The Defence Council or the Council of Defense of the USSR () was a high military advisory body which aided and assisted the

Government of the Soviet Union The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, All-Union Supreme Soviet. It ...

and the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...

in the implementation of military policy by the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

. It operated between 1955 and 1991. At the end of its existence, it was known as the Defense Council under the

President of the Soviet Union The president of the Soviet Union (), officially the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), abbreviated as president of the USSR (), was the executive head of state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 15 March ...

History

Following the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

and the establishment of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, a consecutive number of organizations were created with the purpose of coordinating topics related to national economy, military and arms industry. The first organization was the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense, later replaced by the

Council of Labor and Defense The Council of Labor and Defense ()Sovet truda i oborony, Latin acronym: STO), first established as the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense in November 1918, was an agency responsible for the central management of the economy and production ...

. At the end of April 1937, its functions were transferred to a State Committee, the Defense Committee of the Soviet Union which was formed on the basis of the Defense Commission of the

Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was the highest collegial body of executive and administrative authority of the Soviet Union from 1923 to 1946. As the government of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars of ...

. On June 30, 1941, following the outbreak

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, the issues of defense of the Soviet state were transferred to the newly created

State Defense Committee The State Defense Committee () 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. General scope The Soviets set up the GKO ...

, which was a more powerful body and included the Operational Bureau, which was responsible for monitoring the current work of the people's commissariats of the defense industries, both in industry and in those supporting their activities. In parallel, the Bureau of the

operated in the government, which had operational control over all other sectors of the national economy. After the end of World War II, the state apparatus of the USSR began to switch to work in peacetime conditions. By the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 4, 1945, the State Defense Committee of the USSR was abolished, and all its functions were transferred to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. On September 6, instead of the Bureau of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Operational Bureau of the State Defense Committee, two Operational Bureaus of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR were created. One of them dealt with issues related to the work of the People's Commissariats of Defense and the Navy, agriculture, trade and finance, as well as committees and departments under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, the other - concerning the work of industrial people's commissariats and railway transport. They were responsible for preparing and submitting for consideration by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR draft decisions on the national economic plan, as well as on individual important issues requiring a government decision In May 1948, a report was received by Joseph Stalin from

Maksim Saburov Maksim Zakharovich Saburov (; 19 February 1900 – 24 March 1977) was a Soviet engineer, economist and politician, three-time Chairman of Gosplan and later First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union. He was involved in the Anti-Party Group's attemp ...

, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and

Dmitry Ustinov Dmitriy Fyodorovich Ustinov (; 30 October 1908 – 20 December 1984) was a Soviet politician and a Marshal of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as a Central Committee secretary in charge of the Soviet military–industrial comple ...

, Minister of Armaments which said the following: On 20 December 1954, a secret resolution P106/III of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the

CPSU The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

"On the Creation of the Supreme Council of Defense of the USSR" was issued. On 7 February 1955, a secret resolution of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU approved the resolution of the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers the council. The first composition included the following: *

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (; – 24 February 1975) was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1955 to 1958. He also served as Minister of Defense (Soviet Union), Minister of Defense, following service in the Red Army during World War II. ...

Klement Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet military officer and politician during the Stalin era (1924–1953). He was one of the original five Marsh ...

Lazar Kaganovich Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (; – 25 July 1991) was a Soviet politician and one of Joseph Stalin's closest associates. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, Kaganovich worked as a shoemaker and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ...

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...

Aleksandr Vasilevsky Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky ( 1895 – 5 December 1977) was a Soviet general who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, he served as the Chief of the General ...

The Military Council was created as a deliberative body under the Defense Council. The position of the Defense Council in the system of public authorities was enshrined in Article 121 of the 1977 Constitution of the USSR, according to which the Supreme Soviet approved its composition. Obligatory participation of the members of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee was a given, with the heads of government bodies and state organizations also being invited to its meetings. As a rule, it held its meetings at regular intervals as well as during emergency situations such as during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

in 1962. After the establishment in 1990 of the office of

, the council became an exclusive advisory body to the head of state. This was abolished by decree of President Gorbachev on 25 December 1991. Only to be succeeded by the republican security councils in the former Soviet republics as well as the

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

over the next 2 years.

Leadership

On 7 February 1955, by decree of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee "On the Creation of the Defense Council of the USSR" approved the draft resolution of the CPSU Central Committee, the Presidium of the

Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the S ...

, and the

Council of Ministers of the USSR The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

on the creation of the Defense Council.

Chairmen

The office of chairman was concurrently held by the

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the Party leader, leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, country's dissoluti ...

: *

(7 February 1955 – 14 October 1964) *

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

(14 October 1964 – 10 November 1982) *

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...

(12 November 1982 – 9 February 1984) *

Konstantin Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko ( – 10 March 1985) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1984 until his death a year later. Born to a poor family in Siberia, Chernenko jo ...

(13 February 1984 – 10 March 1985) *

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

(11 March 1985 – 25 December 1991) In 1955–1990, the Chairman of the Defense Council exercised his authority as the ''de facto'' " Supreme Commander–in–Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces".

Secretaries

The Secretaries of the Defense Council were concurrently Deputy Chiefs of the General Staff of the Armed Forces: *Colonel General (1955–1959) *Army General

Semyon Ivanov Semyon Pavlovich Ivanov (; 13 September 1907 – 26 September 1993) was a Soviet general. He was awarded with the Hero of the Soviet Union in 1945. Biography Early life Ivanov was born to a peasants' family. He began working in railroad mainten ...

(1959–1962) *Colonel General (1962–1969) *Army General (1969–1974) *Marshal of the Soviet Union

Sergey Akhromeyev Sergey Fyodorovich Akhromeyev (; May 5, 1923 – August 24, 1991) was a Soviet military figure, Hero of the Soviet Union (1982) and Marshal of the Soviet Union (1983). When he was the first deputy chief of staff of the Soviet Army, he formulated ...

(1974–1986) *Colonel General (1986–1989) *Lieutenant General Anatoly Chuvakin (1989–1991)

References

Citations

Bibliography

*{{cite journal, url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sovet-oborony-sssr-i-ego-rol-v-sozdanii-raketnyh-voysk-strategicheskogo-naznacheniya, title=Совет Обороны СССР и его роль в создании Ракетных войск стратегического назначения, lang=ru, author=Д.И. САХНОВ, journal=ВОЕННАЯМЫСЛЬ, issue=10, year=2023, pages=107–120 Government of the Soviet Union Military of the Soviet Union