ON THE QUESTION OF THE ESSENCE OF WAR (K VOPROSU O SUSHCHNOSTI VOINY),

Abstract

The author reviews in detail a lecture by Lieutenant Colonel Ye. I. Rybkin, entitled 'Nuclear war and political activity,' distributed by the Soviet Army Frunze as a handbook for propagandists. The author praises the lecturer for criticizing those Soviet authors who write that there would be no victors in the event of a nuclear war. The author also criticizes the lecturer because his main theme is the possibility of a change having taken place in the notion of war, and the possible emergence of a new element in the classical communist definition of war, namely the 'continuation of political activity.' The author stresses that war is indeed, the continuation of political activity, but through additional (violent) means. The author holds that Rybkin is in error when he states that notable changes have occurred in basic notion of warfare as a result of nuclear arms. The author stresses that the essence of war is class struggle and the close relationship between war and economies. Only the form and expression may change, not the essence. The author concludes his review with a plea for purity of Marxist-Leninist-doctrines. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 27, 1967
Accession Number
AD0671747

Entities

People

  • I. Grudinin

Organizations

  • National Air and Space Intelligence Center

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Communists
  • Doctrine
  • Handbooks

Readers

  • Information Retrieval
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.