ON THE COVERAGE OF MILITARY ISSUES ON THE PAGES OF THE SOVIET PROVINCIAL PRESS OF THE 1920s (based on the materials of Simbirsk Governorate)
Authors: Mankov Andrei V. 
Published: October 2023

The author focuses on the Red Army of the 1920s. The history of the Armed Forces of our Fatherland in an environment declared as a special military operation in modern Russia seems relevant both for specialists and for everyone interested in military history. The author explores certain aspects of the Red Army’s activities in the context of implementing the military policy in the USSR in 1923–1925. After the end of the Civil War (1918–1922) in Soviet Russia, the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (Red Army) objectively needed to be seriously reformed. The very mediocre financial situation in the state did not allow the Soviet authorities to keep under arms a significant number of military personnel who remained after the war. Reformation of the Red Army began in 1923. At first, its number was brought up to 600 thousand people. In addition, in June 1923, the People’s Commissar for Military Affairs L.D. Trotsky decided to transform part of the army into militia units. The fifth part of the Army’s divisions had to undergo this experiment. Thus, eleven divisions received the name of territorial ones. The decree dated August 8, 1923, together with the organization of territorial divisions, determined the order of workers’ military training. Thus, the Red Army began the transition to a territorial-militia system. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the historical analysis of these events is carried out at the regional level, in particular, on the materials of one of the governorates of the Middle Volga region, which was previously absent.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the coverage of military issues in the provincial periodical press of the first half of the 1920s on the materials of Simbirsk governorate.

Materials and methods. The author uses problem-analytical and chronological research methods, the source base of the work is Simbirsk newspapers dated 1923, as well as memories of the participants to the events.

Study results. The author points out that the largest military unit of Simbirsk garrison was the 2nd Simbirsk Rifle Regiment, which was located in the so-called Uhlan barracks. In one of September issues of the newspaper “Proletarskii put” which is analyzed by a researcher, we find an article about the beginning of conscription in 1923 already under the new rules. The author pays special attention to some aspects in the activities of Simbirsk school of Command Staff (Red Banner Infantry Military School), which carried out a lot of work on recruiting cadets in order to attract working and peasant youth to the Red Army. At the same time, the author tells about the first post – war graduation of the Red commanders in 1923.

Conclusions. The researcher, using the example of Simbirsk governorate, claims that the provincial periodical press of the first half of the 1920s regularly actively discussed military issues. Articles about military reform and everyday life of the Red Army soldiers were systematically published on the pages of leading Simbirsk publications. For example, the daily life of Simbirsk School of command staff very often appeared on the pages of newspapers. We learn a lot of interesting things from the life of the Red Army from publications about combat training in the 2nd Simbirsk regiment. The pages of Simbirsk newspapers also give information on military units located in other regions of the country, in particular in Moscow and the Moscow region, on the Black Sea.