Commissar

In the 18th and 19th centuries in the Russian army kommissars, then krigs-komissars (from German: Krieg 'war') were officials in charge of supply for the armed forces (see Rus.

Prior to becoming a commissar an individual had to be registered as a communist for a minimum of three years and had to attend specific political institutions, many of which never offered any military-oriented training.

Following the problems encountered in 1941 with dual commanders in units, commissars and other political officers were removed from direct command-roles.

Mulvenon and Yang (2002) report that the role of the political commissar in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China has become one resembling that of an HR specialist.

Commissar is linked to titles in a variety of languages, such as commissary in English, commissaire in French, Kommissar in German, and komisszár (or népbiztos; archaic: csendbiztos) in Hungarian.

The term commissary was used by the British and U.S. military to denote an officer in charge of supplying an army with provisions and equipment (and Commissariat).

Such officials were not military officers but reported back to the political authorities: the king and the National Assembly (French Revolution), respectively.