Chief of the General Staff | |
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Начальник Генерального штаба (Russian) | |
![]() Emblem of the general staff | |
![]() Flag of the Chief of the General Staff | |
since 9 November 2012 | |
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Type | Chief of staff |
Member of | |
Reports to | Minister of Defence of Russia President of Russia (sometimes) |
Seat | General Staff Building, Znamenka 14/1, Moscow |
Appointer | President of Russia |
Formation | 9 August 1812 (historical) 10 June 1992 (current) |
First holder | General-Adjutant Pavel Gavrilovich Gagarin |
Deputy | First Deputy Chief of the General Staff |
Website | www.mil.ru |
The Chief of the General Staff (Russian: Начальник Генерального штаба) is the head of the General Staff and the highest ranking officer of the Russian Armed Forces or is also the senior-most uniformed military officer. He is appointed by the President of Russia, who is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The position dates to the period of the Russian Empire. The current Chief of the General Staff is Army General Valery Gerasimov.
List of chiefs of the general staff
[edit]† denotes people who died in office.
Imperial Russian Army (1812–1917)
[edit]Director of the Inspection Department of the Ministry of War
[edit]No. | Portrait | Director of the Inspection Department of the Ministry of War | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | General-Adjutant Pavel Gavrilovich Gagarin (1777–1850) | 9 August 1812 | 13 December 1814 | 2 years, 126 days | ![]() | |
2 | Lieutenant General Andrey Kleinmikhel (1757–1815) | 13 December 1814 | 25 June 1815 | 194 days | ![]() |
Chief of the Main Staff
[edit]No. | Portrait | Chief of the Main Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fyodor Geyden (1821–1900) | Lieutenant General1 January 1866 | 22 May 1881 | 15 years, 141 days | ![]() | |
2 | General of the Infantry Nikolai Obruchev (1830–1904) | Lieutenant General10 June 1881 | 31 December 1897 | 16 years, 204 days | ![]() | |
3 | Viktor Sakharov (1848–1905) | Lieutenant General20 January 1898 | 11 March 1904 | 6 years, 51 days | ![]() | |
4 | Pyotr A. Frolov (1852–?) | Lieutenant General11 March 1904 | 28 June 1905 | 1 year, 109 days | ![]() |
Chief of the General Directorate of the General Staff
[edit]No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Directorate of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | General of the Cavalry Fyodor Palitsyn (1851–1923) | 28 June 1905 | 2 December 1908 | 157 days | ![]() | |
2 | Vladimir Sukhomlinov (1848–1926) | General of the Cavalry2 December 1908 | 11 March 1909 | 99 days | ![]() | |
3 | Alexander Myshlayevsky (1856–1920) | General of the Infantry11 March 1909 | September 1909 | 5 months | ![]() | |
4 | Evgeny Gerngross (1855–1912) | Lieutenant GeneralSeptember 1909 | 22 February 1911 | 1 year, 5 months | ![]() | |
5 | Yakov Zhilinsky (1853–1918) | General of the Cavalry22 February 1911 | 4 March 1914 | 3 years, 10 days | ![]() | |
6 | Major General Nikolai Yanushkevich (1868–1918) | 5 March 1914 | 1 August 1914 | 149 days | ![]() | |
7 | Mikhail Belyaev (1863–1918) | Major General1 August 1914 | 10 August 1916 | 2 years, 9 days | ![]() | |
8 | Pyotr Averyanov (1867–1937) | Lieutenant General10 August 1916 | 15 May 1917 | 278 days | ![]() | |
9 | Ivan Romanovsky (1877–1920) | Lieutenant General18 July 1917 | 26 September 1917 | 134 days | Russian Army (1917) | |
10 | Vladimir Marushevsky (1874–1952) | Major General26 September 1917 | 23 November 1917 | 58 days | Russian Army (1917) |
Council of People's Commissars on War and Navy Affairs (1917–1918)
[edit]No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Nikolay Potapov (1871–1946) | Major General23 November 1917 | 8 May 1918 | 166 days | ![]() |
Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (1918–1921)
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Red Army (1921–1946)
[edit]Chief of the Staff
[edit]No. | Portrait | Chief of the Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Pavel Lebedev (1872–1933) | Major General10 February 1921 | April 1924 | 3 years, 1 month | ![]() | |
2 | Mikhail Frunze (1885–1925) | Major GeneralApril 1924 | January 1925 | 9 months | ![]() | |
3 | Komandarm 1st rank Sergei Kamenev (1881–1936) | January 1925 | November 1925 | 10 months | ![]() | |
4 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky (1893–1937) | November 1925 | May 1928 | 2 years, 6 months | ![]() | |
5 | Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | Komandarm 1st rankMay 1928 | April 1931 | 2 years, 11 months | ![]() | |
6 | Vladimir Triandafillov (1894–1931) [a] | GeneralMay 1931 | 12 July 1931 † | 2 months | ![]() | |
7 | Alexander Yegorov (1883–1939) | Marshal of the Soviet UnionJuly 1931 | September 1935 | 4 years, 2 months | ![]() |
Chief of the General Staff
[edit]No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Alexander Yegorov (1883–1939) | Marshal of the Soviet UnionSeptember 1935 | 10 May 1937 | 1 year, 8 months | ![]() | |
2 | Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | Marshal of the Soviet Union10 May 1937 | August 1940 | 3 years, 2 months | ![]() | |
3 | Army General Kirill Meretskov (1897–1968) | August 1940 | January 1941 | 5 months | ![]() | |
4 | Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) | Army GeneralFebruary 1941 | 29 July 1941 | 5 months | ![]() | |
(2) | Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | Marshal of the Soviet Union29 July 1941 | 11 May 1942 | 286 days | ![]() | |
5 | Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977) | Marshal of the Soviet Union26 June 1942 | February 1945 | 2 years, 7 months | ![]() | |
6 | Aleksei Antonov (1896–1962) | Army GeneralFebruary 1945 | 22 March 1946 | 1 year, 1 month | ![]() |
Soviet Armed Forces (1946–1991)
[edit]No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977) | Marshal of the Soviet Union22 March 1946 | November 1948 | 2 years, 7 months | ![]() | |
2 | Sergei Shtemenko (1907–1976) | Army GeneralNovember 1948 | June 1952 | 3 years, 7 months | ![]() | |
3 | Vasily Sokolovsky (1897–1968) | Marshal of the Soviet UnionJune 1952 | April 1960 | 7 years, 10 months | ![]() | |
4 | Matvei Zakharov (1898–1972) | Marshal of the Soviet UnionApril 1960 | March 1963 | 2 years, 11 months | ![]() | |
5 | Sergey Biryuzov (1904–1964) [a] | Marshal of the Soviet UnionMarch 1963 | 19 October 1964 † | 1 year, 7 months | ![]() | |
(4) | Matvei Zakharov (1898–1972) | Marshal of the Soviet UnionNovember 1964 | September 1971 | 6 years, 9 months | ![]() | |
6 | Viktor Kulikov (1921–2013) | Marshal of the Soviet UnionSeptember 1971 | 7 January 1977 | 5 years, 4 months | ![]() | |
7 | Nikolai Ogarkov (1917–1994) [1] | Marshal of the Soviet Union7 January 1977 | 6 September 1984 | 7 years, 238 days | ![]() | |
8 | Sergey Akhromeyev (1923–1991) [1] | Marshal of the Soviet Union6 September 1984 | 2 November 1988 | 4 years, 62 days | ![]() | |
9 | Colonel General Army General Mikhail Moiseev (1939–2022) | December 1988 | 23 August 1991 | 2 years, 8 months | ![]() | |
10 | Vladimir Lobov (born 1935) | Army General25 August 1991 | 25 December 1991 | 122 days | ![]() |
Russian Armed Forces (1992–present)
[edit]No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
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1 | Army General Viktor Dubynin (1943–1992) | 10 June 1992 | 22 November 1992 † | 165 days | ![]() | |
2 | Mikhail Kolesnikov (1939–2007) | Army General22 November 1992 | 18 October 1996 | 3 years, 331 days | ![]() | |
3 | Viktor Samsonov (born 1941) | Army General18 October 1996 | 22 May 1997 | 216 days | ![]() | |
4 | Anatoly Kvashnin (1946–2022) | Army General22 May 1997 | 19 July 2004 | 7 years, 58 days | ![]() | |
5 | Yuri Baluyevsky (born 1947) | Army General19 July 2004 | 3 June 2008 | 3 years, 320 days | ![]() | |
6 | Nikolai Makarov (born 1949) | Army General3 June 2008 | 9 November 2012 | 4 years, 159 days | ![]() | |
7 | Valery Gerasimov (born 1955) | Army General9 November 2012 | Incumbent | 11 years, 284 days | ![]() |
Notes
[edit]See also
[edit]- Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces
- Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces
- Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy
- Cheget
References
[edit]- ^ a b Garthoff, Raymond L. (1994). The Great Transition: American-Soviet Relations and the End of the Cold War. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution. p. 186. ISBN 0-8157-3060-8.
The decision was taken at the regular Politburo meeting [on 6 September] and appeared to have been sudden
Further reading
[edit]- V.I. Feskov, K.A. Kalashnikov, V.I. Golikov, The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945–91, Tomsk University Publishing House, Tomsk, 2004 (for Soviet era list of CGSs).