After the victory that our people won in the Great Patriotic War, the leadership of the Soviet Union developed a number of measures to transfer the country to a peaceful course. They were necessary to ensure the restoration of the national economy, destroyed by the war and the conversion of industrial production. In addition, a reform of government was carried out. The people's commissariats became ministries, and ministerial posts accordingly appeared . The USSR defense ministers , the list of which is given below, for the most part passed in command posts the crucible of the last war and had great combat experience.
First Minister of Defense of the USSR
Although the ministries in the Soviet Union appeared in March 1946, the USSR Ministry of Defense itself was formed only after I.V. Stalin, in 1953, by combining the military and naval departments. Nikolai Bulganin was appointed Minister . During the past war, he served as a member of the military council of some active fronts, as well as of the Western direction. However, Bulganin was removed from his post in 1955, in February, after Khrushchev N.S. was able to strengthen his power in the country.
The era of Khrushchev ...
After the actual seizure of power, Nikita Sergeyevich began to place his people in key positions and remove the unwanted. Bulganin was dismissed, and G.K. was appointed in his place. Zhukov, who helped Khrushchev eliminate L.P. Beria. Georgy Konstantinovich does not need to be especially introduced to our readers; he is known to everyone who is at least casually interested in the history of our Motherland. However, he did not last long in his place. Two and a half years later a new USSR Minister of Defense, Rodion Malinovsky, was appointed, and Zhukov was dismissed. Rodion Yakovlevich began his military career on the fronts of the war that broke out in 1914, to which he volunteered, fought in France in the ranks of the Russian Expeditionary Force, the Foreign Legion. After returning to his homeland, he participated in the civil war. From the very first battles of World War II, he commanded armies and fronts, participated, at the final stage, in the Battle of Stalingrad and the liberation of Hungary, Romania, Austria and Czechoslovakia. In August 1945, he commanded the Transbaikal Front in the war with Japan. In his post, the commander "survived" the dismissal of Khrushchev and stayed until his death in 1967.
... Brezhnev ...
After the death of Malinovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union A. Grechko took his post. Before this appointment, he commanded the combined armed forces of the countries included in the Warsaw Treaty. Andrei Antonovich met the war while working in the General Staff, however, already from the month of July - at the front. He went from a division commander to an army commander. The next, after Andrei Antonovich, the Minister of Defense of the USSR is D.F. Ustinov, who succeeded him after his death in 1976. It should be noted that Ustinov D.F. during the years of the war waged by the heroic Soviet people with Nazi Germany and its allies, he led the People’s Commissariat of Armaments. Before him, all the defense ministers of the USSR were participants in the hostilities during the war. However, Dmitry Fedorovich still had combat experience. Even in the civilian, he fought with the Basmachi in Central Asia. According to the already "tradition" in this post, Ustinov arrived until his death on December 20, 1984 and survived both Brezhneva L.I. and Andropova Yu.V.
... perestroika
K.U. Chernenko did not break the tradition that the USSR Minister of Defense had combat experience and appointed S.L. Sokolov to this post. During the war, Sergey Leonidovich went from the post of chief of staff of a tank regiment to the commander of the armored forces of the thirty-second army. In 1985, Gorbachev came to power, who began to actively replace the old proven cadres with his people in senior government posts. Therefore, in 1987, D.T. Yazov, who remained with him until August 1991. At the age of seventeen, he volunteered for the front, ended the war as a platoon commander. Dmitry Timofeevich was not forgiven for trying to remain faithful to the military oath and save the Soviet Union; he was removed from his post and arrested. Aviation Marshal Shaposhnikov E.I. was appointed to the vacated seat. not fought a single day. He was the last to occupy this post and actively participated in the destruction of his country.
Russian defense ministers
Both the USSR and independent Russia were perceived and perceived by Western politicians as a geopolitical adversary. Therefore, a principled and honest military man who is not indifferent to the fate of his country should always hold the post of Minister of Defense. Some Russian officials who held this position at different times did not always meet these criteria. We can give an example of P.S. Gracheva or A.E. Serdyukov. However, the current minister is S.K. Shoigu - while fully justifies the hopes placed on him by the people of Russia.