Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)

Standard of the Minister of Defence (1964–1991).

The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union refers to the head of the Ministry of Defence who was responsible for defence of the communist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1922 and the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1991.

List of ministers[edit]

№	People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Council ^[a]	8 November 1917	15 November 1917	7000700000000000000♠7 days
2	Podvoisky, NikolaiNikolai Podvoisky (1880–1948)	15 November 1917	13 March 1918	7002118000000000000♠118 days
3	Trotsky, LeonLeon Trotsky (1879–1940)	13 March 1918	15 January 1925	7003250000000000000♠6 years, 308 days
4	Frunze, MikhailMikhail Frunze (1885–1925)	15 January 1925	31 October 1925 †	7002289000000000000♠289 days
5	Voroshilov, KlimentKliment Voroshilov (1881–1969)	6 November 1925	20 June 1934	7003315400000000000♠8 years, 232 days

№	People's Commissar for Defence	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Voroshilov, KlimentMarshal of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov (1881–1969)	20 June 1934	7 May 1940	7003214800000000000♠5 years, 322 days
2	Timoshenko, SemyonMarshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Timoshenko (1895–1970)	7 May 1940	19 July 1941	7002438000000000000♠1 year, 73 days
3	Stalin, JosephGeneralissimus of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)	19 July 1941	25 February 1946	7003168200000000000♠4 years, 221 days

№	People's Commissar for the Navy	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Smirnov, PyotrArmy Commissar of 1st rank Pyotr Smirnov (1897–1939)	30 December 1937	30 June 1938	7002182000000000000♠182 days
2	Frinovsky, MikhailKomandarm 1st rank Mikhail Frinovsky (1898–1940)	8 September 1938	20 March 1939	7002193000000000000♠193 days
3	Kuznetsov, NikolayVice Admiral Nikolay Kuznetsov (1904–1974)	28 April 1939	25 February 1946	7003249500000000000♠6 years, 303 days

№		People's Commissar for the Armed Forces	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Stalin, JosephGeneralissimus of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)	25 February 1946	15 March 1946	7001180000000000000♠18 days

№	Ministers of the Armed Forces	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Stalin, JosephGeneralissimus of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)	15 March 1946	3 March 1947	7002353000000000000♠353 days
2	Bulganin, NikolaiMarshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Bulganin (1895–1975)	3 March 1947	24 March 1949	7002752000000000000♠2 years, 21 days
3	Vasilevsky, AleksandrMarshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977)	24 March 1949	25 February 1950	7002338000000000000♠338 days

№		Minister of War	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Vasilevsky, AleksandrMarshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977)	25 February 1950	15 March 1953	7003111400000000000♠3 years, 18 days

№		People's Commissar for the Navy	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Yumashev, IvanAdmiral Ivan Yumashev (1895–1972)	25 February 1950	20 July 1951	7002510000000000000♠1 year, 145 days
2		Kuznetsov, NikolayAdmiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolay Kuznetsov (1904–1974)	20 July 1951	15 March 1953	7002604000000000000♠1 year, 238 days

№	Minister of Defence	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Bulganin, NikolaiMarshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Bulganin (1895–1975)	15 March 1953	9 February 1955	7002696000000000000♠1 year, 331 days
2	Zhukov, GeorgyMarshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) ^[b]	9 February 1955	26 October 1957	7002990000000000000♠2 years, 259 days
3	Malinovsky, RodionMarshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky (1898–1967)	26 October 1957	31 March 1967 †	7003344300000000000♠9 years, 156 days
4	Grechko, AndreiMarshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko (1903–1976)	12 April 1967	26 April 1976 †	7003330200000000000♠9 years, 14 days
5	Ustinov, DmitriyMarshal of the Soviet Union Dmitriy Ustinov (1908–1984)	30 July 1976	20 December 1984 †	7003306500000000000♠8 years, 143 days
6	Sokolov, SergeyMarshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Sokolov (1911–2012) ^[c]	22 December 1984	30 May 1987	7002889000000000000♠2 years, 159 days
7	Yazov, DmitryMarshal of the Soviet Union Dmitry Yazov (born 1924) ^[d]	30 May 1987	23 August 1991	7003154600000000000♠4 years, 85 days
8	Shaposhnikov, YevgenyMarshal of Aviation Yevgeny Shaposhnikov (born 1942)	23 August 1991	21 December 1991	7002120000000000000♠120 days

^ The committee of the People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs consisted of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, Pavel Dybenko, and Nikolai Krylenko. On 10 November 1917 Ovseyenko was taken hostage during the Petrograd Junker mutiny and was released next day with the help of American journalist Williams. Later Ovseyenko headed the Petrograd Military District until December when he was dispatched to Ukraine. Dybenko continued to supervise the naval affairs as the Supreme Navy College that was formed sometime in late November. He stayed in charge until 16 March 1918 when he was stripped of all posts and revoked membership in the Bolshevik Party due to desertion. On 25 November 1917 Krylenko was appointed the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army.
^ Dismissed by Nikita Khrushchev in the aftermath of the Anti-Party Group affair.
^ Dismissed by Mikhail Gorbachev as a result of the Mathias Rust affair.
^ Dismissed by Mikhail Gorbachev for being a member of the GKChP during the 1991 coup d'état attempt.