Marshal of the Soviet Union (, ) was the second-highest military rank of the Soviet Union. It was de facto the highest rank because its superior rank, Generalissimo, was only applied to Joseph Stalin, who preferred to wear the uniform and insignia of a 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
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 Lavrentiy 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 Minister of Defence 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 Akhromeyev committed suicide 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 built their reputations during World War II and assumed high commands in the latter part of the war. These included Zhukov, Vasilevsky, Konev, Rokossovsky, Malinovsky, Tolbukhin, Govorov, and Meretskov. Those who assumed high command during the Cold War era. All 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, Akhromeyev, 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 modern Russia by the rank of Marshal of the Russian Federation, which has been held by only one person, Igor Sergeyev, who was Russia's defence minister from 1997 to 2001. There have been no living marshals since Yazov's death in February 2020.
List of marshals + List of Marshals of the Soviet Union Name Photo Date of rank Positions held CentralCommitteemember Secretariatmember Politburomember Yrs Notes 1 People's Commissar for Defence, 1934–1938. People's Commissar for Defence/Chairman, Main Military Council of the Red Army, 1938–1940. Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers, 1940–1953. Chairman, Allied Control Commission in Hungary, 1945–1947. Chairman, Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, 1953–1960. data-sort-value="10(a)" data-sort-value="14(a)" 25 (1881–1969) Resigned as head of state, 1960. Mayor of Luhansk, 1917; 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 Inspector of Cavalry, Red Army, 1924–1937. Commander, Moscow Military District, 1937–1940. First Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1940–1942. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1942–1943. Inspector of Cavalry, Red Army, 1943–1945. Deputy Minister of Agriculture, 1947–1954. Inspector of Cavalry, Soviet Ground Forces, 1953–1954. data-sort-value="17(b)" 17 (1883–1973) Retired, 1954. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1958, 1963 and 1968. 3 Mikhail Tukhachevsky First Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Chief of Ordnance, Red Army, 1931–1936. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Inspector of Military Training, Red Army, 1936–1937. data-sort-value="17(b)" 2 (1893–1937) Stripped of rank, 1937. Posthumously rehabilitated. 4 Alexander Yegorov Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Chief, General Staff of the Red Army, 1935–1937. First Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1937–1938. Commander, Transcaucasian Military District, 1938. data-sort-value="17(b)" 3 (1883–1939) Stripped of rank, 1938. Posthumously rehabilitated. 5 Vasily Blyukher Commander, Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army, 1935–1938. Commander in Chief, Far Eastern Front, 1938. data-sort-value="17(a)(b)" 3 (1889–1938) Retroactively stripped of rank, 1939. Posthumously rehabilitated. 6 Semyon Timoshenko 7 May 1940 People's Commissar for Defence/Chairman, Main Military Council of the Red Army, 1940–1941. People's Commissar for Defence/Chairman, Headquarters of the Main Command of the Red Army, 1941. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1941–1943. Chairman, Stavka of the Supreme High Command, 1943–1945. Commander, Baranovich Military District, 1945–1946. Commander, Byelorussian Military District, 1946. Commander, South Ural Military District, 1946–1949. Commander, Byelorussian Military District, 1949–1960. data-sort-value="18(a)" 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 Chief, General Staff of the Red Army, 1937–1940. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1940–1941. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Chief, General Staff of the Red Army, 1941–1942. Chief of Staff, Western Front, 1941. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1942–1943. Commandant, Kliment E. Voroshilov Higher Military Academy, 1943–1945. data-sort-value="18(b)" 5 (1882–1945) Died in office. 8 Grigory Kulik 7 May 1940 Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Deputy Chief, General Staff of the Red Army/Head, Main Artillery Directorate, Red Army, 1937–1941. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Head, Main Formation and Training Directorate, Red Army, 1941. Deputy People's Commissar for Defence, 1941–1942. Commander, 54th Army, 1941. Stavka Representative to the Crimean Front, 1941–1942. data-sort-value="18(a)" 2 (1890–1950) Stripped of rank, 1942. Posthumously rehabilitated. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940 (rescinded 1942). 9 Georgy Zhukov First Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Deputy Commander in Chief, Red Army/Deputy Chairman, Stavka of the Supreme High Command, 1942–1945. Commander in Chief, 1st Ukrainian Front, 1944. Commander in Chief, 1st Byelorussian Front, 1944–1945. Commander in Chief, 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. data-sort-value="18(a)(b)" data-sort-value="20(a)" 14 (1896–1974) Dismissed as minister of defence, 1957. Chief, General Staff of the Red Army, 1941. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940, 1944, 1945 and 1956; awarded Order of Victory, 1944 and 1945. 10 Aleksandr Vasilevsky Deputy People's Commissar for Defence/Chief, General Staff of the Red Army, 1942–1945. Commander in Chief, 3rd Byelorussian Front, 1945. Commander in Chief, Soviet Forces in the Far East, 1945. Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces/Chief, General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces, 1946–1947. First Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces/Chief, General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces, 1947–1948. First Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces, 1948–1949. Minister of War, 1949–1953. First Deputy Minister of War, 1953. Deputy Minister of Defence, 1953–1956. Deputy Minister of Defence for Military Science, 1956–1957. data-sort-value="19(a)" 14 (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 General Secretary, Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), 1922–1952. Supreme Commander in Chief, Soviet Armed Forces, 1941–1953. Chairman, Council of Ministers, 1941–1953. Minister of the Armed Forces, 1941–1947. Chairman, State Defence Committee, 1941–1945. data-sort-value="6(a)" data-sort-value="11" data-sort-value="6(a)" 2 (1878–1953) Died in office. Promoted to Generalissimo, 27 Jun 1945. Made Hero of Socialist Labour, 1939; Hero of the Soviet Union, 1945; awarded Order of Victory, 1944. 12 Ivan Konev Commander in Chief, 2nd Ukrainian Front, 1943–1944. Commander in Chief, 1st Ukrainian Front, 1944–1945. Commander in Chief, Central Group of Forces, 1945–1946. Allied High Commissioner for Austria, 1945–1946. Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces/Commander in Chief, Soviet Ground Forces, 1946–1950. Deputy Minister of War/Chief Inspector, Ministry of War, 1950–1951. Commander, Carpathian Military District, 1951–1955. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Commander in Chief, Soviet Ground Forces, 1955–1956. First Deputy Minister of Defence/Supreme Commander, Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, 1956–1960. Commander in Chief, Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, 1961–1962. data-sort-value="18(a)(b)" 17 (1897–1973) Appointed to Group of Inspectors General, 1960; reappointed, 1962. Made Hero of the Soviet Union, 1944 and 1945; awarded Order of Victory, 1945. 13 Leonid Govorov Commander in Chief, Leningrad Front, 1942–1945. Commander in Chief, 2nd Baltic Front, 1945. Commander, Leningrad Military District, 1945–1946. Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces/Chief Inspector, Ministry of the Armed Forces, 1946–1948. Deputy Minister of War/Commander, Air Defence Forces, 1948–1952. Deputy Minister of War for Combat Training, 1952–1953. Deputy Minister of Defence/Chief Inspector, Ministry of Defence, 1953–1954.