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The Red Army and the chimeras of volunteerism. Creation of a regular red army

Initially, the Soviet Red Army, the creation of which took place against the backdrop of the beginning of the civil war, had utopian features. The Bolsheviks believed that under a socialist system the army should be built on a voluntary basis. This project was in line with Marxist ideology. Such an army was opposed to the regular armies of Western countries. According to the theoretical doctrine, society could only have “universal arming of the people.”

Creation of the Red Army

The first steps of the Bolsheviks indicated that they really wanted to abandon the previous tsarist system. On December 16, 1917, a decree was adopted abolishing officer ranks. Commanders were now elected by their own subordinates. According to the party's plan, on the day the Red Army was created, the new army was to become truly democratic. Time has shown that these plans could not survive the trials of the bloody era.

The Bolsheviks managed to seize power in Petrograd with the help of a small Red Guard and separate revolutionary detachments of sailors and soldiers. The provisional government was paralyzed, which made the task indecently easier for Lenin and his supporters. But outside the capital there remained a huge country, most of which was not at all happy with the radical party, whose leaders came to Russia in a sealed carriage from enemy Germany.

By the beginning of a full-scale civil war, the Bolshevik armed forces were characterized by poor military training and the absence of centralized effective control. Those who served in the Red Guard were guided by revolutionary chaos and their own political convictions, which could change at any moment. The position of the newly proclaimed Soviet power was more than precarious. She needed a fundamentally new Red Army. The creation of armed forces became a matter of life and death for the people sitting in Smolny.

What difficulties did the Bolsheviks face? The party could not form its own army using the previous apparatus. The best cadres of the period of the monarchy and the Provisional Government hardly wanted to cooperate with the radical left. The second problem was that Russia had already been at war against Germany and its allies for several years. The soldiers were tired - they were demoralized. In order to replenish the ranks of the Red Army, its founders needed to come up with a nationwide incentive that would be a compelling reason to take up arms again.

The Bolsheviks did not have to go far for this. They made the principle of class struggle the main driving force of their army. Since coming to power, the RSDLP(b) issued many decrees. According to the slogans, peasants received land, and workers received factories. Now they had to defend these gains of the revolution. Hatred of the previous system (landowners, capitalists, etc.) was the foundation on which the Red Army rested. The creation of the Red Army took place on January 28, 1918. On this day, the new government, represented by the Council of People's Commissars, adopted a corresponding decree.

First successes

Vsevobuch was also established. This system was intended for universal military training of residents of the RSFSR, and then the USSR. Vsevobuch appeared on April 22, 1918, after the decision to create it was made at the VII Congress of the RCP (b) in March. The Bolsheviks hoped that the new system would help them quickly fill the ranks of the Red Army.

The formation of armed units was directly carried out by councils at the local level. In addition, for this purpose they were established. At first, they enjoyed significant independence from the central government. Who did the then Red Army consist of? The creation of this armed structure entailed an influx of a variety of personnel. These were people who served in the old tsarist army, peasant militias, soldiers and sailors from among the Red Guards. The heterogeneity of the composition had a negative impact on the combat readiness of this army. In addition, the units often acted uncoordinatedly due to the election of commanders, collective and rally management.

Despite all the shortcomings, the Red Army was able to achieve important successes in the first months of the civil war, which became the key to its future unconditional victory. The Bolsheviks managed to hold Moscow and Yekaterinodar. Local uprisings were suppressed due to a noticeable numerical advantage, as well as widespread popular support. The populist decrees of the Soviet government (especially in 1917-1918) did their job.

Trotsky at the head of the army

It was this man who stood at the origins of the October Revolution in Petrograd. The revolutionary led the seizure of city communications and the Winter Palace from Smolny, where the Bolshevik headquarters was located. At the first stage of the Civil War, the figure of Trotsky was in no way inferior to the figure of Vladimir Lenin in terms of its scale and importance of the decisions made. Therefore, it is not surprising that Lev Davidovich was elected People's Commissar for Military Affairs. His organizational talent manifested itself in all its glory in this post. The very first two people's commissars stood at the origins of the creation of the Red Army.

Tsarist officers in the Red Army

Theoretically, the Bolsheviks saw their army as meeting strict class requirements. However, the lack of experience among the majority of workers and peasants could be the reason for the defeat of the party. Therefore, the history of the creation of the Red Army took another turn when Trotsky proposed staffing its ranks with former tsarist officers. These specialists had significant experience. All of them went through the First World War, and some remembered the Russian-Japanese War. Many of them were nobles by birth.

On the day the Red Army was created, the Bolsheviks proclaimed that it would be cleared of landowners and other enemies of the proletariat. However, practical necessity gradually corrected the course of Soviet power. In conditions of danger, she was quite flexible in her decisions. Lenin was a pragmatist much more than a dogmatist. Therefore, he agreed to a compromise on the issue with the tsarist officers.

The presence of a “counter-revolutionary contingent” in the Red Army had long been a headache for the Bolsheviks. Former tsarist officers repeatedly rebelled. One of these was the rebellion led by Mikhail Muravyov in July 1918. This left Socialist Revolutionary and former tsarist officer was appointed by the Bolsheviks as commander of the Eastern Front, when the two parties still formed a single coalition. He tried to seize power in Simbirsk, which at that time was located next to the theater of military operations. The rebellion was suppressed by Joseph Vareikis and Mikhail Tukhachevsky. Uprisings in the Red Army, as a rule, occurred due to the harsh repressive measures of the command.

The appearance of the commissars

Actually, the date of the creation of the Red Army is not the only important mark on the calendar for the history of the formation of Soviet power in the vastness of the former Russian Empire. Since the composition of the armed forces gradually became more heterogeneous, and the propaganda of opponents became stronger, the Council of People's Commissars decided to establish the post of military commissars. They were supposed to conduct party propaganda among soldiers and old specialists. The commissars made it possible to smooth out contradictions in the rank and file, which had diverse political views. Having received significant powers, these party representatives not only enlightened and educated the Red Army soldiers, but also reported to the top about the unreliability of individuals, discontent, etc.

Thus, the Bolsheviks imposed dual power in military units. On one side there were commanders, and on the other, commissars. The history of the creation of the Red Army would have been completely different if not for their appearance. In an emergency, the commissioner could become the sole leader, leaving the commander in the background. Military councils were created to manage divisions and larger formations. Each such body included one commander and two commissars. Only the most ideologically seasoned Bolsheviks became them (as a rule, people who joined the party before the revolution). With the increase in the army, and therefore the commissars, the authorities had to create a new educational infrastructure necessary for the operational training of propagandists and agitators.

Propaganda

In May 1918, the All-Russian Main Headquarters was established, and in September, the Revolutionary Military Council. These dates and the date of the creation of the Red Army became key to the spread and strengthening of Bolshevik power. Immediately after the October Revolution, the party set a course for radicalizing the situation in the country. After unsuccessful elections for the RSDLP(b), this institute (necessary for determining the Russian future on an elective basis) was dispersed. Now Bolshevik opponents were left without legal tools to defend their position. The white movement quickly emerged in different regions of the country. It was possible to fight it only by military means - this is precisely why the creation of the Red Army was needed.

Photos of defenders of the communist future began to be published in a huge pile of propaganda newspapers. The Bolsheviks initially tried to ensure an influx of recruits with the help of catchy slogans: “The Socialist Fatherland is in danger!” etc. These measures had an effect, but it was insufficient. By April, the size of the army had increased to 200 thousand people, but this would not have been enough to subjugate the entire territory of the former Russian Empire to the party. We should not forget that Lenin dreamed of a world revolution. For him, Russia was only the initial springboard for the offensive of the international proletariat. To strengthen propaganda in the Red Army, a Political Directorate was established.

In the year of the creation of the Red Army, people joined it not only for ideological reasons. In the country, exhausted by the long war with the Germans, there had long been a shortage of food. The danger of famine was especially acute in cities. In such bleak conditions, the poor sought to be in the service at any cost (where regular rations were guaranteed).

Introduction of universal conscription

Although the creation of the Red Army began in accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars in January 1918, the accelerated pace of organizing new armed forces began in May, when the Czechoslovak Corps rebelled. These soldiers, captured during World War I, sided with the White movement and opposed the Bolsheviks. In a paralyzed and fragmented country, a relatively small 40,000-strong corps became the most combat-ready and professional army.

News of the uprising excited Lenin and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The Bolsheviks decided to take the lead. On May 29, 1918, a decree was issued introducing forced recruitment into the army. It took the form of mobilization. In domestic policy, the Soviet government adopted the course of war communism. The peasants not only lost their harvests, which went to the state, but also enlisted in large numbers into the army. Party mobilizations to the front became commonplace. By the end of the Civil War, half of the members of the RSDLP (b) ended up in the army. At the same time, almost all Bolsheviks became commissars and political workers.

In the summer, Trotsky became the initiator. The history of the creation of the Red Army, in short, crossed another important milestone. On July 29, 1918, all healthy men who were between 18 and 40 years old were registered. Even representatives of the enemy bourgeois class (former merchants, industrialists, etc.) were included in the rear militia. Such drastic measures have borne fruit. The creation of the Red Army by September 1918 made it possible to send more than 450 thousand people to the front (another 100 thousand remained in the rear troops).

Trotsky, like Lenin, put Marxist ideology aside for a time in order to increase the combat effectiveness of the armed forces. It was he, as People's Commissar, who initiated important reforms and transformations at the front. The death penalty for desertion and failure to follow orders was reinstated in the army. The insignia, uniform uniform, sole authority of leadership and many other signs of tsarist times returned. On May 1, 1918, the first parade of the Red Army took place on Khodynka Field in Moscow. The Vsevobuch system began working at full capacity.

In September, Trotsky headed the newly formed Revolutionary Military Council. This government body became the top of the management pyramid that led the army. Trotsky's right hand was Joachim Vatsetis. He was the first to receive the position of commander-in-chief under Soviet rule. That same autumn, fronts were formed - Southern, Eastern and Northern. Each of them had its own headquarters. The first month of the creation of the Red Army was a time of uncertainty - the Bolsheviks were torn between ideology and practice. Now the course towards pragmatism became the main one, and the Red Army began to take those forms that turned out to be its foundation over the next decades.

War communism

Without a doubt, the reasons for the creation of the Red Army were to protect Bolshevik power. At first, it controlled a very small part of European Russia. At the same time, the RSFSR was under pressure from opponents on all sides. After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed with the Kaiser's Germany, Entente forces invaded Russia. The intervention was minor (it covered only the north of the country). The European powers supported the Whites mainly with arms and money. For the Red Army, the attack by the French and British was only an additional reason for consolidating and strengthening propaganda among the rank and file. Now the creation of the Red Army could be briefly and clearly explained by the defense of Russia from foreign invasion. Such slogans allowed to increase the influx of recruits.

At the same time, throughout the Civil War there was a problem of supplying the armed forces with all kinds of resources. The economy was paralyzed, strikes often broke out at enterprises, and hunger became the norm in the countryside. It was against this background that the Soviet government began to pursue the policy of war communism.

Its essence was simple. The economy was becoming radically centralized. The state took full control of the distribution of resources in the country. Industrial enterprises were nationalized immediately after the October Revolution. Now the Bolsheviks needed to squeeze all the juice out of the village. Prodrazverstka, harvest taxes, individual terror of peasants who did not want to share their grain with the state - all this was used in order to feed and finance the Red Army.

Fight against desertion

Trotsky personally went to the front in order to monitor the execution of his orders. On August 10, 1918, he arrived in Sviyazhsk, when battles for Kazan were taking place nearby. In a stubborn battle, one of the Red Army regiments faltered and fled. Then Trotsky publicly shot every tenth soldier in this formation. This reprisal, more like a ritual, was reminiscent of the ancient Roman tradition - decimation.

By decision of the People's Commissar, they began to shoot not only deserters, but also malingerers who took time off from the front due to an imaginary illness. The apogee of the fight against fugitives was the creation of foreign detachments. During the offensive, specially selected military men stood behind the main army and shot the cowards right during the battle. Thus, with the help of draconian measures and incredible cruelty, the Red Army became exemplary disciplined. The Bolsheviks had the courage and pragmatic cynicism to do something that Trotsky’s commanders, who did not disdain any methods to spread Soviet power, did not dare to do, soon began to be called the “demon of the revolution.”

Unification of the armed forces

The appearance of the Red Army soldiers gradually changed. At first, the Red Army did not provide for a uniform uniform. Soldiers, as a rule, wore out their old military uniforms or civilian clothes. Due to the huge influx of peasants shod in bast shoes, there were many more than those shod in the usual boots. This anarchy lasted until the end of the unification of the armed forces.

At the beginning of 1919, according to the decision of the Revolutionary Military Council, sleeve insignia were introduced. At the same time, the Red Army soldiers received their own headdress, which became popularly known as the Budenovka. Tunics and overcoats now have colored flaps. The red star sewn onto the headdress became a recognizable symbol.

The introduction of some characteristic features of the former army into the Red Army led to the emergence of an opposition faction in the party. Its members advocated the rejection of ideological compromise. Lenin and Trotsky, having joined forces, were able to defend their course in March 1919 at the VIII Congress.

The fragmentation of the white movement, the powerful propaganda of the Bolsheviks, their determination to carry out repressions to unite their own ranks and many other circumstances led to the fact that Soviet power was established on the territory of almost the entire former Russian Empire, except for Poland and Finland. The Red Army won the Civil War. At the final stage of the conflict, its number was already 5.5 million people.

The first document on the creation of the Red Army, which is dated January 22, 1918:

Decree
Council of People's Commissars
"" January 1918
Petrograd

The old army served as an instrument of class oppression of the working people by the bourgeoisie. With the transfer of power to the working and exploited classes, the need arose to create a new army, which will be the stronghold of Soviet power in the present, the foundation for replacing the people's army with the people's armament of the proletariat in the future and will serve as support for the coming Socialist Revolution in Europe.

I.
In view of this, the Council of People's Commissars decides: to organize a new army called the "Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" on the following grounds:

I/ The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army is created from the most conscious and organized representatives of the working masses.

Access to its ranks is open to all citizens of the Russian Republic at least 18 years of age. Anyone who is ready to give their strength, their life to defend the gains of the October Revolution and the power of the Soviets joins the Red Army. To join the Red Army, recommendations are required from: Military Committees or Public Democratic organizations standing on the platform of Soviet power, party or professional organizations, or at least two members of these organizations. When joining in whole parts, mutual responsibility of everyone and a roll-call vote are required.

II.
I/ Warriors of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army are fully supported by the State and in addition receive 50 rubles. per month.

2/ Disabled family members of Red Army soldiers, who were previously dependent on them, are provided with everything necessary from the Soviet authorities

III.
The supreme governing body of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army is the Council of People's Commissars. Direct leadership and management of the army is concentrated in the Commissariat for Military Affairs in the All-Russian Collegium created under it.

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)

People's Commissar for Military Affairs
V. Ovseenko I. Krylenko N. Podvoisky

Administrator of the Council of People's Commissars
Vlad.Bonch-Bruevich

Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars
Gorbunov
A. Pronin
V.Zaitsev
I. Steinberg

And on February 21, 1918, the famous Decree-Proclamation “The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger!”, written by Trotsky, was issued, by the way:

In order to save an exhausted, tormented country from new military trials, we made the greatest sacrifice and announced to the Germans our agreement to sign their peace terms. On the evening of February 20 (7), our envoys left Rezhitsa for Dvinsk, and there is still no answer. The German government is apparently slow to respond. It clearly does not want peace. Fulfilling the instructions of the capitalists of all countries, German militarism wants to strangle the Russian and Ukrainian workers and peasants, return the lands to the landowners, factories to the bankers, and power to the monarchy. German generals want to establish their “order” in Petrograd and Kiev. The Socialist Republic of Soviets is in the greatest danger. Until the moment when the German proletariat rises and wins, the sacred duty of the workers and peasants of Russia is the selfless defense of the Soviet Republic against the hordes of bourgeois-imperialist Germany. The Council of People's Commissars decides: 1) All forces and means of the country are allocated entirely to the cause of revolutionary defense. 2) All Soviets and revolutionary organizations are charged with the duty of defending every position to the last drop of blood. 3) Railway organizations and the Soviets associated with them are obliged to do their best to prevent the enemy from using the communications apparatus; during retreat, destroy tracks, blow up and burn railway buildings; all rolling stock - carriages and locomotives - should be immediately sent east into the interior of the country. 4) All grain and food supplies in general, as well as any valuable property that is in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, must be subject to unconditional destruction; supervision of this is entrusted to local Councils under the personal responsibility of their chairmen. 5) The workers and peasants of Petrograd, Kiev and all cities, towns, villages and hamlets along the new front must mobilize battalions to dig trenches under the leadership of military specialists. 6) These battalions must include all able-bodied members of the bourgeois class, men and women, under the supervision of the Red Guards; those who resist are to be shot. 7) All publications that oppose the cause of revolutionary defense and take the side of the German bourgeoisie, as well as those seeking to use the invasion of the imperialist hordes for the purpose of overthrowing Soviet power, are closed; able-bodied editors and staff of these publications are mobilized to dig trenches and other defensive work. 8) Enemy agents, speculators, thugs, hooligans, counter-revolutionary agitators, German spies are shot at the crime scene.

The socialist fatherland is in danger! Long live the socialist fatherland! Long live the international socialist revolution!

Council of People's Commissars

History of creation
Workers' and Peasants' Red Army,
Armies of the dictatorship of the proletariat

Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

With the coming to power of the Bolshevik Party in November 1917, the country's leadership, relying on K. Marx's thesis about replacing the regular army with the universal armament of the working people, began to actively liquidate the Imperial Army of Russia. On December 16, 1917, the Bolsheviks issued decrees of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars "On the elective principle and organization of power in the army" and "On the equal rights of all military personnel." To protect the gains of the revolution, under the leadership of professional revolutionaries, Red Guard units began to be formed, headed by the Military Revolutionary Committee, which directly led the October coup.

On November 26, 1917, the “Committee on Military and Naval Affairs” was created, instead of the old War Ministry, under the leadership of V.A. Antonova-Ovseenko, N.V. Krylenko and P.E. Dybenko. The "Committee on Military and Naval Affairs" was intended to form armed units and lead them. The committee was expanded to 9 people on November 9 and transformed into the "Council of People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs", and from December 1917 it was renamed and became known as the College of People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs (Narkomvoen), the head of the board was N. AND. Podvoisky.

The Collegium of the People's Commissariat of Defense was the governing military body of Soviet power; in the first stages of its activity, the collegium relied on the old War Ministry and the old army. By order of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs, at the end of December 1917, in Petrograd, the Central Council for the Management of Armored Units of the RSFSR - Tsentrabron - was formed. He supervised the armored vehicles and armored trains of the Red Army. By July 1, 1918, Tsentrobron formed 12 armored trains and 26 armored detachments. The old Russian army could not provide the defense of the Soviet state. There was a need to demobilize the old army and create a new Soviet army.

At a meeting of the military organization under the Central Committee. RSDLP (b) On December 26, 1917, it was decided, according to the installation of V.I. Lenin created a new army of 300,000 people in a month and a half, the All-Russian Collegium for the organization and management of the Red Army was created. IN AND. Lenin set before this board the task of developing, in the shortest possible time, the principles of organizing and building a new army. The fundamental principles for building the army developed by the board were approved by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which met from January 10 to 18, 1918. To protect the gains of the revolution, it was decided to create an army of the Soviet state and call it the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.

On January 28, 1918, a decree was issued on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and on February 11 - the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet on a voluntary basis. The definition of “worker-peasant” emphasized its class character - the army of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the fact that it should be recruited only from working people of the city and countryside. The "Red Army" said that it was a revolutionary army.

10 million rubles were allocated for the formation of volunteer detachments of the Red Army. In mid-January 1918, 20 million rubles were allocated for the construction of the Red Army. As the leadership apparatus of the Red Army was created, all departments of the old War Ministry were reorganized, downsized or abolished.

In February 1918, the Council of People's Commissars appointed the leading five of the All-Russian Collegium, which issued its first organizational order on the appointment of responsible department commissars. German and Austrian troops, more than 50 divisions, violating the truce, began an offensive on February 18, 1918 in the entire zone from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In Transcaucasia, on February 12, 1918, the offensive of Turkish troops began. The demoralized old army could not resist the attackers and abandoned their positions without a fight. From the old Russian army, the only military units that retained military discipline were the regiments of Latvian riflemen, who went over to the side of Soviet power.

To attract officers from the tsarist army to serve, a new form of organization called the “veil” was created. A group of generals, led by M.D. Bonch-Bruevich, consisting of 12 people on February 20, 1918, who arrived in Petrograd from Headquarters and formed the basis of the Supreme Military Council, began to recruit officers to serve the Bolsheviks.

By mid-February 1918, the “First Corps of the Red Army” was created in Petrograd. The basis of the corps was a special-purpose detachment, consisting of Petrograd workers and soldiers, consisting of 3 companies of 200 people each. During the first two weeks of formation, the strength of the corps was increased to 15,000 people. Part of the corps, about 10,000 people, was prepared and sent to the front near Pskov, Narva, Vitebsk and Orsha. By the beginning of March 1918, the corps included 10 infantry battalions, a machine gun regiment, 2 horse regiments, an artillery brigade, a heavy artillery division, 2 armored divisions, 3 air squads, an aeronautical detachment, engineering, automobile, motorcycle units and a searchlight team. In May 1918 the corps was disbanded; its personnel were sent to staff the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th rifle divisions formed in the Petrograd Military District.

By the end of February, 20,000 volunteers had signed up in Moscow. The first test of the Red Army took place near Narva and Pskov; it entered into battle with German troops and repulsed them. February 23 became the birthday of the young Red Army.

When the army was formed, there were no approved states. Combat units were formed from volunteer detachments based on the capabilities and needs of their area. The detachments consisted of several dozen people from 10 to 10,000 or more people, the created battalions, companies and regiments were of different types. The company size ranged from 60 to 1600 people. The tactics of the troops were determined by the heritage of the tactics of the Russian army, the geographical, political and economic conditions of the combat area, and also reflected the individual traits of their leaders, such as Frunze, Shchors, Chapaev, Kotovsky, Budyonny and others. This organization excluded the possibility of centralized command and control of troops. A gradual transition began from the volunteer principle to the construction of a regular army based on universal conscription.

The Defense Committee was disbanded on March 4, 1918 and the Supreme Military Council (SMC) was formed. Then the Revolutionary Military Council decided to create cavalry as part of the Red Army. On March 25, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars approved the creation of new military districts. At a meeting in the Air Force on March 22, 1918, a project for organizing a Soviet rifle division was discussed, which was adopted as the main combat unit of the Red Army.

When recruited into the army, fighters took an oath approved on April 22 at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the oath was taken and signed by each fighter. On September 16, 1918, the first Soviet order was established - the Red Banner of the RSFSR. The command staff consisted of former officers and non-commissioned officers who went over to the side of the Bolsheviks and commanders from the Bolsheviks, so in 1919 1,500,000 people were called up, of which about 29,000 were former officers, but the combat strength of the army did not exceed 450,000 people. The bulk of the former officers who served in the Red Army were wartime officers, mainly warrant officers. The Bolsheviks had very few cavalry officers.

From March to May 1918, a lot of work was done. Based on the experience of three years of the First World War, new field manuals were written for all branches of the military and their combat interaction. A new mobilization scheme was created - the system of military commissariats. The Red Army was commanded by former generals who had gone through two wars and 100 thousand military officers.

By the end of 1918, the organizational structure of the Red Army and its management apparatus had been created. The Red Army strengthened all the decisive sectors of the fronts with communists; in October 1918 there were 35,000 communists in the army, in 1919 - about 120,000, and in August 1920 300,000, half of all members of the RCP (b) of that time. In June 1919, all the republics that existed at that time - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia - concluded a military alliance. A unified military command and unified management of finance, industry, and transport were created.

By Order of the RVSR 116 of January 16, 1919, insignia were introduced only for combatant commanders - colored buttonholes on collars, by branch of service and commander stripes on the left sleeve, above the cuff.

By the end of 1920, the Red Army numbered 5,000,000 people, but due to a shortage of uniforms, weapons and equipment, the army's combat strength did not exceed 700,000 people; 22 armies, 174 divisions (of which 35 cavalry), 61 air squadrons (300-400 aircraft) were formed. , artillery and armored units (units). During the war years, 6 military academies and more than 150 courses trained 60,000 commanders of all specialties from workers and peasants.

During the Civil War, about 20,000 officers died in the Red Army. There are 45,000 - 48,000 officers left in service. Losses during the Civil War amounted to 800,000 killed, wounded and missing, 1,400,000 died from serious illnesses.

http://www.opoccuu.com/280112.htm

Today Russia celebrates Defender of the Fatherland Day. This holiday is dedicated to the day of the creation of the Red Army. Its development was rapid; in a few years the Red Army was able to become one of the most combat-ready armies in the world.

The army that shouldn't have existed

Vladimir Lenin believed that in the country of a victorious proletariat there would be no need for a regular army. In 1917, he wrote the work “State and Revolution,” where he advocated replacing the regular army with the general arming of the people. The arming of the people by the end of the First World War was indeed close to universal. True, not all the people were ready to defend the “gains of the revolution” with arms in hand.
At the first clashes with “cruel revolutionary reality,” the idea of the voluntary principle of recruitment into the Red Guard detachments showed its complete unviability.

The “principle of voluntariness” as a factor in inciting civil war

The Red Guard detachments, assembled from volunteers at the end of 1917 and beginning of 1918, quickly degenerated into semi-bandit or outright bandit formations. This is how one of the delegates to the VIII Congress of the RCP(b) recalls this period of formation of the Red Army:

“...The best elements were knocked out, died, were captured, and thus a selection of the worst elements was created. These worst elements were joined by those who joined the volunteer army not in order to fight and die, but did so because they were left without something to do, because they were thrown out onto the street as a result of a catastrophic breakdown of the entire social structure. Finally, it was just the half-rotten remnants of the old army that went there...”

It was the “gangster deviation” of the first Red Army detachments that provoked the expansion of the civil war. Suffice it to recall the uprising of the Don Cossacks in April 1918, outraged by the “revolutionary” lawlessness.

The real birthday of the Red Army

Around the holiday of February 23, many spears were and are being broken. His supporters say that it was on this day that the “revolutionary consciousness of the working masses” awoke, spurred by the just published appeal of the Council of People’s Commissars of February 21, “The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger,” as well as the “Appeal of the Military Commander-in-Chief” Nikolai Krylenko, which ended with the words : “Everyone to arms. Everything is in defense of the revolution." In large cities of central Russia, primarily in Petrograd and Moscow, rallies were held, after which thousands of volunteers signed up to join the ranks of the Red Army. With their help, in March 1918, it was difficult to stop the advance of small German units approximately on the line of the modern Russian-Estonian border.

On January 15 (28), 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia issued a Decree on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (published on January 20 (February 2), 1918). However, it seems that the real birthday of the Red Army can be considered April 22, 1918.

On this day, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On the procedure for filling positions in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army,” the election of command personnel was abolished. Commanders of individual units, brigades, and divisions began to be appointed by the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, and commanders of battalions, companies and platoons were recommended for positions by local military registration and enlistment offices.

During the construction of the Red Army, the Bolsheviks once again demonstrated the skillful use of “double standards.” If, in order to destroy and demoralize the tsarist army, they welcomed its “democratization” in every possible way, then the above-mentioned decree returned the Red Army to the “vertical of power”, without which not a single combat-ready army in the world could exist.

From democracy to decimation

Leon Trotsky played an important role in the formation of the Red Army. It was he who set a course for building an army on traditional principles: unity of command, restoration of the death penalty, mobilization, restoration of insignia, uniform uniforms and even military parades, the first of which took place on May 1, 1918 in Moscow, on Khodynskoye Field.

An important step was the fight against the “military anarchism” of the first months of the existence of the Red Army. For example, executions for desertion were reinstated. By the end of 1918, the power of the military committees was reduced to nothing.

People's Commissar Trotsky, by his personal example, showed the Red commanders how to restore discipline. On August 10, 1918, he arrived in Sviyazhsk to take part in the battles for Kazan. When the 2nd Petrograd Regiment fled without permission from the battlefield, Trotsky applied the ancient Roman ritual of decimation (execution of every tenth by lot) against deserters. On August 31, Trotsky personally shot 20 people from among the unauthorized retreating units of the 5th Army.
At the instigation of Trotsky, by decree of July 29, the entire population of the country liable for military service between the ages of 18 and 40 was registered and military service was established. This made it possible to sharply increase the size of the armed forces. In September 1918, there were already about half a million people in the ranks of the Red Army - more than two times more than 5 months ago.
By 1920, the number of the Red Army was already more than 5.5 million people.

Commissioners are the key to success

The sharp increase in the number of the Red Army led to an acute shortage of competent, military-trained commanders.

According to various sources, from 2 to 8 thousand former “tsarist officers” voluntarily joined the ranks of the Red Army.

This was clearly not enough. Therefore, in relation to the most suspicious social group from the point of view of the Bolsheviks, they also had to resort to the method of mobilization. However, they could not rely entirely on “military experts,” as the officers of the Imperial Army began to be called. This is also why the institution of commissars was introduced in the troops, looking after the “former” ones.
This step played perhaps the main role in the outcome of the Civil War. It was the commissars, all of whom were members of the RCP(b), who took upon themselves political work with both the troops and the population. Relying on a powerful propaganda apparatus, they clearly explained to the fighters why it was necessary to fight for Soviet power “to the last drop of workers’ and peasants’ blood.” While explaining the goals of the “whites,” an additional burden fell on officers who mostly had a purely military education and were completely unprepared for such work. Therefore, not only ordinary White Guards, but also the officers themselves often did not have a clear idea of what they were fighting for.

The Reds defeated the Whites by numbers rather than skill. Thus, even during the most difficult period for the Bolsheviks at the end of summer - autumn of 1919, when the fate of the world's first Soviet republic hung in the balance, the strength of the Red Army exceeded the combined strength of all white armies for that period, according to various sources, from 1.5 to 3 times.

One of the outstanding phenomena in the history of military art was the legendary red cavalry.

At first, the clear superiority in cavalry was with the whites, for whom, as you know, the majority of the Cossacks supported. In addition, the South and South-East of Russia (territories where horse breeding was traditionally developed) were cut off from the Bolsheviks. But gradually, from individual red cavalry regiments and cavalry detachments, the transition began to the formation of brigades, and then divisions. Thus, the small cavalry partisan detachment of Semyon Budyonny, created in February 1918, within a year grew into a combined cavalry division of the Tsaritsyn Front, and then into the First Cavalry Army, which played an important, and, according to some historians, a decisive role in the defeat of Denikin’s army . During the Civil War, in some operations the red cavalry accounted for up to half of the total number of Red Army troops involved. Often horse attacks were supported by powerful machine gun fire from carts.

The success of the combat operations of the Soviet cavalry during the Civil War was facilitated by the vastness of the theaters of military operations, the extension of the opposing armies on wide fronts, and the presence of gaps that were poorly covered or not occupied by troops at all, which were used by cavalry formations to reach the enemy’s flanks and carry out deep raids in his rear. Under these conditions, the cavalry could fully realize its combat properties and capabilities: mobility, surprise attacks, speed and decisiveness of action.

Civil War Pets

Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev, Alexander Vasilevsky, Konstantin Rokossovsky - they all began their military journey as privates and junior officers during the First World War and the Civil War. It was thanks to the fact that they managed to prove themselves during the formation years of the Red Army that their careers took off sharply.

The social elevators opened by the October Revolution significantly rejuvenated the composition of the high command of the Red Army. During the Great Patriotic War, the average age of Soviet generals was 43 years.

According to military historians, it was the youth of Soviet generals and the experience they gained in non-standard solutions to combat missions that became one of the reasons for the USSR’s victory over Nazi Germany.

Breastplate "Excellence in the Red Army" (Workers' and Peasants' Red Army). Established on November 14, 1939 by Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 1889 to reward Red Army soldiers, cadets and command staff of the Red Army for excellent combat and political training, exemplary service and exemplary discipline. As a rule, the token was awarded to Red Army soldiers on holidays - mainly February 23 and November 7. The artifact was made by stamping at the Leningradsky Enameler factory. Material: copper, colored hot enamel. Size: 3.7 x 2.8 cm. Fastening: pin and nut. Weight: 13 grams. Original. The condition is good.

Badge "Excellence in the Red Army" from the collection of "Little Stories"

The tradition of awarding military personnel who excel in combat and political training, as well as veterans and combatants, with orders and medals “for the holiday” exists to this day. Of all the public holidays for the Russian military, the main ones remain Victory Day and Soviet Army Day (now celebrated as Defender of the Fatherland Day). Moreover, the latter has been celebrated in our country for almost 100 years, and therefore for most Russians this holiday is strongly associated with the day of the creation of the Red Army. However, few people remember that in fact no decrees related to the creation of the Red Army were ever adopted on February 23, and many historical facts that were later linked to this date turned out to be either fictitious or were tied to the holiday completely artificially, often backwards number. The reason is simple: February 23 became too “inconvenient” for the young Soviet government. Therefore, for this date it was necessary to create the “correct” myth. What Soviet propaganda successfully coped with, turning the day of the greatest national humiliation into a holiday of the “invincible and legendary”...

Of course, there is no point in looking for the roots of this celebration in the Russian Empire. Before the Bolsheviks came to power, Russian soldiers were traditionally honored on May 6 according to the old style - the Day of St. George the Victorious. However, it was on February 23, 1917 (also according to the old style) that the February Revolution began, which ultimately led to the fall of the Russian Empire, and, consequently, canceled all the old holidays and celebrations.

However, in that turning point year for our country, none of the Social Democrats, Socialist Revolutionaries or representatives of other political forces would have dreamed of establishing February 23 as a public holiday. Which one is it! In those troubled times, the names of the state itself changed every couple of months. Judge for yourself: from March to September 1917, our country was simply called the Russian State by default, from September to November it was called the Russian Republic, then the Russian Democratic Federative Republic, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, and only from 1922 - the USSR. But even when the Soviet government had already strengthened its position, the Bolsheviks tried to talk only about the achievements of the October Socialist Revolution, but not the February bourgeois-democratic Revolution. This is understandable: in the February-March coup d'etat of 1917, the Social Democrats led by Lenin did not play a key role (Ilyich was generally abroad at that time). Nevertheless, the date of February 23 remains in the memory of many. Therefore, she urgently needed to find some new use. And this application was soon found.

The following year, January 15 (28), 1918, the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), chaired by Lenin, issued Decree on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army(at that time it was customary to write all words in the name of this organ in capital letters). This measure was more than relevant: the tsarist army had been officially gone for almost a year, and no one had canceled the First World War - this campaign, we recall, ended only on November 11, 1918. And if at least some semblance of order within the country was ensured by the combined detachments of the Red Guard of revolutionary soldiers and sailors, then the new government did not yet have regular armed forces to protect the Soviet state from external enemies (the same Kaiser's Germany, for example). So, due to its exceptional importance, Ilyich signed the Decree on the creation of the Red Army personally. Let us briefly quote this historical document:

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army is created from the most conscious and organized representatives of the working masses. Access to its ranks is open to all citizens of the Russian Republic at least 18 years of age. Anyone who is ready to give their strength, their life to defend the gains of the October Revolution and the power of the Soviets joins the Red Army. To join the ranks of the Red Army, recommendations are required from: Military Committees or Public Democratic organizations standing on the platform of Soviet power, party or professional organizations, or at least two members of these organizations. When joining in whole parts, mutual responsibility of everyone and a roll-call vote are required.
Soldiers of the Red Army are fully supported by the State and, in addition, receive 50 rubles a month. Disabled members of soldiers' families, who were previously dependent on them, are provided with everything necessary from the Soviet authorities.

After the publication of the decree, the enrollment of class-conscious workers and peasants into the Red Army began, from which Red Army companies were formed, which were barely formed into regiments - there was a catastrophic shortage of volunteers. The first detachment of the Red Army was formed in Petrograd. In the last days of January 1918, Petrograd Red Army soldiers marched vigorously through the city, trying to hide with their enthusiasm that the powerful Red Army existed only on paper. A show of force was vital: on February 18, 1918, Germany violated the armistice of December 2, 1917 and began the occupation of Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states, advancing along the entire Eastern Front. The Kaiser's troops advanced fifty kilometers into Russia almost every day. Moreover, in some cities the Germans did not even encounter resistance - for example, Pskov and Dvinsk were taken by them almost without firing a single shot. Advancing from the Pinsk-Dvinsk-Riga line, German troops occupied Minsk, Polotsk and Revel during the first week of the offensive.

In order to somehow mobilize forces to fight the enemy, on February 22, an appeal from the Council of People's Commissars was published in Soviet newspapers "The socialist fatherland is in danger." For many years it was believed that this document was compiled by Lenin, but modern experts attribute the authorship to Leon Trotsky. The appeal demanded that the Soviets and revolutionary organizations "defend every position to the last drop of blood" destroy food supplies that might fall into the hands of the enemy. The railway workers were ordered to withdraw rolling stock to the east and blow up tracks and buildings when retreating. The document also announced the mobilization of workers and peasants to dig trenches. Editors and employees of newspapers and magazines that were closed due to opposition to the cause of revolutionary defense and who sided with the German bourgeoisie were to be sent to these same jobs. This is where, according to many researchers, came the practice of forced labor, which was subsequently applied by the Soviet authorities to millions of its citizens.

But the eighth point of the appeal looks the most odious, which can be considered a harbinger of the Bolshevik Decree “On Red Terror”. This clause stated the following: “ Enemy agents, speculators, thugs, hooligans, counter-revolutionary agitators, German spies are shot at the scene of the crime.” Thus, for the first time, the Bolsheviks legalized mass executions on site without trial or investigation. By the way, this point was carried out locally with particular zeal: literally the next day, again on February 23, 1918, the revolutionary sailors of the Black Sea Fleet began a large-scale action to destroy officers, “counter-revolutionary agitators” and other “bourgeois” of Sevastopol. 2 thousand “activists” took part in the bloody massacre. Already on February 26, at a meeting of the Sevastopol Council, the results were summed up: more than 250 people were killed. Some white emigrants wrote about 800 dead. A wave of red terror swept across Crimea, and soon swept across the entire country.

On the same day, February 22, 1918, simultaneously with Lenin’s call, it was published "Appeal of the Military Commander-in-Chief", which was the hitherto unknown Nikolai Krylenko (later he would become one of the organizers of the repressions, introduce the practice of denunciations in the justice system, but soon he himself would fall a victim of the system: he would be arrested and executed in 1938). The address ended with the words: “Everyone to arms. All in defense of the revolution. Whole-scale mobilization for digging trenches is entrusted to the councils with the appointment of responsible commissioners with unlimited powers.” And on February 23, mass rallies were organized in Petrograd, Moscow and other cities of the country, where the proletariat was called upon to rise up to defend the Fatherland. According to the Soviet interpretation, it was on this day that the mass enrollment of volunteers in the Red Army began.

Today it is difficult to say to what extent this entry into the ranks of the Red Army was truly massive. It is officially believed that by May 10, 1918, i.e. 4 months after the start of recruitment, there were 300 thousand fighters in the Red Army. According to other sources, by April 1918, the army actually consisted of only 2,000 people. One way or another, there were fewer volunteers than needed, and on May 29 of the same 1918, a decision was made on the mandatory mobilization of workers and peasants of military age, and on July 10, the V Congress of the RSDLP legislated the transition to recruiting the army and navy on the basis of universal conscription . This measure made it possible to sharply increase the size of the Red Army: in the fall of 1918, there were already half a million in its ranks, and by the end of the year - a million Red Army soldiers. However, the Red Army still had enough problems: the troops did not have a uniform uniform, the same type of weapons, and there was not even a professional command. In addition, the level of discipline and combat training of the newly minted Red Army soldiers was very low. It is not surprising that Lenin at that time demanded “to force command, senior and lower personnel to carry out combat orders at the cost of any means.” The implementation of this task was entrusted to the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs Leon Trotsky - in fact, that is why the large-scale use of repression against violators of military discipline is associated with his name. Let us recall that in the summer and autumn of 1918, at the fronts they resorted to decimation - the execution of every tenth Red Army soldier of a unit that retreated without orders.

To increase the professionalism of the Red Army, the Soviet government dared to take an extreme step - it drafted former officers and generals of the tsarist regime into the army. And so that the latter would not even think about returning to the previous system, party control over them was exercised by military commissars and political commissars, without whose signature the orders of the commanders were not valid. However, many officers sincerely accepted the new government and consciously collaborated with it. In general, during the years of the Civil War, 75 thousand former tsarist generals and officers fought on the side of the Soviets - this is approximately half of the senior command staff and administrative apparatus of the Red Army. At the same time, graduates of the first military courses and schools made up only 37% of the Red commanders. However, having called former imperial officers into the leadership of the Red Army, the new government completely rejected officer ranks as a phenomenon, declaring it a “relic of tsarism.” Even the word itself "Officer" was replaced by "commander". At the same time, shoulder straps and old military ranks were abolished, instead of which job titles were now used - for example, “division commander” (division commander - the most famous of them is Vasily Chapaev) or “comoral commander” (corps commander - the future marshal was also awarded this title in his time Georgy Zhukov).

The military leadership of the Red Army and Navy was carried out by Revolutionary Military Council (RVS) headed by the same Leon Trotsky. Economic issues of the Red Army were in charge of another body - Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense, which was led by Vladimir Lenin himself. Its members discussed problems arising in the army, took measures to solve them, declared certain areas of the country in a state of siege, and transferred all local power to the revolutionary committees. Order in the rear was monitored by a whole system of military and repressive-terrorist bodies, including the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK), the police, the Internal Security Troops (VOKhR), the Special Purpose Units (CHON), the Internal Service Troops (VUNUS), and the food army. By the end of 1920, there were already about 5.5 million people in the ranks of the Red Army. The Bolsheviks assigned a major role in mobilizing workers and peasants to agitation and propaganda work, which was organized on a national scale. Leaflets, posters, brochures, and newspapers were published in huge quantities, and propaganda trains and steamships traveled around the country.

In order to morally stimulate the Red Army soldiers, recognize their merits and achievements, the Red Army used various methods of encouragement, among which badges were given an important place. Their appearance was due, among other things, to the narrowness of the domestic award system: for a long time in the USSR there was only one type of state incentive - the Order of the Red Banner. In addition, the country's leadership could not turn a blind eye to the century-old experience of using breast badges in the old Russian army. Let us immediately note that the Soviet system of badges is not limited only to the promotion of any merit. Factors such as identification, operating on the principle of “friend or foe,” the allocation of command personnel, and the designation of various military specialties also contributed to the emergence of the system of breastplates of the Soviet Armed Forces. And over the more than 70-year period of the existence of the USSR, a fairly large array of various material monuments of this system has accumulated.

The very first badges of the Red Army were award tokens “for participation in military campaigns,” which is quite logical: the authorities considered it necessary to encourage and set an example for the most distinguished Red Army soldiers in battle. Let us list the main pre-war signs of this category: “Hero of the January events of 1918”, “Honest warrior of the Karelian Front”, “Orsha-Lepel”, “Participant in the Khasan battles”, “Khalkin-Gol”, “OKDVA fighter”. The so-called commemorative or anniversary signs were also actively presented - for example, “Fighter of the Red Guard and Red Partisan” in honor of the 15th anniversary of the October Revolution, “Remember Ilyich’s Testament” in memory of the death of the leader of the world proletariat. In addition, an incredible number of varieties of Osoaviakhim (Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction) badges were stamped. But most of the pre-war badges were still classified by branch of service: “Sniper of the Red Army”, “Excellence in the Navy”, “For excellent artillery training”, “For excellent artillery shooting”, “For excellent driving of combat vehicles”, “For excellent shooting from a tank weapons", "Excellent air fighter", etc. However, at the end of 1939, when the international situation was heated to the limit, the political core of the Red Army decided to establish a universal version of the badge to reward Red Army soldiers who demonstrated brilliant success during their service, regardless of their branch of service. This became the sign "Excellence in the Red Army", one of the varieties of which is presented in our collection of rarities.

It must be said that only a few were awarded such badges, and the procedure for approving candidates in its complexity and seriousness was reminiscent of the selection of applicants for state awards. First, the list of applicants was submitted by the commander of the military unit to the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, after which a compressed list of the most worthy candidates was placed on the table of the People's Commissar of Defense. He, in turn, with his order noted those Red Army soldiers who would receive an honorary badge. The award ceremony itself took place, as a rule, at the end of the winter and summer periods of study or to commemorate the next anniversary of the October Revolution (November 7), the founding of the Red Army (February 23), and International Workers' Day (May 1). During the Great Patriotic War, there were frequent exceptions when the most distinguished soldiers were encouraged immediately, practically on the battlefield. The badge was awarded in a solemn atmosphere, before the formation of the unit; the recipient, along with the badge, received an extract from the relevant order of the People's Commissar of Defense. A note on the award was entered into the serviceman’s personal file, forming his service record, and after transfer to the reserve - on his military ID.

Externally, our rarity is an oval, 3.8 cm high, 2.8 cm wide. The edges of the slightly convex obverse in the upper part are framed by a wreath of oak and laurel leaves, in the lower part - by two ears of wheat. Between the spikelets at the very base there is a figured shield, covered with white enamel, with the image of a hammer and sickle. The center of the sign against the backdrop of the battlements and the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, the spire of which is topped with a red star with a double flange, is occupied by a Red Army soldier in an overcoat and helmet, walking along Red Square with a rifle at the ready. Under the soldier is a semicircular red ribbon with the inscription “Excellence in the Red Army.” On the presented badge, the most avid falerists examined the square paving stones, two pouches and the Red Army soldier’s gas mask. Experts even established that the fighter was holding in his hands a three-line rifle of the 1891-1930 model with an attached bayonet. And the most meticulous connoisseurs of such rarities examined the time on the Spassky chimes - about 10 hours. Whether the author of the design for this token wanted to bring some special meaning to his work is unknown.

The rarity was made by stamping from yellow oxidized metal - either copper, as in our case, or brass. Some sources contain information that the surface of the sign could be gilded, but we were unable to find confirmation of this assumption. For decoration, two types of hot colored enamel were used - white and red. A pin (length 10 mm) and a nut (diameter 18 mm) are used as fastenings, on which, as we can see, the manufacturer’s mark is placed. Our sign was made by the Leningradsky Enameler factory ( Read more about this Soviet enterprise in history). In the collections of falerists (collectors of orders, medals, badges, breastplates) there are similar artifacts stamped at the Leningrad Mint, the Motor plant, as well as the enamel factory of the Moscow Association of Artists. Note that the weight of the presented artifact without the nut was about 13 grams.

The “Excellent Soldier of the Red Army” badge was produced in two varieties, each of which was divided into two more subtypes. The first option has a counter-relief reverse. The difference between its subtypes lies in the degree of drawing of the image on the back, as well as the presence of a number. Option 1a (conditionally) is distinguished by a complete imprint of the design from the front side on the reverse. A number was carefully cut out on the outside of this version of the sign using a sharp pen. On model 1b the obverse print on the back is only partial, the number is missing. The second type of token had a flat, smooth reverse, but model 2a was issued immediately with a stamped number, and model 2b did not have one. Based on the above classification, the artifact presented in our collection can safely be attributed to the latter variety - with a smooth reverse, without a number.

Among falerists, license plates are more valued, since the chance of identifying their owner is much higher. In general, the value of such rarities today depends on the degree of their preservation. Note that not so many “Excellent Soldier of the Red Army” tokens have survived to this day. This is explained, according to experts, by, among other things, large losses of infantry personnel at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War. That is why today the badge “Excellence in the Red Army” is considered a rather rare find, which every connoisseur of military history would be glad to receive in his collection.

Extract from the order awarding the badge “Excellence in the Red Army”

The exact number of badges issued before the start of World War II is unknown. However, there are statistics from one of the manufacturers of the sign - the Leningrad Mint, from which it follows that 149,106 tokens were produced here in a year and a half. It is known that in 1940 it was planned to produce 50 thousand pieces, in 1941 – another 150 thousand. But due to the outbreak of the war, further production of badges was stopped and after the Victory it was not resumed (in 1946 the Red Army was renamed the Soviet Army, so the need for outdated attributes disappeared). By Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of March 3, 1940 No. 290, the validity of this sign was extended to the NKVD troops. The first award in this committee took place in May 1940, when 200 excellent students of combat and political training of the separate motorized rifle division named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky troops. Data has also been preserved that in 1941, 45,622 Red Army soldiers were awarded the “Excellence in the Red Army” badge.

Certificate for the badge "Excellence in the Red Army"

Most sources indicate that the last award was made on May 1, 1941 - 6,574 people. However, among collectors one often finds certificates for the badge or awards certificates from the orders of the People's Commissariat of Defense, dated various dates up to December 1944. By the way, the certificates for the award were of the same type (an ordinary half-A4 piece of paper), but the mentioned extracts did not have a uniform template - they were filled out on forms accepted in a specific military unit. The early documents bear the signature of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Klim Voroshilov, and the latter - the deputy NGO Alexander Vasilevsky. This indirectly indicates that Stalin, being the head of the People's Commissariat of Defense from July 19, 1941 to February 25, 1946, had nothing to do with awarding the Red Army soldiers with the “Excellence in the Red Army” badge.

The author of the design for the presented sign was the artist of the Central House of the Red Army. Nikolai Ivanovich’s origins, by Soviet standards, were, to put it mildly, disappointing. Today, one can only be amazed at how the Soviet government entrusted this man from the bourgeoisie, who graduated from a parochial school, and a former tsarist cadet to boot, to create the model of the Order of Glory and dozens of other highest state awards. The artist was born on September 18, 1897 in Yelets, and since childhood he loved to draw. After the October Revolution, he was one of the first to break with the previous regime and volunteer to join the Red Army. Here, a talented and educated soldier was immediately appointed as a designer in the political department of the Yelets garrison.

Still life "Autumn bouquet". Author - N.I. Moskalev

After demobilization in 1920, Moskalev taught graphic literacy at the Yeletsk workers' faculty, while working part-time as a decorative artist at the city drama theater and as a cartoonist at the Yeletsk branch of "Windows of ROSTA". In 1922, Nikolai Ivanovich moved to Moscow, where he received his education at Vkhutemas - the Higher Art and Technical Workshops. On March 23, 1928 - the opening day of the Central House of the Soviet Army - he was appointed chief artist of this organization and worked in this position for 35 years, until 1963. Nikolai Moskalev created more than 100 paintings and graphic works, 200 etudes and sketches of landscapes, still lifes, portraits, household plots, satirical and humorous sketches. But this was not work to order, but rather for the soul.

Nikolai Ivanovich worked a lot in the genre of propaganda posters, which was extremely popular in the USSR. During the Great Patriotic War, his drawings had a sharp satirical orientation, the most famous of them are “Death to the fascist reptile”, “Away from Moscow, fascist reptile!”, “Near Moscow, von Bock earned himself in the side!”. Moskalev's posters, calling on the Soviet people to fight fascism and defend the Motherland, are laconic, specific, and full of stern simplicity. However, Nikolai Ivanovich became most famous as the author of sketches for Soviet orders, medals and badges. Moreover, his work on award models began in the 30s with the design of the “Excellence in the Red Army” badge - this was Moskalev’s debut. A little later, his own badges “Participant in the battles on Lake Khasan” and “Member of the CDKA sports team” appeared. But the artist's real fame came during the Great Patriotic War, when he created dozens of models of military awards. Among them: the Order of Kutuzov of three degrees, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky of three degrees, medals for the defense of Moscow, Leningrad, Sevastopol, Odessa, Stalingrad, the Caucasus, “Partisan of the Patriotic War”, “For impeccable service”, award sign “20th anniversary of the Red Banner named after . A.V. Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army. In addition, it was Moskalev who proposed the colors of all ribbons for orders and medals of the USSR established in 1943–1945.

It is known that Moskalev created sketches for most military defense medals in advance, i.e. Even before the city was liberated by Soviet troops from the Nazis, the artist did not doubt Victory for a single day. By the way, the Secretary General liked to personally select the models of awards and most often gave preference to the works of Nikolai Moskalev. Sometimes Stalin made his own adjustments to the sketches, which were reflected in the final version. So, for example, from the obverse of the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”, with the light hand of Joseph Vissarionovich, his portrait and wreath disappeared, and on the reverse of all medals for defense the inscription “For our Soviet Motherland” was placed. In the summer of 1943, when the victory in the Battle of Kursk marked a turning point in the Great Patriotic War, the high command came up with the idea of creating two orders: “Victory” - for the high military command, and “Bagration” - for ordinary Red Army soldiers who defeated the Nazis. Stalin really liked this idea. True, the Secretary General decided to change the name for the soldier’s award:

- Soldier's Order? Well, that's a good idea. A soldier's order is needed. There is a need to celebrate the main worker of the war. We also talked about the Order of Victory. Well, victory cannot be without glory... That’s what we’ll call the new order.

Nikolai Moskalev created the sketch for the Order of Glory in just 5 days, reworking the original layout of the medal “For the Defense of Moscow”. The symbol of military glory was a star, in the center of which the artist placed the Kremlin Tower, and the inscription “Glory” on red enamel. All that remained was to come up with an original color for the ribbon, since none of the colors matched the light silver award. Then Moskalev remembered how in 1916 old soldiers with St. George's crosses on their chests were returning from the fields of the First World War. Nikolai Ivanovich decided that the black and orange colors from the Tsar’s order would look great on the ribbon for the Soviet award. True, when the authors showed the model of the order to Stalin, they kept silent about the continuity with the pre-revolutionary cross, they only said that three black and two orange stripes on the ribbon symbolize the flame when fired and gunpowder smoke. The Order of Glory was established on the same day as the highest military Order of Victory - November 8, 1943. Like the Cross of St. George, the new order had several degrees, awarded sequentially and only to soldiers. The first degree is the highest, gold, and the second and third are silver. During the war years, more than a million soldiers were awarded this award, and 2,562 people became full holders of the order. After the war, the Order of Glory was not awarded. For the successful completion of government tasks in 1943, Moskalev himself was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. Nikolai Ivanovich died in July 1968 and was buried in Moscow. Exactly a month before his death, in a letter to the director of the Yeletsk Museum, he shared plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Order of Glory and organize a new exhibition of his works in his hometown. The artist bequeathed his paintings and graphic works to the same museum.

Well, now let’s return to the question of how February 23 became a holiday of the Soviet army. To do this, we will have to debunk several Soviet myths. Let's start with the statement that February 23 is supposedly the founding day of the Red Army. It must be said that this myth was born gradually. At the beginning of January 1919, the country's leadership remembered the approaching anniversary of the adoption of the Decree on the creation of the Red Army (remember, published on January 15, 1918 or January 28 according to the new style). So, on January 10, 1919, the chairman of the Higher Military Inspectorate of the Red Army, Nikolai Podvoisky, sent a proposal to the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to solemnly celebrate this event, as they say, day after day - January 28. However, due to a late petition, the decision to celebrate was never made. Nevertheless, the holiday took place: on January 24, 1919, the Presidium of the Mossovet, which at that time was headed by Lev Kamenev, decided to coincide the celebrations on the occasion of the anniversary of the Red Army with Red Gift Day (organized with the aim of providing assistance to the fighting Red Army soldiers). But due to further delays, the Moscow City Council again did not have time to hold the Red Gift Day on time - February 16th, and therefore both holidays decided to move to the next Sunday, which fell exactly on February 23rd. On this occasion, Pravda of February 5, 1919 wrote: “The celebration of Red Gift Day throughout Russia has been postponed to February 23. On this day, celebrations will be organized in cities and at the front for the anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, which occurred on January 28.” In subsequent years, neither Lenin, nor Trotsky, nor Stalin would ever remember this note. And for some reason, the Soviet leaders will also not remember the birthday of the Red Army in 1920 and 1921.

Red Army parade on Red Square, second half of the 20s.

The next step in creating the myth was the assertion that on February 23 the Decree on the creation of the Red Army was allegedly published. First, in January 1922, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued a special decree on the approaching anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, which was supposedly coming on February 23. Then, on February 23, 1922, the first military parade was held on Red Square under the leadership of the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council Leon Trotsky, who from the podium falsely announced that the parade was taking place in honor of the fourth anniversary of Lenin’s Decree on the creation of the Red Army. And in 1923, the resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee already firmly stated: “On February 23, 1923, the Red Army will celebrate the 5th anniversary of its existence. On this day, five years ago, the Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars was published, which laid the foundation for the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, the stronghold of the proletarian dictatorship.” G One year later, in 1924, after Ilyich’s death, a photo of the Decree of January 28, 1918 would be published in the Military Herald magazine. The photo will be fuzzy and blurry, as a result of which the date and Lenin’s signature will be indistinguishable. But the article itself will say that this document was made public on February 23, 1918. So this date was finally falsified.

Painting "Adoption of the decree on the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army." Artist A. Savinov

However, the discrepancy between the facts was so obvious that it often baffled even the most honored Bolsheviks. Thus, in 1933, Klim Voroshilov, at a ceremonial meeting dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Red Army, openly admits: “The timing of the celebration of the anniversary of the Red Army on February 23 is quite random and difficult to explain and does not coincide with historical dates.” The Soviet government will not allow itself any more such reservations.

“A short course on the history of the CPSU(b)” in all languages of the union republics

For the next anniversary of the Red Army in 1938, Stalin prepared in advance and approved the “Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)”, in which he outlined a new version of the appearance of the date of the holiday, no longer associated with the decree of the Council of People’s Commissars: “The young detachments of the new army - the army of the revolutionary people - heroically repelled the onslaught of a German predator armed to the teeth. Near Narva and Pskov, the German occupiers were given a decisive rebuff. Their advance to Petrograd was stopped. The day of repulse to the troops of German imperialism - February 23, 1918 - became the birthday of the young Red Army." This was a completely new interpretation of the appearance of the holiday. No one in those years, of course, dared to be surprised by this discovery, so the new myth began to live an independent life and even reached the Second World War. So, in 1942, Stalin’s new order already stated: “The young detachments of the Red Army, which entered the war for the first time, completely defeated the German invaders near Pskov and Narva... That is why February 23, 1918 was declared the birthday of the Red Army.”

Oddly enough, the Soviet people will take this myth, born of Stalin, on faith even after the Victory: it will be copied letter for letter from textbook to textbook until 1988. And, of course, you shouldn’t look for mentions of Lenin’s article in Soviet history books "A hard but necessary lesson." It was published in Pravda on February 25, 1918, i.e. two days after the Red Army, according to Stalin’s version of events, “defeated” the Germans near Narva. Here is an excerpt from this material: “Painfully shameful reports about the refusal of the regiments to maintain positions, about the refusal to defend even the Narva line, about the failure to comply with the order to destroy everything and everyone during the retreat; not to mention flight, chaos, lack of hands, helplessness, sloppiness. There is obviously no army in the Soviet Republic.”

Lev Kamenev arrives in Brest-Litovsk, 1918

Why did Stalin need to shroud the day of February 23 even further in secrecy? The fact is that in fact, on that winter day at 10.30 in the morning, Kaiser Germany presented an ultimatum to Soviet Russia. Closer to night, members of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b), who gathered in Smolny, taking into account the complete incapacity of the just nascent Red Army, agreed to the terms of the Germans. Lenin, contrary to the opinion of the majority, persuaded the party members to sign a “obscene peace”, threatening to resign otherwise. The leader of the proletariat in those days was not concerned with the world proletarian revolution, but with the preservation of at least a small island of the already existing workers' and peasants' dictatorship.

For those who have forgotten how Russia paid for Ilyich’s obstinacy, we recall that according to the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Peace, our country had to recognize the independence of Courland, Livonia, Estland, Finland and Ukraine, withdraw its troops from their territory, transfer the Anatolian provinces to Turkey, and demobilize the army , disarm the fleet in the Baltic, Black Seas and the Arctic Ocean, recognize the Russian-German trade agreement of 1904, which was unfavorable for Russia, grant Germany most favored nation rights in trade until 1925, allow duty-free export of ore and other raw materials to Germany, stop agitation and propaganda against the powers of the Quadruple Alliance. So, if anyone had anything to celebrate on February 23, it was not the Red Army.

As for the “heroic defeat” of the Germans near Narva by the soldiers of the Red Army, which, according to Stalin’s “Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party (B),” took place on February 23, 1918, there is not a word of truth here either. No battles on this winter day were recorded in either the German or Soviet archives. It is known that Lenin personally sent the revolutionary sailor Pavel Dybenko, who was appointed People's Commissar for Naval Affairs, to defend Narva. The latter led his Flying Squad of Baltic sailors towards the enemy, who had proven themselves excellent in dispersing (read: shooting) a peaceful demonstration of Petrograd residents on the opening day of the Constituent Assembly. Dybenko reached Narva just in time for February 23rd. Taking with them three confiscated barrels of alcohol, the revolutionary sailors burst into the city, frozen by frost and fear. Having announced his personal decrees on universal labor conscription and the Red Terror, the People's Commissar sat down at headquarters and began redistributing alcohol, and his subordinates began unaccountably shooting their compatriots.
However, the confiscated alcohol quickly ran out. The sobered Baltic people, seeing regular German troops approaching the city, loaded onto the train and left Narva. Their retreat was stopped only a day later. Having intercepted the fleeing Dybenko in Yamburg, former Tsarist general Dmitry Parsky, who arrived from Petrograd, tried to persuade the People's Commissar to return to the ignominiously abandoned city, but he replied that his “sailors were tired” and left for Gatchina. And in the early morning of March 4, a small German detachment occupied Narva without a fight and not without slight surprise. No one began to recapture the city from the Germans, since on March 3 a peace treaty was signed in Brest-Litovsk. For desertion in May 1918, Dybenko was summoned to Lenin in the Kremlin, after short proceedings he was put on trial and expelled from the party (however, he was reinstated in 1922). And in 1938, the former People's Commissar would be accused of spying for America. His trial lasted 17 minutes. The sentence is standard: execution without delay. By the way, in the same year of 1938, the medal “20 Years of the Red Army” was established, but the disgraced Dybenko, of course, did not receive the award.

All these facts partly shed light on the true reasons that prompted the Soviet leadership to replace two “inconvenient” historical dates with a new, contrived holiday - the anniversary of the February Revolution of 1917 and the German Ultimatum of 1918. The myth was a glorious success - in the best traditions of Soviet propaganda. To be fair, it should be noted that after 1945, Victory Day became a much more significant holiday for everyone associated with the Red and then the Soviet Army. Well, February 23 gradually turned into a “gender” holiday, as it is commonly called today, on which the entire male population of the country was congratulated, regardless of age and type of activity - by analogy with Women’s Day on March 8. However, in the last years of Soviet power, officially published reference books and calendars already tried to avoid outright lies. And those readers who were attentive to the signatures in such publications might have noticed the somewhat strange “streamlinedness” of the wording given. Like on a tear-off sheet of this calendar, from which it is quite difficult to understand what exactly happened on this day, February 23, 1918.

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