Abolition of Military Commissars

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, On the Establishment of Complete One-Man Control and the Abolition of the Institution of Military Commissars in the Red Army. October 9, 1942

 

Original Source: Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR, 1942, No. 38.

The system of military commissars established in the Red Army in the years of the Civil War grew up on the soil of a certain distrust for the commanding cadres, into which were drawn old military specialists who did not then believe in the durability of the Soviet authority and were even alien to it. In the years of the Civil War military commissars played a decisive role in strengthening the Red Army and in the selection of commanding personnel, in its political enlightenment, and in implanting military discipline.

In the following years, after the Civil War, the process of further breeding and education of commanding cadres continued. As a result, and under the influence of the successes and victories of the Soviet system in all spheres of life, the situation of the commanding cadres in the Red Army basically changed.

The Great Fatherland War against the German invaders tempered our commanding cadres, and pushed forward a huge stratum of new talented commanders, tried in battle and completely true to their military duty and to the honor of commanders. In the hard battles against the enemy, the commanders of the Red Army have proved their devotion to our Motherland, have acquired important experience in contemporary war, and have matured and gained strength militarily and politically.

On the other hand, military commissars and political workers have increased their military knowledge, have acquired rich experience in contemporary war; part of them have already been transferred to command duties and successfully direct troops; many others can be used for command duties either immediately or after certain military preparation.

All these new circumstances, connected with the growth of our commanding and political cadres, bear witness to the fact that the soil for the existence of the system of military commissars has completely fallen away. More than that, the continued existence of the institution of military commissars can become a drag on the improvement of the administration of troops, and creates a false position for the commissars themselves.

Thus there has developed the necessity to abolish in the Red Army the institution of military commissars, to establish complete one-man control, and to impose wholly on commanders the responsibility for all aspects of work among the troops.

Proceeding from this, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decrees:

1. Complete one-man control shall be established in the Red Army, and responsibility for all aspects of the military and political life of units, commands, and installations of the Red Army shall be imposed wholly on commanders.

2. In commands, units, staffs, military educational institutions, in central and chief administrations of the People’s Commissariat of Defense, and in installations of the Red Army, the institution of military commissars shall be abolished; and in subdivisions of units, the institution of political directors shall be abolished.

3. The institution of deputy commanders for the political branch shall be introduced in commands, units, staffs, subdivisions of units, military educational institutions, in central and chief administrations of the People’s Commissariat of Defense, and in installations of the Red Army.

4. The transfer to command duties of those military commissars and political workers who are most prepared militarily and who have had experience of contemporary war shall be increased.

5. Military ranks and insignia common to all commanders of the Red Army shall be established for deputy commanders for the political branch and for all other political workers.

Source: Harold J. Berman and Miroslav Kerner, ed., Documents on Soviet Military Law and Administration (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1955), pp. 18-20.

 

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