Soviet Armed Forces

The Soviet Armed Forces refer to the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917—1922), and the Soviet Union (1922—1991).

According to the all-union military service law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of five components: the Ground Forces, the Air Forces, the Navy, the State Political Directorate (OGPU) (predecessor of the Committee for State Security). The OGPU was later made independent and amalgamated with the NKVD in 1934. NKWD's/MWD's Internal Troops and Border Troops also belonged to the Armed Forces of the USSR until 1991. After World War II the Strategic Rocket Forces (1960), Air Defence Forces (1948) and troops of the Civil Defence were added, standing first, third and sixth in the official Soviet reckoning of comparative importance (with the Ground Forces being second, the Air Forces fourth, the Navy fifth, Border Troops seventh and Internal Troops eighth.)