The Collapse of the Soviet Military / William E. Odom.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Odom, William E., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Soviet Union--History, Military.

Soviet Union.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (544 p.) : 17 b/w illus.

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2008]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

One of the great surprises in modern military history is the collapse of the Soviet Armed Forces in 1991-along with the party-state with which it was inextricably intertwined. In this important book, a distinguished United States Army officer and scholar traces the rise and fall of the Soviet military, arguing that it had a far greater impact on Soviet politics and economic development than was perceived in the West.General William E. Odom asserts that Gorbachev saw that dramatically shrinking the military and the military-industrial sector of the economy was essential for fully implementing perestroika and that his efforts to do this led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Odom enhances his account with interviews with key actors in the Soviet Union before, during, and after the collapse. He describes the condition of the Soviet military during the mid-1980s and explains how it became what it was-its organizational structures, manpower policies, and military-industrial arrangements. He then moves to the dramatic events that led to its destruction, taking us to the most secret circles of Soviet policy making, as well as describing the public debates, factional struggles in the new parliament, and street combat as army units tried to repress the political forces unleashed by glasnost. Odom shows that just as the military was the ultimate source of stability for the multinational Soviet state, the communist ideology justified the military's priority claim on the economy. When Gorbachev tried to shift resources from the military to the civilian sector to overcome economic stagnation, he had to revise the official ideology in order to justify removing the military from its central place. Paralyzed by corruption, mistrust, and public disillusionment, the military was unable and unwilling to intervene against either Gorbachev's perestroika or Yeltsin's dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Abbreviations

ONE. The Soviet Philosophy of War

TWO. Party, State, and Military Structure

THREE. How the Military Was Manned

FOUR. The Permanent War Economy

FIVE. Military Strategy

SIX. Deciding to Change Course

SEVEN. Defensive Doctrine and Arms Reductions

EIGHT. Glasnost and the Public Debate

NINE. Legislating Military Reform

TEN. The Intractable Party-Military Connection

ELEVEN. The Intractable Military-Industrial Sector

TWELVE. The Army and Maintaining Domestic Order

THIRTEEN. From Force Reductions to Disintegration

FOURTEEN. The August Crisis

FIFTEEN. Illusions of Another Chance

SIXTEEN. The Illusion of the CIS Armed Forces

Conclusion

Chronology

Biographical Reference

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780300145519

0300145519

OCLC:

1024023523