Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)

The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union refers to the defence minister who was responsible for defence of the communist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1922 and the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1991.

List of defence ministers

People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs (1917–1934)

#	Name	Born–Died	Start	End	Note
1	Council		8 November 1917	15 November 1917	Collective body^{[nb 1]}
2	Nikolai Podvoisky	1880–1948	15 November 1917	13 March 1918
3	Leon Trotsky	1879–1940	13 March 1918	15 January 1925
4	Mikhail Frunze	1885–1925	15 January 1925	31 October 1925	Died in office
5	Kliment Voroshilov	1881–1969	6 November 1925	20 June 1934

Note:

↑ The committee of the People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs consisted of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, Pavel Dybenko, and Nikolai Krylenko. On 10 November 1917 Ovseyenko was taken hostage during the Petrograd Junker mutiny and was released next day with the help of American journalist Williams. Later Ovseyenko headed the Petrograd Military District until December when he was dispatched to Ukraine. Dybenko continued to supervise the naval affairs as the Supreme Navy College that was formed sometime in late November. He stayed in charge until 16 March 1918 when he was stripped of all posts and revoked membership in the Bolshevik Party due to desertion. On 25 November 1917 Krylenko was appointed the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army.

People's Commissars for Defence (1934–1946)

#	Name	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End
1	Kliment Voroshilov	1881–1969	Marshal of the Soviet Union	20 June 1934	7 May 1940
2	Semyon Timoshenko	1895–1970	Marshal of the Soviet Union	7 May 1940	19 July 1941
3	Joseph Stalin	1878–1953	Generalissimus of the Soviet Union	19 July 1941	25 February 1946

People's Commissars for the Navy (1937–1946)

#	Name	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End
1	Pyotr Smirnov	1897–1939	1st Commissar	30 December 1937	30 June 1938
2	Mikhail Frinovsky	1898–1940	1st Army Commander	8 September 1938	20 March 1939
3	Nikolay Kuznetsov	1904–1974	Vice-Admiral	28 April 1939	25 February 1946

People's Commissar for the Armed Forces (1946)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Joseph Stalin		1878–1953	Generalissimus of the Soviet Union	25 February 1946	15 March 1946

Ministers of the Armed Forces (1946–1950)

#	Name	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End
1	Joseph Stalin	1878–1953	Generalissimus of the Soviet Union	15 March 1946	3 March 1947
2	Nikolai Bulganin	1895–1975	Marshal of the Soviet Union	3 March 1947	24 March 1949
3	Aleksandr Vasilevsky	1895–1977	Marshal of the Soviet Union	24 March 1949	25 February 1950

Minister of War (1950–1953)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Aleksandr Vasilevsky		1895–1977	Marshal of the Soviet Union	25 February 1950	15 March 1953

Ministers of the Navy (1950–1953)

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Ivan Yumashev		1895–1972	Admiral	25 February 1950	20 July 1951
2	Nikolay Kuznetsov		1904–1974	Admiral of the Fleet	20 July 1951	15 March 1953

Ministers of Defence (1953–1991)

#	Name	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Nikolai Bulganin	1895–1975	Marshal of the Soviet Union	15 March 1953	9 February 1955
2	Georgy Zhukov	1896–1974	Marshal of the Soviet Union	9 February 1955	26 October 1957	Dismissed by Nikita Khrushchev in the aftermath of the Anti-Party Group affair
3	Rodion Malinovsky	1898–1967	Marshal of the Soviet Union	26 October 1957	31 March 1967	Died in office
4	Andrei Grechko	1903–1976	Marshal of the Soviet Union	12 April 1967	26 April 1976	Died in office
5	Dmitriy Ustinov	1908–1984	Marshal of the Soviet Union	30 July 1976	20 December 1984	Died in office
6	Sergei Sokolov	1911–2012	Marshal of the Soviet Union	22 December 1984	30 May 1987	Dismissed by Mikhail Gorbachev as a result of the Mathias Rust affair
7	Dmitry Yazov	1924–	Marshal of the Soviet Union	30 May 1987	23 August 1991	Dismissed by Mikhail Gorbachev for being a member of the State Committee on the State of Emergency during the 1991 coup d'état attempt
8	Yevgeny Shaposhnikov	1942–	Marshal of Aviation	23 August 1991	21 December 1991