SHKAREVSKY D.N. The Soviet Military Justice in Local Wars 1938–1940

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2025.3.12

Denis N. Shkarevsky,

Candidate of Sciences (History), Associate Professor, Senior Lecturer, Department 53, Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, B. Sadovaya St, 14, 123001 Moscow, Russian Federation; Associate Professor, Department of History and Philosophy, Moscow University of Finance and Law MFUA, Vvedenskogo St, 1A, 117342 Moscow, Russian Federation,

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0981-4791


Abstract. Introduction. The importance of military justice in command and control is underestimated. The main attention of researchers is concentrated on the problems of strategy and tactics, domestic and foreign policy, and demography. Meanwhile, military justice plays a key role in ensuring discipline and maintaining order. Methods and materials. The article is based on the methodological approaches of P. Solomon and A. Kodintsev. The first starts from the idea of using criminal law as an instrument of power and is based on an analysis of the personal views of Soviet leaders. The second considers the pre-war stage of development of Soviet justice as a period of stabilization. The article is based on the use of a wide range of unpublished archival sources stored in the Russian State Military Archive (RGVA). Analysis. The author has identified shortcomings in the organizational structure and logistics of military justice. Differences in the activities of military justice operating in the rear and in a combat situation are determined. The main types of crimes that dominated in the active army were identified. The procedural features of conducting inquiries, investigations, and consideration of cases by tribunals in a combat situation are determined. Results. Along with a positive assessment of military justice during the armed conflicts of 1939–1940. Military justice was not ready to operate in combat conditions: there were no trained personnel, transport, or a reserve of material and technical resources. Participation in hostilities contributed to the emergence of new methods of investigation. Their activities were based on the application of the “campaign justice” model.

Key words: Soviet justice, special justice, military justice, military prosecutor’s office, military tribunals.

Citation. Shkarevsky D.N. The Soviet Military Justice in Local Wars 1938–1940. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2025, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 128-138. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2025.3.12

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The Soviet Military Justice in Local Wars 1938–1940 by Shkarevsky D.N. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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