Why Stalin's soldiers fought
Subtitle: the Red Army's military effectiveness in World War II
By: Roger R. Reese
Series: Modern war studies
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Lawrence, Kansas
Language: eng
Number of pages: 386
ISBN-13: 9780700617760
Copyright date: 2011
Subjects: Military Sociology; World War, 1939-1945; Social conditions; Soldiers; Soviet Union; Soviet Union. Raboche-Krestʹi︠a︡nskai︠a︡ Krasnai︠a︡ Armii︠a︡; History
Description: Inept leadership, inefficient campaigning, and enormous losses would seem to spell military disaster. Yet despite these factors, the Soviet Union won its war against Nazi Germany thanks to what Roger Reese calls its "military effectiveness": its ability to put troops in the field even after previous forces had been decimated. Reese probes the human dimension of the Red Army in World War II through a close analysis of soldiers' experiences and attitudes concerning mobilization, motivation, and morale. Reese examines the various forms of voluntarism and motivations to serve--including the influences of patriotism and Soviet ideology--and shows that many fought simply out of loyalty to the idea of historic Russia and hatred for the invading Germans. He also considers the role of political officers within the ranks, the importance of commanders who could inspire their troops, the bonds of allegiance forged within small units, and persistent fears of Stalin's secret police. Reese's study shows how the Red Army's effectiveness in the Great Patriotic War was foreshadowed by its performance in the Winter War against Finland and offers the first direct comparison between the two, delving into specific issues such as casualties, tactics, leadership, morale, and surrender. Reese also presents a new analysis of Soviet troops captured during the early war years and how those captures tapped into Stalin's paranoia over his troops' loyalties. He provides a look at the motivations and experiences of Soviet women soldiers and their impact on the Red Army's ability to wage war.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-380) and index.
Table of contents: title: Perspectives on military effectiveness; title: The winter war as predictor of military effectiveness in the Great Patriotic War; title: New perspectives on the great encirclements of 1941; title: The small-unit and individual experiences of encirclement; title: The Great Patriotic War: the mobilization of society for armed service; title: Mobilizing the nonvolunteers; title: The fear factor; title: Discipline, hate, ideology, and propaganda; title: Leadership, rewards, morale, and the primary group; title: Failures in effectiveness; title: Perpectives on women's motivation in the Great Patriotic War; title: The female experience of military service and war.