When was the Soviet Armed Forces established by decree?
The Council of People's Commissars issued a decree on the 15th of January 1918 to establish the Red Army. This new force relied initially on voluntary units without ranks or insignia.
Questions about Soviet Armed Forces
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who founded the Soviet Armed Forces and when did they serve as commissar for war?
Leon Trotsky served as the People's Commissar for War from 1918 until 1924. He is credited as the founder of the Red Army.
How many divisions did the Soviet Armed Forces possess during Operation Barbarossa in June 1941?
At that time the Red Army possessed 303 divisions and 22 brigades totaling 4.8 million troops. German forces deployed 181 divisions and 18 brigades with 3.8 million soldiers on the Eastern Front.
What were the total losses of the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II including killed and missing personnel?
Total losses amounted to 8,668,400 including killed in action, missing in action and deaths by disease. Ethnic Russians suffered the highest casualties at 5,756,000 followed by ethnic Ukrainians at 1,377,400.
When did the Soviet Union withdraw its armed forces from Afghanistan after a decade-long war?
General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev withdrew Soviet forces from Afghanistan after a decade-long war. By 1989 Soviet troops began leaving Warsaw Pact neighbors to fend for themselves.