The following table shows comparative officer ranks of World War II, with the ranks of Allied powers, the major Axis powers and various other countries and co-belligerents during World War II.
Modern Russian military ranks trace their roots to the Table of Ranks established by Peter the Great. Most of the rank names were borrowed from existing German/Prussian, French, English, Dutch, and Polish ranks upon the formation of the Russian regular army in the late 17th century.
Gefreiter is a German, Swiss and Austrian military rank that has existed since the 16th century. It is usually the second rank or grade to which an enlisted soldier, airman or sailor could be promoted.
The rank of admiral of the fleet or fleet admiral was the highest naval rank of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1955 and second-highest from 1962 to 1991.
The ranks and insignia used by Russian Ground Forces are inherited from the military ranks of the Soviet Union, although the insignia and uniform has been altered slightly.
The following table presents images of the rank insignia used by the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Russia inherited the ranks of the Soviet Union, although the insignia and uniform was altered a little, especially the re-introduction of the old Tsarist crown and double eagle. The Russian Aerospace Forces follow the same rank structure as the Russian Ground Forces, with the addition of the title "of aviation" to each officer's rank, now abandoned.
Podpolkovnik is a military rank in Slavic and nearby countries which corresponds to the lieutenant colonel in the English-speaking states and military.
The military ranks of the Soviet Union were those introduced after the October Revolution of 1917. At that time the Imperial Russian Table of Ranks was abolished, as were the privileges of the pre-Soviet Russian nobility.
The Marshal's Star is an additional badge of rank worn by marshals of the armed forces of the Soviet Union, and subsequently the Russian Federation.
Kapitan is used manifold as rank, grade, or rank designation in the Army, Air Force or Navy of numerous countries and armed forces. In member countries of NATO-alliance Kapitan is a commissioned officer rank, rated OF-2 in line to the NATO officers rank system. The almost equivalent OF-2 officer, e.g. in the US Army, is the Captain rank.
The military ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were established on March 1992, when Ukraine adopted the Law on Military Duty and Military Service 1992.
The Heer as the German army and part of the Wehrmacht inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). There were few alterations and adjustments made as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men.
Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. The rank originates from the Old European System and it is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and Generaloberst was a rank above full General, but below Generalfeldmarschall. The rank of colonel general also exists in the armed forces organized along the lines of the Soviet model, where it is comparable to that of a lieutenant general.
Generalissimus of the Soviet Union was the highest military rank in the Soviet Union, created after World War II for Joseph Stalin and awarded to him on 27 June 1945. Stalin soon came to regret the rank, which he considered too ostentatious, and continued to wear his Marshal insignia and uniform.
Individual rank insignia to the (Army) ground forces and (Navy) naval forces (1935–1940) were established by orders 2590 and 2591, effective from September 22, 1935.
The ranks and rank insignia of the Red Army and Red Navy between 1940 and 1943 were characterised by continuing reforms to the Soviet armed forces in the period immediately before Operation Barbarossa and the war of national survival following it. The Soviet suspicion of rank and rank badges as a bourgeois institution remained, but the increasing experience of Soviet forces, and the massive increase in manpower all played their part, including the creation of a number of new general officer ranks and the reintroduction of permanent enlisted ranks and ratings.
Marshal of the branch was from 1943 to 1974 the designation to a separate rank class in the general officer's rank group of the former Soviet Union's armed forces.
The ranks and rank insignia of the Soviet Armed Forces between 1955 and 1991 were distinguished by the reorganisation of the Soviet armed forces after the death of Stalin, resulting in changes to ranks, insignia, and uniforms.
Ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation's armed forces from 1994 to 2010 were affected by the disintegration of the former Soviet armed forces, and there were other changes in insignia design when the newly established Russian Federation came into existence. The ranks depicted below were replaced with those adopted by decree № 293 of the President of the Russian Federation on 11 March 2010. The transition began with the issue of new military uniforms to the armed services in 2008 in the Moscow area and in 2010 nationwide. The ranks of marshal of the branch and chief marshal were officially abolished as a result of the 1994 regulations.
Major of State Security was a special rank of officers of the commanding staff of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and the People's Commissariat of State Security of the Soviet Union in the period 1935–1945. The lower special rank is the Captain of State Security, the next in rank is the Senior Major of State Security.
