Organising for Modern Total War, 1921–8

Abstract

It has been argued that the creation of the Soviet defence-industry complex was a reflection of direct external threats. These made the leadership aware of how economically backward Soviet Russia was in comparison with the bourgeois states of Western Europe. In this chapter, the underlying long-term goals and organisational efforts in military-industrial organisation will be scrutinised. Thereafter, short-term changes as reflections of changing threat assessments will be analysed.