Order of the Day of the Commissar of Defence of the U.S.S.R., No. 8
February 23, 1946
Comrades soldiers and sailors of the Red Army and Red Navy, non-commissioned officers, officers and generals!
Today we are celebrating the twenty-eighth anniversary of the existence
of the Red Army. The Red Army commemorates its twenty-eighth
anniversary in the glow of the glorious victory over the German and
Japanese imperialists. Engaged in a prolonged and arduous war, the Fled
Army has emerged as a first-class army of the highest morale and
fighting force, equipped with modern armaments and cadres of great
experience, tempered by battle. In the war against the fascist invaders
the Red Army has shown its high quality, and it has shown that it is
able to defend the interests of the Soviet state effectively,
faithfully and staunchly.
Our soldiers, officers and generals have justified the confidence of
the people and have shown their great devotion towards our Motherland.
The Red Army has proved to the Soviet, people that they can have
confidence in it. The people of our country have great trust in their
army and its victories, and will keep the sacred memory of their heroes
who fell in the battles for the Motherland.
The remarkable victories of the Red Army are explained, above all, by
the fact that it is a truly popular army that defends the interests of
its people. The Soviet people love their army ardently, and are a
constant source of its reinforcement and of its strength. This has been
shown especially in the time of the Great Patriotic War. All our people
have worked unhesitatingly, day and night, for victory. Without this
work, without this self-sacrificing of the workers, peasants and
intellectuals, without their material and moral support, the Red Army
would not have defeated the enemy.
The victories of the Red Army are also explained by the fact that it
was led and educated by the Communist Party. Furthermore, the behests
of the great Lenin helped the Soviet people, under the guidance of the
Communist Party, to transform our country from a backward land to a
land of progress, from an agrarian to an industrial country. On this
basis was founded all the material possibilities for the victorious
struggle of the Red Army against its enemies. During the Great
Patriotic War, the Communist Party united all the countries of the
Soviet Union into a single military camp, and has orientated all the
efforts of the people and the army towards a single aim - the
destruction of the enemy. The Communist Party has educated the Soviet
soldier in the sense and aims of the war, it has cultivated love for
the Motherland, constantly reinforced their fighting spirit and
inspired their staunchness and discipline. All this has created the
conditions for our victory.
After the victory over the enemies, the Soviet Union has entered into a
new period, into a peaceful period of economic development. The present
task of the Soviet people is to assure the conquered positions and to
go forward in a new economic effort. We cannot only assure our position
as this would mean stagnation; we have to go forward and create the
conditions for a new and powerful effort of the national economy. To
put it in a word, we have to heal the wounds inflicted on our country
by the enemy and reach the pre-war level of the national economy before
we can make considerable progress; we have to raise the material
well-being of our people and we have to raise the economic and military
ability of the Soviet state.
Under these new conditions, the Red Army must vigilantly protect the
creative work of the Soviet people, must solidly guarantee the
interests of ‘•he Soviet Union and protect the borders of our
Motherland and make them inaccessible to any enemy.
During the war the main task of the soldiers, officers and generals of
the Red Army consisted of attaining the victory, to concentrate all
their knowledge and efforts on the total annihilation of the enemy. In
these peaceful times the prime task of our soldiers, officers and
generals, without exception, consists of perfecting their military and
political abilities. All our soldiers and non-commissioned officers of
the Red Army have to intensively study military art, have to know their
weapons well and perform their duty irreproachably. Now, more than
ever, the officers have to be able to educate and instruct their
subordinates.
During the war the officers and generals of the Red Army knew well how
to lead their troops in battle. Now these officers and generals have to
become perfect masters in the education and instruction of their troops
in present times.
The Great Patriotic War has introduced much that is new in the military
art. The combat experience represents a rich treasure for the
instruction and education of the troops. That is why all the
instruction of the army should be based on the intelligent application
of the experiences of the war. It is also necessary to utilize this
experience in all fields for the theoretical instruction of the cadres
and officers, for the enriching of Soviet military science. One must
ensure that the military art develops constantly and swiftly. The Red
Army is obliged not only to follow the development of the military art
but to further progress it. The Red Army is equipped with first-class
military material which constitutes the basis for its ability in
combat. It knows how to handle this equipment perfectly and it treats
it as the apple of its eye.
Any successes in the instruction and education of its troops is
impossible without without discipline and a strict military order,
because the effectiveness of an army depends on this. This applies
especially to the adjutants and sergeants who are the immediate
superiors and direct teachers of the soldiers of the Red Army. The
soldiers, officers and generals of the Red Army have great merit with
the people and the Motherland. But they must not become complacent and
vain about this, they must not rest upon their laurels, - but they must
conscientiously carry ‘out their duties and they must devote all their
strength and knowledge to the service of the Red Army. That is what is
demanded of all Soviet soldiers.
Comrades soldiers and sailors of the Red Army and Red Navy,
non-commissioned officers, oficers and generals! In the name of the
Soviet government and our Communist Party, I greet and congratulate you
on the occasion of the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Red Army. To
celebrate the day of the Red Army, today, 23 February, I order: A
salute of twenty artillery salvoes in the capital of our Motherland,
Moscow, in the capitals of the federative republics and in the heroic
cities of Leningrad, Stalingrad, Sebastopol and Odessa.
Long live our victorious Red Army!
Long live our victorious sailors of the war!
Long live our glorious Communist Party!
Long live the great Soviet people!
Long live our powerful Motherland!
J. Stalin
People’s Commissar of Defence of the U.S.S.R.,
Generalissimo of the Soviet Union
("Pravda," No. 7, 23 February, 1946)
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