Nikolai Efimovich Varfolomeev (russian: Николай Ефимович Варфоломеев; 29 September 1890 – 8 May 1939) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

military commander and theoretician. He and

Vladimir Triandafillov Vladimir Kiriakovitch Triandafillov (; 14 March 189412 July 1931) was a Soviet military commander and theoretician considered by many to be the "father of Soviet operational art". Biography He was born on 14 March 1894 in Magaradzhik village in K ...

made significant contributions to the use of technology in deep offensive operations. Varfolomeev was one of the foremost military theorists teaching at the RKKA Military Academy. He was executed in 1939 during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

Deep operation

Varfolomeev, unlike Triandafilov, was less concerned with developing the quantitative indices of

deep battle Deep operation (, ''glubokaya operatsiya''), also known as Soviet Deep Battle, was a military theory developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s. It was a tenet that emphasized destroying, suppressing or disorg ...

, but rather the mechanics of the shock army's mission. Varfolomeev termed this as "launching an uninterrupted, deep and shattering blow" along the main axis of advance. Varfolomeev believed the shock army needed both firepower and mobility to destroy both enemy tactical defences, operational reserves and seize geographical targets or positions in harmony with other operationally independent, but strategically collaborative, offensives.Harrison 2001, p. 196

References

Bibliography

* Brigade Commander Georgii Samoilovich Isserson. ''The Evolution of Operational Art''. Translator: Bruce W. Menning. Combat Studies Institute Press. . * Harrison, Richard W. ''The Russian Way of War: Operational Art 1904–1940''. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 2001. Soviet kombrigs Military doctrines Military strategists Military theorists 1890 births 1939 deaths Soviet military writers {{USSR-bio-stub