Military of the Soviet Union

The Military of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics refers to the armed forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from its establishment during the Russian Civil War in 1918by the Bolsheviks , to the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991. According to the compulsory service law of September 1918, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of five components: the Ground Forces, the Air Forces, naval forces, the OGPU(predecessor of the KGB and MVD), and convoy guards. Later the OGPU was made independent. After the Second World War the Strategic Rocket Forces and the Air Defense Forces were added, standing first and third in the official Soviet reckoning of comparative importance (with the Ground Forces being second, the Air Forces being fourth, and the Navy fifth).
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