Abstract
Russian and Soviet military theorist Aleksandr Svechin developed his theory of military art based on the two cornerstone concepts: annihilation and attrition. Yet these concepts frequently have been misunderstood by his critics, who demoted them from the strategic to the operational level. A close examination of Svechin’s legacy allows reinstating annihilation and attrition as characterizations of the overall dynamics of war rather than mere styles of warfare freely adopted by a given belligerent. When viewed in the context of operational/strategic distinction, moreover, the Soviet theorist’s concepts remain as important and practically applicable today as they were in the early 20th century.
Read the full article
Members: read on EBSCO
Use the access code from this quarter's member email. Every issue since 1937 is online, with no embargo.
Lost your code? Email jmhsmh@vmi.edu or sign in at the EBSCOhost member login.
Not a member? Buy this article
A PDF sent by email from the Journal office during business hours, $10.
Through a library: sign in with your institution
Full text is in EBSCO's America: History and Life with Full Text and Historical Abstracts with Full Text, and through EBSCO Discovery.
Join: read everything, every year
Membership includes the printed journal and full online access to the archive.
Cite this article
Dmitry Plotnikov, “Still Misreading Svechin: Annihilation, Attrition, and Their Strategic and Operational Implications,” The Journal of Military History 86, no. 3 (July 2022): 670–687.