29 May 2022
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Army General Goreev: Russian Army Still to Learn Lessons from World War One
25 April 2014
Belgrade, Serbia. 25 April. INTERFAX-MNA — Russia poorly learned the lessons from the First World War with many mistakes repeated in 1941–1945 and some still not accounted for, Army General Makhmud Gareev, President of Academy of Military Science, believes.
«Many bitter lessons taken by Russia during the WWI were repeated in the Great Patriotic War», Gen. Gareev said when speaking at the International Scientific Conference «The First World War: Causes, Lessons, Conclusions and Modernity» in Belgrade.
Particularly, the general noted that «during the WWI there was no even basic coordination established between armies».
«When the Germans in the beginning of the battle in Eastern Prussia encircled the Second Army of Gen. Samsonov, the First Army under command of Rennenkampf did nothing to provide help. When the
As no necessary conclusions were made from painful experience of WWI, as Gen. Gareev noted, those mistakes in coordination were repeated during the Great Patriotic War, «when it was the strategic level of command and control which turned out to be worst prepared for accomplishment of its tasks in a war time».
«This level of command, regretfully, still lacks dedicated training nowadays’, stated the general.
He also believes that «neither politicians nor historians are still not able to give proper explanation about what the soldiers of the WWI fought for».
Gen. Gareev also noted that comparison between the First and Second wars is not fully correct.
«In my opinion, it is not correct, as some historians do nowadays, to compare the results of these two wars. In the first case Russia entered into the war on the will of its government and took first offensive actions on its own», Gen. Gareev said.
As far as the Second World War concerned, he continued, «in 1941 our country was treacherously attacked and was forced to defend and retreat».
«Despite huge losses and retreat, the people was united and step forward to defend the Homeland. This was the critical factor in explaining our victory in the Great Patriotic War», Gen. Gareev stressed.
As the
