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All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars, Agitation and Education Department

Всероссийское бюро военных комиссаров (VBVK)

The publishing arm of the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars (VBVK) is historically considered to be the Bolsheviks' first centralized political organ for the Red Army. It was formed in April 1918 when the People’s Commissariat for Military Affairs issued a decree on the creation of military councils (soviets). This action established commissariats for military matters at the rural, provincial and district levels, and it also formed the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars that became the cornerstone of the modern Soviet Military. The All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars organized and implemented the Party’s political work among the troops. It achieved this via political control carried out by a cadre of specialists, Party cells and political sections in the military. In April 1919, the All-Russian Bureau was dissolved and in its place was established (between May and October) the Political Section of the Revolutionary Military Council (PUR) that took command of the Red Army’s political, educational and agitation work. In 1920, PUR was reconstituted into the Political Administration of the Red Army (PURKKA).

Sources & Citations

Tiushkevich, S. A. (1978). The Soviet Armed Forces: A history of their organizational development: a Soviet view. Washington: United States Air Force. (pp. 34-37, All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars)
Kozlov, S. N., & Sulimov, E. F. (1977). The Officer's handbook: A Soviet view, Moscow, 1971. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Liddell, H. B. H. (1968). The Red Army, 1918 to 1945, the Soviet Army, 1946 to the Present. Gloucester: Peter Smith Publisher.