Voennyi Sbornik

209-235

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.

241-252

Authors: Elmira B. Alieva

This article attempts to examine the process of the making and development of a local air and chemical defense system and the major components that make it up: regulatory/statutory acts, resolutions by the central government, and mechanisms for their implementation by local authorities. Special attention is devoted to the legal framework and measures for popularizing civil defense among the population, which fostered the development of the local air defense system during the period of interwar five-year plans. In the end, the author comes to the following conclusion: over the entire period under examination, step by step the government had been putting together a local air defense system so effective as to enable the civil population, in the event of a military threat, to promptly arrange not only its own defense but that of local enterprises of strategic significance. Thanks to the measures taken, by the beginning of World War II many citizens had mastered the major skills for defense against aerial and chemical attacks. A consequence of reform in the system of civil defense was the overall militarization of the country’s population.

159-166

Authors: Alexey Yu. Bezugolniy

This article provides an analysis of the efforts to arrange strategic interactions between the Stalingrad line fronts and the Transcaucasian front, which was defending the North Caucasus. Not long before the commencement of the counter-offensive under Stalingrad in mid-November 1942, the Transcaucasian front was assigned the task to encircle and destroy the main body of the German First Panzer Army, which was operating on the Grozny-Baku line. However, due to a number of objective and subjective reasons, the plan failed to be turned into reality.

175-186

Authors: Elena Yu. Litsareva

The article examines the security issues in the Asia-Pacific region after the cold war. At that time Asia-Pacific region was the only world region with the domination of the economic regional ties and not actually increasing the influence of the military factor. The security issues in the Asia-Pacific region have been limited to the maintenance of stability, at both the national and regional levels. Security, freedom and prosperity in the region were directly dependent on the “postmodern” principles of negotiations, compromises and economic cooperation. Most regional countries were turned into the “postmodernist” states, invested significant economic potential not into the militarization, but into the welfare strengthening at national and regional levels. However, there were unresolved regional conflicts and destabilizing factors. A struggle for the political leadership was one of the tension sources. At the beginning of the twenty-first century the "postmodern" principles in the region have been shattered, because of the threat of nuclear proliferation became especially acutely in the whole of the East Asia, in both the South and the North. In the spring of 2013, the Asia-Pacific region was the center of a military confrontation, and developments at the Korean peninsula - an indication that the East Asia countries have yet to develop the effective system of the security in the region.

80-82

Authors: Timofei E. Dolgopolov

These remarks by a former solder of a special task unit Dolgopolov Timifey Eliseevich were published for the first time. The remarks were made during a long interview on February 16, 2001. The solder remembered episodes while ensuring security during Teheran Conference, military operations on occupied territory, the end of World War 2.

89-94

Authors: Kent R. Crawford, Nicholas W. Mitiukov, Patrick McSherry

The paper presents a critical analysis of 19th Century pneumatic naval guns, based on a simple simulated model. Based on documentation available, the authors were able to ascertain the parameters that could be used to characterize the effectiveness of the pneumatic guns. In the process, some errors in previous literature were found.

120-133

Authors: Nataliya N. Koroteeva

In the article the procedure of medical supply of Russian army from 18 till the middle of 19 century was viewed. Special attention was paid to the governmental regulation of medical provision for military subdivisions. The roots go back to Chemistry department – the first agency of medical regulation in the Russian nation. Its functions included the medical supply of military subdivisions with medical means and its distribution. During the reign of Peter the first the foundation of military chemistry was based. The principals were connected with the need of regular supply of the army and hospitals by medicines due to frequent wars. Military pharmaceutical net was represented by drug stores, controlled by Chemistry Department in the beginning of the 18 century. Then it was the section of state medical provision by Ministry of Home Affairs. The Stores were divided into state, hospital and in-the-field, depending on their purpose and functions of medical supply. Organizational and technical Arrangements of medical regulation were stated in details. The purposes of different types of chemist’s were also taken up. The author considered the legislative basis and archival sources, found the leading role of the government in management of pharmaceutical supply of armed forces. Organizing and controlling government functions were determined by the special way of business management. It included the possibility of hygiene infractions, also abuse of authority and overdoses.

14-18

Authors: Zvonimir Freivogel

Austro-Hungarian Navy was initially ordering its early destroyers abroad, or building them in licence after foreign designs, like the numerous Yarrow-designed and VTE-powered Huszár class, but shorthly before World War One, Austro-Hungarian ship-builders developed an excellent design. The steam turbine-powered, fast and strongly armed destroyers of the Tátra class were very successful on the Adriatic during the 1914-18 war. At first only six were built, and the second batch was cancelled after the war broke out, but after two of these valuable ships were sunk by mines in a single action, four additional and slightly modified vessels were ordered, and completed late during the war. Together with scout cruisers of the Admiral Spaun and Saida classes they formed the backbone of the A-H light naval forces, and were very active during the war. The surviving vessels were divided by the victors, serving for several years after the war under French and Italian flags.

33-40

Authors: Tatiana P. Khlynina

The article explores the perception of the evacuation held by Rostov Oblast residents and how the evacuation is reflected in the archives located at the Centre for documenting modern history of the Rostov Oblast. It examines the eye witness accounts of the events in 1941-1942. The article investigates the archival sources, including the declassified documents of the transport department at the Rostov regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party with respect to the evacuation measures for the authorities. The article notes the inconsistencies between personal and official sources and analyses their research opportunities.

51-56

Authors: Tatiana G. Kurbat

The article explores documents present in three archives of the Emergency State Commission which are kept in the State Archives of the Russian Federation and in two archives of the Rostov Oblast. The article describes these documents in detail and notes their records management features. The article notes the fact that the information present in the documents is stylistically susceptible to be influenced by the ideology of the time when they were written.

63-64

Authors: Alejandro Anca Alamillo

The article succinctly examines the military and technical innovations introduced by the Spanish Defence Ministry within the sphere of shipbuilding.