Party Controls in the Soviet Army

Abstract

One of major and most immediate tasks of a totalitarian state is to establish an efficient system of coercion and self-defense. At same time due regard must be paid towards ensuring loyalty of such machinery to state itself. The Soviet Army was thus created, in words of one of its founders, to meet the requirements of self-defence of working class, which had taken power into its own hands.' Its duty was to serve and defend new proletarian state.2 To do this effectively its loyalty to cause of proletariat and to proletarian state must be unimpeachable. Hence a complex and penetrating system of political controls in Soviet Army had to be developed. One rather obvious method of ensuring loyalty of Army was to fill its ranks with loyal and trustworthy personnel. This naturally meant members of Communist Party. In early years Party leadership, when faced with prospect of defeat of Revolution, was forced to accept services of a great number of former Tsarist officers in order to provide revolutionary forces with qualified professional leadership. Following successful conclusion of hostilities, efforts were made to replace them with trained Communist commanders. Thus, by 1927, despite initial difficulties which for a while led to a sharp decline in number of Communists in Red Army, six War Colleges and forty-four officer training schools had been established, and Party members among commanding personnel began to outnumber non-Party commanding personnel.3 In terms of social origin, 22.4 per cent were workers