HISTORIOGRAPHY OF ACTIVITIES OF THE RED ARMY AND WEHRMACHT BODIES ON THE STUDY AND USE OF THE COMBAT EXPERIENCE DURING WORLD WAR II

Olha  PASHKOVA; Ihor  YEVSIEIEV

doi:10.24919/2519-058X.24.264743

Authors

Olha PASHKOVA PhD (History), Researcher of the Research Centre for Military History, Ivan Cherniakhovskyi National Defence University of Ukraine, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6525-4613
Ihor YEVSIEIEV Researcher of the Research Centre for Military History, Ivan Cherniakhovskyi National Defence University of Ukraine, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1450-1378

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.24.264743

Abstract

The purpose of the research – the goal of the article is to elucidate the main scientific and cognitive, scientific and organizational factors of formation, epistemological and substantive features and specific achievements of the leading directions of historiography of the analytical bodies system to study and generalize combat experience of the main participants of World War II to improve the activities of the existing generalization system of combat use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, comprehensiveness and integrity, systematicity and, in addition to basic research methods, it is also based on the methods of historiography as a special historical discipline that studies theoretical and epistemological, social and institutional foundations of the process of scientific knowledge of the past (historiographical institutional, historiographical conceptualization, historiographical synthesis, historiographical source studies, etc.). The scientific novelty consists in doing an in-depth analysis of the historiography created by military historians of the formation and operation of the system of studying and generalizing combat experience during World War II, which contributed to the development of martial arts and improved training of personnel of the warring parties. The Conclusions. The article focuses on the analysis of the main stages of historiography research process: the first – from the beginning of World War II to the 90s of last century and the second – modern, which dates back to 1990. There have been identified, systematized and characterized the main groups of historiographical sources covering the activities of the bodies on the study and use of combat experience during World War II. The results of the work of these bodies are a valuable factual array for research. In order to improve the functioning of the existing system of study and use of experience in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the authors suggest implementing in its activities the dissemination of generalized combat experience gained in the anti-terrorist operation / Joint Forces operation by means of special periodicals.

Key words: historiography, World War II, historical experience, military art, history of science, military history, military research.

References

Alekseev, M. (1980). Vostochno-Prusskaya operaciya [East Prussian Operation]. Voenno-istoricheskij zhurnal – Military Historical Journal, 2, 44–46 [in Russian]

Dashichev, V. I. (1967). “Sovershenno sekretno! Tol'ko dlya komandovaniya”. Strategiya fashistskoj Germanii v vojne protiv SSSR. Dokumenty i materialy [“Top Secret! For Command only”. The strategy of fascist Germany in the war against the USSR. Documents and materials]. Moskva: Nauka, 752 p. [in Russian]

Gladysh, S. A. (1987). Obobshchenie i ispol'zovanie boevogo opyta v pervom periode Velikoj otechestvennoj vojny [Generalization and Use of the Combat Experience during the First Period of the Great Patriotic War]. Voenno-istoricheskij zhurnal – Military Historical Journal, 7, 14–20 [in Russian]

Glantz, D. (2009). Vosstavshie iz pepla. Kak Krasnaya Armiya 1941 goda prevratilas' v Armiyu Pobedy. Izuchenie opyta vojny [Risen from the Ashes. How the Red Army of 1941 turned into Victory Army. Study of the War Experience]. URL: https://biography.wikireading.ru/92747 [in Russian]

Gluharev, N. N. (2015). K voprosu o meste sovetsko-germanskogo fronta Vtoroj mirovoj vojny v anglo-amerikanskoj istoriografii [On the Issue of the Role of the Soviet-German Front of World War II in Anglo-American Historiography]. Lokus: lyudi, obshchestvo, kul'tury i smysly – Locus: peоple, soсiety, culture, meanings, 4, 59–72 [in Russian]

Golubovich, V., & Lomov, N. (1981). Ob organizacii i metodah raboty General'nogo shtaba [On the Organization and Methods of Work of the General Staff]. Voenno-istoricheskij zhurnal – Military Historical Journal, 2, 12–19 [in Russian]

Grakina, E. I. (1989). Uchenye – frontu. 1941–1945 [Scholars for the Front. 1941–1945]. Moskva: Nauka, 256 p. [in Russian]

Har'kov, A. G. (1990). Istoricheskij opyt v razvitii voennoj nauki [Historical Experience in the Development of Military Science]. Voennaya mysl' – Military thought, 6, 28–36 [in Russian]

Hrebeniuk, M., Hrytsiuk, V. & Shchypanskyi, P. (2020). Istorychna periodyzatsiia antyterorystychnoi operatsii na skhodi Ukrainy (14 kvitnia 2014 – 30 kvitnia 2018 rr.) [Historical Periodization of the Anti-terrorist Operation in Eastern Ukraine (April 14, 2014 – April 30, 2018)]. Ukrainskyj istorychnyj zhurnal – Ukrainian Historical Journal, 4, 176–191. Doi: 10.15407/uhj2020.04.176 [in Ukrainian]

Hrytsiuk, V. M. & Yevsieiev, I. H. (2020). Transformatsiia orhaniv RSChA z vyvchennia ta vykorystannia boiovoho dosvidu u roky Druhoi svitovoi viiny [Transformation of the Red Army Bodies on the Studying and Using Military Experience during World War II]. Voienno-istorychnyi visnyk – Military Historical Bulletin, 1 (35), 85–100. Doi: 10.33099/2707-1383-2020-35-1-85-100 [in Ukrainian]

Hrytsiuk, V., Lysenko, O. & Kydon, V. (2021). Proloh nimetsko-radianskoi viiny: politychni ta viiskovo-stratehichni aspekty [Prologue to the German-Soviet War: Political, Military and Strategic Aspects]. Ukrainskyj istorychnyj zhurnal – Ukrainian Historical Journal, 3, 56–79. Doi: 10.15407/uhj2021.03.056 [in Ukrainian]

Istoriya Velikoj. (1965). Istoriya Velikoj Otechestvennoj vojny Sovetskogo Soyuza 1941 – 1945 gg. [History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941 – 1945]. (Vol. 6). Moskva: Voenizdat, 621 p. [in Russian]

Korshunov, E. L. & Rupasov, A. I. (2016). “Operacii vojsk Leningradskogo fronta… yavilis' horoshej boevoj trenirovkoj vojsk” [“The Operations of the Troops of Leningrad Front ... were a Good Combat Training of the Troops”]. Vojna i blokada – War and blockade (pр. 269–311). Sankt Peterburg: Nestor-Istoriya [in Russian]

Korshunov, E. L. (2013). Oficery General'nogo shtaba Krasnoj Armii o boevyh dejstviyah 6-j gvardejskoj armii v hode Kurskoj bitvy [Officers of the General Staff of the Red Army on the Combat Actions of the 6th Guards Army during the Battle of Kursk]. URL: https://histrf.ru/uploads/media/default/0001/63/177abe89a3c241eb19b1ef9f20af996f5c5706cb.pdf [in Russian]

Krinko, E. F. (2012). Institucionalizaciya pamyati: nauchno-organizacionnye formy i praktiki izucheniya Velikoj Otechestvennoj vojny v sovetskoj i postsovetskoj istoriografii [Institutionalization of Memory: Scientific and Organizational Forms and Practices of Studying the Great Patriotic War in Soviet and the Post-Soviet Historiography]. Іstorіografіchnі doslіdzhennya v Ukrainі – Historiographical studies in Ukraine, 22, 247–264. [in Russian]

Krinko, E. F., Kropachev, S. A. (2012). Poteri naseleniya SSSR v 1937 – 1945 gg.: masshtaby i formy [Losses of the USSR Population in 1937 – 1945: Scales and Forms]. Moskva: Rossijskaya politicheskaya enciklopediya [in Russian]

Kuroedov, V. I. (Ed.). (1998). Glavnyj shtab VMF: istoriya i sovremennost'. 1696–1997 [The General Staff of the Navy: History and Modernity]. Moskva: Nauchnaya kniga, 186 p. [in Russian]

Lysenko, O., Pyliavets, R. (2019). Bytva za Dnipro u Druhii svitovii viini: sproba novoi kontseptualnoi vizii [The Battle for the Dnieper in World War II: an Attempt at a New Conceptual Vision]. Ukrainskyj istorychnyj zhurnal – Ukrainian Historical Journal, 4, 88–117. [in Ukrainian]

Lysenko, O., Seheda, S. & Fyl, O. (2020). Amet-Khan Sultan – vydatnyi syn krymskotatarskoho narodu (do 100-richchia z dnia narodzhennia) [Amet-Khan Sultan – an Outstanding Son of the Crimean Tatar People (to the 100th anniversary of his birth)]. Ukrainskyj istorychnyj zhurnal – Ukrainian Historical Journal, 6, 169–184. doi: 10.15407/uhj2020.06.169 [in Ukrainian]

Ryazanov, M. F. (2000). Dorozhnye vojska Vtorogo Belorusskogo fronta v zavershayushchej kampanii Velikoj Otechestvennoj vojny, yanvar'–maj 1945 g. [Road Troops of the Second Belorussian Front in the Final Campaign of the Great Patriotic War, January – May of 1945] (Extended abstract of candidate’s thesis). Moskva, 20 p. [in Russian]

Seheda, S. P. (2012). Stvorennia ta rozvytok ukrainskoi viiskovoi presy (XX – pochatok XXI stolittia) [Creation and Development of the Ukrainian Military Press (the XXth – the beginning of the XXIst century)]. Rivne: Ovid, 504 р. [in Ukrainian]

Semon, B. Y. & Skriabin, O. L. (2014). Diialnist orhaniv viiskovoho upravlinnia Chervonoi armii z vyvchennia boiovoho dosvidu u roky Velykoi Vitchyznianoi viiny (1941–1945) [Activity of the Military Administration Bodies of the Red Army on the Study of the War Experience during the Great Patriotic War (1941 – 1945)]. Voienno-istorychnyi visnyk – Military Historical Bulletin, 3 (13), 44–50 [in Ukrainian]

Shaposhnikov, B. M. (Ed.). (1942). Razgrom nemeckih vojsk pod Moskvoj: Moskovskaya operaciya Zapadnogo fronta 16 noyabrya 1941 g. – 31 yanvarya 1942 g. [The Defeat of the German Troops near Moscow: the Moscow Operation of the Western Front on November 16, 1941 – January 31, 1942]. Moskva, 538 р. [in Russian]

Shtemenko, S. M. (1968). General'nyj shtab v gody vojny [General Staff during the War]. Moskva: Voenizdat, 416 p. [in Russian]

Shtemenko, S. M. (1981). General'nyj shtab v gody vojny [General Staff during the War]. Moskva: Voenizdat, 471 p. [in Russian]

Tarhova, H. S. (2005). Ot “Zimnej vojny” k Velikoj Otechestvennoj (meropriyatiya voennogo rukovodstva po usileniyu boesposobnosti armii v predvoennyj god) [From the “Winter War” to the Great Patriotic War (measures of the military management on strengthening the army's combat capability in the pre-war year)]. Abstracts of Papers '05: Velikaya otechestvennaya vojna 1941 – 1945 gg.: opyt izucheniya i prepodavaniya. (pp. 199–206). Moskva. [in Russian]

Tolmacheva, A. V. (2006). Boevoj i chislennyj sostav i poteri vooruzhennyh sil protivoborstvuyushchih storon na sovetsko-germanskom fronte v gody Velikoj Otechestvenno vojny (1941 – 1945 gg.) [Combat and Quantity, and Losses of the Armed Forces of the Opposing Sides on the Soviet-German Front during the Great Patriotic War (1941 – 1945)] (Extended abstract of Candidate’s thesis). Krasnoyarsk, 32 p. [in Russian]

Tsentralnyi arkhiv Ministerstva oborony Rosiiskoi Federatsii [The Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation – CAMDRF]

Val'kov, V. A. (2013). Narkomflot N. G. Kuznecov i ego vklad v razvitie voenno-morskogo iskusstva [People's Commissar of the Navy Kuznetsov N.G. and his Contribution to the Development of Naval Art]. URL: https://flot.com/history/personalities/kuznetsov.htm [in Russian]

Vasil'ev, N. M. (1994). Rabota General'nogo shtaba po obobshcheniyu opyta vojny v 1941 – 1945 godah [The Work of the General Staff on Generalization of the War Experience in 1941 – 1945]. Voennaya mysl' – Military thought, 5, 68–74 [in Russian]

Vasil'ev, N. М. (2013). Kogda gremela groza [When the Storm Thundered]. URL: https://redstar.ru/index.php/newspaper/item/7071-kogda-gremela-groza [in Russian]

Velikaya Otechestvennaya vojna. (1998). Velikaya Otechestvennaya vojna 1941 – 1945: Voenno-istoricheskie ocherki [The Great Patriotic War 1941 – 1945: Military History Sketches]. (Vol. 1). Moskva: Nauka, 544 р. [in Russian]

Velikaya Otechestvennaya vojna. (1999). Velikaya Otechestvennaya vojna 1941 – 1945: Voenno-istoricheskie ocherki [The Great Patriotic War 1941 – 1945: Military History Sketches]. (Vol. 4). Moskva: Nauka, 368 р. [in Russian]

Velikaya Otechestvennaya vojna. (2015). Velikaya Otechestvennaya vojna 1941 – 1945 godov [The Great Patriotic War 1941 – 1945]. (Vol. 11). Moskva: Kuchkovo pole, 864 р. [in Russian]

Velikaya Pobeda. (2015). Velikaya Pobeda [Great Victory]. (2015). (Vol. 1). Moskva: MGIMO, 402 р. [in Russian]

Vidnianskyi, S., Hrytsiuk, V. & Lysenko, O. (2019). Pochatok “Druhoi imperialistychnoi viiny” ta “ukrainske pytannia”: deiaki dyplomatychni, politychni, voienni aspekty [The Beginning of the “Second Imperialist War” and the “Ukrainian Issue”: some Diplomatic, Political, and Military Aspects]. Ukrainskyj istorychnyj zhurnal – Ukrainian Historical Journal, 5, 4–24. [in Ukrainian]

“Zimnyaya vojna”: rabota nad oshibkami (aprel'-maj 1940 g.). (2004). “Zimnyaya vojna”: rabota nad oshibkami (aprel'-maj 1940 g.). Materialy komissij Glavnogo voennogo soveta Krasnoj Armii po obobshcheniyu opyta finskoj kampanii [“The Winter War”: Work on Mistakes (April – May of 1940). Materials of the commissions of the General Military Council of the Red Army on generalization of the experience of the Finnish campaign]. Sankt-Peterburg: Letnij sad, 560 p. [in Russian]

Zolotarev, V. A. (Ed.). (2000). Tajny i uroki zimnej vojny. 1939 – 1940 [Secrets and Lessons of the Winter War of 1939 – 1940]. Sankt Peterburg: “Izdatel'stvo polygon”, 544 p. [in Russian]