May 1940, Boris Shaposhnikov, father of Soviet mobilization theory, is promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union, and Deputy of the People's Commissar for Defense.
May 1940: the Red Army until now had designated brigade commanders and upward as "Brigade Commander", "Division Commander", "Corps Commander", and "Army Commander", with small red diamond-style insignias: one for brigade command, two for division, and so on.
This month, Stalin introduces generals' ranks, replacing the diamonds with braids and stars. From brigadier rank upward these are Major-General, Lieutenant-General, Colonel-General, and Army General. (For ease of reference, Suvorov usually applies these ranks backward to equivalent force-commander ranks before this date.)
A government commission carries out an across-the-board reclassification of all senior commanders; and they do not simply shift designations. Most BrigComs become Major-Generals, but some go back to Colonel, and BrigCom Muzychenko promotes to Lieutenant-General. Many Army Commanders demote to Colonel-Generals, such as Gorodovikov, Pavlov, Voronov, and Shtern. Army Commander Kachalov gets demoted twice to Lieutenant-General. Corps Commander Zhukov becomes the first General in the Red Army to be awarded five stars, the first Army General; only two other officers will hold this rank for a while along with him. (Suvorov calls this five-star in Chief Culprit and four-star in Icebreaker. There may be an interpretation error; 5-star would be Marshal of the Soviet Union, 4-star should be Army General, the rank above Colonel-General.)
By June 1940, one thousand and fifty-six of the highest rated "Coms" are translated to generals or admirals, with shifts according to their abilities. But for Stalin, one thousand generals aren't enough. There are so many brigades, divisions, corps, and armies being formed, that generals are often commanding above their rank, and colonels are commanding brigades: no fewer than one hundred colonels are assigned to divisional command! Colonel-Generals should command corps, but Colonel-not-General Fedyuninsky shall serve as the 15th Rifle Corps leader in the 5th Army!
But why transition from the by-now-traditional Soviet "Commander" to "General" title at all? Stalin has no problem purging ranks when he wants to; bullets and imprisonment for (supposed) treason, are much more insulting than demotions, so he isn't trying to spare feelings while he makes adjustments in command ability!
The answer is that, once Hitler turns his back on Stalin to invade the Lowlands and France, Stalin suddenly starts creating job opportunities for talented commanders, and currently a large number of talented Soviet rank "Commanders" are sitting in Lubyanka Prison or in gulags. Quickly many are freed! -- most have been freed, or called back from political dismissal, by May 5th (according to the prior entry on that day), and practically all the rest will be freed from prison by May 1941, and put back to work.
If you're wondering why it sounds like there's a distinction between those freed before May 5th, who are given an apology for their "unjust" imprisonment or dismissal, compared to those set free from prison and given commands again after May 5th -- well, good catch, that's exactly right!
Some re-instituted brigade+ commanders are given apologies that a mistake was made in their case; these are shifted to the newly created General category, like Major-General Rokossovsky (one day to be a Marshal of the Soviet Union). Other Commanders released from prison however -- and this is the important distinction -- keep their "Commander" rank: rank, insignia style, uniform style; BrigCom, DivCom, CorCom. (No ArmComs anymore; those are always commanded by Generals now.)
Both classes of arrested high-rankers have been condemned to die in prison, by long or short methods, then suddenly one group are whisked out, to be given cushy first-class rail transport, filled out at Party-elite health spas, handed back reins of power -- and (as Rossokovsky will put it in his memoirs) given "chances to redeem themselves". The other group are given reins of power, but not usually the new General rank: their old outdated pre-imprisonment ranks of Commander stay the same with all the distinctions, and they are given no guarantees they won't go straight back to prison (or to a firing squad). Performance results may guarantee survival and (relative) freedom.
DivCom Vorozheykin, for example, will be released to become airpower commander for Second Strategic Echelon's 21st Army; by July 1941, despite the disasters of Barbarossa, his performance will earn the shift to Air Force Major-General: a brigadier rank, but no longer a gulag rank. By August 1941, he will be promoted to Red Army Forces Chief of Staff; by 1944 he will be Marshal of the Air Force.
BrigCom Gorbatov, as another example, will be released next year on March 5th 1941: "March 5th I consider the day I was reborn", comparing his ordeal to being buried alive in a coffin during Chekist interrogation and dug out again to continue; something he either saw done or experienced firsthand. An interrogator, releasing him, is assigned as his personal aide: "Here's my number, call me if anything happens, no matter the time, count on me to help!" Gorbatov takes with him a bag of mending patches and galoshes, plus pitch-black pieces of sugar and dried biscuits which he had been keeping in case he got sick and couldn't go for food -- no food would be brought to him. Those will serve as memoirs, and as reminders of what had been done to him -- and might still be done to him again. (From his memoir "Years...Wars", pp.168-169) He becomes Deputy Commander of the 25th Rifle Corps, 19th Army, in the Second Strategic Echelon. He shall also be shifted to General, and promoted to commander of all Soviet Army Airborne Assault forces.
"Coms" will be used for reinforcing the First Strategic Echelon, too. BrigCom Zybin gets 37th Rifle Corps; DivCom Magon, 45th Rifle Corps (both 13th Army); BrigCom Tkachov, 109th Rifle Division in the 9th Special Rifle Corps (more about why it was titled "Special" later!) BrigCom Ivanov becomes Chief of Staff for 6th Army. DivCom Sokolov, CorCom for 16th Mechanized Corps, 12th Army; DivCom Burichenkov, commander of Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Southern Sector. DivCom Alekseyev, Commander of 13th Army Aviation. BrigCom Krushin, Chief of Staff Northwestern Front Aviation; BrigCom Titov, Chief of Artillery, 18th Army.
But many of the newly not-generalized "Commanders" won't be assigned to First Echelon service -- but rather to the Second Strategic Echelon. More about this later...