State Defense Committee

The State Defense Committee (Russian: Государственный комитет обороны (ГКО), romanized: Gosudarstvennyĭ komitet oborony (GKO)) was an extraordinary organ of state power in the Soviet Union during the German-Soviet War, also called the Great Patriotic War, with complete state power in the country.

State Defense Committee

Государственный комитет обороны
All ministry seals of the Soviet Union used the USSR coat of arms
Agency overview
Formed	30 June 1941
Preceding agency	Defense Committee
Dissolved	4 September 1945
Jurisdiction	Soviet Union
Headquarters	Moscow, Russia
Agency executives	Joseph Stalin, Chairman Vyacheslav Molotov, Deputy Chairman
Parent agency	All-Union Congress of Soviets

General scope

The Soviets set up the GKO on 30 June 1941, a week after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, by a joint decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The war situation at the front lines required a more centralized form of government. The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, however, continued unsuspended. On 18 June 1942, over a thousand members attended the 9th session of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow.^[1]

Geoffrey Roberts described the GKO as "a sort of war cabinet".^[2]

Composition

The initial composition of the committee was such:

• Chairman – Joseph Stalin
• Deputy Chairman – Vyacheslav Molotov
• Members – Lavrentiy Beria (State Security), Georgy Malenkov (Aviation Industry), Kliment Voroshilov

On 3 February 1942, Nikolai Voznesensky and Anastas Mikoyan were added as additional members of the committee. On 20 February 1942, Lazar Kaganovich was added. On 16 May 1944, Beria replaced Molotov as deputy chairman. On 22 November 1944, Nikolai Bulganin replaced Voroshilov as a member.

See also

• Council of Labour and Defence