Order No. 227

[makif130289]

I am currently playing Company of Heroes 2 campaign which has ridiculous anti-Soviet vibe in it. Order No. 227 by Stalin has a special place in the game, there is a commissar in your base shooting your own retreating soldiers.

I knew Stalin's order but after the game, i found and read english version of the full text. ( http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Order_No._227_by_the_People's_Commissar_of_Defence_of_the_USSR )

I was expecting more of a propaganda leaflet but surprisingly to me, Stalin explains the overall situation very well and doesn't include any kind of useless propaganda. Usage of words "some stupid people" seems too much emotional and unprofessional. But other than this everything is very well written :

1) Stalin emphasizes that further retreat and thus loss of territories would mean less economical and manpower resources. He says that after the huge territory losses in 1941, Soviets doesn't have predominance over Germans in terms of manpower any longer. Stalin is apparently aware of the fact that Soviets couldn't lose any more territories anymore because industrial and manpower losses would result in total collapse.
2) Soviets seems to suffer discipline problems according to Stalin. Stalin justifiably demans bold stance anywhere on the front because Soviets were in fact at the last defensive position. Loss of oil fields, southern railways, millions of other citizens would have resulted in Soviet downfall. Stalin gives German stance in the winter of 1941 as an example. IMO, this example is particularly good. To request the same from Soviet soldiers are quite normal. Soviet motivation in fact was much better; they fought for their homes, families, and future of their children.
3) In the last part, Stalin says that factories in the rear are working very well and productivity is not a problem. According to Stalin, if Soviets are manufacturing much more weapons than the enemy at equal qualities and still losing to the enemy, then there should be a discipline problem in the army. With his famous "Not one step backwards" motto, Stalin forcefully puts the necessary fight to the last man approach into action.

I think it is a good document with convincing arguments. The question is if that order positively affected Soviet tenaciousness from Summer 1942 to Winter 1942 along the front. What are your opinions ?

 

[Amallric]

Difficult to factor out the influence of one particular order. In practice, Soviet troops still retreated massively in 1942, and even in early 1943. Sometimes there are objective conditions that make a retreat unavoidable, no matter how good arguments against retreat are. According to some accounts the order had an important psychological impact, but again it is difficult to determine how much this is true.

 

[eleinvisible]

The panic-mongers and cowards should be exterminated in place.

Form within the limits of each army 3 to 5 well-armed defensive squads (up to 200 persons in each), and put them directly behind unstable divisions and require them in case of panic and scattered withdrawals of elements of the divisions to shoot in place panic-mongers and cowards and thus help the honest soldiers of the division execute their duty to the Motherland;

Form within the limits of each army up to ten (depending on the situation) penal companies (from 150 to 200 persons in each) where ordinary soldiers and low ranking commanders who have been guilty of a breach of dicipline due to cowardice or bewilderment will be routed, and put them at difficult sectors of the army to give them an opportunity to redeem by blood their crimes against the Motherland.

The justification is clear, victory. Though Order #227 says it is because the Germans were doing it*. Either way, the means are where people have qualms. I don't know how effective it was, how serious was it taken is the real question.

* which seems unlikely in 1941

 

[makif130289]

The justification is clear, victory. Though Order #227 says it is because the Germans were doing it*. Either way, the means are where people have qualms. I don't know how effective it was, how serious was it taken is the real question.

* which seems unlikely in 1941

Its data ise July 1942, when Germans were slowly advancing towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus.

 

[eleinvisible]

Its data ise July 1942, when Germans were slowly advancing towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus.

Right, but in Stalin's order he alleged it is what the Germans did during their winter setbacks (I've not seen any evidence that they did, but to be fair the Germans did have 1 secret penal battalion starting in 1940, and another starting in October, 1942). I should have said "which seems unlikely in during the 1941-1942 winter".

 

[Henry IX]

I suspect that the 'Germans are doing it' is an excuse - it is better to blame cowardly elements for the retreats, and improved German discipline for their superior performance than to admit that the Red Army was performing poorly because of systematic incomptence caused by a political system that promotes mindless loyalty as the only important attribute of a commander.

Order 227 was part of the reason for the improvement in the Red Army's performance in 1942, along with important reforms to the command structure (such as removal of political oversight from military descision making, at least at the lower level). Order 227 seemed to have a significant effect on the attitude of comanders - they were now personally responsible for keeping their units in place, and retreat could be punished harshly at all levels of command. They were also given total effective freedom in regards to maintaining discipline in their units - off hand executions now become acceptable. This has the effect of leading to tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers being killed by their own side but also causes an exageration of the suicidal bravery of many Soviet units. I doubt many other armies (except the Japanese) could have sustained casualty rates that left entire divisions with only several hundred surviving soldiers left (e.g Rodimtsev's 13th Guards) without withdrawing.

Overall, 227 was a classic Soviet response - wasteful but, at least by some metrics, effective.

 

[StephenT]

The Germans certainly had penal battalions where soldiers who committed crimes were sent for punishment, and which were used for the most dangerous jobs. The Bewährungsbataillon 500 z.b.V. was set up by Führer directive in December 1940 and became operational in time for Barbarossa in June 1941. A further two penal battalions (540 and 550) were created in November-December 1941, which could be what Stalin refers to in Order 227.

Not to mention Dirlewanger's Sonderkommando, recruited from convicted criminals (murderers, rapists, arsonists, etc), which was on garrison duty in Poland at first, but transferred to the Russian Front (and anti-partisan duty) in February 1942.