The State Defense Committee () was an extraordinary organ of state power in 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 ...
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 on 30 June 1941, a week after
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
invaded 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 ...
on 22 June 1941, by a joint decision of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the
Council of People's Commissars
The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...
(''Sovnarkom''), 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 ...
. The war situation at the front lines required a more centralized form of government. The
Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
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 So ...
, however, continued unsuspended. On 18 June 1942, over a thousand members attended the 9th session of the Supreme Soviet in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
.
Geoffrey Roberts described the GKO as "a sort of
war cabinet".
[
]
Composition
The initial composition of the committee was such:
* Chairman –
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
* Deputy Chairman –
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. ...
* Members –
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...
(State Security),
Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (8 January 1902 O.S. 26 December 1901">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 26 December 1901ref name=":6"> – 14 January 1988) was a Soviet politician who br ...
(Aviation Industry),
Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet Military of the Soviet Union, military officer and politician during the Stalinism, Stalin era (1924–195 ...
On 3 February 1942,
Nikolai Voznesensky and
Anastas Mikoyan were added as additional members of the committee. On 20 February 1942,
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 ...
was added. On 16 May 1944, Beria replaced Molotov as deputy chairman. On 22 November 1944,
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.
...
replaced Voroshilov as a member.
See also
*
Council of Labour and Defence
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 ...
References
Bibliography
*Barber, John, and Harrison, Mark. (1991). ''The Soviet Home Front 1941–1945: A Social and Economic History of the USSR in World War II''. London: Longman. , .
*Werth, Alexander. (1964). ''Russia at War 1941–1945''. New York: Carrol and Graf.
Further reading
* Glantz, David M. ''When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army stopped Hitler''. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995. Overview of Eastern Front from Soviet side.
* Roberts, Geoffrey. ''Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939–1953''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006. Post-revisionist study of Stalin's wartime and post-war leadership.
{{Authority control
State Committees of the Soviet Union
1941 establishments in the Soviet Union
1945 disestablishments in the Soviet Union
Military history of the Soviet Union during World War II