It was born in 1918 under the pain and hardship of the worst of all civil wars; it was cosseted and made an accomplice by the worst of all regimes - Stalin's - but was also its victim, seeing its best leaders tortured and shot; it renewed military thinking and provided itself with the greatest resources ever assembled. And yet the Red Army almost died under the blows of the German Wehrmacht, which was more manoeuvrable and experienced than it.
It managed to overcome unheard-of defeats, rally, launch counterattacks and destroy its enemy, albeit at a hideous cost. The victory of 1945 and the enslavement of the peoples of Eastern Europe are largely "thanks" to her. Analyses, testimonies, photos, maps and infographics tell the story of one of the most original military institutions of the 20th century. As Putin's army takes on the legacy of the Red Army, there is an urgent need to analyse its functioning, its mistakes, its weaknesses and ... its ability to get back on its feet!
