Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- Introduction
- 1 Origins of Soviet Counterinsurgency
- 2 The Borderland Societies in the Interwar Period: The First Soviet Occupation and the Emergence of Nationalist Resistance
- 3 The Borderlands under German Occupation (1941–1944): Social Context of the Soviet Reconquest
- 4 Nationalist Resistance after the Soviet Reconquest
- 5 Soviet Agrarian Policy as a Pacification Tool
- 6 Deportations, “Repatriations,” and Other Types of Forced Migration as Aspects of Security Policy
- 7 Amnesties
- 8 Red Rurales: The Destruction Battalions
- 9 Police Tactics: Actions of NKVD Security Units, Intelligence Gathering, Covert Operations, and Intimidation
- 10 The Church in Soviet Security Policy
- 11 Violations of Official Policy and Their Impact on Pacification
- 12 Conclusion: Nationalist Resistance and Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Global Context
- Appendix A Note on Used Terms and Geographic and Personal Names
- Appendix B Note on Primary Sources
- Bibliography
- Index
8 - Red Rurales: The Destruction Battalions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- Introduction
- 1 Origins of Soviet Counterinsurgency
- 2 The Borderland Societies in the Interwar Period: The First Soviet Occupation and the Emergence of Nationalist Resistance
- 3 The Borderlands under German Occupation (1941–1944): Social Context of the Soviet Reconquest
- 4 Nationalist Resistance after the Soviet Reconquest
- 5 Soviet Agrarian Policy as a Pacification Tool
- 6 Deportations, “Repatriations,” and Other Types of Forced Migration as Aspects of Security Policy
- 7 Amnesties
- 8 Red Rurales: The Destruction Battalions
- 9 Police Tactics: Actions of NKVD Security Units, Intelligence Gathering, Covert Operations, and Intimidation
- 10 The Church in Soviet Security Policy
- 11 Violations of Official Policy and Their Impact on Pacification
- 12 Conclusion: Nationalist Resistance and Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Global Context
- Appendix A Note on Used Terms and Geographic and Personal Names
- Appendix B Note on Primary Sources
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The struggle against banditry cannot be waged separately from class struggle.
– Vladimir Shcherbakov, head of the VKP(b) CC Bureau for LithuaniaIn order to suppress resistance in the western borderlands, the Soviet state armed thousands of local peasants who fought the insurgents side by side with the regular forces. This chapter explains why the government organized militia from populations it mistrusted and investigates the social composition of the Soviet paramilitaries, their motivations to enlist, the difference between the militias operating in the old territories and in the borderlands, and the problems that the government experienced with those in the western regions. The militia suffered from grave flaws and often remained merely an antiguerrilla tool rather than a law enforcement agency, but it was, nevertheless, a vital component of the Soviet pacification.
Every government fights guerrillas primarily with its army and police. The army is an appropriate means against rebels operating in large formations, but it is ineffective against fragmented resistance focusing on terror against local administrators. In rebellious rural regions, the army most often is alien, its personnel recruited from all over the country and lacking expertise in local affairs and culture. Unable to identify the insurgents, soldiers vent their frustrations on peasants, thus driving them to support the guerrillas. Police are better suited to counterinsurgency, being submerged in the local milieu, but they usually lack the manpower needed to cover an entire rebellious area, whereas dispersal in garrisons reduces their offensive capabilities and leaves the initiative to the guerrillas.
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- The Soviet Counterinsurgency in the Western Borderlands , pp. 209 - 229Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010