Central Museum
of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
The Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – the Military History Museum in Moscow on Sovetskaya Army Street was founded on December 23, 1919 by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic No. 2207 and named after the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (Red Army). It is the first historical and revolutionary museum created after the October Revolution. The Moscow City Council handed over to the museum the first floors of the Upper Shopping Malls and the line of the Rag Row. In 1920 the first exhibition was opened there – “The Life of the Red Army and Navy”, which took place in the Upper shopping malls in Red Square. Large exhibits – airplanes, supplies – were presented in the street. In the summer of 1921, the museum was renamed as the “Museum of the Red Army and Navy. In February 1927, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council, the museum was subordinated to the Political Administration (PUR) and moved to premises in the building of the Central House of the Red Army, where it remained for 38 years. After that, the museum created a permanent exhibition of three sections: the Armed Forces of the Proletarian Revolution of 1905-1917, the Civil War, the period of peaceful construction of the Red Army. During the Great Patriotic War, a part of the museum’s funds was evacuated. The museum staff did not stop searching for military relics: from 1943 to 1945, 20 expeditions to the front were organized. The Victory banner – an assault flag hoisted on May 1, 1945 on the Reichstag building – was transferred to the museum on July 10. In 1957 it was decided to build a separate two-storey building with an area of 10-15 thousand square meters for the museum. The project was prepared by architects Boris Barkhin and Nikolai Gaigarov, as well as engineers Aksenov and Belokurov. The construction was completed on May 8, 1965. The expositions were designed by artists R.N. Gvozdev, N. I. Latyshev, Aram Mnatsakanov and V.T. Finogenov under the leadership of Evgeny Rosenblum. By this time, there were more than 500,000 items in the museum’s collection. In 1966 a film fund and a Small Arms Fund were created in the museum, and the next year a Painting Fund was opened. In 1975 the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded the museum the Order of the Red Star. After the collapse of the USSR, the museum made a permanent exhibition in halls No. 22 and 23, describing the events in the country during the period of perestroika. To replenish the funds, the museum staff travelled to military districts and fleets. In 2002 a monument to paratroopers was erected in front of the museum building. In 2006 the equipment was replaced and the collection was expanded. New materials were presented on the participation of the Armed Forces of the USSR in the wars in Korea, Vietnam and other countries. In 2008 there was the exhibition “Caucasus. Five days in August”, describing the armed conflict in South Ossetia.
Address: Moscow, Sovetskaya Armii str., 2, p. 1
