ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Soviet mobilization experience from several standpoints. The first will be the issue of whether or not the Soviets should mobilize. The next aspect of mobilization is the actual experience of the economic and military mobilizations during the Great Patriotic War. Mobilization during the war has shaped the political and military responsibilities of the professional military with regard to modern warfare. The Soviet experience with total, open, economic and military mobilization is based on two diverse examples, First World War and Second World War. The staggering losses in the initial period of the war can be directly attributed to a disastrous combination of factors that comprise the major lessons of the Great Patriotic War: the failure to mobilize and deploy forces in combat condition and strength prior to massed engagements, inadequate training, supply and transport, and the unrealistic assessment of the force’s combat capability,.
