The People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union () was the highest military department of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

from 1934 to 1946.

History

In the 1920–1930s, the highest military authority of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic/Soviet Union was called the

People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs The People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs of the Soviet Union was the central body of military command and control of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union from November 12, 1923, to March 15, 1934. History The People's Commissaria ...

. On June 20, 1934, the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs of the Soviet Union was transformed into the All-Union People's Commissariat for Defense of the Soviet Union. On December 30, 1937, the People's Commissariat of the Navy of the Soviet Union was allocated from it. On February 1, 1944, in connection with the adoption of the Law of the Soviet Union on the creation of military formations of the Union republics, the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union was transformed from the All–Union People's Commissariat into the Union–Republican. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic has created its own People's Commissariat of Defense. On February 25, 1946, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union, the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union merged with the People's Commissariat of the Navy of the Soviet Union into a single Union–Republican People's Commissariat of the

Armed Forces of the Soviet Union The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

. Under this name, the central authority was designated in documents for less than a month, since in accordance with the Law of the Soviet Union of March 15, 1946 on the transformation of the Councils of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union and Union Republics into Councils of Ministers, it was renamed the Ministry of Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. On February 25, 1947, in accordance with the aforementioned decisions, amendments were made to the Constitution of the Soviet Union. The printing organ of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs in the part of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

was the

Military Affairs ''The Journal of Military History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the military history of all times and places. It is the official journal of the Society for Military History. The journal was established in 1937 and the ed ...

magazine. The central organ of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union to educate the commanding and rank-and-file staff of the Red Army, to promote combat training tasks and to develop advanced military thought was the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

People's Commissars

* Clement Voroshilov (June 20, 1934 – May 7, 1940) * Semen Tymoshenko (May 7, 1940 – July 19, 1941) *

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

(July 19, 1941 – February 25, 1946)

Key Documents

Structure

On July 26, 1940

#General Staff of the Red Army, #General Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army, #Main Directorate of the Air Forces of the Red Army, #Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, #Main Armored Directorate of the Red Army, #Main Military Engineering Directorate of the Red Army, #Main quartermaster department of the Red Army, #Department of combat training of the Red Army, #Air Defense Administration of the Red Army, #Office of Communications of the Red Army, #Office of the Military Chemical Defense of the Red Army, #Red Army Fuel Supply Administration, #Management of higher military educational institutions of the Red Army, #Department of military educational institutions of the Red Army, #Office of the Red Army #Sanitary Administration of the Red Army, #Veterinary Administration of the Red Army, #Office of the People’s Commissar of Defense, #Finance Department at the People’s Commissar of Defense.

References

Sources

*{{cite book , author=Valery Artsybashev, Sergey Voitikov, Uzenkov, Abrahamyan, Borisov, Efimenko, Meltiukhov, Rogovaya, Silaev , date=2005 , title=The Command of the Red Army in 1940–1941. The Structure and Personnel of the Central Apparatus of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union, Military Districts and Combined Arms Armies , location=Moscow, Saint Petersburg , publisher=Summer Garden , pages=272 , isbn=5-94381-137-0 , agency=Candidate of Historical Sciences Tarhova , edition=Documents and Materials. Russian State Military Archive

External links

List of Orders of the People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union

on the Website of the Ministry of Defense of Russia Command and control Military of the Soviet Union