Talk:Belorussian Strategic Direction

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[edit] Disputed factual accuracy

As far as I am aware, from the dissolution of the strategic directions in 1941, the STAVKA coordinators supervised the fronts directly, and there were no further superior-to-front formations until Marshal Vasilevskiy's command in the Far East in 1945. I believe listing this grouping as a formation is a mis-translation from Soviet sources, and a misapprehension of what a military formation actually is. Further evidence is needed to prove this. Buckshot06 (talk) 21:53, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

It was not a formation of the Red Army as such, and neither were the other strategic directions in 1941-42, but a planning structure in that planning was carried out in the General Staff to coordinate very complex strategic plans. This was beyond the coordination of the Stavka representatives. However, there is not better place to put it other then the formations category, so I originally put it here to show the Belorussian Fronts creation rationale. The term "direction" is frequently encountered in Soviet literature at various levels, and is really the same term as axis, although this is not covered by an article at this stage.--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♥♦♣ 22:42, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Right. If it was a planning construct within the General Staff it needs to be merged into that article, the various B Fronts' articles, and possible Operation Bagration. At the moment this looks like it was a command. (Or, possibly better, you may wish to move this to an article on axis or direction for Wiktionary or Wikipedia as per Soviet military usage, because otherwise you're trying to run (introducing specifics) before walking (defining the general concept for a non-specialist audience). Addendum: I think we're still talking at cross purposes about the nature of a military formation. The other 1941 SDs had a commander, staff, and subordinate formations, therefore, as defined by my understanding of a military formation, they were formations. As opposed to those formations, this was a direction of advance(?) Buckshot06 (talk) 23:30, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

I agree this should not be in this category, but there is no Soviet General Staff article, and if you can suggest a better category, that would be great. It does need to be clarifies that this was not a field command, however, it did have a separate staff planning group within the Stavka which was created on need to have basis from officers more familiar with the needs of the operations in that direction, and the Front staffs. You could try to edit it into the General Staff article if you like, or start a Soviet General Staff article. I have yet to get Isby from the garage today due to the course, and have not been able to consider doing much except occasional look-ins in the last couple of days.--mrg3105 (comms) ♠♥♦♣ 04:05, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I will start thinking about how to edit it into the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation article, which currently lacks a full explanation of the fact that in 1992, the only change was they painted 'of the Russian Federation' on the sign at the front of the Arbat Street building! But really a major amount of history would need to be added there before this info will have any context - it'll take a while. Buckshot06 (talk) 04:16, 22 April 2008 (UTC)