Tukhachevsky fervently criticised the Red Army ’s performance during the 1926 Summer manoeuvres . He criticised the officer ’s inability to determine what course of action to take and communicate that with their troops especially harshly . Tukhachevsky noted that initiative among officers was lacking , that they responded slow to changes in the situation and that communication was poor . This was not purely the officer ’s fault as the only way of communication from local unit headquarters to the field positions was a single telephone line . In contrast German divisions mobilised shortly after during the interwar period had telephones , radio , horse , cycle and motorcycle messengers , signal lights and flags and pieces of cloth with which messages were to be conveyed mostly to aircraft . Tukhachevsky reached the position of 1st deputy commissar for defence to commissar for defence Voroshilov . Voroshilov disliked Tukhachevsky and would later be one of the initiators of the great purge which would n’t benefit Tukhachevsky ’s safety . According to Zhukov it was Tukhachevsky and not Voroshilov who ran the ministry in practice . While Voroshilov disliked Tukhachevsky his perception of military doctrine was nonetheless impacted significantly by Tukhachevsky ’s ideas
great purge
Great Purge
Mikhail Tukhachevsky