Voennyi Sbornik

202-213

Authors: Yuri F. Katorin

This article is dedicated to the South American arms race and will analyze one of its directions – building at the beginning XX of the century of the river armored ships, that were appeared because of the rivalry of Argentina and Brazil in the pond of La-Plata. There are given their technical characteristics, designation, design feature and armament, are described building ships and basic stages of service in the composition Navy of these countries. It is told about the value, which these ships for the fleets of their countries had.

226-242

Authors: Vladimir I. Afanasenko, Evgeny F. Krinko

The article is the first special study on F.N. Remezov, Soviet general and veteran of the Great Patriotic War. In July 1941 he conducted the 13th Army during the fights at Smolensk direction. Then he was a commander of the North Caucasian Military District and the 56th Separate Army. In late autumn of 1941 the troops under the command of Remezov left and in a week liberated Rostov-on-Don. But further Soviet offensive in the south direction has been stopped by the German defensive line Mius-front. Remezov became a commander of the South Ural Military District. In 1942–1945 he conducted the 45th Army in the Caucasus and Iran. The research is based on the archival and published sources.

135-139

Authors: Nicholas W. Mitiukov, Kent Rand Crawford

In 1859 France completed the first ocean-going ironclad warship, «La Gloire», and changed the definition of naval power completely. Russia, as all the other Powers, found that her most powerful naval gun, the 60-pdr, was insufficient for modern warfare, and realized the future naval armament relied on heavy rifled artillery. Both the Army and Navy began purchasing such cannon from foreign providers until a suitable domestic weapon could be produced. The relationship between the Russian military and Krupp is well known. But there was another provided, the Blakely Ordnance Company in England sold many guns to the Army and Navy, beginning with 8-inch MLR in early 1863 to a large number of 9- and 11-inch guns. Deliveries began in November 1863 and continued until mid-1866. But no sources on the armament of Russian ships and fortresses mentions these guns. What happened to them is a mystery.

158-178

Authors: Nugzar Ter-Oganov

The present paper attempts to show a correlation between the implementation of the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 and its direct impact on the Russia's policy in Iran. This paper examines how the signing of that agreement by the Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Petrovich Izwolsky (1906-1910), a devoted supporter of the alliance with Great Britain, led to changes in Russia's policy in Iran, particularly towards Mohammad Ali Shah's authoritarian regime, with crucial consequences for the latter. The author argues that Izwolsky sought to settle the Anglo-Russian rivalry in Asia, particularly in Iran, in return for gaining British support on European issues. In particular, Izwolsky had an obsessive aspiration for Russia to seize the Black Sea Straits in the near future. As the paper will demonstrate, for this objective Izwolsky was ready to make concessions to the British in Iran. The revolutionary events of the end of 1908 and the first part of 1909 in Iran prove that Izwolsky consciously took several steps to arrive at those concessions. Among them was, first of all, the replacement of the experienced Russian Envoy to Tehran Nicolas Genrikhovich Gartvig (Hartwig), a strong opponent to Izwolsky's "liberal" policy in Iran, by the young and weak-willed Charge d'Affaires Evgueni Vasilievich Sablin, in order to give the British ally the upper hand in that country. There are several other clear manifestations of Izwolsky's changing policy towards Iran. First of all, Russian troops suddenly raised the siege of the Iranian city of Tabriz in April 1909 at a time when Russophile Mohammad Ali Shah was very close to demolishing the Constitutional movement. Also the Russian Mission abstained from supporting Mohammad Ali Shah in fighting the Constitutionalists. Notably, it refrained from using the Russian military detachment, which had arrived in Qazvin on July 11, 1909, against the Constitutionalist forces that were advancing towards Tehran. In addition, the Persian Cossack Brigade led by the Russian commander Colonel V.P.Liakhov played a remarkable inactive role during the revolutionary events of June-July 1909. And last but not least, the northern gates of Tehran were left unprotected, despite the fact that the Russian Mission had obtained information that the Constitutionalists intended to attack Tehran exactly from the north. The result was the Constitutionalists' "surprise" seizure of the capital that led to the downfall of Mohammad Ali Shah on July 16. Therefore, this paper argues that Izwolsky sacrificed Mohammad Ali Shah to achieve a full diplomatic alliance with the British.

72-83

Authors: Vladimir I. Afanasenko

Kharkov to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War was the largest industrial centre of the Ukrainian SSR, a powerful military industry and the second (after Moscow) transport hub. In the fall of 1941 in Kharkov were evacuated from Kiev party-political structure of the USSR, the city was the headquarters of the county and was deployed a large mobilization centre. The defence of the first capital of Soviet Ukraine in October, was ineffective and the enemy seized the city is relatively easy. About how and why it happened, says the article.

86-103

Authors: Yuri F. Katorin

In the article it is told about the creation of the first generation of Soviet ballistic missiles for the armament of submarines. The basic stages of their development, tests and adoption for the armament are described. Are cited the data about the people, is most which actively participated in these processes.

14-29

Authors: Nugzar K. Ter-Oganov

This study attempts to analyze the letters of officer/orientalist and military oriental scholar, officer in the Intelligence Section of the Staff of the Caucasian Military District, Staff Captain Konstantin Nikolayevich Smirnov, sent by him from the Turkish and Iranian sectors of the Caucasian front to his wife Kseniya Karlovna Smirnova (Kester) over the period 1914–1917. Depending on changes in the deployment of Russian troops fighting against the Turkish army, as well as the German-Turkish block, both in the north-eastern part of Turkey and in the north-west of Iran, K.N. Smirnov had sent those letters from Kamarli, Diadin, Iğdır, Beyazıt, Trebizond, Kazvin, Kermanshah, Kerind, Qasr-e Shirin, Ava now to Tiflis and now to Sevastopol, Hamadan, and Kazvin, where his wife was staying at that particular point in time. K.N. Smirnov’s surviving letters, just like their fragments, give us an idea of the military/political situation along the line of contact with the enemy on the Caucasian front, as well as many aspects of the activity of officers from the Expeditionary Corps of General N.N. Baratov in Iran over the period 1915–1917. Of interest is his characterization of the personal qualities of many Russian officers, such as General N.N. Baratov, the immediate superior of Staff Captain Smirnov, who at the time headed the reconnaissance unit of the Expeditionary Corps, Colonel N.F. Ern, Chief of Staff, and other officers of the corps. The letters also bring to light the character of activity by K.N. Smirnov as a “political officer”. K.N. Smirnov’s letters contain extremely rare information on the episode of short-term Anglo-Russian military cooperation on the Caucasian front intended to coordinate actions against Turkish troops in Mesopotamia.

40-47

Authors: Tatiana P. Khlynina

The article is devoted to various aspects of the condition and organization of the everyday life of military units of the Southwestern, Stalingrad and Don fronts in 1942–1943 years. The looks of the questions of food and clothing supplies, ensure domestic needs and recreation. At the base of the article are documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, recorded memories participants in the events of that time, published sources.