After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Kuibyshev was prematurely discharged from the school and joined the Russian Imperial Army with the rank of Second lieutenant.
[2] Kuibyshev served in the Red Army from the beginning of its existence, fighting on the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War.
Between May 1923 and November 1924, he led the Higher Tactical-Infantry School (Vystrel) courses for Red Army commanders.
In November 1924, Kuybyshev became assistant commander of the Turkestan Front, which was fighting against the Basmachi movement, a Muslim uprising in Central Asia.
At the same time, he was also a board member of the Rabkrin, the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate, and the chief of the Directorate of Military and Naval Inspection.
Between February 1934 and March 1935, Kuybyshev was a member of the Party Control Commission and group leader for military and naval affairs.
After the beginning of the Great Purge, Kuybyshev criticized it for undermining readiness in November, during a meeting of the district's Military Soviet.
[5] On 2 February 1938, Kuybyshev was arrested, based on information in confessions extracted from Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Vitaly Primakov, and Boris Feldman.
Kuibyshev pleaded guilty to charges that he was involved in a "military-fascist conspiracy," and that he was a spy for the intelligence services of Germany, Poland, Japan, and Lithuania.