In the 1920s and - especially - in the 1930s, the Red Army underwent a rapid development in terms of increasing its posts, as well as increasing saturation with technical weapons, primarily armored weapons. Still, the infantry was the primary and numerically largest element of the Red Army. The intensive quantitative development of this type of weapon began at the turn of 1929/1930. In 1939, even before the aggression against Poland, the Soviet infantry was formed into 173 divisions (so-called rifle divisions), most of which were grouped in 43 corps. It is worth adding that after the September campaign in 1939, this number increased even more. The Soviet rifle division in 1941 consisted of three rifle regiments (three battalions each), an artillery regiment, after an anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery division, as well as reconnaissance and communication battalions. In total, it numbered about 14,500 people. However, by 1945 this position underwent significant changes, leading to a division of approximately 11,500-12,000 people, consisting of three infantry regiments, an artillery brigade consisting of three regiments, a self-propelled artillery squadron and many support units, including anti-tank, anti-aircraft weapons or communications. The saturation of infantry units with machine weapons has also increased significantly - for example with the submachine guns APsZ 41, and later APsZ 43.
The roots of the Russian, and later the Soviet, marines go back to the reign of Tsar Peter the Great, who established this type of formation in 1705. The soldiers included in the group fought not only in the Great Northern War (1700-1721), but also in many other conflicts with the participation of the Russian state, such as the Crimean War (1853-1856), the war with Japan (1904-1905) or World War I ( 1914-1918). After the October Revolution, this formation was not disbanded, but like many other units of the Red Army, it underwent profound changes. In the course of the next world war (1939-1945), approx. 350 thousand people took part in the fighting on land. sailors and soldiers of the Soviet Navy. At the beginning, the Soviet marines consisted of only one brigade of marines serving as part of the Baltic Fleet, but during the war (especially in the course of the conflict with Germany), six regiments of marines, about 40 brigades, and one full division were formed. ! The situation with the fonts, especially in the years 1941-1943, meant that these often well-trained units fought primarily in classically land operations, including defending Sevastopol, Moscow, Kerch and Stalingrad. It is worth adding that in the years 1941-1945 the Soviet marines carried out about 120 landings from the sea, but most often the landings concerned platoons or at most companies. It is worth adding that 122 soldiers serving in this formation were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.