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| Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov | |
|---|---|
| February 4, 1881 – December 2, 1969 (aged 88) | |
 Marshal of the Soviet Union Kliment Voroshilov |
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| Place of birth | Dnipropetrovsk, Russian Empire |
| Place of death | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Place of burial | Kremlin Wall Necropolis |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Service/branch | Red Army |
| Years of service | 1903 — 1960 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union |
| Battles/wars | Russian Civil War Polish-Soviet War Winter War Great Patriotic War |
| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union (3) Hero of Socialist Labor Order of Lenin (8) Order of the Red Banner (6) Order of Suvorov, 1st Class Medal For the Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 |
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (Russian: Климе́нт Ефре́мович Вороши́лов, Kliment Efremovič Vorošilov, Ukrainian: Климент Єфремович Ворошилов), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (Russian: Клим Вороши́лов, Klim Vorošilov) (February 4 O.S. January 23 1881 – December 2, 1969) was a Soviet military commander and politician.
Voroshilov was born in Verkhneye, near Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk), Ukraine, under the Russian Empire, to a railway worker. His parents were Russian ethnicity.1 He joined the Bolshevik party in 1905. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 he was a member of the Ukrainian provisional government and Commissar for Internal Affairs. In the Soviet defense of Tsaritsyn during the civil war, he became closely associated with Joseph Stalin. He was well known for aiding Stalin in the Military Council (led by Leon Trotsky). He was instrumental in the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War and the Polish-Soviet War while with 1st Cavalry Army. As Political Commissar serving co-equally with Stalin, Voroshilov was responsible for the morale of the 1st Cavalry Army, whose men were chiefly composed of former Russian Cossacks and various bandit elements. Voroshilov's efforts as Commissar did not prevent a resounding defeat at the Battle of Komarów, nor regular outbreaks of murderous anti-Semitic violence within the Cavalry army's ranks.2
Voroshilov was elected to the Central Committee in 1921 and remained a member until 1961. In 1925, after the death of Mikhail Frunze, Voroshilov was appointed People's Commissar for Military and Navy Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, a post he held until 1934. Frunze's position was Troika compatible (Zinoviev, Kamenev, Stalin), but Stalin preferred to have a Stalinist in charge (as opposed to Frunze, a "Zinovievite"). Frunze was urged to have surgery to treat an old stomach ulcer. He died on the operating table of an overdose of chloroform, an anesthetic. Stalin's critics charge that the surgery was used to disguise the assassination of Frunze. Voroshilov was made full member of the newly formed Politburo in 1926, remaining a member until 1960.
Voroshilov was appointed People's Commissar for Defence in 1934 and a Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1935. As a confirmed sycophant of Joseph Stalin, Voroshilov played a central role in Stalin's Great Purge of the 1930s, denouncing many of his own military colleagues and subordinates when asked to do so by Stalin. He went so far as to write personal letters to exiled former Soviet officers and diplomats such as Mikhail Ostrovsky to return voluntarily to the Soviet Union, reassuring them that they would not face retribution from authorities (they did).3
During World War II, Voroshilov was a member of the State Defense Committee. Voroshilov commanded Soviet troops during the Winter War from November 1939 to January 1940, but due to his poor planning and overall incompetence the Red Army suffered tremendous casualtiescitation needed. He was later replaced by Semyon Timoshenko.
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Voroshilov was made commander of the shortlived Northwestern Direction, controlling several fronts. He displayed considerable personal bravery - at one point he personally led a counter-attack against German tanks armed only with a pistol - but also grave incompetence and failed to prevent the Germans from surrounding Leningrad, was dismissed from that post, and replaced by the far abler Georgy Zhukov. In 1945-47 he supervised the establishment of the communist regime in Hungary.
In 1952, Voroshilov was appointed a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee. Stalin's death prompted major changes in the Soviet leadership and in March 1953, Voroshilov was approved as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (i.e. the head of state) with Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Communist Party and Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union. Voroshilov, Georgy Malenkov and Khrushchev brought about the arrest of Lavrenty Beria after Stalin's death in 1953.
On May 7, 1960, the Supreme Soviet granted Voroshilov's "request for retirement" and elected Leonid Brezhnev chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council (the head of state). The Central Committee also relieved him of duties as a member of the Party Presidium (as the Politburo had been called since 1952) on July 16, 1960. In October 1961, his political defeat was complete at the 22nd party congress when he was excluded from election to the Central Committee. A curious story surrounds Voroshilov's last days as the head of state. During one dinner meeting with the Central Committee, every one else present ignored Voroshilov and gave him the cold shoulder. Their snubs made Voroshilov realize that all his colleagues had already decided to fire him, so he decided to preempt them and just "retire".
After the downfall of Khrushchev, Brezhnev returned Voroshilov to politics, in a figurehead role. He was re-elected to the Central Committee in 1966 and was awarded a second medal of Hero of the Soviet Union 1968. He died in 1969 in Moscow and was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. The KV series of tanks, used in World War II, was named after him. Two towns were named after him: Voroshilovgrad in Ukraine (now changed back to the historical Luhansk) and Voroshilov, in the Soviet Far East (now renamed Ussuriysk after Ussuri river), as well as the General Staff Academy in Moscow. Stavropol was called Voroshilovsk from 1935 to 1943.
| Preceded by Nikolay Shvernik |
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet 1953–1960 |
Succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev |
See also
- OSOAVIAKhIM badges: Voroshilov Sharpshooter (Russian: Ворошиловский стрелок) and Voroshilov Horse Rider (Russian: Ворошиловский всадник) etc.
- Kliment Voroshilov tank, KV-1 and KV-2
- Voroshilov Kirov class cruiser
References
- ^ http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1089
- ^ Barmine, Alexander, One Who Survived, New York: G.P. Putnam (1945), footnote, p. 21
- ^ Barmine, Alexander, One Who Survived, New York: G.P. Putnam (1945), footnote, p. 21
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- This page was last modified on 29 November 2008, at 03:30.
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