Chief of the General Staff (Russia)
| Chief of the General Staff | |
|---|---|
| Начальник Генерального штаба (Russian) | |
 Flag of the Chief of the General Staff | |
 General Staff of the Armed Forces | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General-Adjutant Pavel Gavrilovich Gagarin (1777–1850) | 9 August 1812 | 13 December 1814 | 2 years, 126 days |  Imperial Russian Army | |
| 2 | Lieutenant General Andrey Kleinmikhel (1757–1815) | 13 December 1814 | 25 June 1815 | 194 days | Imperial Russian Army |
![Pavel Gavrilovich Gagarin [ru]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pavel_Gavriilovich_Gagarin.png)
![Andrey Kleinmikhel [ru]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andrey_Kleinmikhel.jpg)
Chief of the Main Staff[edit]
| No. | Portrait | Chief of the Main Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lieutenant General Fyodor Geyden (1821–1900) | 1 January 1866 | 22 May 1881 | 15 years, 141 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 2 | Lieutenant General General of the Infantry Nikolai Obruchev (1830–1904) | 10 June 1881 | 31 December 1897 | 16 years, 204 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 3 | Lieutenant General Viktor Sakharov (1848–1905) | 20 January 1898 | 11 March 1904 | 6 years, 51 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 4 | Lieutenant General Pyotr A. Frolov (1852–?) | 11 March 1904 | 28 June 1905 | 1 year, 109 days | Imperial Russian Army |
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![Pyotr A. Frolov [ru]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frolov_Petr_Alexandrovitch.jpg)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General of the Cavalry Fyodor Palitsyn (1851–1923) | 28 June 1905 | 2 December 1908 | 157 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 2 | General of the Cavalry Vladimir Sukhomlinov (1848–1926) | 2 December 1908 | 11 March 1909 | 99 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 3 | General of the Infantry Alexander Myshlayevsky (1856–1920) | 11 March 1909 | September 1909 | 5 months | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 4 | Lieutenant General Evgeny Gerngross (1855–1912) | September 1909 | 22 February 1911 | 1 year, 5 months | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 5 | General of the Cavalry Yakov Zhilinsky (1853–1918) | 22 February 1911 | 4 March 1914 | 3 years, 10 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 6 | Major General Nikolai Yanushkevich (1868–1918) | 5 March 1914 | 1 August 1914 | 149 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 7 | Major General Mikhail Belyaev (1863–1918) | 1 August 1914 | 10 August 1916 | 2 years, 9 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 8 | Lieutenant General Pyotr Averyanov (1867–1937) | 10 August 1916 | 15 May 1917 | 278 days | Imperial Russian Army | |
| 9 | Lieutenant General Ivan Romanovsky (1877–1920) | 18 July 1917 | 26 September 1917 | 134 days | Russian Army (1917) | |
| 10 | Major General Vladimir Marushevsky (1874–1952) | 26 September 1917 | 23 November 1917 | 58 days | Russian Army (1917) |
![Evgeny Gerngross [ru]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Evgeny_Gerngross.jpeg)
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![Pyotr Averyanov [ru]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pyotr_I._Averyanov.jpeg)
[edit]
| No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Major General Nikolay Potapov (1871–1946) | 23 November 1917 | 8 May 1918 | 166 days |  Red Army |
Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (1918–1921)[edit]
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Major General Pavel Lebedev (1872–1933) | 10 February 1921 | April 1924 | 3 years, 1 month | Red Army | |
| 2 | Major General Mikhail Frunze (1885–1925) | April 1924 | January 1925 | 9 months | Red Army | |
| 3 | Komandarm 1st rank Sergei Kamenev (1881–1936) | January 1925 | November 1925 | 10 months | Red Army | |
| 4 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky (1893–1937) | November 1925 | May 1928 | 2 years, 6 months | Red Army | |
| 5 | Komandarm 1st rank Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | May 1928 | April 1931 | 2 years, 11 months | Red Army | |
| 6 | General Vladimir Triandafillov (1894–1931) [a] | May 1931 | 12 July 1931 † | 2 months | Red Army | |
| 7 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Yegorov (1883–1939) | July 1931 | September 1935 | 4 years, 2 months | Red Army |
Chief of the General Staff[edit]
| No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Yegorov (1883–1939) | September 1935 | 10 May 1937 | 1 year, 8 months | Red Army | |
| 2 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | 10 May 1937 | August 1940 | 3 years, 2 months | Red Army | |
| 3 | Army General Kirill Meretskov (1897–1968) | August 1940 | January 1941 | 5 months | Red Army | |
| 4 | Army General Georgy Zhukov (1896–1974) | February 1941 | 29 July 1941 | 5 months | Red Army | |
| (2) | Marshal of the Soviet Union Boris Shaposhnikov (1882–1945) | 29 July 1941 | 11 May 1942 | 286 days | Red Army | |
| 5 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977) | 26 June 1942 | February 1945 | 2 years, 7 months | Red Army | |
| 6 | Army General Aleksei Antonov (1896–1962) | February 1945 | 22 March 1946 | 1 year, 1 month | Red Army |
Soviet Armed Forces (1946–1991)[edit]
| No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky (1895–1977) | 22 March 1946 | November 1948 | 2 years, 7 months |  Soviet Army | |
| 2 | Army General Sergei Shtemenko (1907–1976) | November 1948 | June 1952 | 3 years, 7 months | Soviet Army | |
| 3 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Sokolovsky (1897–1968) | June 1952 | April 1960 | 7 years, 10 months | Soviet Army | |
| 4 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Matvei Zakharov (1898–1972) | April 1960 | March 1963 | 2 years, 11 months | Soviet Army | |
| 5 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Biryuzov (1904–1964) [a] | March 1963 | 19 October 1964 † | 1 year, 7 months | Soviet Army | |
| (4) | Marshal of the Soviet Union Matvei Zakharov (1898–1972) | November 1964 | September 1971 | 6 years, 9 months | Soviet Army | |
| 6 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Viktor Kulikov (1921–2013) | September 1971 | 7 January 1977 | 5 years, 4 months | Soviet Army | |
| 7 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Ogarkov (1917–1994) [1] | 7 January 1977 | 6 September 1984 | 7 years, 238 days | Soviet Army | |
| 8 | Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Akhromeyev (1923–1991) [1] | 6 September 1984 | 2 November 1988 | 4 years, 62 days | Soviet Army | |
| 9 | Colonel General Army General Mikhail Moiseev (1939–2022) | December 1988 | 23 August 1991 | 2 years, 8 months | Soviet Army | |
| 10 | Army General Vladimir Lobov (born 1935) | 25 August 1991 | 25 December 1991 | 122 days | Soviet Army |
Russian Armed Forces (1992–present)[edit]
| No. | Portrait | Chief of the General Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Army General Viktor Dubynin (1943–1992) | 10 June 1992 | 22 November 1992 † | 165 days |  Russian Ground Forces | |
| 2 | Army General Mikhail Kolesnikov (1939–2007) | 22 November 1992 | 18 October 1996 | 3 years, 331 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
| 3 | Army General Viktor Samsonov (born 1941) | 18 October 1996 | 22 May 1997 | 216 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
| 4 | Army General Anatoly Kvashnin (1946–2022) | 22 May 1997 | 19 July 2004 | 7 years, 58 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
| 5 | Army General Yuri Baluyevsky (born 1947) | 19 July 2004 | 3 June 2008 | 3 years, 320 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
| 6 | Army General Nikolai Makarov (born 1949) | 3 June 2008 | 9 November 2012 | 4 years, 159 days | Russian Ground Forces | |
| 7 | Army General Valery Gerasimov (born 1955) | 9 November 2012 | Incumbent | 11 years, 229 days | Russian Ground Forces |
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).