Creation of a regular red army. How and when did the red army appear

Vladimir Lenin believed that in the country of the victorious proletariat, the need for a regular army would disappear. In 1917, he wrote the work "State and Revolution", where he advocated replacing the regular army with the general arming of the people.

The arming of the people by the end of the First World War was indeed close to universal. True, not all the people were ready to defend the "gains of the revolution" with arms in hand.
At the first clashes with “cruel revolutionary reality,” the idea of ​​the voluntary principle of recruiting into the Red Guard units proved to be completely unviable.

"The principle of voluntariness" as a factor in inciting civil war

The Red Guards, assembled in late 1917 and early 1918 from volunteers, quickly degenerated into semi-bandit or openly bandit formations. This is how one of the delegates of the VIII Congress of the RCP (b) recalls this period of the formation of the Red Army: “... The best elements were knocked out, died, were captured, and thus a selection of the worst elements was created. These worst elements were joined by those who joined the volunteer army not to fight and die, but because they were left without occupation, because they were thrown into the street as a result of the catastrophic breakdown of the entire social order. Finally, just the half-rotten remnants of the old army went there ... ”.
It was the "bandit deviation" of the first Red Army detachments that provoked the growth of the civil war. Suffice it to recall the uprising of the Don Cossacks in April 1918, outraged by the "revolutionary" lawlessness.

The real birthday of the Red Army

Around the holiday on February 23, many copies broke and are breaking. His supporters say that it was on this day that the "revolutionary consciousness of the working masses" woke up, spurred on by the just published appeal of the Council of People's Commissars of February 21, "The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger", as well as the "Appeal of the Military Commander-in-Chief" Nikolai Krylenko, which ended with the words : “All to arms. All to defend the revolution. " In large cities of central Russia, primarily in Petrograd and Moscow, rallies were held, after which thousands of volunteers enrolled in the ranks of the Red Army. With their help, in March 1918, it was hardly possible to stop the advance of small German units approximately on the line of the modern Russian-Estonian border.

On January 15 (28), 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia issued a Decree on the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (published on January 20 (February 2) 1918). However, it seems that April 22, 1918 can be considered the real birthday of the Red Army. On this day, by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee "On the procedure for filling positions in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army," the election of the command staff was canceled. The commanders of individual units, brigades, divisions began to be appointed by the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, and the commanders of battalions, companies and platoons were recommended for positions by local military enlistment offices.

The Bolsheviks in the construction of the Red Army once again demonstrated the skillful use of "double standards". If, in order to destroy and demoralize the tsarist army, they strongly welcomed its "democratization", then the above-mentioned decree returned the Red Army to the "vertical of power", without which no combat-ready army in the world can exist.

From democracy to decimation

Leon Trotsky played an important role in the formation of the Red Army. It was he who set the course for building an army on traditional principles: one-man command, restoration of the death penalty, mobilization, restoration of insignia, uniform uniforms of clothing and even military parades, the first of which took place on May 1, 1918 in Moscow, on Khodynskoye Pole. An important step was the fight against "military anarchism" in the first months of the existence of the Red Army. For example, executions for desertion were restored. By the end of 1918, the power of the military committees had been reduced to nothing.
People's Commissar Trotsky, by his personal example, showed the Red commanders how to restore discipline. On August 10, 1918, he arrived in Sviyazhsk to take part in the battles for Kazan. When the 2nd Petrograd regiment fled from the battlefield without permission, Trotsky applied the ancient Roman ritual of decimation (execution of every tenth by lot) against the deserters. On August 31, Trotsky personally shot 20 people from the number of units of the 5th Army who had arbitrarily retreated.
With the filing of Trotsky, by a decree of July 29, all the country's population liable for military service between the ages of 18 and 40 was registered and military horse conscription was established. This made it possible to dramatically increase the size of the armed forces. In September 1918, about half a million people were already in the ranks of the Red Army - more than two times more than 5 months ago.
By 1920, the number of the Red Army was already more than 5.5 million people.

Commissioners are the key to success

The sharp increase in the number of the Red Army led to the fact that an acute shortage of competent commanders trained in military affairs began to be felt. Voluntarily in the ranks of the Red Army, according to various sources, from 2 to 8 thousand former "tsarist officers" entered. This was clearly not enough. Therefore, in relation to the most suspicious from the point of view of the Bolsheviks, the social group also had to resort to the method of mobilization. However, they could not fully rely on the "military experts", as they began to call the officers of the Imperial Army. This is one of the reasons why the institution of commissars was introduced in the troops to keep an eye on the "former".
This step played almost a major role in the outcome of the Civil War. It was the commissars, who were all members of the RCP (b), who took over the political work both with the troops and with the population. Relying on a powerful propaganda apparatus, they lucidly explained to the soldiers why it was necessary to fight for Soviet power "to the last drop of workers 'and peasants' blood." At the same time, the clarification of the goals of the "whites", as an additional burden, fell on the officers, who had mainly a purely military education and were completely unprepared for such work. Therefore, not only ordinary White Guards, but also the officers themselves often did not have a clear idea of ​​what they were fighting for.

The "Reds" defeated the "Whites" by numbers rather than skill. So, even in the most difficult period for the Bolsheviks at the end of summer - in the fall of 1919, when the fate of the first Soviet republic in the world hung in the balance, the number of the Red Army exceeded the total number of all white armies for that period, according to various sources, from 1.5 to 3 times.
The legendary red cavalry became one of the outstanding phenomena in the history of military art. At first, a clear preponderance in the cavalry was for the Whites, for whom, as you know, the majority of the Cossacks played. In addition, the South and South-East of Russia (territories where horse breeding was traditionally developed) were cut off from the Bolsheviks. But gradually, from separate red cavalry regiments and horse detachments, a transition began to the formation of brigades, and then divisions. Thus, the small mounted partisan detachment of Semyon Budyonny, created in February 1918, grew within a year to the combined cavalry division of the Tsaritsyn Front, and then to the First Cavalry Army, which played an important, and, according to some historians, a decisive role in the defeat of Denikin's army ... During the Civil War, in some operations, the red cavalry accounted for up to half of the total number of the Red Army troops involved. Often, horse attacks were supported by powerful machine gun fire from carts.

The success of the hostilities of the Soviet cavalry during the Civil War was facilitated by the vastness of the theaters of operations, the stretching of the opposing armies on wide fronts, the presence of weakly covered or not at all occupied by the troops of the gaps, which were used by cavalry formations to reach the flanks of the enemy and carry out deep raids into its rear. Under these conditions, the cavalry could fully realize its combat properties and capabilities: mobility, surprise attacks, speed and decisiveness of actions.

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. Originated 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 03/01/1918 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 baptism of fire when repelling the German offensive on Petrograd in February - March 1918. After the conclusion of the Brest Peace in Soviet Russia, full-scale work began to create the Red Army under the leadership of the Supreme Military Council created on 03/04/1918 (the Air Force headquarters was partly created on the basis of the former Headquarters The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and later on the basis of the headquarters of the council arose the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR)). An important step in strengthening the Red Army and attracting former officers to it was the order of the Supreme Military Council of March 21, 1918, which canceled the elective beginning. For the transition from the volunteer principle of recruiting the army 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 administrative apparatus of the old army.

On March 22-23, 1918, at a meeting of the Supreme Military Council, it was decided that the division would become the main unit of the Red Army. On the twentieth of April 1918, the states of units and formations were published. On the 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 control bodies began, incl. military districts (Belomorsky, Yaroslavsky, Moscow, Oryol, Priuralsky, Volga and North Caucasian), as well as district, provincial, district and volost military commissariats. 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, uniting the provinces according to the composition of the population. During 1918-1922. was formed or restored (after the capture of whites or liquidation) 27 military districts. The districts played a vital role in the formation of the Red Army. The rear districts were subordinate to the VGSH, the front-line ones to the Field Headquarters of the RVSR, RVS of the fronts and armies. On the ground, a network of provincial, district and volost military commissariats was created. 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 thousands.

In early July 1918, the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets decreed 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, the institution of commissars was formed to organize party control and establish order in the troops (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 with the Air Force. By the end of 1920, the party-Komsomol stratum in the Red Army was about 7%, the communists were 20% of the commanding 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 have repeatedly carried out party mobilizations.

The Air Force organized the registration of military units, united them into veil detachments under the leadership of experienced military leaders. The forces of the veil were grouped in the most important directions (the Northern section and the Petrogradskiy region of the veil, the Western section and the Moscow region of defense, later by the Air Force decree of August 4, 1918, the Southern section of the veil was formed on the basis of the Voronezh region of the Western section of the veil, and on August 6 for defense from the interventionists and whites in the North, the North-Eastern section of the veil was created). The divisions of the veil were subordinate to the sectors and districts, which, according to the order of the Air Force of May 3, 1918, were deployed into territorial divisions, named after the names of the respective provinces. The first call to 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, on the basis of the GUGSH (i.e., the General Staff) and the General Staff, the All-Russian General Headquarters (VGSh) was created.

RVSR

On September 2, 1918, by a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the initiative of Trotsky and 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 High 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 the commander-in-chief of all the 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, formerly the head of the Air Force headquarters.

The RVSR was gradually subordinated to almost all military command and control bodies: the commander-in-chief, the Supreme 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 Administration of the RVSR), the RVSR affairs management, Polevoy headquarters, VGSH, Revolutionary Military Tribunal of the Republic, Central Directorate for Army Supply, High Attestation Commission, Main Military Sanitary Directorate. In fact, the RVSR absorbed the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, especially since the key posts in these two bodies were held by the same persons - 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 the solution of the most important issues of the country's defense. As a result of the transformations, the RVSR became the supreme body of military command in Soviet Russia. According to the idea of ​​its creators, it was supposed to be collegial, but the realities of the Civil War led to the fact that, with the fictitious presence of a large number of members, few actually participated in 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 on tours along the fronts, organizing military administration in the field.

The post of commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the republic was introduced in Soviet Russia by a decree 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 into the Field Headquarters of the RVSR, which in fact became the Soviet Headquarters of the era of the Civil War. At the head of the headquarters were former generals-general staff N.I. Rattel, F.W. 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 divisions: operational (divisions: 1st and 2nd operational, general, cartographic, communications and magazine units), reconnaissance (divisions: 1st (military intelligence) and 2nd (agent intelligence) reconnaissance departments, general department and magazine part), reporting (duty) (departments: accounting (inspector), general, economic) and military-political. As in the VGSh, the structure changed. Directorates 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, agent department), military control, Central Directorate of Military Communications and Field Directorate of the Air Fleet. An important achievement of Soviet military development was that, finally, the dream of many general staff officers of the old school came true: the Field Headquarters was freed from organizational and supply issues and could focus 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 solution of military issues with civilian departments, as well as to contain the almost unlimited power of the Chairman of the RVSR Trotsky.

The structure of the field command of the fronts was as follows. At the head of the front was the Revolutionary Military Council (RVS), to which the front headquarters, the revolutionary military tribunal, the political department, military control (counterintelligence), and the directorate of the chief of supplies of the front armies were subordinate. The front headquarters included management: operational (divisions: operational, reconnaissance, general, communications, naval, topographic), administrative and military communications, inspections of infantry, artillery, cavalry, engineers, and the directorate of the chief of aviation and aeronautics.

The 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 .; Southwestern January 10 - December 31, 1920; Southern September 11, 1918 - January 10, 1920; Southern (second formation) September 21 - December 10, 1920).

Army in the Red Army during the Civil War

During the Civil War, 33 regular armies were created in the Red Army, including two cavalry. 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. In the operational department there were departments: intelligence, communications, aviation and aeronautics. The army commander was a member of the RVS. Appointments in the RVS of fronts and armies were carried out by RVSR. The most important function was performed by the reserve armies, which provided the front with ready-made reinforcements.

The main unit of the Red Army was the rifle division, organized according to a threefold scheme - from three brigades, three regiments in each. The regiments consisted of three battalions, the battalion had three companies. According to the staff, the division was supposed to have about 60,000 people, 9 artillery divisions, an armored 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. Since the states were not respected, 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 deploy 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. Then the superiority in forces over the whites was achieved, which then increased. By the end of 1920, the number of the Red Army exceeded 5 million people, with a combat strength of about 700,000 people.

Command cadres were mobilized in the person of tens of thousands of former officers. In November 1918, an order was issued by the RVSR on the conscription of all former chief officers up to 50 years old, staff officers up to 55 years old and generals up to 60 years old. 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" was against the policy of attracting military experts.

Personnel training

Through an expanded network of military educational institutions, cadres of red commanders were also trained (about 60,000 people were trained). In the Red Army, such military leaders as V.M. 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 the total number of the Red Army at 5,498,000 people, 2,361,000 people were on 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 eaters, and the combat strength included 1,264,391 people, or 30% of the total. On 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 4,888 guns of different systems). In 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, as of 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 regulations had been developed in the Red Army. , 28 more were in the works.

Desertion in the Red Army

Desertion was a serious problem for Soviet Russia. The fight against him was centralized and concentrated since 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 respective provincial commissions. Only during round-ups for 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 volunteered.

Armament of the Red Army

On Soviet territory in 1919, 460,055 rifles, 77,560 revolvers, 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 rounds.

The main branch of the ground forces was the infantry, and the shock maneuvering force was the cavalry. In 1919, the cavalry corps of S.M. Budyonny, then deployed to the 1st Cavalry Army. In 1920, the 2nd Cavalry Army of F.K. Mironov.

The Bolsheviks turned the Red Army into an effective means of widespread dissemination of their ideas among the masses. By October 1, 1919, the Bolsheviks had opened 3800 Red Army literacy schools, in 1920 their number reached 5950. By the summer of 1920, over 1000 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 men 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 by about 10 times (by the mid-1920s).

near Narva 02/23/1918

With the coming to power of the Communist Party of the Bolsheviks in November 1917, the country's leadership, relying on K. Marx's thesis about replacing the regular army with general armament of the working people, began to actively liquidate the imperial army of Russia. On December 16, 1917, the Bolsheviks issued the decrees of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars "On the Elective Beginning and Organization of Power in the Army" and "On Equalization in the Rights of All Servicemen." To defend the conquests of the revolution, under the leadership of professional revolutionaries, detachments of the Red Guard began to form, headed by the military revolutionary committee, which directly led the October armed uprising, led by L.D. Trotsky.

On November 26, 1917, the "Committee for Military and Naval Affairs" was created to replace the old War Ministry, under the leadership of V.A. Antonova-Ovseenko, N.V. Krylenko and P.E. Dybenko.

V.A. Antonov-Ovseenko N.V. Krylenko

Pavel Efimovich Dybenko

The "Committee for Military and Naval Affairs" was intended to form and direct armed detachments. The committee was expanded to 9 people on November 9 and transformed into the "Council of People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs", and in December 1917 it was renamed and became known as the Collegium of People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs (Narkomvoen), the head of the collegium was N. AND. Podvoisky.

Nikolay Ilyich Podvoisky

The Collegium of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs was the leading military body of Soviet power; at the first stages of its activity, the collegium relied on the old War Ministry and the old army. By order of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs, at the end of December 1917, in Petrograd, the Central Council for the Management of Armored Units of the RSFSR - Tsentrabron was formed. He was in charge of the armored units and armored trains of the Red Army. By July 1, 1918, the Central Armor formed 12 armored trains and 26 armored detachments. The old Russian army could not provide the defense of the Soviet state. It became necessary to demobilize the old army and create a new Soviet army.

At a meeting of the military organization under the Central Committee. RSDLP (b) December 26, 1917 it was decided, according to the installation of V.I. Lenin to create a new army of 300,000 people in a month and a half, the All-Russian Collegium for the Organization and Management of the Red Army was created. IN AND. Lenin set before this collegium the task of developing, in the shortest possible time, the principles of organizing and building a new army. The fundamental principles of army building developed by the board were approved by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which met from January 10 to 18, 1918. To defend the gains of the revolution, it was decided to create an army of the Soviet state and call it the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army.

On January 15, 1918, a decree was issued on the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, and on February 11 - the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Fleet on a voluntary basis. The definition of "workers and peasants" emphasized its class character - the army of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the fact that it should be recruited only from the working people of town and country. The "Red Army" said that it was a revolutionary army.

For the formation of volunteer detachments of the Red Army, 10 million rubles were allocated. In mid-January 1918, 20 million rubles were allocated for the construction of the Red Army. As the leading apparatus of the Red Army was created, all departments of the old War Ministry were reorganized, reduced, or abolished.

In February 1918, the Council of People's Commissars appointed the leading five of the All-Russian Collegium, which issued its first organizational order on the appointment of responsible department commissars. German and Austrian troops, more than 50 divisions, breaking the truce, on February 18, 1918, launched an offensive in the entire strip from the Baltic to the Black Sea. On February 12, 1918, the offensive of Turkish troops began in Transcaucasia. The demoralized old army could not withstand the advancing and left its positions without a fight. Of the old Russian army, the only military units that retained military discipline were the regiments of Latvian riflemen, who went over to the side of Soviet power.

In connection with the offensive of the German and Austrian troops, some of the generals of the tsarist army proposed to form detachments from the old army. But the Bolsheviks, fearing the action of these detachments against Soviet power, abandoned such formations. To recruit officers of the tsarist army, a new form of organization called the "veil" was created. A group of generals, led by M.D. Bonch-Bruevich, consisting of 12 people, on February 20, 1918, who arrived in Petrograd from Headquarters and formed the basis of the Supreme Military Council, began to attract officers to serve the Bolsheviks.

Mikhail Dmitrievich Bonch-Bruevich

By mid-February 1918, the First Corps of the Red Army was created in Petrograd. The core of the corps was a special-purpose detachment, which consisted of Petrograd workers and soldiers in 3 companies of 200 people each. In the first two weeks of formation, the number of the corps was brought to 15,000 people.

Part of the corps, about 10,000 people, was prepared and sent to the front near Pskov, Narva, Vitebsk and Orsha. By the beginning of March 1918, the corps consisted of 10 infantry battalions, a machine gun regiment, 2 cavalry regiments, an artillery brigade, a heavy artillery battalion, 2 armored divisions, 3 air squadrons, an aeronautical detachment, engineering, automobile, motorcycle units and a searchlight team. The corps was disbanded in May 1918; its personnel is directed to staffing the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th rifle divisions, which were being formed in the Petrograd military district.

By the end of February, 20,000 volunteers had signed up in Moscow. The first test of the Red Army took place near Narva and Pskov, it entered into battle with the German troops and fought them back. February 23 was the birthday of the young Red Army.

When the army was being formed, there were no approved staffs. From detachments of volunteers, combat units were formed based on the capabilities and needs of their area. The detachments consisted of several dozen people from 10 to 10,000 and more people, the created battalions, companies and regiments were of various types. The number of the company was from 60 to 1600 people. The tactics of the troops were determined by the legacy of the tactics of the Russian army, the geographical, political and economic conditions of the area of ​​hostilities, and also reflected the individual traits of their leaders, such as Frunze, Shchors, Chapaev, Kotovsky, Budyonny and others. This organization excluded the possibility of centralized command and control of troops. A gradual transition from the volunteer principle to the construction of a regular army on the basis of universal conscription began.

The Defense Committee was disbanded on March 4, 1918 and the Supreme Military Council (Air Force) was formed. One of the main founders of the Red Army was the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs L.D. Trotsky, who became on March 14, 1918, at the head of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs and chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic. As a psychologist, he was engaged in the selection of personnel in order to know the state of affairs in the army, Trotsky created on March 24 .

the commissar's death

The Revolutionary Military Council decided to create cavalry as part of the Red Army. On March 25, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars approved the creation of new military districts. At a meeting in the Air Force on March 22, 1918, a project was discussed for organizing a Soviet rifle division, which was adopted by the main combat unit of the Red Army.

Upon admission to the army, the fighters took an oath, approved on April 22 at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and each fighter took and signed the oath.

Formula of a solemn promise

approved at the meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers, Soldiers, Peasants and Cossack Deputies on April 22, 1918

1. I, the son of the working people, a citizen of the Soviet Republic, assume the title of a soldier of the workers 'and peasants' army.

2. In the face of the working classes of Russia and the whole world, I undertake to bear this title with honor, conscientiously study military affairs and, like the apple of my eye, protect people's and military property from damage and plunder.

3. I undertake to strictly and unswervingly observe revolutionary discipline and unquestioningly carry out all orders of the commanders set by the authorities of the Workers 'and Peasants' Government.

4. I undertake to abstain myself and to restrain comrades from any actions that discredit and humiliate the dignity of a citizen of the Soviet Republic, and to direct all my actions and thoughts towards the great goal of liberating all working people.

5. I undertake, at the first call of the Workers 'and Peasants' Government, to defend the Soviet Republic from all dangers and attempts on the part of all its enemies, and in the struggle for the Russian Soviet Republic, for the cause of socialism and the brotherhood of peoples, not to spare either my forces or life itself ...

6. If, by malicious intent, I depart from this solemn promise of mine, then may universal contempt be my lot and may the stern hand of the revolutionary law punish me.

CEC Chairman Y. Sverdlov;

The first knight of the order was Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher.

VC. Blucher

The commanding staff consisted of former officers and non-commissioned officers who went over to the side of the Bolsheviks and commanders from the Bolsheviks, so in 1919 1,500,000 people were drafted, of which about 29,000 were former officers, but the combat strength of the army did not exceed 450,000 people. The bulk of the former officers who served in the Red Army were wartime officers, mainly warrant officers. The Bolsheviks had very few cavalry officers.

A lot of work was done from March to May 1918. Based on the experience of three years of the First World War, new field manuals were written for all types of troops and their combat interaction. A new mobilization scheme was created - the system of military commissariats. The Red Army was commanded by dozens of the best generals who had gone through two wars, and 100 thousand excellent military officers.

By the end of 1918, the organizational structure of the Red Army and its administrative apparatus were created. The Red Army strengthened all decisive sectors of the fronts with communists, in October 1918 there were 35,000 communists in the army, in 1919 - about 120,000, and in August 1920 - 300,000, half of all members of the RCP (b) of that time. In June 1919, all the republics that existed at that time - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia - entered into a military alliance. A unified military command was created, unified management of finance, industry, and transport.

By order of the RVSR 116 of January 16, 1919, insignia were introduced only for combat commanders - colored buttonholes, on collars, by type of service and commander stripes on the left sleeve, above the cuff.

By the end of 1920, the Red Army numbered 5,000,000 people, but due to the lack of uniforms, weapons and equipment, the combat strength of the army did not exceed 700,000 people, 22 armies were formed, 174 divisions (of which 35 were cavalry), 61 air squadrons (300-400 aircraft) , artillery and armored units (subdivisions). During the war years, 6 military academies and more than 150 courses trained 60,000 commanders of all specialties from workers and peasants.

During the Civil War, about 20,000 officers died in the Red Army. 45,000 - 48,000 officers remained in service. Losses during the Civil War amounted to 800,000 killed, wounded and missing, 1,400,000 dead from serious illnesses.

red army badge

Let's remember the curious stories from the life of Chapaev, Budyonny, Frunze, Shchors and Kotovsky.
Semyon Budyonny was born on April 25, 1883. Songs and legends were composed about the chief 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 national hero. One of the first Soviet marshals, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, he lived for 90 years.
Vasily Chapaev
1. In February 1887, Vasily Chapaev was born in the village of Budaika, Cheboksary district, Kazan province. At baptism, he was recorded as Gavrilov. He inherited the nickname "Chapay", or rather, "Chepay" from his father, and he inherited from his grandfather Stepan, who worked as a senior in the loader artel and constantly urged workers on by shouting: "Chepay, chepay!" The word meant "chain", that is, "take." The nickname "Chapay" remained with Stepan Gavrilovich. For the descendants the nickname "Chapaevs" was fixed, which later became the official surname.

Vasily Chapaev on a postcard IZOGIZ, USSR

2. Vasily Chapaev was almost the first of the red commanders to get into a car. It was the technique that was the real weakness of the division commander. At first he liked the American Stever, then this car seemed to him shaky. They sent in a bright red posh Packard to replace it. However, this vehicle was not suitable for combat operations in the steppe. Therefore, when Chapaev was always on duty two "Ford", easily squeezing up to 70 miles per hour off-road.

When the subordinates did not go out on duty, the divisional commander raged: “Comrade Khvesin! I will complain about you to the CEC! You give me an order and demand to carry it out, but I cannot walk along the entire front, I cannot ride on horseback. I demand that one motorcycle with a sidecar, two cars, four trucks for transporting supplies be sent immediately for the division and for the cause of the revolution! "

Vasily Ivanovich personally selected the drivers. One of them, Nikolai Ivanov, was almost forcibly taken to Moscow by Chapaev and made the personal driver of Lenin's sister, Anna Ulyanova-Elizarova.
The nickname "Chapay", or, rather, "Chepay", Vasily Ivanovich inherited from his grandfather.

3. Chapaev did not study to read and write, but tried to get a higher military education. It is known that Vasily Ivanovich displayed in his questionnaire for applicants to the accelerated course of the Academy of the General Staff, filled out by him personally. Question: “Do you belong to the number of active party members? What was your activity expressed? " Answer: “I belong. Formed seven regiments of the Red Army. " Question: "What awards do you have?" Answer: “The St. George Cavalier of four degrees. The watch was also handed over. " Question: "What general education did you get?" Answer: "Self-taught." And, finally, the most interesting thing is the conclusion of the attestation commission: “Enroll as having revolutionary combat experience. Almost illiterate. "

Semyon Budyonny
1. The legendary marshal managed to start a family only on the 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 to the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office: “In the first months of 1937 ... JV Stalin said in a conversation with me that, as he knew from Yezhov's information, my wife was Budyonny-Mikhailova Olga Stefanovna behaves indecently and thus compromises me and that, he stressed, it is not profitable for us from any side, we will not allow this to anyone ... ”Olga ended up in the camps ... The third wife of the Marshal was the second cousin. She was 34 years younger than Semyon Mikhailovich, but Budyonny fell in love like a boy. “Hello, my dear mummy! I received your letter and remembered September 20, which bound us for life, - he wrote from the front of Maria. - It seems to me that you and I grew up together since childhood. I love you infinitely and until the end of my last heartbeat I will love you. You are my most beloved creature, you who brought happiness to our dear children ... Hello to you, my dear, I kiss you hard, your Semyon. "
"This, Semyon, is not your mustache, but a folk one ...", - said Frunze to Budyonny when he decided to shave them off.

2. There is a legend that during the battles for the Crimea, when Budyonny was checking trophy cartridges - whether they were smokeless or not - he brought a cigarette to them. The gunpowder flashed and singed one mustache, which turned gray. Since then, Semyon Mikhailovich has tinted it. Budyonny wanted to completely shave off his mustache, but Mikhail Frunze dissuaded him: "This, Semyon, is not your mustache, but folk ..."

Semyon Budyonny on a postcard IZOGIZ, USSR

3. Semyon Budyonny was an excellent rider until recent years. In Moscow, on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, near the panorama, there is a famous monument - Kutuzov on horseback. So, the sculptor Tomsky sculpted the commander's horse from Budyonny's horse. This was Semyon Mikhailovich's favorite - the Sophist. He was incredibly handsome - Don breed, reddish in color. When the marshal came to Tomsky to check on the horse, they say that the Sophist learned from the engine of the car that his master had arrived. And when Budyonny was gone, the Sophist cried like a man.

Mikhail Frunze
1. Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was born in the city of Pishpek in 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 then only 12 years old), the family was in need, and the state paid for the education of the two older brothers. Misha's subjects were easy, especially languages, and the headmaster of the gymnasium considered the child a genius at all. Mikhail graduated from an educational institution in 1904 with a gold medal, without exams he was enrolled in the economic department of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic.

Mikhail Frunze on a postcard IZOGIZ, USSR

2. Frunze later recalled his rapid military career: he received his primary military education by shooting at the officers in Shuya, secondary education against Kolchak, and higher education on the Southern Front, defeating Wrangel. Mikhail Vasilyevich had personal courage, he loved to be in front of the troops: in 1919, near Ufa, the army commander was even wounded. Frunze did not hesitate to punish the insurgent peasants for "class irresponsibility." But most importantly, he showed the talent of an organizer and the ability to select competent specialists. True, the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, Leon Trotsky, did not delight in this gift. In his opinion, the military leader "was carried away by abstract schemes, he did not understand people well and easily fell under the influence of specialists, mostly of secondary importance."
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 of the Vladimir Central. The commissar did not survive the ensuing operation. According to the official version, the cause of death was a combination of difficult-to-diagnose diseases that led to heart 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 could not bear the death of her husband either: 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 a noble engineer, began his gangster career with the murder of his beloved's father, Prince Kantakuzin, who opposed the meeting of lovers. At the same time, he deprived his passion of property by burning down her estate. Hiding in the woods, Kotovsky formed a gang, which included former convicts and other professional criminals. Their robberies, murders, robberies, extortion shook the whole of Bessarabia. All this was done with audacity, cynicism and frustration. More than once the law enforcement officers caught the adventurer, but thanks to his enormous physical strength and dexterity, he managed to escape every time. In 1907, Kotovsky was sentenced to 12 years in hard labor, but in 1913 he fled from Nerchinsk and already in 1915 led a new gang in his native land.

Grigory Kotovsky on a postcard IZOGIZ, USSR

2. Kotovsky gave the impression of an intelligent, courteous person, easily aroused the sympathy of many. Contemporaries pointed to the enormous strength of Gregory. Since childhood, he began to engage in weight lifting, boxing, and he loved horse racing. In life, this was very useful to him: strength gave independence, power, frightened enemies and victims. Kotovsky of that time - these are steel fists, a frenzied disposition and craving for all kinds of pleasures. In cities, he always appeared under the guise of a rich, elegant aristocrat, posing as a landowner, merchant, company representative, manager, machinist, representative for the procurement of food for the army. He loved to go to theaters, to show off his brutal appetite, for example, scrambled eggs from 25 eggs. His weaknesses were thoroughbred horses, gambling and women.
The weakness of Grigory Kotovsky was 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, tanneries and cotton factories. Some hop plantations in the subsidiary plots of the 13th Cavalry Regiment brought in up to 1.5 million gold rubles a year in net profit. Kotovsky is also credited with the idea of ​​creating a Moldavian autonomy, in which he wanted to rule a kind of Soviet prince. Be that as it may, the appetites of Grigory Ivanovich began to irritate the Soviet "elite".

Nikolay Shchors
1. Nikolay Shchors was born in the small town of Snovsk. In 1909 he graduated from the parish 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 the bolts and nuts in the depot. When the first shots of the German war rang out, Shchors enthusiastically reacted to the draft summons to the army. Being a literate guy, he was immediately assigned to the Kiev school of military paramedics. After one and a half years of combat, he moved from the trenches of the First World War to the auditorium of the Poltava Military School, which trained junior warrant officers for the active army at an accelerated four-month course. Intelligent and sensitive by nature, Nikolai realized that the school produces only semblances of "their nobility." This reinforced in him a peculiar complex of resentment against 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 the Order of Lenin to Alexander Dovzhenko, 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 of Shchors".

Nikolay Shchors on a postcard IZOGIZ, USSR

3. When the body of Nikolai Shchors was exhumed in Kuibyshev in 1949, it was found well preserved, practically incorruptible, 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.

On February 23, 1918, a new military force appeared in Russia - the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). The members of the young military organization received their baptism of fire in clashes with the White Guards, as well as German and Polish troops. Despite the lack of professional personnel and proper combat training, the soldiers of the Red Army were able to turn the tide of world history by winning the Great Patriotic War. Despite the political upheavals of the last hundred years, the Russian army has remained faithful to military traditions. About the main stages of the creation and development of the Red Army - in the material RT.

Red Army cavalry during the civil war RIA Novosti

The Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) originated on the territory of the former Russian Empire. Since November 1917, the nominal leadership of the state has been exercised by the Bolsheviks (RSDLP (b), the radical wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party).

Most of the "old regime" generals were in opposition to them. It was he, together with the Cossacks, who formed the backbone of the White Guard movement. In addition, the main external opponents of the new political system in Russia were Kaiser's Germany (until November 1918), Poland, Great Britain, France and the United States.

A powerful military group was supposed to defend the young socialist republic from political opponents and foreign troops. The Bolsheviks took the first steps in this direction in the winter of 1917-1918.

The Soviet authorities eliminated the manning system for the tsarist army, abolishing all ranks and titles. On January 28, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a Decree on the creation of the Red Army, and on February 11, on the creation of a fleet. Nevertheless, the day of the founding of the Red Army is considered February 23 - the date of publication of the appeal of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) "The socialist fatherland is in danger!"

The document spoke about the expansionist plans of "German militarism". In this regard, the citizens of the RSFSR were called upon to throw all their forces and resources into the "cause of the revolutionary struggle." Soldiers in the western regions had to defend "every position to the last drop of blood."

From workers, peasants and "able-bodied members of the bourgeois class" battalions for digging trenches were formed under the leadership of military specialists. Profiteers, hooligans, agents and spies of the enemy, as well as counter-revolutionaries were to be shot at the scene of the crime.

• German troops in Kiev, March 1918
• RIA News

At the stage of formation

The Red Army was formed in the most difficult military-political and economic conditions. Before coming to power, the Bolsheviks tried to demoralize the tsarist military personnel, calling the war with Germany and Austria-Hungary "imperialist". The leader of the RSDLP (b) Vladimir Lenin demanded to conclude a separate peace with the Germans and predicted an imminent change of the regime in Berlin.

After the seizure of power, the Bolsheviks refused to fight the imperial Germany, but they failed to agree on peace. Taking advantage of Russia's weakness, German troops occupied Ukraine and became a real threat to the Bolshevik government.

At the same time, “counterrevolutionary” forces were strengthening in the former Russian Empire. In the south of Russia, in the Volga region and in the Urals, White Guard formations were formed. The opposition to the RSDLP (b) was supported by Western countries, which in 1918-1919 occupied part of the country's coastal territories.

The Bolsheviks needed to create an efficient army, and as soon as possible. For some time this was hampered by the excessively democratic views of the ideologists of Bolshevism.

However, this view of the purpose of the armed forces of the SNK, which was headed by Lenin, had to be abandoned. In January 1918, the Bolsheviks actually embarked on a course of building a typical regular army, based on the principles of one-man command, a "vertical of power" and the inevitability of punishment for non-observance of orders.

• Vladimir Lenin on Sverdlov Square in front of the troops, Moscow, May 5, 1920
• RIA News
• G. Goldstein

The paper approves the recruiting system for manning the troops. Citizens of at least 18 years of age could serve in the Red Army. The Red Army men were assigned a monthly salary of 50 rubles. The Red Army was proclaimed to be an instrument for the protection of workers' rights and was to consist of "exploited classes".

The Red Army was declared "the worst enemy of capitalism", and therefore it was recruited according to the class principle. The command staff were to include only workers and peasants. The term of service in the infantry of the Red Army was established in the region of one and a half years, in the cavalry - two and a half years. At the same time, the Bolsheviks tried to convince citizens that the regular character of the Red Army would gradually change to the "militia" one.

In their achievements, the Bolsheviks recorded a significant reduction in the number of troops in comparison with the tsarist period - from 5 million to 600 thousand people. However, by 1920, about 5.5 million soldiers and officers were serving in the ranks of the Red Army.

Young army

An enormous contribution to the formation of the Red Army was made by the People's Commissar for Military Affairs of the RSFSR (since March 17, 1918) Lev Trotsky. He removed any indulgences, restoring the authority of the commanders and the practice of executions for desertion.

Iron discipline, combined with active propaganda of revolutionary ideas and the struggle against the occupiers, became the key to the success of the Red Army on the eastern, southern and western fronts. By 1920, the Bolsheviks had conquered the resource-rich regions, which made it possible to provide the troops with food and ammunition.

Changes for the better have also taken place in relations with Western countries. In 1919, German troops left Ukraine, and in 1920 the invaders left the previously occupied Russian territories. However, bloody battles in 1919-1921 unfolded with the re-established Polish state.

The Soviet-Polish war ended with the signing of the Riga Peace Treaty on March 18, 1921. Warsaw, which was previously part of the Russian Empire, received vast lands in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

At the end of 1920, when the threat of Bolshevik power had passed, Lenin announced a mass demobilization. The size of the army dropped to half a million people, and the serving citizens were recorded in the reserve. In the mid-1920s, the Red Army was recruited according to the territorial-militia principle.

About 80% of the Armed Forces (AF) were citizens who were called up for military training. This approach was generally in line with Lenin's concept outlined in the book State and Revolution, but in practice it only exacerbated the problem of a shortage of qualified personnel.

Fundamental changes took place in the mid-1930s, when the territorial principle was abolished, and a deep reform was carried out in the command and control bodies of the Armed Forces. The size of the army began to grow, reaching about 5 million people by 1941.

“In 1918, the country had a young army, into which many specialists from the tsarist army joined. The command staff was represented mainly by red commanders, who were trained from former non-commissioned officers and officers of the tsarist army. However, the problem of the lack of new command personnel was extremely acute. In the future, it was solved by creating new military schools and academies, "Mikhail Myagkov, scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), told RT.

Growing power

The achievements of the pre-war period include an unprecedented growth in production in the defense industry. The Soviet government almost completely eliminated dependence on imports of weapons technology and military products.

The Red Army won its first war after the reorganization at the cost of monstrous losses. In 1939, Moscow could not agree with Helsinki on the transfer of the border from Leningrad and threw troops against the Finns. On March 12, 1940, the territorial claims of the USSR were satisfied.

• Soviet troops in the area of ​​Fort Ino on the Karelian Isthmus, 1939-1940
• RIA News

However, in three-month battles, the Red Army lost more than 120 thousand troops against 26 thousand from Finland. The war with Helsinki demonstrated serious logistical problems (lack of warm clothes) and a lack of experience among the command staff.

Historians often explain the major defeats suffered by the Soviet Armed Forces in the first months of 1941 by such shortcomings in the planning of military operations. Despite the superiority in tanks, aircraft and artillery before the war with Germany, the Red Army experienced a shortage of fuel, spare parts, and most importantly, personnel shortages.

In November - December 1941, Soviet troops managed to win the first and most important victory at that time: to stop the Nazis near Moscow. 1942 was a turning point for the army. Despite the loss of key industrial areas in the west of the country, the Soviet Union established the production of weapons and ammunition and improved the training system for soldiers and junior command echelons.

In the incredibly bloody battles, the Red Army gained experience and knowledge that was lacking in the fateful 1941 year. A striking proof of the increased power of the Soviet Armed Forces was the defeat of the Wehrmacht in the Battle of Stalingrad (February 2, 1943). Six months later, at the Kursk Bulge, Germany suffered a major tank defeat, and in 1944 the Red Army liberated the entire territory of the USSR.

The Red Army gained immortal worldwide fame thanks to its mission to liberate Central and Eastern Europe from the Nazis. Soviet troops drove the Nazis out of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, East Germany and Austria. The symbol of Victory over Nazism was the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division, which was hoisted over the Reichstag building on May 1, 1945.

• Soviet military at the Reichstag in Berlin, May 1945
• RIA News

After the end of the Second World War, the leadership of the USSR disbanded all the fronts, established military districts and began a large-scale demobilization, reducing the number of armed forces from 11 to 2.5 million people. On February 25, 1946, the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army was renamed the Soviet Army. Instead of the People's Commissariat of Defense, the Ministry of the Armed Forces appeared. However, the "Red Army" did not leave the vocabulary of servicemen.

With the growing tension in relations with the West, the size and role of the Soviet Armed Forces increased again. Since the 1950s, Moscow has begun to prepare for the prospect of a large-scale land war with NATO. By the end of the 1960s, the USSR possessed an arsenal of tens of thousands of pieces of armored vehicles and artillery.

The Soviet military machine reached its peak in the mid-1980s. With the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev (1985), the confrontation with the United States has noticeably decreased. The Soviet army (in parallel with the American Armed Forces) entered a period of disarmament, which lasted until the late 1990s.

The Soviet army ceased to exist with the registration of documents on the collapse of the USSR in December 1991. However, some researchers believe that the de facto Soviet Armed Forces continued to exist until 1993, that is, until the withdrawal of the group of forces from East Germany.

• Group of Soviet Forces in Germany at tactical exercises
• RIA News

Return of traditions

In an interview with RT, Vladimir Afanasyev, chief researcher at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, noted that the Red Army, despite radical political changes, has absorbed many of the traditions of the tsarist army.

“The old traditions were being restored from the first months of the existence of the Red Army. Personal military ranks were returned. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, general ranks were reintroduced, and during the war years many traditions found a second life - shoulder straps, honorary names of units and formations, salutes in honor of the liberation of cities returned, "Afanasyev said.

The bearers of traditions were not only cadres of the tsarist period, but also military institutions. According to the expert, the Soviet authorities created Suvorov schools in the image and likeness of cadet corps. Their education was initiated by the tsarist general Alexei Alekseevich Ignatiev. Also, the tradition has returned to enroll distinguished soldiers in the lists of units forever.

• Servicemen at the Victory Parade
• RIA News
• Alexander Wilf

“A significant part of the military schools that functioned in tsarist times continued to operate after the revolution. These are the Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy and the Academy of the General Staff. Therefore, we can say that practically all Soviet military leaders were students of the tsarist military minds, ”Afanasyev said.

Myagkov believes that the most intense stage of the return of pre-revolutionary traditions took place during the Great Patriotic War.

“In 1943, shoulder straps were introduced. Many WWI veterans who fought in the 1940s wore royal decorations. These were symbolic examples of continuity. Also during the Great Patriotic War, the Order of Glory was introduced, which by its statute and colors resembled St. George's awards, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

Historians are confident that the modern Russian Armed Forces are the successors of the Soviet troops. They inherited both the traditions of the Red Army and the pre-revolutionary imperial army: patriotism, loyalty to the people, loyalty to the banner and their military unit.

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