Lev Mekhlis: Army

Lev Mekhlis was Soviet politician. Explore interesting quotes on army.
Lev Mekhlis: 12   quotes 10   likes

“War is an equation with many unknowns; and this already refutes the thesis of invincibility. History does not know invincible armies.”

Lev Mekhlis

The wars of the past show us that even armies that had won brilliant victories for decades, in some cases were not only defeated but even disintegrated and ceased to exist. Such a fate, for example, befell the army of Napoleon, who for almost two decades kept the whole Europe under its boots. The army needs to instill a spirit of confidence in its power, but not in terms of boasting. Bragging about invincibility brings harm to the army.
Speech to Red Army personnel, 13 May 1940
Source: http://porto-fr.odessa.ua/index.php?art_num=art021&year=2008&nnumb=40

War , History

“Military history, especially Russian, is being studied poorly. We have a lot of unfair ridiculing of the old army despite the fact that we had such notable tsarist army generals as Suvorov, Kutuzov and Bagration who will always remain in the minds of the people as great Russian military leaders and who are revered in the Red Army as a legacy of the finest military traditions of the Russian soldier. There exists a harmful cult of Civil War heroes, while previous Russian military achievements are ignored. All of this leads to the ignoring of concrete historical experience despite the fact that history is the best teacher.”

Lev Mekhlis

Mekhlis in 1940. Quoted in The People Need a Tsar: The Emergence of National Bolshevism as Stalinist Ideology, 1931-1941, by D. L. Brandenberger & A. M. Dubrovsky, 1998

War , People , History , Study

“Soldiers of the Red Army, fellow brothers who were captured by the fascist invaders, we are addressing you, compatriots… Run in groups and alone, make your way to your brotherly native family - the Red Army… We will greet you as brethren, freed from fascist captivity…”

Lev Mekhlis

From a leaflet written by Mekhlis in 1941
Source: http://porto-fr.odessa.ua/index.php?art_num=art021&year=2008&nnumb=40

Family , Way

“Our war with the capitalist world will be a just and progressive war. The Red Army will act decisively, seeking complete defeat and destruction of the enemy, transferring combat operations to the territory of the enemy.”

Lev Mekhlis

Speech to Red Army personnel, 13 May 1940
Source: http://www.warmech.ru/1941war/sher_4.html

War , World , Decision