Evening star., 1938-12-26

JoT elgIt years as an engineer
in many OF Russia's key in
dustrieS.
BY EDMUND J. LOWRY,
Gas told to selig Greenberg of the
Providence Journal-Bulletin.)
PROVIDENCE. r. l., Dec. 26 (NA.
N.Ao-Just as it has the biggest
air fleet in the world, so Soviet
Russia also leads all other countries
with the biggest army.
But numerical superiority and
actual strength are by no means
synonymous. And just as I have
attempted to show that the. size
OF the Soviet Unions air force masks
serious weaknesses and potential, if
not actual, inferiority to German air
strength, so I will try in my dis
cussion of the organization, man
power and equipment of the Red
army to distinguish between mere
numbers and actual fighting
strength.
First of all, let's get the sta
tistics out of the way before I
describe the organization of the Red
army, which differs in many re-
spects from that of the armed forces
Of other countries.
Russia has a standing army of
about 100000 men, although not
all OF these are actually in continu-
Gus service. This compares with
Germany's regular army of between
700, 900 and 100000 men. During the
recent crisis over Czecho-S -Slovakia
Germany was reported to have
called up sufficient trained reserves
to swell her army to nearly 1,50O,-
600 men. The Reich is said to
have trained reserves of more than
100000.
Could Mobilize $1,000, 900.
Russia, with population nearly
two and half times as large as
Germany, has an immense reservoir
OF man power and could mobilize
100000 men up to the age of 40.
That the possibility of throwing
some such gigantic force into the
field is seriously considered by So
Wet military leaders is indicated by
the fact, told to me by an officer
attached to the general staff, that
the Russians now have sufficient
food supplies stored away to feed
100000 men for five years.
Like virtually all other European
countries, Russia has universal mill
tary conscription, but her system is
more far-reaching than that of
most countries.
AT the age of II every Russian
youth is sent to a military training
camp for tWo-month period each
year for two years. There he is not
only taught the rudiments of mill
tary science, but undergoes intensive
political" training, for you must
bear in mind that the Red army is
not only fighting machine, but
also a vital political force and a
school for intoxicating into millions
of Russians absolute allegiance to
the Stalinist regime.
In the training camps the youths
are sorted out for physical and
political fitness, and upon reaching
10, when their period of actual mill
tary service starts, they are divided
into two distinct categories.
Preponderance of Workers.
About one-third of the men are
enlisted for five-year period in the
Red army, the force which actually
corresponds to the standing army
in other countries. The basis of
selection, besides physical fitness, is
absolute political reliability.
1t is interesting to note that while
there are about 130,0O0,OOO peasants
in Russia as against approximately
40 900 900 city dwellers, including 16,-
100000 industrial workers, latest
figures on the composition of the
Red army show that 46 per cent are
workers. AZ per cent are peasants
and the rest is made up of officers.
Why should there be such q pre-
ponderance of workers when there
are eight times as many peasants
as workers? The answer is that the
workers are regarded as ardent sup
porters of the regime and the peas
ants aren't. With the peasants out
numbering the urban population
more than three to one and generally
considered far from enthusiastic
about Stalinism, the potentialities
Tor trouble in case the government
gets into difficulties, like a major
war, are not to be sneered at.
The men not enrolled in the Red
army go into the territorial army,
which is something between a reg
ular standing army and our Ma
tional Guard.
$4,000 Border Guards.
The Red army consists of about
575,0 900 men, most of whom are
stationed near the borders. With
three-quarters of the territorial
army in the field during the sum-
mer or ready to be mobilized at a
moments notice in the winter with
out seriously affecting the country's S
economic life, this makes a first-line
force of about 100000 men. This
strength could be further swelled
through inclusion of the special
force of $4,000 border guards and a
portion of the several hundred thou
sand G. P. U. agents. But in view
of the fact that the G. P. U. agents
are now buster than ever collaring
real and potential-mostly the lat
ter-foes of the regime and are
likely to be even buster in war
time, it is improbable they could
be used to fight foreign invaders.
The territorial army is largely
made up of peasants, and it's polit-
ical dependability is therefore ques-
tionable. The territorials are usu-