Soviet Military

Soviet Military

The Soviet Armed Forces, also called the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Armed Forces of the Soviet Union (Russian: Вооружённые Силы Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза) refers to the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917—1922), and Soviet Union (1922—1991) from their beginnings in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War to its dissolution in December 1991.

According to the all-union military service law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of five components: the Ground Forces, the Air Forces, the Navy, the State Political Directorate (OGPU), and the convoy guards. The OGPU was later made independent and amalgamated with the NKVD in 1934. After World War II the Strategic Missile Troops (1960), Air Defence Forces (1948) and troops of the All-Union National Civil Defence Forces (1970) were added, standing first, third and sixth in the official Soviet reckoning of comparative importance (with the Ground Forces being Nuclear power of the Soviet Union was the largest ever second, the Air Forces fourth, and the Navy fifth). Soviet military power at the time was the largest and most powerful in the world.