How many types of troops there were in the USSR. Armed forces of the ussr

Article 31. Chapter 5. The defense of the socialist homeland is one of the most important functions of the state and is the concern of the entire people.

In order to protect the socialist gains, the peaceful labor of the Soviet people, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state, the Armed Forces of the USSR have been created and universal military service has been established.

Article 32. Chapter 5. The state ensures the security and defense capability of the country, equips the Armed Forces of the USSR with everything necessary.

Obligations of state bodies, public organizations, officials and citizens to ensure the country's security and strengthen its defense capability are determined by the legislation of the USSR.

Management

The supreme state leadership in the field of defense of the country on the basis of laws was carried out by the supreme bodies of state power and administration of the USSR, guided by the policy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), directing the work of the entire state apparatus in such a way that when solving any issues of governing the country, the interests of strengthening its defense capability must be taken into account : - USSR Defense Council (Council of Workers 'and Peasants' Defense of the RSFSR), Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Article (Art.) 73 and 108, Constitution of the USSR), Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Article 121, Constitution of the USSR), Council of Ministers of the USSR (Council of People commissars of the RSFSR) (Art. 131, Constitution of the USSR).

The USSR Defense Council coordinated the activities of the bodies of the Soviet state in the field of strengthening defense, approving the main directions of development of the USSR Armed Forces. The USSR Defense Council was headed by the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet.

Supreme Commanders.

• - - Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union,
• - - Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, Colonel.

Military Command Bodies (OVU)

The direct control of the construction of the USSR Armed Forces, their life and combat activities was carried out by the OVU.

The OVU system included:

The command and control bodies of the SA and the Navy, united by the USSR Ministry of Defense (MO) of the USSR (People's Commissariat of Defense, the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the War Ministry), headed by the USSR Minister of Defense (Head of the USSR Military Department) (Art. USSR Constitution); - control bodies of border troops, subordinate to the State Security Committee (KGB) of the USSR, headed by the Chairman of the KGB of the USSR (Art. Constitution of the USSR); - command and control bodies of internal troops, subordinate to the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), headed by the USSR MVD Minister (article of the USSR Constitution).

By the nature of the tasks performed and the scope of competence in the OVU system, they differed:

1. Central OVU.
2. Bodies of military command of military districts (VO) (groups of forces), fleets.
3. Military command and control bodies of military formations and units.
4. Local military administration.
5. Garrison chiefs (senior naval commanders) and military commandants.

Story

• The Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA) (from January 15 (28) - to February)
• Workers 'and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF) (from January 29 (11) February - to February)
• Workers 'and Peasants' Red Air Fleet (RKKVF)
• Border Troops (Border Guard, Border Guard, Guard)
• Internal Troops (Internal Security Troops of the Republic (VOKhR troops) and the State Convoy Guard)
• Soviet Army, (from February 25 to the beginning of the year), the official name of the main part of the USSR Armed Forces. It included the Strategic Missile Forces, the Ground Forces, the Air Defense Forces, the Air Force and other formations, except for the Navy, the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR, and the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.

Number of

Structure

The Armed Forces consisted of types, and also included the rear of the USSR Armed Forces, the headquarters and troops of the Civil Defense (GO) of the USSR, the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of the USSR, the border troops of the State Security Committee (KGB) of the USSR. Page 158.

Kinds

Strategic Rocket Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) of the USSR Armed Forces, (1960)

Rocket (RT-23 UTTH "Molodets") as part of a railway missile system

Type of the USSR Armed Forces - the main striking force of the Armed Forces, which was in constant combat readiness.

• Rocket armies, rocket corps, rocket divisions (Headquarters in the cities (city) Vinnitsa, Smolensk, Vladimir, Kirov (Kirov region), Omsk, Chita, Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk, Orenburg, Tatishchevo, Novomoskovsk, Nikolaev, Lvov, Uzhgorod, Dzhambul)
• State central interspecific polygon
• 10th Proving Ground (in the Kazakh SSR)
• 4th Central Research Institute (Yubileiny, Moscow Region, RSFSR)
• educational institutions (Military Academy in Moscow, military schools in Serpukhov, Rostov-on-Don, Stavropol)
• arsenals and central repair plants, storage bases for weapons and military equipment

In addition, there were units and institutions of special troops and rear services in the Strategic Missile Forces. The headquarters is the city of Vlasikha.

• - - M.I. Nedelin, Chief Marshal of Artillery
• - - K. S. Moskalenko, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - S. S. Biryuzov, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - N. I. Krylov, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - V.F.Tolubko, General of the Army, since 1983 Chief Marshal of Artillery
• - - Yu. P. Maksimov, General of the Army

Ground Forces (Land Forces) of the USSR Armed Forces, (1946)

In the design of ceremonial events, on posters, in drawings on postal envelopes and postcards, the image of a conditional decorative "flag Ground forces»In the form of a red rectangular panel with a large red five-pointed star in the center, with a gold (yellow) border. This "flag" has never been approved or made of fabric.

Commanders-in-Chief who were the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR (years)

• - - G.K. Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - I. S. Konev, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - I. S. Konev, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - R. Ya. Malinovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - A. A. Grechko, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - V.I. Chuikov, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - I. G. Pavlovsky, General of the Army
• - - V.I.Petrov, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• - - E. F. Ivanovsky, General of the Army
• - - V.I. Varennikov, General of the Army
• - - V.M.Semenov, General of the Army

The Soviet Army was divided according to the territorial principle into military districts (groups of troops), military garrisons:

• Moscow Military District (OLMVO)
• Leningrad Military District (LenVO)
• Baltic Military District (PribVO)
• Carpathian Military District (PrikVO)
• Odessa Military District (KODVO)
• North Caucasian Military District (KSKVO)
• Transcaucasian Military District (ZakVO)
• Volga Military District (PrivO)
• Central Asian Military District (SAVO)
• Turkestan Military District (TurkVO)
• Ural Military District (Ural Military District)
• Siberian Military District (Siberian Military District)
• Trans-Baikal Military District (ZabVO)
• Far Eastern Military District (KDVO)
• (GSVG), later - Western Group of Forces (ZGV)

Air Defense Forces (Air Defense) of the USSR Armed Forces, (city).

They included:

• Rocket and Space Defense Troops;
• Radio-technical air defense troops, g .;
• Fighter aviation (air defense aviation);
• Air defense electronic warfare troops.
• Special troops.

In addition, there were units and rear agencies in the VPO.

The air defense systems were divided according to the territorial principle into air defense districts (groups of forces):

• Air defense district (group of forces) - air defense forces formations designed to protect the most important administrative, industrial centers and regions of the country, armed forces groupings, important military and other objects within established boundaries from air strikes. In the Armed Forces of the district, the air defense was created after the Great Patriotic War on the basis of the air defense of fronts and military units. In the city, the air defense districts were reorganized into air defense areas, in the city they were recreated.

• Moscow Air Defense District - was intended to cover the most important administrative and economic facilities of the Northern, Central, Central Black Earth and Volga-Vyatka economic regions of the USSR from enemy air attacks. In November, the Moscow Air Defense Zone was formed, transformed into the Moscow Special Air Defense Army, deployed in the Air Defense of the Moscow Military District. After the war, the Moscow Air Defense District was created on its base, then the Air Defense District. In August, the Moscow Air Defense District was reorganized into the Moscow Air Defense District. In the city after the liquidation of the Baku Air Defense District, it became the only association of this type in the USSR.

• Baku Air Defense District.

The USSR Air Defense was headed by the Commander-in-Chief, who was the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. They obeyed him Main Headquarters and air defense control of the USSR.

Commanders-in-Chief who were the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR

• -1952 - L. A. Govorov, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• -1954 - K. A. Vershinin, Colonel General
• -1955 - L. A. Govorov, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• -1962 - S. S. Biryuzov, Marshal of the Soviet Union
• -1966 - V. A. Sudets, Air Marshal
• -1978 - P.F.Batitsky, General of the Army, since 1968 Marshal of the Soviet Union
• -1987 - A. I. Koldunov, Colonel General, since 1984 Chief Marshal of Aviation
• - - I.M. Tretyak, General of the Army

Air Force (VVS) of the USSR Armed Forces, (1946)

The Air Force organizationally consisted of the types of aviation: bomber, fighter-bomber, fighter, reconnaissance, communications and ambulance. At the same time, the Air Force was divided into types of aviation: front-line, long-range, military transport, and auxiliary. They had in their composition special forces (special forces (special forces)), units and institutions of the rear.

The USSR Air Force was headed by the Commander-in-Chief (Chief, Head of the Main Directorate, Commander), who was the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. The main headquarters and directorates of the USSR Air Force were subordinate to him.

Moscow headquarters.

Commanders-in-Chief who were the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR

• - - A. V. Sergeev, Commissioner
• - - A. A. Znamensky,
• - - Ya. I. Alksnis, Commander of the 2nd rank ();
• - - A. D. Loktionov, Colonel General;
• - - Ya. V. Smushkevich, Commander of the 2nd rank, with Mr. Lieutenant General of Aviation;
• - - P.V. Rychagov, Lieutenant General of Aviation;
• - - PF Zhigarev, Lieutenant General of Aviation;
• - - A. A. Novikov
• - - K. A. Vershinin, Marshal of Aviation;
• - - P.F.Zhigarev, Marshal of Aviation, since - Chief Marshal of Aviation;
• - - K. A. Vershinin, Chief Marshal of Aviation;
• - - PS Kutakhov, Marshal of Aviation, with the city - Chief Marshal of Aviation;
• - - A. N. Efimov, Marshal of Aviation;
• - - E. I. Shaposhnikov, Marshal of Aviation;

The Navy of the USSR Armed Forces.

USSR Navy flag, rectangular cloth white with an aspect ratio of 2: 3, with a narrow stripe of blue color along the bottom edge; above the blue stripe, a red star was depicted on the left of the flag, and a red hammer and sickle on the right. The flag was adopted on May 27, 1935 by decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 1982/341 "On naval flags Of the USSR ".

The USSR Navy organizationally consisted of the branches of the forces: submarine, surface, naval aviation, coastal missile and artillery troops and marines. It also included ships and vessels of the auxiliary fleet, special forces (special forces) and various services. The main branches of the forces were submarine forces and naval aviation. In addition, there were units and rear services in the Navy.

Organizationally, the USSR Navy included:

• Red Banner Northern Fleet (1937) (KSF), Northern Fleet;
• Red Banner Pacific fleet(1935) (KToF), Pacific Fleet;
• Red Banner Black Sea Fleet (KCHF), Black Sea Fleet;
• Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet (Dv.KBF), Baltic Fleet;
• Red Banner Caspian Flotilla (KKFl), Caspian Flotilla;
• The Red Banner Leningrad Naval Base (naval base) (Len naval base);

The USSR Navy was headed by the Commander-in-Chief (Commander, Chief of the Naval Forces of the Republic, People's Commissar, Minister), who was the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. The main headquarters and directorates of the USSR Navy were subordinate to him.

The main headquarters of the Navy is Moscow.

Commanders-in-Chief, who were the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR.

• - - V.M. Altfater, Rear Admiral of the Russian Imperial Fleet,
• - - V.M. Orlov, with the town of Flagship of the 1st rank fleet;
• - - M. V. Viktorov, Flagship of the 1st rank fleet;
• - - P. A. Smirnov, 1st Rank Army Commissar;
• - - M.P. Frinovsky, 1st Rank Commander;
• - - N. G. Kuznetsov, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union;
• - - I. S. Yumashev, Admiral;
• - - N. G. Kuznetsov
• - - S. G. Gorshkov, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union;
• - - V. N. Chernavin, Admiral of the Fleet;

Rear services of the USSR Armed Forces

Forces and means intended for logistic support and for logistic services of technical support of troops (forces) of the Armed Forces. They were an integral part of the state's defense potential and a link between the country's economy and the Armed Forces itself. It consisted of the logistics headquarters, main and central directorates, services, as well as command and control bodies, troops and organizations. central subordination, rear structures of the services and combat arms of the Armed Forces, military districts (groups of forces) and fleets, large formations, formations and military units.

• Main Military Medical Directorate. (GVMU Ministry of Defense of the USSR) ((1946) (Main Military Sanitary Directorate)
• Main Department of Trade. (GUT MO USSR) (1956 Glavvoentorg of the USSR Ministry of Trade)
• Central Office of Military Communications. (MCC VOSO MO USSR) (incl. 1962 until 1992, GU VOSO (1950))
• Central Food Administration. (Central Administration of the USSR Ministry of Defense)
• Central clothing control. (TsVU MO USSR) (1979) (Department of clothing and economic supply, Department of clothing and transport supply)
• Central Office of Rocket Fuel and Fuel. (TsURTG MO USSR) (Fuel supply service (1979), Fuel and lubricants service, Fuel service department)
• Central Road Administration (TsDU Ministry of Defense of the USSR). (Automobile and road department of the Logistics of the Kyrgyz Republic (1941), Department of the road and road service of the General Staff (1938), Department of the road and road service of VOSO)
• Department of Agriculture.
• Directorate of the Chief of Environmental Safety of the USSR Armed Forces.
• Fire and Rescue and Local Defense Service of the USSR Armed Forces.
• Railway troops of the USSR Armed Forces.

The rear of the Armed Forces in the interests of the Armed Forces solved a whole range of tasks, the main of which were: receiving from the economic complex of the state a stock of material resources and equipment for the rear, storing and providing troops (forces) with them; planning and organization, together with transport ministries and departments, of preparation, operation, technical cover, restoration of communication lines and vehicles; delivery of all types of material resources; implementation of operational, supply and other types of military transport, ensuring the basing of the Air Force and the Navy; technical support troops (forces) for rear services; organization and implementation of medical and evacuation, sanitary and anti-epidemic (preventive) measures, medical protection of personnel against weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and adverse environmental factors, veterinary and sanitary measures and measures of the rear services for the chemical protection of troops (forces); exercising control over the organization and state of fire protection and local defense of troops (forces), assessing the environmental situation in the places of deployment of troops (forces), forecasting its development and monitoring the implementation of measures to protect personnel from environmentally harmful effects of natural and man-made nature; trade and household, apartment maintenance and financial support; protection and defense of communications and rear facilities in the rear zones, the organization of camps (reception centers) for prisoners of war (hostages), their registration and support; provision of work on exhumation, identification, burial and reburial of servicemen.

To solve these problems, the Logistics of the Armed Forces included special troops (special forces) (automobile, railway, road, pipeline), formations and parts of material support, medical units, units and institutions, stationary bases and warehouses with the corresponding stocks of materiel, transport commandant's offices, veterinary and sanitary, repair, agricultural, trade and household, educational (academy, schools, faculties and military departments at civilian universities) and other institutions.

Moscow headquarters.

Bosses

• - - A. V. Khrulev, General of the Army;
• - - V.I. Vinogradov, Colonel General ();
• - - I. Kh. Bagramyan, Marshal of the Soviet Union;
• - - S. S. Maryakhin, General of the Army;
• - - SK Kurkotkin, Marshal of the Soviet Union;
• - - V.M. Arkhipov, General of the Army;
• - - I. V. Fuzhenko, Colonel General;

Independent branches of the armed forces

Civil Defense Troops (GO) of the USSR

In the city, the direct management of civil defense is entrusted to the USSR Ministry of Defense, day-to-day - to the chief of civil defense - the deputy minister of defense of the USSR.

There were civil defense shelves (in large cities USSR), the Moscow Military School of Civil Defense (MVUGO), (Balashikha City), reorganized into the Moscow Higher Command School of Road and Engineering Troops (MVKUDIV), trained specialists for road troops and civil defense troops.

Bosses

• -1972 - V.I. Chuikov, Marshal of the Soviet Union;
• -1986 - A. T. Altunin, Colonel General, (c) - Army General;
• -1991 - V. L. Govorov, General of the Army;

Border troops of the KGB of the USSR

Border Troops - were intended to protect the land, sea and river (lake) borders of the Soviet state. In the USSR, the Border Troops were part of USSR Armed Forces. The direct leadership of the border troops was carried out by the KGB of the USSR and the Main Directorate of the Border Troops subordinate to it. Consisted of border districts, separate formations (border detachment), units (outpost), special units (subdivisions) and educational institutions. In addition, there were subdivisions and units of aviation, sea (river) forces and rear services in the Border Troops. The range of tasks solved by the border troops was determined by the law "On the State Border of the USSR", the regulation on the protection of the state border of the USSR, approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on August 5, 1960 ("Bulletin of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR" 1960, No. 34). The legal status of the personnel of the border troops was regulated by the USSR Law on universal military service, provisions on military service, charters and instructions.

• Western border district.
• Transbaikal border district.
• Baltic border district.
• Kamchatka border district.
• Arctic border district.

Bosses

• -1919 - S.G. Shamshev, (Main Directorate of Border Troops (GUP.v.));
• -1920 - V. A. Stepanov, (Office of Border Supervision);
• - - V.R. Menzhinsky, (special department of the Cheka (border guard));
• -1923 - A. Kh. Artuzov, (department of border troops, department of border protection (OPO));
• -1925 - Ya.K. Olsky, (OPO);
• -1929 - Z.B. Katsnelson, (General Directorate of Border Guard (GUPO));
• - S. G. Velezhev, (GUPO);
• 1929-1931 - I.A. Vorontsov, (GUPO);
• -1933 - N. M. Bystrykh, (GUPO);
• -1937 - M.P. Frinovsky, (GUPO) (since 1934, border and internal (GUPiVO)) NKVD of the USSR;
• -1938 - N.K. Kruchinkin, (GUPiVO);
• -1939 - A.A.Kovalev, Main Directorate of Border and Internal Troops (GUP. V.V.);
• - - G. G. Sokolov
• -1952 - N.P. Stakhanov, Lieutenant General (State Unitary Enterprise);
• -1953 - P.I. Zyryanov, Lieutenant General (State Unitary Enterprise);
• -1954 - T.F. Filippov, Lieutenant General (State Unitary Enterprise);
• -1956 - A.S. Sirotkin, Lieutenant General (State Unitary Enterprise);
• -1957 - T.A.Strokach, Lieutenant General (State Unitary Enterprise);
• -1972 - P.I. Zyryanov, Lieutenant General, (since 1961) Colonel General (GUP.V.);
• -1989 - V.A.Matrosov, Colonel General, (since 1978) General of the Army (GUP.v.);
• -1992 - I. Ya. Kalinichenko, Colonel-General (GUP.V.) (Commander-in-Chief since 1991)

Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs

Internal troops USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, part of the USSR Armed Forces. Designed to protect state facilities and perform other service and combat tasks defined in special government decrees assigned to the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. They guarded especially important objects National economy, as well as socialist property, the personality and rights of citizens, the entire Soviet legal order from the encroachments of criminal elements and performed some other special tasks (guarding places of detention, escorting convicts). The predecessors of the Internal Troops were the Gendarmerie, the Internal Security Troops of the Republic (VOKhR Troops), the Internal Service Troops and the Troops of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK). The term Internal Troops appeared in the city to designate parts of the Cheka serving in the internal regions of the country, in contrast to the border troops. During the Great Patriotic War, they guarded the rear of the fronts and armies, carried out garrison service in the liberated regions, and took part in neutralizing the enemy's agents. Internal troops of the NKVD of the USSR (1941-1946), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (1946-1947, 1953-1960, 1968-1991), the Ministry of State Security of the USSR (1947-1953), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR (1960-1962), the MOOP of the RSFSR (1962-1966), MOOP USSR (1966-1968), Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (since 1991):

Bosses

• -1938 - N.K. Kruchinkin, (Main Directorate of Border and Internal Security (GUPiVO));
• -1939 - A.A.Kovalev, (Main Directorate of Border and Internal Troops (GUP. V.V.));
• -1944 - I.S.Sheredega, Major General;
• -1946 - A. N. Apollonov, Colonel General;
• -1953 - P.V. Burmak, Lieutenant General;
• -1954 - T. F. Filippov, Lieutenant General;
• -1956 - A.S. Sirotkin, Lieutenant General;
• -1957 - T.A.Strokach, Lieutenant General;
• -1960 - S. I. Donskov, Lieutenant General;
• -1961 - GI Aleinikov, Lieutenant General;
• -1968 - N.I. Pilshchuk, Lieutenant General;
• -1986 - IK Yakovlev, Colonel General, from the city - General of the Army;
• -1991 - Yu. V. Shatalin, Colonel General;

Military duty

The universal military obligation established by Soviet legislation stemmed from the constitutional provision determining that the defense of the socialist Fatherland is the sacred duty of every citizen of the USSR, and military service in the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces is an honorary duty of Soviet citizens (Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of the USSR). The legislation on universal conscription has gone through several stages in its development. Reflecting socio-political changes in the life of society and the need to strengthen the country's defense, it developed from volunteerism to compulsory military service of workers and from it to universal military service.

Universal military service was characterized by the following main features:

1. it extended only to Soviet citizens;
2. was universal: all men - citizens of the USSR were subject to conscription; only persons serving a criminal sentence and persons in respect of whom an investigation was conducted or a criminal case was considered by a court were not summoned;
3. was personal and equal for everyone: it was not allowed to replace a conscript by another person: for evading conscription or performing military service duties, the perpetrators were criminally liable;
4. had time limits: the law precisely established the terms of active military service, the number and duration of training camps and the age limit for the state in the reserve;

Conscription under Soviet law was carried out in the following basic forms:

• service in the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces within the terms established by law;
• work and service as military builders;
• passing training, verification camps and retraining during the period of being in the reserve of the USSR Armed Forces;

The fulfillment of general military duty was also preliminary training (military-patriotic education, initial military training (NVP), training of specialists for the Armed Forces, increasing general literacy, conducting medical and recreational activities and physical conditioning of young people) for military service:

• the passage of students in secondary schools, and other citizens - in the production of CWP, including training in civil defense, with students in general education schools (starting from the 9th grade), in secondary specialized educational institutions (SSUZ), and in educational institutions of the system professionally -technical education (SPTO) by full-time military leaders. Young men who did not study in daytime (full-time) educational institutions of CWP took place at training centers created (if there are 15 or more young men who are obliged to undergo CWP) at enterprises, organizations and collective farms; The CWP program included familiarizing young people with the purpose of the Soviet Armed Forces and their nature, with the duties of military service, the basic requirements of the military oath and military regulations. The heads of enterprises, institutions, collective farms and educational institutions were responsible for ensuring that all youths of pre-conscription and conscription ages were covered by the CWP.
• the acquisition of military specialties in the educational organizations of the SPET - vocational schools and in the organizations of the Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Aviation and the Navy (DOSAAF), was intended to ensure constant and high combat readiness of the Armed Forces, was advance and provided for the training of specialists (car drivers, electricians, signalmen, paratroopers and others ) from among the youths who have reached the age of 17. In the cities, it was produced without interrupting production. At the same time, for the period of passing the exams, students were provided with paid leave for 7-15 working days. In rural areas, it was produced with a break from production at the training camp in the autumn-winter period. In these cases, the conscripts retained their places of work, the position they held, and were paid 50% of the average earnings. The costs of renting accommodation and travel to and from the place of study were also paid .;
• the study of military affairs and the acquisition of an officer's specialty by students of higher educational institutions (higher educational institutions) and secondary specialized educational institutions, who were engaged in training programs for reserve officers;
• observance of the rules of military registration and other military duties by conscripts and all citizens in the reserve of the USSR Armed Forces.

For the purpose of systematic preparation and organizational implementation of conscription for active military service, the territory of the USSR was divided into district (city) recruiting stations. Citizens who were 17 years old in the year of registration were assigned to them annually during February - March. Subscription to recruiting stations served as a means of identifying and studying the quantitative and qualitative composition of the conscripts. It was carried out by district (city) military commissariats (military enlistment offices) at the place of permanent or temporary residence. The determination of the state of health of those assigned was carried out by doctors appointed by the decision of the executive committees (executive committees) of the district (city) Soviets of People's Deputies from local medical institutions. The persons assigned to the recruiting stations were named conscripts... They were given a special certificate. Citizens subject to registration were obliged to appear at the military registration and enlistment office within the period established on the basis of the Law. Changing the recruiting station was allowed only from January 01 to April 01 and from July 01 to October 01 of the year of conscription. At other times of the year, changing the recruiting station in some cases could be allowed only for valid reasons (for example, moving to a new place of residence as part of a family). Conscription of citizens for active military service was held every year, everywhere, twice a year (in May - June and in November - December) by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR. In the troops located in remote and some other areas, the call began a month earlier - in April and October (See: Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 25, 1977 ("Vedomosti of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR", 1977, No. 9)) ... The number of citizens to be drafted was established by the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The exact dates for the appearance of citizens at the recruiting stations were determined in accordance with the Law and on the basis of the order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR, by the order of the military commissar. None of the conscripts were exempted from appearing at the recruiting stations (due to the removal of the cases established by Article 25 of the Law). Issues related to conscription were resolved by collegial bodies - draft commissions , created in areas, cities under the chairmanship of the relevant military commissars. The composition of the commission as their full members included representatives of local Soviet, party, Komsomol organizations and doctors. The personnel of the draft commission was approved by the executive committees of the regional (city) Soviets of People's Deputies. The district (city) conscription commissions were entrusted with: a) the organization of medical examination of conscripts; b) making a decision on conscription for active military service and the purpose of those called up according to the types of the Armed Forces and the branches of the armed forces; c) granting deferrals in accordance with the Law; d) release from military service of conscripts in connection with the presence of diseases or physical disabilities; When making a decision, the draft commissions were obliged to comprehensively discuss the family and financial situation of the conscript, his state of health, take into account the wishes of the conscript himself, his specialty, the recommendations of the Komsomol and other public organizations. Decisions were taken by a majority vote. To manage the district (city) draft commissions and control their activities in the union and autonomous republics, territories, regions and autonomous okrugs, appropriate commissions were created under the chairmanship of the military commissar of a union or autonomous republic, territories, oblasts or autonomous okrugs. The activities of the draft commissions were monitored by the Soviets of People's Deputies and prosecutorial supervision. For an unfair or biased attitude to the case in resolving the issue of conscription, the provision of illegal deferrals, members of draft commissions and doctors participating in the examination of conscripts, as well as other persons who committed abuse, were brought to justice in accordance with the current legislation. The distribution of recruits by type of Armed Forces and combat arms was based on the principle of production qualifications and specialties, taking into account the state of health. The same principle was applied when conscripting citizens into military construction detachments (VCO), designed to perform construction and installation work, manufacture structures and parts at industrial and logging enterprises of the system of the USSR Ministry of Defense. The recruitment of VZO was carried out mainly from conscripts who graduated from construction educational institutions or who had construction or related specialties or experience in construction (plumbers, bulldozer drivers, cable operators, etc.). ). The rights, duties and responsibilities of military builders (VSTr) were determined by military law, and their labor activity was regulated by labor legislation (with some peculiarities in the application of one or the other). Payment for work of VSstrov was made in accordance with the current standards. The obligatory period of work in the WZO was counted in the period of active military service.

The law determined: - one military age for all Soviet citizens - 18 years old;

The term of active military service (urgent military service of soldiers and sailors, sergeants and foremen) is 2 - 3 years;

Postponement from the call, could be provided on three grounds: a) for health reasons - was provided to conscripts who were recognized temporarily unfit for military service due to illness (Article 36 of the Law); b) by marital status (Article 34 of the Law); c) to continue education (Art. 35 of the Law);

Military service.

Military service - special kind public service, consisting in the fulfillment of constitutional military duties by Soviet citizens as part of the USSR Armed Forces (Article 63, Constitution of the USSR). Military service was the most active form of citizens' exercise of their constitutional duty to defend the socialist Fatherland (Articles 31 and 62, Constitution of the USSR), was an honorary duty and was assigned only to citizens of the USSR. Foreigners and stateless persons residing in the territory of the USSR did not carry military duty and were not enrolled in military service, while they could be admitted to work (service) in civilian Soviet organizations in compliance with established by law rules.

Soviet citizens were conscripted into military service without fail by conscription (regular, for training camps and for mobilization) in accordance with the constitutional obligation (Art. 63, Constitution of the USSR), and in accordance with Art. 7 of the Law on General Military Obligation (1967), all military personnel and persons liable to military service took a military oath of allegiance to their people, their Soviet Motherland and the Soviet government. Military service is characterized by the presence of the institution assigned in accordance with the procedure established by Article 9 of the Law on General Military Duty (1967). personal military ranks, according to which servicemen and persons liable for military service were divided into chiefs and subordinates, senior and junior with all the ensuing legal consequences.

The USSR Armed Forces conscripted about 40% of the conscript contingent registered with the military (assigned to the military registration and enlistment offices).

Forms of passing military service were established in accordance with the accepted in modern conditions the principle of building the Armed Forces on a permanent personnel basis (combination of personnel Armed Forces with the presence of a reserve of military-liable military-trained citizens). Therefore, according to the Law on General Military Duty (Article 5), military service was divided into active military service and service in the reserve, each of which proceeded in special forms.

Active military service- the service of Soviet citizens in the personnel of the Armed Forces, as part of the corresponding military units, crews of warships, as well as institutions, institutions and other military organizations. Persons enrolled in active military service were named military personnel, they entered into military-service relations with the state, were appointed to such positions provided for by the states, for which certain military or special training was required.

In accordance with the organizational structure of the Armed Forces, the difference in the nature and scope of the service competence of the personnel, the state adopted and used the following forms of active military service:

• urgent military service of soldiers and sailors, sergeants and foremen
• extra-urgent military service of sergeants and foremen
• service of warrant officers and warrant officers
• service of officers, including officers who were called up from the reserve for a period of 2-3 years

As an additional form of active military service, they used the service of women accepted in peacetime in the USSR Armed Forces on a voluntary basis as soldiers and sailors, sergeants and foremen;

The service (work) of military builders adjoined the forms of military service.

Service in stock- periodic military service by citizens enrolled in the reserve of the Armed Forces. The persons in the reserve were named conscripted reserve.

The forms of military service during the state in the reserve were short-term training and retraining:

• training camps aimed at improving the military and special training of persons liable for military service, maintaining it at the level of modern requirements;
• verification fees, aimed at determining the combat and mobilization readiness of military command and control bodies (OVU);

The legal status of the personnel of the USSR Armed Forces was regulated by:

• Constitution (Basic Law) of the USSR, (1977)
• USSR Law on General Military Obligations, (1967)
• General military regulations of the USSR Armed Forces and Ship regulations
• Provisions on the passage of military service (officers, warrant officers and super-conscripts, etc.)
• Combat manuals
• Instructions
• Instructions
• Manuals
• Orders
• Orders

Armed Forces reform

USSR Armed Forces abroad

• Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. (GSVG)
• GSVM. Soviet troops in Mongolia belonged to the ZabVO
• Limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan (OKSVA)
• The basing points (PB) of the Soviet Navy: - Tartus in Syria, Cam Ranh in Vietnam, Umm Qasr in Iraq.

Place of the first launch R-1

Notes (edit)

Literature

• Constitution (Basic Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Adopted at the extraordinary seventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the ninth convocation on October 7, 1977, Moscow (Moscow), Publishing house of political literature, 1977, 64 pages (p.);
• Collection of legalizations (SU) of the RSFSR, M, 1918, No. 17, 28, 41;
• SU of the RSFSR, Moscow, 1923, No. 92;
• War and military affairs. A manual on military affairs for the party, Soviet and trade union activists, Voenizdat, 1933, 564 p.
• Great Soviet Encyclopedia (TSB), Third edition, published by the publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia" in -1978 in 30 volumes;
• Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 25, 1977 ("Bulletin of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR", 1977, No. 9));
• Soviet Military Encyclopedia (SVE), M., Order of the Red Banner of Labor, military publishing house of the USSR Ministry of Defense in 1977-1979 in 8 volumes;
• Military Encyclopedic Dictionary (VES), M., Military Publishing House (VI), 1984, 863 pages with illustrations (ill.), 30 sheets (ill.);
• Fundamentals of Soviet military legislation. Textbook. Under the general editorship of S. S. Maksimov, M., VI, 1978, 312 pages;
• The rear of the Armed Forces. 300 years., Military-historical album., Ed. V. I. Isakova, V. I. Isakov, D. V. Bulgakov, A. A. Smirnov, L. F. Shumikhina, M., Defenders of the Fatherland, 2000, 336 pp.
• In the Name of Russia: The Russian State, the Army and Military Education / tutorial on public and state training (OCP) for officers and warrant officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation / Edited by V. A. Zolotarev, V. V. Marushchenko, S. S. Avtyushin. - M .: publishing house "Rus-RKB",. - 336 p. + incl.

1. Edited by: V.A. Zolotareva, V.V. Marushchenko, S.S. Avtyushin. In the Name of Russia: the Russian state, the army and military education. - M .: "Rus-RKB", 1999. - S. 336 + incl .. - ISBN 5-86273-020-6

(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.

Story

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

Armed Forces of the Soviet Union

Structure General base Strategic Missile Forces RKKA * Soviet army Air Defense Troops Air Force Navy Military ranks Military categories and insignia of the Red Army 1918-1935 Military ranks and insignia of the Red Army 1935-1940 Military ranks and insignia of the Red Army 1940-1943 Military ranks and insignia in the army of the USSR 1943-1955 Military ranks in the armed forces of the USSR 1955-1991 Military ranks of the Soviet Army 1980-1991 History of the Soviet Armed Forces History of military ranks in Russia and the USSR History of the Red Army List of Russian wars

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 to 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 them from sabotage, espionage, sabotage and other subversive activities (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 to the Red Army not only of citizens of the Russian Republic, but also of 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 were supposed to exercise control over the commanders.

Thanks to vigorous efforts to create the Red Army, in the fall of 1918 it turned into a massive army, which numbered from 800,000 at the beginning Civil war up 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

Shortly after the end of World War II, tensions began to rise between the former allies. Churchill's Fulton speech on March 5, 1946 is usually taken as the start date of the Cold War. Since then, in the Soviet army, the most likely adversaries were 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 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 biggest decline was in the annual production of artillery (by about 100,000 guns and mortars, that is, tenfold). The role of artillery was never restored in the future. 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 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 districts, 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 states, 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 brink 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 "before 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, the garrisons were withdrawn from of Eastern Europe and the Baltics 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 refused three times to ratify the agreement and to exclude the mention of the constitution and laws of the USSR from the text of the Constitution of the RSFSR. Thus, the Constitution of the USSR of 1977 de jure continued to operate on the territory of Russia in accordance with Article 4 of the Constitution of the RSFSR until December 25, 1993, when the Constitution of the Russian Federation adopted in a referendum, 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 military fleet between Russia and Ukraine. Status of the former Black Sea Fleet The Soviet Navy was defined 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 major advances made in Germany in this area, the Nazis had too little time; in addition, the research had to be carried out in the conditions of the actual collapse of the German military machine caused by the rapid offensive 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 were the delivery vehicles. 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):

Product name	Weight in grams
1. Rye bread	600
2. Wheat bread 96%	400
3. Wheat flour 85% (podboltny)	20
4. Groats are different	150
5. Pasta	10
6. Meat	175
7. Fish (herring)	75
8. Lard (animal fat)	20
9. Vegetable oil	30
10. Potatoes	400
11. Cabbage (sauerkraut and fresh)	170
12. Beets	60
13. Carrots	35
14. Onion	30
15. Roots, greens	40
16. Tomato puree	15
17. Pepper	0,5
18. Bay leaf	0,3
19. Sugar	35
20. Tea (per month)	50
21.Salt	30
22. Soap (per month)	200
23. Mustard	0,3
24. Vinegar	3

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 No. 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 norms of allowance 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 on weekends and holidays chicken eggs(2 pcs.), And in 1983 it was slightly changed due to some redistribution of flour / cereals and types of vegetables.

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

Norm No. 1. At this rate, soldiers and sergeants were supposed to eat. urgent service, soldiers and sergeants in reserve while at the training camp, soldiers and sergeants on long-term service, warrant officers. This norm is only for the Ground Forces.

Product name	Quantity per day
1. Rye-wheat bread	350 g
2. Wheat bread	400 g
3. Wheat flour (premium or 1 grade)	10 g
4. Different groats (rice, millet, buckwheat, pearl barley)	120 g
5. Pasta	40 g
6. Meat	150 g
7. Fish	100 g
8. Animal fat (margarine)	20 g
9. Vegetable oil	20 g
10. Butter	30 g
11. Cow's milk	100 g
12. Chicken eggs	4 pieces (per week)
13. Sugar	70 g
14. Salt	20 g
15. Tea (brewing)	1.2 g
16. Bay leaf	0.2 g
17. Ground pepper (black or red)	0.3 g
18. Mustard powder	0.3 g
19. Vinegar	2 g
20. Tomato paste	6 g
21. Potatoes	600 g
22. Cabbage	130 g
23. Beets	30 g
24. Carrots	50 g
25. Bow	50 g
26. Cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs	40 g
27. Fruit or vegetable juice	50 g
28. Kissel dry / dried fruits	30/120 g
29. Vitamin "Hexavit"	1 tablet

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 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 rusks in dry rations, which is established in accordance with the 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, naturally, 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 referred to as a combat diet. This norm is allowed to be issued only when soldiers are in conditions where 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 by 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 in a kettle (265 g) 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. It was supposed in the future 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

THE USSR. Armed Forces of the USSR

The Armed Forces of the USSR are the military organization of the Soviet state designed to protect the socialist gains of the Soviet people, the freedom and independence of the Soviet Union. Together with the armed forces of other socialist countries, they ensure the security of the entire socialist community from the encroachments of the aggressors.

The Armed Forces of the USSR are fundamentally different from the armed forces of the exploiting states. In capitalist states, the armed forces are an instrument of oppression of the working people, the aggressive policy of imperialist circles, the capture and enslavement of other countries. The Armed Forces of the USSR are built on the principles of socialist consciousness, patriotism, friendship of peoples and represent the bulwark of universal peace and progress. They are folk in their composition, purpose and place in the political organization of society. The ideological basis for the education of their personnel is Marxism-Leninism. This constitutes their main characteristic features, the meaning and significance of all activities, they contain the sources of their strength and power. “Our army is a special army in the sense that it is a school of internationalism, a school for fostering feelings of brotherhood, solidarity and mutual respect for all the nations and nationalities of the Soviet Union. Our Armed Forces are a united friendly family, a living embodiment of socialist internationalism ”(Leonid Brezhnev, Lenin's course, vol. 4, 1974, p. 61). The internationalism of the Armed Forces of the USSR is manifested in the ever greater strengthening of their fraternal ties and military cooperation with the armies of other socialist countries.

The Armed Forces of the USSR are divided into types: Strategic Missile Forces, Ground Forces, Air Defense Forces of the country, Air Force, Navy , and also include the Logistics of the Armed Forces , headquarters and troops of the Civil Defense (See. Civil Defense). The types of the Armed Forces, in turn, are divided into branches of the armed forces, branches of the armed forces (Navy) and special forces, which organizationally consist of subunits, units, formations. The Armed Forces also include border and internal troops. The Armed Forces of the USSR have a unified system of organization and recruitment, centralized control, unified principles of training and education of personnel and training of command personnel, a general procedure for the passage of service by privates, sergeants and officers.

The supreme leadership of the country's defense and the Armed Forces of the USSR is carried out by the Central Committee of the CPSU and supreme body state power - the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR appoints and dismisses the high military command, declares general and partial mobilization, martial law, and a state of war. The leadership of the CPSU in the Armed Forces is the basis for all military organizational development. The main provisions of the Soviet military doctrine follow from the policy of the CPSU and the Soviet government (see Military doctrine).

The direct leadership of the Armed Forces is carried out by the USSR Ministry of Defense. All branches of the Armed Forces, Logistics of the Armed Forces, headquarters and troops of the Civil Defense are subordinate to him. Each branch of the Armed Forces is led by the corresponding commander-in-chief, who is the deputy. Minister of Defense. The border and internal troops are directed, respectively, by the State Security Committee under the USSR Council of Ministers and the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry of Defense includes the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, directorates of the commanders-in-chief of the services of the Armed Forces, the Directorate of Logistics of the Armed Forces, main and central directorates (Main Directorate of Personnel, Central financial management, Office of Affairs, etc.), as well as military management bodies and institutions of the Civil Defense. The Ministry of Defense, among other tasks, is entrusted with: drafting plans for the construction and development of the Armed Forces in peacetime and wartime, improving the organization of troops, weapons, military equipment, providing the Armed Forces with weapons and all types of material supplies, managing operational and combat training of troops and a number of others. functions determined by the requirements of state protection. The leadership of party political work in the Armed Forces of the Central Committee of the CPSU is carried out through the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy , working as a department of the Central Committee of the CPSU. It directs political bodies, army and navy party and Komsomol organizations, ensures party influence on all aspects of the life of military personnel, directs the activities of political agencies, party organizations to increase the combat readiness of troops, strengthen military discipline and the political and moral state of personnel.

The material and technical support of the Armed Forces is carried out by the Directorates and Logistics Services, subordinate to the Deputy Minister of Defense - the Chief of Logistics of the Armed Forces.

The territory of the USSR is divided into military districts (see Military District). A military district can cover the territories of several territories, republics or regions. To fulfill allied obligations to jointly ensure the security of the socialist states, groups of Soviet troops are temporarily located on the territories of the GDR, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In the branches of the Armed Forces, military districts, groups of forces, air defense districts, fleets, military councils have been created, which have the right to consider and resolve all important issues of the life and activities of the troops of the corresponding branch of the Armed Forces, the district. They bear full responsibility before the Central Committee of the CPSU, the government and the Minister of Defense of the USSR for the implementation of decisions of the party and government in the Armed Forces, as well as orders of the Minister of Defense.

The recruitment of the Armed Forces with privates, sergeants and petty officers is carried out by calling Soviet citizens into active military service, which, according to the Constitution of the USSR and the Law on General Military Duty of 1967, is an honorary duty of citizens of the USSR (see Conscription in the USSR). The conscription is made by order of the Minister of Defense everywhere 2 times a year: in May - June and in November - December. Male citizens who have reached 18 years of age by the day of conscription are called up for active military service, for a service life of 1.5 to 3 years, depending on their education and the type of Armed Forces. An additional source of recruitment is the admission of servicemen and reserve personnel on a voluntary basis for the posts of warrant officers and warrant officers, as well as for long-term service. Officers are recruited on a voluntary basis. Officers are trained in the higher and secondary military schools of the corresponding branches of the Armed Forces and combat arms; political officers - in higher military-political schools. Suvorov and Nakhimov schools exist to prepare young men for entering higher military educational institutions. Professional development of officers is carried out at higher courses improvements in the officer corps, as well as in the system of combat and political training. Leading command, political, engineering and other officer cadres are trained in the military, air force, naval and special academies.

The history of the Soviet Army and the Navy began with the formation of the world's first socialist state. To the Soviet people after the victory October revolution 1917 had not only to build a new society, but also to defend it with arms in hand from internal counter-revolution and repeated attacks by international imperialism. The Armed Forces of the USSR were created directly by the Communist Party under the hands of. VI Lenin, based on the provisions of the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of war and the army. By the decree of the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets of October 26 (November 8), 1917, during the formation of the Soviet government, a Committee for Military and Naval Affairs was created consisting of V. A. Antonov-Ovseenko, N. V. Krylenko, P. Ye. Dybenko; from October 27 (November 9) 1917 it was called the Council of People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs, from December 1917 - the Collegium of Military Commissars, from February 1918 - 2 People's Commissariats: for military and naval affairs. The main armed force in the overthrow of the rule of the bourgeoisie and landowners and the conquest of the power of the working people were the Red Guard and the revolutionary sailors Baltic Fleet, soldiers of Petrograd and other garrisons. Relying on the working class and the peasant poor, they played a crucial role in the victory of the October Revolution of 1917, in the defense of the young Soviet republic in the center and in the localities, in the defeat at the end of 1917 - the beginning of 1918 of the counter-revolutionary revolts of Kerensky - Krasnov near Petrograd, Kaledin on the Don, Dutov in the South Urals, in ensuring the triumphal march of Soviet power (see. Triumphal march of Soviet power) throughout Russia.

"... The Red Guards did the noblest and greatest historical deed of liberating the working people and the exploited from the oppression of the exploiters" (VI Lenin, Poln. Sobr. Soch., 5th ed., Vol. 36, p. 177).

At the beginning of 1918, it became obvious that the forces of the Red Guard, as well as detachments of revolutionary soldiers and sailors, were clearly not enough to reliably defend the Soviet state. In an effort to strangle the revolution, the imperialist states, primarily Germany, undertook an intervention against the young Soviet Republic, which merged with the appearance of an internal counter-revolution: White Guard riots and conspiracies of Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, remnants of various bourgeois parties. Regular armed forces were needed to defend Soviet state from numerous enemies.

On January 15 (28), 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a decree on the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), and on January 29 (February 11), a decree on the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF) on a voluntary basis. The direct leadership of the formation of the Red Army was carried out by the All-Russian Collegium, established by the Council of People's Commissars on January 15 (28), 1918 under the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs. In connection with the violation by Germany of the armistice and the transition of its troops to the offensive, the Soviet government on February 22 addressed the people with a decree-appeal written by Lenin "The socialist fatherland is in danger!" This decree marked the beginning of the mass enrollment of volunteers in the Red Army and the formation of many of its parts. In commemoration of the general mobilization of revolutionary forces to defend the socialist Fatherland, as well as the courageous resistance of the Red Army detachments to the invaders, February 23 is annually celebrated in the USSR as national holiday- Day of the Soviet Army and Navy.

During the Civil War of 1918-20, the construction of the RKKA and RKKF was carried out in extremely difficult conditions. The country's economy was undermined, railway transport was disorganized, the supply of food to the army was carried out irregularly, weapons and uniforms were not enough. The army did not have the required number of command personnel; means. some of the officers of the old army were on the side of the counter-revolution. The peasantry, from which the rank and file and junior command personnel, devastated by the First World War of 1914-18, were mainly recruited, were not inclined to voluntarily join the army. All these difficulties were aggravated by the sabotage of the old bureaucratic apparatus, the bourgeois intelligentsia and the kulaks.

On July 10, 1918, the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted a resolution "On the Organization of the Red Army" on the basis of universal conscription of workers aged 18 to 40 years. The transition to compulsory military service made it possible to dramatically increase the size of the Red Army. By the beginning of September 1918, there were already 550 thousand people in its ranks. On September 6, 1918, simultaneously with the declaration of martial law in the country, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) was created instead of the Supreme Military Council, whose functions included operational and organizational command and control of the troops. In September 1918 the RVSR was transferred to the functions and personnel of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, and in December 1918 - the People's Commissariat for Naval Affairs (became part of the RVSR as the Naval Department). The RVSR led the active army through its member - the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Republic (commander-in-chief: from September 1918 - I. I. Vatsetis, from July 1919 - S. S. Kamenev). On September 6, 1918, the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic was established (on February 10, 1921, it was merged with the All-Russian Headquarters into the Headquarters of the Red Army), subordinate to the commander-in-chief and engaged in the training of troops and the leadership of military operations.

Party political work in the army and navy was carried out by the Central Committee of the RCP (b) through the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars (created on April 8, 1918), which on April 18, 1919, by decision of the 8th Party Congress, was replaced by the RVSR department, renamed on May 26, 1919 into the Political Directorate (PUR) under the RVSR, which was at the same time a department of the Central Committee of the RCP (o). In the troops, party political work was carried out by political departments and party organizations (cells).

In 1919, on the basis of the decisions of the 8th Party Congress, the transition to a regular mass army was completed, with a strong proletarian, politically conscious, cadre core of personnel, a unified manning system, a stable organization of troops, centralized control and an effective party-political apparatus. The construction of the Armed Forces of the USSR took place in an acute struggle with the "military opposition" (See Military opposition) , which opposed the creation of a regular army, defended the remnants of partisanism in command and control of troops and the conduct of war, underestimated the role of old military specialists.

By the end of 1919, the size of the Red Army reached 3 million people, by the fall of 1920 - 5.5 million people. The share of workers was 15%, peasants - 77%, others - 8%. In total, in 1918-20, 88 rifle and 29 cavalry divisions, 67 air detachments (300-400 aircraft), as well as a number of artillery and armored units and subunits were formed. There were 2 reserve (reserve) armies (of the Republic and the South-Eastern Front) and parts of the Vsevobuch, in which about 800 thousand people were trained. During the years of the Civil War, 6 military academies and over 150 courses and schools (October 1920) trained 40,000 commanders from workers and peasants. As of August 1, 1920, there were about 300,000 communists in the Red Army and in the navy (about 1/2 of the entire party), who were the cementing core of the army and navy. About 50 thousand of them died a heroic death during the Civil War.

In the summer and fall of 1918, active troops began to be brought together in armies and fronts, headed by revolutionary military councils (PBC) of 2-4 members. By the fall of 1919, there were 7 fronts, each of 2-5 armies. In total, there were 16-18 combined-arms armies in the fronts, one Cavalry Army (see Cavalry armies) (1st) and several separate cavalry corps. The 2nd Cavalry Army was formed in 1920.

In the course of the struggle against the interventionists and the White Guards, the weapons of the old army were mainly used. At the same time, the extraordinary measures taken by the party to establish the military industry and the unparalleled heroism of the working class made it possible to switch to an organized supply of the Red Army with weapons, ammunition and uniforms of Soviet production. The average monthly production of rifles in 1920 amounted to more than 56 thousand pieces, cartridges - 58 million pieces. In 1919, aviation enterprises built 258 and repaired 50 aircraft.

Along with the creation of the Red Army, Soviet military science was born and developed. , based on the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of war and the army, practice revolutionary struggle the masses, the achievements of the military theory of the past, creatively reworked in relation to the new conditions. The first regulations of the Red Army were published: in 1918 - the Charter of the Internal Service, the Charter of the Garrison Service, the Field Charter, in 1919 - the Disciplinary Charter. Lenin's provisions on the essence and nature of war, the role of the masses, the social system, and the economy in achieving victory were a great contribution to Soviet military science. Already at that time, clearly manifested specific traits Soviet military art (see. Military art): revolutionary creative activity; irreconcilability to the template; the ability to determine the direction of the main blow; a reasonable combination of offensive and defensive actions; pursuit of the enemy up to its complete destruction, etc.

After the victorious end of the Civil War and the infliction of a decisive defeat on the combined forces of the interventionists and White Guards, the Red Army was transferred to a peaceful position and by the end of 1924 its number had decreased tenfold. Simultaneously with the demobilization, the Armed Forces were strengthened. In 1923, the united People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs was recreated. As a result military reform 1924-25 (See Military Reform 1924-25) the central apparatus was reduced and updated, new staffs of units and formations were introduced, the social composition of command personnel was improved, and new regulations, instructions and guidelines were developed and implemented. The most important issue of military reform was the transition to a mixed system of manning the troops, which made it possible in peacetime to have a small cadre army with a minimum expenditure of funds for its maintenance in combination with the territorial militia formations of the internal districts (see Territorial militia structure). Most formations and units of border districts, technical and special forces, and the Navy remained personnel. Instead of L.D. Trotsky (since 1918 - the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic), who sought to tear the Red Army and the Navy from the party leadership, on January 26, 1925, M.V. Frunze was appointed Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, after which became the people's commissar K. E. Voroshilov.

The first all-Union law "On compulsory military service", adopted on September 18, 1925 by the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, consolidated the measures taken in the course of the military reform. This law determined the organizational structure of the Armed Forces, which included the Ground Forces (infantry, cavalry, artillery, armored forces, engineering troops, signal troops), the Air and Naval Forces, the troops of the United State Political Administration (OGPU) and the USSR convoy guard. Their number in 1927 was 586 thousand people.

In the 30s. on the basis of the successes achieved in building socialism, the Armed Forces were further improved; their territorial and personnel structure ceased to meet the needs of the state's defense. In 1935-38, a transition was made from the territorial personnel system to a single personnel structure of the Armed Forces. In 1937 there were 1.5 million people in the ranks of the army and navy, in June 1941 there were about 5 million people. On June 20, 1934, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR abolished the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and renamed the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs into the People's Commissariat for Defense of the USSR. In November 1934, the Military Council of the People's Commissariat of Defense was created, in 1937 military councils in the districts, in 1935 the Headquarters of the Red Army was transformed into the General Staff. In 1937, the All-Union People's Commissariat of the Navy was created; The political administration of the Red Army was renamed into the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda, and the political administrations of the districts and the political departments of the formations were renamed into administrations and departments of political propaganda. On May 10, 1937, by a decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the institution of military commissars was introduced, who, together with the commanders, were responsible for the political and moral state of the troops, operational and mobilization readiness, the state of weapons and military equipment; in 1938 the main military councils of the Red were established; Army and Navy.

On September 1, 1939, the law "On universal military duty" was adopted, which abolished the previous restrictions on conscription into the army and navy for certain categories of the population and proclaimed military service an honorary duty of all citizens of the USSR, regardless of their class.

The social composition of the army improved: from 40 to 50% of the soldiers and junior commanders were representatives of the working class. In 1939 there were 14 military academies, 63 military schools of the Ground Forces and 14 navies, and 32 flight and flight technical schools. On September 22, 1935, personal military ranks were introduced (see Military ranks) , and on May 7, 1940 - general and admiral ranks. In terms of the technical equipment of the Armed Forces, during the years of the pre-war five-year plans (1929-40), they rose to the level of the armies of the advanced capitalist states. In the Land Forces in 1939 the amount of artillery increased in comparison with 1930; in 7, including anti-tank and tank - 70 times. The number of tanks from 1934 to 1939 increased 2.5 times. Along with the quantitative growth of weapons and military equipment, their quality has improved. A notable step has been taken in increasing the rate of fire of small arms. The mechanization and motorization of all branches of the armed forces increased. Air defense, engineering, communications, chemical defense troops were armed with new technical means... On the basis of the successes of aircraft and engine building, the Air Force received further development. In 1939, compared with 1930, the total number of aircraft increased 6.5 times. The navy began building surface ships of various classes, submarines, torpedo boats, and naval aircraft. Compared with 1939, the volume of military production in 1940 increased by more than one-third. Through the efforts of the design bureaus of A.I. Mikoyan, M.I. Gurevich, A.S. Yakovlev, S.A.Lavochkin, S.V. Ilyushin, V.M. fighter aircraft: Yak-1, MiG-Z, LaGG-Z, Pe-2 dive bomber, Il-2 attack aircraft. The design teams of Zh. Ya. Kotin, MI Koshkin, AA Morozov, and IA Kucherenko put the world's best heavy and medium tanks KV-1 and T-34 into series production. The design bureaus of V.G. Grabin, I.I. Ivanov, F.I.Petrov, and others created new original types of artillery pieces and mortars, many of which entered mass production. From May 1940 to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, the gun park increased by more than 1.2 times. Designers Yu. A. Pobedonostsev, I. I. Gvay, V. A. Artemiev, F. I. Poyda and others created a rocket weapon for salvo fire across areas. A large group of designers and scientists - A. N. Krylov, P. N. Papkovich, V. L. Pozdyunin, V. I. Kostenko, A. N. Maslov, B. M. Malinin, V. F. Popov and others. , developed several new models of warships, which were put into mass production. Great successes were achieved in 1940-41 by factories for the production of small arms, ammunition, fuels and lubricants, etc.

The increased technical equipment made it possible to significantly improve the organizational structure of the troops on the eve of the war. The rifle divisions included tanks, powerful divisional artillery, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery, which significantly increased their firepower. Further development received the organization of the artillery reserve of the High Command (RGK). Instead of separate tank and armored brigades, which since 1939 were the main formations of armored forces, the formation of larger formations - tank and mechanized divisions - began. In the airborne troops, they began to form airborne corps, and in the Air Force, from 1940 to a divisional organization. In the Navy, formations and formations were organized, intended for joint actions with the ground forces and for conducting independent operations.

Military strategy, operational art and tactics were further developed. In the mid-30s. the theory of deep combat and deep operation is being developed (see Deep operation) , reflecting qualitative changes in the technical equipment of troops, - a fundamentally new theory of conducting operations by massive, highly mobile, well-equipped armies. Theoretical provisions were tested during maneuvers and exercises, as well as during the hostilities of the Red Army in the area of ​​Lake Khasan, r. Khalkhin-Gol, in the Soviet-Finnish war 1939-40. Many charters and instructions were developed anew. In 1940, the troops entered the Infantry Combat Regulations (part 1), the draft Field Regulations and the Infantry Combat Regulations (part 2), the Tank Troops Combat Regulations, the Combat Regulations, the Guard Service Regulations, etc. On May 7, 1940, S. K. Timoshenko.

Despite the measures taken, the preparation of the Armed Forces to repel the aggression prepared by German fascism was not completed. The reorganization of the Armed Forces on a new technical basis was not completed by the beginning of the war. Most of the units transferred to the new states were not fully equipped with weapons and military equipment, as well as vehicles. Many middle and senior commanders lacked experience in modern warfare.

Great Fatherland. the war of 1941-45 was the hardest test for the Soviet people and the Armed Forces of the USSR. Due to the surprise of the attack, the lengthy preparation for war, the 2-year experience of hostilities in Europe, superiority in the number of weapons, the number of troops and other temporary advantages, the German-fascist troops were able to advance hundreds of kilometers in the first months of the war, regardless of losses deep into Soviet territory. The CPSU and the Soviet government did everything necessary to eliminate the mortal threat hanging over the country. Since the beginning of the war, the deployment of the Armed Forces has been carried out in an orderly and prompt manner. By July 1, 1941, 5.3 million people were called up from the reserve. The whole life of the country was rebuilt in a military manner. The main sectors of the economy switched to the production of military products. In July - November 1941, 1,360 large enterprises, mainly of defense importance, were evacuated from the front-line areas. On June 30, 1941, an extraordinary body was formed - the State Defense Committee (GKO), chaired by J.V. Stalin. On July 19, 1941, JV Stalin was appointed People's Commissar of Defense, and on August 8 he also became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The GKO directed the entire life of the country, combining the efforts of the rear and the front, the activities of all state bodies, party and public organizations for the complete defeat of the enemy. Fundamental issues of state leadership and warfare were decided by the Party Central Committee - the Politburo, the Orgburo and the Secretariat. Decisions taken were implemented through the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, SNK of the USSR, GKO and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (See Headquarters of the Supreme High Command) , created on August 8, 1941. Strategic leadership of the Armed Forces was carried out by the Headquarters with the help of its working body - the General Staff. The most important issues of waging war were discussed at joint meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee, GKO and Headquarters.

Since the beginning of the war, the training of officers has been expanded by increasing the contingent of students of academies, cadets of schools and reducing the duration of training, creating a large number of courses for accelerated training of junior officers, especially from among soldiers and sergeants. From September 1941, the distinguished formations began to be given the name of the Guards (see Soviet Guard).

Thanks to the extraordinary measures taken by the CPSU and the Soviet government, massive heroism and unprecedented self-sacrifice of the Soviet people, army and navy soldiers, by the end of 1941, it was possible to stop the enemy on the approaches to Moscow, Leningrad and other vital centers of the country. During the Battle of Moscow 1941-42 (See Battle of Moscow 1941-42), the first major defeat enemy for the entire 2nd world war... This battle dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the German fascist army, thwarted the "blitzkrieg" plan, and was the beginning of a decisive turn in the war in favor of the USSR.

In the summer of 1942, the center of hostilities moved to the southern wing of the Soviet-German front. The enemy was striving for the Volga, the oil of the Caucasus, the grain regions of the Don and Kuban. The party and the Soviet government made every effort to stop the enemy and continued to build up the power of the Armed Forces. By the spring of 1942, 5.5 million people were in the Armed Forces alone. From the middle of 1942, industry began to increase the output of military products, to more fully meet the needs of the front. If in 1941, 15 735 aircraft were produced, then in 1942 already 25 436, tanks 6590 and 24 446, respectively, the release of ammunition almost doubled. In 1942, 575 thousand officers were sent to the army. In the Battle of Stalingrad 1942-1943 (See Battle of Stalingrad 1942-43) Soviet troops defeated the enemy and seized the strategic initiative. This victory was the beginning of a radical turning point not only in the Great Patriotic War, but also in the entire 2nd World War.

In 1943, military production developed at a rapid pace: the release of aircraft compared with 1942 increased by 137.1%, warships by 123%, submachine guns by 134.3%, shells by 116.9%, and aerial bombs by 173.3%. In general, the production of military products increased by 17%, and in fascist Germany by 12%. The Soviet defense industry was able to surpass the enemy not only in the quantity of weapons, but also in their quality. The massive release of artillery pieces made it possible to strengthen divisional artillery, to create corps, army artillery and powerful artillery of the Supreme Command (RVGK) reserve, new units and subunits of rocket, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery. A significant number of tank and mechanized corps were formed, most of which were later reduced to a tank. army. Armored and mechanized troops became the main striking force of the Ground Forces (by the end of 1943 they included 5 tank armies, 24 tank and 13 mechanized corps). The composition of aviation divisions, corps and air armies has increased.

A significant increase in the power of the Soviet Armed Forces and the increased military leadership skills of its commanders made it possible in the Battle of Kursk in 1943 (see Battle of Kursk in 1943) to inflict a major defeat on the Nazi troops, which put Nazi Germany in front of a military catastrophe.

Decisive victories were won by the Armed Forces of the USSR in 1944-45. By this time, they had enormous combat experience, possessed colossal power, and by the beginning of 1945 they numbered 11 365 thousand people. The advantages of the socialist economic system, the vitality of the economic policy of the CPSU and the Soviet government were clearly revealed. Between 1943 and 1945, an average of 220,000 artillery pieces and mortars, 450,000 machine guns, 40,000 aircraft, 30,000 tanks, self-propelled guns and armored vehicles were produced annually. New types of aircraft were produced in large quantities - La-7, Yak-9, Il-10, Tu-2, heavy tanks IS-2, self-propelled artillery mounts ISU-122, ISU-152 and SU-100, rocket launchers BM- 31-12, 160 -mm mortars and other military equipment. As a result of strategic offensive operations, including those near Leningrad and Novgorod, in the Crimea, in the Right-Bank Ukraine, in Belarus, Moldova, the Baltic States and in the Arctic, the Armed Forces cleared Soviet land of invaders. Developing a swift offensive, Soviet troops in 1945 conducted East Prussian, Vistula-Oder and other operations. In the Berlin operation, they achieved the final defeat of Nazi Germany. The Armed Forces fulfilled a great liberation mission - they helped to get rid of the fascist occupation of the peoples of the countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

Fulfilling its allied obligations, the Soviet Union entered the war with Japan in August 1945. The armed forces of the USSR, together with the armed forces of the Mongolian People's Republic, defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army and thus played a decisive role in ending World War II (see Manchurian Operation 1945).

The leading force of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War was the Communist Party. During the war, it sent over 1.6 million communists to the front; during the war, about 6 million people joined the ranks of the Communist Party.

The party and the Soviet government appreciated the heroic deeds of the soldiers on the war fronts. Over 7 million soldiers were awarded orders and medals; over 11,600 of them - representatives of 100 nations and nationalities - were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. About half of all awarded soldiers are communists and Komsomol members.

In the course of the war, the Armed Forces of the USSR acquired vast combat experience. The Soviet military science, especially the art of war and all its constituent parts - strategy, operational art and tactics. The issues of front-line and strategic offensive operations of a group of fronts were comprehensively developed, the problems of breaking through enemy defenses, the continuity of the development of the offensive by introducing mobile - tank and mechanized formations and formations into the breakthrough, achieving a clear interaction of forces and means, sudden delivery of strikes, and comprehensive support of operations were successfully resolved. questions strategic defense and counteroffensive.

Having defeated the armies of fascist Germany and imperialist Japan, the Armed Forces of the USSR emerged from the war organizationally stronger, equipped with the latest technology, with a sense of their duty to the Soviet people and all of humanity. Mass layoffs of personnel began. On September 4, 1945, the GKO was abolished, the Supreme Command Headquarters ceased its activities. On February 25, 1946, instead of the People's Commissariats of Defense and the Navy, a single People's Commissariat of the Armed Forces of the USSR was created, in March 1946 it was renamed the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the USSR. In February 1950 it was divided into the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Navy of the USSR, which in March 1953 were merged into the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. The defense ministers were: Generalissimo of the Soviet Union I.V. Stalin (until March 1947), Marshals of the Soviet Union N.A. Bulganin (March 1947 - March 1949; March 1953 - January 1955), A.M. Vasilevsky (April 1949 - March 1953), G.K. Zhukov (February 1955 - October 1957), R. Ya. Malinovsky (October 1957 - March 1967), A. A. Grechko (April 1967 - April 1976). From April 1976 the Minister of Defense of the USSR - General of the Army, from 30 July 1976 Marshal of the Soviet Union D.F.Ustinov.

After the war, reactionary imperialist circles unleashed the so-called. cold war and created an aggressive military NATO bloc (1949). In such conditions, the USSR was forced to take measures to strengthen its defense power, strengthen the Armed Forces, and increase combat readiness. As a counterbalance to imperialist intrigues and in response to the creation of NATO, the socialist countries, as a compulsory measure, concluded a defense. Warsaw Pact 1955.

The increased capabilities of the Soviet economy, advances in science and technology have expanded the scientific and technical foundations of the combat power of the Armed Forces. During the 7-8 post-war years, they were equipped with new, more advanced automatic weapons, tanks, artillery, radar and other military equipment, complete motorization and mechanization was carried out, aviation received jet types of aircraft. In a relatively short period of time, the USSR won a historic victory in a competition imposed by the imperialists to develop new military equipment, created nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, and eliminated the US monopoly in this area. At the same time, in an effort to defuse tension and establish a lasting peace, the USSR decided to reduce the size of its Armed Forces: in 1955 - by 640 thousand people, by June 1956 - by 1200 thousand people.

Since the mid-50s. The Armed Forces entered new stage development - the stage of fundamental qualitative transformations caused by the massive introduction of missiles, nuclear weapons and the latest military equipment. The qualitative renewal of weapons and military equipment has caused significant changes in the forms and methods of training and education of personnel, in the mobilization system, the organizational structure of troops (naval forces), in views on the forms and methods of conducting military operations. An important phenomenon in the construction of the Armed Forces of the USSR, which raised the defensive power of the USSR and the entire socialist camp, was the creation of a new type of Armed Forces of the USSR - the Rocket Forces. strategic purpose (1960).

Great changes have taken place in every branch of the Armed Forces; the relationship between them has become different.

Strategic Missile Forces are designed to deal with strategic missions in a nuclear war. They are equipped with automated missile systems with intercontinental and medium-range missiles possessing enormous destructive power.

The ground forces are the most massive and versatile service of the Armed Forces of the USSR. They have great fire and striking power, high maneuverability and combat independence, are capable, in cooperation with other types of the Armed Forces, and independently solve tasks to defeat the enemy in land theaters of military operations, both with and without the use of nuclear weapons, to consolidate and hold the occupied territory. They consist of motorized rifle, tank, airborne troops, missile and artillery troops, air defense troops, which are branches of the military. Motorized rifle and tank troops are the main branches of the Ground Forces. They have high mobility, great maneuverability and powerful fire. The basis of their combat power is armored vehicles (tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles). Motorized rifle and tank. troops can conduct a swift offensive, defeat enemy force groupings, capture vital areas, stubbornly defend and repel enemy attacks, and hold occupied lines.

Air- landing troops- branch of the armed forces equipped with self-propelled air transportable artillery, jet, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, armored personnel carriers and other weapons and military equipment. They are designed to conduct hostilities in the rear or on the coastal flank of the enemy, prohibit the approach of its reserves, destroy nuclear attack weapons, command posts, capture communication centers, airfields, bases and ferries.

Rocket Forces are the backbone of the ground forces' firepower. They are armed with missile weapons for operational and tactical purposes with a range from several tens to several hundred. km, capable of hitting any targets with nuclear ammunition with great accuracy and reliability, destroying entire enemy units and subunits and various important objects located in its rear. Rocket and cannon artillery, mortars and anti-tank guided missiles have powerful fire. The air defense troops are equipped with mobile anti-aircraft missile systems, self-propelled multi-barreled anti-aircraft artillery, radar detecting airborne enemies and automated control systems. They are able to reliably cover the Ground Forces from air strikes in any conditions of the situation and terrain, day and night, from a place and on the move.

The country's air defense troops protect the population, administrative-political, industrial centers, groupings of troops and other important objects from enemy air strikes. Their main task is to repel any air attack by the aggressor. The basis of the combat power of the country's Air Defense Forces is made up of qualitatively new types of troops - anti-aircraft missile troops and air defense aviation, armed with all-weather supersonic missile-carrying interceptor fighters. The tasks of detecting an air enemy, targeting anti-aircraft missile forces and fighter aircraft are solved by radio-technical troops, which are also a branch of the military.

The Air Force is designed to solve various tasks independently and in cooperation with other types of the Armed Forces in continental and naval theaters of military operations; destruction of enemy nuclear weapons, routing (weakening) of its air groupings, air support of the Ground Forces and the Navy, air transfer of troops, air reconnaissance, troop landing, communications, etc. Possess great striking power, the ability to quickly carry out wide maneuvers, high accuracy defeat of mobile, small-sized objects. The Air Force consists of long-range, front-line and military transport aviation. The branches of the Air Force include: bomber, fighter-bomber (assault), fighter, reconnaissance, transport and special aviation.

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 backdrop of reductions in their structural units and institutions.

In February 1946, there was a reorganization People's Commissariats Defense and Navy. 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 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, airborne and landing-assault formations and units were formed. The airborne corps was a general-purpose 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: Ground Forces, Air Force and Navy. The Air Defense Forces of the country and the Airborne Forces possessed organizational independence. 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 country's Air Defense Forces, 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 battalion, 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, a company RP-46 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 former 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 maneuverable capabilities of armored vehicles have significantly increased. 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. V 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 different power, means of its delivery, experimental data on its 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, GDR, Poland, SRR, USSR and Czechoslovakia May 14, 1955 at the Warsaw meeting of European states on ensuring peace and security in Europe.