Mobilization of the Armed Forces

the conversion of a state’s peacetime armed forces into a wartime organization and table of organization.

Mobilization greatly increases the size of the armed forces through the calling up of reservists and persons subject to military service; new large units are formed according to a deployment plan. Mobilization of the armed forces is prepared for by the storing up of reserves of armaments, war matériel, and supplies. Preparation for mobilization of the armed forces goes on during peacetime; the actual mobilization is usually carried out when there is a declaration of war. The success of a mobilization depends on the completeness and accuracy of the records kept, on the speed of notification and assembly of reservists, and on the means of transportation. A mobilization of the armed forces may be total, covering all the armed forces, or partial,affecting only a part of them.

Mobilization came into use in most states with the rise of mass armies formed on the basis of universal military service (19th century). In the USSR a mobilization of the armed forces (total or partial) is announced by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The call for mobilization and subsequent calls in wartime are issued on the basis of resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. When a mobilization is declared, all persons who are in the armed forces of the USSR at that time are retained until receipt of special orders; persons subject to military service must appear at a place and time indicated by the mobilization instructions, by notifications received, or by order of raion or city military commissars. Persons subject to military service who fail to appear at the place and time indicated are held accountable under wartime law.