Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)

The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union (Russian: Министр обороны СССР) refers to the head of the Ministry of Defence who was responsible for defence of the socialist/communist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1922 and the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1992.

Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union
Министр обороны СССР
Standard of the Minister of Defence (1964–1991)
Longest serving Kliment Voroshilov 6 November 1925 – 7 May 1940
Ministry of Defense
Status	Abolished
Reports to	General Secretary Premier
Nominator	Council of Defence
Appointer	Politburo
Precursor	Minister of War (Russian Empire)
Formation	8 November 1917
First holder	Council on War and Navy Affairs
Final holder	Yevgeny Shaposhnikov
Abolished	14 February 1992[1]
Succession	Commander-in-Chief of the CIS Armed Forces (1992–1993) Minister of Defence (Russian Federation)

People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs (1917–1934)

No.	Portrait	People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Council [a]	8 November 1917	15 November 1917	7 days
2		Podvoisky, NikolaiNikolai Podvoisky (1880–1948)	15 November 1917	13 March 1918	118 days
3		Trotsky, LeonLeon Trotsky (1879–1940)	14 March 1918	25 January 1925	6 years, 317 days
4		Frunze, MikhailMikhail Frunze (1885–1925)	25 January 1925	31 October 1925 †	279 days
5		Voroshilov, KlimentKliment Voroshilov (1881–1969)	6 November 1925	20 June 1934	8 years, 232 days

People's Commissars for Defence (1934–1946)

No.	Portrait	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	5 years, 322 days
2		Timoshenko, SemyonMarshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Timoshenko (1895–1970)	7 May 1940	19 July 1941	1 year, 73 days
3		Stalin, JosephMarshal of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)	19 July 1941	25 February 1946	4 years, 221 days

People's Commissars for the Navy (1937–1946)

No.	Portrait	People's Commissar of 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	182 days
2		Frinovsky, MikhailKomandarm 1st rank Mikhail Frinovsky (1898–1940)	8 September 1938	20 March 1939	193 days
3		Kuznetsov, NikolaiVice Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov (1904–1974)	28 April 1939	25 February 1946	6 years, 303 days

People's Commissar for the Armed Forces (1946)

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

Ministers of the Armed Forces (1946–1950)

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

Minister of War (1950–1953) No. Portrait 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 3 years, 18 days

Ministers of the Navy (1950–1953) No. Portrait Minister of the Navy Took office Left office Time in office 1 Yumashev, IvanAdmiral Ivan Yumashev (1895–1972) 25 February 1950 20 July 1951 1 year, 145 days 2 Kuznetsov, NikolaiAdmiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kuznetsov (1904–1974) 20 July 1951 15 March 1953 1 year, 238 days

Ministers of Defence (1953–1992)

No.	Portrait	Minister of Defence	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Leader	Premier
1		Bulganin, NikolaiMarshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Bulganin (1895–1975)	15 March 1953	9 February 1955	1 year, 331 days	Georgy Malenkov Nikita Khrushchev	Georgy Malenkov
2		Zhukov, GeorgyMarshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) [b]	9 February 1955	26 October 1957	2 years, 259 days	Nikita Khrushchev	Nikolai Bulganin
3		Malinovsky, RodionMarshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky (1898–1967)	26 October 1957	31 March 1967 †	9 years, 156 days	Nikita Khrushchev Leonid Brezhnev	Nikolai Bulganin Nikita Khrushchev Alexsei Kosygin
4		Grechko, AndreiMarshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Grechko (1903–1976)	12 April 1967	26 April 1976 †	9 years, 14 days	Leonid Brezhnev	Alexsei Kosygin
5		Ustinov, DmitryMarshal of the Soviet Union Dmitry Ustinov (1908–1984)	30 July 1976	20 December 1984 †	8 years, 143 days	Leonid Brezhnev Yuri Andropov Konstantin Chernenko	Alexsei Kosygin Nikolai Tikhonov
6		Sokolov, SergeiMarshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Sokolov (1911–2012) [c]	22 December 1984	29 May 1987	2 years, 158 days	Konstantin Chernenko Mikhail Gorbachev	Nikolai Tikhonov Nikolai Ryzhkov
7		Yazov, DmitryMarshal of the Soviet Union Dmitry Yazov (1924–2020) [d]	30 May 1987	28 August 1991	4 years, 90 days	Mikhail Gorbachev	Nikolai Ryzhkov Valentin Pavlov
8		Shaposhnikov, YevgenyMarshal of Aviation Yevgeny Shaposhnikov (1942–2020) [e]	29 August 1991[2]	14 February 1992[1]	169 days	Mikhail Gorbachev (until Dec. 1991)	Ivan Silayev

See also

• College of War
• Ministry of War of the Russian Empire
• List of heads of the military of Imperial Russia
• Ministry of Defense (Soviet Union)
• Ministry of Defense Industry (Soviet Union)
• Ministry of Defence (Russia)
• General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
  • Chief of the General Staff (Russia)
• Cheget

Notes

1. The committee of the People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs consisted of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, Pavel Dybenko, and Nikolai Krylenko. On 10 November 1917 Ovseenko was taken hostage during the Petrograd Junker mutiny and was released next day with the help of American journalist Williams. Later Ovseenko 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.
2. Dismissed by Nikita Khrushchev in the aftermath of the Anti-Party Group affair.
3. Dismissed by Mikhail Gorbachev as a result of the Mathias Rust affair.
4. Dismissed by Mikhail Gorbachev for being a member of the GKChP during the 1991 coup attempt.
5. On 14 February 1992, by the decision of the Council of CIS Heads of State, Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the CIS.