RED ARM MORALE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 1, 3 January 1939, Page 7

RED ARM MORALE

HOW IT HAS SLIPPED

THE POLITICAL COMMISSARS

The efficiency and morale of the Red Army,. which is considered questionable by military attaches stationed - in . ■ ; Moscow, has been further handicapped, by the Political Bureau,- the highest governing body 'in Russia, writes Donald Day from Riga to the "Chicago Tribune." The political bureau issuecl- AX a decree which places the political - commissars again on equal footing:with military commanders and provides that both classes of officers must, share responsibility for the military preparedness of the troops. ~ The chief difference m the maKe-up of the Red Army from * the 'fighting ,y forces of other countries is the fact that the Communist Party attempts to .'■'"■_ convert all its recruits to Communism and make them willing fighters for the ;; ideals of Marx, Engels, Lenin, ana ' Stalin, the four great prophets of Bolshevism. The propaganda work is coiV ducted by the political commissars •?.'-'■' The special branch of military ser- . vice was developed during the civil y war period in Russia- Communist officers were attached to every company. They left military commands'^ and operations to regular officers, many thousands of whom served the Red ;■/■■■_ regime as loyally as they had served the Tsar. ■ * ' ■ ■ The duty of., the political commissars was to convert civil war into class war. They compiled.;lists of-persons who were executed when Red forces - y succeeded in winning territory. They preached class hatred and the, necessity of Red terror to the soldiers In the Red forces. They selected what prisoners should be shot and those ,who • were pardoned for opposing Communism. They tveri had .authority, to arrest and execute officers of the Red Army who failed to,-heed their commands. COMPARED TO CHAPLAINS. Political commissars have been con*- : pared to chaplains who are1 attached , to armies in ether countries: While they deliver -:: sermons about Com- x mxmism and maintain close contact with the rank and file of the Red '; Army, they also possess -unlimited authority which is supported - ? by the GPU. (secret police). , - T£ie corps of political. rcbmmissara - has almost as many ranks as the mili- ','• tary commanders. The .'lowest rank .•" ? are those attached to each company. The chief of the political department - of the Red Army, Deputy Commissar Mechlis, former editor of the.Moscow "Pravda," ranks next to Commissary % of War Voroshilov in both military • and party councils. Naturally a l conflict developed oee tween the regular officer staff and tha r political commissars. Officers demand^ , ed discipline and obedience among the. ranks. Over a period of years the ~-_.,■ officer class succeeded in strengthening ( its position. Insignias of rank were.restored. Officers slowly begJarito gain ■ y privileges. " > Foreign military observers always commented upon the fact that the offi- y cers refused to associate with the political commissars. At receptions, in restaurants and cafes, in gatherings - during manoeuvres, these two officers corps remained in separate b groups. ; The military specialists openly ,*;boy- • cotted the political specialists. : .• The result was the greatest tyurge in the history of Russia. Marshal Tukhachevsky and nine leading com-; manders of the Red Army ,wer^ ifhot, : , as alleged traitors. During the/ last y eighteen months ... it is conservatively y^ estimated that between 30 .and 40 per y cent, of dU the military^ commanders of the Red armed forces, including Army, Air Force, and Navy, haye^been ,\ purged. The political commissars had f won. \ ' • '"•'■■ -v. VICTORY CONFIRMED The victory has been confirmed py ' the "Krasnaija Svesda," /the official, y Red Army newspaper, which declares: "The political commissar is they, chief power dn the Red Army. He is XA the man who teaches the Army 'why <y jit must be always prepared to fight ; for the Communist Fatherland, w.hichy Is also the Fatherland of all the oppressed workers in the world.; ; y "The 'military commander tells the soldier where to point his bayonet; but , \h\e political commander develops the force behind the stab. Bo#i groups of ; Officers are ,equally responsible for the •vtatte of military preparedness x of the lied Army. The military commanders: .. represent the General Staff. , The' political commander, represents the ;; Ctommunist Party. y ■ f'Theaatter should not try to under- ■ fniie the authority .of his fellow- y officers, the military specialist. He , should co-operate and help him.with- ■■.,,, out* being officious. He also should, participate in everything pertaming to the. life of his command, should miss notliing, and also seek to learn some-::., thing about military tactics so he could replace his officer in case of need . "Thfcre have been many instances of political commissars attempting to y; hold'themselves aloof from military affairs-, and from the training and mill- . ; . ;: tary instruction of the .troops. They shoulß even attend marksmanship pracv tice, fqr one of their most-serious re- r ' sponsittilities is to keep track of all. , ammunition served out to the troops. The 'IKrasnaija Svesda" admits there still is [much disorder in >he Army, ; especially among the forces in the Far, East, bdt says that Russia's unique y system 6f dual command will be continued. . ■•■».;• - AThis system, say foreign officers who .• ; have washed Soviet manoeuvres, has had exactly the-opposite effect from .» that desiijed by the Communist Party. .... Political gMnmissars still are considered a class atpart by the officers. There is no fratieitnisation between the two groups. The rank and file know of. the existing hostility. Here that peculiar Slav characteristic, the love of snitching, plays-a great ...:■ role in destroying morale. Bbth the officer and the political' commissar* always are. on the watch to obtain some information incriminating each y other and, as petty,- intrigue is second <■' y nature to the Russian, the. "moral chaos" condemned by the Krasnaija Svesda flourishes. '■'■/' The decision of the Political Bureau to support the. authority qf v-the political commissar against the authority/ won over a period of years by the , military commanders is considered one of the most important internal : developments in Russia this year.