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Order No. 270
Order No. 270, issued on 16 August 1941, by Joseph Stalin during the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, ordered Red Army personnel to "fight to the last," virtually banned commanders from surrendering, and set out severe penalties for senior officers and deserters regarded as derelicting their duties. Order 270 is widely regarded as the basis of subsequent, often controversial Soviet policies regarding prisoners of war. Overview During the pre-war period, the efficiency and morale of Red Army command staff was low as a result of Stalin's purges. By August 1941, Axis forces had achieved overwhelming successes in their advancement deep into Soviet territory. Their successful blitzkrieg strategy disorganized the Soviet defense system, led to the encirclement of numerous Soviet units, including whole field armies. Stalin issued the order in his capacity as People's Commissar of Defence.Roberts, Geoffrey. ''Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939–1953''. New Haven, CT/Londo ...
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Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). Initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he consolidated power to become a dictator by the 1930s. Ideologically adhering to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, he formalised these ideas as Marxism–Leninism, while his own policies are called Stalinism. Born to a poor family in Gori in the Russian Empire (now Georgia), Stalin attended the Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary before joining the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He edited the party's newspaper, ''Pravda'', and raised funds for Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction via robberies, kidnappings and protection ...
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8th Mechanized Corps
The 8th Mechanized Corps, was a mechanized corps of the Soviet Ground Forces. It was destroyed in 1941 in the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. The formation of the 8th Mechanized Corps began on June 4, 1940. The commander was General Lieutenant Dmitry Ryabyshev. The insignia was inspired by Joseph Stalin and his policies towards Germany.Ryabyshev''D.first year of the war. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1990. - 255. - (Military memoirs). / Literary record VM Zotkina /Circulation 50,000 copies. Ryabyshev's memoirs said: "The new corps was made up from elements of the 4th Cavalry Corps, 7th Rifle Division, 14th Heavy Tank Brigade and 23rd Light Tank Brigade. By June 1941, the corps comprised about 30,000 troops, 932 tanks (establishment strength was supposed to be 1031). However, heavy and medium tanks KV and T-34 received only 169. The remaining 763 machines were obsolete models averaging barely between maintenance checks, and 197 of them were in need of a full factory over ...
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Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – 18 June 1974) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He also served as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defence, and was a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party (later Politburo). During World War II, Zhukov oversaw some of the Red Army's most decisive victories. Born to a poor peasant family from central Russia, Zhukov was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army and fought in World War I. He served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. Gradually rising through the ranks, by 1939 Zhukov had been given command of an army group and won a decisive battle over Japanese forces at Khalkhin Gol, for which he won the first of his four Hero of the Soviet Union awards. In February 1941, Zhukov was appoi ...
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Boris Shaposhnikov
, birth_name = Boris Mikhailovitch Shaposhnikov , birth_date = , death_date = , birth_place = Zlatoust, Ufa GovernorateRussian Empire , death_place = Moscow, Soviet Union , placeofburial = Kremlin Wall Necropolis , placeofburial_label = , nickname = , allegiance = (1901–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1945) , branch = , serviceyears = 1901–1945 , rank = Colonel (Imperial Army)Marshal of the Soviet Union (Red Army) , unit = , commands = Leningrad Military DistrictMoscow Military DistrictChief of the General StaffVolga Military District , battles = World War IRussian Civil WarWorld War II , awards = , relations = , laterwork = '' Mozg Armii'' (The Brain of the Army), 1929 Boris Mikhaylovich Shaposhnikov (russian: Бори́с Миха́йлович Ша́пошников) ( – 26 March 1945) was a Soviet military commander, Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces, ...
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Semyon Timoshenko
Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (russian: link=no, Семён Константи́нович Тимоше́нко, ''Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko''; uk, Семе́н Костянти́нович Тимоше́нко, ''Semen Kostiantynovych Tymoshenko'') ( – 31 March 1970) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. Early life A Ukrainian,Wojciech Roszkowski, Jan Kofman (2016). "Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century'". p.1030. Timoshenko was born in the village of Orman in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Furmanivka in Odessa Oblast, Ukraine). Military career First World War In 1914, he was drafted into the army of the Russian Empire and served as a cavalryman on Russia's western front in the First World War. Upon the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917, he sided with the Bolsheviks, joining the Red Army in 1918 and the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1919 ...
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Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonnyy ( rus, Семён Миха́йлович Будённый, Semyon Mikháylovich Budyonnyy, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ bʊˈdʲɵnːɨj, a=ru-Simeon Budyonniy.ogg; – 26 October 1973) was a Russian cavalryman, military commander during the Russian Civil War, Polish-Soviet War and World War II, and politician, who was a close political ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Born to a poor peasant family from the Don Cossack region in southern Russia, Budyonny was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army in 1903. He served with distinction in a dragoon regiment during the First World War, earning all four classes of the Cross of St. George. When the Russian Civil War broke out Budyonny founded the Red Cavalry, which played an important role in the Bolshevik victory; Budyonny became renowned for his bravery and was the subject of several popular patriotic songs. As a political ally of Joseph Stalin, he became one of the original five Marsha ...
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Military Counterintelligence Of The Soviet Army
Military counterintelligence of the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was controlled by the nonmilitary Soviet secret police throughout the history of the USSR. The counterintelligence departments of the Armed Forces of the USSR existed at all larger military formations and were called ''Special Departments'' (Особый отдел) or third departments/sections. The staff of the Special Department would usually establish a secret network of informants. ''TGU'' (ТГУ КГБ СССР, 3 ГУ КГБ СССР ('third')) functionaries were responsible for protection of the military units, important soldiers e.g. commanding officers against activities from military attaché offices diplomats. Timeline *Initially there was no common counterintelligence directorate. Various Armies and Fronts had their "Special Departments". *Military Department of Vecheka, Военный отдел ВЧК *Special Department of Vecheka, Особый отдел ВЧК, *Spec ...
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Nikolai Kirillov
Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Nikolay II, last Emperor of Russia, from 1894 until 1917 * Prince Nikolai of Denmark (born 1999) Other people Nikolai * Nikolai Aleksandrovich (other) or Nikolay Aleksandrovich, several people * Nikolai Antropov (born 1980), Kazakh former ice hockey winger * Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948), Russian religious and political philosopher * Nikolai Bogomolov (born 1991), Russian professional ice hockey defenceman * Nikolai Bukharin (1888–1938), Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician * Nikolai Bulganin (1895-1975), Soviet politician and minister of defence * Nikolai Chernykh (1931-2004), Russian astronomer * Nikolai Dudorov (1906–1977), Soviet politician * Nikolai Dzhumagaliev (born 1952), Soviet serial killer * Nikolai Goc ( ...
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13th Rifle Corps
The 13th Rifle Corps () was a rifle corps of the Red Army, first formed in 1922. On October 12, 1922, the Corps began forming in the Turkestan Front. Alexander Todorsky became the corps commander. The corps participated in the suppression of the Basmachi movement and was disbanded in 1935. 1922–1935 formation On October 12, 1922, the Commander of the Turkestan Front issued Order No. 345 on the formation of the 13th Rifle Corps from units located in the Bukhara People's Republic and Samarkand Oblast. The headquarters was established in the city of Novaya Bukhara. The corps was led by its Revolutionary Military Council. On October 12, 1922, the commander of the Turkestan Front issued Order No. 1436/575, in which the headquarters of the abolished Bukhara group of troops turned on the formation of Management 13th RC.TSGSA . F.895 , 672 etc.; 1922 - 1926.Website "Archives of Russia ." Central State Archive of the Soviet Army. In April–May 1923, the Revolutionary Military Coun ...
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12th Army (Soviet Union)
The 12th Army was a field army of the Red Army formed multiple times during the Russian Civil War and World War II. Civil War & Polish-Soviet War The 12th Army (Russian Civil War 1st Formation) of the Soviet Red Army was first formed from Soviet forces in the north-eastern Caucasus in 1918. The 12th Army (Russian Civil War 2nd Formation) was formed from the 1st and 3rd Ukrainian Red Armies in central Ukraine in the summer of 1919. In July 1920 Simon Aralov was chief of intelligence with this unit. it was disbanded in 1920. Second World War The 12th Army (1st Formation) (RKKA) of the Soviet Red Army was formed from the Southern (Cavalry-Mechanised) Army Group of the Kiev Special Military District during 1939-40.http://victory.mil.ru/rkka/units/03/26.html 12th Army (Russian) It was then involved in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. It entered the Second World War as part of the Soviet Southwestern Front, comprising the * 13th Rifle Corps (including the 44th, 58th, and ...
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Pavel Ponedelin
Pavel Grigoryevich Ponedelin (russian: Па́вел Григо́рьевич Понеде́лин; 4 March 1893 Moscow 25 August 1950) was a Soviet general executed after World War II for being taken prisoner by the Germans. Early life He fought in World War I in the Imperial Russian Army before going over to the Bolsheviks. During the Russian Civil War, he fought against the Poles and was wounded. In the following years he commanded a regiment and then a brigade. In 1926 he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow. In 1938 he was promoted to Kombrig and became chief of staff of the 1st Rifle Corps. In 1939-1940, he participated in the Winter War. Due to the defeat of his troops, he was moved to command the 139th Rifle Division. In 1940, he was appointed Major General major and from July that year, he was the chief of staff of the Leningrad Military District. World War II and death In March 1941, he became commander of the 12th Army of the Kiev Special Military ...
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Vladimir Kachalov
Vladimir Jakovlevich Kachalov (27 July 1890 – 4 August 1941) was a Soviet lieutenant general. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks in the subsequent Civil War. He was a recipient of the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of the Patriotic War. He was promoted to Komdiv in 1936, Komkor in 1938, and then Komandarm 2nd rank in 1939. He was killed in action at Smolensk by artillery fire. Joseph Stalin, unaware of his death because of an inaccurate report of the events by Lev Mekhlis, stated in Order No. 270 that Kachalov surrendered and defected to the Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...; he was subsequently sentenced to death ''in absentia''. It was not until 1953 that an investigation established the cir ...
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