Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-110.20.227.171-20141127105940/@comment-3428312-20141214195340

GunsnadGlory wrote: Rapidly running out of men?

I don't even have to cite something here; a quick google search will ascertain that by the end of the war, the Sovs had a larger army than the REST OF THE ALLIES AND THE GERMANS COMBINED. Actually, you do need to cite something because that goes against all the data I've seen. Here's some sources:

"Bagration, 1944", Osprey Campaign Series (Pg 27-28) -

"Soviet rifle divisions were generally smaller than their german counterparts, averaging 2500-4000 troops. At the time of Operation Bagration a concerted efort was made to bring these units up to an average of 6000 troops.  No serious effort was made to bring them up to their nominal TOE strength of 9600 troops "

"Red Army Handbook", (Pg 32) -

" By this time, however, it was becoming apparent that the Soviet force structure of 500-plus Divisions simply exceeded their capacity to support it. [..] in mid-1944 more drastic action was neccesary. Either some of the rifle divisions would have to be demobilized and their personell used to fill out other units, or divisional strengths for below envisioned norms would have to be accepted. The  Stavka opted for the latter alternative."

"Soviet Military Doctrine from Lenin to Gorbachev, 1915-1991", (Pg 172)

"Soviet sources reflect manpower deficiencies by emphasizing the low strength of rifle units and the draconian measures used to enlist soldiers in liberated regions. By 1945 Soviet rifle divisions were often understrength, with only 3,500 to 5,000 men each."

In addition, the Soviets were increasingly relying on young boys and unreliable conscripts from Central Asian and Poland (According to Osprey, the poles alone made up around 10% of the Soviet frontline strength by the time the Berlin Offensive began). Adding onto that, women, elderly men, and more young boys essentially made up all of the Red Army's rear area manpower.

Furthermore, according to David Glantz IIRC, the Soviets only had around 6 million personnel for duty in the ETO by 1945 (Might be 1944, can't recall accurately) while only maintaining minimal forces in Northern Iran and the Far East. Compare this to around 4 million Western allied troops in the ETO, with another several million in the Pacific. Thus, by the time the war came to an end, the West basically had numerical parity with the Soviets.