Forging Stalin's Army

This book examines the early years of the Red Army as it developed from a revolutionary partisan force into a modern, professional institution under the leadership of Mikhail Tukhachevsky, an important and controversial figure in the politics of the Stalin period.

This innovative study examines the early years of the Red Army as it developed from a revolutionary partisan force into a modern, professional institution under the leadership of Mikhail Tukhachevsky, an important and controversial figure in the politics of the Stalin period. Sally Stoecker combines her institutional analysis of the formative period of the Soviet military with an astute look at the person and political maneuvers of Marshal Tukhachevsky and his complex relationship with Stalin, which eventually led to his spectacular downfall and execution in the Great Terror of the late 1930s.Based on newly available archival materials, the book will be welcomed not only by military historians but also by Russian historians for the light it sheds on a vital area of Soviet political history.

Autorentext

Sally Stoecker

Inhalt

Foreword -- Introduction: The Context for Innovation in Stalin's Army -- Politics and Military Priorities: Building a Case for More Resources -- The Impact of the Far East Threats and Encounters on Innovation -- The Clandestine Collaboration Between the Reichswehr and the Red Army -- The Acquisition and Adaptation of Foreign Models The Case of Tank Development -- Marshal Tukhachevsky: Enigmatic Military Entrepreneur -- Postscript: Yezhovshchina and the End of Innovation -- Concluding Remarks