revolution bringing an end to the dynasty. Socio-economic collapse followed.
This presented the opportunity for a small party of Marxist revolutionaries to
seize power in November 1917 with the slogan: ‘All power to the Soviets of
Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, bread, land, and peace.’
War and revolution gave birth to the Red Army. ‘Operational art’ as a recog-
nized term in discussions of military art emerged out of the cauldron of war and
revolution that engulfed tsarist Russia and gave birth to Bolshevik Russia. War
and preparations for war became a prominent feature of the state that emerged
during the Russian Civil War and foreign intervention and throughout the rest of
Soviet history.
SVECHIN’SSTRATEGYAND THE ORIGINS
OF OPERATIONAL ARTThe first reference to operational art as a concept of military art has been
attributed to Aleksandr A. Svechin, tsarist general, officer of the Imperial General
Staff, andvoenspets(military specialist) in the service of the new Bolshevik state.
During the First World War, he served at the Stavka (headquarters of the supreme
commander), commanded a division, and served as chief of staff first to the 5th
Army and then to the Northern Front. Joining the Red Army in March 1918, he
organized covering forces at Smolensk during the German advance and then
served briefly as chief of the all-Russian main staff. 1 Later he joined the teaching
faculty of the Military Academy of the Red Army of Workers and Peasants.
In discussing the education of officers in strategy and operational art, Svechin
stressed the utility of deep historical study and observed: ‘In essence, all of
strategy is basically a contemplation of military history.’ 2 Moreover, he informed
his readers that to understand his work on strategy, they should read his multi-
volume work on the evolution of military art. 3 He addressed the development of
military art in its European context and by the juxtaposition of the European and
Russian experiences underscored the differences.
According to N. Varfolomeev, the first professor of operational art at the Red
Army’s military academy, Svechin had first used the term in 1922 in conjunction
with his lectures on strategy. At that time, Svechin defined operational art as a
critical conceptual linkage between tactics and strategy. In this manner, senior
commanders transformed tactical successes into operational ‘bounds’ to achieve
strategic objectives. 4 The time and context of the remarks are particularly impor-
tant because they point towards the connection of the concept with the post-civil
war debates over the interpretation of recent armed conflicts and their implica-
tions for the future of the Red Army.
To Svechin, strategy was the pre-eminent part of the art of war but should be
seen as one of a number of military disciplines, including tactics and operational
art. He specifically called attention to the growing complexity of warfare since the
The Tsarist and Soviet Operational Art, 1853–1991 65