form in 1918. However, in the 1930s, it became obvious that in this type of troops the Soviet army was significantly inferior due to the rapid development of the aviation industry in the West. Attempts to modernize the technology have shown all their futility. The Luftwaffe vehicles, which launched their June morning attacks on Soviet cities, took the military command by surprise. It is known that in the first days about two thousand were destroyed, most of them - on the ground. After six months of the war, the losses of Soviet aviation totaled more than 21 thousand aircraft.

The rapid build-up in the aviation industry made it possible, after a short time, to achieve parity in the sky with the Luftwaffe fighters. The famous Yak fighters in various modifications made the German aces lose faith in a quick victory. In the future, the air fleet was replenished with modernized attack aircraft, bombers, fighters.

Other armed forces

Among other types of weapons, engineering troops occupied a rather significant place during the Second World War. They were responsible for the construction of fortifications, structures, barriers, mining of territories, technical support of maneuvers, in addition, they helped in creating corridors in mined fields, in overcoming enemy fortifications, barriers and other things. The chemical troops also significantly expanded their field of application during that period, each had a corresponding department. In particular, it was they who used flamethrowers and set up smoke screens.

Ranks in the USSR army

As you know, the first thing the supporters of the revolution fought for was the destruction of everything that even faintly reminded of class oppression. That is why, first of all, the officers were abolished, and with it - the ranks and shoulder straps. Instead of the imperial table of ranks, military positions were established. Later, service categories appeared, designated by the letter "K". Geometrical figures were used to distinguish by position - a triangle, a rhombus, a rectangle, according to military affiliation - colored buttonholes on the form.

However, individual officer ranks in the USSR army were nevertheless restored, although it was closer to World War II. A year before the German attack, the ranks of "general", "admiral" and "lieutenant colonel" were revived. Then they returned to service ranks in the technical and logistic services. An officer as a military concept, shoulder straps and other ranks were finally installed only in 1943. However, not all ranks that existed in pre-revolutionary Russia were restored in the army of the former USSR. This fact also influenced the composition of the ranks of the Russian army, since it was the system developed in 1943 that is used today. Among those not included: non-commissioned officer sergeant major and sergeant-major, chief officer second lieutenant, lieutenant, staff captain, as well as cavalry cornet, staff captain, captain. The ensign was recovered only in 1972. At the same time, the major, who was removed in 1881, on the contrary, returned.

The general of the USSR army, introduced in 1940, belongs to completely new ranks; in terms of status, he goes beyond the highest rank in the Soviet Union, which is the rank of marshal. The first to be awarded the new rank were the well-known large army leaders Kirill Meretskov and Ivan Tyulenev. Before the start of the war, two more were elevated to this rank - military leaders Joseph Apanasenko and Dmitry Pavlov. During the war, the title of "General of the USSR Army" was not awarded until 1943. Then shoulder straps were developed, on which four stars were placed. The first to receive the rank was As a rule, those elevated to this rank led the army fronts.

By the end of the war, the Soviet army of the USSR already numbered eighteen military leaders awarded this title. Ten of them were assigned to the rank of marshal. In the 1970s, the title was no longer awarded for special services and deeds to the Fatherland, but in fact of the position held, which involves the conferment of a rank.

A terrible war is a great victory

By the time the Great Patriotic War began, the USSR army was strong enough, perhaps overly bureaucratic and somewhat beheaded thanks to the repressions organized by Stalin in the army ranks in 1937-1938, when the commanding staff was very seriously cleaned up. This was partly the reason that in the first weeks the troops were demoralized, there were many casualties of people, both military and civilian, equipment, weapons and other things. Although the army of the USSR and Germany was clearly not in equal positions at the start of the war, at the cost of countless casualties, Soviet soldiers defended their homeland, and the first such feat was, of course, the defense of Moscow and the retention of the city from the invading troops. The war significantly accelerated the training of new aggressive methods, and the Red Soviet Army rapidly transformed into a military professional force, which at first desperately defended the lines and yielded them, only forcing the enemy to pretty much lose in its ranks, and after the crucial Battle of Stalingrad, it fiercely advanced and drove the enemy away.

The army of the USSR in 1941 consisted of more than five million soldiers. As of June 22, there were about one hundred and twenty thousand guns and mortars from small arms. For a year and a half, the enemy felt rather at ease on Soviet lands and moved deep into the country quickly enough. Until the moment I stumbled upon Stalingrad. The defense and the battle for the city opened a new stage in the historical confrontation, which turned into an inglorious flight of the enemy from Russian territory. The peak strength of the USSR army was reached at the beginning of 1945 - 11.36 million soldiers.

Military duty

At the beginning of its glorious history, the ranks of the Red Army were replenished on a voluntary basis. But after a while, the leadership discovered that under such conditions, at critical moments, the country could be in danger due to the lack of a regular military corps. That is why, since 1918, decrees have been regularly issued calling for compulsory military service. Then the terms of service were quite loyal, infantrymen and artillerymen served for a year, cavalrymen for two years, in the military aviation they were drafted for three years, in the navy - for four years. Service in the army in the USSR was regulated by both separate legislative acts and the Constitution. This duty was seen as the most active form of fulfillment of their civic duty to defend the socialist Fatherland.

As soon as the war ended, the leadership realized that it was impossible to carry out conscriptions to the army in the near future. And therefore, until 1948, no one was conscripted. Persons liable for military service instead of army service were sent to construction work, the restoration of the entire western part of the country required a lot of hands. Then the leadership issued a new edition of the law on military service, according to which, adult youths were required to serve for three years, in the navy - for four years. The call was carried out once a year. Service in the army in the USSR was reduced to one year only in 1968, and the number of conscripts was increased to two.

Professional holiday

The modern Russian army counts its years since the formation of the first armed formations in the new post-revolutionary Russia. According to historical data, Vladimir Lenin signed a decree on the formation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army on January 28, 1918. German troops were actively advancing, and the Russian army needed new forces. Therefore, on February 22, the authorities appealed to the people with a request to save the Fatherland. Large-scale rallies with slogans and appeals had their effect - crowds of volunteers poured in. Thus, the historical date for the celebration of the professional Army Day appeared. On the same day, it is customary to celebrate the holiday of the navy. Although, strictly speaking, the official date of the formation of the fleet is considered to be February 11, when Lenin signed the document on its formation.

Note that even after the end of the existence of the Soviet Union, the military holiday remained, and it was still celebrated. However, only in 2008, the head of the country, Vladimir Putin, by his decree renamed the national holiday the Defender of the Fatherland Day. The holiday became an official day off in 2013.

The demoralization and destruction of the Soviet army began, of course, with the grandiose collapse of the country itself. In the hard times of the 1990s, the army was not a priority for the country's leadership, all subordinate institutions, units and other property fell into complete desolation, were plundered and sold. The military found themselves in the margins of life, unnecessary to anyone.

In 1979, the Kremlin initiated the last military campaign, which marked the beginning of the inglorious end of a great state - the invasion of Afghanistan. The Cold War, which at that time was already in its third decade, drastically depleted the reserves of the Soviet treasury. Over the ten years of the Afghan conflict, the casualties from the Union have reached almost fifteen thousand fighters. The Afghan campaign, the Cold War, and the rivalry with the United States over the arms build-up made such gaps in the country's budget that it was no longer possible to overcome them. The withdrawal of troops, which began in 1988, finished already in the new state, which did not care either about the army or its fighters.

(except for the Navy, Civil Defense Troops, Border and Internal Troops). Until February 25, 1946, it was called the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (Red Army, Red Army).

Founded in accordance with the Decree on the Creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army on January 15 (28), 1918 to protect the population, territorial integrity and civil liberties on the territory of the Soviet state.

History

Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (1918-1945)

Soviet army poster. You are stronger and stronger from year to year, Army of the Soviet people

Army creation

The Red Army was created on the basis of the following principles:

1. Class - the army was created as a class organization. One exception was made from the general rule: officers of the old army were recruited into the Red Army, many of whom had nothing to do with the workers and peasants. In order to monitor their behavior and prevent sabotage, espionage, sabotage and other subversive activities on their part (as well as for other purposes), the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars was created, since 1919 - the Political Directorate of the RVSR (as a separate subdivision of the Central Committee of the RCP / b /), which included the political composition of the Army.
2. Internationalism - this principle assumed the admission of not only citizens of the Russian Republic to the Red Army, but also foreign workers.
3. Election of the command staff - within a few months after the decree, the command staff was elected. But in April 1918, the principle of election was abolished. Commanders of all levels and ranks began to be appointed by the appropriate state body.
4. Double-headedness - in addition to the command staff, military commissars took an active part in the management of the armed forces at all levels.

Military commissars are representatives of the ruling party (RCP / b /) in the army. The idea of ​​the institution of military commissars was that they had to exercise control over the commanders.

Thanks to the energetic work on the creation of the Red Army, in the fall of 1918 it turned into a massive army, which numbered from 800,000 at the beginning of the Civil War to 1,500,000 in the future.

Civil War (1917-1923)

Armed struggle between various socio-political groups on the territory of the former Russian Empire.

Cold war

Soon after the end of World War II, tensions began to rise between the former allies. Churchill's Fulton speech on March 5, 1946, is commonly taken as the date on which the Cold War began. Since then, the most likely adversaries in the USSR army have been the United States, Great Britain and their allies.

Reorganization of the army in 1946-1949

The transformation from a revolutionary militia into a regular army of a sovereign state was consolidated by the official renaming of the Red Army into "Soviet Army" in February 1946.

In February-March 1946, the People's Commissariats of Defense and the Navy were merged into the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the USSR. In March 1946, Marshal G.K. Zhukov was appointed commander of the Ground Forces, but in July he was replaced by Marshal I.S.Konev.

In the period 1946-1948. The Soviet Armed Forces were reduced from 11.3 million to approximately 2.8 million. To better control demobilization, the number of military districts was temporarily increased to 33. During the Cold War, the size of the Armed Forces fluctuated, according to various Western estimates, from 2.8 to 5.3 million people. Until 1967, Soviet laws required compulsory service for a period of 3 years, then it was reduced to 2 years.

In 1945-1946, the production of weapons was sharply reduced. Apart from small arms, the annual production of artillery decreased the most (by about 100,000 guns and mortars, that is, tenfold). The role of artillery was never restored. At the same time, the first Soviet jet aircraft appeared in 1946, the Tu-4 strategic bomber appeared in 1947, and a nuclear weapon was tested in 1949.

Territorial organization

The troops that liberated Eastern Europe from the Nazis were not withdrawn after the end of the war, ensuring the stability of friendly countries. The Soviet Army was also involved in the destruction of armed resistance to the Soviet authorities, which developed using partisan methods of struggle in Western Ukraine (lasted until the 1950s, see UPA) and in the Baltic States (Forest Brothers (1940-1957)).

The largest contingent of the Soviet Army abroad was the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSVG), numbering up to 338 thousand people. In addition to her, the Northern Group of Forces (Poland, in 1955 the number of no more than 100 thousand people), the Central Group of Forces (Czechoslovakia), and the Southern Group of Forces (Romania, Hungary; the number - one air army, two tank and two infantry divisions). In addition, the Soviet Army was permanently stationed in Cuba, Vietnam and Mongolia.

Within the USSR itself, the troops were divided into 15 military districts: (Leningrad, Baltic, Belorussian, Carpathian, Kiev, Odessa, Moscow, North Caucasian, Transcaucasian, Volga, Ural, Turkestan, Siberian, Trans-Baikal military district, Far Eastern). As a result of the Soviet-Chinese border conflicts, in 1969 the 16th, Central Asian Military District was formed, with its headquarters in Alma-Ata.

By order of the leadership of the USSR, the Soviet Army suppressed anti-government demonstrations in Germany (1953) and Hungary (1956). Soon after these events, Nikita Khrushchev began a sharp reduction in the Armed Forces, while increasing their nuclear power. The Strategic Rocket Forces were created. In 1968, units of the Soviet Army, together with units of the armies of the Warsaw Pact member countries, were brought into Czechoslovakia to suppress the "Prague Spring".

The result was a sharp increase in the desire for national independence in the national outskirts of the USSR. In March 1990, Lithuania declared independence, followed by other republics. “Upstairs” it was decided to use force to seize the state - in January 1991, the SA was used in Lithuania to regain control (forcible seizure) over the objects of “party property”, but there was no way out of the crisis. By mid-1991, the USSR was already on the verge of collapse.

Immediately after August 1991, the leadership of the USSR almost completely lost control over the union republics. In the first days after the putsch, the Russian Ministry of Defense was formed, and Colonel-General Konstantin Kobets was appointed minister. On December 8, 1991, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belovezhskaya agreements on the dissolution of the USSR and the founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 21, 1991, the heads of the 11 union republics - the founders of the CIS, signed a protocol on entrusting the command of the USSR Armed Forces "prior to their reform" to the USSR Defense Minister, Air Marshal Yevgeny Ivanovich Shaposhnikov. Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991. The next day, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dissolved itself, officially announcing the termination of the existence of the Soviet Union. Although some institutions and organizations of the USSR (for example, Gosstandart of the USSR, the Committee for the Protection of the State Border) still continued to function during 1992.

In the next year and a half, attempts were made to maintain a unified armed forces in the CIS, but the result was their division between the union republics. In Russia, this happened on May 7, 1992, when Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin signed a decree accepting the functions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, although the version of the Constitution in force at that time and the law "On the President of the RSFSR" did not provide for this. Conscripts from individual union republics were transferred to their armies, Russians serving in Kazakhstan to Russia, and Kazakhs serving in Russia to Kazakhstan. By 1992, most of the remnants of the Soviet Army in the union republics were disbanded, garrisons were withdrawn from Eastern Europe and the Baltic states by 1994. On January 1, 1993, instead of the charter of the Armed Forces of the USSR, temporary general military regulations of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation came into effect. On January 14, 1993, an amendment to the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978 came into force, giving the president the powers of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In April 1992, the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR three times refused to ratify the agreement and exclude from the text of the Constitution of the RSFSR the mention of the constitution and laws of the USSR. Thus, the 1977 USSR Constitution de jure continued to operate on the territory of Russia in accordance with Article 4 of the RSFSR Constitution until December 25, 1993, when the Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in a referendum, came into force, which approved the attributes of an independent Russian state after the collapse of the USSR. The Union Republic of the RSFSR became an independent state, the Russian Federation. The most acute problem was the division of the Black Sea Navy between Russia and Ukraine. The status of the former Black Sea Fleet of the USSR Navy was determined only in 1997 with a division into the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy and the Ukrainian Navy. The territories of the naval bases in Crimea were leased by Russia from Ukraine for a period until 2042. After the Orange Revolution in December 2004, the position of the Black Sea Fleet was greatly aggravated by a number of conflicts, in particular, accusations of illegal sublease for commercial purposes and the seizure of lighthouses.

Armament and military equipment

Nuclear forces

In 1944, the Nazi leadership and the population of Germany began to come to the conclusion that defeat in the war was inevitable. Despite the fact that the Germans controlled almost all of Europe, they were opposed by such powerful powers as the Soviet Union, the United States, and the British colonial empire, which controlled about one quarter of the globe. The superiority of the allies in people, strategic resources (primarily in oil and copper), in the capacity of the military industry became obvious. This entailed a stubborn search by Germany for a "miracle weapon" (wunderwaffe), which was supposed to reverse the outcome of the war. Research was carried out simultaneously in many areas, they entailed significant breakthroughs, and the emergence of a number of technically advanced combat vehicles.

One of the areas of research has become the development of atomic weapons. Despite the significant advances made in Germany in this area, the Nazis had too little time; in addition, research had to be carried out in conditions of the actual collapse of the German military machine caused by the rapid advance of the allied forces. It is also worth noting that the policy of anti-Semitism pursued in Germany before the war led to the flight of many prominent physicists from Germany.

This flow of intelligence played a role in the United States' implementation of the Manhattan Atomic Weapons Project. The world's first atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 ushered in a new era - the era of atomic fear.

The sharp aggravation of relations between the USSR and the United States, which occurred immediately after the end of World War II, caused a strong temptation for the United States to take advantage of its atomic monopoly. A number of plans ("Dropshot", "Chariotir") were drawn up, providing for a military invasion of the USSR simultaneously with the atomic bombing of the largest cities.

Such plans were rejected as technically impossible; at that time, stocks of nuclear weapons were relatively small, and the main problem was the means of delivery. By the time adequate delivery vehicles were developed, the US atomic monopoly was over.

In 1934, in the Red Army, by order of STO No. K-29ss of 03/06/1934, the following norms of daily allowance for the main Red Army ration were introduced (Norm No. 1):

In May 1941, the norm No. 1 was changed with a decrease in meat (up to 150 g) and an increase in fish (up to 100 g) and vegetables.

From September 1941, the norm number 1 was left only for the maintenance of combat units, and for the rear, guard and troops that were not part of the active army, lower allowances were provided. At the same time, the issuance of vodka to combat units of the active army in the amount of 100 grams per day per person began. The rest of the servicemen were entitled to vodka only on state and regimental holidays (about 10 times a year). For female military personnel, the issue of soap has been increased to 400 g.

These norms were valid throughout the entire period of the war.

By the end of the 1940s, norm number 1 was restored for all units of the Soviet Army.

From January 1, 1960, 10 g of butter was introduced into the norm, and the amount of sugar was increased to 45 g, and then, throughout the 1960s, the following were introduced into the norm: jelly (dried fruits) - up to 30 (20) , the amount of sugar increased up to 65 g, pasta up to 40 g, butter up to 20 g, bread from wheat flour of the 2nd grade was replaced by bread from flour of the 1st grade. From May 1, 1975, the rate was increased due to the issuance of chicken eggs (2 pcs.) On weekends and holidays, and in 1983 it was slightly changed due to some redistribution of flour / cereals and types of vegetables.

In 1990, the last adjustment to the food supply rate was made:

Norm No. 1. According to this rate, conscript soldiers and sergeants, reserve soldiers and sergeants when they were at the training camp, soldiers and sergeants of extra-urgent service, warrant officers were supposed to eat. This rule applies only to the Ground Forces.

Additions to the norm No. 1

For the personnel of the guards to escort military cargo on the railway

For reserve officers on duty

1. Since the daily ration of bread far exceeded the needs of the soldiers for bread, it was allowed to give out sliced ​​bread on the tables in the amount that the soldiers usually eat, and put some additional bread at the distribution window in the dining room for those who did not have the usual amount of bread. The sums generated by saving bread were allowed to be used to purchase other products for the soldiers' table. Usually, this money was used to purchase fruits, sweets, cookies for soldiers' holiday dinners; tea and sugar for additional food for the soldiers on guard; lard for additional nutrition during the exercise. The higher command encouraged the creation of a kitchen farm (pigsties, vegetable gardens) in the regiments, the products of which were used to improve the nutrition of soldiers in excess of the norm No. 1. In addition, bread uneaten by the soldiers was often used to make crackers in dry rations, which is established in accordance with norm No. 9 ( see below).
2. It was allowed to replace fresh meat with canned meat at the rate of 112 g of canned meat instead of 150 g of meat, fish with canned fish at the rate of replacing 100 g of fish with 60 g of canned fish.
3. In general, there were about fifty norms. The norm No. 1 was the base and, of course, the lowest.

Sample menu for a soldier's canteen for the day:

• Breakfast: Pearl barley porridge. Meat goulash. Tea, sugar, butter, bread.
• Dinner: Salted tomato salad. Borscht in meat broth. Buckwheat porridge. Boiled meat portioned. Compote, bread.
• Dinner: Mashed potatoes. Fried fish, portioned. Tea, butter, sugar, bread.

Norm No. 9. This is the so-called dry ration. In Western countries, it is usually called a combat diet. This norm is allowed to be issued only when soldiers are in conditions when it is impossible to provide them with full-fledged hot food. Dry rations can be issued for no more than three days. After that, without fail, the soldiers must begin to receive normal food.

Option 1

Option 2

Canned meat is usually stew, minced sausage, minced sausage, liver pate. Meat and vegetable canned food is usually porridge with meat (buckwheat porridge with beef, rice porridge with lamb, pearl barley porridge with pork). All canned food from dry ration can be eaten cold, however, it was recommended to distribute the products into three meals (example in option 2):

• breakfast: heat the first can of meat and vegetable canned food (265 g) in a kettle by adding a can of water to the kettle. A mug of tea (one packet), 60 g of sugar, 100 g of biscuits.
• dinner: heat a can of canned meat in a kettle, adding two or three cans of water there. A mug of tea (one packet), 60 g of sugar, 100 g of biscuits.
• dinner: heat the second can of meat and vegetable canned food (265 g) in a kettle without adding water. A mug of tea (one packet), 60 g of sugar, 100 g of biscuits.

The entire set of daily dry ration products was packed in a cardboard box. For the crews of tanks and armored vehicles, boxes were made of durable waterproof cardboard. In the future, it was planned to make the packaging of dry rations hermetically sealed, so that the packaging could be used as a saucepan for cooking, and the lid as a frying pan.

Educational work

In the Soviet Army, in addition to commanders, deputy commanders for political affairs (political commanders) were responsible for the educational work of personnel, and later - deputy commanders for educational work. To conduct educational work, self-training and recreation of servicemen in their free time, Lenin rooms were equipped in each barracks, later renamed into recreation rooms.

Postal communication

One of the main positive emotions of all servicemen in "hot spots", and of conscripts in places of permanent deployment, were letters from their relatives from home. Letters from "conscripts" and "conscripts" were sent free of charge, regardless of the place of deployment - be it

From the first days of peaceful life in 1945, the Red Army's rear services were entrusted with enormous tasks of demobilizing the personnel of the Armed Forces, ensuring the reduction and withdrawal of troops to places of permanent deployment, their daily support and arrangement, participation in the restoration of the national economy, as well as a number of others. , no less important areas of ensuring the life of the army. The fulfillment of these tasks took place in the conditions of transferring their activities to peaceful military-economic economic ties with state and local authorities against the background of reductions in their structural units and institutions.

In February 1946, the People's Commissariats of Defense and the Navy were reorganized. The leadership of the army, aviation and navy was headed by:

★ People's Commissariat of the Armed Forces. →
★ Ministry of the Armed Forces C March 1946. →
★ USSR Ministry of Defense Since March 1953.

After the reorganization in 1946 of the top leadership of the military body of the USSR by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 629 dated March 21, 1946 and by order of the Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR, General of the Army N. Bulganin No. 1 of March 22, 1946 General of the Army A.V. Khrulev. A little later, by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1012-417 from May 13, 1946 three deputy chiefs of Logistics, three chiefs of the Main Directorate and one chief of the Central Directorate were appointed. One of the deputy chiefs of Logistics, Colonel-General V.I. Vinogradov, was appointed chief of staff of the Logistics of the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

In the first post-war years, the Armed Forces of the USSR had a three-service structure - the Ground Forces, the Air Force, and the Navy. The country's air defense and airborne troops had organizational independence. The Armed Forces included the border troops of the KGB of the USSR and the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. They were controlled by the appropriate commanders-in-chief and main headquarters. In order to quickly and organizationally reduce the army and transfer it to a peaceful position, the number of military districts has significantly increased. TO 01 October 1945 there were 32 of them, then, as the Armed Forces were reduced, the districts were also abolished (1946 - 21, from the beginning of the 50s - 16);

Changes in the system of training military personnel. A transition has begun from accelerated training of personnel to a systematic, clearly organized study based on stable programs. In military schools, a two- and then three-year period of study is introduced. Along with the improvement of existing academies and schools, new ones are being created (in 1946-1953 4 academies and 32 military schools were opened), mainly of engineering and technical profile. The number of students and cadets increased, the profile of their training changed, officers with combat experience were sent to teaching.

The Airborne Forces were withdrawn from the Air Force in 1946. On the basis of separate airborne brigades and some rifle divisions, parachute and landing-assault formations and units were formed. The airborne corps was an all-arms operational-tactical formation designed for operations behind enemy lines in the interests of troops advancing from the front.

One of the main directions in the military development of the USSR was the creation and improvement of new means of armed struggle, and above all atomic weapons.

The first of them - special-purpose brigades equipped with R-1 and R-2 missiles in conventional equipment - began to be created in 1946.

December 25, 1946 a nuclear reactor was launched in the USSR.

The USSR Armed Forces in 1946 had three types: the Ground Forces, the Air Force and the Navy. Organizational independence was possessed by the Air Defense Forces of the country and the Airborne Forces. The Armed Forces included the Border Troops and the Internal Troops.

The country's air defense forces in 1948 became an independent type of the Armed Forces. In the same period, the country's air defense system was reorganized. The entire territory of the USSR was divided into a border strip and an internal territory. The air defense of the border zone was entrusted to the commanders of the districts, and of the naval bases - to the commanders of the fleets. They were subordinate to military air defense systems located in the same zone. The internal territory was defended by the Air Defense Forces of the country, which became a powerful and reliable means of covering important centers of the country and groupings of troops.

In connection with the end of the war, the formations, formations and units of the USSR Armed Forces moved to areas of permanent deployment and were transferred to new states. In order to quickly and orderly reduce the army and transfer it to a peaceful position, the number of military districts was significantly increased. The administrations of the fronts and some armies were directed to their formation.

The main and most numerous type of the Armed Forces remained the Su-hooput troops, which included rifle, armored and mechanized troops, artillery, cavalry and special troops (engineering, chemical, communications, automobile, road, etc.).

The main operational formation of the Ground Forces was the combined arms army. In addition to combined arms formations

it consisted of units of the army anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery, mortar, engineer-sapper and other army units. With the motorization of divisions and the inclusion of a heavy tank-self-propelled regiment in the combat composition of the army, it essentially acquired the properties of a mechanized formation.

The main types of combined arms formations were rifle, mechanized and tank divisions. The rifle corps was considered the highest combined-arms tactical formation. The general army had several rifle corps.

There was a military-technical and organizational-staff strengthening of rifle regiments and rifle divisions. In units and formations, the number of automatic weapons and artillery was increased (standard tanks and self-propelled guns appeared in them). So, an ACS battery was introduced into the rifle regiment, and a self-propelled tank regiment, a separate anti-aircraft artillery division, a second artillery regiment and other units were added to the rifle division. The widespread introduction of road transport equipment into the troops led to the motorization of the rifle division.

The rifle units were armed with hand-held and heavy-duty anti-tank grenade launchers, which ensured effective combat against tanks at ranges of up to 300 m (RPG-1, RPG-2 and SG-82). In 1949, a set of new small arms was adopted, which included a Si-monov self-loading carbine, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a Degtyarev light machine gun, an RP-46 company machine gun, and a modernized Goryunov heavy machine gun.

Instead of tank armies, mechanized armies are created, which included 2 tank, 2 mechanized divisions and army units. The mechanized army fully retained the mobility of the previous tank army, with a significant increase in the number of tanks, self-propelled guns, field and anti-aircraft artillery. Tank and mechanized corps were transformed into tank and mechanized divisions, respectively. At the same time, the combat and maneuverability of armored vehicles increased significantly. A light amphibious tank PT-76 was created, the medium tank T-54, heavy tanks IS-4 and T-10, which had stronger weapons and armor protection, were adopted.

In August 1949 - An experimental explosion of an atomic bomb was carried out.

Rearmament of troops and naval forces. The main task was to create weapons, quantitatively and qualitatively not inferior to the weapons of a potential enemy and ensuring the solution of the task of defending the Motherland. Submachine guns, pistols, machine guns, light and heavy machine guns, designed for a unified 7.62 mm cartridge, have become widespread. The number of weapons was cut in half. In the postwar years, the combat and maneuverability of artillery has increased significantly. New guns and howitzers, radar stations for detecting and detecting ground targets have entered service. Reliable anti-tank guns with an increased automation system appeared. Rocket weapons were further developed. The armored vehicles were improved.

The communications troops received improved HF and VHF radio stations, new types of special radio receivers, mobile communication centers, radio relay lines. In the post-war period, Soviet military aviation switched from piston aircraft to jet and turboprop aircraft.

By the beginning of the 50s, the design bureaus of A.I. Mikoyan, M.I. Gurevich, S.A. Lavochkin, A.S. Yakovleva, A.N. Tupolev, V.S. Ilyushin. created:

Since 1952, the country's Air Defense Forces began to be equipped with anti-aircraft missile technology, the first units were created to serve them. Air defense aviation was strengthened. In the early 1950s, the Air Defense Voy-ska of the country received a new all-weather all-weather fighter-interceptor Yak-25. All this significantly increased the ability to combat enemy air targets.

The military-technical equipment of the Navy is being strengthened. By 1953, 30% of the warships in the fleet were built after the war. These are new series of cruisers and destroyers, diesel and then nuclear submarines;

In 1953, a hydrogen bomb was tested.

By the beginning of 1954, the Armed Forces had nuclear weapons of various power, means of delivery, experimental data on their destructive power, methods and means of protection.

Under the conditions of the technical revolution, cavalry units did not develop and were abolished in 1954.

In the period after the Great Patriotic War, the USSR Ministry of Defense was systematically assigned the task of providing civilian ministries with a workforce by forming military construction units for them, whose personnel were used as construction workers. The number of these formations increased from year to year.

Since 1955, the leadership of the USSR has called for an end to the arms race and the convening of a world conference on this issue. In confirmation of the new foreign policy course, the Soviet Union reduced the number of its Armed Forces from 5.8 million at the beginning of 1955 to 3.6 million by December 1959, in 1955 - by 640 thousand people, by June 1956 - by 1200 thousand Human.

Warsaw Pact (Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance) from May 14, 1955- a document that formalized the creation of a military alliance of European socialist states with the leading role of the USSR - the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD) and consolidated the bipolarity of the world for 36 years. The conclusion of the treaty was a response to the FRG's accession to NATO.

The agreement was signed by NSRA, BNR, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, SRR, USSR and Czechoslovakia May 14, 1955 at the Warsaw Meeting of European States on Peace and Security in Europe.