ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a review of the role of Marxism-Leninism in Soviet military theory. It provides an assessment of some important Soviet sources that explain the reasons for the appearance of the literature. The chapter analyses possible changes in the role of Soviet military reference works as the Mikhail S. Gorbachev reforms affect the Soviet Armed Forces. The Soviet military completely reorganized to conform to new doctrine, with a new service, the Strategic Rocket Forces, having pride of primacy. The Concise Dictionary of Operational-Tactical and General Military Words were published during the course of the extensive reorganization of military forces and doctrine carried out in the late 1950s. Soviet military reference publications are firmly oriented towards explaining and promoting conformity to the doctrine and strategy adopted in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Soviet Military Encyclopedia is easily the single most important Soviet military work of the late 1970s.
