Marshal of the Soviet Union explained

Marshal of the Soviet Union
Native Name:	Russian: Маршал Советского Союза\|italic=no
Image Size2:	90px
Service Branch:	Red Army (1922–1946) Soviet Army (1946–1991)
Rank:	General officer
Formation:	22 September 1935
Abolished:	December 1991
Higher Rank:	Generalissimus
Lower Rank:	Chief marshal of the branch General of the Army
Equivalents:	Admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union

Marshal of the Soviet Union (Russian: Маршал Советского Союза|Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, pronounced as /ru/) 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

See also: List of Field Marshals of the Russian Empire. 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

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Name	Photo	Date of rank	Positions held	Central Committee member	Secretariat member	Politburo member	Years	Additional Notes
1	data-sort-value="voroshilov"				People's Commissar for Defence, 1934–1940. Deputy Chairman, Council of People's Commissars, 1940–1946. Commander-in-Chief, Northwestern Direction, 1941. Commander, Leningrad Front, 1941. Chairman, Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, 1953–1960.				34	(1881–1969) 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	data-sort-value="budyonny"	Semyon Budyonny		20 Nov 1935	Inspector of Cavalry, Red Army, 1923–1937. Commander, Moscow Military District, 1937–1939. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1939–1940. First Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1940–1941. Commander-in-Chief, Southwestern Direction, 1941. Commander, Reserve Front, 1941. Commander-in-Chief, North Caucasus Direction, 1942. Commander, North Caucasus Front, 1942. Inspector of Cavalry, Red Army, 1943–1945. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food, 1945–1954. Inspector of Cavalry, Soviet Army, 1953–1954.				19	(1883–1973) Retired, 1954. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1958, 1963 and 1968.
3	data-sort-value="yegorov"	Alexander Yegorov		20 Nov 1935	Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Chief of the General Staff, 1935–1937. Commander, Transcaucasian Military District, 1937–1938.				3	(1883–1939) Stripped of rank, 1938. Posthumously rehabilitated.
4	data-sort-value="blyukher"	Vasily Blyukher		20 Nov 1935	Commander, Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army, 1935–1938. Commander, Far Eastern Front, 1938.				3	(1889–1938) Retroactively stripped of rank, 1939. Posthumously rehabilitated.
5	data-sort-value="tukhachevsky"	Mikhail Tukhachevsky		20 Nov 1935	Technology and Armament Chief, Red Army/Deputy People's Commissar for War, 1931–1936. First Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Inspector of Military Training, 1936–1937. Commander, Volga Military District, 1937.				2	(1893–1937) Stripped of rank, 1937. Posthumously rehabilitated.
6	data-sort-value="timoshenko"	Semyon Timoshenko		7 May 1940	People's Commissar for Defence, 1940–1941. People's Commissar for Defence/Chairman, Stavka of the Soviet Armed Forces, 1941. Commander, Western Front, 1941. Commander-in-Chief, Southwestern Direction, 1941. Commander, Stalingrad Front, 1942. Commander, Southwestern Front, 1942. Commander, Northwestern Front, 1942–1943. Chairman, Stavka of the Supreme Main Command, 1943–1945. Commander, Baranovich Military District, 1946. Commander, Belorussian Military District, 1946. Commander, South Ural Military District, 1946–1949. Commander, Belorussian Military District, 1949–1960.				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	data-sort-value="shaposhnikov"	Boris Shaposhnikov		7 May 1940	Chief of the General Staff, 1937–1940. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Chief of the General Staff, 1941–1942. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1942–1943. Commandant, Kliment E. Voroshilov Higher Military Academy, 1943–1945.				5	(1882–1945) Died in office.
8	data-sort-value="kulik"	Grigory Kulik		7 May 1940	Chief, Main Artillery Directorate, Red Army, 1937–1941. Deputy Chief of the General Staff, 1939–1941. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1939–1942. Stavka Representative to the Crimean Front, 1941–1942. Head, Main Formation and Training Directorate, Red Army, 1941. Commander, 54th Army, 1941.				2	(1890–1950) Demoted, 1942. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940 (rescinded 1942). Posthumously rehabilitated.
9	data-sort-value="zhukov"	Georgy Zhukov		18 Jan 1943	Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Armed Forces, 1942–1944. Commander, 1st Ukrainian Front, 1944. Commander, 1st Belorussian Front, 1944–1945. Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany, 1945. Military Governor, Soviet Military Administration in Germany/Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany, 1945–1946. Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Ground Forces, 1946. Commander, Odessa Military District, 1946–1948. Commander, Ural Military District, 1948–1953. First Deputy Minister of Defence, 1953–1955. Minister of Defence, 1955–1957.				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	data-sort-value="vasilevsky"	Aleksandr Vasilevsky		16 Feb 1943	Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Chief of the General Staff, 1942–1945. Chief of the General Staff, 1945. Commander-in-Chief, Far East Command, 1945–1946. Chief of the General Staff, 1946–1948. Minister of the Armed Forces, 1949–1950. Minister of War, 1950–1953. Deputy Minister of Defence, 1953–1956. Deputy Minister of Defence for Military Science, 1956–1957.				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	data-sort-value="stalin"	Joseph Stalin			General Secretary, Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party, 1922–1952. Chairman, Council of People's Commissars, 1941–1946. Chairman, Council of Ministers, 1946–1953. Supreme Commander, Soviet Armed Forces, 1941–1953. Chairman, State Defense Committee, 1941–1945. People's Commissar for Defence, 1941–1946. People's Commissar for the Armed Forces, 1946. Minister of the Armed Forces, 1946–1947.				10	(1878–1953) Died in office. Promoted to generalissimus, 27 Jun 1945. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945; Hero of Socialist Labour, 1939; awarded Order of Victory, 1944.
12	data-sort-value="konev"	Ivan Konev			Commander, 2nd Ukrainian Front, 1943–1944. Commander, 1st Ukrainian Front, 1944–1945. Commander, Soviet Occupation Forces, Eastern Germany/Allied High Commissioner for Austria, 1945–1946. First Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Ground Forces, 1946–1950. Chief Inspector, Soviet Ground Forces, 1950–1951. Commander, Carpathian Military District, 1951–1955. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Supreme Commander, Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, 1955–1960. Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1961–1962.				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	data-sort-value="govorov"	Leonid Govorov		18 Jun 1944	Commander, Leningrad Front, 1942–1945. Commander, Leningrad Military District, 1945–1946. Chief Inspector, Soviet Ground Forces, 1946–1948. Commander-in-Chief, National Air Defence Forces, 1948–1952. Deputy Minister of War/Commander-in-Chief, National Air Defence Forces, 1952–1954. Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Air Defence Forces, 1954–1955.				11	(1897–1955) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945; awarded Order of Victory, 1945.
14	data-sort-value="rokossovsky"	Konstantin Rokossovsky		29 Jun 1944	Commander, 1st Belorussian Front, 1943–1944. Commander, 2nd Belorussian Front, 1944–1945. Commander, Northern Group of Forces, 1945–1949. Minister of National Defence, People's Republic of Poland, 1949–1952. Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers, People's Republic of Poland, 1952–1957. Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander, Transcaucasian Military District, 1957–1958. Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief Inspector, Ministry of Defence, 1958–1962.				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	data-sort-value="malinovsky"	Rodion Malinovsky		10 Sep 1944	Commander, 2nd Ukrainian Front, 1944–1945. Head, Allied Commission for Hungary, 1944–1947. Commander, Transbaikal Front, 1945. Commander, Transbaikal-Amur Military District, 1945–1947. Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Far East High Command, 1947–1953. Commander, Far Eastern Military District, 1953–1956. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Ground Forces, 1956–1957. Minister of Defence, 1957–1967.				23	(1898–1967) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945 and 1958; awarded Order of Victory, 1945.
16	data-sort-value="tolbukhin"	Fyodor Tolbukhin		12 Sep 1944	Commander, 3rd Ukrainian Front, 1944–1945. Commander-in-Chief, Southern Group of Forces, 1945–1947. Commander, Transcaucasus Military District, 1947–1949.				5	(1894–1949) Died in office. Posthumously made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1965; awarded Order of Victory, 1945.
17	data-sort-value="meretskov"	Kirill Meretskov		26 Oct 1944	Commander, Karelian Front, 1944–1945. Commander, 1st Far Eastern Front, 1945. Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Occupation Forces in Northern Korea, 1945–1947. Commander, Moscow Military District, 1947–1949. Commander, Belomorsky Military District, 1949–1951. Commander, Northern Military District, 1951–1954. Assistant Minister of Defence, 1955–1964.				20	(1897–1968) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1964. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940; awarded Order of Victory, 1945.
18	data-sort-value="beria"	Lavrentiy Beria			People's Commissar of the Interior, 1938–1946. Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers, 1946–1953. Minister of Internal Affairs, 1953. First Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers, 1953.				8	(1899–1953) Made Hero of Socialist Labour, 1943. Stripped of rank and executed, 1953.
19	data-sort-value="sokolovsky"	Vasily Sokolovsky		3 Jul 1946	Military Governor, Soviet Military Administration in Germany/Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany, 1946–1949. First Deputy Minister of Defence, 1949–1952. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief of the General Staff, 1952–1960.				14	(1897–1968) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1960. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945.
20	data-sort-value="bulganin"	Nikolai Bulganin			Minister of the Armed Forces, 1947–1949. First Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers, 1950–1955. Minister of Defence, 1953–1955. Chairman, Council of Ministers, 1955–1958. Chairman, Soviet State Bank, 1958. Chairman, Regional Economic Council, 1958.				11	(1895–1975) Chairman, Council of People's Commissars, Russian SFSR, 1937–1938. Made Hero of Socialist Labour, 1955. Stripped of rank, 1958.
21	data-sort-value="grechko"	Andrei Grechko		11 Mar 1955	Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1954–1957. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Ground Forces, 1957–1960. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Supreme Commander, Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, 1960–1967. Minister of Defence, 1967–1976.				21	(1903–1976) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1958 and 1973.
22	data-sort-value="moskalenko"	Kirill Moskalenko		11 Mar 1955	Commander, Moscow Military District, 1953–1960. Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Missile Forces, 1960–1962. Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief Inspector, Ministry of Defence, 1962–1983.				28	(1902–1985) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1983. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1943 and 1978.
23	data-sort-value="chuikov"	Vasily Chuikov		11 Mar 1955	Commander, Kiev Military District, 1953–1960. Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Ground Forces, 1960–1961. Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Ground Forces/Chief, Civil Defence, 1961–1964. Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief, Civil Defence, 1964–1972.				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	data-sort-value="bagramyan"	Ivan Bagramyan			Deputy Minister of Defence, 1955–1956. Deputy Minister of Defence/Commandant, Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, 1956–1958. Deputy Minister of Defence, 1958–1968.				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	data-sort-value="biryuzov"	Sergey Biryuzov		11 Mar 1955	Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Air Defence Forces, 1955–1962. Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Missile Forces, 1962–1963. Chief of the General Staff, 1963–1964.				9	(1904–1964) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1958.
26	data-sort-value="yeryomenko"	Andrey Yeryomenko		11 Mar 1955	Commander, North Caucasus Military District, 1953–1958.				3	(1892–1970) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1958. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944.
27	data-sort-value="zakharov"	Matvei Zakharov		8 May 1959	Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1957–1960. Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief of the General Staff, 1960–1963. Commandant, Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, 1963–1964. Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief of the General Staff, 1964–1971.				12	(1898–1972) Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945 and 1971. Director, Main Intelligence Directorate, 1949–1952.
28	data-sort-value="golikov"	Filipp Golikov		8 May 1961	Chief, Main Political Administration of the Soviet Armed Forces, 1958–1962.				1	(1900–1980) Relieved and appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1962. Director, Main Intelligence Directorate, 1940–1941.
29	data-sort-value="krylov"	Nikolay Krylov		28 Apr 1962	Commander, Moscow Military District, 1960–1963. Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Missile Forces, 1963–1972.				10	(1903–1972) Died in office. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, twice in 1945.
30	data-sort-value="yakubovsky"	Ivan Yakubovsky		12 Apr 1967	First Deputy Minister of Defence, 1967. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, 1967–1976.				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	data-sort-value="koshevoy"	Pyotr Koshevoy		15 Apr 1968	Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1965–1969.				1	(1904–1976) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1969. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944 and 1945.
32	data-sort-value="batitsky"	Pavel Batitsky			Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Air Defence Forces, 1966–1978.				10	(1910–1984) Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1965.
33	data-sort-value="brezhnev"	Leonid Brezhnev			General Secretary, Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1964–1982. Chairman, Defence Council of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1964–1982. Chairman, Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, 1977–1982.				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	data-sort-value="ustinov"	Dmitry Ustinov		30 Jul 1976	Minister of Defence, 1976–1984.				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	data-sort-value="kulikov"	Viktor Kulikov		14 Jan 1977	First Deputy Minister of Defence/Supreme Commander, Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, 1977–1989.				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	data-sort-value="ogarkov"	Nikolai Ogarkov		14 Jan 1977	First Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief of the General Staff, 1977–1984. Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Western Theatre of Military Operations, 1984–1988.				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	data-sort-value="sokolov"	Sergey Sokolov		17 Feb 1978	First Deputy Minister of Defence, 1966–1984. Commander-in-Chief, Soviet forces in Afghanistan, 1979–1980. Minister of Defence, 1984–1987.				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	data-sort-value="akhromeyev"	Sergey Akhromeyev		25 Mar 1983	First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, 1979–1984. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief of the General Staff, 1984–1988.				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. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1982.
39	data-sort-value="kurkotkin"	Semyon Kurkotkin		25 Mar 1983	Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief, Rear Services of the Soviet Armed Forces, 1972–1988.				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	data-sort-value="petrov"	Vasily Petrov		25 Mar 1983	Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Ground Forces, 1980–1985. First Deputy Minister of Defence, 1985–1986.				3	(1917–2014) Military Advisor to the Russian Minister of Defence, 1992–2014. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1982.
41	data-sort-value="yazov"	Dmitry Yazov		28 Apr 1990	Minister of Defence, 1987–1991. Member, State Committee on the State of Emergency, 1991.				1	(1924–2020) Dismissed as minister of defence, 1991. Last Marshal of the Soviet Union to die.

Timeline

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from:01/03/1943 till:15/09/1945 color:other bar:timoshenko from:15/09/1945 till:01/01/1960 color:district text:"Timoshenko" bar:shaposhnikov from:07/05/1940 till:01/08/1940 color:genstaff bar:shaposhnikov from:29/07/1941 till:10/05/1942 color:genstaff bar:shaposhnikov from:10/05/1942 till:26/03/1945 color:other text:"Shaposhnikov" bar:kulik from:07/05/1940 till:17/03/1942 color:other text:"Kulik" bar:zhukov from:18/01/1943 till:01/03/1944 color:other bar:zhukov from:01/03/1944 till:09/06/1945 color:district bar:zhukov from:09/06/1945 till:21/03/1946 color:warsawgerm bar:zhukov from:21/03/1946 till:09/06/1946 color:service bar:zhukov from:09/06/1946 till:01/02/1953 color:district bar:zhukov from:01/02/1953 till:09/02/1955 color:other bar:zhukov from:09/02/1955 till:26/10/1957 color:defence text:"Zhukov" bar:vasilevsky from:16/02/1943 till:01/02/1945 color:genstaff bar:vasilevsky from:01/02/1945 till:22/03/1946 color:district bar:vasilevsky from:22/03/1946 till:24/03/1949 color:genstaff bar:vasilevsky from:24/03/1949 till:15/03/1953 color:defence bar:vasilevsky from:15/03/1953 till:01/12/1957 color:other text:"Vasilevsky" bar:stalin from:06/03/1943 till:05/03/1953 color:gensec text:"Stalin" bar:konev from:20/02/1944 till:09/05/1945 color:district bar:konev from:09/05/1945 till:09/06/1946 color:warsawgerm bar:konev from:09/06/1946 till:01/01/1950 color:service bar:konev from:01/01/1950 till:29/11/1951 color:other bar:konev from:29/11/1951 till:14/05/1955 color:district bar:konev from:14/05/1955 till:01/04/1960 color:warsawgerm bar:konev from:09/08/1961 till:18/04/1962 color:warsawgerm text:"Konev" bar:govorov from:18/04/1944 till:01/04/1946 color:district bar:govorov from:01/04/1946 till:27/05/1954 color:other bar:govorov from:27/05/1954 till:19/03/1955 color:service text:"Govorov" bar:rokossovsky from:29/06/1944 till:01/10/1949 color:district bar:rokossovsky from:01/10/1949 till:01/07/1957 color:political bar:rokossovsky from:01/07/1957 till:01/04/1962 color:other text:"Rokossovsky" bar:malinovsky from:10/09/1944 till:01/03/1956 color:district bar:malinovsky from:01/03/1956 till:26/10/1957 color:service bar:malinovsky from:26/10/1957 till:31/03/1967 color:defence text:"Malinovsky" bar:tolbukhin from:12/09/1944 till:17/10/1949 color:district text:"Tolbukhin" bar:meretskov from:26/10/1944 till:01/01/1955 color:district bar:meretskov from:01/01/1955 till:01/01/1964 color:other text:"Meretskov" bar:beria from:09/07/1945 till:01/01/1946 color:nkvd bar:beria from:01/01/1946 till:09/03/1953 color:political bar:beria from:09/03/1953 till:18/12/1953 color:nkvd text:"Beria" bar:sokolovsky from:03/07/1946 till:31/03/1949 color:warsawgerm bar:sokolovsky from:31/03/1949 till:21/02/1952 color:other bar:sokolovsky from:21/02/1952 till:03/05/1960 color:genstaff text:"Sokolovsky" bar:bulganin from:03/11/1947 till:24/03/1949 color:defence bar:bulganin from:24/03/1949 till:15/03/1953 color:political bar:bulganin from:15/03/1953 till:09/02/1955 color:defence bar:bulganin from:09/02/1955 till:01/09/1958 color:political text:"Bulganin" bar:grechko from:11/03/1955 till:16/11/1957 color:warsawgerm bar:grechko from:16/11/1957 till:01/04/1960 color:service bar:grechko from:01/04/1960 till:12/04/1967 color:warsawgerm bar:grechko from:12/04/1967 till:26/04/1976 color:defence text:"Grechko" bar:moskalenko from:11/03/1955 till:01/10/1960 color:district bar:moskalenko from:01/10/1960 till:01/01/1962 color:service bar:moskalenko from:01/01/1962 till:01/12/1983 color:other text:"Moskalenko" bar:chuikov from:11/03/1955 till:01/04/1960 color:district bar:chuikov from:01/04/1960 till:01/01/1964 color:service bar:chuikov from:01/01/1964 till:01/01/1972 color:other text:"Chuikov" bar:bagramyan from:11/03/1955 till:01/01/1968 color:other text:"Bagramyan" bar:biryuzov from:11/03/1955 till:01/03/1963 color:service bar:biryuzov from:01/03/1963 till:19/10/1964 color:genstaff text:"Biryuzov" bar:yeryomenko from:11/03/1955 till:01/04/1958 color:district text:"Yeryomenko" bar:zakharov from:08/05/1959 till:14/04/1960 color:warsawgerm bar:zakharov from:14/04/1960 till:01/03/1963 color:genstaff bar:zakharov from:01/03/1963 till:28/11/1964 color:other bar:zakharov from:28/11/1964 till:22/09/1971 color:genstaff text:"Zakharov" bar:golikov from:08/05/1961 till:01/04/1962 color:other text:"Golikov" bar:krylov from:28/04/1962 till:04/03/1963 color:district bar:krylov from:04/03/1963 till:09/02/1972 color:service text:"Krylov" bar:yakubovsky from:12/04/1967 till:01/07/1967 color:other bar:yakubovsky from:01/07/1967 till:30/11/1976 color:warsawgerm text:"Yakubovsky" bar:koshevoy from:15/04/1968 till:01/10/1969 color:warsawgerm text:"Koshevoy" bar:batitsky from:15/04/1968 till:28/01/1978 color:service text:"Batitsky" bar:brezhnev from:07/05/1976 till:10/11/1982 color:gensec text:"Brezhnev" bar:ustinov from:30/07/1976 till:20/12/1984 color:defence text:"Ustinov" bar:kulikov from:14/01/1977 till:02/02/1989 color:warsawgerm text:"Kulikov" bar:ogarkov from:14/07/1977 till:06/09/1984 color:genstaff bar:ogarkov from:06/09/1984 till:07/12/1988 color:district text:"Ogarkov" bar:sokolov from:17/02/1978 till:22/12/1984 color:other bar:sokolov from:22/12/1984 till:29/05/1987 color:defence text:"Sokolov" bar:akhromeyev from:25/03/1983 till:02/11/1988 color:genstaff text:"Akhromeyev" bar:kurkotkin from:25/03/1983 till:03/05/1988 color:other text:"Kurkotkin" bar:petrov from:25/03/1983 till:01/02/1985 color:service bar:petrov from:01/02/1985 till:01/08/1986 color:other text:"Petrov" bar:yazov from:28/04/1990 till:28/08/1991 color:defence text:"Yazov"

color:erabar bar:era1 from: 01/09/1939 till: 02/09/1945 bar:era1 from: 25/06/1950 till: 27/07/1953 bar:era1 from: 01/11/1955 till: 30/04/1975 bar:era1 from: 24/12/1979 till: 15/02/1989

External links

Biographies of all the Marshals of the USSR