The Red Army on a Peace Footing

Orders, Circulars, Telegrams, etc.

Order No.59

By the Revolutionary War Council of the Republic, January 6, 1923, No.59, Moscow


Transcribed and HTML markup for the Trotsky Internet Archive by David Walters

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The reduction in the size of the Red Army makes the task of the military-educational institutions a particularly responsible one. They are called upon to provide the Red Army with fullyprepared professional commanders who have reached the highest standard in up-to-date military matters.

The normal military school has already begun to produce Red commanders with a serious three-year training. The army has the task of turning these Red commanders into experienced and firm military chiefs who are fully worthy of the Red Army. Confirming that the Commander-in-Chief’s order No.33 of this year to all the armed forces of the Republic [1] is to be carried out undeviatingly, the Revolutionary War Council of the Republic orders the commanders of Military Districts to take steps to ensure that proper arrangements for study are made at once in units where there are young Red commanders.

A military school can provide preliminary preparation for a future commander. The work of the school will be successful only if the unit to which the commander is sent becomes a practical school for him, completing the work begun at the military-educational institutions.

In order to secure more normal working by the militaryeducational institutions, the Revolutionary War Council of the Republic orders that:

  1. Cadets are to be put on guard duty only in so far as this is necessary for instructional purposes.
  2. Cadets are not to be taken away for tasks extraneous to their studies, and every effort is to be made to free militaryeducational institutions from all self-supply work.
  3. Schools are to be surrounded with the attention they deserve, so that they may be given the chance to fulfil properly their exceptionally important responsibilities.

Endnotes

1. The Commander-in-Chief’s order No.33, dated December 10, 1922, explained that no school can turn out a fully-trained commander. Army units must function as direct continuations of the military school. The order noted the necessity for more attention to be paid to the young Red Commanders by the commanding personnel of the combatant units. ‘Ill-will and mistrust depress the energy of the young Red commander and nip in the bud those good qualities which might have been broadly developed to the advantage of the Red Army, and criticism is useful only when it is accompanied by training and education.’


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Last updated on: 28.12.2006