List of Soviet divisions 1917–1945
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The Soviet Union's Red Army raised divisions during the Russian Civil War, and again during the interwar period in 1926. Only a few of the Civil War divisions were retained in this period, and even fewer survived the reorganization of the Red Army during the 1937–1941 period. During the Second World War 400 'line' rifle divisions (infantry), 129 Soviet Guards rifle divisions, and over 50 cavalry divisions as well as many divisions of combat support arms were raised in addition to the hundreds of divisions that existed in the Red Army before Operation Barbarossa. Almost all the pre-war mechanized and tank divisions were disbanded during the war. There were also Red Air Force aviation divisions, and the NKVD divisions which also took part in fighting.
The territorial principle of manning the Red Army was introduced in the mid-1920s. In each region able-bodied men were called up for a limited period of active duty in a territorial unit, which comprised about half the Army's strength, each year, for five years.[1] The first call-up period was for three months, with one month a year thereafter. A regular cadre provided a stable nucleus. By 1925 this system provided 46 of the 77 infantry divisions and one of the eleven cavalry divisions. The remainder consisted of NCO's and enlisted personnel serving two-year stints. The territorial system was finally abolished, with all remaining formations converted to the other 'cadre' divisions, in 1937 and 1938.[2]
The Red Army formed at least 42 "national" divisions during the Second World War which had substantial ethnic majorities in their composition derived from location of initial formation rather than intentional "nationalization" of the divisions, including four Azeri, five Armenian, and eight Georgian rifle divisions and a large number of cavalry divisions in the eastern Ukraine, Kuban region, and Central Asia, including five Uzbek cavalry divisions.