Stavka

Stavka (Russian: Ставка) was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union. In western literature it is sometimes incorrectly written STAVKA in uppercase, although the word is not an acronym. The term may be applied to personnel of the military Staff, as well as to military Staff location, its original meaning from the old Russian word ставка — Tent.