Description
Book SynopsisAn objective and documentary history of the earliest origins and formative years of the Workers-Peasants Red Army from the Civil War to the initial disasters of the war with Germany, the Great Patriotic War, culminating in the battle for Moscow in November-December 1941.
Table of ContentsIntroduction - the origins of a new army. Part One The revolutionary military command, 1918-1920: the creation of the Soviet military machine; the formation of the Soviet Command, 1918-1920; before the gates of Warsaw, 1920. Part Two Military debates and political decisions, 1921-1926: the struggle for control of the Army; towards collaboration with the Reichswehr; the reign of Frunz and the rise of Voroshilov, 1924-1926. Part Three Foreign adventures and strategic priorities: the Soviet re-entry into the Far East: the problem of Japan and China; military and naval trafficking with Germany; Soviet preoccupations with war. Part Four The politics of mechanization: the reaction to threats from east and west; a brief triumph, 1934-1935; plots and counter-plots. Part Five The military purge and the reconstruction of command: the killings, 1937; exeunt omnes...; the race with time, 1939-1940. Part Six The beginning of the ordeal, 1941: we are being fired on. What shall we do?; the battle for Moscow - November-December 1941; the prospect.
