Evening star., 1951-04-01

1JNlJN.-1ue 6OVleG mlllCs
powerful in the world, but it is
would suggest.
An army does not function
and sustained by the home-front
ness of the Soviet Army we have
is capable Of supporting it through
q major war.
No matter how great the initia
successes of the Russians in an,
attack on the West, from the frs
day of the campaign the who'll
apparatus of nglo-American air
power, including the atom boml
would be brought to bear on tn
cities of the Soviet Union and OF
the vital centers of the long line
of communication of the Sovie
armies. At the same time tn
British Empire and the Unitet
States would be building up thei
land forces and exploiting theil
naval supremacy. It is estimated
by military experts that for I
sustained major war, the Sovie
Union would have to supply from
eight to 10 million men to it
armed forces, at the expense o.
industry and agriculture.
Manpower Has Limit
Stain, when he thinks Of wal
with the West, has thus to takt
into consideration many factors
besides the fighting strength O.
the peacetime armed forces. Hi
has to think about his industrial
capacity in general, and oil in par.
ticular; he has to think about his
transport. his food supply; he has
to think about the morale of the
Russian people and the reliability
of the East European satellites,
above all, he has to think about
his manpower.
We are so accustomed to think.
ing Of Soviet manpower as mex
haustible that it may seem strange
to start an appreciation Of Soviet
strength with an inquiry into mum.
bers. But in fact the manpowel
of the Soviet Union is very fal
from being inexhaustible, although
until very recently the Soviet lead.
ers, slaves of tradition, have be.
haved as though it was. Nobody
knows the exact population Of the
Soviet Union, including the post.
war annexations (the Baltic
States, the Polish Ukraine, etc.
but it is somewhere in the neigh
borhood of 200 million. Thus the
vast area of the Soviet empire
which bulks stupendously on the
map as one-sixth Of all the land
in the world, carries a population
only four times larger than that
of Great Britain. It barely exceeds
that is to say, the populations OF
Great Britain and the United
States (America has about lac
million) combined.
At present there are known to
be some IS million workers en-
ployed in industry and nearly SO
million in agriculture. The white
collar classes. the army and police,
and the population of the labor
camps account for the rest Of the
adult population. In agriculture
so urgent is the need for man
power in the factories-women
greatly outnumber men.
Agriculture Big Factor
This labor force. plus some mill
lions in the labor camps who ap-
pear in no statistics. is required
to feed the Soviet Union and sup-
ply it with the sinews of war. Al
the moment the armed forces dis
pose of some three millions. Tc
sustain a major war the Kremlin
would have to call on another five
to seven million, taking these from
industry and agriculture.
The crux of the matter is agri-
culture. ANY serious depletion OF
the agricultural labor force would
bring the country to the brink Of
starvation. During the last war
the whole population of the Soviet
Union was seriously undernour.
ished and some millions died Of
hunger. This was due in the first
instance that quite early in the
struggle the Germans occupied the
great grain-producing areas of the
Ukraine This pattern would not
be repeated in a future war. But
this was not the only cause of the
trouble; over large areas of Rus
sia during the last war the collec.
tives failed to do their duty, partly
because not an ble-bodied mar
was left and the work was toe
much for the women and children
and old men, partly because the
heart of many Of the peasant
women was not in the war (this
applied particularly to 1941 anc
l942). I myself in those early
days saw endless acres of grain
being left to rot in the fields, fal
from the front line, simply because
the remaining peasants were
weary and disillusioned and knew
there was nothing to buy with the
money they might earn.
Industrial Problem
This pattern would certainly bs
repeated In any future war. Fur.
ther. such is. the state of agricul.
ture in the Soviet Union that to.
day, 80 years after the revolu,
ton, and with all the proud boast.
Of mechanization, the production
Of grain (Which is the measure oI
all food in land where meat ane
butter and fresh vegetables ane
fish are considered as luxuries)
is still lower per head of popula.
ton than it was in 1914. It i.
lower, even, than it was in 1910
on the eve of the last war. Fol
although the Soviet Union ha.
added rich agricultural land to it,
territory, it has also added thu