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Dmitry Ustinov | |
|---|---|
Дмитрий Устинов | |
_(cropped)(b)(2).jpg) Ustinov in 1978 | |
| Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union | |
| In office 26 April 1976 – 20 December 1984 | |
| Premier | Alexei Kosygin Nikolai Tikhonov |
| Preceded by | Andrei Grechko |
| Succeeded by | Sergei Sokolov |
| First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union | |
| In office 13 March 1963 – 26 March 1965 | |
| Premier | Nikita Khrushchev Alexei Kosygin |
| Preceded by | Alexei Kosygin |
| Succeeded by | Kirill Mazurov |
| Minister of the Defense Industry Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | |
| In office 6 March 1953 – 14 December 1957 | |
| Premier | Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Sergei Sverov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1908-10-30)30 October 1908 Samara, Russian Empire |
| Died | 20 December 1984(1984-12-20) (aged 76) Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Resting place | Kremlin Wall Necropolis |
| Political party | CPSU (1927–1984) |
| Profession | Mechanical engineer |
| Awards | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Soviet Union |
| Branch/service | Soviet Armed Forces |
| Years of service | 1941–1984 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union (1976–1984) |
| Battles/wars | World War II Soviet–Afghan War |
Central institution membership
Other offices held
| |
Dmitry Fyodorovich Ustinov (Russian:Дмитрий Фёдорович Устинов; 30 October 1908 – 20 December 1984) was a Soviet politician and aMarshal of the Soviet Union during theCold War. He served as aCentral Committee secretary in charge of the Sovietmilitary–industrial complex from 1965 to 1976 and asMinister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death in 1984.
Ustinov was born in the city ofSamara to a Russian working-class family in 1908. Upon reaching adulthood, he joined theCommunist Party in 1927 before pursuing a career in engineering. After graduating from theInstitute of Military Mechanical Engineering in 1934, he became a construction engineer at the Leningrad Artillery Marine Research Institute. By 1937, he transferred to the "Bolshevik" Arms Factory where he ultimately rose to become the director. While serving asPeople's Commissar of Armaments duringWorld War II, he achieved distinction within the party's ranks by successfully overseeing the evacuation of Leningrad's industries to the Ural Mountains, a feat for which he was awarded the title ofHero of Socialist Labour. At the war's end, he was entrusted with seizing raw materials, scientists and research left over from Germany's missile programme.
UnderLeonid Brezhnev's leadership, Ustinov joined theCentral Committee Secretariat and rose to become a candidate member of the Politburo by 1965. Following his rise to the central party apparatus, he was given the task of administering the Soviet Union's defense industry and its armed forces. By 1976, he succeededAndrei Grechko as Minister of Defense, received the rank ofMarshal of the Soviet Union, and had joined the Poliburo as a full member.
Throughout his tenure as Defense Minister, Marshal Ustinov's hardline attitudes towards the West and unreserved backing for his country's arms buildup underlay thenational security strategy of the Soviet Union. As Brezhnev's health deteriorated from the mid-1970s onward, he increasingly dictated Soviet policy alongside Foreign MinisterAndrei Gromyko and KGB ChairmanYuri Andropov untilBrezhnev's death in 1982.[1][2][3] UponKonstantin Chernenko's accession to the office ofGeneral Secretary in February 1984, Ustinov formed an unofficialtriumvirate alongside Gromyko and Chernenko that led the Soviet Union until his death on 20 December 1984.[4][5][6]
Dmitry Feodorovich Ustinov was born in a working-class family inSamara. During theCivil War, whenhunger became intolerable, his sick father went toSamarkand, leaving Dmitry as head of the family. Shortly after that, in 1922, his father died. In 1923, he and his mother, Yevrosinya Martinovna, moved to the city of Makarev (nearIvanovo-Voznesensk) where he worked as a fitter in a paper mill. Shortly after that, in 1925, his mother died.
Ustinov joined theCommunist Party in 1927. In 1929, he started training at the Faculty of Mechanics in theIvanovo-Voznesensk Polytechnic Institute. Afterward, Ustinov was transferred to the Moscow Bauman Higher Technical School. Then, in March 1932, he entered theInstitute of Military Mechanical Engineering in Leningrad from where he graduated in 1934. Afterward, he worked as a construction engineer at the Leningrad artillery Marine Research Institute. In 1937, he was transferred to the "Bolshevik" Arms Factory as an engineer. He later became the director of the Factory.
At the time of theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union, in June 1941,Joseph Stalin appointed the 32-year-old Ustinov to the post ofPeople's Commissar of Armaments.[7] From this position, he supervised the massiveevacuation of the defence industry from thebesieged city of Leningrad to east of theUral Mountains. Over 80 military industries were evacuated that together employed over six hundred thousand workers, technicians, and engineers. Stalin later rewarded Ustinov, whom he called "the Red-head", with the Soviet Union's highest civilian honour,Hero of Socialist Labour. After the war was over, Ustinov played a crucial role in requisitioning the German missile programme, developed during World War II, as an impetus to the Soviet missile andspace programmes.
In 1952, Ustinov became a member of the Central Committee. In March 1953, after Stalin died, theMinistry of Armaments was combined with theMinistry of Aviation Industry to become theMinistry of Defense Industry, with Ustinov assigned as head of this new ministry. In 1957, he was appointed as a Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union and became chairman of theMilitary-Industrial Commission.
Leonid Brezhnev took power after the ousting of Khrushchev, and Ustinov returned to the defence industry. In 1965, Brezhnev made Ustinov a candidate member of thePolitburo and secretary of the Central Committee with oversight of the military, the defense industry, and certain security organs.[citation needed] He was also placed in charge of developing the Soviet Union's strategic bomber force and intercontinental ballistic missile system. Ustinov was known in the defense industry as Uncle Mitya. He was also missile engineerVladimir Chelomey's stolid personal adversary. He issued adirective, in February 1970, that ordered Chelomey'sOKB-52 design bureau to combine itsAlmaz space station withSergei Korolyov'sOKB-1 design bureau, then headed byVasili Mishin. This order was designed as an impetus towards the development of theSalyut space station.
Ustinov gained power in thebureaucracy as he rose in thedefence industry.
In 1976, after Andrei Grechko died on 26 April, Ustinov became the Defence Minister and was promoted toGeneral of the Army on 29 April. On 30 July, he was promoted to the highest military rank in theSoviet Union,Marshal of the Soviet Union, although he had no prior military career. Together, with MarshalNikolai Ogarkov and the Soviet General Staff, Ustinov embarked on a programme to enhance and modernise the Soviet Union's development of military sciences. In 1979, he confidently asserted that "The armed forces of the USSR are on a high level that ensures the accomplishment of any tasks set by the party and the people".
The growing influence of the Soviet military gave Ustinov the role of Kremlin kingmaker, for his support was decisive in allowingYuri Andropov to succeedBrezhnev. Ustinov was also influential in theChernenko regime, compensating for the latter's serious health problems and inexperience in military affairs.
In 1979,Hafizullah Amin assassinated the leader of Afghanistan,Nur Muhammad Taraki. In October 1979, the sentiment for Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan grew stronger in the Soviet politburo where Ustinov and Andropov were the strongest proponents of military intervention. Soviet Foreign MinisterAndrei Gromyko also lent his support for an invasion. The introduction of US forces into thePersian Gulf after the 1979Iran hostage crisis particularly alarmed the Soviet General Staff. Ustinov began to wonder, "If the Americans do all these preparations under our noses, then why should we hunker down, play cautious, and lose Afghanistan?"[citation needed] In November, Ustinov and Andropov began to formulate plans for a Soviet military invasion of Afghanistan. On 12 December 1979, the Politburo approved the Ustinov-Andropov plan to invade Afghanistan. On 24 December 1979,Soviet troops entered Afghanistan.
In the early 1980s, the development of theSpace Shuttle program in the United States caused considerable concern in the Soviet defense industry. While Defence Minister, Ustinov received a report from his analysts that theUS Shuttle could be used to deploy space based nuclear missiles over Soviet territory.Russian space programme academicBoris Chertok recounts that Ustinov was so worried about the US Shuttle that he gave the development of the Soviet response program, theBuran Shuttle, top priority.
In 1992, Russian presidentBoris Yeltsin disclosed five top-secret memos dating from late 1983, memos that had been written within weeks of the downing ofKorean Air Lines Flight 007. These memos were published inIzvestia number 228 on 16 October 1992. According to these memos, the Soviet Union had been able to recover the "Black Box" from KAL 007 and decipher its tapes. Thereafter, Ustinov, along withViktor Chebrikov, head of the KGB, recommended to General Secretary Yuri Andropov that their possession of the Black Box not be made public since its tapes could not support the Soviet contention that KAL 007 was on a U.S. espionage mission.
"In connection with all mentioned above it seems highly preferable not to transfer the flight recorders to theInternational Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) or any third party willing to decipher their contents. The fact that the recorders are in possession of the USSR shall be kept secret. As far as we are aware neither the US nor Japan has any information on the flight recorders. We have made necessary efforts in order to prevent any disclosure of the information in future." (Memo 5.)
On 7 November 1984, Ustinov did not preside over the annualRed Square Military Parade on theOctober Revolution Day. First Deputy Defense Minister MarshalSergey Sokolov stood in for Ustinov to both inspect the troops and deliver the commemoration speech. Ustinov had contractedpneumonia in late October. Emergency surgery had to be performed to correct ananeurysm in hisaortic valve. His liver and kidneys later deteriorated. Eventually, he suffered a cardiac arrest and died on 20 December 1984. He was honored with astate funeral, and his ashes were interred in theKremlin Wall Necropolis on 24 December 1984.
TheRFSMarshal Ustinov is a Russian warship named after him in his honor. The Baltic State Technical Military-Mechanical University inSaint Petersburg changed its name to theUstinov Baltic State Technical Military-Mechanical University. The city ofIzhevsk was also renamed after him from 1984 to 1987; however, underMikhail Gorbachev, cities that had been renamed for recent Soviet leaders were reverted to their former names.
Ustinov placed great importance on the military for many decades. For example, he succeeded in always keeping the USSR's intercontinental ballistic missiles,ICBMs, current. Ustinov also wrote several books throughout his life. These included "Selected Speeches and Articles" (1979), and "To serve my country - the cause of Communism" (1982).
In his memoirs Mikhail Gorbachev describes Ustinov as a man who normally had an energetic and bright personality. When Gorbachev was facing opposition in the Politburo shortly after Andropov's death, Ustinov told Gorbachev to "stand firm" and to "take heart".
Soviet Army Colonel General Igor Illarionov, an assistant of Ustinov for 30 years, described him as "the most Stalinist of all the Commissars". Indeed, Ustinov had been groomed by Stalin to maintain the established system. Illarionov also said that Ustinov, like many of his contemporaries, was shaped by his experiences in theGreat Patriotic War. Illarionov described Ustinov as a man who was very passionate about his work and had a habit of working late at night and sleeping for a couple of hours during the day.
The former Chief of the 4th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Health, AcademicianYevgeniy Chazov wrote about Ustinov: "I met him for the first time thanks to Andropov, who was his close friend. From the first moment I liked his will power, quick decision making, optimism, drive, expertise, combined with a certain simplicity and openness. In my mind, he represented the best representatives of the so-called command-and-control systems by which we defeated Germany duringWorld War II. I think his only mistake, which he may not have realized, was the Afghan war. A bad politician and diplomat, he, as a representative of the old Stalinist 'guard', believed that all issues could be solved via a position of strength. On the other hand, I saw Andropov tossed and nervous because of the Afghan war. I believe that he ultimately understood their mistake. Ustinov, however, was always calm and apparently convinced that he was right."
However, Ustinov's unwillingness to support any kind of reforms, even if popular within the Politburo itself, led to him frequently clashing with the Chief of the General Staff, MarshalNikolai Ogarkov. Ogarkov and many Officers of the General Staff resented Ustinov's influence over Brezhnev, viewing him as a lobby for the interests of the Defence Industries against those of the Military. This became problematic for Ogarkov, since he favoured reducing the massive Soviet military into a more compact strike force that utilized high-technology conventional arms and centered on Special Forces operations.[citation needed] Ustinov on the other hand (his lobbying for the defense industries notwithstanding), favored the usual emphasis on manpower and nuclear deterrence to maintain his "high intensity non-nuclear conflict" strategy, despite the lack of efficiency that became apparent in Afghanistan.[citation needed] In light of this, although Ustinov dramatically increased the technological capabilities of the Soviet Armed forces, most of the improvements were directed towards the operation of Strategic Nuclear Weapons, such as theTyphoon-class submarine, theTu-160 bomber, and theSS-20 Saber.
Ustinov was married to Taisa Alekseevna Briekalova-Ustinova (1903–1975). They had a daughter and a son.
Ustinov appears briefly inTom Clancy's 1984 novelThe Hunt for Red October in his capacity as Defense Minister; his death is mentioned by the titular spy Colonel Filitov inThe Cardinal of the Kremlin. He is given a more important role in the 2002 novelRed Rabbit, which takes place in between the events ofPatriot Games andRed October.
Ustinov is also a character ofThe Manhattan Projects, a comic book byJonathan Hickman andNick Pitarra. He is depicted as a disembodied brain mounted on a robot body.
As Brezhnev's health deteriorated following a major stroke in 1975, real power passed into the hands of Yuri Andropov, Gromyko and Dmitry Ustinov, the new hawkish Defence Minister, who pushed for an even bolder policy abroad.
"Brezhnev's sickness created a further problem….He collapsed in mid-August 1968, the eve of the invasion of Czechoslovakia. A further seizure occurred—which proved a turning point—immediately after the negotiations at Okeanskaya, Vladivostok, 23–24 November 1974. Brezhnev was then said to be working only a three-day week….Thereafter Brezhnev's capacity to concentrate diminished with progressive arteriosclerosis leading to onset of senile dementia, doubtless hastened by beta-blockers taken to lower blood pressure for relief of the heart. Growing dependence on sleeping pills made matters worse…Although decisions still required Brezhnev's assent, the substance of power tacitly passed to a troika: Andropov, Gromyko, and Ustinov, who met in the orekhovaya room (paneled in walnut) where the entire Politburo foregathered on Thursdays."
Brezhnev's health was a cause of concern, and there were many cruel Soviet jokes about his incompetence. By the mid-1970s, he was only able to work for short periods, and a troika took over: Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB; Andrei Gromyko, foreign minister; and Marshal Dmitry Ustinov, the minister of defence.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union 1976–1984 | Succeeded by |
| People's Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs (1917–1934) |
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| People's Commissars for Defence (1934–1946) |
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| People's Commissars for the Navy (1937–1946) |
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| People's Commissar for the Armed Forces (1946) | ||
| Ministers of the Armed Forces (1946–1950) |
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| Minister of War (1950–1953) | ||
| Ministers of the Navy (1950–1953) |
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| Ministers of Defence (1953–1992) |
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