Marshal of the Soviet Union
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Marshal of the Soviet Union Маршал Советского Союза | |
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![]() Marshal's star – big | |
![]() Uniform shoulder strap (1955–1991) | |
Country | ![]() |
Service branch | Red Army (1922–1946) Soviet Army (1946–1991) |
Rank | General officer |
Formation | 22 September 1935 |
Abolished | December 1991 |
Next higher rank | Generalissimo |
Next lower rank | Chief marshal of the branch General of the Army |
Equivalent ranks | Admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union |
Marshal of the Soviet Union (Russian: Маршал Советского Союза, romanized: Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, pronounced [ˈmarʂəl sɐˈvʲetskəgə sɐˈjuzə]) was the second-highest military rank of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin wore the uniform and insignia of Marshal after World War II.
The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 1991 when the Soviet Union dissolved. Forty-one people held this rank. The equivalent naval rank was until 1955 admiral of the fleet and from 1955 Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union.
History of the rank
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/5marshals_01.jpg/220px-5marshals_01.jpg)
The military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was established by a decree of the Soviet Cabinet, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), on 22 September 1935. On 20 November, the rank was conferred on five people: People's Commissar of Defence and veteran Bolshevik Kliment Voroshilov, Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army Alexander Yegorov, and three senior commanders, Vasily Blyukher, Semyon Budyonny, and Mikhail Tukhachevsky.
Of these, Blyukher, Tukhachevsky, and Yegorov were executed during Stalin's Great Purge of 1937–38. On 7 May 1940, three new Marshals were appointed: the new People's Commissar of Defence, Semyon Timoshenko, Boris Shaposhnikov, and Grigory Kulik.
During World War II, Kulik was demoted for incompetence, and the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was given to a number of military commanders who earned it on merit. These included Georgy Zhukov, Ivan Konev and Konstantin Rokossovsky to name a few. In 1943, Stalin himself was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union, and in 1945, he was joined by his intelligence and police chief Lavrenti Beria. These non-military Marshals were joined in 1947 by politician Nikolai Bulganin.
Two Marshals were executed in postwar purges: Kulik in 1950 and Beria in 1953, following Stalin's death. Thereafter the rank was awarded only to professional soldiers, with the exception of Leonid Brezhnev, who made himself a Marshal in 1976, and Dmitry Ustinov, who was prominent in the arms industry and was appointed Defence Minister in July 1976. The last Marshal of the Soviet Union was Dmitry Yazov, appointed in 1990, who was imprisoned after the failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991. Marshal Sergei Akhromeev suicided in 1991 during the fall of the Soviet Union.
The Marshals fell into three generational groups.
- Those who had gained their reputations during the Russian Civil War. These included both those who were purged in 1937–38 (Blyukher, Tukhachevsky, and Yegorov), and those who held high commands in the early years of World War II (Budyonny, Kulik, Shaposhnikov, Timoshenko and Voroshilov). All of the latter except Shaposhnikov and Timoshenko proved out-of-step with modern warfare and were removed from commanding positions.
- Those who made their reputations in World War II and assumed high commands in the latter part of the war. These included Zhukov, Vasilievsky, Konev, Rokossovsky, Malinovsky, Tolbukhin, Govorov, and Meretskov.
- Those who assumed high command in the Cold War era. All of these were officers in World War II, but their higher commands were held in the Warsaw Pact or as Soviet Defence Ministers. These included Sokolovsky, Grechko, Yakubovsky, Kulikov, Ogarkov, Akhromeev, and Yazov.
All Marshals in the third category had been officers in World War II, except Ustinov, who had been People's Commissar for Armaments. Even Yazov, who was 20 when the war ended, had been a platoon commander. Brezhnev was not a professional soldier, but was still commissioned as a political commissar in the war.
Of the 35 Marshals who were career soldiers, the majority were of Russian origin. Timoshenko (Tymoshenko), Kulik (Kulyk), Grechko (Hrechko), Yeremenko (Yeryomenko), Moskalenko, Batitsky (Batytsʹkyy) and Koshevoy (Koshovyy) were of Ukrainian origin, while Sokolovsky (Sakaloŭski) and Yakubovsky (Jakuboŭski) had Belarusian origins. Rokossovsky (Rokossowski) was born in Congress Poland to a Polish family, while Malinovsky (Malinowsky) was born in Odessa (now in Ukraine) to a Polish father. Tukhachevsky also had Polish ancestry. Bagramyan (Baghramyan) was the sole marshal of Armenian origin.
The rank was abolished with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. It was succeeded in the new Russia by the rank of Marshal of the Russian Federation, which has been held by only one person, Marshal Igor Sergeyev, who was Russian Defence Minister from 1997 to 2001.
After the death of Marshal Yazov in 2020 there were no living Marshals of the Soviet Union.
List of Marshals of the Soviet Union
[edit]No. | Name | Photo | Date of rank | Positions held[a] | Central Committee member |
Secretariat member |
Politburo member |
Years[b] | Additional Notes[c] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kliment Voroshilov | ![]() |
20 Nov 1935[1] |
|
Yes | No | Yes | 34 | (1881–1969)[d] People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, 1925–1934. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1956 and 1968; Hero of Socialist Labour, 1960. |
2 | Semyon Budyonny | ![]() |
20 Nov 1935 |
|
Yes | No | No | 19 | (1883–1973)[e] Retired, 1954. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1958, 1963 and 1968. |
3 | Alexander Yegorov | ![]() |
20 Nov 1935 |
|
Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 3 | (1883–1939)[f][g] Stripped of rank, 1938. Posthumously rehabilitated. |
4 | Vasily Blyukher | ![]() |
20 Nov 1935 |
|
Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 3 | (1889–1938)[f][h] Retroactively stripped of rank, 1939. Posthumously rehabilitated. |
5 | Mikhail Tukhachevsky | ![]() |
20 Nov 1935 |
|
Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 2 | (1893–1937)[f][i] Stripped of rank, 1937. Posthumously rehabilitated. |
6 | Semyon Timoshenko | ![]() |
7 May 1940 |
|
Yes | No | No | 20 | (1895–1970) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1960. Chairman, State Committee for War Veterans, 1961–1970. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940 and 1965; awarded Order of Victory, 1945. |
7 | Boris Shaposhnikov | ![]() |
7 May 1940 |
|
Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 5 | (1882–1945) Died in office. |
8 | Grigory Kulik | ![]() |
7 May 1940 |
|
Yes | No | No | 2 | (1890–1950)[j] Demoted, 1942. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940 (rescinded 1942). Posthumously rehabilitated. |
9 | Georgy Zhukov | ![]() |
18 Jan 1943 |
|
Yes | No | Yes | 14 | (1896–1974) Dismissed as minister of defence, 1957. Chief of the General Staff, 1941. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940, 1944, 1945 and 1956; awarded Order of Victory, 1944 and 1945. |
10 | Aleksandr Vasilevsky | ![]() |
16 Feb 1943 |
|
Yes | No | No | 16 | (1895–1977) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1959. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944 and 1945; awarded Order of Victory, 1944 and 1945. |
11 | Joseph Stalin | ![]() |
6 Mar 1943[2] |
|
Yes | Yes | Yes | 10 | (1878–1953) Died in office. Promoted to Generalissimo, 27 Jun 1945. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945; Hero of Socialist Labour, 1939; awarded Order of Victory, 1944. |
12 | Ivan Konev | ![]() |
20 Feb 1944[3] |
|
Yes | No | No | 18 | (1897–1973) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1962. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944 and 1945; awarded Order of Victory, 1945. |
13 | Leonid Govorov | ![]() |
18 Jun 1944 |
|
Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 11 | (1897–1955) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945; awarded Order of Victory, 1945. |
14 | Konstantin Rokossovsky | ![]() |
29 Jun 1944 |
|
Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 18 | (1896–1968) Retired, 1962. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944 and 1945; awarded Order of Victory, 1945. Made Marshal of Poland, 1949. Candidate member, 22nd–23rd Central Committee, 1962–1968. |
15 | Rodion Malinovsky | ![]() |
10 Sep 1944 |
|
Yes | No | No | 23 | (1898–1967) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945 and 1958; awarded Order of Victory, 1945. |
16 | Fyodor Tolbukhin | ![]() |
12 Sep 1944 |
|
No | No | No | 5 | (1894–1949) Died in office. Posthumously made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1965; awarded Order of Victory, 1945. |
17 | Kirill Meretskov | ![]() |
26 Oct 1944 |
|
Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 20 | (1897–1968) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1964. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940; awarded Order of Victory, 1945. |
18 | Lavrentiy Beria | ![]() |
9 Jul 1945[4] |
|
Yes | No | Yes | 8 | (1899–1953)[k] Made Hero of Socialist Labour, 1943. Stripped of rank and executed, 1953. |
19 | Vasily Sokolovsky | ![]() |
3 Jul 1946 |
|
Yes | No | No | 14 | (1897–1968)[l] Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1960. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945. |
20 | Nikolai Bulganin | ![]() |
3 Nov 1947[5] |
|
Yes | No | Yes | 11 | (1895–1975)[m] Chairman, Council of People's Commissars, Russian SFSR, 1937–1938. Made Hero of Socialist Labour, 1955. Stripped of rank, 1958. |
21 | Andrei Grechko | ![]() |
11 Mar 1955 |
|
Yes | No | Yes | 21 | (1903–1976) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1958 and 1973. |
22 | Kirill Moskalenko | ![]() |
11 Mar 1955 |
|
Yes | No | No | 28 | (1902–1985) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1983. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1943 and 1978. |
23 | Vasily Chuikov | ![]() |
11 Mar 1955 |
|
Yes | No | No | 17 | (1900–1982) Retired, 1972. Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany, 1949–1953. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944 and 1945. |
24 | Ivan Bagramyan | ![]() |
11 Mar 1955[6] |
|
Yes | No | No | 13 | (1897–1982) Retired, 1968. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944 and 1977. Last surviving Marshal of the Soviet Union to hold high command during World War II. |
25 | Sergey Biryuzov | ![]() |
11 Mar 1955 |
|
Yes | No | No | 9 | (1904–1964) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1958. |
26 | Andrey Yeryomenko | ![]() |
11 Mar 1955 |
|
Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 3 | (1892–1970) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1958. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944. |
27 | Matvei Zakharov | ![]() |
8 May 1959 |
|
Yes | No | No | 12 | (1898–1972) Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945 and 1971. Director, Main Intelligence Directorate, 1949–1952. |
28 | Filipp Golikov | ![]() |
8 May 1961 |
|
Yes | No | No | 1 | (1900–1980) Relieved and appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1962. Director, Main Intelligence Directorate, 1940–1941. |
29 | Nikolay Krylov | ![]() |
28 Apr 1962 |
|
Yes | No | No | 10 | (1903–1972) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, twice in 1945. |
30 | Ivan Yakubovsky | ![]() |
12 Apr 1967 |
|
Yes | No | No | 9 | (1912–1976) Died in office. Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1960–1961; 1962–1965. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, twice in 1944. |
31 | Pyotr Koshevoy | 15 Apr 1968 | Yes (as candidate) |
No | No | 1 | (1904–1976) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1969. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944 and 1945. | ||
32 | Pavel Batitsky | ![]() |
15 Apr 1968[7] |
|
Yes | No | No | 10 | (1910–1984) Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1965. |
33 | Leonid Brezhnev | ![]() |
7 May 1976[8][9] |
|
Yes | Yes | Yes | 6 | (1906–1982) Died in office. First Secretary, Communist Party of Moldavia, 1950–1952; First Secretary, Communist Party of Kazakhstan, 1955–1956; Chairman, Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, 1960–1964; Second Secretary, Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1963–1964. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1966, 1976, 1978 and 1981; Hero of Socialist Labour, 1961; awarded Order of Victory, 1978 (rescinded 1989). |
34 | Dmitry Ustinov | ![]() |
30 Jul 1976 |
|
Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 | (1908–1984) Died in office. People's Commissar of Armaments, 1941–1946; Minister of Armaments, 1946–1953; Minister of the Defence Industry, 1953–1957; Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers/Chairman, Military-Industrial Commission, 1957–1963; First Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers, 1963–1965. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1978; Hero of Socialist Labour, 1942 and 1961. |
35 | Viktor Kulikov | ![]() |
14 Jan 1977 | Yes | No | No | 12 | (1921–2013) Relieved, 1989. Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1969–1971; Chief of the General Staff, 1971–1977; Member, 3rd State Duma of the Russian Federation, 1999–2003. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1981. | |
36 | Nikolai Ogarkov | ![]() |
14 Jan 1977 |
|
Yes | No | No | 11 | (1917–1994) Relieved as chief of general staff, 1984; appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1988. Military Advisor to the Russian Minister of Defence, 1992–1994. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1977. |
37 | Sergey Sokolov | ![]() |
17 Feb 1978 |
|
Yes | No | Yes (as candidate) |
9 | (1911–2012) Dismissed as minister of defence, 1987. Military Advisor to the Russian Minister of Defence, 1992–2012. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1980. Longest-lived Marshal of the Soviet Union. |
38 | Sergey Akhromeyev | ![]() |
25 Mar 1983 |
|
Yes | No | No | 5 | (1923–1991) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1988. Advisor for Military Affairs to the President of the Soviet Union, 1990–1991; Member, State Committee on the State of Emergency, 1991.[o] Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1982. |
39 | Semyon Kurkotkin | ![]() |
25 Mar 1983 |
|
Yes | No | No | 5 | (1917–1990) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1988. Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1971–1972. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1981. |
40 | Vasily Petrov | ![]() |
25 Mar 1983 |
|
Yes | No | No | 3 | (1917–2014) Military Advisor to the Russian Minister of Defence, 1992–2014. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1982. |
41 | Dmitry Yazov | ![]() |
28 Apr 1990 |
|
Yes | No | Yes (as candidate) |
1 | (1924–2020) Dismissed as minister of defence, 1991. Last Marshal of the Soviet Union to die. |
Timeline
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/retv4ms2998kvo6bzvsp75m0h4msf5h.png)
See also
[edit]- Marshal of the Russian Federation
- History of Russian military ranks
- Military ranks of the Soviet Union
- Marshal of the branch
- Chief marshal of the branch
- Field marshal (Russian Empire)
- Marshal of the People's Republic of China
- Marshal (North Korea and South Korea)
Notes
[edit]- ^ Positions listed are those held by the officer when promoted to marshal, both within the Soviet Armed Forces, Communist Party of the Soviet Union and non-CPSU governmental apparatus. Politico-military positions, such as ministers, first deputy ministers, and deputy ministers of defence are to be included, whereas service on the Group of Inspectors General is not to be included.
- ^ Refers to number of years holding rank of marshal. Unless otherwise stated, marshals of the Soviet Union hold their rank until final relief or removal from a position within the armed forces, party or state apparatus (including membership in the Party Congress, Central Committee, Politburo/Presidium). Time spent between holding of such positions is not counted.
- ^ Notes include years of birth and death; awards of the Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labour, Order of Victory or honours of similar significance; major military appointments prior to promotion to marshal; major non-governmental or Party-affiliated appointments; familial relationships with other marshals of the Soviet Union or significant Party and state officials; and unusual career events such as demotion, removal from office or being purged by Party leadership.
- ^ Resigned as head of state, 7 May 1960; removed from Presidium, 16 Jul 1960; removed from Central Committee, Oct 1961; re-elected to Central Committee, 1966.
- ^ Reduced to candidate member, 22nd Central Committee, 1961.
- ^ a b c Victim of the Great Purge.
- ^ Arrested and stripped of rank, 21 Feb 1938; executed, 23 Feb 1939; rehabilitated and posthumously restored as marshal, 14 Mar 1956.
- ^ Arrested, 22 Oct 1938; died in captivity, 9 Nov 1938; retroactively stripped of rank, Mar 1939; rehabilitated and posthumously restored as marshal, 1956.
- ^ Arrested and stripped of rank, 22 May 1937; executed, 12 Jun 1937; rehabilitated and posthumously restored as marshal, 31 Jan 1957.
- ^ Dismissed as deputy people's commissar for defence and expelled from Central Committee, 24 Feb 1942; demoted to major general, 17 Mar 1942; promoted to lieutenant general, 15 Apr 1943; demoted to major general, 9 Jul 1945; arrested and stripped of rank, 11 Jan 1947; executed, 24 Aug 1950; rehabilitated and posthumously restored as marshal, 28 Sep 1957.
- ^ Unofficial rank of Commissar General of State Security converted to Marshal of the Soviet Union, 9 Jul 1945; arrested, 26 Jun 1953; stripped of rank and expelled from all offices, 18 Dec 1953; executed, 23 Dec 1953.
- ^ Reduced to candidate member, 22nd Central Committee, 1961.
- ^ Resigned as premier, 27 Mar 1958; expelled from Central Committee and stripped of rank, Sep 1958; expelled from Presidium, 12 Nov 1958; retired, Feb 1960.
- ^ Position renamed from First Secretary at the 23rd Party Congress in 1966.
- ^ a b As part of the August Coup of 1991.
References
[edit]- ^ "Birthday Anniversary of Kliment Ye. Voroshilov, Statesman and Military Figure, Marshal of the Soviet Union". Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ Stephan, Robert (1987). "Smersh: Soviet Military Counter-Intelligence during the Second World War". Journal of Contemporary History. 22 (4): 585–613. doi:10.1177/002200948702200403. JSTOR 260812. S2CID 159160922. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ "Ivan Konev - Traces of War". Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ Birstein, Vadim (November 2013). SMERSH: Stalin's Secret Weapon. Biteback. ISBN 9781849546898. Retrieved 29 September 2021. On July 9, 1945, the heads of all security structures received military ranks. Beria was promoted to marshal [...]
- ^ "Military Review, Volume 35, Issue 6". 1955. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ "Village of war chiefs". Collective Treaty Security Organization. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "Батицкий Павел Фёдорович". WarHeroes (in Russian). Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ "Брежнев Леонид Ильич". warheroes.ru. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ "ПЛОХ ТОТ ГЕНСЕК, КОТОРЫЙ НЕ МЕЧТАЕТ СТАТЬ МАРШАЛОМ". novayagazeta.ru. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2023.