The United Belarusian Military School named after Central Executive Committee of the Byelorussian SSR ( Russian: Объединённая белорусская военная школа; OBVSH) was the normal

military school A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

between 1921 and 1941. It was used for the training of command staff. During its existence, the school trained 3,500 Army officers.

History

On 5 February 1921, the

Revolutionary Military Council The Revolutionary Military Council (russian: Революционный Военный Совет, Revolyutsionny Voyenny Sovyet, Revolutionary Military Council), sometimes called the Revolutionary War CouncilBrian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Ra ...

of the Byelorussian SSR in

organized short-term 81st Infantry commanders courses in a former seminary. The school was renamed as the courses of the Peoples' Commissars of the Byelorussian SSR in the same year. In 1921, it was again renamed "Minsk Infantry Training of the Red Army", managed by the People's Commissariat of Defence. On 9 October 1924, the 7th United Belarusian Military School was organized from these organizations, with a three-year training period. The school focused on preparing staff commanders for the cavalry, infantry, and the artillery of the Red Army. Almost a third of the curriculum was devoted to general education subjects. Students received training in squad tactics during the second year and platoon tactics in the last year of study. The school initially trained officers for the 2nd Rifle Division. In February 1931, in honor of Kliment Voroshilov's 50th birthday, eight students from the school skied from Minsk to Moscow. On its 10th anniversary in the same year, the school was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

. On 8 September 1933, Mikhail Kalinin visited the school, which was soon renamed after Kalinin, becoming the Minsk Military Infantry School named after Mikhail Kalinin. The school was closed after

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

. After the war, the Minsk Suvorov Military School was established in the same building on 21 May 1952.

Notable alumni

* Vasily Margelov, commander of the

Soviet Airborne Troops The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from ''Vozdushno- desantnye voyska SSSR'', Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed be ...

Ivan Yakubovsky Ivan Ignatyevich Yakubovsky (russian: Ива́н Игна́тьевич Якубо́вский; 7 January 1912 – 30 November 1976) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, twice made a Hero of the Soviet Union and serving as commander-in-chief o ...

, Marshal of the Soviet Union

References

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1921 Educational institutions disestablished in 1941 Military education and training in the Soviet Union Military academies of Belarus 1921 establishments in Belarus