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 the industry of production. In addition, a reform of public administration bodies was also carried out. People's Commissariats became ministries, respectively, there were positions of ministers. The Ministers of Defense of the USSR, the list of which is given below, for the most part went through the crucible of the past war in command positions and had extensive combat experience.
The 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 last war, he was a member of the military councilsome active fronts, as well as 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 Khrushchev era…
After the actual seizure of power, Nikita Sergeevich began to place his people in key positions and remove those who were objectionable. 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 specially introduced to our readers, everyone who is at least casually interested in the history of our Motherland knows him. However, he did not last long in his place. Two and a half years later, a new Minister of Defense of the USSR, Rodion Malinovsky, was appointed, and Zhukov was dismissed. Rodion Yakovlevich began his combat path 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 the Great Patriotic War, 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 Trans-Baikal Front in the war with Japan. In his position, the commander "survived" Khrushchev's removal from office and stayed until his death in 1967.
…Brezhnev…
After the death of Malinovsky, his post was taken by the Marshal of the SovietUnion Grechko A. A.. Prior to this appointment, he commanded the united armed forces of the Warsaw Pact countries. Andrei Antonovich met the war while working in the General Staff, but since July he has been at the front. He went from division commander to army commander. The next, after Andrei Antonovich, the Minister of Defense of the USSR is Ustinov D. F., who replaced him after his death in 1976. It should be noted that Ustinov D. F. during the war waged by the heroic Soviet people against Nazi Germany and its allies, he headed the People's Commissariat for Armaments. Before him, all the ministers of defense of the USSR were participants in hostilities during the war years. However, Dmitry Fedorovich still had combat experience. Even in civilian life, he fought with the Basmachi in Central Asia. According to the already established "tradition" in this position, Ustinov arrived until his death on December 20, 1984 and survived both Brezhnev L. I. and Andropov Yu. V.
…perestroika
K. W. Chernenko did not break the tradition, according to which the Minister of Defense of the USSR had combat experience and appointed S. L. Sokolov to this post. Sergei Leonidovich during the war 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 own people in the highest government posts. Therefore, in 1987, D. T. was appointed to the post of Minister of Defense. Yazov, who remained until August 1991. At the age of seventeen he volunteered for the front, ended the warplatoon leader. 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. Air Marshal E. I. Shaposhnikov was appointed to the vacant seat. did not fight a single day. He was the last one to hold this post and actively participated in the destruction of his country.
Russian Defense Ministers
Both the USSR and independent Russia were and are 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 occupy the post of Minister of Defense. These criteria were not always met by some Russian officials who held this position at different times. You can give an example of P. S. Grachev or A. E. Serdyukov. However, the current minister, S. K. Shoigu - so far fully justifies the hopes placed on him by the people of Russia.
