Iona Yakir - Military Reformer

Military Reformer

After the war, Yakir commanded army formations in Ukraine. Yakir was a close associate of Mikhail Frunze and belonged to his inner circle of innovative Red Army officers who assisted Frunze in starting far-reaching military reforms. Among these reformers was Mikhail Tukhachevsky who became Yakir's friend. In April 1924 Yakir was appointed a head of Main Directorate of Military Academies of the Red Army and simultaneously editor of a major military periodical devoted to development of military theory, "Voennyi Vestnik".

In November 1925, after Frunze's death, Yakir was appointed commander of the most powerful territorial formations of the Red Army, the newly reorganized Ukrainian military district (see: Kiev Military District). Yakir, in close coordination with Tukhachevsky and other reformers, made his district into a laboratory of wide-ranging experiments in strategy, tactical and operational techniques, army formations and equipment. In training his troops, Yakir encouraged his officers' initiative and ability to make their own judgments. In 1928 and 1929, Yakir studied at the Higher Military Academy in Berlin. This was possible because of the intensive military cooperation between the Soviet Union and Germany. Yakir's innovative approaches to the military art impressed his German colleagues. German Field Marshal of World War I fame, Paul von Hindenburg, praised him as one of the most-talented military commanders of the post-World War I era.

After returning to his district, Yakir continued military reform. He was one of the creators of the first large tank and air force formations in the world. Not a military theorist in his own right, Yakir strongly supported Tukhachevsky's endeavor in developing the theory of deep operations. Military historians across the world now consider this theory an outstanding theoretical innovation. In 1934 Yakir requested that Tukhachevsky would be appointed to conduct advanced courses on operational theory for high-ranking officers of the Red Army General Staff and commanders of military districts. He did it even though he knew about Joseph Stalin's dislike of Tukhachevsky. In retribution, Stalin instructed his crony Kliment Voroshilov, who was a Peoples Commissar of Defense, to bar Yakir from membership in the prestigious Advisory Council of the Defense Commissariat. In 1935, in order to diminish Yakir's power, the Ukrainian military district was divided into two new districts, Kiev, under Yakir's command, and Kharkov.

In 1935 Yakir conducted military maneuvers in Kiev, with the Kiev and Kharkov military districts' forces. The major aim of these maneuvers was to test the theory of deep operations and the latest technology. A total of 65,000 troops, including 1,888 paratroopers, 1,200 tanks and 600 aircraft participated in these maneuvers. These were first maneuvers in the world that used combined operations of large tank, airforce and airborne formations. The troops acted along a front of 250 metres (0 mi) and a depth of 200 metres (0 mi). The representatives of major world armies attended the maneuvers. The British General Archibald Wavell reported to his government, "If I had not witnessed this myself I would never have believed such an operation possible." The German Wehrmacht copied Soviet innovations in preparation for World War II. The reform started by Frunze, and continued by Yakir, Tukhachevsky and many other commanders, made the Red Army into the most advanced army in the world. During these years, Yakir regularly gave lectures to the Red Army General Staff Academy, informing the students about the newest developments in military affairs. In 1935 he was promoted to Comandarm, first rank, the second-highest military rank in the Soviet Union at the time.