Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)
Appearance
The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union refers to the defence minister 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 defence ministers
# | Name | Image | Born–Died | Rank | Start | End | Note |
1 | Council | 8 November 1917 | 15 November 1917 | Collective body[nb 1] | |||
2 | Nikolai Podvoisky | 1880–1948 | 15 November 1917 | 13 March 1918 | |||
3 | Leon Trotsky | 1879–1940 | 13 March 1918 | 15 January 1925 | |||
4 | Mikhail Frunze | File:Frunze-mikhail.jpg | 1885–1925 | 15 January 1925 | 31 October 1925 | Died in office | |
5 | Kliment Voroshilov | 1881–1969 | 6 November 1925 | 20 June 1934 |
Note:
- ^ 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.
People's Commissars for Defence (1934–1946)
# | Name | Image | Born–Died | Rank | Start | End | Note |
1 | Kliment Voroshilov | 1881–1969 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 20 June 1934 | 7 May 1940 | ||
2 | Semyon Timoshenko | 1895–1970 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 7 May 1940 | 19 July 1941 | ||
3 | Joseph Stalin | File:Stalin lg zlx1.jpg | 1878–1953 | Generalissimus of the Soviet Union | 19 July 1941 | 25 February 1946 |
# | Name | Image | Born–Died | Rank | Start | End | Note |
1 | Pyotr Smirnov | 1897–1939 | 1st Commissar | 30 December 1937 | 30 June 1938 | ||
2 | Mikhail Frinovsky | 1898–1940 | 1st Army Commander | 8 September 1938 | 20 March 1939 | ||
3 | Nikolay Kuznetsov | File:Памятник адмиралу Кузнецову.jpg | 1904–1974 | Vice-Admiral | 28 April 1939 | 25 February 1946 |
People's Commissar for the Armed Forces (1946)
# | Name | Image | Born–Died | Rank | Start | End | Note |
1 | Joseph Stalin | File:Stalin lg zlx1.jpg | 1878–1953 | Generalissimus of the Soviet Union | 25 February 1946 | 15 March 1946 |
Ministers of the Armed Forces (1946–1950)
# | Name | Image | Born–Died | Rank | Start | End | Note |
1 | Joseph Stalin | File:Stalin lg zlx1.jpg | 1878–1953 | Generalissimus of the Soviet Union | 15 March 1946 | 3 March 1947 | |
2 | Nikolai Bulganin | File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-29921-0001, Bulganin, Nikolai Alexandrowitsch.jpg | 1895–1975 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 3 March 1947 | 24 March 1949 | |
3 | Aleksandr Vasilevsky | 1895–1977 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 24 March 1949 | 25 February 1950 |
Minister of War (1950–1953)
# | Name | Image | Born–Died | Rank | Start | End | Note |
1 | Aleksandr Vasilevsky | 1895–1977 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 25 February 1950 | 15 March 1953 |
# | Name | Image | Born–Died | Rank | Start | End | Note |
1 | Ivan Yumashev | File:IS-Yumashev.jpg | 1895–1972 | Admiral | 25 February 1950 | 20 July 1951 | |
2 | Nikolay Kuznetsov | File:Памятник адмиралу Кузнецову.jpg | 1904–1974 | Admiral of the Fleet | 20 July 1951 | 15 March 1953 |
Ministers of Defence (1953–1991)
# | Name | Image | Born–Died | Rank | Start | End | Note |
1 | Nikolai Bulganin | File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-29921-0001, Bulganin, Nikolai Alexandrowitsch.jpg | 1895–1975 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 15 March 1953 | 9 February 1955 | |
2 | Georgy Zhukov | 1896–1974 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 9 February 1955 | 26 October 1957 | Dismissed by Nikita Khrushchev in the aftermath of the Anti-Party Group affair | |
3 | Rodion Malinovsky | 1898–1967 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 26 October 1957 | 31 March 1967 | Died in office | |
4 | Andrei Grechko | 1903–1976 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 12 April 1967 | 26 April 1976 | Died in office | |
5 | Dmitriy Ustinov | 1908–1984 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 30 July 1976 | 20 December 1984 | Died in office | |
6 | Sergei Sokolov | 1911–2012 | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 22 December 1984 | 30 May 1987 | Dismissed by Mikhail Gorbachev as a result of the Mathias Rust affair | |
7 | Dmitry Yazov | 1924– | Marshal of the Soviet Union | 30 May 1987 | 23 August 1991 | Dismissed by Mikhail Gorbachev for being a member of the State Committee on the State of Emergency during the 1991 coup d'état attempt | |
8 | Yevgeny Shaposhnikov | 1942– | Marshal of Aviation | 23 August 1991 | 21 December 1991 |