Commissars, Commanders, and Civilian Authority: The Structure of Soviet Military Politics

376 Pages·1979·8.55 MB·English

by  Timothy J. Colton

Commissars, Commanders,
and Civilian Authority
Russian Research Center Studies, 79
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Commissars, Commanders,
and Civilian Authority
The Structure of Soviet
Military Politics
T i m o t hy J. C o l t on
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
and London, England
1979
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Copyright © 1979 by the President
and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Colton, Timothy J 1947-
Commissars, commanders, and civilian authority.
(Russian Research Center studies; 79)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Civil supremacy over the military—Russia.
2. Russia—Armed Forces—Political activity.
3. Kommunisticheskaia partiia Sovetskogo Soiuza
I. Title. II. Series: Harvard University. Russian
Research Center. Studies; 79.
JN6520.C58C64 322'.5'0947 78-23342
ISBN 0-674-14535-6
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To My Parents
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Acknowledgments
In the course of preparing the several versions of this study, I have
drawn liberally on the knowledge and advice of others. The im-
provements in the book are the best measure of these individuals'
wisdom, but I wish also to acknowledge here a number of specific
contributions.
This book evolved initially under the balanced direction of Samuel
P. Huntington and Adam B. Ulam. To Professor Huntington I owe a
particular debt of gratitude. He helped spawn my interest in
civil-military relations, urged me to fashion my work on the Soviet
Union with an eye to comparative insights, and patiently saw several
of my attempts at comparative analysis move in the direction of
intelligibility. Professor Ulam, always with great kindness, reminded
me of the need to acquire the direct knowledge of the Soviet ex-
perience without which serious comparisons could not be made. In
particular, he directed my attention to the rich military memoir
literature. The late Merle Fainsod guided my first efforts to analyze
the military party organs and provided encouragement out of all
proportion to my performance.
Over the last decade, Jerry Hough, as teacher and critic, has
contributed enormously to this study and to my general understanding
of Soviet politics. His prodding was especially important in leading me
to question preconceptions of how the Communist party functions
and also in spurring my interest in the concrete details of institutional
machinery and career patterns. All too often in the Soviet field, partic-
ularly in recent years, these matters have been slighted, to the detri-
ment of both our immediate understanding of Soviet reality and our
contribution to social science theory. I hope this book begins to mea-
sure up to the standards Professor Hough has set.
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vili Acknowledgments
My colleague, Gordon Skilling, has likewise assisted me im-
measurably in general terms. He was also a thorough reader of the
manuscript, pointing out many shortcomings in logic and execution. I
am greatly obliged to Dale R. Herspring for many hours of stimulat-
ing conversation on generals and commissars. His attentiveness to
some of the more abstruse lines of argument pursued in Part Three
helped me avoid some serious pitfalls. William E. Odom also read the
manuscript in its entirety at a busy juncture and provided incisive
comments on it. Roman Kolkowicz and John Erickson have at several
points conveyed detailed and very useful reactions to my findings and
ideas, and Matitiahu Mayzel has shared with me his exceptional
knowledge of Soviet military history. Donald Forbes kindly facilitated
the preparation of the tables in Chapter 2. The following individuals
read part or all of one version or another of the manuscript and
assisted in its development: Paul Cocks, Helen Desfosses, Herbert
Dinerstein, Mary Ellen Fischer, Richard Gregor, Franklyn Griffiths,
Thane Gustafson, Grey Hodnett, Christopher Jones, Sanford
Lieberman, Donald Schwartz, and Peter Solomon, Jr.
The Russian Research Center provided a congenial and rich setting
for much of the research embodied in these pages. I am especially
grateful for the diligent efforts on my behalf of the Center's librarian,
Susan Jo Gardos. I have also benefited at various stages from the
generous support of the Canada Council, the Government Depart-
ment of Harvard University, and the Centre for Russian and East
European Studies, Scarborough College, and the Department of Polit-
ical Economy in the University of Toronto. Aida D. Donald and Joan
Ryan have been skilled and considerate editors of the final version.
Much of the material in Chapter 8 appeared in my article in Soviet
Studies, 29 (April 1977), 185-213. I wish to thank the journal for
permission to use it here.
To my wife, Patricia, goes my heartfelt gratitude for many hours of
inspiration, many hours of reading, and many more of waiting. To
small Patricia, who has grown up with the clatter of the typewriter
and the clutter of piles of Soviet newspapers, go my assurances that it
was, indeed, all worthwhile.
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Contents
Introduction 1
PART ONE THE MILITARY PARTY ORGANS
1 The Structure of the Military Party Organs 9
2 The Roles of the Military Party Organs 35
3 The Military Party Organs in Military
Administration 58
4 The Monitoring Capability of the Military Party
Organs 85
PART TWO THE MILITARY PARTY ORGANS AND
MILITARY POLITICS
5 Routine Administrative Politics 115
6 The Great Purge 136
7 World War II Decision Making 152
8 The Zhukov Affair 175
9 Public Demand Articulations 196
PART THREE ARMY-PARTY RELATIONS REASSESSED
10 The Army in Soviet Politics: Capabilities and
Participation 221
11 Explaining the Army's Political Quiescence 250
12 Civil-Military Relations and Soviet
Development 279
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Appendix A Biographical Data on Soviet Military
Officers 293
Appendix Β A Note on Primary Sources 297
Notes 300
Index 355
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