861.20/439
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Henderson) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 9.]
Sir: I have the honor to attach hereto a number of memoranda12 setting forth the substance of statements made to members of the Embassy during recent months by various Military Attachés in Moscow as to the effect which the purge and establishment of political commissars13 has had upon the efficiency of the Red Army.
It will be observed that no attempt has been made to incorporate into these memoranda information of a technical military character. Although the statements summarized are merely general expressions of opinion, it is thought that they may be of interest to the American Government since they come from professional army officers representing countries with widely diverging interests and relate to a matter which has been the subject of considerable discussion among international military circles.14 It will be noted that all of the Military Attachés whose views are set forth in the enclosures agree that the fighting efficiency of the Red Army has been adversely affected as the result of the purge and the institution of political commissars. It may be added that this opinion is so generally accepted among the circles of Military Attachés in Moscow that discussion in that circle is confined to the extent of injury and the time and manner in which such injury might be remedied rather than as to whether an injury has been received.
The foreign Military Attachés appear to be almost unanimous in expressing the opinion that so long as the political commissars are permitted to exercise the power they now have, the Red Army will not be the effective fighting weapon which a military organization of its size, equipment, and technical level should be. Their opinions differ [Page 520] as to the length of time which would be required for the wound which the Army has suffered to heal in the event that the principle of unity in command should be restored. Most of them appear to believe that it would be possible within at least two or three years to restore the Red Army to its former level if the rulers of the country would again display full confidence in its commanding personnel and permit its commanders to proceed to reorganize it on a non-political basis.
Respectfully yours,
- Six enclosures not printed.↩
- Political, or military, commissars were reintroduced into the armed forces of the Soviet Union by resolution of May 11, 1937, and approved regulations of May 17, 1937. In part their duty was to control the military commander, and to supervise the greater political study and education in the training of the Red Army.↩
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In an attached memorandum of March 12, 1938, Mr. George F. Kennan of the Division of European Affairs noted: “The remarks of the Czech Military Attaché have a special significance, not brought out in the accompanying despatch. Certain professors in this country, aided by Foreign Affairs [New York; a quarterly periodical], have given wide currency to the rumor that the Red Army generals were really guilty of plotting with the Germans and that it was the French and Czechoslovakians who had discovered this and revealed it to the unsuspecting Russians.…
“The Czech Military Attaché [Colonel Frantisek Dastich] makes the following statement to Henderson in this respect: ‘I may state in the above connection that I have never been able to find any confirmation of the charges that Tukhachevski and his colleagues were in the service of any foreign Government and I have never believed that they were.’”
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