How the Soviet Union built a force of 4.8 million soldiers

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Following the 1917 Russian revolution, the Soviet government established the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. This video examines the scale and deployment of this massive force as it stood in 1941.

By 1941, the Red Army had grown to a strength of 4.8 million personnel. Of this total, 2.9 million soldiers were stationed within western military districts. The force relied on a conscription age of 18 to maintain its numbers.

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