THE RED ARMY.

Evening Star, Issue 19775, 27 January 1928, Page 4

THE RED ARMY.

It is sometimes stated that there are more men under arms in Europe today than there were iu the years immediately preceding the war. Estimates made from a number of reliable sources, such as the Temporary Mixed Commission on Armaments at Geneva, negative this idea, and show that at the present time there are in the various Continental armies 1,000,000 men fewer than there were at the beginning of 1914. This is not a very notable achievement when the peace movements are taken into consideration, and it is remembered that the German military machine was effectively broken and the armies of Austria reduced to civilian rank. The financial aspect of the situation has had its effect also, for the Allied countries on the Continent, impoverished by the war, have to reduce their armies to a point consistent with their ideas of safety. The general reduction in military strength, .therefore, has not been as great as might have been expected. The position is largely accounted for by Russia’s military methods and ambitions. A Labor member of the House of Commons, who has just returned from Moscow, says that a strong martial spirit prevails in the country. He declares that it is being fostered and encouraged among the young people, even troops of girls being formed and taught to handle rifles. This is no new thing for Russia, for in war time many women fought on the battlefield, and by their courage and enthusiasm helped to stiffen the ranks when through treachery and mismanagement things were going badly on the various fronts. Trotsky Fas the first HAH in the. new regime to take

the Russian army in hand. As Commissar of War, he began by employing the services of as many officers of the former army as he. could obtain, the famous General Brusiloff being among the number. In a very little while lie had a force under his control which demonstrated its efficiency in an effective way in the campaign in the Crimea against General Wrangel. Since then efforts have been steadily directed to the creation of an army of great potential strength. In 1914 the peace establishment of the Imperial Russian army amounted to 1,300,000 of all ranks. To-day the Red army, including the air section, is said to have a peace strength of about 1,124,000. It is estimated that in time of war the Soviet Government would have at its disposal about 10,000,000 men between the ages of eighteen and thirty-one, all of whom would have received varying degrees of military training. To arm and equip such a force would be entirely beyond Russia’s resources under her present economic isolation, but considerable headway has been made in this direction. The latest mechanised devices in warfare are being employed. Particular attention is being paid to machine guns because of tho relative inefficiency of the Russian soldier in rille shooting, and armored cars, tanks, and armored trains are being acquired to the fullest extent that financial considerations will permit. Equal attention is being paid to the aiA arm, and several messages of late have referred to the fact that poison gas factories are being established in various parts of the country. ‘ Izvcstia,’ tho Soviet official organ, recently stated that the military expenditure lose from £42,OOO.OOU in 1924-25 to £03,400,000 in 1926-27. It would be imagined that the building up of this great military force would create its own interna! dangers, but the Ministers have taken precautions against tho army duels interfering in the conduct of State policy. The military authorities and the army units arc honeycombed with political personnel, thus adopting the plan of the French revolutionary leaders—a scheme that succeeded until the overwhelming personality of Napoleon came on the scene. It is difficult to see what practical use can be made of this great array that is being organised. The invasion of Russia by any other Power is unthinkable. Its frozen wastes and vast distances give it ample security. There is little prospect of excursions abroad. The management of its own affairs and the development of its resources give its Ministers ample occupation. World revolution is the Soviet’s declared aim. The hostility of the present regime to nations not in sympathy with Bolshevist rule is notorious, but under the present conditions subversive propaganda rather than military aggression is tho directing force. The morale of the Red army is said to be good, and the aim of tho Soviet leaders is probably to inculcate in it a spirit of patriotic enthusiasm that will make it amenable to discipline and be an effective safeguard against internal revolutionary movements.