"Not a step back!": Why order number 227, which helped to win, was called "cynical and inhuman"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

To judge the need for order No. 227, colloquially called "Not a step back!", You need to be aware of the situation that developed at the front by mid-summer 1942. And at that time it was far from in favor of the Red Army: the Germans were rushing to the Volga and planned to seize Stalingrad. They believed that without such a strategically important region, the USSR would not be able to resist the advance of enemy troops into the Caucasus. The Soviet command also understood this, the purpose of which was to prevent further retreat by revealing the truth about territorial losses and using force against the fighters who violated discipline.

Who initiated the creation of Order No. 227?

The spring and summer of 1942 can be called the most formidable time for the existence of the Soviet state: as a result of a massive offensive, the enemy managed to capture the western part of Voronezh, Crimea with Sevastopol, Novocherkassk, Rostov-on-Don … By this time, the loss of the Red Army soldiers wounded, killed and captured approaching the figure of 500,000; a number of important industrial and agricultural territories with more than 70 million civilians were occupied.

Despite the heroism of the soldiers, which they showed in the defense of individual cities - for example, the defense of Stalingrad lasted 250 days, and the Germans did not manage to capture Voronezh completely - the retreat of the Red Army troops acquired a threatening character. The exit of the enemy to the Volga with the subsequent capture of Stalingrad deprived the Soviet Union of communication and strategic resources; a probable breakthrough towards the Caucasus led to the loss of the Baku and Grozny oil fields.

To change the difficult situation at the front, decisive measures were required that could put an end to the protracted retreat at any cost. Under such conditions, on July 28, 1942, Order 227 was born, signed by Comrade IV Stalin, People's Commissar for Defense of the Union. From the published documents stored in the Archive of the President (AP RF), it can be understood that the order was not dictated only by the will of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but was also a reflection of numerous letters from front-line soldiers with requests to tighten the command to strengthen discipline.

What are the objectives of Order No. 227?

There were no pathetic words in the document - it contained only a frank statement of facts and an enumeration of the catastrophic consequences that would arise if you continue to retreat further. The order also mentioned the civilian population as losing faith in the Red Army due to the surrender of cities without serious resistance. In particular, these words referred to some of the troops of the Southern Front, which, due to panic, retreated without an order from above, surrendered a number of large cities and territories.

In addition, an example was given here with the Germans - how the invaders act with their soldiers in case of failure to comply with discipline, and also why the Soviet defenders of the Motherland are defeated on their land.

In general, Order No. 227 had several goals. Firstly, it is to convey to the officers and enlisted personnel the real state of affairs at the front, which has developed as a result of the retreat of the Red Army. Secondly, to suppress alarmism and cowardice by means of specific punitive measures. Third, to introduce iron discipline for every Red Army soldier, commander and political worker, based on the requirement "not a step back without an order from the high command." And fourthly, to raise consciousness to the level of such a defender of the Fatherland, who cherishes not so much his own life as the life of civilians and the existence of the country as a whole.

What role did order number 227 play in establishing order and discipline in the Red Army?

As the front-line soldiers themselves testified, the order appeared on time as never before, saving many soldiers from psychological insecurity: for some, it raised morale, for others it brought awareness of its importance in defending the Motherland from the enemy. There were also those who simply understood that retreating from that moment was tantamount to death - moreover, death talentless and shameful for themselves.

According to contemporaries of that time, the most important thing was that the document revealed the whole truth about the tragic situation that had developed at the front. Prior to that, in order not to suppress morale, it was supposed, propaganda often kept silent about the true state of affairs, delighting the soldiers with comforting but false news. Suddenly, the facts that were revealed showed the scale of the territory seized by the Germans and staggering figures about the number of civilians in the occupation.

However, in addition to raising the patriotic mood, the document also contained military solutions to combat those who violated discipline, showed cowardice or succumbed to panic in battle. One of these methods is the creation of penal battalions from the guilty soldiers and commanders in order to "give them the opportunity to atone for their crimes against the Motherland with blood." The second is the formation of morally stable and proven fighters of barrage detachments, designed to shoot alarmists without trial or investigation.

As the future showed, Order No. 277 became a real sobering slap in the face, thanks to which Soviet troops were soon able to defend Stalingrad and the Caucasus, thereby turning the course of the war in favor of the Soviet Union.

Why did the armchair strategists lose their judgment when it came to order No. 227, and how was it assessed in Stalin's time?

Some historians, considering the period of the Great Patriotic War, do not take into account the realities of that time. Often they express a subjective opinion about the order, since they see only "bloodthirsty" content in the document, ignoring the effect obtained from it, and the facts - the memories of the participants in the war.

According to the armchair strategists, the "cruel and inhuman" order did not strengthen discipline in the army, but contributed to the "mountain of corpses" - after all, according to their calculations, almost every second Soviet soldier fled from the battlefield. In Stalin's time, the appearance of such a document caused different opinions among the soldiers: someone was skeptical of it, doubting its unanimous implementation; some - and there were a majority of them - recognized the timeliness and necessity of the order.

From the memoirs of veterans: Olshanetsky, military doctor of the 3rd rank: "The order seemed to be the last cry of despair … I did not believe that he could fix something." - at that moment it was necessary! "Mansur Abdulin, gun commander, lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union:" After "Not a step back!" they all stopped in unison - they stood up to death, because they knew that no one would run. Such an order should have been issued earlier."

And the fascists tried to turn some of the Soviet children into Aryans.