The structure and development of the defence-industry complex

Abstract

Defence was of paramount concern to the leaders of the Soviet state from its inception. The Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 took place as World War I began its final climactic year, amid fears of a renewed German offensive against Russia on the eastern front. As the Soviet government entered into a humiliating peace with Germany, Russia descended rapidly into a bitter Civil War of Reds versus Whites. At the same time the former Allies of the old regime weighed in on the side of the Whites to oust the Bolsheviks and restore Russia to a state of war with Germany. Military issues continually crowded the Bolshevik agenda. The Civil War ended in a victory for the Soviet side, and a sharp contraction of the Red Army and of Soviet defence expenditures followed. At the same time the legacy of the civil war experience was of a siege mentality and a perception of unceasing threats from every quarter of the capitalist world. This legacy would persist throughout the entire Soviet period.