The Red Army, 1918-1941: From Vanguard of World Revolution to US Ally

454 Pages·2004·13.16 MB·English

by  Earl F Ziemke

THE RED ARMY
1918–1941
http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield
Cass Series:Strategy and History
Series Editors:Colin Gray and Williamson Murray
ISSN:1473-6403
This new series will focus on the theory and practice ofstrategy.Following Clausewitz,
strategy has been understood to mean the use made offorce,and the threat ofthe use of
force,for the ends ofpolicy.This series is as interested in ideas as in historical cases ofgrand
strategy and military strategy in action.All historical periods,near and past,and even future,
are ofinterest.In addition to original monographs,the series will from time to time publish
edited reprints ofneglected classics as well as collections ofessays.
1. Military Logistics and Strategic Performance,Thomas M.Kane
2. Strategy for Chaos: Revolutions in Military Affairs and the Evidence ofHistory,Colin Gray
3. The Myth ofInevitable US Defeat in Vietnam,C.Dale Walton
4. Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics in the Space Age,Everett C.Dolman
5. Anglo-American Strategic Relations and the Far East,1933–1939: Imperial Crossroads,
Greg Kennedy
6. Power and Policy in the Space and Information Age: Pure Strategy,Everett C.Dolman
7. The Red Army 1918–1941: From Vanguard ofWorld Revolution to US Ally,Earl F.Ziemke
8. Britain and Ballistic Missile Defence,1942–2002,Jeremy Stocker
9. The Nature ofWar in the Information Age: Clausewitzian Future,David J.Lonsdale
10. Strategy as Social Science: Thomas Schelling and the Nuclear Age,Robert Ayson
THE RED ARMY
1918–1941:
From Vanguard of World Revolution
to US Ally
EARL F. ZIEMKE
FRANK CASS
LONDON and NEW YORK
First published in 2004 by
Taylor & Francis Books Ltd
11 New Fetter Lane
London EC4P 4EE
simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Taylor & Francis Books
29 West 35th Street,New York,NY 10001
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
Frank Cass is an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis Group
Copyright © 2004 E. Ziemke
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
ISBN 0-203-49844-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-58245-4(Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-7146-5551-1
ISSN 1473-6403
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ziemke,Earl Frederick,1922–
The Red Army,1918–1941:from vanguard ofworld revolution to US ally/Earl F.Ziemke.
p.cm.– (Cass series–strategy and history,ISSN 1473-6403;7)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7146-5551-1 (cloth)
1.Soviet Union–History,Military.2.Soviet Union.Raboche-Krest§’ìnskaëì Krasnaëì
Armiëì–History.3.Soviet Union–Military policy.I.Title.II.Series.
DK266.3.Z54 2004
355’.033047–dc22
2003069681
All rights reserved.No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording or otherwise,without the prior
written permission ofthe publisher ofthis book.
Contents
List of Maps xi
List of Illustrations xii
Series Editor’s Preface xiv
Preface xvi
Glossary of Terms xvii
List of Abbreviations xx
1. The Military Revolutionary Committee 1
The Provisional Government and the Soviet 1
Lenin and Trotskiy on the Scene and Off 5
The Kerenskiy Government Compromised 7
Trotskiy,Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Committee 9
Trotskiy’s Military Coup 11
2. ‘All Power to the Soviets’ 15
Forming the ‘Socialist State’ 15
Trotskiy Defends Petrograd 18
Bolshevik Revolution in the Hinterland 19
The Stavkaand the Revolutionary Field Staff 21
Dictatorship,Self-determination,Rights of the Working People,
and Insurgency 24
Offensives against the Don Cossacks 26
Offensives against Kaledin and the Central Rada 28
3. Birth of the Red Army,War,and Peace 30
An Army of a New Type 30
The Red Army in Trotskiy’s Hands 35
the red army 1918–1941
The Fragile Peace 37
Czech Revolt and Foreign Intervention 38
Conscription and the ‘New Army’ 41
Muravyev,Stalin,and Trotskiy’s Resolution 46
4. ‘In a Fiery Ring of Fronts’ 48
‘Imperialist’Intervention 48
East Front in Jeopardy 52
Stalin in the South 54
The ‘Apparent Death Agony of the Soviet Regime’ 56
A Pact with the Enemy 59
Redeployment East 60
‘Military Action’and ‘Military Intervention’ 61
5. An Armed Camp 63
The Revolutionary Council of the Republic 63
Stalin and the RMCR 68
Stalin,Trotskiy and the ‘Military Question’ 72
The ‘Fortress of Socialist Revolution’ 73
On the Offensive in the South 77
Gains and Losses 81
The ‘Military Question’Again 82
6. The Test of Battle on Three Fronts 86
East Front and Kolchak 86
South Front and Denikin 92
West Front and Yudenich 95
East Front and Trotskiy 98
7. The Decisive Battles 101
The Central Committee in Charge 101
Stalemate at Petrograd 103
The Crisis 103
Trotskiy at Petrograd 107
‘The Civil War Has Ended in Victory!’ 108
The Mopping Up 112
vi
contents
8. Defeat and Victory 117
The ‘Moment ofVictory’ 117
Pilsudski versus Tukhachevskiy 118
Stalin and Budennyy at Southwest Front 119
The General Offensive 122
The Vrangel Problem 126
Crises Again and a Peace Conference 128
Frunze versus Vrangel 130
Recriminations 133
9. Class War and Military Reform 135
NEP and the Military System 135
Trotskiy and Unified Military Doctrine 138
Trotskiy under Fire 143
Frunze to the Fore 146
Frunze’s Military Reform 148
Frunze on Military Doctrine 149
Frunze’s Red Army 151
10. The New Order 153
Stalin as Custodian of Leninism 153
Military Reform Continued 156
Strengthening Defensive Capability 157
Tukhachevskiy,Triandafilov,and Military Theory 159
Stalin’s War Leadership 163
Socialist Development versus Red Militarism 164
Military Correctness in a Political Context 167
11. The Red Army and the Reichswehr 169
General Hans von Seeckt and the Treaty ofVersailles 169
Rapallo,the Ruhr,and Locarno 171
Resurgence in Germany,Disaster in Russia 174
Lipetsk,Tomka,and Kama 175
Personnel Exchanges 176
Industrial and General Staff Collaboration 178
vii
the red army 1918–1941
Effects of Locarno 179
Tours and Maneuvers 180
How They Saw Each Other 181
Stalin against the German Social Democrats 182
Military Collaboration in Full Bloom 183
Adolf Hitler in Power 185
The Parting 186
12. The Tukhachevskiy Era 188
Technological Reconstruction 188
Stalin’s Peace Policy 191
The Arms Race 193
Tukhachevskiy at the Fore 195
Military Theory in the Tukhachevskiy Era 197
The 1936 Maneuvers 200
Lessons of War 201
13. Stalin’s Military Reform 203
Kirov,Kuybyshev,and Tukhachevskiy 203
The Military Purge 204
The Main Military Council 206
Technological Reconstruction in the Navy 209
Battle at Lake Khasan 211
Lessons of the Spanish Civil War 213
International Crises and the Purge 215
14. Approaching the ‘Second Imperialist War’ 217
A Somewhat New Course 217
The Nomonhan Incident 219
The Nazi–Soviet Pact 221
Japan’s About-Face 222
The ‘March of Liberation’ 223
The Treaty of Friendship 224
Command Instability 225
The Second Technological Reconstruction 226
viii
contents
The ‘Most Offensive-minded’Army 228
The Wehrmacht,1933–39 229
15. The ‘Most Pressing and Deadly Threat’ 232
The Winter War 232
Lessons Learned 236
The ‘Deadly Threat’ 238
Reform and Reassessment 238
Blitzkrieg Rampant 240
Molotov in Berlin 244
16. War Plans 247
The Lay of the Land 247
‘Considerations’on Strategic Deployment 248
Readiness Assessment 252
Stalin’s Play for Time 255
Zhukov’s Amendment to ‘Considerations’ 256
German Strategic Deployment 257
17. Stalin Deceived 260
The Game Begins 260
A Japanese Connection 261
Stalin,Warrior and Appeaser 263
‘Considerations’,the May Supplement 264
The Covering Plan and Otmobilizatsia 266
The Game Plays Out 268
The Correlation of Forces 270
18. The Red Army at Bay 274
The Battles of the Frontiers 274
Stalin at the Helm 280
A ‘Strategic Offensive’ 282
Command Crises 284
August Interlude 285
Zhukov at Yelnya and Leningrad 288
ix