East View Research Collections

A unique collection of practically unknown sources on a major battle of WWII. It includes a detailed description of the Kursk battle by the General Staff of the USSR which consists of two volumes: Defensive Battle (July 1943) and The Rout of the Orel and Belgorod-Kharkov German Army Groups (July-August 1943). This monograph, published in 1946-1947, was supplemented with two volumes of maps and charts. Other studies comprising the collection were implemented in two famous Russian military academies: the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy and Voroshilov Higher Military Academy. Materials in the collection were designated for generals and senior officers of the Soviet Army, and provide researchers with valuable first-hand reports.

This collection includes 10 sets of materials on Soviet naval operations in the Black Sea, the Pacific, the Northern Sea, and the Baltic Sea as well as on operations by various river flotillas during WWII. The volumes consist of short operational diaries for each day of the war as well as archival citations for documents pertaining to the specific operation, including: the Baltic Sea and Lake Ladoga; the Northern Sea Theater; the Black Sea; military actions of the Volga Flotilla, Dnieper Flotilla, Danube Flotilla, and Onega Flotilla; combat actions of the Pacific fleet during the war against Japan; combat actions of the Pinsk Flotilla; and combat actions on Chudskoye and Ilmen Lakes. This is an essential reference guide for the naval historian preparing for research in the Russian archives.

Unprecedented in lethality and scale, and with an aftermath that profoundly affected the global economic and political landscape, World War I caused once powerful nations to collapse, new ideologies to emerge, and ultimately, more global conflict. Over 20,000 documents from the Russian State Library comprise this primary source collection, which offers unique insights into Russian combat operations, troop conditions, and military campaigns along the Eastern Front between 1914 and 1918. Included are orders of battle and instructions from the Russian high command, force structure, personnel moves, and battlefield communications in military operations against German and Austro-Hungarian troops. These documents shed unvarnished light on day-to-day aspects of the Russian army in World War I, ranging from commendations to execution for flagrant breaches of military discipline.

This 26-volume set serves as the cornerstone of modern Soviet military art. Prepared by the Military History Section [Directorate] of the Red Army’s General Staff during and immediately after the Great Patriotic War, this series of analyses was the single most important vehicle for imparting the emerging lessons of the war to Soviet officers. Editors for this series included the biggest names in Soviet military science at the time, such as P. P. Yechnyi and E. A. Shilovskii. Probably no other series looks at strategy and operational art in such a fresh and critical light as does this one. Descriptions, commentary and analyses are straightforward and untainted by ideology. Most volumes are richly illustrated with maps and tables, and usually also contain a bibliography section in which other secret and top-secret books and periodicals are reviewed and described. Every fifth issue contains a detailed subject index to the preceding five volumes. Save for a few copies which were captured by the Germans in 1943 and later recaptured by the Allies, most of these volumes have never before been available to Western researchers.

This collection contains the most critical directives and orders from STAVKA, the USSR’s Supreme Command during the war, as well as combat document detailing the activities of all branches and types of Soviet forces. It is arranged according to subject (i.e., artillery, mechanized forces), battle and period of the war. This series is primarily an archival collection with little analysis or commentary, and was assembled by the Archive of the Ministry of Defense under the direction of the General Staff’s Directorate on the Study of the War Experience (and later, the Military Science Directorate). Most of the more than 8,000 documents were classified secret or top secret, and the series itself was classified “Secret.” This 43-volume set is by far the largest and most comprehensive Soviet documentary series on the war, and it continues to be widely used by military analysts and planners in Russia to this day.

This is the first publication in the series of collections of military-historical materials devoted to the Great Patriotic War and initiated by the USSR Armed Forces Minister in 1948. It describes a number of well-known operations of the Red Army including the Tallinn offensive operation (1944), the Prague offensive operation (1945), battles in Eastern Prussia (1945) as well as the failed May 1942 offensive of the South-Western front group of armies resulted in the German successful counterattack and the Kharkov debacle. Each such description provides detailed information on operation planning and implementation on the basis of primary documents of the Soviet General Staff. This collection, authored by commanders from the battlefield, is an extremely valuable source for researchers of WWII.

This collection includes analyses of combat operations by Soviet troops against the Germans during World War II. There are examples of offensive actions (Leningrad Front, 1st Baltic Front, Warsaw-Poznan Operation, etc.), defensive engagements (Orel bridgehead in the summer of 1943), reconnaissance tactics (Western and Karelian Fronts), etc. Military experience gained at different times of the year and on varying terrains is also discussed (see chapters such as “Lessons of Military Operations in the Winter of 1943-1944” and “Special Factors of an Offensive on Swampy Woodland Terrains”). Overall, this publication is an important primary-source material of the Red Army’s war history.

In August-September 1941 the Battle of Kyiv was fought by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. At one point, the enemy pushed forward hundreds of kilometers. In reaction, the Council of People’s Commissars and the Central Committee recommended the creation of underground resistance movements in areas captured by the enemy. This collection brings together a wealth of documentary evidence from these underground and guerilla movements. Organized into six major parts, the collection contains holdings rich in a variety of areas of interest: reports dealing with the operation of underground Bolshevik organizations and guerrilla units; a complete list of the guerrilla units, their locations and members; lists of built-up areas destroyed by Nazi troops in retaliation for armed resistance by guerrilla units; information about concentration camps for prisoners of war or about the civilian population killed or deported as forced laborers to Germany; reports on armored train operations during the Soviet defense of Kyiv; minutes of secret meetings held by underground fighters; and documents of the commissions for the affairs of former guerrillas of the urban and rural executive committees of Kyiv Oblast.

Generalkommissariat was created in Ukraine when it was occupied by Nazi Germany in September 1941. The documents (orders, instructions, memos, correspondence, reports, summary reports, etc.) shed light on the Generalkommissariat’s organizational, economic and political activities, including issues concerning health, labor, agriculture and foodstuffs, economic, politics, law, transport, and forestry.

On September 19, 1941, soon after the Nazi Germany’s forces invaded the USSR, they occupied the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. One of the first measures taken by the occupation forces was the establishment of the new Kyiv City Council, the municipal executive body run by local officials appointed by Germans. Previously unavailable, this collection consists of a vast number of unique historical records (over 90,000 pages), including: appeals to population by the City Mayor and the Nazi German command; the establishment of loyal police force; gathering information on political moods among population; conducting inventory of factories, plants and workshops; maintenance of rail and road transport; distribution of bread rations; reopening of schools, libraries and theaters; lists of City Council employees, their personal dossiers and ID papers; transporting local civilians to Germany for forced labor; registration of people of German descent and much more.

Long regarded in the West as one of the most respected and useful Soviet military periodicals, Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal commenced publication in August 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, at a time when Soviet military thinking was in turmoil. It represented a frantic attempt to bring the lessons of recent and distant past to bear on Soviet military art. Its publication was cut short in mid-1941 following Nazi Germany’s invasion of the USSR, as its editorial staff and mission were merged with those of the journal Voennaia mysl’. Publication of Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal resumed in January 1959. Taking advantage of the increasing permissiveness of the Khrushchev-era “thaw,” the journal immediately became the vanguard for serious and high-quality inquiry into the Soviet military and military-historical sciences. Many issues from 1959 through the early 1960s are included in this collection and are not easily found in major libraries in the West. This unique collection covers more than 40 years of the journal, starting from the very first issue, and includes over 70,000 pages.

Based on declassified documents from the Main Cadre Administration of the USSR Ministry of Defense, the Main Political Administration of the Soviet Army, the Soviet Navy, and the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces, this collection lends in-depth detail on the personnel policy in the armed forces of the Soviet state, including military commanders, the role of the Communist Party Central Committee and the Supreme Commander in military appointments, casualty rates, and more. This is the most comprehensive collection of reference-statistical information on the role of the CPSU Main Cadre Administration in educating and appointing military commanders to the Soviet armed forces during the Great Patriotic War.

This comprehensive monograph was prepared by the Department of Military Science at the General Staff of the Soviet Army. Edited by Lieutenant-General S. Platonov, it comprised four volumes. The first volume covers events from the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941 to the fall of 1942. The second volume describes events from the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad to the end 1943. The third volume is devoted to the Soviet Army’s operations in 1944. The fourth volume informs about the final campaign of Soviet troops in Europe and their victory over the Japanese army in continental East Asia. The authors of the monograph used a large number of archival materials of the Soviet Army as well as enemy documents captured during the war.

The collection of this comprehensive order of battle of the Red Army during World War II provides an accurate picture of the development and employment of the Soviet forces. Information prior to this release was based on German intelligence reports and scattered anecdotal material in Soviet publications. This work gives researchers a solid basis of facts with which to reconstruct the events of a war that surpasses all others in terms of troops and weapons deployed and losses incurred. One need not be a skilled Russian linguist to use the documents as the abbreviations are readily deciphered.

The Polish Legions (“Pol’skie Legiony”) were formed in June 1917 by the Poles serving in the tsarist army. In the wake of the 1917 October coup, they resisted the Bolsheviks’ attempts to establish Soviet rule in Ukraine. Their aspirations for reviving the Polish state and incorporating considerable territories of land in western Ukraine were strongly opposed by the Ukrainian Central Rada. The German and Austrian military commanders also didn’t want to see the well-armed Polish units in Ukraine with their controversial political agenda. Eventually, some of the Polish Legions were defeated, others were disbanded, ending this unique episode of the Polish independence movement. Documents in this collection provide insights that are key to understanding Polish fervor for national self-determination, including: orders by the High Command of Polish Legions; personnel listings; local Polish military newspapers; documentation on the wages of Polish officers and soldiers; Romanian front correspondence regarding aid to Polish POWs; minutes of conferences held by Polish officers; and materials on the disbandment of Polish Legions in Ukraine.

This collection includes rare publications on military confrontations between Russia/Soviet Union and Japan. Coverage includes the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905, the interwar period, and World War II. Many of the studies in this collection were published by the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR in very small circulations and were intended for high-ranking officers of the Soviet Army. They include materials on tactical research, sabotage and spying activities, reports on the armed forces, air fleets, and anti-tank defenses of Japan, and works detailing various operations and campaigns.

The 900-day siege of Leningrad by the Germans, from September 8, 1941 until January 27, 1944, was one of the most dramatic episodes of World War II and certainly the most tragic period in the history of this city. The collection includes four unique, formerly classified books, describing various stages of the battle for Leningrad: Bitva za Leningrad: 1941-1944 [Struggle for Leningrad: 1941-1944]; Bitva za Leningrad: 1941-1944. Al’bom skhem [Struggle for Leningrad: 1941-1944. In maps]; Boevaia deiatel’nost’ Ladozhskoi flotilii v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine [Combat Activities of the Ladoga Flotilla during the Great Patriotic War]; Oborona Leningrada osen’iu 1941 goda. Boi na pristupakh k Leningradu (iiun’-oktiabr’ 1941 g.) [Defense of Leningrad in the Autumn of 1941. Combat Against Advances into Leningrad (June-October 1941)]; and Razgrom nemetsko-fashistskikh voisk pod Leningradom i Novgororodom v 1944 godu: Pervyi stalinskii udar. Konspekt lektsii. [The Routing of the Fascist Troops near Leningrad and Novgorod in 1944: The First Stalinist Strike. Lecture Abstracts]. These books were published during 1943 to 1953 and are in fact largely unknown to military historians.

This outstanding collection comprises a number of sources of great importance for military historians researching the Soviet-Finnish war. It includes original documents such as the post-war evaluation report by Red Army division commander Govorov; photographs and drawings of Finnish fortifications; and comprehensive descriptions of the conflict by the Soviet General Staff published immediately after. The collection also offers a variety of reference materials on Finland prepared by Soviet military and intelligence experts before the war. The majority of books and manuscripts of this collection were classified in the past.

This outstanding research collection includes 109 dissertations on military subjects, including maps, and 25 abstracts, defended in the USSR between 1947 and 1970. The issues covered include organizational development of the armed forces, study of foreign armies, military art analyses (general issues, artillery, air force, navy, infantry, ordnance), military history, military theory and practice, weapons of mass destruction, and World War II. The dissertations in this collection were defended at leading military educational and research institutions of the Soviet Union, including: Voroshilov Higher Military Academy; Institute of Military History; Zhukovsky Air Force Academy; Higher Military-Pedagogical Institute; Frunze Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces; and Armored Troops Military Academy.

This collection includes seven titles:

Voenno-bibliograficheskii spravochnik (1927-1929): Extremely useful bibliographic reference to published materials during the final years of the “Golden Age” of Soviet military thinking.

Kniga i oborona (1930-1934): Provocative journal of book reviews and bibliographic reference. Published monthly by the Red Army’s Political Directorate, this exceptionally useful reference serial has never before been available in its entirety outside Russia.

Voenno-bibliograficheskii biulleten’ (1938-1944): In addition to thousands of military citations, contains perhaps the best Soviet foreign policy bibliography in existence for this critical period.

Novosti voennoi literatury (1944-1953): Extremely rare bibliographic reference, published in less than 5 copies by the Military Department of the Lenin Library. Some 8,000 citations annually from over 50 central periodicals and military-related books.

Voennaia literatura (1947-1952): Cumulative index for the given years. Although more convenient for doing searches, contains approximately 25 percent fewer citations than Novosti voennoi literatury.

Sovetskaia voennaia literatura (1954-1957): The immediate predecessor to Voennaia literatura, this periodical covers the critical early Khrushchev years, when nuclear weapons and strategy began to be discussed openly in the USSR for the first time.

Voennaia literatura (1962-1992): The most comprehensive military index produced in the USSR for open and low-level classified closed distribution. Arranged by subject, each issue includes an author name index and a special commentary section of books reviews, special subject bibliographies (such as military conversion), and informative articles.

Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Navy consisted of the Northern Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, the Pacific Ocean Fleet, the Kamchatka Flotilla, the White Sea Flotilla, the Caspian Flotilla, the Dneproptrovsk Flotilla, and the Danube Flotilla. During the war, three new naval detachments were formed – the Volga Flotilla, the Ladoga Flotilla, and the Onega Flotilla. The combat activities of the Soviet Navy were diligently reviewed by scholars of the Moscow Voroshilov Military Academy in a series of publications jointly entitled Development of Soviet Navy Experience. These hard-to-find books published in the 1950s represent the first attempt at a comprehensive study of the Soviet Navy’s contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany.

This collection includes several basic studies providing a comprehensive view of the role played by Soviet submarines during the Great Patriotic War. Contributors to the publications comprising this collection took direct part in combat operations. They also had access to reports provided by hundreds of submarine commanders from all Soviet fleets as well as to captured German and Finnish classified documents. This collection is of great value to military and naval historians.

This 41-volume set serves as the cornerstone of modern Soviet naval art. Prepared by the Historical Department of the Soviet Navy’s Main Staff during and immediately after the Great Patriotic War, this series of analyses was perhaps the single most important vehicle for imparting the emerging lessons of the war to Soviet officers. No other series looks at naval strategy and operational art in such a fresh and critical light as does this one. Materials are divided into three categories: reports submitted by fleets and flotillas; documents produced by the Soviet Navy General Staff; and papers presented by Soviet Naval officers. Issues covered include: preparation and implementation of naval operations as well as operations conducted jointly with the Red Army; combat activities of war ships, naval aviation, marines, and special forces of the Navy; operation and combat management in high seas; and logistical support of Soviet naval activities. As a whole this collection provides a rare glimpse into the everyday activities of the highest echelons of the Soviet military during WWII, information heretofore unknown to historians.