The title of Generalissimo was known at the time Soviet Union. The rank of generalissimo appeared in 1945; according to the law, a soldier had the right to command all the Armed Forces of the USSR. The Politburo nominated Stalin for this post, explaining this decision by his great merits in the Second World War. The victory of the USSR was hard, but as they say, the winners are not judged, but awarded, so Stalin was also awarded the Order of Victory and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

According to historians, the rank of Generalissimo was previously discussed by the Politburo several times, but Stalin considered this unnecessary. The Commander-in-Chief changed his mind after the words of Marshal of the USSR Rokossovsky, who did not want to carry out one of Stalin's orders, appealing that they had the same ranks.

Appearance of the Generalissimo

The rear service of the Red Army was engaged in the development of the full dress and everyday uniforms of the highest military rank, but shoulder straps were never introduced during Stalin's lifetime. After the ruler died, there was no longer a need for shoulder straps, and the project was curtailed. The tailors, together with the rear service, suggested several options for shoulder straps and uniforms for the commander in chief:

a uniform decorated with epaulettes, which depicted the coat of arms of the USSR along with one five-pointed star, decorated in a wreath made of oak leaves;
shoulder straps were also placed on special winter outerwear;
a special uniform was designed for riding horses, it looked like a general's uniform of the 19th century.

During his lifetime, Stalin cut off all these proposals, considering the wardrobe too pretentious, catchy, outdated and out of date.

In 2017, the outfits that the Commander-in-Chief could wear are stored in the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War in the capital of Russia, this museum is located on Poklonnaya Hill.

On the shoulder straps of military officers of other ranks there are several insignia, while it is important that a certain distance is measured between the stars - mainly 25 mm. But since only one star was planned on Stalin's shoulder straps, such nuances were not taken into account.

Eyewitnesses who spoke with Stalin more than once note his unsurpassed strict style of clothing:

The generalissimo had shoulder straps of the Marshal of the USSR, the uniform general's tunic of a traditional cut suited him very well. How shoulder straps looked can be seen in the photo.
The light gray jacket always had 4 pockets and a turn-down collar.
The buttonholes were made according to the general format of the overcoat type - in a red tint with gold borders and buttons.

The described form was considered a parade-out, it was in such a tunic that Stalin was depicted in portraits and posters.

Where did the title of Generalissimo go?

Molotov later claimed that Stalin had repeatedly expressed indignation at his decision to be commander in chief. The ruler complained about the pressure from outside, but could no longer refuse the honorary title he had been awarded. After the death of Stalin, no one else was the Generalissimo, but this rank was preserved in the statutes until 1993.

He acted in a formal form in the Russian Federation until January 1, 1993, after which the charter of the internal service of the RF Armed Forces was introduced on a temporary basis, and the generalissimo sank into oblivion. Sometimes a reminder of an unusual title still flashed, for example, history knows the facts when Khrushchev, and then Brezhnev, claimed this post.

How to become an army general

One of the highest ranks of the military is a general. Of course, only a few become generals, but having a great goal in front of you, even if you don’t achieve what you want, you won’t remain captains either. First determine why you need an army - if such a desire is dictated by total unemployment and good physical shape, it is better not to rush. Moreover, from 2004 to 2020, the Russian government is conducting a total purge among the ranks of the military, not allowing hacks and people who do not understand anything about the military profession.

If you want to rise to the highest ranks in the army, get ready to go through a thorny and long path:

It is advisable to enter as a teenager military school. Military education is not given to just anyone - the selection committee will have to prove that you are a capable, disciplined and courageous student. To do this, you must pass a series of tests and provide the necessary list of documents, ranging from an autobiography, references from school teachers, ending with a medical certificate of professional suitability.
After receiving a red diploma, you will definitely need to enter a university. The average and senior officers of Russia are far from being illiterate; these people draw up combat strategies, are distinguished by ingenuity and a quick mind.
Many years of service lie ahead. If you want to become a general, you need to move from rank to rank, not be afraid to be a leader, take responsibility, become an active and loyal comrade for colleagues.

If there is no desire to enter a military school, this item can be skipped. If a young man goes to the army after school on conscription, he has the right to apply to the university later, but by this time he will already know what the army is and what he will have to devote his whole life to. An important nuance - they will not be admitted to a military university if you already have a diploma from another higher education. But this does not mean at all that you will have to give up a military career - many civilian specialties in the army are very valuable.

What you should not do is to be careless, inattentive, undisciplined - any oversight can harm your career. If an outstanding criminal record “hung” on you, one can only dream of military service.

How to get promoted to police general

If you are annoyed by the problems of strangers, then you definitely should not serve in the police. Only with charisma, perseverance, masculinity and assertiveness, a kind but strong heart, one can achieve great ranks and titles. This takes into account several important factors:

qualification;
education - higher education is quoted the most;
attitude to service, activity;
current position and success in work.

70 years ago, on June 26, 1945, the title of "Generalissimo of the Soviet Union" was introduced in the USSR. Introduced by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1945 on the basis of consideration of the collective petition of workers, engineering and technical workers and employees of the Moscow plant "Ressora" of February 6, 1943 and the proposal of the commanders of the fronts, the General Staff of the Red Army, the Navy dated June 24, 1945

The next day, June 27, 1945, at the suggestion of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the written submission of the front commanders, the title was awarded to Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin "in commemoration of exceptional merits in the Great Patriotic War." In addition, Joseph Vissarionovich was awarded the Order of Victory and he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Generalissimo of Russia

In the entire history of existence in Russia, only five people have been awarded this highest title. For the first time, the title of generalissimo (from Latin generalissimus - “the most important”) was awarded in 1569 in France to the Duke of Anjou (later King Henry III). In France, the term "generalissimo" meant an honorary military title that was given to persons ruling dynasties and prominent statesmen. In the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire and England, this was the position of the commander of the active army in time of war or the commander-in-chief of all the troops of the state. In Russia and Spain, it was an honorary highest military rank.

In Russia, the word "generalissimo" appeared during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Foreign officers serving in the Russian Amiya used to address the Great Governor, who was considered the commander of the army. Tsar Peter Alekseevich in 1696 for the first time granted the title of generalissimo to the voivode Alexei Semyonovich Shein. Alexey Shein came from the old boyar family and was noted by Peter for successes in the Azov campaigns of 1695-1696, which ended with the capture of the Turkish fortress of Azov. During the first, unsuccessful Azov campaign, Aleksey Shein commanded the guards - the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. During the second Azov campaign, in 1696, the Russian governor was the commander of the ground forces. After that, the tsar appointed Shein commander-in-chief of the Russian army, commander of artillery, cavalry and head of the Inozemsky order. Shein was responsible for the southern strategic direction, fought the Turks and the Crimean Tatars. However, Shein soon fell out of favor (due to the case of the archers) and died in 1700.

Officially, the military rank of Generalissimo in the Russian state was introduced by the Military Regulations of 1716. Therefore, formally, the first generalissimo of Russia was the "chick of Petrov's nest", the royal favorite Alexander Danilovich Menshikov. It was a controversial person. On the one hand, he was Peter's faithful companion for a long time, fought successfully, played a big role in the decisive Poltava battle, where he commanded first the vanguard, and then the left flank of the Russian army. At Perevolochna, he forced the remaining Swedish troops to capitulate. On the other hand, he was power-hungry, and greedy for money and wealth. In terms of the number of serfs, he became the second soul owner in Russia after Tsar Peter. Menshikov was repeatedly convicted of embezzlement. Peter let this go for a long time, recognizing his services to the Fatherland and under the influence of his wife Catherine. However, at the end of Peter's reign, Menshikov fell into disgrace, he was deprived of his main posts.

Under Peter Menshikov did not receive the title of Generalissimo. After the death of Peter, he was able to become the de facto ruler of Russia under Catherine I and Peter II. When on May 6 (17), 1727, Peter II Alekseevich became the third All-Russian emperor, Menshikov received the rank of full admiral. And on May 12 he was awarded the title of Generalissimo. As a result, Menshikov received the rank of generalissimo not in recognition of military merits, but as a favor of the tsar. However, Menshikov was defeated in the fight against other dignitaries and nobles. In September 1727, Menshikov was arrested and exiled. He was stripped of all awards and positions.

The next generalissimo, Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, also did not have any special merits before Russia, which would be worth noting with such a sign of attention. Anton Ulrich was the husband of Anna Leopoldovna. When Anna Leopoldovna became regent (ruler) Russian Empire under the young emperor Ivan VI, her husband received the highest military rank on November 11, 1740. This happened after a palace coup that ended Biron's reign.

Anton Ulrik did not possess, unlike the same Menshikov, any managerial and military talents, he was a soft and limited person. Therefore, he was unable to protect his family. On the night of December 5-6, 1741, another palace coup took place in Russia: the Braunschweig family was overthrown, and Elizaveta Petrovna ascended the throne. Anton Ulrik was stripped of all ranks and titles and sent into exile with his entire family.

On October 28, 1799, the great Russian commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov became Generalissimo of the Russian land and sea forces. He was awarded by Emperor Pavel in honor of the legendary Swiss campaign of 1799, when the Russian miraculous heroes of Suvorov defeated not only the French, but also the mountains. Alexander Suvorov rightfully received this title. He did not lose a single battle, smashed the Poles, Ottomans and French. Suvorov was the author of "The Science of Victory", a brief instruction to soldiers, where the Russian spirit was expressed, allowing you to emerge victorious in the most difficult conditions. The commanders of the Suvorov school were M. I. Kutuzov, P. I. Bagration and others.

Supreme

After the generalissimos of the 18th century, no one else was awarded the highest military rank in Russia, although the Russian army still fought a lot. Winner great army Napoleon Mikhail Kutuzov was awarded the rank of Field Marshal for distinction at Borodino. Even such a great war as the First World War did not lead to the appearance of Russian generalissimos. After the October Revolution of 1917, the former military ranks were abolished, and with them the title of generalissimo.

Only during the most terrible and bloody war of the 20th century - the Great Patriotic War, which became sacred for Russia-USSR, since it was a question of the survival of Russian civilization and the Russian superethnos, returned to the idea of reviving this title. After the Great Patriotic War, on June 26, 1945, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the highest military rank "Generalissimo of the Soviet Union" was introduced and on June 27 it was awarded to Joseph Stalin, who during the war years was Soviet Supreme Commander.

With the assignment of the title of Generalissimo to Stalin is very interesting legend. As you know, Stalin was indifferent to titles and signs of power, he lived modestly, even ascetically. The Supreme did not like sycophants, believing that helpful bastards are worse than obvious enemies. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the issue of conferring the title of Generalissimo to Stalin was discussed several times, but the “leader of the peoples” constantly rejected this proposal. At the same time, senior military leaders especially insisted on the revival of this title, for them the hierarchy was of great importance. One of these discussions took place in the presence of Stalin. Marshal of the Soviet Union Konev recalled that Stalin reacted as follows: “Do you want to assign a generalissimo to Comrade Stalin? Why does Comrade Stalin need this? Comrade Stalin does not need this. Comrade Stalin already has authority. You need titles for authority. Just think, they found a title for Comrade Stalin - Generalissimo. Chiang Kai-shek - Generalissimo, Franco Generalissimo. Nothing to say, good company for Comrade Stalin. You are marshals, and I am a marshal, do you want to put me out of the marshals? Some kind of generalissimo?..” Thus, Stalin gave a categorical refusal.

However, the marshals continued to insist and decided to exert influence through Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, one of Stalin's favorite commanders. Rokossovsky was able to convince Marshal Stalin with a simple but correct argument showing the military hierarchy. He said: “Comrade Stalin, you are a marshal and I am a marshal, you cannot punish me!” As a result, Stalin surrendered. Although later, according to Molotov, he repented of this decision: “Stalin regretted that he had agreed to the generalissimo. He always regretted. And rightly so. This was overdone by Kaganovich, Beria ... Well, the commanders insisted.

Although, to be honest, he reproached himself in vain. Stalin deserved this high title. His enormous, simply titanic work still affects the position of Russia as a great power.

Joseph Stalin was the only generalissimo in the history of Russia who not only had the highest military rank of the country, but was also its leader. Under his leadership, Russia-USSR was prepared for war: the army, economy and society. The Union became the most powerful industrial power, which not only managed to survive the war with almost all of Europe, led by Nazi Germany, but also won a brilliant victory. The Soviet armed forces became the most powerful force on the planet. And the Soviet Union became a superpower that was a world leader in the field of science and advanced technologies, education and culture, leading humanity into the future. The Red Empire then was a kind of "beacon" for the entire planet, instilling hope in humanity for a brighter future.

After Stalin, the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was not awarded, but was listed in the statutes until 1993. In 1993, along with other individual military ranks of the Armed Forces of the USSR, the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was not included in the list of military ranks of the Russian Armed Forces.

Translated from Latin, "generalissimo" is translated simply - "the most important", and is used to refer to the commander of the highest category. This title was used from the 16th century to the beginning of the 21st in a number of countries. The last generalissimo was the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Il - in 2011 this title was awarded to him posthumously. At the moment, there is not a single holder of the title of generalissimo on planet Earth. In general, history did not know so many people who wore it - France has the most numerous gallery of generalissimos, from the 16th to the 19th centuries there were two dozen of them. And in Russia, for example, there have been no more than half a dozen of them over the past three-plus centuries.

The first generalissimos of our country were Ivan Buturlin and Fyodor Romodanovsky, associates of the young Peter the Great. True, this was not yet serious - the twelve-year-old tsar in 1694 appointed them "generalissimos of amusing troops", and this title, of course, did not have any official force. On the subject of who exactly became the first real generalissimo, the opinions of historians are divided. In most sources, the voivode Aleksey Shein is indicated as such.

During the Azov campaign, he commanded the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments, and then all the ground forces involved in the campaign. Per competent leadership and a great contribution to the cause Shein on June 28, 1696 received the title of Generalissimo from Peter. However, according to some historians, the first Russian citizen to be awarded the title of generalissimo was the boyar Mikhail Cherkassky. He enjoyed great prestige both with Peter and among the people, and was in charge of administrative affairs. For the Azov campaign, he built a warship at his own expense. According to separate sources, for these and other merits, the council of courtiers, with the active participation of Peter, decided on December 14, 1695 to grant Cherkassky the indicated title (six months earlier than Shein).

Photo: Governor Alexei Shein, the first (according to most sources) Russian Generalissimo

In the future, Russia was not lucky with the generalissimo - there were three of them, and all of them did not go in this rank for long. The well-known associate of Peter the Great, Prince Menshikov, was granted this high rank under Peter the Second, but lost it only four months after the assignment, falling into disfavor. Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, having become a generalissimo, a little over a year later ceased to be one after a palace coup, as a result of which his wife Anna Leopoldovna was overthrown. Only Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, Prince of Italy, Count Rymniksky, and others, and others, having been awarded the title of Generalissimo, safely wore it until the end of his days - but the trouble is that he was awarded it six months before his death.

Photo: The most famous Generalissimo of the Russian Empire - Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov

There was only one generalissimo in the Soviet Union - the man who won the Great Patriotic War. The first documented wish to award Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin the title of Generalissimo is dated February 3, 1943 - it was sent to Kalinin from the workers of the Ressora plant. The letter was offered in honor of the upcoming 25th anniversary of the creation of the Red Army and for "outstanding, unsurpassed in military history military merits in the liberation of the Motherland "to award Stalin with the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree and to honor" the highest military rank - Generalissimo.

Photo: Letter from a team of workers, engineers and employees of the Moscow plant "Ressora" with a request to award Stalin I.V. with the Order of Suvorov 1st degree and confer on him the highest military rank - Generalissimo Red
armies

At that moment, however, such a rank did not exist in the Red Army, it was considered premature to establish it at the request of the working people, and it was still too far from victory to scatter such large shoulder straps in advance. It is likely that there were other similar proposals, but the final point in the decision was the note of the leading Soviet military leaders, filed with the Politburo on June 24, 1945, on the day of the Victory Parade. It proposed to establish the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union and assign it to Stalin “for outstanding leadership of the combat operations of the Army and Navy” and “in commemoration of exceptional merits in the Great Patriotic War”, and also to award Stalin the Order of Victory and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Photo: Note of the commanders of the fronts, the General Staff of the Red Army, the Navy in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks with proposals to award Stalin I.V. with the Order of Victory, conferring on him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union establishment of the Order of Stalin.

Just two days later, on June 26, 1945, the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was established, and the next day, June 27, it was awarded to Stalin, along with the star of the Hero and the second Order of Victory proposed in the note (Stalin received the first in April 1944 for Dnieper-Carpathian operation).

The development of the uniform of the generalissimo began after the assignment of this title to Stalin. The work was carried out by the rear service of the Red Army, and this work was extremely secret - only in 1996 the general public was able to see a demonstration sample of the uniform (currently it is on display at the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Gora), and preliminary sketches and working sketches were published five years later, in 2001. When creating uniforms and insignia, they were repelled from the already existing uniform of the chief marshal of the armed forces. As development progressed, the number of details referring to the uniform grew. legendary commanders of the past - an overcoat with a cape, embroidered sleeves, a stand-up collar. Even the epaulets, which were originally supposed to differ from the marshal's only in some details, were eventually shaped into an epaulette.

A photo: Various options epaulette of the Generalissimo of the Soviet Union, on the left - the epaulette of the final accepted sample

Photo: The epaulette of the uniform of the Generalissimo, exhibited at the TsVMS.

The resulting image with all certainty referred to Kutuzov. Perhaps in this way the creators tried to please Stalin, who, according to some evidence, had a certain weakness for the imperial style of old Russia, including uniforms with epaulettes, aiguillettes and other "archaic" attributes. The man depicted in the sketches, which is curious, does not look like Stalin at all, but to the extreme it resembles Zhukov.

Photo: Sketches of the uniform of the Generalissimo of the Soviet Union

Stalin himself was always very skeptical of honors in his address, therefore, he invariably rejected all proposals for conferring the title of Generalissimo. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, Marshal Rokossovsky was eventually able to convince him, pointing out that as long as Stalin bears the rank of marshal, he formally cannot order his military leaders, who also have marshal ranks. True, later Stalin was very sorry that he had agreed to the generalissimo. He emphasized this by the fact that he did not wear the magnificent frilly form, which was discussed above. He continued to wear a marshal's tunic - white with a stand-up collar - or a specially tailored light gray tunic of a pre-war general's cut - with a turn-down collar and four pockets. In both cases, the shoulder straps on the tunic were marshal's. There is a version according to which Stalin decided that in a pompous uniform embroidered with gold with epaulettes it would look spectacular - this uniform looks impressive on a tall sports military man, but a short, unprepossessing old man he will look like a doorman.
Photo: On the left - the uniform of the Generalisimo of the Soviet Union, made for the 1945 Victory Parade. On the right is the tunic in which Stalin watched the Victory Parade from the podium of the Mausoleum.

Whether this is true or not is not known for certain, but the fact remains that even on ceremonial portraits and propaganda posters of Stalin, they did not draw in the uniform of the generalsimus of the original project. By the way, Iosif Vissarionovich did not like a large number of awards - he wore, in most cases, only the star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, received in 1939. Only in a photograph for a personal file and in several portraits (mostly painted after his death) can one see Stalin with all the awards.

Photo: Admiral I.S. Yumashev, A.N. Kosygin, I.V. Stalin, A.N. Poskrebyshev and Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky aboard the cruiser Molotov, 1947

Photo: Meeting with Field Marshal Montgomery in the Kremlin, January 1947

Photo: Stalin and Beria, 1948

Because of this, the fact that Stalin had the title of generalissimo was not emphasized either during his lifetime, or even after his death. It is difficult now, through the veil of the past years, to reliably understand whether the assignment of this title to Stalin was sincere gratitude, a loyal desire to please, or something else, but the attempt was in any case unsuccessful. Unlike many of his foreign colleagues, both modern and later, both earlier and later, the Soviet leader did not like pompous honors and sonorous titles.

After Stalin's death, the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was no longer awarded to anyone. There were repeated proposals from the field (mainly from the military) to assign it to Khrushchev, and then to Brezhnev, but they did not receive an official move. The rank was canceled in 1993, along with the rest of the Soviet military ranks. In the list of military ranks of the Armed Forces Russian Federation, created at the same time, the title of Generalissimo was not included.

Everything...

Generalissimo of Russia

In the entire history of existence in Russia, only five people have been awarded this highest title. For the first time, the title of generalissimo (from Latin generalissimus - “the most important”) was awarded in 1569 in France to the Duke of Anjou (later King Henry III). In France, the term "generalissimo" meant an honorary military title, which was given to persons of the ruling dynasties and the most prominent statesmen. In the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire and England, this was the position of the commander of the active army in time of war or the commander-in-chief of all the troops of the state. In Russia and Spain, it was an honorary highest military rank.

In Russia, the word "generalissimo" appeared during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Foreign officers serving in the Russian Amiya used to address the Great Governor, who was considered the commander of the army. Tsar Peter Alekseevich in 1696 for the first time granted the title of generalissimo to the voivode Alexei Semyonovich Shein. Aleksey Shein came from an old boyar family and was noted by Peter for his successes in the Azov campaigns of 1695-1696, which ended with the capture of the Turkish fortress of Azov. During the first, unsuccessful Azov campaign, Aleksey Shein commanded the guards - the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. During the second Azov campaign, in 1696, the Russian governor was the commander of the ground forces. After that, the tsar appointed Shein commander-in-chief of the Russian army, commander of artillery, cavalry and head of the Inozemsky order. Shein was responsible for the southern strategic direction, fought the Turks and the Crimean Tatars. However, Shein soon fell out of favor (due to the case of the archers) and died in 1700.

Officially, the military rank of Generalissimo in the Russian state was introduced by the Military Regulations of 1716. Therefore, formally, the first generalissimo of Russia was the "chick of Petrov's nest", the royal favorite Alexander Danilovich Menshikov. It was a controversial person. On the one hand, he was Peter's faithful companion for a long time, fought successfully, played a big role in the decisive battle of Poltava, where he commanded first the vanguard, and then the left flank of the Russian army. At Perevolochna, he forced the remaining Swedish troops to capitulate. On the other hand, he was power-hungry, and greedy for money and wealth. In terms of the number of serfs, he became the second soul owner in Russia after Tsar Peter. Menshikov was repeatedly convicted of embezzlement. Peter let this go for a long time, recognizing his services to the Fatherland and under the influence of his wife Catherine. However, at the end of Peter's reign, Menshikov fell into disgrace, he was deprived of his main posts.

The next generalissimo, Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, also did not have any special merits before Russia, which would be worth noting with such a sign of attention. Anton Ulrich was the husband of Anna Leopoldovna. When Anna Leopoldovna became the regent (ruler) of the Russian Empire under the young emperor Ivan VI, her husband received the highest military rank on November 11, 1740. This happened after a palace coup that ended Biron's reign.

Supreme

After the generalissimos of the 18th century, no one else was awarded the highest military rank in Russia, although the Russian army still fought a lot. The winner of Napoleon's Great Army, Mikhail Kutuzov, was awarded the rank of Field Marshal for his distinction at Borodino. Even such a great war as the First World War did not lead to the appearance of Russian generalissimos. After the October Revolution of 1917, the former military ranks were abolished, and with them the title of generalissimo.

Only during the most terrible and bloody war of the 20th century - the Great Patriotic War, which became sacred for Russia-USSR, since it was a question of the survival of Russian civilization and the Russian superethnos, did they return to the idea of reviving this title. After the Great Patriotic War, on June 26, 1945, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the highest military rank "Generalissimo of the Soviet Union" was introduced, and on June 27 it was awarded to Joseph Stalin, who during the war years was the Soviet Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

A very interesting legend is connected with the assignment of the title of Generalissimo to Stalin. As you know, Stalin was indifferent to titles and signs of power, he lived modestly, even ascetically. The Supreme did not like sycophants, believing that helpful bastards are worse than obvious enemies. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the issue of conferring the title of Generalissimo to Stalin was discussed several times, but the “leader of the peoples” constantly rejected this proposal. At the same time, senior military leaders especially insisted on the revival of this title, for them the hierarchy was of great importance. One of these discussions took place in the presence of Stalin. Marshal of the Soviet Union Konev recalled that Stalin reacted as follows: “Do you want to assign a generalissimo to Comrade Stalin? Why does Comrade Stalin need this? Comrade Stalin does not need this. Comrade Stalin already has authority. You need titles for authority. Just think, they found a title for Comrade Stalin - Generalissimo. Chiang Kai-shek - Generalissimo, Franco Generalissimo. Nothing to say, good company for Comrade Stalin. You are marshals, and I am a marshal, do you want to put me out of the marshals? Some kind of generalissimo?..” Thus, Stalin gave a categorical refusal.

Although, to be honest, he reproached himself in vain. Stalin deserved this high title. His enormous, simply titanic work still affects the position of Russia as a great power.

Based on the consideration of the collective petition of workers, engineering and technical workers and employees of the Moscow plant "Ressora" dated February 6, 1943 and a note by the commanders of the troops of the fronts, the General Staff of the Red Army, the Navy dated June 24, 1945

Story

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the issue of conferring the title of Generalissimo was discussed several times, but I. V. Stalin invariably rejected this proposal. And only after the intervention of Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky (when he said: “Comrade Stalin, you are a marshal and I am a marshal. You cannot punish me!”) He agreed.

Uniform and shoulder straps

Below are the projects of the epaulette of the Generalissimo of the USSR

Somehow, having arrived at the Kremlin for a report, Antonov and I met in Stalin's reception room the chief quartermaster of the Red Army, P. I. Drachev. He was dressed in magnificent military uniform cut unknown to us. The uniform was sewn according to the model of the times of Kutuzov with a high standing collar. The trousers, on the other hand, looked modern, but shone with gilded stripes. When, surprised by such an operetta attire, we stopped and looked at the strange costume, Drachev quietly told us: "A new uniform for the Generalissimo."
In Stalin's office were members of the Politburo. The head of the rear, General of the Army Khrulev, reported. Having finished his report, he asked permission to show the audience a new military uniform. Stalin was in a great mood and said: "Come on, the General Staff will take a look."
They gave a sign to the reception. Enter Drachev. Stalin gave him a cursory glance and grew gloomy. He must have guessed what form it was.
- Who are you going to dress like that? he asked, nodding his head slightly in the direction of the chief quartermaster.
- This is the proposed form for the Generalissimo, - answered Khrulyov.
- For whom? - asked Stalin.
- For you, Comrade Stalin.
The Supreme Commander-in-Chief ordered Drachev to leave. The form of the Generalissimo was never created. Stalin wore a marshal's uniform until the end of his days.

In fact, Generalissimo Stalin wore a standard-cut general's uniform (before the introduction of shoulder straps) tunic with a turn-down collar and four pockets, but of a unique light gray color. Shoulder straps on the tunic - Marshal of the Soviet Union. General overcoat buttonholes - red with gold edging and buttons. This uniform was official and featured in portraits and posters.

The further fate of the title

After I.V. Stalin, the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was not awarded, however, it was listed in the charters until 1993.

So, according to paragraph 9 of the Charter of the internal service of the Armed Forces of the USSR of 07/30/1975:

This Charter continued to formally operate in the Russian Federation until January 1, 1993, when the Interim Charter of the Internal Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was put into effect, in which the title of Generalissimo is no longer mentioned.

At the same time, letters were preserved in the archives containing proposals for conferring this title on Lieutenant General N. S. Khrushchev and Marshal of the Soviet Union L. I. Brezhnev:

These proposals were not given an official move, although, according to the memoirs of TASS Deputy Director E.I. Ivanov, on May 12, 1976, at a meeting with veterans of the 18th Army, Brezhnev (five days before he was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union) stated the following:

Whether this was a joke, a slip of the tongue, or Leonid Ilyich's sincere desire, it is now difficult to establish.