At the end of World War II the Red Army had over 500 rifle divisions and about a tenth that number of tank formations. Their experience of war gave the Soviets such faith in tank forces that the infantry force was cut by two … See more

From 1985 to 1991, General Secretary Gorbachev attempted to reduce the strain the Soviet Armed Forces placed on the USSR's economy.
Gorbachev slowly … See more

• Georgy Zhukov, from 21 March 1946
• Ivan Konev, 1946–50
• position of commander of ground forces did not exist from 1950 to 1955 See more

• Roy Allison, "Military Forces in the Soviet Successor States," International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, 1993.
• Durie, William (2012). The British Garrison Berlin 1945 - 1994: nowhere to go ... a pictorial historiography of the British Military occupation / presence in Berlin See more

Throughout the Cold War (1947–1991), Western intelligence estimates calculated that the Soviet strength remained ca. 2.8 million to ca. 5.3 million men. In 1989 the Ground Forces had two million men. To maintain those numbers, Soviet law required a three … See more

In 1990 and 1991, the Soviet Ground Forces were estimated to possess the following equipment. The 1991 estimates are drawn from the IISS Military Balance and follow the Conventional Forces in Europe data exchange which revealed figures of November … See more

• Formations of the Soviet Army
• Military history of the Soviet Union
• Military ranks of the Soviet Union See more