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The Red Army emerged victorious but battered from the Russian Civil War. Over the next twenty years it slowly expanded and became more organised, although also suffered from the turbulence of the period and Stalins massive purges. By 1941 it was one of the largest in the world, with the largest armoured force and air force, but would almost be swept away by the German invasion. This book looks at how the Red Army developed during that period of twenty years, how it performed in combat and how its uniforms evolved.
The book is split into two halves. The first part looks at the size, structure and general status of the Red Army in this period, and the campaigns it fought in the 1920s and 1930s, which ranged from fighting against internal rebels to large scale conflicts with Japan and Finland.
During this period the Red Army had a rather mixed record. It took a very long time to overcome the Basmachi rebels in Soviet Central Asia. 1929 saw a victory over a Chinese warlord but a failed intervention in Afghanistan. The 1930s saw a costly victory of Japan during the Khalkin-Gol incident and a largely trouble free invasion of eastern Poland in 1939 (mainly because the Polish army was somewhat distracted by the German invasion…). The first signs of real trouble came in the Winter War of 1939-40, where the Red Army performed dreadfully against Finland. It is useful to have all of these campaigns in one place, in particular the less well known ones of the 1920s.
The second half of the book covers the uniforms of the Red Army during this period. For much of this period the army wore a mix of uniforms from various sources and it didn’t really standardise until the mid 1930s. For me the most interesting part of this section is the look at officer’s ranks and insignia, tracing the changing attitudes of the Soviet system to its army, from the early abolition of traditional ranks to their reintroduction in 1940.
Chapters
The Red Army in the 1920s
Campaigns in the 1920s
The Red Army in the 1930s
Campaigns in the 1930s
Uniforms 1922-41
Author: Philip Jowett
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 48
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2022