The Military History of the Soviet Union Edited by Robin Higham and Frederick W. Kagan
THE MILITARY HISTORY OF THE SOVIET UNION Copyright Robin Higham and Frederick W. Kagan, 2002. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE is the new global publishing imprint of St. Martin s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd. (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd.). ISBN 978-0-230-10839-4 ISBN 978-0-230-10821-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230108219 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Letra Libre, Inc. First edition: February 2002 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C ONTENTS About the Contributors v 1. Introduction 1 Robin Higham and Frederick W. Kagan PART I THE FORMATION OF THE SOVIET ARMY AND NAVY 2. The Russian Civil War, 1917 1921 13 David R. Stone 3. The Russo-Polish War 35 Robert M. Ponichtera and David R. Stone 4. Ideology and the Rise of the Red Army, 1921 1929 51 David R. Stone 5. Industry and the Soviet Army, 1928 1941 65 David R. Stone 6. The Rise and Fall of Soviet Operational Art, 1917 1941 79 Frederick W. Kagan 7. Dress Rehearsals, 1937 1941 93 Mary R. Habeck 8. The Great Patriotic War: Barbarossa to Stalingrad 109 John Erickson 9. The Great Patriotic War: Rediscovering Operational Art 137 Frederick W. Kagan 10. The Soviet Air Force, 1917 1991 153 Mark O Neill 11. The Russian/Soviet Navy, 1900 1945 169 Christopher C. Lovett
iv PART II THE SOVIET ARMY AND NAVY IN THE COLD WAR AND BEYOND 12. Soviet/Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, 1945 2000 199 Stephen J. Zaloga 13. The Cold War on the Ground, 1945 1981 221 Mark O Neill 14. The Soviet Cold War Navy 237 Christopher C. Lovett 15. The Soviet-Afghan War 259 Scott McMichael 16. The Soviet Army in Civil Disturbances, 1988 1991 275 Stephen Blank 17. The Military and the State: Contemporary Russia in Historical Perspective 299 William E. Odom Index 319
A BOUT THE C ONTRIBUTORS Christopher C. Lovett holds a Ph.D. from Kansas State University and is an associate professor of Modern European History at Emporia State University. He has written articles on Soviet naval aviation, Vietnam, and the Second World War. Currently, Dr. Lovett is completing a history of the Russian and Soviet Naval air arm and of the Army-McCarthy Hearings. David R. Stone received his Ph.D. in Russian history from Yale University in 1997. His dissertation on the origins of the Soviet military-industrial complex has been published as Hammer and Rifle: The Militarization of the Soviet Union, 1926 1933 (Lawrence, KS, 2000). He has also published several articles on Soviet military and diplomatic history. He currently teaches at Kansas State University. Frederick W. Kagan received his Ph.D. in Russian and Soviet military history from Yale University in 1995. He is the author of The Military Reforms of Nicholas I: The Origins of the Modern Russian Army (New York: St. Martin s Press, 1999), and co-author with Donald Kagan of While America Sleeps: Self-Delusion, Military Weakness, and the Threat to Peace Today (New York: St. Martin s Press, 2000), as well as numerous scholarly and defense-policy related articles. He is currently an associate professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. John Erickson is a Fellow, British Academy, Royal Society of Edinburgh, and Professor Emeritus, Honorary Fellow Defence Studies, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Select publications: Soviet High Command 1918 41, The Road to Stalingrad, The Road to Berlin, The Soviet Armed Forces 1918 92, A Research Guide, Barbarossa, The Axis and the Allies; as well as studies in Russian military organization, theory, and doctrine. Mark O Neill received his Ph.D. in Modern Soviet/Russian History from Florida State University. His doctoral work focused on Soviet Air Force and Air Defense participation in the Korean Air War. O Neill continues to work
vi ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS on the impact of Soviet air power on the Cold War, particularly technology transfers to the developing world. In addition to his research, he teaches a U.S. foreign policy course at Tallahassee Community College. Despite his professional focus on high performance technology, O Neill prefers pedaling his bicycle around northwest Florida at something less than mach speeds. Mary R. Habeck is an assistant professor of military history at Yale University. She has written on armor doctrine in the Soviet Union and Germany, technology in the First World War, and is the co-editor of a collection of essays on the Great War. She has recently finished a document collection on the Soviets in the Spanish Civil War, with Ronald Radosh (Yale University Press, 2001). Robert M. Ponichtera received his Ph.D. in Modern East European History from Yale University in November 1995. His dissertation, The Role of the Army in the Rebuilding of Polish Statehood, 1918 21, investigates the army s attempt to create a national identity among the troops passing through its ranks. His publications include articles on Polish military thought and the contribution of women to the fight for national independence. He also wrote volume six ( 1914 17: The Eastern Front ) of The Grolier Library of World War I. Robin Higham, professor of Military History emeritus at Kansas State University, was editor of Military Affairs for twenty-one years and of Aerospace Historian for eighteen. He recently co-edited Russian Aviation and Air Power with John T. Greenwood and Von Hardesty. Scott McMichael retired from the U.S. Army in 1996 as a Lieutenant Colonel. He has published widely on military history and Soviet military affairs in professional journals on both sides of the Atlantic. His books include A Historical Perspective on Light Infantry, published by the Combat Studies Institute (Leavenworth, KS, 1986) and Stumbling Bear: Soviet Military Performance in Afghanistan, published by Brassey s (UK) in 1991. He is currently employed by the Illinois Institute of Technology Research as a defense contractor developing future concepts for the U.S. Army. Stephen Blank is Professor of Russian National Security Studies at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. Dr. Blank has been an Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute since 1989. Dr. Blank s M.A. and Ph.D. are in Russian History from
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS vii the University of Chicago. He has published over 170 articles and monographs on Soviet/Russian military and foreign policies. His most recent book is Imperial Decline: Russia s Changing Role in Asia (Duke University Press, 1997), which he co-edited with Professor Alvin Rubinstein of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Blank is also the author of a study of the Soviet Commissariat of Nationalities, The Sorcerer as Apprentice: Stalin s Commissariat of Nationalities (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994), and the co-editor of The Soviet Military and the Future (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1992). Steven J. Zaloga is a senior analyst with the aerospace consulting firm, Teal Group Corp., where he covers missile technology and international arms transfers for clients in the aerospace industry and government. He also serves as an adjunct staff member with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think-tank. Mr. Zaloga is an author of over fifty books on military technology and military history including Target America: The Soviet Union and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1945 64 from Presidio Press and Soviet Air Defense Missiles: Design, Development and Tactics from Jane s Information Group. He writes extensively on military subjects for defense journals, and is a special correspondent for Jane s Intelligence Review. He serves on the executive board of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. William E. Odom, Lt Gen, USA, Retired, is a professor (adjunct) at Yale University and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. He is the author of The Collapse of the Soviet Military, among many other works.
L IST OF M APS Manchuria an the surrounding regions, 1930 94 Operation Barbarossa, 1941 108 The Battle of Stalingrad 136 The Battle of Kursk, 1942 138 Afghanistan 260