• Russian: Вооружённые Силы Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, Vooruzhonnyye Sily … See more

The Council of People's Commissars set up the Red Army by decree on January 15, 1918 (Old Style) (January 28, 1918), basing it on the already-existing Red Guard. The official Red Army Day of February 23, 1918, mark… See more

The Soviet Armed Forces were controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Ministry of Defence. At its head was the Minister of Defence, generally a full member of the Politburo (the Politburo, in turn, was c… See more

The early Red Army never adopted the idea of a professional officer corps. It was seen as a "heritage of tsarism.". In particular, the Bolsheviks condemned the use of the word "officer" and used the word "commander" instead. Th… See more

The Communist Party had a number of mechanisms of control over the country's armed forces. First, starting from a certain rank, only a Party member could be a military commander, and was thus subject to Party dis… See more