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Soviet Naval Doctrine and Soviet Politics, 1953–1975

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

George E. Hudson
George E. Hudson
Affiliation:
Wittenberg University
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Abstract

The two major and interrelated questions this study poses are: (1) How has Soviet naval doctrine developed and adapted to the demands of the nuclear age?; and (2) How do the changes in Soviet naval doctrine relate to the context of Soviet foreign policy and domestic politics? The article demonstrates that Soviet doctrine has accommodated to the challenges of the nuclear age by combining the tenets of traditional and modern warfare. Changes in naval doctrine have come about because of a need to meet the competition of the United States in world politics, and as a response to active interest-group pressure within the Soviet political system. Soviet naval doctrine does not necessarily “mirror” Western doctrine, but reflects a distinct, Soviet view of naval utilization.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , October 1976 , pp. 90 - 113
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1976

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References

1 Naval doctrine is defined as propositions dealing with a navy on the nature of a future war, the effect of the nuclear revolution, the preconditions and conditions for victory in a future war, and the organizational structure of the armed forces.

2 Also referred to as “interest groups.” Two kinds of interest groups have been identified in the Soviet system, those that are associated with institutions, or “institutional” groups, and those that cut across institutions, or “tendencies of articulation.” I have found that both are represented in this study of naval doctrine. For a methodological discussion on interest groups, see Skilling, H. Gordon and Griffiths, Franklyn, eds., Interest Groups in Soviet Politics (Princeton:Princeton University Press 1971Google Scholar), chaps. I, II, X, and XI.

3 This point counters an assertion made previously about the Western nature of Soviet naval doctrine. See Hudson, , “Soviet Naval Doctrine, 1953-1972,” in MccGwire, Michael, ed., Soviet Naval Developments: Capability and Context (New York:Praeger 1973), 288Google Scholar.

4 The identification of differing doctrinal views calls into question Raymond Garthoff's contention that there was an “absence of conflict over military strategic thinking or concepts” during this period. See Garthoff, Raymond L., Soviet Strategy in the Nuclear Age (New York:Praeger 1958), 37Google Scholar; emphasis in original.

5 “Speech by Comrade Malenkov, G. M.,” Pravda, March 13, 1954Google Scholar, as translated in Current Digest of the Soviet Press, vi (April 28, 1954), 8.

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9 Herrick (fn. 7), 75–76.

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18 Ibid., 4.

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21 Herrick (fn. 7), 70; Kolkowicz, , The Soviet Military and the Communist Party (Princeton:Princeton University Press 1967), 355Google Scholar.

22 Kolkowicz (fn. 21), 84–86.

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24 Garthoff (fn. 4), 55–56. In the Army, there were several ranks higher than that of Admiral before the highest Army rank, Marshal of the Soviet Union. Promotion in the Navy skipped these intermediate ranks and went from Admiral to Admiral of the Fleet, which corresponded to Marshal of the Soviet Union.

25 Gorshkov (fn. 8), 15–16; emphasis added.

26 Fokin, , “Na strazhe morskikh rubezhei Sovetskogo gosudarstva” [On Guard of the Soviet Government's Sea Boundaries], Krasnaia zvezda, July 29, 1956, p. 3Google Scholar.

27 Rotmistrov, , “Za tvorcheskuiu razrabotku voprosov sovetskoi voennoi nauki” [For a Creative Development of Questions of Soviet Military Science], Krasnaia zvezda, March 24, 1955, p. 2Google Scholar.

28 Vladimirskii, , “Reaktivnoe oruzhie i vedenie boevykh deistvii na more” [Rocket Weapons and the Conduct of Battle Activity on the Sea], Sovetskii flot, September 21, 1956, p. 2Google Scholar.

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34 Gorshkov (fn. 8), 20.

35 The best summary of Khrushchev's thinking on peaceful coexistence is contained in his “On Peaceful Coexistence,” Foreign Affairs, xxxviii (October 1959), 1–18Google Scholar.

36 “Armiia, okhraniaiushchaia trud stroitelei kommunizma” [The Army, Protecting the Labor of the Builders of Communism], Pravda, February 23, 1960, p. 1Google Scholar.

37 “V interesakh naroda” [In the Interests of the People], Sovetskii flot, September 30, 1959, p. 1. Sovetskii flot is the former official daily newspaper of the Soviet Navy. It was combined with Krasnaia zvezda, the Army-oriented official daily newspaper of the Soviet Ministry of Defense, late in 1960.

38 In 1960, articles of this type increased markedly in frequency in Sovetskii flot.

39 “Zabota o blage trudiashchikhsia” [Care of the Workers' Welfare], Sovetskii flot, May ii , 1958, p. 1.

40 Bakaev, , “Kazhdyi mozhet vybrat' trud po dushe” [Everyone May Choose Work to His Liking], Sovetskii flot, February 11, 1960, p. 1Google Scholar.

41 Gorshkov, , “Nadezhnyi strazh bezopastnosti Rodiny” [The Reliable Guardian of the Security of the Homeland], Sovetskii flot, February 23, 1960, pp. 1–2Google Scholar.

42 See “Derzhat' vysokuiu boevuiu gotovnost'” [Maintain a High Battle Readiness], Sovetskii flot, May 14, 1960, p. 1Google Scholar.

43 Gorshkov, , “Nadezhnyi strazh morskikh rubezhei SSSR” [Reliable Guardian of the U.S.S.R.'s Sea Boundaries], Kommunist vooruzhennykh sil, No. 13 (July 1961Google Scholar), 27; emphasis added.

44 Even at the height of his embarrassment over this issue, Khrushchev called for “general and complete disarmament.” See the series of announcements in Sovetskii flot, June 4, 1960, p. 1Google Scholar.

45 Gorshkov, , “Voenno-Morskoi Flot nashei Rodiny” [Our Homeland's Navy], Kotmmunist vooruzhennykh sil, No. 13 (July 1963), 20Google Scholar.

46 Sokolovskii, Soviet Military Strategy, trans, by Dinerstein, Herbert, Goure, Leon, and Wolfe, Thomas (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall 1963)Google Scholar; see pp. 227–30 for the discussion of ground troops.

47 Alafuzov, , “K vykhodu v svet truda Voennaia strategiia” [On the Appearance of the Work Military Strategy], Morskoi sbornik, No. 1 (January 1963), 88Google Scholar.

48 Wolfe, Thomas, Soviet Strategy at the Crossroads (Cambridge:Harvard University Press 1964), 36CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

49 Gorshkov (fn. 8), 20.

50 Reflective of this view in U.S. naval thinking is the contention that aircraft carriers and other types of surface vessels will continue to be critical for victory in war. See Admiral Thomas H. Moorer's testimony in U.S., Senate, Armed Services Committee, Authorization for Military Procurement, Research and Development, Fiscal Year 1971, and Reserve Strength, Part 2, 91st Cong., 2d sess. (1970), 1308.

51 See Kime's, Steve F. discussion of the various “levels” of possible Soviet military action, “The Nuclear Age and the Navies of the Superpowers,” unpub., presented at the Seminar on Soviet Naval Developments, Halifax (October 1973Google Scholar). Party views on wars at sea were expressed in many places. See, for example, “Voenno-Morskoi Flot SSSR” [The U.S.S.R.'s Navy], Kommunist vooruzhennykh sil, No. 13 (July 1968), 32Google Scholar.

52 See the pointed discussion in Lieutenant Volkov, Colonel A. and Zapara, Lieutenant Colonel N., “Nauchno-tekhnicheskaia revoliutsiia i voennoe delo” [The Scientific-Technological Revolution and Military Affairs], Kommunist vooruzhennykh sil, No. 2 (January 1971), 12Google Scholar.

53 Grechko, , “Flot nashei Rodiny” [Our Homeland's Fleet], Morskoi sbornik, No. 7 (July 1971), 5Google Scholar; emphasis added.

54 Malinovskii, “Velikaia pobeda” [A Great Victory], Pravda, May 9, 1966, p. 2; Grechko (fn. 33), 9.

55 Sokolovskii's third edition of Military Strategy (1968) still mentioned the Navy last whenever it listed the armed forces together.

56 For an organization chart of the current Soviet Ministry of Defense, see Scott, Colonel William F., USAF (Ret.), “Soviet Aerospace Forces and Doctrine,” Air Force Magazine, Vol. 58 (March 1975), 41Google Scholar. Dimitri F. Ustinov, a civilian appointed Minister of Defense in April 1976, received the title of general, an army rank, shortly after his appointment.

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58 Erickson, John, Soviet Military Power (London:Royal United Institute for Defence Studies 1971), 55Google Scholar; emphasis in original.

59 For an argument taken from the history of Soviet doctrine, but with evident contemporary relevance, see Gorshkov's “Voenno-morskie floty v voinakh i v mirnoe vremia” [Navies in War and Peace], Morskoi sbornik, No. 8 (August 1972), 21.

60 For a detailed discussion of “command of the seas,” see Brodie, Bernard, A Guide to Naval Strategy (newly rev. ed., New York:Praeger 1965Google Scholar), chap. IV.

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62 Blechman, Barry M., The Changing Soviet Navy (Washington:Brookings Institution Press 1973), 22–23Google Scholar. For a first-rate discussion of definitional difficulties with “showing the flag” and other commonly used naval concepts, see Ken Booth, “Navies and Foreign Policy,” unpub., presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, St. Louis, Mo. (March 1974), 12–14. A revised version of this paper is to be published in late 1976 by Crane Russak Publishers, as Navies and Foreign Policy.

63 Matsulenko, Major General V., “Lokal'nye voiny imperializma” [Local Wars of Imperialism], Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal, No. 9 (September 1968), 38Google Scholar.

64 International events and policy changes cannot have an immediate impact on the output of new or renovated naval vessels, due to the length of lead time involved in naval construction. See Michael MccGwire, “The Turning Points in Soviet Naval Policy,” in MccGwire (fn. 3) , 180.

65 Zakharov and others, Istoriia voenno-morskogo iskusstva: uchebnik dlia vysshikh voenno-morskikh uchilishch [A History of the Naval Art: A Textbook for Advanced Naval Students] (Moscow: Voenizdat 1969); quotes from pp. 556, 559.

66 “Rech' tovarishcha L. I. Brezhneva” [Comrade L. I. Brezhnev's Speech], Pravda, July 6, 1967, pp. 1–2.

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73 MccGwire uses a lead time of between eight and twelve years (fn. 64), 180.

74 Gorshkov, “Voenno-Morskie floty v voinakh i v mirnoe vremia” [Navies in War and Peace], began to appear in Morskoi sbornik, No. 2 (February 1972); it was continued in Nos. 3–6 and 8–12, and was completed in No. 2 (February 1973).

75 Robert W. Herrick, “The Gorshkov Interpretation of Russian Naval History,” in MccGwire (fn. 3), 306–21; Robert G. Weinland, “Analysis of Admiral Gorshkov's ‘Navies in War and Peace,’” in MccGwire, Booth, and McDonnell (fn. 57), 547–72.

76 Booth, Ken, The Military Instrument in Soviet Foreign Policy (London: Royal United Services Institute 1974), 23Google Scholar.