Marshals of the USSR: from Voroshilov to Yazov

At the height of his military and political might, Napoleon Bonaparte uttered his famous phrase that each of his soldiers wears a marshal's staff in his pack . Marshals of the USSR had no staff, but from this their rank did not become less significant and attractive.

In prerevolutionary Russia, the line of higher army posts was rather complicated, however, beginning with Peter the Great, the supreme military commander, the commander-in-chief in a particular theater of operations, usually wore the rank of general-field marshal. Historians disagree on the number of persons awarded this high rank, noting at the same time that such commanders as Suvorov, Kutuzov, Dibich, Paskevich have deserved their whole staff with their whole career.

In the formed after the events of 1917, the Red Army ranks as such did not initially exist, and the military servicemen, as a rule, were treated according to the post they occupied. Marshals of the USSR - the first titles introduced by a special resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) in September 1935. At the same time, the matter was not limited to simple renaming, but personal decrees were issued, according to which specific people began to occupy the highest step in the military hierarchy.

The first marshals of the USSR - Voroshilov, Egorov, Tukhachevsky, Blyukher, Budyonny - enjoyed both deserved authority in the country and in the army, so no one had any doubts about the appropriateness of appropriating these high ranks. However, very little time will pass, and three of them - Tukhachevsky, Egorov and Blyukher - will become "repressed marshals of the USSR", with the first two marshals being returned only after several decades.

Before the Great Patriotic War, three more warlords - Timoshenko, Shaposhnikov and Kulik - became marshals of the USSR. It is worth noting that up to 1955 the assignment of this title was made only individually and only by special decrees. Marshals of the USSR wore special epaulettes with one big star. Later, in 1945, was established a beautiful marshal's star, which was fringed by several diamonds.

Several people received the highest military rank of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Among them, a special place is occupied by the USSR Marshal Zhukov. This is due not only to the fact that he was awarded this title first, but also with the enormous contribution he made to the victory over fascist Germany. Also in these menacing years marshal's epaulettes were given to Vasilevsky, Konev, Stalin, Rokossovsky, Govorov, Malinovsky, Meretskov and Tolbukhin. Immediately after the war, due to reassignment, this rank was given to Beria, but soon after Stalin's death he was deprived of it.

In total, the list of "Marshals of the USSR" includes 41 people. Of those not yet named, we should single out such remarkable commanders as Bagramyan, Grechko, Chuikov, Eremenko. In 1976, with great pomp, this title was awarded to Leonid Brezhnev.

The last marshal of the USSR was D. Yazov, who received it shortly before the collapse of the great country. The only one to date, who was awarded the title of marshal of the Russian Federation, is former Defense Minister I. Sergeev.