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Soviet Sea Power Hervé Coutau-Bégarie
Remarks
on bibliography
The
following bibliography is confined to works devoted exclusively or
essentially to Soviet sea power. As for sea power as a whole, I would like
to make reference to the selective bibliography published in Politique
étrangère, n° 3, 1982, pp. 719-724. Although
confined to the Soviet navy, an exhaustive bibliography would be
tremendous (several thousand titles) and would be of little interest to
the French reader (almost all of these works are unavailable in French
bookstores and libraries). One might get an idea of the vast volume of
this literature by looking through Myron J. Smith,
The Soviet Navy 1941-1978. A guide to sources in English, The
war‑peace bibliography series, ABC Clio Press, Santa Barbara,
1980; this very conscientious work is unfortunately confined only to
Anglo‑Saxon writings. The bibliography prevented here is infinitely
avers modest and is intended only to suggest some directions for further
and more profound study. As
for the history of the Russian and Soviet navies, we have two books which
do slot cover the subject thoroughly: A.J. Woodward,
The Russians at sea, Kimberly,, London, 1965, and Mairin Mitchell,
A history of Russian and Soviet sea power, 6th ed., Mac Millan,
London [illegible]. The first edition of
this last work was translated into French under the title Hiatoire
maritime do la Russie, Les deux Rives, Paris, 1952. As for the Great
Fatherland War, the basic reference is Friedrich Ruge,
Soviets as naval opponents 1941‑1945, US Naval Institute
Press, Annapolis, 1977. On
the nacre subject, Claude [illegible]
published a series of very well documented articles in Revue maritime. The
first modern book an the Soviet navy is the book that appeared under the
direction of M.G. Sanaders, The
Soviet navy, Praeger, New York, [illegible].
At the time, the alarm bell, which it sounded, produced hardly any echo.
The debate was opened 10 years later by Robert W. Herrick,
Soviet naval strategy. Fifty years of theory and practice,
US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1968. But it is still worth reading
15 years later. The author announced a reedition with a new subtitles
Sixty years of theory, doctrine, policy and practice. Apparently it has
not yet come out. After
1970, there was a succession of monographs. Here we must mention the
followings Ernest M. Eller,
The Soviet sea challenge, Cowles, Chicago, 1971 (plea by a retired
admiral for as American response to the rise of the Soviet threat); David Fairhall,
Russia looks at sea, Andre Deutsch,
London, 1971; Barry M. Blechman,
The changing Soviet navy, Brookings, Washington, 1973; Norman Polmar,
Soviet naval power, Macdonald and Jane's, London, 1974; Edward Wegener,
The Soviet naval offensive, US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis,
1975 (translated from German). All of these small books are hardly of any
interest today. More
interesting is Siegfried Greyer,
Guide to the Soviet navy, US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis,
1970, American translation of a German work published in 1964. Norman
Polmar came out with an updated edition is 1977. A
decisive contribution was roads by Michael MacGrire.
Almost all of the specialists on the Soviet navy participated in his
seminar at the Maritime Warfare School is Halifax whose transactions were
collected in three enormous volumes, very heterogeneous, but
constituting a vast source of information: Michael Mac
Gwire (ed), Soviet naval development. Capability and context,
Praeger, New York, 1973; Michael Mac
Gwire, Ken Booth,
John Mac Donnell (eds), Soviet
naval policy. Objectives and constraints, Praeger, New York,
1975; Michael Mac Gwire,
John Mac Donnell (eds), Soviet
naval influence. Domestic and foreign dimensions, Praeger, New York,
1977. An underscored by Ken Booth,
everybody interested in the Soviet Union owes a debt of gratitude to
Michael Mac Gwire and all of
the analysts who followed him and based their work on his studies,
sometimes only to refute them. His latest thinking will be found is “The
rationale for the development of Soviet sea power”, US Naval
Institute Proceedings, Naval Review, May 1980; and “Soviet naval
doctrine and strategy”, Derek Leebasrt,
Soviet military thinking, Allen and Unwin, London, 1981. In
the same vein, we must mention two indispensable collective works: John Hardt
(ed), Soviet oceans development, US Senate, US Government
Printing Office, Washington, October 1976; and Paul J. Murphy,
Naval power and Soviet policy, US Government Printing Office,
Washington, 1977. There
are also many recent individual books. Eric Morris,
The Russian navy. Myth and reality, Hanish Hamilton, London, 1977,
is a popular work which does not teach us much. Kenneth R. Mac
Gruther, The evolving Soviet navy, Naval War College Press,
Newport, 1978, is a small but very interesting essay. Norman Polmas
(ed), The modern Soviet navy, Arms and Armour Press, London,
1979, is as abundantly illustrated introduction. Robert Bathurst,
Understanding the Soviet navy, Naval War Collage Press, Newport,
1980, is an interesting book. A
special place must be assigned to Paul H. Nitze,
Leonard Sullivan Jr. and the
Atlantic Council Working Group on securing the seas, Securing the seas.
Soviet naval challenge and the Western alliance options, Westview
Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1979. Just 4 years after its appearance, it
still is the best analysis of Soviet-Westsrn naval rivalry. On
Soviet naval diplomacy, we have a remarkable works James M. Mac
Connell and Bradford Dismukes
(eds), Soviet naval diplomacy, Pergamon Press, New York, 1979,
which covers the decade of 1967‑1976. It is completed by Stephen S. Kaplan,
Diplomacy of power. Soviet armed forces as political instrument,
Brokings, Washington, 1981. Neither of these two books is exclusive and we
can find other manifestations of Soviet naval diplomacy mentioned here and
there. We must also report the very interesting case studies is Soviet
naval policy, as mentioned before. The
most recent works are: John E. Moore,
Soviet warships, Mac Donald and Jane's, London, 1981, which
replaces The Soviet Navy today, Mac Donald and Jane's, London,
1975, by the same author. This is a technically perfect presentation of
Soviet ships, each class getting a special notice. The introduction to
this short but very rich book is worth reading. Norman Polmar,
Soviet naval developments 1982, Arms and Armour Press, London,
1982, is the version, for public use, of a manual of the U.S. Navy,
Understanding the Soviet Naval Developments. This is a remarkable
work, which is still up to date and very easily handled. Bruce W. Watson,
Red navy at sea. Soviet naval operations 1956‑1980, West-view
Press, Boulder, Colorado and Arms and Armour Press, London, 1982, gave us
a presentation of all of the Soviet naval operations, which we were
lacking (unfortunately with some gaps). We must also point out the
November 1982 issue of U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, entirely devoted
to the Soviet navy, and the third edition of Guide to the Soviet navy,
rationed above, which should come out all the time. From
Germany we obtained a remarkable book by Ulrich Schulz‑Torge,
Die Sowjetische Kriegsmarine / The Soviet Navy, Bernard and Graefe
Verlag publisher / Munich, Volumes I and II, 1976, Volume III, 1982.
France is
not entirely absent thanks to a book written is collaboration by a
Frenchman and a German: Claude Huan
and Jurgen Rohwer, La
marine sovietique / The Soviet Navy... |
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