THE RED ARMY 1918–1941 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 of strategy. Following Clausewitz, strategy has been understood to mean the use made of force, and the threat of the use of force, for the ends of policy. This series is as interested in ideas as in historical cases of grand strategy and military strategy in action. All historical periods, near and past, and even future, are of interest. In addition to original monographs, the series will from time to time publish edited reprints of neglected classics as well as collections of essays. 1. Military Logistics and Strategic Performance, Thomas M. Kane 2. Strategy for Chaos: Revolutions in Military Affairs and the Evidence of History, Colin Gray 3. The Myth of Inevitable 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 of World Revolution to US Ally, Earl F. Ziemke 8. Britain and Ballistic Missile Defence, 1942–2002, Jeremy Stocker 9. The Nature of War 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 of the 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 of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ziemke, Earl Frederick, 1922– The Red Army, 1918–1941: from vanguard of world 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 of this 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 of the publisher of this 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 Stavka and 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 of Victory’ 117 Pilsudski versus Tukhachevskiy 118 Stalin and Budennyy at Southwest Front 119 The General Offensive 122 The Vrangel Problem126 Crises Again and a Peace Conference 128 Frunze versus Vrangel 130 Recriminations 133 9. Class War and Military Reform135 NEP and the Military System135 Trotskiy and Unified Military Doctrine 138 Trotskiy under Fire 143 Frunze to the Fore 146 Frunze’s Military Reform148 Frunze on Military Doctrine 149 Frunze’s Red Army 151 10. The New Order 153 Stalin as Custodian of Leninism153 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 of Versailles 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 Bloom183 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 Reform203 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 Helm280 A ‘Strategic Offensive’ 282 Command Crises 284 August Interlude 285 Zhukov at Yelnya and Leningrad 288 ix the red army 1918–1941 19. The Heartland in Peril 291 Typhoon, Twin Battles, and the Rasputitsa 291 Preparing for the Worst 297 Typhoon Revived 300 20. The Heartland Preserved 305 Rostov and Tikhvin 305 Build-up at West Front 306 Turned Away at the Gates 308 Disaster 312 Victory in Sight 315 21. Conclusion 320 World War and Global War 320 Patriotic War 322 The ‘Main and Decisive Front’ 324 The ‘Greatest Battle in the History of Wars’ 324 The ‘Decisive Turning Point in the Patriotic War’ 327 Clearing the Soviet Land 328 The Race for Berlin 329 Who Won the World War? 332 Code Names 333 Notes on Historiography 334 Stalin’s War 334 Khrushchev’s War 336 Brezhnev’s War 340 Gorbachev’s ‘Openness’ 344 The ‘Global Lie’ 345 Notes 350 Bibliography 388 Index 403 x Maps 1. The Ring of Fronts 66 2. The Destruction of Denikin’s Forces 109 3. The 1920 Soviet–Polish War 123 4. The German Advance, 22 June–12 November 1941 278 5. Army Group Center, 15 November–5 December 1941 294 6. Army Group South, 28 November–3 December 1941 302 7. Army Group North, 1 December 1941 303 8. The Moscow Counteroffensive, 6–15 December 1941 311 9. The Moscow Counteroffensive, Phase II: 16 December 1941– 1 January 1942 317 List of Illustrations Between pages 202 and 203 I. Aspects of the War: Operation Barbarossa 1. Self-propelled assault gun stopped to fire 2. Motorcyclists move out 3. Column of Pz IIIs passing a village 4. Heavy machine gun firing from cover 5. Village residents watch their homes burn 6. Light machine gun covering an advance 7. Infantry crossing the Dnepr River 8. Halftrack towing a 37-mm antitank gun 9. Bringing up a 105-mm howitzer 10.