Marking 75th anniversary of the Great Victory. “An effective military education system was formed during the war”

Victory in the Great Patriotic War is the result of tremendous work, courage and selflessness of the Soviet people. In a difficult period, people united themselves in the fight against the enemy. Changes have occurred in all areas: from the economy to the social sphere, including the military education system.

Information on the training of military personnel is available on the Presidential Library’s portal in one of the large-scale electronic collections Memory of the Great Victory. The section The power of Russian weapons: military operations during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 provides materials that reveal the details of creating a combat-ready and invincible army.

An abstract of Sergei Ivanov’s dissertation Military Schools of the People’s Commissariat of Defence of the USSR in the Siberian Military District during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945), noted that it was the good preparation of the military that determined the outcome of the confrontation: “The victorious end of the Great Patriotic War is evidence that during the war in the USSR an effective system of military education was formed”.

It was important to prepare military personnel of all levels to prepare correctly for hostilities. New approaches to work were required, both with cadets of military educational institutions and with draftees who did not possess basic knowledge. Depending on the type of troops, its own system of physical training, training in handling various types of weapons, etc. was built.

Much attention was paid to combat skills. An abstract of the dissertation by Nikolai Rostov Preparation of reserves for the front during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945: (based on materials of the Siberian Military District and Trans-Baikal Front) describes the organization of combat training in spare and training infantry, artillery, cavalry and communications units. The researcher notes that in order to form practical skills and knowledge of soldiers in units and formations, training grounds, special defensive areas, assault bands, and anti-tank areas were equipped. “The main emphasis was placed on tactical-special and fire training. In order to create a real situation and consolidate the acquired skills, joint exercises of soldiers of various specialties were practiced. The personnel learned to overcome steep slopes, to lower the material part. All marching units must be trained to overcome water barriers and shooting in the mountains and the city. Marching endurance and physical training of soldiers was developed during long marches of units and units with full combat calculation and standard weapons. In winter, marches were performed on skis, and most of the time the soldiers spent in mobile winter camps”, - writes Nikolai Rostov.

However, during the war period, the particular importance of studying and quickly implementing front-line experience was determined. All of the above training methods would not be useful if they were not supported by knowledge that was obtained directly at the forefront. Analysis of hostilities and recommendations from war veterans have become a fundamental factor in the training and education of cadets of military schools, schools, courses, etc.

It was the analysis of front-line experience that made it possible to build the entire system of military education. The main task was to qualitatively organize the transfer of knowledge from those who had already managed to visit the front, to those who had yet to enter the battlefield. It was important to convey not only what resources the Soviet army possessed, what tactics our side adhered to in the war, but also to accurately characterize the capabilities and features of enemy behavior.

In his aforementioned work, Nikolai Rostov notes that in order to study the experience of the war and improve methodological skills, front-line soldiers were appointed to the positions of commanding officers, the teaching staff was sent to the front lines for internships, special groups of officers were created to study front-line experience and make practical recommendations on making changes in subject and curriculum.

In addition, meetings and conversations with front-line soldiers began to be actively held. Articles about military men who shared their experience and spoke about the capabilities and superiority of our army and about the tactics of the enemy began to be massively published in the press; active feats of arms were highlighted.

Materials through which Soviet commanders analyzed the behavior of the Germans and gave advice to young soldiers were becoming popular. Presidential Library’s portal features a brochure of the Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 1st Guards Motorized Rifle Moscow Division Alexander Lizyukov, “What the Red Army Warrior needs to know about the German military techniques” is presented. In it, the Soviet military leader analyzes the tactics of enemies, and also gives recommendations based on his own experience. In his work, he notes that all the military techniques of the Germans in the war against the Soviet people, ranging from major operations to individual private battles, were designed to create panic and confusion in our troops. “In matters of tactics, or, more simply, in the conduct of individual private battles to achieve the goal of stunning and panic, the enemy uses the following methods: advancing leaking groups of machine gunners, haphazard shelling from wandering mortar batteries, sudden artillery raids throughout the depth of our battle formations throws of tank hedgehogs”, - writes Alexander Lizyukov. Then he examines each of these techniques in detail so that the soldiers are ready for such moments and do not succumb to provocations.

The advantage of using front-line experience was also confirmed by the enemy side. “During the war, the Russians constantly improved, and their top commanders and staffs received a lot of useful things, studying the experience of the fighting of their troops and the German army. They learned to quickly respond to all kinds of changes in the situation, to act energetically and decisively”, - once said the famous commander of the Third Reich Friedrich Mellentin.

The experience of participants in the Great Patriotic War is also valuable in the modern system of military professional education. Today, experts also note the importance of the continuity of military traditions in the training of military personnel; therefore, a special attention in the classroom is given to the experience of 1941-1945.

Many other important and interesting facts about the Great Patriotic War are available in the collection Memory of the Great Victory. It includes official documents, photo and newsreels, newspapers, books, propaganda publications, collections of articles, biographies, testimonies of participants in combat battles and rear workers, their personal documents, images of military and labor awards, monuments and memorial complexes. All materials are divided into seven thematic sections. The collection has been formed since 2010, containing more than 24 thousand storage units and is constantly updated with new unique materials.