SIP panels / 07.01.2021

How and when the Red Army became “stronger than ever” and other interesting details of the history of the Red Army. See what "RKKA" is in other dictionaries Into the ranks of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

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) for voluntary. On January 29 (February 11), the Decree on the Creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF) was signed. The direct leadership of the formation of the Red Army was carried out by the All-Russian Collegium, created under the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs.

In connection with the violation of the armistice concluded with Germany and the transition of its troops to the offensive, on February 22, 1918, the government addressed the people with a decree-appeal signed by V.I. Lenin "The socialist fatherland is in danger!". The next day, the mass enrollment of volunteers in the Red Army and the formation of many of its units began. In February 1918, the Red Army detachments offered decisive resistance to the German troops near Pskov and Narva. In honor of these events, on February 23, a national holiday began to be celebrated annually - the Day of the Red (Soviet) Army and Navy (later Defender of the Fatherland Day).

DECREE ON THE FORMATION OF THE VOLUNTARY WORKERS' AND PEASANTS' RED ARMY JANUARY 15(28), 1918

The old army served as an instrument of class oppression of the working people by the bourgeoisie. With the transfer of power to the working and exploited classes, it became necessary to create a new army, which will be the bulwark of Soviet power in the present, the foundation for replacing the standing army with nationwide weapons in the near future and will serve as support for the coming socialist

revolutions in Europe.

In view of this, the Council of People's Commissars decides:

organize a new army called the "Workers' and Peasants' Red Army", on the following grounds:

1) The Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army is created from the most conscious and organized elements the working masses.

2) Access to its ranks is open to all citizens Russian Republic not younger than 18 years old. Everyone enters the Red Army who is ready to give his strength, his life to defend the gains of the October Revolution, the power of the Soviets and socialism. To join the Red Army, recommendations are required:

military committees or public democratic organizations standing on the platform of Soviet power, party or professional organizations, or at least two members of these organizations. When joining in whole parts, a mutual guarantee of all and a roll-call vote are required.

1) The soldiers of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army are on full state allowance and in addition receive 50 rubles. per month.

2) Disabled members of the families of soldiers of the Red Army, who were previously dependent on them, are provided with everything necessary according to local consumer standards, in accordance with the decisions of local Soviet authorities.

The Council of People's Commissars is the supreme governing body of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. The direct leadership and management of the army is concentrated in the Commissariat for Military Affairs, in the special All-Russian Board created under it.

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars

V. Ulyanov (Lenin).

Supreme Commander N. Krylenko.

People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs:

Dybenko and Podvoisky.

People's Commissars: Proshyan, Zatonsky and Steinberg.

Managing Director of the Council of People's Commissars

Vlad. Bonch-Bruevich.

Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars N. Gorbunov.

Decrees of the Soviet power. T. 1. M., State publishing house of political literature, 1957.

THE APPEAL OF THE BOLSHEVIK GOVERNMENT

In order to save the exhausted, tormented country from new military trials, we made the greatest sacrifice and announced to the Germans our agreement to sign their terms of peace. Our parliamentarians left Rezhitsa in the evening for Dvinsk on February 20 (7), and there is still no answer. The German government is obviously slow to respond. It clearly does not want peace. Fulfilling the instructions of the capitalists of all countries, German militarism wants to strangle the Russian and Ukrainian workers and peasants, to return the land to the landlords, the factories and plants to the bankers, and the power to the monarchy. The German generals want to establish their own "order" in Petrograd and Kyiv. The Socialist Republic of Soviets is in the greatest danger. Until the moment when the proletariat of Germany rises and triumphs, the sacred duty of the workers and peasants of Russia is the selfless defense of the Republic of Soviets against the hordes of bourgeois-imperialist Germany. The Council of People's Commissars decides: 1) All forces and means of the country are wholly devoted to the cause of revolutionary defense. 2) All Soviets and revolutionary organizations are obliged to defend every position to the last drop of blood. 3) Railway organizations and the Soviets associated with them are obliged by all means to prevent the enemy from using the communications apparatus; when retreating, destroy tracks, blow up and burn railway buildings; all rolling stock - wagons and steam locomotives - should immediately be directed east into the interior of the country. 4) All grain and food stocks in general, as well as any valuable property that is in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, must be subjected to unconditional destruction; the supervision of this is entrusted to the local Soviets under the personal responsibility of their chairmen. 5) The workers and peasants of Petrograd, Kyiv and all cities, towns, villages and villages along the line of the new front must mobilize battalions to dig trenches under the guidance of military specialists. 6) All able-bodied members of the bourgeois class, men and women, must be included in these battalions, under the supervision of the Red Guards; those who resist are shot. 7) All publications that oppose the cause of revolutionary defense and take the side of the German bourgeoisie, as well as those seeking to use the invasion of the imperialist hordes in order to overthrow the Soviet power, are closed; able-bodied editors and employees of these publications are mobilized for digging trenches and other defensive work. 8) Enemy agents, speculators, thugs, hooligans, counter-revolutionary agitators, German spies are shot at the scene of the crime.

The socialist fatherland is in danger! Long live the socialist fatherland! Long live the international socialist revolution!

Decree "The socialist fatherland is in danger!"

DECISION OF THE VTsIK ON FORCED RECRUITMENT TO THE WORKERS AND PEASANTS ARMY

The Central Executive Committee considers that the transition from a volunteer army to a general mobilization of the workers and the poorest peasants is imperatively dictated by the entire situation of the country, both for the struggle for bread and for repulsing the counter-revolution, both internal and external, which has become impudent on the basis of famine.

It is necessary to urgently move to the forced recruitment of one or more ages. In view of the complexity of the matter and the difficulty of carrying it out simultaneously throughout the entire territory of the country, it seems necessary to begin, on the one hand, with the most threatened areas, and on the other hand, with the main centers of the labor movement.

Based on the foregoing, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decides to instruct the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs to develop, within a week, for Moscow, Petrograd, the Don and Kuban regions, a plan for the implementation of forced recruitment within such limits and forms that would least disturb the course of production and public life designated areas and cities.

The relevant Soviet institutions are instructed to take the most energetic and active part in the work of the Military Commissariat in carrying out the tasks assigned to it.

VIEW FROM THE WHITE CAMP

As early as mid-January, the Soviet government promulgated a decree on the organization of a "workers' and peasants' army" from "the most conscious and organized elements of the working class." But the formation of a new class army was not successful, and the council had to turn to the old organizations: units were allocated from the front and from reserve battalions. respectively sifted and processed, Latvian, sailor detachments and the Red Guard, formed by factory committees. All of them went against Ukraine and the Don. What force moved these people, mortally tired of the war, to new cruel sacrifices and hardships? Least of all - devotion to the Soviet government and its ideals. Hunger, unemployment, the prospects of an idle, well-fed life and enrichment by robbery, the impossibility of getting back to their native places in a different way, the habit of many people during the four years of the war to soldiering as a craft (“declassed”), and finally, to a greater or lesser extent, a sense of class malice and hatred, brought up over the centuries and kindled by the strongest propaganda.

A.I. Denikin. Essays on Russian Troubles.

DEFENDER OF THE HOMELAND DAY - HOLIDAY HISTORY

The holiday originated in the USSR, then February 23 was annually celebrated as a national holiday - the Day of the Soviet Army and Navy.

There was no document establishing February 23 as an official Soviet holiday. Soviet historiography associated the timing of the honoring of the military to this date with the events of 1918: on January 28 (15, old style) January 1918, the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), headed by Chairman Vladimir Lenin, adopted a Decree on the organization of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), and February 11 (January 29, old style) - Workers 'and Peasants' Red Fleet (RKKF).

On February 22, the decree-appeal of the Council of People's Commissars "The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger!" was published, and on February 23, mass rallies were held in Petrograd, Moscow and other cities of the country, at which workers were urged to defend their Fatherland. This day was marked by the mass entry of volunteers into the Red Army and the beginning of the formation of its detachments and units.

On January 10, 1919, the chairman of the Higher Military Inspectorate of the Red Army, Nikolai Podvoisky, sent a proposal to the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, timing the celebration to the nearest Sunday before or after January 28. However, due to the late submission of the application, no decision was made.

Then the Moscow Soviet took the initiative to celebrate the first anniversary of the Red Army. On January 24, 1919, its presidium, which at that time was headed by Lev Kamenev, decided to coincide with these celebrations on the day of the Red Gift, held to collect material and money for the Red Army.

Under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), a Central Committee was created to organize the celebration of the anniversary of the Red Army and Red Gift Day, which took place on Sunday, February 23.

On February 5, Pravda and other newspapers published the following information: "The organization of the Red Gift Day throughout Russia has been postponed to February 23. On this day, the celebration of the anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, which will be celebrated on January 28, will be organized in cities and at the front."

On February 23, 1919, the citizens of Russia celebrated the anniversary of the Red Army for the first time, but this day was not celebrated either in 1920 or in 1921.

On January 27, 1922, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee published a resolution on the fourth anniversary of the Red Army, which stated: "In accordance with the resolution of the IX All-Russian Congress of Soviets on the Red Army, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee draws the attention of the executive committees to the upcoming anniversary of the creation of the Red Army (February 23)."

The Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, Lev Trotsky, arranged a military parade on Red Square that day, thus laying the foundation for the tradition of an annual nationwide celebration.

In 1923, the fifth anniversary of the Red Army was widely celebrated. The decision of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, adopted on January 18, 1923, stated: "On February 23, 1923, the Red Army will celebrate the 5th anniversary of its existence. On this day, five years ago, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of January 28 of the same year, which laid the foundation for the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, the stronghold of the proletarian dictatorship.

The tenth anniversary of the Red Army in 1928, like all previous ones, was celebrated as the anniversary of the decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the organization of the Red Army of January 28, 1918, but the publication date itself was directly linked to February 23.

In 1938, in the "Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks" was set out in principle a new version the origin of the date of the holiday, not related to the decree of the Council of People's Commissars. The book stated that in 1918 near Narva and Pskov "the German occupiers were given a decisive rebuff. Their advance on Petrograd was suspended. The day of the rebuff to the troops of German imperialism, February 23, became the birthday of the young Red Army." Later, in the order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR dated February 23, 1942, the wording was slightly changed: "The young detachments of the Red Army, who entered the war for the first time, utterly defeated the German invaders near Pskov and Narva on February 23, 1918. That is why February 23 was declared the day birth of the Red Army.

In 1951, another interpretation of the holiday appeared. In the "History of the Civil War in the USSR" it was indicated that in 1919 the first anniversary of the Red Army was celebrated "on the memorable day of the mobilization of the working people for the defense of the socialist Fatherland, the mass entry of workers into the Red Army, the broad formation of the first detachments and units of the new army."

In the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 "On the Days of Military Glory of Russia", the day of February 23 was officially called "The Day of the Red Army's Victory over the Kaiser's troops of Germany (1918) - the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland."

In accordance with the changes made to the Federal Law "On the Days of Military Glory of Russia" by the Federal Law of April 15, 2006, the words "Day of the victory of the Red Army over the Kaiser troops of Germany (1918)" were excluded from the official description of the holiday, and also stated in the singular concept of "defender".

In December 2001 The State Duma The Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation supported the proposal to make February 23 - Defender of the Fatherland Day - a non-working holiday.

On Defender of the Fatherland Day, Russians honor those who served or are serving in the ranks of the country's Armed Forces.

Alexey Zakvasin, Vladimir Sibirtsev

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

Cavalry of the Red Army during the Civil War
RIA News

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

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

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

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

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

From workers, peasants and "able-bodied members of the bourgeois class" battalions were created to dig trenches under the guidance of military specialists. Speculators, hooligans, agents and spies of the enemy, as well as counter-revolutionaries, were to be shot at the scene of the crime.

German troops in Kyiv, March 1918
RIA News

At the stage of formation

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

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

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

The Bolsheviks needed to create a combat-ready army, and in the shortest possible time. For some time this was hindered by the excessively democratic views of the ideologists of Bolshevism.

However, such a view of the purpose of the armed forces of the Council of People's Commissars, which was headed by Lenin, had to be abandoned. In January 1918, the Bolsheviks actually headed for the construction of a typical regular army, which is based on the principles of unity of command, the "vertical of power" and the inevitability of punishment for non-execution of orders.

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

The paper approves the conscription system for recruiting troops. Citizens under the age of 18 could serve in the Red Army. Red Army soldiers were assigned a monthly salary of 50 rubles. The Red Army was proclaimed an instrument for protecting the rights of workers and was supposed to consist of "exploited classes."

The Red Army announced worst enemy capitalism”, and therefore was completed according to the class principle. The commanding staff were to include only workers and peasants. The term of service in the infantry of the Red Army was set at one and a half years, in the cavalry - two and a half years. At the same time, the Bolsheviks convinced the citizens that the regular character of the Red Army would gradually change to a "militia" one.

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

Young army

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

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

Changes for the better occurred in relations with Western countries. In 1919, German troops left Ukraine, and in 1920 the interventionists left the previously occupied Russian territories. However, bloody battles in 1919-1921 unfolded with the recreated Polish state.

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

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

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

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

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

Rising power

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

The Red Army won its first war after the reorganization at the cost of monstrous losses. In 1939, Moscow was unable to agree with Helsinki on the transfer of the border from Leningrad and threw troops against the Finns. On March 12, 1940, the territorial claims of the USSR were satisfied.

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

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

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

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

In the incredible Red Army gained experience and knowledge, which was lacking in the fateful 1941. A vivid proof of the increased power of the Soviet Armed Forces was (February 2, 1943). Six months later, on the Kursk Bulge, Germany suffered the largest tank defeat, and in 1944 the Red Army liberated the entire territory of the USSR.

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

Soviet soldiers at the Reichstag in Berlin, May 1945
RIA News

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

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

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

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

Group Soviet troops in Germany on tactical exercises
RIA News

Return of traditions

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

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

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

Soldiers at the Victory Parade
RIA News
Alexander Wilf

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

Myagkov believes that the most intensive stage of the return of pre-revolutionary traditions occurred during the Great Patriotic War.

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

Historians are sure that they are the successors of the Soviet troops. They simultaneously inherited the traditions of the Red Army and the pre-revolutionary imperial army: patriotism, devotion to the people, loyalty to the banner and their military unit.

The Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army - this was the name of the Ground Forces of the young Soviet state in 1918-1922 and up to 1946. The Red Army was created from almost nothing. Its prototype was the detachments of the Red Guards, which formed after the February coup of 1917, and units of the tsarist army that went over to the side of the revolutionaries. Despite everything, she was able to become a formidable force and won during the years of the civil war.

The guarantee of success in the construction of the Red Army was the use of the combat experience of the old pre-revolutionary army personnel. Massively, the so-called military experts began to be called up to the ranks of the Red Army, namely officers and generals who served "the king and the fatherland." Their total number during the civil war in the Red Army, there were up to fifty thousand people.

The beginning of the formation of the Red Army

In January 1918, the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the Red Army" was published, which noted that all citizens of the new Republic at least eighteen years of age could join its ranks. The date of issue of this decree can be considered the beginning of the formation of the Red Army.

Organizational structure, composition of the Red Army

At first, the main unit of the Red Army consisted of separate detachments, which were military units with independent farms. The detachments were headed by the Soviets, which included one military leader and two military commissars each. When they were small headquarters and inspectorates.

When combat experience was gained with the involvement of military experts, full-fledged units, units, formations (brigades, divisions, corps), institutions and institutions began to form in the ranks of the Red Army.

Organizationally, the Red Army corresponded to its class characteristics and military needs of the beginning of the last century. The structure of the combined arms formations of the Red Army consisted of:

Rifle Corps, which had two to four divisions;
Division, which had three rifle regiments, an artillery regiment and a technical unit;
Regiment, which included three battalions, an artillery battalion and technical units;
Cavalry Corps with two cavalry divisions;
Cavalry division with 4-6 regiments, artillery, armored units, technical units.

Red Army uniform

The Red Guards did not have any established dress code. It differed only in a red armband or a red ribbon on headdresses, and some detachments - in breastplates of the Red Guards. At the beginning of the formation of the Red Army, it was allowed to wear the old uniform without insignia or an arbitrary uniform, as well as civilian clothes.

Since 1919, French and American-made jackets have been very popular. Commanders, commissars and political workers had their own preferences, they could be seen in leather caps and jackets. The cavalrymen preferred hussar trousers (chakchirs) and dolmans, as well as uhlan jackets.

The early Red Army dismissed officers as "a relic of tsarism." The use of this word was banned and was replaced by "commander". At the same time, shoulder straps and military ranks were abolished. Their names were replaced by positions, in particular, "divisor commanders" or "corps commanders".

In January 1919, a Table was introduced describing the insignia; eleven insignia were installed in it for the command staff from the squad leader to the front commander. The report card determined the wearing of signs, the material for which was red instrument cloth, on the left sleeve.

The presence of a red star as a symbol of the Red Army

The first official emblem, indicating that a soldier belonged to the Red Army, was introduced in 1918 and was a wreath of laurel and oak branches. A red star was placed inside the wreath, as well as a plow and a hammer in the center. In the same year, headdresses began to be decorated with cockade badges with a red enameled five-pointed star with a plow and a hammer in the center.

Composition of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

Rifle troops of the Red Army

Rifle troops were considered the main branch of the army, the main backbone of the Red Army. In 1920, it was the rifle regiments that made up the largest number of soldiers of the Red Army, later separate rifle corps of the Red Army were organized. They included: rifle battalions, regimental artillery, small units (communications, sapper and others), and the headquarters of the Red Army regiment. Rifle battalions included rifle and machine-gun companies, battalion artillery and the headquarters of the Red Army battalion. Rifle companies included rifle and machine-gun platoons. The rifle platoon included squads. The department was considered the smallest organizational unit in the rifle troops. The squad was armed with rifles, light machine guns, hand grenades and a grenade launcher.

Artillery of the Red Army

The Red Army also included artillery regiments. They included artillery divisions and the headquarters of the Red Army regiment. The artillery division included batteries and division management. In the battery - platoons. The platoon consisted of 4 guns. It is also known about the artillery corps on the breakthrough. They were part of the artillery, part of the reserves, which were led by the Supreme High Command.

Cavalry of the Red Army

The main units in the cavalry were cavalry regiments. The regiments included saber and machine-gun squadrons, regimental artillery, technical units and the headquarters of the Red Army cavalry. Saber and machine-gun squadrons included platoons. Platoons were built from squads. Cavalry units began to organize together with the Red Army in 1918. Of the disbanded units of the former army, cavalry regiments in the amount of only three units were accepted into the Red Army.

Armored troops of the red army

Tanks of the Red Army, made at KhPZ

Since the 1920s, the Soviet Union began to produce their own tanks. At the same time, the concept for the combat use of troops was laid down. Later, the charter of the Red Army specifically noted the combat use of tanks, as well as their interaction with the infantry. In particular, the second part of the Charter approved the most important conditions for success:

The sudden appearance of tanks along with attacking infantry, simultaneous and massive use over a wide area in order to disperse artillery and other anti-armor weapons of the enemy;
The use of separation of tanks in depth with the synchronous formation of a reserve from among them, which will allow developing attacks to great depths;
close interaction of tanks with infantry, which secures the points they occupy.

Two configurations for the use of tanks in battle were envisaged:

To directly support the infantry;
Being the advanced echelon, operating without fire and visual communication with it.

The armored forces had tank units and formations, as well as units that were armed with armored vehicles. The main tactical units were tank battalions. They included tank companies. Tank companies included tank platoons. The tank platoon had five tanks. The armored car company included platoons. The platoon included three to five armored vehicles.

The first tank brigade was created in 1935 as a reserve of the Commander-in-Chief, and already in 1940, a tank division of the Red Army was formed on its basis. The same compounds were included in mechanized corps.

Air Force (Air Force of the Red Army)

The Red Army Air Force was formed in 1918. They included separate aviation detachments and were in the district directorates of the air fleet. Later they were reorganized, and they became the front and army field aviation and aeronautics departments at the front and combined arms army headquarters. Such reforms happened all the time.

From 1938-1939, aviation in the military districts was transferred from brigade to regimental and divisional organizational structures. The main tactical units were aviation regiments in the amount of 60 aircraft. The activity of the Air Force of the Red Army was based on delivering fast and powerful air strikes to the enemy at long distances that were not available to other branches of the military. The aircraft were armed with high-explosive, fragmentation and incendiary bombs, cannons and machine guns.

Air regiments were the main units of the Air Force. The regiments included air squadrons. The air squadron included links. There were 4-5 aircraft in the links.

Chemical troops of the red army

The formation of chemical troops in the Red Army began in 1918. In the autumn of the same year, the republican Revolutionary Military Council issued order No. 220, according to which the Chemical Service of the Red Army was created. By the 1920s, all rifle and cavalry divisions and brigades acquired chemical units. Since 1923, rifle regiments began to be supplemented by anti-gas teams. Thus, chemical units could be encountered in all branches of the military.

Throughout the Great Patriotic War, chemical troops possessed:

Technical teams (to install smoke screens, as well as to mask large or important objects);
Brigades, battalions and companies for chemical protection;
Flamethrower battalions and companies;
bases;
Warehouses, etc.

Signal Troops of the Red Army

The mention of the first divisions and communications units in the Red Army dates back to 1918, at the same time they were formed. In October 1919, the Communications Troops were given the right to be independent special troops. In 1941, a new position was introduced - the Head of the Communications Troops.

Automobile Troops of the Red Army

Automobile troops of the Red Army were integral part Logistics of the Armed Forces Soviet Union. They formed during the Civil War.

Railway Troops of the Red Army

The railway troops of the Red Army were also an integral part of the Logistics of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. They also formed during the Civil War. Mainly Railway Troops were laying communication lines, building bridges.

Road Troops of the Red Army

The road troops of the Red Army were also an integral part of the Logistics of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. They also formed during the Civil War.

By 1943, the Road Troops had:

294 separate road battalions;
22 departments of military highways, in which there were 110 road commandant sections;
7 military road departments, in which there were 40 road detachments;
194 horse transport companies;
repair bases;
Bases for the production of bridge and road fixtures;
educational and other institutions.

Military training system, training of the Red Army

Military education in the Red Army, as a rule, was divided into three levels. The basis of higher military education consisted of a well-developed network of higher military schools. All students in them bore the title of cadets. The terms of study ranged from four to five years. Graduates generally received military ranks of lieutenants or junior lieutenants, which corresponded to the first positions of "platoon commanders".

During peacetime, the curriculum in military schools provided for higher education. But during the wartime it was reduced to secondary special. The same thing happened with the training period. They were rapidly reduced, and then there was the organization of short-term semi-annual command courses.

A feature of the military education of the Soviet Union was the presence of a system in which there were military academies. Education in such an academy provided a higher military education, while the academies of Western states trained junior officers.

Service of the Red Army: personnel

In each Red Army unit, a political commissar was appointed, or the so-called political leaders (political officers), who had almost unlimited powers, this was also reflected in the Charter of the Red Army. In those years, political instructors could easily cancel, at their discretion, the orders of the commanders of subunits and units that they did not like. Such measures were issued as necessary.

Armament and military equipment of the Red Army

The formation of the Red Army corresponded to the general trends of military-technical development around the world, including:

Formed tank troops and air forces;
Mechanization of infantry units and their reorganization as motorized rifle troops;
Disbanded cavalry;
The emergence of nuclear weapons.

The total number of the Red Army in different periods

Official statistics present the following data on the total number of the Red Army at different times:

From April to September 1918 - almost 200,000 soldiers;
In September 1919 - 3,000,000 in / sr-x;
In the autumn of 1920 - 5,500,000 in / sr-x;
In January 1925 - 562,000 soldiers;
In March 1932 - more than 600,000 military personnel;
In January 1937 - more than 1,500,000 military personnel;
In February 1939 - more than 1,900,000 military personnel;
In September 1939 - more than 5,000,000 soldiers;
In June 1940 - more than 4,000,000 military personnel;
In June 1941 - more than 5,000,000 military personnel;
In July 1941 - more than 10,000,000 military personnel;
Summer 1942 - more than 11,000,000 military personnel;
In January 1945 - more than 11,300,000 military personnel;
In February 1946, more than 5,000,000 military personnel.

Losses of the Red Army

There are different data in the human losses of the USSR in the Second World War. The official figures for the losses of the Red Army changed many times.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, irretrievable losses in battles on the territory of the Soviet-German front amounted to more than 8,800,000 Red Army soldiers and their commanders. Such information came from declassified sources in 1993, according to data obtained during search operations, as well as from archival data.

Repressions in the Red Army

Some historians believe that if there were no pre-war repressions against the commanding staff of the Red Army, then it is possible that history, including the Great Patriotic War, could have turned out differently.

During 1937-1938, from the command staff of the Red Army and the Navy were executed:

Kombrigs and equated to them from 887 - 478;
Divisional commanders and equated to them from 352 - 293;
Komkors and equated to them - 115;
Marshals and commanders - 46.

In addition, many commanders simply died in prisons, unable to withstand torture, many of them ended their lives by suicide.

Subsequently, each military district was subjected to a change of 2-3 or more commanders, mainly due to arrests. Their deputies were repressed many times more. On average, 75% of the top military echelons had little (up to a year) service experience in their posts, and the lower echelons had even less experience.

In August 1938, a report was made to Berlin on the results of the repressions by the German military attaché, General E. Kestring, which indicated approximately the following.

Due to the elimination of many senior officers who had been improving their professionalism for decades with practical and theoretical studies, the Red Army was paralyzed in terms of its operational capabilities.

The lack of experienced command staff had a negative impact on the training of troops. There was a fear of making decisions, which also had a negative effect.

Thus, due to the mass repressions of 1937-1939, by 1941 the Red Army approached completely unprepared. She had to go through the "school of severe blows" directly in the course of hostilities. However, the acquisition of such experience cost millions of human lives.

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The Red Army, created by the Bolsheviks, was formed to defend the new state from imperialist intervention. burst into Russian Empire the revolution and subsequent events led to the collapse of the old tsarist army that had existed since the time of Peter the Great. From its wreckage, the parties participating in the Civil War tried to put together their "new" armed forces. Only the Communist Bolsheviks managed to do this, who created an army that won not only the civil war, but also the bloodiest and cruelest in the history of mankind - the Second World War.

Reasons for the creation of the Red Army

The Bolsheviks, who came to power as a result of the October uprising of 1917, seized it with the help of Red Guard detachments, which consisted mainly of Bolshevik workers and the most revolutionary-minded soldiers and sailors. Considering the old tsarist army "bourgeois", the Bolsheviks wanted to abandon the old system, and at first they were going to build a new type of "revolutionary" army based on voluntary principles. The history of the Red Army is full of heroic events, its formation is the creation of a powerful army that has never been seen before in the world.

According to Marxist doctrine, in society, instead of a regular army - "a tool for the oppression of the working people by the bourgeoisie", there should have been only "universal arming of the people." This new "people's revolutionary" army was opposed to the "bourgeois" regular armies of the capitalist countries of the West. But this utopian statement did not justify itself in the critical conditions of post-revolutionary Russia.

On December 16, 1917, a decree was published on the abolition of officer ranks. Now the subordinates themselves chose their commanders. According to the plan of the party leadership, such an army was to become truly "people's". However, inflamed by the spring of 1918 Civil War and the ensuing armed intervention of the Entente countries showed the complete utopian nature of these plans and forced the army to be built, as before, on the principles of unity of command and centralized control and command.

Creation of a new army

Already at the beginning of 1918, it became clear to the leadership of the Bolsheviks that the victory, in the conditions of the flaring full-scale war, would be won by the one who would have a strong, well-organized and ideologically welded army. The Red Guard detachments were often unreliable and uncontrollable, since many who served in them were guided by revolutionary chaos and general confusion, as well as their own political views which could change at any time.

The position of the newly victorious Soviet Power was very unstable. Under these conditions, a new type of army was required. January 15, 1918 V.I. Lenin signs a decree on the formation of the Red Army (Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army). The newly created Red Army was built on the principle of class struggle - the struggle of "the oppressed against the oppressors."

Structure

The headquarters of the Supreme Military Council was created on the basis of the old General Headquarters, and subsequently the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic was created on the basis of the headquarters. It was headed by the tsarist staff generals Bonch-Bruevich M.D., Rattel N.I., Kostyaev F.V., Lebedev P.P.

In September, by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, initiated by L. Trotsky and Ya. Trotsky was appointed chairman of the RVSR. Danishevsky K.Kh., Kobozev P.A., Mekhnoshin K.A., Raskolnikov F.F., Rozengolts A.P., Smirnov I.N. were elected members of the council. and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. This post was introduced in September 1918, the first commander-in-chief was colonel of the tsarist army I.I. Vatsetis, in July 1919 Colonel S.S. was appointed. Kamenev.

The Council of People's Commissars (SNK) was declared the governing body of the army. Direct control and leadership is entrusted to the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, to the Supreme Military Council (VVS) created under it. Nikolai Podvoisky (1880-1948) was the first people's commissar for military affairs. He was elected in November 1917. In March 1918, Lev Trotsky (1879-1940), one of the outstanding organizers of Soviet power, became People's Commissar. It was he who was the chairman of the RVSR in the difficult time of the Civil War, and his contribution to the formation of the Red Army is colossal.

Development of the Red Army

Following the signing of the Brest Peace, the formation of the Red Army went at an accelerated pace. Despite the onerous conditions for Russia under this agreement, the Bolsheviks needed time to organize the army. They were not capable of fighting on two fronts, and they were clearly aware of this. On April 22, 1918, the Supreme Military Council canceled the election of commanders. This was a very important step in strengthening the Red Army and involving military personnel, most of whom were officers of the tsarist army.

The commanders of units, brigades, and divisions were now appointed by the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs. In the spring of 1918, the Air Force makes a decision that determines the main military unit, it becomes a division. The states of all formations, units are approved. Work was completed on the plan to create a million-strong army. With the accumulation of combat experience, especially after the mass recruitment of former officers - "military experts" into the ranks of the army, the formation of full-fledged military formations and institutions proceeded at an accelerated pace.

In November 1918, the RVSR order on conscription was published. All former chief officers under the age of 50, staff officers under 55 and generals under 60 were subject to it.

More than 50,000 military specialists joined the Red Army. The leadership of the Republic was also intensively engaged in the training of new specialists for the Red Army. Vseobuch was established - a structure for military training of citizens of the Republic. A system of military educational institutions was deployed. They trained cadres of red commanders. The Civil War put forward such commanders as M. Frunze, K. Voroshilov, S. Budyonny, V. Chapaev, V. Blucher, G. Kotovsky, I. Yakir and others.

Party political apparatus

The party-political apparatus of the Red Army was actively formed. In the spring of 1918, the so-called institute of commissars was formed to organize control of the party and restore order in the units. According to the documents, 2 commissars were supposed to be in all units, headquarters and institutions. The controlling body was the Bureau of Military Commissars, created under the RVSR. It was headed by K.K. Yurenev.

Bodies of local military administration

In parallel with this, the creation of local military administration bodies, including military districts, as well as military commissariats - district, provincial, district and volost. When forming the district system, the headquarters and institutions of the old army were used. For 1918-1920 27 military districts were re-created or reconstructed. The district system played an outstanding role in the creation of the Red Army, significantly increasing its mobilization and organizational capabilities.

Strengthening the army

All these measures have yielded positive results. During 1918-1920. the army grew steadily stronger. If in September 1918 the Bolsheviks could advance up to 30 combat-ready divisions, then in September 1919 their number was 62. If at the beginning of 1919 3 cavalry divisions were formed in the Red Army, then in 1920 already - 22.

The army grew not only in numbers, but with the accumulation of experience, the combat capabilities of the Red Army also grew, the level of planning and organization of military operations increased. During the Civil War, 33 regular armies were formed, of which 2 were cavalry. On the fronts there were 85 rifle divisions, 39 rifle brigades, 27 cavalry divisions and 7 cavalry brigades.

Formation of the White Army

The first baptism of fire part of the young Red Army took in February 1918, during the advance of the Germans on Petrograd. In general, the situation for the Bolsheviks was very difficult. On the Don, in the Cossack lands, as a result of the struggle for power, A.M. was elected ataman. Kaledin is an ardent opponent of Soviet power. In the same place on the Don, a group of former tsarist generals, which included Alekseev M.V., Kornilov P.G., Denikin A.I., Markov S.L., began the formation of the White Volunteer Army. The above-mentioned generals did not accept the power of the Soviets and could not come to terms with the signing of the "obscene" Brest peace treaty.

Military-political situation

This led to the occupation by German troops of vast territories of the former tsarist Russia (Ukraine, Belarus, Crimea, the Baltic States, part of the South of Russia). In addition, in the spring of 1918, under the pretext of "protection from Germany", an armed intervention of the Entente countries began, in March 1918 the British occupied Arkhangelsk, in June - Murmansk, under the cover of British troops in the North, a white government was formed, which began the formation of the "Slavic-British Legion" , and the so-called "Murmansk Volunteer Army".

May 1918 was marked by the rebellion of the Czechoslovak Corps. It is considered to be the beginning of the Civil War. As a result of this rebellion, Soviet power was suppressed over vast territories from the Volga to Vladivostok. The SR-Menshevik Komuch (committee of members of the Constituent Assembly) was formed in Samara, the government of the Ufa directory arose in Siberia, which was overthrown in November by Admiral A.V. Kolchak.

The fighting of the Red Army, years 1918 - 1919

However, despite all their weakness and lack of organization, units of the young Red Army were able to keep Petrograd and Moscow, as well as part of the most important industrial regions.

1919 was the most critical moment for the Soviet Power. The "white flood" began. Three white armies are being formed, which have become the main ones in the white movement:

Volunteer army, created in the South of Russia, commanded by L. Kornilov, and after his death A. Denikin.
Army of A. Kolchak in Siberia. It is he who is proclaimed the Supreme Ruler of Russia.
N. Yudenich's army was formed in the North-West.

Kolchak's troops crossed the Urals and almost reached the Volga. Denikin's volunteer army occupied Kyiv. In the autumn of 1919 Oryol fell. Yudenich's troops reached the near approaches to Petrograd. It seemed that everything was over for the Bolsheviks, but the Red Army managed to stop the big offensive of the White armies at the end of 1919.

Troops Eastern Front, under the command of a talented nugget commander M. Frunze, defeated Kolchak's armies, threw them back beyond the Urals and went on the offensive. The Red Army entered Siberia. Yudenich's army was defeated and retreated to the territory of the Baltic states. On the Southern Front, the Red Army, reinforced by the First Cavalry Army, commanded by the legendary commander S. Budyonny, defeated the Volunteer Army and forced it to retreat.

Red Army victories, years 1920 -1921

Truly, 1920 was the year of the "red flood". The Red Army was victorious on all fronts. In January, Admiral A. Kolchak was arrested and shot in Irkutsk, and a large-scale retreat of the Volunteer Army began. The Red Army occupies Rostov-on-Don, Odessa was occupied on February 8, Novorossiysk fell on March 27. In February 1920, after the departure of the Entente troops, the Northern Region was occupied by the Red Army - Arkhangelsk and Murmansk again passed to the Reds.

The Red Army managed to repel the offensive of the Polish interventionists during the Soviet-Polish war that broke out in 1919-1921. However, further offensive actions aimed at capturing Warsaw were unsuccessful and ended in disaster. Peace was signed with Poland, according to which she received the Western regions of Ukraine and Belarus.

The last attempt to destroy Soviet power was made by Baron P. Wrangel in the summer of 1920. Taking advantage of the fact that the main forces of the Red Army are engaged in a war with Poland, the White Guard Armed Forces of the South of Russia struck from the Crimea, hoping to connect with the Polish army and cut off the South of Russia from the RSFSR.

However, these plans failed, the Red Army, under the command of M. Frunze, urgently called from Turkestan, stopped the advance of the Whites. Then she threw them back to the Crimea. On October 28, 1920, the Bolshevik army launched an offensive against the Crimea, forcing the Sivash and breaking through the defenses of the White troops.

The Red Army occupied Simferopol and Sevastopol, forcing the remnants of the White troops to hastily evacuate. By the end of 1922, units of the Red Army, commanded by V. Blucher, occupied Vladivostok. The bloody and bitter Civil War was over.

Afterword

The myth that the Bolsheviks who came to power were a bunch of adventurers, corrupt German recruited agents is a lie designed to denigrate our history, once again present our people as brainless sheep. The people have made their choice. The victory of the Red Army was a natural event in the development of the country. Not all officers ran to the Don to Baron Wrangel or to Siberia to Admiral Kolchak.

Their reasons for this were different. Someone stayed due to some circumstances, but the majority, having swallowed the shame in the Russian-Japanese and World War I, faced with the decay of the ruling army elite, did not want to restore the monarchy, save the mediocre Provisional Government. They remained with their people, not always understanding them and not sharing many of the views of the Bolsheviks. Helped build a new army. Trained red commanders. It was thanks to them that a powerful army was created in a short time, capable of repelling the White Army and the Entente interventionists.

The leadership of the formation of the Red Army, on the part of the Bolsheviks, was headed by talented organizers and leaders who accurately represented the goals of the tasks assigned to him to create an army capable of repelling anyone who encroached on the gains of the revolution. There were no military personnel among them, but outstanding personalities, faced with the need to build a new army, managed to as soon as possible organize the work in such a way that the result was simply stunning not only for the White Army, but for the whole world.

History of the Red Army

See main article History of the Red Army

Personnel

In general, the military ranks of junior officers (sergeants and foremen) of the Red Army correspond to the tsarist non-commissioned officers, the ranks of junior officers correspond to chief officers (the statutory address in the tsarist army is “your honor”), senior officers, from major to colonel - headquarters officers (the statutory address in the tsarist army is “your excellency”), senior officers, from major general to marshal - general (“your excellency”).

A more detailed correspondence of ranks can only be established approximately, due to the fact that the very number of military ranks varies. So, the rank of lieutenant roughly corresponds to a lieutenant, and the royal rank of captain roughly corresponds to the Soviet military rank of major.

It should also be noted that the insignia of the Red Army of the 1943 model were also not an exact copy of the royal ones, although they were created on their basis. So, the rank of colonel in the tsarist army was designated by shoulder straps with two longitudinal stripes, and without asterisks; in the Red Army - two longitudinal stripes, and three medium-sized stars arranged in a triangle.

Repressions 1937-1938

battle banner

The battle flag of one of the units of the Red Army during the Civil War:

The imperialist army is an instrument of oppression, the Red Army is an instrument of liberation.

For each unit or formation of the Red Army, its Battle Banner is sacred. It serves as the main symbol of the unit, and the embodiment of its military glory. In the event of the loss of the Battle Banner, the military unit is subject to disbandment, and those directly responsible for such disgrace - to the court. A separate guard post is established to guard the Battle Banner. Each soldier, passing by the banner, is obliged to give him a military salute. On especially solemn occasions, the troops carry out the ritual of the solemn removal of the Battle Banner. Being included in the banner group directly conducting the ritual is considered a great honor, which is awarded only to the most distinguished officers and ensigns.

Oath

Mandatory for recruits in any army in the world is to bring them to the oath. In the Red Army, this ritual is usually performed a month after the call, after completing the course of a young soldier. Before being sworn in, soldiers are forbidden to be trusted with weapons; there are a number of other restrictions. On the day of the oath, the soldier receives weapons for the first time; he breaks down, approaches the commander of his unit, and reads out a solemn oath to the formation. The oath is traditionally considered an important holiday, and is accompanied by the solemn removal of the Battle Banner.

The text of the oath has changed several times; The first option was as follows:

I, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, joining the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, take an oath and solemnly swear to be an honest, brave, disciplined, vigilant fighter, strictly keep military and state secrets, implicitly comply with all military regulations and orders of commanders, commissars and chiefs.

I swear to conscientiously study military affairs, to protect military property in every possible way, and to my last breath to be devoted to my people, my Soviet Motherland and the workers' and peasants' government.

I am always ready, on the orders of the Workers' and Peasants' Government, to defend my Motherland - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and, as a soldier of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, I swear to defend it courageously, skillfully, with dignity and honor, not sparing my blood and life itself. to achieve complete victory over the enemy.

If, by malicious intent, I violate this solemn oath of mine, then let me suffer the severe punishment of Soviet law, the general hatred and contempt of the working people.

Late variant

I, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, joining the ranks of the Armed Forces, take an oath and solemnly swear to be an honest, brave, disciplined, vigilant warrior, strictly keep military and state secrets, unquestioningly comply with all military regulations and orders of commanders and superiors.

I swear to conscientiously study military affairs, to protect military and national property in every possible way, and to my last breath to be devoted to my people, my Soviet Motherland and the Soviet government.

I am always ready, on the orders of the Soviet government, to defend my Motherland - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and, as a soldier of the Armed Forces, I swear to defend it courageously, skillfully, with dignity and honor, not sparing my blood and life itself in order to achieve complete victory over enemy.

If, however, I break this solemn oath of mine, then let me suffer the severe punishment of Soviet law, the general hatred and contempt of the Soviet people.

Modern version

I (surname, name, patronymic) solemnly swear allegiance to my Motherland - the Russian Federation.

I swear to sacredly observe its Constitution and laws, strictly comply with the requirements of military regulations, orders of commanders and superiors.

I swear to honorably fulfill my military duty, courageously defend the freedom, independence and constitutional order of Russia, the people and the Fatherland.

How and when the Red Army became “stronger than ever” and other interesting details of the history of the Red Army. See what "RKKA" is in other dictionaries Into the ranks of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army