User:Optfrost/Soviet Army

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Cold War[edit]

Soviet Military Districts 1990

  • (dissolved in 1988 with the Volga and Urals Military Districts merged around 1991.)

US tanks and Soviet tanks at Checkpoint Charlie, 1961

Throughout the Cold War (1947–1991), Western intelligence estimates calculated that the Soviet strength remained ca. 2.8 million to ca. 5.3 million men. In 1989 the Ground Forces had two million men. To maintain those numbers, Soviet law required a three-year military service obligation from every able man of military age, until 1967, when the Ground Forces reduced it to a two-year draft obligation. By the 1970s, the change to a two-year system seems to have created the hazing practice known as dedovshchina, "rule of the grandfathers", which destroyed the status of most NCOs. Instead the Soviet system relied very heavily on junior officers. Life in the Soviet military could be "grim and dangerous:" a Western researcher talking to former Soviet officers was told, in effect that this was because they did not "value human life".

By the middle of the 1980s, the Ground Forces contained about 210 divisions. About three-quarters were motor rifle divisions and the remainder tank divisions. There were also a large number of artillery divisions, separate artillery brigades, engineer formations, and other combat support formations. However, only relatively few formations were fully war ready. By 1983, Soviet divisions were divided into either "Ready" or "Not Ready" categories, each with three subcategories. The internal military districts usually contained only one or two fully Ready divisions, with the remainder lower strength formations. The Soviet system anticipated a war preparation period which would bring the strength of the Ground Forces up to about three million.

Soviet planning for most of the Cold War period would have seen Armies of four to five divisions operating in Fronts made up of around four armies (and roughly equivalent to Western Army Groups). In February 1979, the first of the new High Commands in the Strategic Directions were created at Ulan-Ude. In September 1984, three more were established to control multi-Front operations in Europe (the Western and South-Western Strategic Directions) and at Baku to handle southern operations. These new headquarters controlled multiple Fronts, and usually a Soviet Navy Fleet.

From the 1950s to the 1980s the branches ("rods") of the Ground Forces included the Motor Rifle Troops; the Soviet Airborne Forces, from April 1956 to March 1964; Air Assault Troops (ru:Десантно-штурмовые формирования Сухопутных войск СССР, from 1968-August 1990); the Tank Troops (see Russian Tank Troops); the Rocket Forces and Artillery (ru:Ракетные войска и артиллерия СССР, from 1961); Army Aviation, until December 1990; Signals Troops; the Engineer Troops; the Air Defence Troops of the Ground Forces; the Chemical Troops, and the Rear of the Ground Forces.

In 1955, the Soviet Union signed the Warsaw Pact with its East European socialist allies, establishing military coordination between Soviet forces and their socialist counterparts. The Soviet Army created and directed the Eastern European armies in its image for the remainder of the Cold War, shaping them for a potential confrontation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. After 1956, First Secretary of the Communist Party Nikita Khrushchev reduced the Ground Forces to build up the Strategic Rocket Forces, emphasizing the armed forces' nuclear capabilities. He removed Marshal Georgy Zhukov from the Politburo in 1957, for opposing these reductions in the Ground Forces. Nonetheless, Soviet forces possessed too few theater-level nuclear weapons to fulfill war-plan requirements until the mid-1980s. The General Staff maintained plans to invade Western Europe whose massive scale was only made publicly available after German researchers gained access to National People's Army files following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Korean War

The Soviet Army advanced into northern Korea in 1945 after the end of World War II, with the intention of aiding in the process of rebuilding the country.[1] This push was supported by several advocates in the Soviet military; Marshal Kirill Meretskov and Terentii Shtykov explained to Joseph Stalin the necessity of Soviet help in building infrastructure and industry in northern Korea.[2] Additionally, the Soviets aided in the creation of the North Korean People's Army and Korean People's Air Force. The Soviets believed it would be strategic to the Soviet Union to support Korea's growth directly. When northern Korea eventually wished to invade South Korea in 1950, Kim Il Sung traveled to Moscow to gain approval from Stalin. It was granted with full support, leading to the full-scale invasion of South Korea on June 25th.[3]

The Soviet military directly fought in the conflict largely in the air spaces above northwest Korea, sending two Soviet air divisions to defend against U.S. B-29s and F-86s using MiG-9 and MiG-15 fighter jets. The Soviet's participation in air battle is generally considered a success against U.S. and U.N. pilots.[4]

Soviet-Afghan War

Beginning of the War

In 1979, the Soviet Union entered Afghanistan, deploying troops after the deaths of some 100 Soviet personnel at the hands of the first major insurrection against the Marxist government in Afghanistan, as well as to support its Communist government, provoking a 10-year Afghan mujahideen guerrilla resistance.[5] The Soviet Union already had a major presence in the country, greater than any other foreign power at the time, due to trade and economic agreements.[5] Months after the two countries signed a treaty providing full cooperation between each other, the strong Marxist presence through the new regime and Soviet aid evoked militant opposition from many Afghani tribes. The Marxist regime then periodically sent out eighteen requests for military assistance to aid in the growing conflict throughout the next coming months.[6] Most of these requests were denied for months, the Soviets instead preferring to aid with sending materials and training.

In March 1979, after the deaths of about 100 Soviet personnel and their families at the hands of a major insurrectionist mob in Herat, Moscow sent major aid to the country. This aid included eight Mi-8 troop transport helicopters, a transport squadron of AN-12s, a signal center, and a 600-man paratroop battalion. Several of these units were initially disguised as Afghan military. The Soviet Army continued to provide more aid into the country, and by the end of 1979, the Soviet Army was a substantial part of the Afghan Marxist regime's military support.[5]

End of the War

While the Soviet government initially hoped to secure Afghanistan's towns and road networks, stabilize the Marxist government, and withdraw from the region within the span of one year, they experienced major difficulties in the region, due to rough terrain and fierce guerrilla resistance. Soviet presence would reach near 115,000 troops by the mid-1980s, and the complications of the war increased, causing a high amount of military, economic, and political cost.[7] After Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev realized the economic, diplomatic, and human toll the war was placing on the Soviet Union, he announced the withdrawal of six regiment of troops (about 7,000 men) on 28 July 1986.[8] In January 1988 Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze announced that it was hoped that "1988 would be the last year of the Soviet troops stay;" the forces pulled out in the bitter winter cold of January–February 1989.

Costs of the War

The costs for the military due to the war is estimated to have been roughly 15 billion rubles in 1989. The combat casualties estimates at 30,000-35,000. During 1984-1985, more than 300 aircraft were lost, and thus a significant military cost of the war is attributed to air operations. Since the first year, the government spend roughly 2.5-3.0% of the yearly military budget on funding the war in Afghanistan, increasing steadily in cost until its peak in 1986.[9]

The Soviet Army also suffered from deep losses in morale and public approval due to the conflict and it's failure. Many injured and disabled veterans of the war returned to the Soviet Union facing public scrutiny and difficulty re-entering civilian society, creating a new social group known as "Afgantsy". These men would become influential in popular culture and politics of the time.[10]

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References

  1. ^ Armstrong, Charles K. (2003). The North Korean revolution, 1945-1950. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-6880-3. OCLC 605327300.
  2. ^ "Cable No. 121973, Meretskov and Shytkov to Cde. Stalin | Wilson Center Digital Archive". digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  3. ^ "Ciphered Telegram No. 9849, Gromyko to the Soviet Ambassador, Pyongyang | Wilson Center Digital Archive". digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  4. ^ O'Neill, Mark (2000). "Soviet Involvement in the Korean War: A New View from the Soviet-Era Archives". OAH Magazine of History. 14 (3): 20–24. ISSN 0882-228X.
  5. ^ a b c Ro'i, Yaacov (2022-03-15). The Bleeding Wound: The Soviet War in Afghanistan and the Collapse of the Soviet System. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-3106-9.
  6. ^ Ro'i, Yaacov (2022-03-15). The Bleeding Wound: The Soviet War in Afghanistan and the Collapse of the Soviet System. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-3106-9.
  7. ^ "Afghan guerrillas' fierce resistance stalemates Soviets and puppet regime". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  8. ^ Schofield, Carey (1993). The Russian Elite: inside Spetsnaz and the Airborne Forces. Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal, Limited. p. 108. ISBN 9781853671555.
  9. ^ "The Costs of Soviet Involvement in Afghanistan" (PDF). cia.gov. 2000.
  10. ^ Konovalov, Valerii. "Afghan Veterans in Siberia". Radio Liberty Report on the USSR. 1 (#21).
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