Military ranks of the Soviet Union
The early Red Army abandoned the institution of a professional officer corps as a "heritage of tsarism" in the course of the Revolution.
The service categories essentially operated as ranks in disguise: they indicated the experience and qualifications of a commander.
However, one still had to use functional titles to address commanders, which could become as awkward as "comrade deputy head-of-staff of corps".
On September 22, 1935, the Red Army abandoned service categories and introduced personal ranks.
The Arm or Service distinctions remained (e.g. General of Cavalry, Marshal of Armoured Troops).
[2][page needed] For the most part the new system restored that used by the Imperial Russian Army after its participation in World War I.
The ranks and insignia of 1943 did not change much until the last days of the USSR; the contemporary Russian Ground Forces uses largely the same system.
[4] The rank insignia featured the USSR arms above a large Marshal's Star surrounded by a wreath.
The rank insignia was now also seen on epaulettes: black on-duty dresses and dark blue and gold on all full and ceremonial dresses for the fleet forces, with air force blue borders for the aviation branch and red borders for the coastal defense and naval infantry branch.
In 1952 the senior enlisted rating's insignia (until 1972, Midshipman and from then on, Chief Ship Petty Officer) changed to its final design.
Most of the officers holding the kombrig rank were demoted to Colonels, and only a few were promoted to major general.
Curiously, the initial draft of the new rank system submitted by People's Commissar of Defence Marshal Voroshilov was more in line with Russian military tradition.
The military culture of the Soviet Union was driven by a "seniors" (Russian: Дедовщина, Dedovshchina).
The concept of "Dedovshchina" usually pertains to soldiers in their first two-year obligatory tour in the armed forces, particularly in the Army.
While the first three later took their course of development, the Bulgarians remain under the influence of the Russian and the (post-)Soviet tradition until recently.
The rank systems in the pro-Soviet states of Mongolia and Tuva developed under the Soviet influence, following the pattern change in 1943.
Only Poland and East Germany remained loyal to the pre-war uniform and ranks style out of the Warsaw block countries.
Outside the Warsaw Alliance, the Soviet system of ranks and insignia influenced those in the following countries: China (before 1958 and after 1988), East Turkestan (unrecognized, part of China), North Korea, Vietnam (with stripes horizontal rather than vertical), Laos (senior officers have a thick stripe instead of two thin stripes), Kampuchea (1979–1993), Afghanistan (senior officers have horizontal stripes instead of vertical), South Yemen (1985–1990), Mongolia, and Cuba (the latter two countries slightly changed designs in the post-Soviet times, but the Soviet patterns are still easy to recognize).
In Africa, pro-Soviet regimes in Burkina Faso (under Thomas Sankara) and Mozambique (under Samora Machel) used Soviet-style insignia but abandoned them when political trends changed.
Currently, Congo, Ethiopia, and Eritrea still retain the Soviet-based system of ranks with slightly changed designs (officers have horizontal stripes rather than vertical).
