Inwarfare, atheater ortheatre is an area in which important military events occur or are in progress.[1][2] A theater can include the entirety of the airspace, land, and sea area that is—or that may potentially become—involved in war operations.[3]
In his bookOn War,Carl von Clausewitz definesKriegstheater as a "portion of the space over which war prevails". It normally refers to a specific geographic or strategic area within a wider whole, usually with its own objectives and command structure.[4]
TheRussian Armed Forces classify a large geographic subdivision—such as continental geographic territories with their bordering maritime areas, islands, adjacent coasts[5]and airspace—as a theater. The Russian-language term for a military "theater" isтеатр военных действий,teatr voennykh deistvii (literally: "theater of military operations"), abbreviatedТВД,TVD.
This geographical division aids strategic and operational planning, allowingmilitary operations offronts. Fronts were originally named in accordance with their theater of operations; for example theSouthwestern Front (Russian Empire) (1914–1918), the1st Ukrainian Front (1943–1945, which fought in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia), and theNorthern Front (Soviet Union) (June to August 1941). In peacetime, lacking the urgencies of a strategic direction, fronts were transformed intomilitary regions (districts) responsible for an assigned section of operations.
In 1986 the U.S. Department of Defense'sSoviet Military Power identified ten continental and four oceanic TVDs, however, most being merely geographical areas without forces or headquarters: North American, South American, African, Australian, Antarctic, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Pacific.[6] Four others - the Far Eastern, Western, South-Western, and Southern, had identified headquarters established in 1979 and 1984. Plans appear to have existed to form a Northwestern TVD headquarters on the basis of the Staff of theLeningrad Military District.[7]
In their most modern form, High Commands for the TVDs were first reestablished in February 1979 for the Far East.[8] Harrison wrote in the 2020s that the new command encompassed theFar East Military District and theTransbaikal Military District.[9] An official military encyclopedia published after theFall of the Soviet Union stated, said Harrison, that theSoviet Pacific Fleet, anair army, and an air defence corps were also operationally subordinated to the new formation; and that the high command "coordinated" with the armies of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Mongolia.[10] The headquarters was set up atUlan-Ude, nearLake Baikal. TheRAND Corporation said in 1984 that the Soviet air and ground forces in Mongolia [subordinate to the Transbaikal Military District] and elements of theMongolian Ground Forces andMongolian Air Force were also at its disposal.[11] In September 1984 three more High Commands were established: the Western (HQLegnica), South-Western (HQKishinev), and Southern (HQBaku)[8][12]
The termtheater of operations was defined in the American field manuals as the land and sea areas to be invaded or defended, including areas necessary for administrative activities incident to the military operations (chart 12). In accordance with the experience ofWorld War I, it was usually conceived of as a large land mass over which continuous operations would take place and was divided into two chief areas—the combat zone, or the area of active fighting, and the communications zone, or area required for administration of the theater. As the armies advanced, both these zones and the areas into which they were divided would shift forward to new geographic areas of control.[13]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| Military organization | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
