Russia at war 1941-1945

The interesting thing is that the Germans used very much the same kind of reasoning; German propaganda aimed at impressing upon every soldier that falling into Russian

hands was equal to suicide: either he would be immediately shot, or die a slow agonising death "in Siberia". This was, roughly, the story of every German prisoner whom I was to see later in the Don country, at Stalingrad and in numerous battles after Stalingrad, when the fear of encirclement became a kind of obsession with the German army, and even led to some unexpected withdrawals. Also, rather than surrender, many SS-men committed

suicide.

It will be convenient here to look a little beyond the pre-Stalingrad phase of the war, and deal with the next stages in the process which began immediately after the fall of Rostov.

These next steps may be said to fall under three headings: the "inner" smartening-up of the officer corps through the promotion of many young officers who had shown a high

degree of technical competence during the war, and the demotion or shelving of the "old war-horses", a process which had already had its precedent in 1941 with the removal from key positions in the Army of men like Voroshilov and Budienny. This shelving of the "old war horses" served to divert popular annoyance about the military defeats from the Party (including Stalin) to "certain" Army leaders. Secondly, there was the "outer"

smartening-up of the Soviet officer through the introduction of smarter uniforms,

complete with epaulettes and gold braid. Thirdly, the process begun soon after Rostov of drawing a clear line between the officer's and the commissar's respective roles (see the Red Star editorial of August 9 quoted above) was brought to its logical conclusion on October 9, when the officer's "sole command" was at last restored.

The contrast between the old and new types of officer was vividly brought out in

Korneichuk's play The Front which is worth examining, if only because of the enormous publicity given to it.

[Korneichuk told me soon afterwards that the "general idea" of the play had been given to him by Stalin himself.]

The main theme of the play was the conflict between Army-General Gorlov, Commander

of a Front (i.e. army group) and his subordinate, Major-General Ognev, in command of one of the armies. Gorlov is an amiable man, brave, with a fine Civil War record, but wholly unsuitable for modern warfare.

He pokes more or less good-natured fun at the "specialists", and proudly claims: "I have never gone through any of your academies or universities; I am not one of your theorist chaps. I'm an old war-horse." Personal bravery, to him, is the secret of military success.

"We'll smash any enemy," he says, "not with wireless operators, but with heroism and valour." He is surrounded by toadying nonentities who flatter him; they are men with none of Gorlov's fundamental honesty. Among them are his intelligence chief, the editor of the Front newspaper, a war correspondent, and his liaison officer. All of them are drawn in a highly satirical vein.

The central figure in the opposite camp is Ognev, a young general with a mastery of

modern warfare. He is supported by Gorlov's brother, director of a large aircraft factory, and worshipped by Gorlov's own son. The atmosphere in Gorlov's headquarters is

thoroughly easy-going, with frequent supper parties, toasts and smug speeches. Ognev is disgusted by all this, and Gorlov's brother, who has come on a tour of inspection from Moscow (where he had discussed aircraft production with Stalin himself) is taken aback by all this and then reports to Moscow on the very unsatisfactory job his brother is doing.

The central episode is one where the two schools of thought clash in a military operation which Gorlov completely bungles; then the situation is saved, at heavy cost, by Ognev's much clearer vision of the Germans' intentions and by his far better organisation.

In the very first scene the following typical conversation occurs:

General Gorlov (to Udivitelny, the Intelligence Chief): How many German tanks are there at Kolokol station?

Udivitelny: Fifty, comrade commander.

Gorlov: Not more?

Udivitelny: Maybe they've brought up a few more in the last five days, but I shouldn't think so.

Gorlov: But Ognev says they've got three hundred.

Udivitelny: But how's that possible, comrade commander? I don't imagine they've got more than five hundred along the whole Front.

Gorlov (to Ognev): There you are!