Army (Soviet Army)

The term Army, besides its generalized meaning (see "army") specifically denotes a major military formation in militaries of various countries, including the Soviet Union. During World War II ordinary Soviet armies initially consisted of a number of Rifle Corps. In the emergency of 1941 it was found that inexperienced commanders were finding difficulty in controlling armies with subordinate corps, and they were abolished, to be recreated later in the war.

Following the Second World War, an Army was reorganised with four to five divisions, often equivalent to a corps in most militaries. There were large variations in structure and size. For example, in the October 1944 Battle of Debrecen, the 27th Army was a massive organization with nine rifle divisions, an artillery division, and four attached Romanian infantry divisions. The 40th Army, by comparision, had only five rifle divisions. Both armies were part of the Second Ukrainian Front.

During a war, an Army of the Soviet military was typically subordinated to a Front. In peace time, an Army is usually subordinated to a Military district.

Special titles given to Soviet armies included 'Red Banner', following the award of the Order of the Red Banner and 'Shock'. The famous image of the flag over the Reichstag was of forces from 3rd Shock Army. The 1st Shock Army was formed, in accordance with pre-war planning that saw Shock Armies as special penetration formations, in November-December 1941 to spearhead the counteroffensive north of Moscow in December. A total of five shock armies were formed, the 2nd (former 26th Army), 3rd, and 4th (the former 27th Army) by the winter campaigns of 1942-3. During the Stalingrad counteroffensive the 5th Shock Army was the last such formation formed. 2nd Shock Army was reformed three times, most famously after being encircled in the Liuban' operation south of Leningrad, after which its commander, General Andrey Vlasov, went over to the German side.

Armies which distinguished themselves in combat during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 often became Guards Armies (see Russian Guards). These included the 8th Guards Army.

As World War II went on, the complement of supporting units attached to Soviet armies became more numerous and complex. By 1945, a Soviet army typically had attached mortar, antitank, anti-aircraft, howitzer, gun-howitzer, rocket launcher, independent tank, self-propelled gun, armored train, flamethrower, and engineer-sapper units. In particular, the ratio of artillery pieces to riflemen increased as the war went on, reflecting the Soviet need for increased firepower as manpower reserves began to sag in the face of staggering losses of rifle troops.

From the Soviet Air Force, Air Armies were attached to Fronts. They were made up of two to three Aviation Corps. One of the longest serving, still active today in the Moscow Military District, is the 16th Air Army.