ABSTRACT
The ethnic factor decisively influences Soviet stationing practices, as well as induction and manning procedures. The basic principle according to which stationing of military units is carried out is extraterritoriality. The extraterritorial stationing principle has not always been the rule in the Soviet Army. Before World War II, the Red Army was mainly manned and deployed on a territorial basis. Only in the mid-1930s, and more specifically between 1935 and 1938, was the territorial principle finally abandoned. The key principle of extraterritorial stationing derives in no small measure from the regime's internal policing and control requirement. The possibility that the Army may have to be used to put down antiregime outbursts by ethnically diverse sectors of the Soviet population—as indeed has occurred on more than one occasion—is an important factor influencing military stationing policies. The principle of extraterritoriality is especially observed with units that are specifically entrusted with internal policing functions, such as the MVD.
