Evening star., 1941-07-18
Political Commissurs

MOSCOW'S Official announcement
that political commisSarS have been
reintrOduCed into the army TO COun-
tersign orders of military command
ers and share responsibility with
th0n is an event of deep significance.
And it does not bOde well for the
fortunes of the Red Army. Whatever
may be its political justification, this
system of hybrid command has
worked badly heretofore from the
military point of view.
The system arose during the Rus
sian civil wars when the newly
formed Red Army was compelled to
rely on the services of many officers
from the old czariSt army. Often
conscripted against their will, the
loyalty of these professional soldiers
to the new order was dubious. To
guard against treachery and also to
propagandize the troops, trusted
Communist officials were assigned
to all army units and were given
authority to participate in. and even
to veto, decisions of the army
officers.
In this, as in other matters, the
Russian Communist government fol-
lowed the example Of the French
Revolution, finding an historical
precedent in the civil representa-
tives Of the Jacobin government of
Paris, who were assigned to the
French armies and we're empowered
to discipline, degrade and even
guillotine officers whose political
sentiments were suspect or whose
professional performance was unsat-
isfactory. The Russian system, how
ever, was more extensive, reaching
down to small military units.
During the chaos of the civil wars
it may have been an unavoidable
necessity, but thereafter 1t proved
to be a grave handicap to military
morale and an efficient officer corps.
Constant political surveillance and
interference doubtless played a part
in the military disaffection which
Stain ruthleSsly crushed by his
wholesale purges of the army. But
efficiency was not thereby restored,
and the Wretched showing of the
Russian Army in the Finnish War
of 193940 led to the abandonment
of the political commiSsar system.
There must have been compelling
technical reasons for so suspicious
ruler as Stain to have relinquished
a hold over his army on which he
had previously relied.
Now, however, at the supreme
crisis of the life death struggle
between the Russian and German
hosts, the commissar system is sud-
denly reimposed in all its original
vigor. The official decree states that
these civil functionarieS are to be
introduced into "all regiments, divi-
sions, Staffs, military schools and
Red Army institutions" while "polit-
ical instructors are to be assigned
to companies, batteries and squad
rOns." AS previously, their duties
embrace surveillance, command and
propaganda.
Realizing, as the Moscow govern
ment must, the military drawbacks
to this system, two logical inferences
may be- drawn First, certain
amount of diSaffection must exist,
especially in the officers corps. A
second, and perhaps even more
| important reason. presumably is
the factl that the millions of
modified reservists are mostly peas
ants, the majority of whom are not
members of the Communist party.
The regular formations, especially
the technical services, such as tank
and artillery corps, were heavily
weighted with Communists, and
their fanatiCal resistance to the
Germans proved their high morale.
But these elite troops may have been
largely used up, and Moscow appar-
! emily believes drastic measures must
/ be taken to- infuse their theology and
| dependability into the reserviSt
masses that are taking their place.
The experiment is thus a radical
one. It's success remains to be
! nrOyed