Red Army

:This article is about the armed forces of the Soviet Union. See Red Army Faction for the German militant group; Japanese Red Army for the Japanese militant group; and People's Liberation Army for the Chinese Red Army.

Early history

The Council of People's Commissars set up the Red Army by decree on January 15 1918 (Old Style) (January 28, 1918), basing it on the already-existing Red Guard. The official Red Army Day of February 23, 1918 marked the day of the first mass draft of the Red Army in Petrograd and Moscow, and of the first combat action against the occupying imperial German army. February 23 became an important national holiday in the Soviet Union, later celebrated as "Soviet Army Day", and it continues as a day of celebration in present-day Russia as Defenders of the Motherland Day. Credit as the founder of the Red Army generally goes to Leon Trotsky, the People's Commissar for War from 1918 to 1924.

Related Topics:
Council of People's Commissars - January 15 - 1918 - Old Style - January 28 - Red Guard - February 23 - Petrograd - Moscow - German - Soviet Union - Leon Trotsky - 1924

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the beginning of its existence, the Red Army functioned as a voluntary formation, without ranks and insignia. Democratic elections selected the officers. However, a decree of May 29, 1918 specified obligatory military service was decreed for men of ages 18 to 40. To service the massive draft, the Bolsheviks formed regional military commissariats (??????? ???????????, ????????? (voenkomat)), which existed in this function and under this name till the very last days of the Soviet Union. (Note: do not confuse military commissariats with the institution of military political commissars.)

Related Topics:
May 29 - 1918 - Political commissar

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Following Aleksei Brusilov's offering his professional services, Bolsheviks decided to permit conscription of officers of the army of Imperial Russia. A special commission under the chair of Lev Glezarov (??? ???????? ????????) was set, and by August 1920, about 315,000 of them had been drafted. Most often they held a position of military advisor (voyenspets: "????????" for "??????? ??????????", i.e., "military specialist"), and a number of prominent Soviet Army commanders were former Imperial generals. In fact, a number of former Imperial military men, notably, a member of the Supreme Military Council Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich, joined Bolsheviks earlier.

Related Topics:
Aleksei Brusilov - Imperial Russia - Lev Glezarov - Military advisor - Supreme Military Council - Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Bolshevik authorities assigned to every unit of the Red Army a political commissar, or politruk, who had the authority to override unit commanders' decisions if they ran counter to the principles of the Communist Party. Although this sometimes resulted in inefficient command, the Party leadership considered political control over the military necessary, as the Army relied more and more on experienced officers from the pre-revolutionary Tsarist period.

Related Topics:
Political commissar - Communist Party - Tsar

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The institution of a professional officer corps, abandoned as a "heritage of tsarism" in the Revolution, returned in 1935. The Red Army acquired a General Staff made up of officers trained by German experts during the period of Soviet-German cooperation between the two World Wars. During the Great Purges of 1937-1939 (and later), the NKVD executed nearly all senior officers or sent them to forced labor camps as potential threats to Stalin's authority.

Related Topics:
1935 - Soviet-German cooperation - Great Purges - 1937 - 1939 - NKVD - Forced labor camp - Stalin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~