World War II Military Forces: The Soviet Military--Services
Figure 1.--Red Army tanks played a central role in the frive west toward the Reich. The T-34 is the best known , but there were other excellent Sovuet tanks. Her the Red Army reaches tghe Reich (January 1945). The Soviets built far more tanks than the Germans during World War II despite the fact that the Germans had the steel producion to build many more tanks than the Soviets. There were several reasons for this. First, the Germans did not have the oil to fuel the tanks they had. Second, the German penchant for quality. Third, the huge quantities of steel the Germans had to use to support the war in the West. This included the Atlantic Wall, the Battle of the Atlantic, the Air War, and other operations. Wehrmacht artillery, for example, was massed around German cities to defend against the Allied bombers rather than slow the advance of Red Army tanks in the East.
The Soviet Union had three combat branches, the Red Army, the Red Air Force, and the Red Navy. The NKVD secret police force also mobilized for military action.
The Red Army was the dominant or senior service throuhout the War. There was a huge didderence between the democarcies denmoceacies and noth Stalin and Fitler in their choice of military commanders. Churchill and Roosevelt could have had yes men, but instead chose Alan Brooke and George Marshall who were both unflinghingly frank. Both Stalin and Hitler preferred yes men. The Red Aarmy and Heer would pay a heavy price during the War. Stalin to a degree learned the imoprtance of competent advisers over syncophants. Hitler never did. He hung on to Kitel throughout the War. With the fall of France, the Red Army was left the only force with the capability of resisting the Germans on the Continent. Stalin was hoping that the Gerans and Allies would become locked into a World War I-type war of attrition, weakening both. Instead, the French Army desintehgrated and the British were driven off the Continent. The Red Army was left facing the Germans with no possibility of a French western front as was the case in World War I. The Red Army was theoretically larger than the German Heer, but Stalin allowed Hitler to mobilize German reserves and deploy along with its allies on the Soviet frontier. He was comvimced that Hitler would never attack with Britain still undefeated in the West. So when Hitler launched Barbarossa (June 1941), the Germans actually outnummbered the Red Army. Worse still, Stalin ordered the Red Army out of prepared positions west into the new territories seized from neighbors (the Baltic Republics, Poland and northeastern Romania). The Red Army was heavily armed. Many of the tanks were obsolete, but the Gerams were still using many basically obsolete tanks themselves. The real reason for the stunning German victories was tactics and the highly professional German officer corps. The Red Army in contrast had lost most its top commanders and many mid-levrel commanders to Slalin's purges just when they were desperately needed. Stalin even pulled some of the commanders he had confined to the Gulag rather than shooting out to fight the Germans. And concerned about a possible incident he order border units not to fire, so at first many Red Army units did not dare return fire when the Germans attacked. The Red Army would carry the load of the savage fighting against the German Wehrmacht during World War II (June 1941-May 1945). It would be the most costly and decisive military campaign in history. While the Red Army had a great deal of obsolete weaponry, when the Germas attacked the T-34 and other tanks were beginning to reach Red Army units. And from the beginning the Red Army had excellent artillery which would be supplemented with rockets. The Red Army also has excellent small arms.
The Red Air Force was the largest air force in the world and at the onset of Barbarossa performed even more poorly than the Red Army. Its leadership like that of the Red army had been ravaged by Stalin. And Stalin ordered Red Air Force commanders to allow Luftwaffe overflights so the Germans could see he had no hoistile intentions. This allow the Luftwaffe to meticuously plan its assualt, destoying a great number Soviet planes on the ground. There was on saving grace, the Soviet pilots were largely soared for future operations. It would be more tha a year before the Red Air Force could launch signigficant operations. This occured as the airceaft dactories moved east began coming back on line. In addition, the Luftwaffe was brought back from the East to defend German cities
from the allies stratehic bomving campaign.
The Red Navy was a much smaller force and played a minor role in the War. The Germans very early on, turned the Baltic into a German lake. This was essential as Swedish iron ore and other war material had to cross the Baltic. The big guns and sailors of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, however, played a role in saving Lenningrad. The Red Navy was active in the Black Sea as the Germans turned South (1942). In the final months if the War, Red Navy submarines were able to resume operations in the Baltic, but by this time the Swedes were alreading reducing shipments to the Germans.
The Red Army
The Red Army was the dominant or senior Soviet military service throuhout the War. There was a huge difference between the democarcies and both Stalin and Hitler in their choice of military commanders. Churchill and Roosevelt could have had yes men, but instead chose Alan Brooke and George Marshall who were both unflinghingly frank. Both Stalin and Hitler preferred yes men. Stalin in fack nurder thge most forward thinking officers before the war in the Great Purges--men like Tukhachevsky. The men in the Red Army and Heer would pay a heavy price during the War. Stalin to a degree learned the importance of competent advisers over syncophants. He even began releasing some of the purged officers he had not yet had the NKVD shoot. Hitler never did change in his choice of commanders. He hung on to Keitel throughout the War. With the fall of France, the Red Army was left the only force with the capability of resisting the Germans on the Continent. Stalin was hoping that the Gerans and Allies would become locked into a World War I-type war of attrition, weakening both. Instead, the French Army desintehgrated and the British were driven off the Continent. The Red Army was left facing the Germans with no possibility of a French western front as was the case in World War I. The Red Army was on paper theoretically larger than the German Heer. Ther was certain a huge mass of men and material. There were, however, serious weaknesses. Many if vthe most competent officers had been concumed in the Stalinit Purges. The Red Army was heavily armed. Much of the weaponry, however, especially the tanks was outdated. Many of the tanks were obsolete, but the Gerams were still using many basically obsolete tanks themselves. And the weaponry, especially the vehilcles were being poorly maintained. The Soviet focus was on acquiriung weaons, not in maintaining them. And the emphasis was on tanks and not the transport vehicles (tractors and trucks) needed for mobil warfare. There was very poor support infrastructure. This meant not only maintence, but supply. On the eve of Barbarossa, Red Army units for some reason had very little fuel. There were very serious logistical issues, somethung usually associted with the Wehrmacht. Anothger serious short coming was a shortage of communiucations equipment and what they had was of poor quality. Many Soviet tanks had radios, especially two-way radios. Commuications equipment was lacking throughout the Red Army. More than half the Army did not have the regimentak 5-Ak srt at the beginning of 1941 and this was not a high priority for 1942. [Hill, p. 181.] The Red Army was also poorly positioned after with the partioining of Poland threy faced the Germans directly. Stalin ordered the Red Army out of prepared positions west into the new territories seized from neighbors (the Baltic Republics, Poland and northeastern Romania). Stalin moved thg Red Army forward from the orotectiin if tge Stalin Line to birder areascwhere vthey were vulnerable to German attack. [Hill, p. 195.] Much of the armor was in the south (Ukkraine) which Stalin saw as the porimary German target. Much less was positiined defenduing the route to Moscow. Stalin allowed Hitler to mobilize German reserves and deploy along with its allies on the Soviet frontier. He was comvimced that Hitler would never attack with Britain still undefeated in the West. So when Hitler launched Barbarossa (June 1941), the Germans actually outnummbered the Red Army.
The primary reason for the stunning German victories was tactics and the highly professional German officer corps. The Red Army in contrast had lost most its top commanders and many mid-levrel commanders to Slalin's purges just when they were desperately needed. Stalin even pulled some of the commanders he had confined to the Gulag rather than shooting out to fight the Germans. And concerned about a possible incident incident by rogue German commanders, he ordered frontier units not to fire, so at first many Red Army units did not dare return fire when the Germans attacked. The Red Army would carry the load of the savage fighting against the German Wehrmacht during World War II (June 1941-May 1945). It would be the most costly and decisive military campaign in history. While the Red Army had a great deal of obsolete weaponry, when the Germas attacked the T-34 and other tanks were beginning to reach Red Army units. And from the beginning the Red Army had excellent artillery which would be supplemented with rockets. The Red Army also has excellent small arms.
The Red Air Force
The Red Air Force was the largest air force in the world and at the onset of Barbarossa performed even more poorly than the Red Army. Its leadership like that of the Red army had been ravaged by Stalin. And Stalin ordered Red Air Force commanders to allow Luftwaffe overflights so the Germans could see he had no hoistile intentions. This allow the Luftwaffe to meticuously plan its assualt, destoying a great number Soviet planes on the ground. There was on saving grace, the Soviet pilots were largely soared for future operations. It would be more tha a year before the Red Air Force could launch signigficant operations. This occured as the airceaft factories moved east began coming back on line. In addition, the Luftwaffe was brought back from the East to defend German cities from the Allies strategic bomving campaign.
The Red Navy
The Red Navy was a much smaller force and played a minor role in the War. The Soviet Union in the inter-War era carried out a massive military expansion, building the world's largest army and airforce. Relartively little attention was given to building a substantial modern navy. This is understandable given the fact that the Soviet Union was not a major maritime power and that the principal milutary threats came from neighboring land powers. The Russian Imperial Navy was remamed the "Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet" (Рабоче-Крестьянский Красный флот, Raboche-Krest'yansky Krasny Flot--RKKF). The major vessels were inherited from the Imperial fleet including a few obsolescent battleships. The Soviet Navy was so weak that the Soviet Union was not even to attend the Washington Naval Confrence (1921) in which the major naval powers negotiated limits on naval construction. The Soviet Navy at the onset of war had a few battleships such as Marat and Oktyabraskaya Revolustiya. There were also a few cruisers, such as Kirov and Makim Gorky. We do not have a complete inventory of the larger vessels in the Soviet fleet nor do weknow much about the characteristics of these vessels. We believe that many were inherited from the Imperial Navy and by 1941 largely obsolete. The Soviet Navy also consisted of several destoyers and submarines. Again we do not have details on the quality of these vessels. The Red Navy at the outbreak of World war II was organized into: the Northern (Arctic) Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, the Pacific Ocean Fleet, the Kamchatka Flotilla, the White Sea Flotilla, the Caspian Flotilla, the Dneproptrovsk Flotilla, and the Danube Flotilla. The Navy as a result of the War created three new forces: the Volga Flotilla (to defend and supply Stalingrad), the Ladoga Flotilla (to supply Lenningrad), and the Onega Flotilla. The Germans very early on, turned the Baltic into a German lake. This was essential as Swedish iron ore and other war material had to cross the Baltic. The big guns and sailors of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, however, played a role in saving Lenningrad. The Red Navy was active in the Black Sea as the Germans turned South (1942). In the final months if the War, Red Navy submarines were able to resume operations in the Baltic, but by thus time the Swedes were already reducing shipments to the Germans.
The NKVD played an imprtant role in World War II with important military and non military roles. It was the NKVD that operated the Soviet Gulag and and conducted a range of attrocuities targeting the Soviet people, the most horific being the Ukranian Genocide (1931-32). It was the NKVD that conducted the purges of the Soviet military. The NKVD itself was not immune from the Stalinist purges. The NKVD supplied political officers for all Soviet military units. They had considerable influence, especially after the purges, often more than the commanding officers, but no military training. This would change somewhat after the German invasion. There were no contacts between the NKVD and the NAZI SS/Gestapo, but this changed with the NAZI-Soviet Pact (1939). Stalin did his best to develop a cooperative relationship with Hitler, this included cooperatiove actions between the NKVD and NAZI SS. High on the agenda was the pacification of Polanf, meaning the irradication of any vestage of Polish nationalism. Actually the NAZIs as part of Generalplan Ost were planning to physically iradicate the Polish people, although that was not known to the NKVD. NKVD and SS security officers
met for one week in Zakopane to coordinate supressionm operations. One action ordered by Stalin was the murder of Polish officers in Soviet POW camos. One part of this operation was the Katyn Masacre. Stalin went so far as to
turn over hundreds of anti-NAZI German and Austrian Communists to the NAZI SS Gestapo, as unwanted foreigners, together with documents about their activities. This of course change dramatically with the NAZI Barbarossa invasion (June 1941). The first NKVD action was to murder all prisoners in their hands in border areas as German forces asvanced. Not only were NKVD political officers enbedded in Soviet military units, but blocking units were formed top prevent Red Amy units and personnel from retraeting. In addition actual NKVD combat units were formed. NKVD units were used for rear area security. NKVD units were used to enforce Stalin's Order No. 270 and Order No. 227 decrees (1941 and 1942) to stop retreats. The NKVD role was substantial, but did not rise to prominance like NAZI Waffen-SS. At the beginning of the war the NKVD formed 15 rifle (infantry) divisions. This reached 53 divisions and 28 brigades by 1945. The great bulk of the NKVD units were used for internal security, but were at times used in the front-line. The 10th Rifle Division NKVD famously fought at the Battle of Stalingrad. They also played an important role in the Crimean Offensive (1944). Stalin did not, however, the NKVD to form any armored or mechanized units to limit the power of the organization. Resistance to the Germans in occupied area began to develop even during Barbarossa. The NKVD was responaible for organizing this resistance and upporting it. One of the most notable actions was after fall of Kiev, NKVD agents exploded bombs in major building the NAZIs had taken over as headquarters buildings as well as other targets. The Germans used this as an excuse for the horrific Babi Yar massacre of Jews. Similar NKVD actions were conducted throughout occupied Byelorussia and Ukraine. The NKVD as the Red Army relentlessly drove the Germans west conducted mass arrests, deportations, and executions. The targets were those who collaborated with the Germans and non-Communist resistance movements, especially the Polish Armia Krajowa Home Army and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
The final NKVD World War II action was to repress the prolonged partisan war in Ukraine and the Baltics, which continued into the early 1950s.
Sources
Hill, Alexander. The Red Army and Second World War (Cambridge University Press).
