After Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov, 67, was abruptly removed last September as chief of the Soviet general staff, he was variously reported to be in charge of a military academy or a command in the western U.S.S.R. Some analysts interpreted the ouster as a rebuke to a strong-willed career soldier who refused to tailor his views to prevailing political sentiment. Ogarkov's call to intensify the development of nonnuclear weaponry and his public hectoring of the U.S. had apparently put him at odds with the ruling Politburo's aging members. But Communist Party Leader Mikhail Gorbachev has been making his power felt, and last...
Soviet Union: Soldier's Return
Gorbachev shakes the military
Subscriber content preview.
or
Log-In
To continue reading:
or
Log-In