Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
Predecessor:	Nikolai Mikhailovich Shvernik
Successor:	Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev
People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs of the USSR
Prime Minister:	Alexei Ivanovich Rykov Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov
Predecessor:	Mikhail Vasilievich Frunze
Successor:	The position has been abolished, he is also the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR
People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR
Prime Minister:	Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov
Predecessor:	Position established.
Successor:	Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:	Upper village, Bakhmut district, Yekaterinoslav province
Date of death:
Place of death:
	Russian empire the USSR
	CPSU (since 1905)
Buried:	Necropolis near the Kremlin wall
Years of service:
	Marshal of the Soviet Union
Commanded:	People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR
	Honorary Revolutionary Weapon (twice) Foreign awards:

early years

revolutionary activity

Civil War

People's Commissar of Defense

The Great Patriotic War

Post-war activities

Party positions

Estimates of contemporaries

perpetuation of memory

Bibliography

In art

(January 23 (February 4), 1881, the village of Verkhnee, Bakhmutsky district, Yekaterinoslav province, Russian Empire - December 2, 1969, Moscow) - Soviet military leader, statesman and party leader, participant in the Civil War, one of the first Marshals of the Soviet Union.

From 1925 he was People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, in 1934-1940 People's Commissar for Defense of the USSR. In 1953-1960 he was Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor. Voroshilov holds the record for the length of his stay in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (CPSU Central Committee), the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee (34.5 years, 1926-1960).

Biography

early years

Kliment Voroshilov was born on February 4, 1881 in the village of Verkhnee, Bakhmut district, Yekaterinoslav province, Russian Empire (now the city of Lisichansk, Lugansk region, Ukraine), in the family of a railway worker Efrem Andreevich Voroshilov (1844-1907) and a day laborer Voroshilova (nee Agafonova) Maria Vasilievna (1857-1919). Russian. From the age of 7 he worked as a shepherd, a miner. In 1893-1895 he studied at the zemstvo school in the village of Vasilievka (now part of the city of Alchevsk). From 1896 he worked at the Yuriev Metallurgical Plant, from 1903 in the city of Lugansk at the Hartmann steam locomotive plant.

revolutionary activity

Member of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) / VKP (b) / CPSU since 1903. Since 1904 - a member of the Lugansk Bolshevik Committee. In 1905 - chairman of the Lugansk Soviet, led the workers' strike, the creation of fighting squads. Delegate of the Fourth (1906) and Fifth (1907) Congresses of the RSDLP(b). In 1908-1917, he conducted underground party work in Baku, Petrograd, Tsaritsyn. Repeatedly arrested, served exile.

After the February Revolution of 1917, he was a member of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, a delegate to the Seventh (April) All-Russian Conference and the Sixth Congress of the RSDLP (b). From March 1917 - Chairman of the Lugansk Committee of the Bolsheviks, from August - the Lugansk Council and the City Duma (until September 1917).

In November 1917, during the days of the Great October Socialist Revolution, Voroshilov was the commissar of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee (for city administration). Together with F. E. Dzerzhinsky, he worked on the organization of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK). In early March 1918, Voroshilov organized the First Lugansk Socialist Detachment, which defended the city of Kharkov from the German-Austrian troops.

Civil War

During the Civil War - Commander of the Tsaritsyno Group of Forces, Deputy Commander and member of the Military Council of the Southern Front, Commander of the 10th Army, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Commander of the Kharkov Military District, Commander of the 14th Army and the Internal Ukrainian Front. One of the organizers and member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 1st Cavalry Army, commanded by S. M. Budyonny.

For military merit in 1920, Voroshilov was awarded an honorary revolutionary weapon. At the VIII Congress of the RCP(b), held in March 1919, he joined the "military opposition".

In 1921, at the head of a group of delegates to the 10th Congress of the RCP(b), he participated in the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising. In 1921-1924, he was a member of the South-Eastern Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), commander of the North Caucasian Military District. In 1924-1925 he was the commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District and a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR.

People's Commissar of Defense

After the death of M. V. Frunze, Voroshilov headed the military department of the USSR: from November 6, 1925 to June 20, 1934 - People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR; in 1934-1940 People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. In total, Voroshilov spent almost 15 years at the head of the military department, longer than anyone else in the Soviet period. He had a reputation as a devoted supporter of Stalin, supporting him in the fight against Trotsky, and then in establishing Stalin's absolute power in the late 1920s. Author of the book "Stalin and the Red Army", exalting the role of Stalin in the Civil War.

In October 1933, at the head of a government delegation in Turkey, together with Ataturk, he hosted a military parade in Ankara.

On September 22, 1935, the "Regulations on the service of the command and command staff of the Red Army" introduced personal military ranks. In November 1935, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR awarded the new military rank of "Marshal of the Soviet Union" to the five largest Soviet commanders. Among them was Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov.

In 1940, after the Soviet-Finnish war, Voroshilov lost his post as people's commissar of defense: Stalin appointed S.K. Timoshenko, who had proven himself better in the war, to this position. Voroshilov received the posts of Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and Chairman of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

Participation in Stalin's repressions

During the Great Terror, Voroshilov, among other associates of Stalin, participated in the consideration of the so-called "lists" - lists of persons repressed with Stalin's personal sanction. Signatures on the lists signified a guilty verdict. Voroshilov's signature is on 185 lists, according to which more than 18,000 people were convicted and shot.

As a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he approved a large number of so-called. "limits" (quotas for the number of repressed according to the order of the NKVD No. 00447 "On the operation to repress former kulaks, criminals and other anti-Soviet elements"). So, on April 26, 1938, Voroshilov, together with Stalin, Molotov, Kaganovich and Yezhov, signed an affirmative resolution on the request of and. about. Secretary of the Irkutsk Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the allocation of an additional limit for the first category for 4,000 people.

As People's Commissar of Defense, Voroshilov took an active part in the repressions against the command staff of the Red Army. On the list of 26 commanders of the Red Army, sent from the NKVD to the NPO on May 28, 1937, he put the resolution " Tov. Yezhov. Take all the scoundrels. May 28, 1937. K.Voroshilov»; Voroshilov's shorter resolution is " To arrest. K. V."- stands on a similar list of 142 commanders.

The Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War, Marshal of the Soviet Union K. E. Voroshilov - member of the State Defense Committee, commander-in-chief of the troops of the North-Western direction (until September 5, 1941), commander of the troops of the Leningrad Front (from September 5 to 14, 1941), representative of the Headquarters for formation of troops (September 1941 - February 1942), representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on the Volkhov Front (February-September 1942), commander-in-chief of the partisan movement (from September 1942 to May 1943), chairman of the Trophy Committee under the GKO (May-September 1943), chairman of the Armistice Commission (September 1943 - June 1944). In 1943, he participated in the Tehran Conference.

Post-war activities

In 1945-1947 - Chairman of the Allied Control Commission in Hungary.

In 1946-1953 - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

From March 1953 to May 1960 - Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In 1957 he was a member of the "anti-party group". Unlike the leaders of the group, he was not expelled from the party, but only criticized at the XXII Congress of the CPSU.

He died at the age of 89 on December 2, 1969. He was buried on Red Square in Moscow near the Kremlin wall: “On the night of December 2-3, 1969, Marshal Voroshilov died. His funeral was given an unprecedented national scale. For the first time in twenty years after the funeral of Zhdanov, a grave was dug behind the Lenin Mausoleum. (Not counting the night reburial of Stalin in 1961.).”

Party positions

Since May 1960 he has been a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

From 1921 to October 1961 and since 1966 he was a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

From 1926 to 1952 he was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

From 1952 to July 1960 - Member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

Delegate of the 10-23rd party congresses. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st-7th convocations (1937-1969).

Family

Voroshilov's wife is Golda Davidovna Gorbman (1887-1959), a Jewess by nationality. Before marrying Voroshilov, she was baptized and changed her name and became Ekaterina Davidovna. For this, her Jewish relatives cursed her. Golda Davidovna Gorbman was a member of the RSDLP (b) since 1917, she worked as deputy director of the Lenin Museum. They did not have their own children, they raised the son and daughter of M.V. Frunze - Timur (1923-1942) and Tatyana (b. 1920), as well as the adopted son Peter (1914-1969), from whom they had two grandchildren - Klim and Vladimir.

Estimates of contemporaries

• Stalin, 1942: "One of the main organizers of the Red Army is Marshal Voroshilov."
• Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich 1972: “Voroshilov was just good at a certain time. He always advocated the political line of the party, because among the workers, an accessible person knows how to speak out. Unstained, yes. And loyalty to Stalin personally. His loyalty was not very strong. But at that time he spoke very actively for Stalin, fully supported him in everything, although he was not sure of everything. This also had an effect. That's a very difficult question. This must be taken into account, why Stalin was a little critical and did not invite him to all our conversations. In any case, he did not invite me to private ones. He did not invite to secret meetings, he himself tumbled. Stalin winced. Under Khrushchev, Voroshilov performed poorly.

Awards

Cavalier of the highest awards of the USSR. In particular, one of 154 twice Heroes of the Soviet Union and one of ten people who were awarded both the highest degrees of distinction of the Soviet Union - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor.

perpetuation of memory

In honor of K. E. Voroshilov during his lifetime (in 1931), and after being awarded the rank of marshal (in 1935), a number of cities were named:

• Voroshilovgrad- so from 1935 - until 1958, Lugansk was called, but after the death of Voroshilov it was again named after him, so that in 1990 the historical name was finally restored again.
• Voroshilovsk- the name of the city of Alchevsk from 1931 to 1961, bearing the name of K. E. Voroshilov, who worked at the DUMO plant, where he began his labor and revolutionary activities;
• Voroshilovsk from 1935 - to 1943 the name of the city of Stavropol.
• Voroshilov- in 1935 - 1957 the name of the city of Ussuriysk, Primorsky Krai.
• Voroshilovsky district- in 1970 - 1989 the name of the Khoroshevsky district of the city of Moscow, the central district in Donetsk (Ukraine).

Streets in the cities of Brest, Voronezh, Goryachiy Klyuch, Ershov, Kemerovo, Klintsy, Korosten, Lipetsk, Nikolaev, Orenburg, Penza, Rybinsk, St. Petersburg, Serpukhov (central street), Simferopol, Togliatti, Khabarovsk, Chelyabinsk, Angarsk bear the name of Voroshilov , Izhevsk, and also Voroshilovsky prospect in Rostov-on-Don

On December 29, 1932, the badge of the Voroshilov shooter of Osoaviahima was approved to reward well-aimed shooters. In honor of Voroshilov, a series of heavy tanks KV (official decoding - Klim Voroshilov) of the Putilov plant was named. In 1941-1992, the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR bore the name of Voroshilov.

A monument was erected on the grave of Voroshilov. In Moscow, at house number 3 on Romanov Lane, where K. E. Voroshilov lived, a memorial plate was installed.

Voroshilovsky district of Volgograd

Bibliography

• Voroshilov K. E. 15 years of the Red Army: Report at the solemn anniversary meeting on February 23, 1933 at the Bolshoi Theater / Voroshilov K. E. - M .: Party ed., 1933. - 45 p.
• Voroshilov K. E. Articles and speeches from the 16th to the 17th Congress of the CPSU(b) / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Part. ed., 1934. - 208 p.: portr.
• Voroshilov K. E. About youth / Voroshilov K. E., Frunze M. V. - M.: Partizdat, 1936. - 158 p.: ill.
• Voroshilov K. E. About youth / Voroshilov K. E. - M .: Mol. guard, 1936. - 198 p.: portr.
• Voroshilov K. E. Articles and speeches / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Partizdat, 1936. - 666 p.: portr.
• Voroshilov K. E. Speeches at meetings of voters in Minsk / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Partizdat, 1937. - 13 p.
• Voroshilov K. E. XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army and Navy: Report on celebrations. session Moscow Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan and KD with participation. total organizations and warriors. parts dedicated to XX Anniversary of the Workers and Peasants. Red Army and Military. - Marine fleet. From app. order Nar. Com. Defense of the USSR N 49, 23 Feb. 1938, Moscow / Voroshilov K. E. - M.: Gosizd. polit. Literature, 1938. - 29 p.
• The Great Campaign of the Army of K. E. Voroshilov from Lugansk to Tsaritsyn and the Heroic Defense of Tsaritsyn: A Guide to the Traces of the Civil War. - M.: Military Publishing, 1938. - 298 p.: ill., diagrams.
• Voroshilov K. E. Speech on Red Square on the day of the XXI anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution in the USSR (November 7, 1938) / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Military Publishing, 1938. - 14 p.: portr.
• Voroshilov K. E. On the draft law on universal military duty: Report of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Comrade. K. E. Voroshilov at the extraordinary Fourth session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st convocation on August 31, 1939 / Voroshilov K. E. - M .: Politgiz, 1939. - 30 p.: portr.
• Voroshilov K. E. Preface to the "Instruction for the command and command staff of the Red Army. Individual gymnastics for every day ”/ Voroshilov K. E. // Teoriya i praktika nat. culture. - 1939. - T. IV. - N 5. - S. 1-3.
• History of the Civil War in the USSR / Ed.: M. Gorky, V. Molotov, K. Voroshilov [and others]. T. 2: The Great Proletarian Revolution. (Oct. - November 1917). - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1942. - 367 p.: ill., portrait, maps.
• Great Soviet Encyclopedia: In 65 volumes / Ch. ed. O. Yu. Schmidt, Deputy ch. ed. F. N. Petrov, P. M. Kerzhentsev, F. A. Rotshtein, P. S. Zaslavsky. / Ed. K. E. Voroshilov, A. Ya. Vyshinsky. P. I. Lebedev-Polyansky and others - M .: Sov. encyclopedia, 1944-1947.
• Voroshilov K. E. Speech at the pre-election meeting of voters of the Minsk city constituency on February 7, 1946 / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1946. - 13 p.: portr.
• Great Soviet Encyclopedia / Ed. S. I. Vavilov, K. E. Voroshilov, A. Ya. Vyshinsky [and others]. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. - M.: Sov. encyclopedia, 1947. - 1946 p.: ill., cart., portrait.
• Voroshilov K. E. Speech at a meeting of voters of the Minsk city constituency on March 7, 1950 / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1950. - 24 p.: portr. Same. - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1951. - 23 p.
• Skvortsov A. E. K. E. Voroshilov about physical culture / Skvortsov A. E. // Teoriya i praktika fiz. culture. - 1951. - T. XIV. - Issue. 2. - S. 96-103.
• Voroshilov K. E. 36th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution: Report on celebrations. meeting of the Moscow Council November 6, 1953 / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Goslitizdat, 1953. - 24 p.: portr.
• Voroshilov K. E. Speech at a meeting of voters of the Kirov constituency of the city of Leningrad on March 10, 1954 / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1954. - 15 p.
• Voroshilov K. E. On the glorious path of socialism / Voroshilov K. E. - M .: Gospolitizdat, 1955. - 15 p.
• Voroshilov K. E. Speech at the XX Congress of the CPSU on February 20, 1956 / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Gospolitizdat, 1956. - 23 p.
• Voroshilov K. E. Stories about life: (Memoirs). Book. 1 / Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich. - M.: Politizdat, 1968. - 368 p.: ill.
• Soviet Army / Foreword. K. E. Voroshilova. - M.: Politizdat, 1969. - 446 p.: ill., portrait.
• About Komsomol and youth: Collection / V. I. Lenin. M. I. Kalinin. S. M. Kirov. N. K. Krupskaya. V. V. Kuibyshev. A. V. Lunacharsky. G. K. Ordzhonikidze. M. V. Frunze. K. E. Voroshilov. - M.: Mol. guard, 1970. - 447 p.
• Akshinsky V.S. Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov: Biogr. essay / Akshinsky V.S. - M.: Politizdat, 1974. - 287 p.: ill.
• Kardashov V.I. Voroshilov / Kardashov V. I. - M .: Mol. guard, 1976. - 368 p.: ill., photogr.
• K. E. Voroshilov. Stories about life. Book 1

In art

Until his resignation from the post of People's Commissar of Defense, Voroshilov, as the most influential military figure, was a living symbol of the Red Army and the growing military power of the Soviet Union. In the 1920s and 1930s, he was sung as a man who would lead to victory (“After all, Voroshilov, the first red officer, is with us - we will be able to stand up for the USSR!”). Voroshilov is the hero of numerous films where he was played:

• Alexey Gribov ("The Oath", 1946, "The Fall of Berlin", 1949, "Donetsk Miners", 1951)
• Nikolai Bogolyubov ("Lenin in 1918", 1938, "First Cavalry", 1941, "Parkhomenko", 1942, "Defense of Tsaritsyn", 1942, "Third Strike", "Liberation", 1968-1972))
• Yuri Tolubeev ("Fall of Berlin", 1st version)
• Daniil Sagal (Blockade, 1972)
• Viktor Lazarev (“The Thought of Kovpak”, 1973-1976; “The Underground Regional Committee is Active”, 1978)
• Igor Pushkarev ("December 20", 1981)
• Wensley Peethi ("Red Monarch" "Red Monarch" (England, 1983)
• Vladimir Troshin (Oleko Dundich, 1958; "Battle for Moscow", 1985, "Stalingrad", Dark nights in Sochi, 1989)
• Evgeny Zharikov ("First Cavalry", 1984, "War in the Western Direction", 1990)
• Anatoly Grachev ("Enemy of the people - Bukharin", 1990)
• Sergey Nikonenko ("Feasts of Belshazzar, or Night with Stalin", 1989)
• Mikhail Kononov (Inner Circle, 1991)
• John Bowie ("Stalin", 1992)
• Viktor Yeltsov (Trotsky, 1993)
• Sergei Shekhovtsov (Stalin: Inside the Terror, England, 2003)
• Yuri Oleinikov ("Stalin. Live", 2007)
• Alexander Mokhov ("Burnt by the Sun 2", 2010)
• Valery Filonov ("Furtseva (TV series)", 2011)

As well as "Unforgettable 1919", "Lenin in the Ring of Fire" (1993), "Moscow Saga" (2004), etc.

Voroshilov is mentioned in the song March of Soviet Tankers as the First Marshal:

In some versions, until 1956, in the song "Polyushko-Polye" there was a verse about Voroshilov:

Voroshilov's name also sounds in the song "If there is war tomorrow" (1939):

And also in the march * red cavalry *

The poem by L. Kvitko “Letter to Voroshilov” was set to music (translated by S. Marshak, Music by P. Akulenko).

Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov ... Wikipedia

Voroshilov, Kliment Efremovich- Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov. VOROSHILOV Kliment Efremovich (1881 1969), Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1953-60), Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935). During the Civil War, the commander and member of the Revolutionary Military Councils of a number of armies and ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1881 1969) Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935), Hero of the Soviet Union (1956, 1968), Hero of Socialist Labor (1960). From 1918 commander and member of the Revolutionary Military Council of a number of armies and fronts. Since 1925 People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Chairman ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich- (1881-1969), party, military and statesman, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1956, 1968), Hero of Socialist Labor (1960). Member of the Communist Party since 1903. Since 1915 in Petrograd, worker. ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

Voroshilov K. E. (1881 1969; autobiography). Genus. I am in the village of Upper Ekaterinoslav Province. Father served as a watchman on railway. dor., and his mother worked as a day laborer. Father, a soldier of the Nikolaev service, was a free-thinking and very peculiar person. Working on… Big biographical encyclopedia

- (1881 1969), party, military and statesman, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1956, 1968), Hero of Socialist Labor (1960). Member of the Communist Party since 1903. Since 1915 in Petrograd, worker. ... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)

Soviet statesman, party and military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1956 and 1968), Hero ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1881 1969), Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935), Hero of the Soviet Union (1956, 1968), Hero of Socialist Labor (1960). Bolshevik since 1903. In 1917, chairman of the Lugansk Soviet, commissar of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. Since 1918, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council, commander of a number of armies ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1881, the village of Verkhnee, Bakhmut district, Yekaterinoslav province - 1969, Moscow), political, military and statesman, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935), Hero of the Soviet Union (1956, 1968), Hero of Socialist Labor (1960). ... ... Moscow (encyclopedia)

Voroshilov, Kliment Efremovich- (1881-1969) A factory worker and Voroshilov showed undeniable personal courage during the Civil War, wrote Trotsky, but also a complete lack of military and administrative talent, and, in addition, a narrow, provincial horizon. His… … Historical reference book of a Russian Marxist

The history of such a totalitarian superpower as the Soviet Union contains many heroic and gloomy pages. This could not but leave an imprint on the biographies of those who performed it. Kliment Voroshilov is among such personalities. He lived a long life, which was not without heroism, but at the same time he had a lot of human lives on his conscience, since it was his signature that stands under many execution lists.

Kliment Voroshilov: biography

One of the darkest pages in Voroshilov's biography was his participation in the suppression in 1921. After these events, he was appointed a member of the South-Eastern Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party, as well as the commander of the North Caucasian Military District.

From 1924 to 1925 he was the commander of the Moscow Military District and a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR.

Few people know that during the same period Voroshilov patronized the Bolshoi Theater and was known as a great ballet lover.

At the post of People's Commissar of Defense

After the death of M. Frunze, Voroshilov became chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and led the country's naval department, and in 1934-1940 - the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union.

In total, he spent almost 15 years in this post, which is a kind of record for the Soviet period. Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich (1881-1969) had a reputation as the most devoted supporter of Stalin and provided him with effective support in the fight against Trotsky. In October 1933, he went with a government delegation to Turkey, where, together with Ataturk, he received a military parade in Ankara.

In November 1935, by decision of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, he was awarded the newly established rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

After 5 years, he was removed from the post of People's Commissar, as he did not live up to Stalin's expectations during the Finnish War. However, Voroshilov was not dismissed, but appointed to the post of head of the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union.

Participation of Kliment Voroshilov in the Stalinist repressions

Death and funeral

Kliment Voroshilov, whose career growth in the last decades of his life was suspended due to senile infirmities, died on December 2, 1969 at the age of 89. They buried the marshal in the capital, near the Kremlin wall, on Red Square. According to contemporaries, this was the first such large-scale funeral ceremony of farewell to a statesman of the USSR in the twenty years that have passed since Zhdanov's funeral.

Family and Children

The wife of Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich - Golda Davidovna Gorbman - was of the Jewish faith, but for the sake of her wedding with her beloved, she was baptized and took the name Catherine. Such an act aroused the anger of the girl's Jewish relatives, who even cursed her. In 1917, Ekaterina Davidovna joined the RSDLP and for many years worked as deputy director of the Lenin Museum.

It so happened that the friendly Voroshilov family did not have their own children. However, they took in the upbringing of the orphaned children of M.V. Frunze: Timur, who died at the front in 1942, and Tatyana. In addition, in 1918, the couple adopted a boy, Peter, who later became a famous designer and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. From him, the couple had 2 grandchildren - Vladimir and Klim.

Awards

Klim Voroshilov is a holder of almost all the highest awards of the USSR. Including he twice received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

He has 8 Orders of Lenin and 6 Orders of the Red Banner and many other awards, including foreign ones. In particular, the military leader is a hero of the Mongolian People's Republic, a holder of the Grand Cross of Finland, and an honorary citizen of the Turkish city of Izmir.

perpetuation of memory

Even during his lifetime, K. E. Voroshilov became the most celebrated military leader of the Civil War, in whose honor songs were composed, collective farms, ships, factories, etc. were named.

Several cities were named after him:

• Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk) was renamed twice and returned the historical name only in 1990.
• Voroshilovsk (Alchevsk). In this city, the marshal in his youth began his labor and party activities.
• Voroshilov (Ussuriysk, Primorsky Territory).
• Voroshilovsk (Stavropol, from 1935 to 1943).

In addition, the Khoroshevsky district of the capital and the central district of the city of Donetsk bore his name.

To this day, there are Voroshilov streets in dozens of cities of the former USSR. Among them are Goryachiy Klyuch, Tolyatti, Brest, Orenburg, Penza, Ershov, Serpukhov, Korosten, Angarsk, Voronezh, Khabarovsk, Klintsy, Kemerovo, Lipetsk, Rybinsk, St. Petersburg, Simferopol, Chelyabinsk and Izhevsk. In Rostov-on-Don there is also Voroshilovsky Prospekt.

Deserves special mention for rewarding the most accurate shooters, approved at the end of 1932 and named "Voroshilovsky shooter". According to the recollections of people whose youth fell on the pre-war years, it was prestigious to wear it, and young people aspired to be awarded such a badge.

In honor of Klim Efremovich, a series of KV tanks produced at the Putilov plant was also named, and in 1941-1992 the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR bore his name.

A monument to Kliment Voroshilov is erected on his grave. And in Moscow, at house number 3 on Romanov Lane, there is a memorial plate notifying about this.

Now you know some facts of the biography of the famous Soviet military leader and party leader Klim Efremovich Voroshilov. A wonderful family man and a great patriot of his Motherland, nevertheless, during the years of Stalinist repressions, he sent several thousand people to their deaths, most of whom were not guilty of what they were accused of and were told to be shot.

Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov had a long life. He died almost reaching the age of 89. Last year, 1916, was the 135th anniversary of the former idol of millions. But no one noticed him. But at one time, cities and factories, tanks and ships were named after Voroshilov. All young pioneers dreamed of earning the honorary title of "Voroshilovsky Shooter". Klim Voroshilov was a symbol of the Soviet dream - a simple mechanic who became the people's commissar of defense and even the head of state.

Unsweetened childhood

He was born in January 1881 in the Lugansk region, in the village of Verkhne (now it is the city of Lisichansk). Subsequently, in his memoirs, which Kliment Efremovich called "Stories about Life", he recalled childhood pictures: the endless steppe, mine heaps, the banks of the Seversky Donets and the ever-hungry brothers and sisters. Klim's father, Efrem Andreevich, had a quarrelsome character, was quick-tempered, did not tolerate injustice, and therefore did not succeed in life. He lost his job one after another and, in the end, became a lineman with a penny salary. Klim's mother, quiet and meek Maria Vasilievna, never contradicted her husband, although he often raised his hand to her. She endured poverty stoically, grabbed any job, was both a washerwoman and a cook. And when the family was completely stranded financially, the children went to beg.

Meeting with Lenin

At the age of seven, Klim went to graze cattle, and then got a job at a mine. The work was hard: from early morning until late evening, he chose the rock from the mined coal. They paid a young worker a meager amount - 10 kopecks a day. A friend of the Voroshilov family, teacher Ryzhkov, helped Klim go to school, and then helped him get a job at a metallurgical plant in Lugansk. Then there was a social-democratic circle, rallies and strikes, the party pseudonym "Volodya", denunciations to the police, transportation of twenty contraband revolvers to Rostov. At the fourth congress of the RSDLP in Stockholm, Klim Voroshilo met with Lenin. Full of impressions, having returned to Luhansk, he arranged an almost revolution in the city - with the arson of the prison. Arrest followed, followed by three years of northern exile.

Raised like family

At that time, he was very fond of Klim, the daughter of an Odessa broker, Golda Gorbman. For participation in the SR underground, she was exiled to Kholmogory. Klim really wanted to take Golda as his wife, but according to the laws of that time, the exiles could marry only if the bride converted to Orthodoxy. Apparently, Golda loved her Klim very much, because she decided to change her faith.

She also changed her name, becoming Catherine. No matter how life developed later, Klim never cheated on his wife (and they lived together for 50 years). But this is a rare case for the Bolshevik leaders. And even when the unsuccessful operation disfigured the woman, Klim did not leave her, did not find someone prettier and younger.

The only thing that upset the spouses was the absence of children. Then they took in foster children: three-year-old Petya, whose father was shot by the whites, nine-year-old Lenya, whose father was a friend of Voroshilov. When Mikhail Frunze passed away, the Voroshilovs also took care of his children - Timur and Tatyana. And, I must say, they raised adopted children as their relatives. All sons chose the military profession.

So he became commander

In April 1818, the commanders of the Red Guard detachments gathered at the Rudakovo station near Lugansk. The situation was difficult. The Germans were advancing from the west, and the Cossacks of ataman Krasnov were advancing from the east. There is an urgent need to join forces and choose a common commander. Klim Voroshilov became commander of the 5th Soviet Army.

Klim did not immediately agree to take this position, he denied it for a long time. Subsequently, it turned out that Voroshilov was preparing these elections. He acted in different ways: either he persuaded or intimidated the red leaders. In appearance, Kliment Efremovich looked like a simpleton, but his will and endurance were iron. It was they who helped him subsequently stay on the political Olympus.

With a Mauser in hand

Retreating with a 5-1 army to the Volga, the newly-minted army commander received the 10th army, which defended Tsaritsyn from the whites. The only way that connected the Soviet Republic with the outside world ran through this city. Here Commander Voroshilov showed himself for the first time in all his glory. He led the fighters into the attack with a Mauser in his hand. In his arsenal were not only calls, but also mate and kicks. After the fights, he decided to relax. This "relaxation", expressed in drinking and partying, a fight with a patrol, was described in an article published in the Pravda newspaper.

The article was published at the suggestion of Trotsky (Voroshilov's relationship with him somehow did not work out right away). When military experts arrived from Moscow, Klim sent them to prison instead of headquarters. This overwhelmed Trotsky's patience. Voroshilov was sent to Ukraine. And there the situation was incomprehensible: everyone fought against everyone: whites, reds, greens, Petliurists, Makhnovists. But Klim felt comfortable.

"Willingly agrees with everyone"

Kliment Efremovich relied on Semyon Budyonny and his 1st cavalry army. This army was not typical for that time: it was replenished and fed at the expense of the civilian population, in the occupied areas it behaved like a gang of robbers. But courage and loyalty to her comrades were valued in her above all else. Voroshilov and here showed himself from the best side. He was like a fish in water. Along with everyone went on the attack. In the saddle he held himself rather poorly, but he shot well and gave commands in a thunderous voice.

In March of the twenty-first year, at the head of the consolidated detachment of the 10th Congress, Voroshilov went to suppress the Kronstadt rebellion. He was cold-blooded and did not hide from bullets. Miraculously, he remained intact: the losses among the attackers (as usual under the command of Voroshilov) were enormous. Tukhachsky said about Voroshilov: "Of course, he is very dull, but he has a positive quality that he does not climb into the wise men and willingly agrees with everything."

Merits and bad deeds

Voroshilov did not argue with Stalin, who demanded an early restructuring of the army. The new People's Commissar of Defense led the army for 15 years. During this time, mass production of weapons was established. If in 1928 there were only 9 tanks in the Red Army, then in 1937 - almost 17 thousand, more than any other country in the world. The Pacific and Northern Fleets were created on the maritime frontiers, and the construction of torpedo boats and submarines began. There is Voroshilov's merit in the creation of airborne troops. Once Budyonny offered Voroshilov to jump with a parachute. He refused, and Budyonny jumped (for which he received a reprimand from Stalin).

Voroshilov also agreed with the leader in 1937, signing "kill lists" as a member of the Politburo. And giving sanctions for the arrest of officers, never standing up for someone. When it came to his longtime adversary, Tukhachevsky, Voroshilov drew a resolution on the list: “Comrade. Yezhov. Take all the scoundrels."

Kliment Efremovich literally felt with his skin: if he opposes repression, shows insufficient zeal, then he himself will become a victim. And Voroshilov was saved from disfavor by the war with Finland, which turned into huge victims. After the "debriefing" in May 1940, the post of People's Commissar of Defense was taken by Marshal Timoshenko.

When Voroshilov was a diplomat

And then the Great Patriotic War. On the Western Front, Voroshilov did his usual thing - he inspired and punished. When neither one nor the other helped, the marshal was transferred to Leningrad. There, he nevertheless managed to detain the enemy and even organized an offensive near Soltsy, surrounding Manstein's tank corps. In fairness, I must say - he was still walking in a line of soldiers (with a pistol at German tanks). But in this war, "cavalry methods" no longer worked. The Germans closed the blockade ring.

But the diplomat from Voroshilov turned out to be good. He led difficult negotiations on a truce with Romania, Finland, Hungary. Voroshilov did not know a single language, but, nevertheless, he found a common language with representatives of various countries. And he found himself completely at ease after the death of Stalin, when instead of the faceless Shvernik he was appointed Chairman of the Supreme Council. He became the formal head of state! In this position, he traveled all over the world, receiving many gifts. From Mao Zedong he received a pagoda made of rock crystal, from Ho Chi Minh - a carved elephant tusk, from Marshal Tito - a golden cigarette case. And only in old age Voroshilov blundered. This happened when he joined the "anti-party group" of Molotov and Kaganovich. I had to humiliately repent, and he was spared.

At the Kremlin wall

Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov died on December 3, 1969. When he was reproached for conformism, he invariably replied: "I don't quarrel with anyone, I want to be buried in Red Square." His dream came true twice: twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor, holder of more than 200 orders and medals from different countries, rests near the Kremlin wall next to his friend Budyonny who survived him for a short time.

Materials of the Rodina magazine (No. 4 of 2016) were used in the preparation.

Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov is a happy man. He lived a long life, went through two wars and was not even wounded, did not get sick in any way, experienced, of course, troubles, but in words, he did not sit, was not shot, his relatives were not injured.

I must say that Voroshilov was never a military leader at all. That is, he was not suitable for military affairs. And the point here is not only that he never studied (Voroshilov had two classes of education), but that he had no talent. He was not fit for military action. Of course, this sounds ridiculous about a man who for a decade and a half was the Minister of War of a huge power. But that's how it is.

Voroshilov owes his entire military-state career to Stalin. First, our hero was from a simple family. Secondly, his political temperament was incredible. Kliment Efremovich very early joined the revolutionary movement. In 1903 he joined the Social Democratic Party and became a Bolshevik. Then arrest after arrest, exile after exile...

In 1917, Voroshilov became the military commandant of Petrograd. In 1918, he was sent at the head of the Luhansk detachment to fight the Ukrainian nationalists, as they said then. But here, to his misfortune ... After all, not only Soviet Russia, but also Ukraine signed peace with the Germans. By virtue of this peace concluded by Kiev, German troops enter the territory of Ukraine, kick out Voroshilov, who with his detachment retreats in disgrace to Tsaritsyn. And at that very moment, the commissioner for food procurement, People's Commissar for Nationalities, a member of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, Joseph Stalin, arrives in Tsaritsyn.

Tsaritsyn is a key place in Stalin's biography. Why? 1917 He is inconspicuous, not a speaker, no one knows what he is doing. The post of people's commissar for nationalities is far from the first and not the most important. He is sent to prepare food. There he, with a mandate signed by Lenin, with the title of a member of the Central Committee of the party, suddenly feels that he is a leader. And he begins to take on the duties of a military leader. And there Krasnov is advancing, the Cossacks, someone else. There are battles under Tsaritsyn, because this is a key point. This is the Volga, through which food goes to the center of Russia. The key issue is to keep Tsaritsyn for the Bolsheviks. Professional military resist Stalin's orders. It was then, in Tsaritsyn, that Stalin's hatred of regular officers arose. He starts destroying it there. And this contempt for career officers, for military professionals, he will carry through his whole life. And then Voroshilov comes at the head of the defeated detachment. He also does not want to obey the officers. Why on earth would he follow the orders of the gold miners? So they found each other.

And this, I must say, was a choice for life. By itself, Voroshilov was a very soft, comfortable person, clinging to a strong figure. The latter is the key to its political character. If he got to someone else, he would cling to him. But he got to Stalin.

Voroshilov was a good man. He wasn't mean or mean. For example, he raised the children of an early deceased, both Tatyana and Timur. Stepan Mikoyan, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, lieutenant general, said: “I really liked Voroshilov as a human being. He was a very nice, very friendly person…”

During the years of the Civil War, under Stalinist pressure, Voroshilov was placed several times in one or another command position. Every time unsuccessfully. There is a review by Antonov-Ovseenko, who fought on the Ukrainian front, that Voroshilov is credited with victories that are not there, that he failed, and so on. But Voroshilov and Budyonny are at the head of the First Cavalry Army. And this, as you know, is Stalin's cadres.

Voroshilov became a member of the Central Committee very early. Then Stalin introduced him to the Orgburo, appointed him People's Commissar of Defense. For three and a half decades, Kliment Efremovich was a member of the top leadership of the party and the state.

People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Kliment Voroshilov meets with Komsomol members, 1935. (Pinterest)

After, which became another military failure for Voroshilov, Stalin removed him from the post of People's Commissar of Defense. But then, when the war began, when Iosif Vissarionovich fell into complete despair and sent everyone who was to the front, our hero suddenly received a military post again - he became the commander-in-chief of the troops of the North-Western direction.

The question involuntarily begs: “Why did Stalin again forgive Voroshilov?” There are two explanations for this. Firstly, Kliment Efremovich at that time was a legendary figure who entered the national mythology. “And the first marshal will lead us into battle!” - this is about Voroshilov. Voroshilovsky breakfast, Voroshilovsky volley, "Voroshilovsky shooter" and so on. Stalin could not do without Voroshilov, so he did not touch him. Until 1944, he symbolically kept him at the Headquarters, in the Defense Committee, and then, in the mood, threw him out, which he had never done before.

After 1945, Voroshilov led the occupation commission in Hungary. Then Stalin made him deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers. That is, the suspension has already begun. Voroshilov’s wife has an entry in her diary where she complains, they say, what were the times when we visited Joseph Vissarionovich, dancing there, music, and now it’s so difficult ... Voroshilov is worried: Stalin stopped communicating with him, and besides, he didn’t misses an opportunity to punch him in the nose in public.

For example, after (naturally) Stalin's sanction, Voroshilov signed an order to open a certain number of Orthodox churches. As soon as he did this - a devastating resolution of the Politburo: "How dare you?" Who is guilty? Voroshilov, who else?

Khrushchev tasting Pepsi during a visit to the US in 1959. Next to him are Richard Nixon and Kliment Voroshilov. (Pinterest)

But the worst time for our hero comes after the 19th Congress, although he is elected to the Presidium of the Central Committee (instead of the Politburo). The Bureau of the Central Committee included mainly new people (Salin himself compiled the lists), the old ones were removed. Molotov, Mikoyan at the plenum the leader mixes with dirt. And then, this is recorded, he says, looking at Voroshilov: “And how did this English spy get into our presidium?” They answer him: "Joseph Vissarionovich, Comrade Stalin, that's how you yourself called his name." "Yes?" Stalin is surprised.

Of course, today we can only guess what Stalin planned, but, apparently, he was preparing to completely get rid of the old members of the party leadership: Molotov, Mikoyan and Voroshilov, including. Therefore, a very sad fate awaited Kliment Efremovich. But fortunately for him, in March 1953, the "father of nations" died.

Under Khrushchev, Voroshilov was again, as young people say, in chocolate. Honor, respect ... Although our hero, most likely, did not like Nikita Sergeevich, he also clung to him.

For seven years, until 1960, Voroshilov was chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. And, perhaps, it would have been even longer, but ... got burned on the story of the reception of the Iranian ambassador. The history is wonderful! The new Iranian ambassador presented him with his credentials. Handed over. And then Voroshilov simply says to him: “We also had Nikolashka before 1917. We dropped it and how healed well. You should do the same."

The shaken ambassador, having returned, wrote a telegram. And how did it become known? Telegrams were intercepted. Our KGB read the Iranian correspondence and put it on the table. He made a scandal: “Well, what are you doing?” “What are you doing! I know how to talk to this audience,” Voroshilov began to justify himself. “I dealt with her back in the First Russian Revolution!” Here they got rid of our hero - he was transferred to the members of the Presidium. He was very tired of everyone.

Voroshilov died at the age of 89. He was buried in Red Square near the Kremlin wall.