Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov. Born on January 23, 1881 in the village of Verkhnee, Yekaterinoslav province (now the city of Lisichansk, Lugansk region) - died on December 2, 1969 in Moscow. Russian revolutionary, Soviet military leader, state and party leader, one of the first Marshals of the Soviet Union.

Member of the Civil War. 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 - Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor. Member of the Central Committee of the party in 1921-1961 and 1966-1969. Member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (1924-1926). Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (1926-1952), member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1952-1960).

Kliment Voroshilov was born on February 4, 1881 in the village of Verkhnee, Bakhmut district, Yekaterinoslav province. Now it is the city of Lisichansk, Luhansk region.

Father - Voroshilov Efrem Andreevich (1844-1907), a railway worker.

Mother - Maria Vasilievna Voroshilova (nee Agafonova) (1857-1919), day laborer.

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.

During the First World War, he evaded the draft.

Member of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) 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). Had a pseudonym "Volodin".

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 October Revolution, Voroshilov was the commissar of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee (for city administration). Together with 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.

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 (October 3 - December 18, 1918), People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR (January - June 1919), commander of the Kharkov Military District, commander 14th Army and the internal Ukrainian front. One of the organizers and member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 1st Cavalry Army, which he commanded.

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 took part in the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising.

In 1921-1924 - 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. Member of the funeral committee.

How well the white light is arranged,
I was marked yesterday in the order:
released five years earlier
and signature: "Voroshilov, Georgadze".

Klim Voroshilov in the cinema (role performers):

Alexey Gribov ("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 ("The Fall of Berlin", 1st version);
Paul Edwin Roth ("The Fall of Tukhachevsky" / Der Fall Tuchatschewskij (Germany, 1968);
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);
(“First Cavalry”, 1984, “War in the Western Direction”, 1990);

Anatoly Grachev ("Enemy of the people - Bukharin", 1990);
(“Feasts of Belshazzar, or Night with Stalin”, 1989);

(“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 (“Death of Tairov (film)”, 2004, “Burnt by the Sun 2: Anticipation”, 2010);
Viktor Bunakov (“And Shepilov, who joined them”, 2009; “Tukhachevsky. Marshal's Conspiracy”, 2010);
Valery Filonov ("Furtseva (TV series)", 2011);
Vadim Pomerantsev ("Eye of God", 2012);
Alexander Berda (Chkalov, 2012);

Vladimir Fedorov (“Stalin is with us”, 2013);
Boris Shuvalov ("Son of the Father of Nations", 2013)

Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov (born January 23 (February 4), 1881, death - December 2, 1969) - a professional revolutionary, a prominent Soviet military leader and politician, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935), Hero of the Soviet Union (1956 , 1968), Hero of Socialist Labor (1960); Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1953-1960), member of the Politburo (Presidium) of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1926-1960)

During the Civil War, the commander and member of the Revolutionary Military Council of a number of fronts and armies. 1925-1940 - People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union. Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Was in the immediate environment of I.V. Stalin, became one of the organizers of the mass repressions of the late 1930s.

Origin. early years

The future marshal was born in the village of Verkhneye, Bakhmut district of the Yekaterinoslav province (now the Lugansk region of Ukraine) in a working class family. Father - Voroshilov Efrem Andreevich (1844-1907), a railway worker. Mother - Voroshilova Maria Vasilievna (1857-1919), day laborer.

From the age of seven he worked as a shepherd, a miner. 1893-1895 - studied at the Zemstvo school in the village of Vasilievka. From 1896 he worked at the Yuryevsky Metallurgical Plant, from 1903 at the Hartman Locomotive Plant (Lugansk).

revolutionary activity. Civil War

During the First World War, he evaded the draft. 1903 - Member of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks). 1904 - Member of the Lugansk Bolshevik Committee. 1905 - Chairman of the Lugansk Soviet, led a strike of workers, created fighting squads. Delegate of the IV (1906) and V (1907) congresses of the RSDLP(b). Had a pseudonym "Volodin". 1908-1917 - conducted underground party work in Baku, Petrograd, Tsaritsyn. Repeatedly arrested, served exile.

February Revolution 1917 - Voroshilov is elected to the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. At the III Congress of Soviets, he was elected to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), appointed Commissar of Petrograd and, together with the creation of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK).

During the Civil War, Kliment Efremovich was engaged in the formation of units of the Red Army, commanded a number of armies, and participated in the defense of Tsaritsyn.

1919 - Voroshilov was appointed People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, where he organized punitive operations to eliminate Ukrainian national detachments.

One of the organizers and a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 1st Cavalry Army, under the command of S.M. Budyonny.

1921 - at the head of a group of delegates to the X Congress of the RCP (b), Voroshilov took part in the suppression. Since 1921 - a member of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). 1921-1924 - member of the South-Eastern Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), commander of the North Caucasian Military District. He commanded the destruction of the rebels in the Caucasus.

At the head of the armed forces

1925, November - after the death of Mikhail Frunze, Voroshilov was appointed People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. He remained in this position until 1934. Voroshilov's predecessor, Frunze, was appointed to the post (in January 1925) of the highest military leader of the Soviet Union by the "troika" Zinoviev - Kamenev - Stalin, who were removed from the same position.

The replacement of Frunze by Voroshilov was connected with the struggle that had begun, already within the “troika” itself. A supporter of Zinoviev, Frunze, was forced to undergo a medical operation to treat an old stomach ulcer, and he died during the operation from an overdose of chloroform. Many of the historians believe that this operation covered up the assassination of Frunze, whose place was now taken by the protege of the "father of the peoples", Voroshilov. Kliment Efremovich became a full member of the new highest party body - the Politburo in 1926, remaining in it until 1960.

1934 - People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs was renamed the People's Commissariat of Defense. Kliment Efremovich headed it again (until May 1940) 1935 - he becomes (together with Budyonny, Yegorov and Blucher) one of the 5 holders of the new title - Marshal of the Soviet Union. Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov played a very prominent role in Stalin's Great Terror of the 1930s, condemning many of his own military colleagues and subordinates at Stalin's request.

The Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War, Marshal Voroshilov was a member of the State Defense Committee (GKO). 1941, July 10 - was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops of the North-Western direction (disbanded on August 27), then commander of the troops of the Leningrad Front (from September 5 to September 14, 1941, he was replaced by G.K. Zhukov).

Representative of the Headquarters for the formation of troops (September 1941 - February 1942), representative of the Headquarters 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)

After the war. last years of life

1945-1947 - served as chairman of the Allied Control Commission in Hungary.

From 1946 to 1953 - Voroshilov 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.

After Stalin's death, he supported Khrushchev's opponents, was a member of the so-called "anti-party group" (1956-1957). condemned the factionalists.

1960, May - "for health reasons" Voroshilov was relieved of his post as chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, but he remained a member of the presidium of the Armed Forces. 1960, July - he was removed from the Presidium of the Central Committee, and in October 1961 he was no longer elected a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

1961 - Voroshilov addressed the XXII Congress of the CPSU with a letter in which he once again acknowledged his mistakes and his participation in organizing repressions. After Leonid Brezhnev came to power, he again became a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

Stalin's favorite. Characteristics of contemporaries

The "Father of Nations" forgave the marshal such failures for which any other would pay with his life. As people's commissar, Voroshilov was unable to prepare troops for the war with Finland. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the commander-in-chief of the North-West direction allowed the blockade of Leningrad.

Georgy Zhukov testified: "He was, in essence, an amateur in military matters." Boris Bazhanov, Stalin's secretary, wrote: “He was a very mediocre character who, even during the Civil War, stuck with Stalin and always supported him. He was always an obedient and executive assistant to Stalin and served for some time for decoration after.

Leon Trotsky said this about the Red Marshal: “Although Voroshilov was from the Lugansk workers, from the privileged elite, but in all his habits he always looked more like a proprietor than a proletarian.”

Historian Roy Medvedev noted: “In Voroshilov, Stalin valued personal loyalty. The reason is that dictators need decorative figures that, with their insignificance, set off the majestic figure of the leader. Kliment Efremovich, in fact, was the only one with whom the head of state was on “you”, allowed party nicknames in communication - “Koba” and “Volodin”, allowed him to bang his fist on the table in his office and burst into abuse.

Personal life

In Stalin's times, the Voroshilov family lived in the Kremlin. Wife - Golda Davidovna Gorbman (1887-1959), Jewish. Before marrying Kliment (1913, in exile in Nyrob), she was baptized, changed her name and became Ekaterina Davidovna. She was a member of the RSDLP (b) since 1917, worked as deputy director of the Museum of V. I. Lenin.

There were no children of their own. Since 1918, the family has been raising their adopted son Peter (1914-1984). Later, Peter became a designer, lieutenant general, from him they had two grandchildren - Klim and Vladimir. Since 1926, they raised the son and daughter of M.V. Frunze - Timur and Tatyana.

Voroshilov always led an active lifestyle and went in for sports. While smoking. At the age of 50, he became interested in skating and spent almost all weekends at the rink. Later, he would actively promote the development of ice hockey in the Soviet Union.

Death

Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov died on December 2, 1969 in Moscow, at the age of 89, and was buried near the Kremlin wall.

1910 - the future marshal received a serious head injury during interrogation, which resulted in auditory hallucinations. Because of them, towards the end of his life, he was completely deaf.

1957 - Kliment Efremovich mistakenly sent a congratulatory telegram, which was intended for the Queen of England, the Queen of Belgium, which resulted in a major international scandal.

Marshal 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 (CC CPSU), the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU - 34.5 years.

1941, September - while holding the post of commander of the Leningrad Front, he personally led the marines in bayonet attacks.

After Stalin's death, Kliment Efremovich was elected "honorary president" - Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. But even in such a "decorative" position, the marshal could not hold on for a long time. Sergei Khrushchev recalled the incident that caused the resignation: “Voroshilov received the Iranian ambassador. At the end of the reception was supposed to be a short conversation. Thanking the ambassador, Kliment Efremovich perked up. “What is it that you all endure in your Shah? - slapped the ambassador on the shoulder - We threw off our king, and it's time for you. The stunned diplomat muttered something unintelligible and hurriedly said goodbye. Soon, intelligence intercepted a report from the Iranian ambassador to the Shah, who spoke in the most serious tone about the situation mentioned. Khrushchev called the marshal to the carpet and greeted him with the words: “Yes, you can declare war like that!”

Voroshilov's name was given to six settlements, more than 100 streets and educational institutions.

We will not tell his biography, since it is more or less truthful, with more or less details, set out in books of recent years:

R. Medvedev "They surrounded Stalin", M, 1990,

F. Volkov "Rise and fall of Stalin", M, 1992,

V. Rogovin “Party of the executed”, M, 1997,

D. Volkogonov “Etudes about time“, M, 1998,

O. Souvenirov ”The Tragedy of the Red Army. 1937-1938", M. 1998,

Yu. Rubtsov "Marshals of Stalin", R-on-Don, 2000, etc.

Academician of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Russian Federation, honorary academician O. F. Suvenirov and Yu. Rubtsov in the above books called Voroshilov the executioner of the Red Army.

Best of the day

Most of his life, Voroshilov was in military work, moreover, since 1925, after the death of Frunze, he became People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, and from 1934 to 1940 he was People's Commissar of Defense. And before that, in February 1918, in his homeland in Lugansk, he formed a partisan detachment of 600 people. The detachment a few months later turned into the 5th Ukrainian Army, which Voroshilov commanded. Then he commanded the 10th Army, the 14th Army, was a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the First Cavalry Army. In 1921-1924 he commanded the North Caucasian and Moscow military districts.

Evaluation of his military activities is always negative.

The Cossack magazine Donskaya Volna wrote in February 1919: “We must do justice to Voroshilov, that if he is not a strategist in the generally accepted sense of the word, then, in any case, he cannot be denied the ability to stubborn resistance.”

Even earlier, A.E. Snesarev, military instructor of the North Caucasian Military District and commander of the detachments defending Tsaritsyn, wrote in his memorandum addressed to the Chairman of the Supreme Military Council: “... that is. Voroshilov, as a military commander, does not have the necessary qualities. He is not sufficiently imbued with the duty of service and does not adhere to the elementary rules of commanding troops.

Speaking at the Eighth Party Congress in 1919, Lenin said: “Voroshilov cited facts that indicate that there were terrible traces of partisanism ... Comrade Voroshilov is to blame for not wanting to give up this old partisanship.”

In the summer of 1919, the 14th Army, commanded by Voroshilov, defended Kharkov. The army surrendered the city to Denikin's troops. The tribunal, examining the circumstances of the surrender of the city, came to the conclusion that the commander's knowledge did not allow even a battalion to be entrusted to him.

Chekist Zvederis - early. of the special department of the 1st Cavalry Army, whose path through Ukraine was called bloody and was accompanied by numerous pogroms, especially Jewish ones, came to the conclusion: banditry will not get rid of in the army as long as such a person as Voroshilov exists.

An exact description of Voroshilov was given by the first chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council and People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs L. D. Trotsky: “Voroshilov is a fiction. Its authority is artificially created by totalitarian agitation. At dizzying heights, he remained what he had always been: a narrow-minded provincial with no horizons, no education, no military ability, and even no administrator ability.

And the results of the military service of the first red marshal were summed up in the recently extracted from the archives “Decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU (Minutes 36, paragraph 356) On the work of Voroshilov K. E., April 1, 1942“

1. War with Finland in 1939-1940 revealed great trouble and backwardness in the leadership of NGOs. During this war, the unpreparedness of NPOs to ensure the successful development of military operations was revealed. There were no mortars and machine guns in the Red Army, there was no correct accounting of aircraft and tanks, there were no necessary winter clothes for the troops, the troops did not have food concentrates. The great neglect of such important NPO departments as the Main Artillery Directorate, the Combat Training Directorate, the Air Force Directorate, the low level of organization of work in military educational institutions, etc., was revealed.

All this was reflected in the prolongation of the war and led to unnecessary casualties. Tov. Voroshilov, who at that time was the People's Commissar of Defense, was forced to admit at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks at the end of March 1940 the revealed inconsistency of his leadership of the NPO.

Taking into account the state of affairs in the NGOs and seeing that it was difficult for Comrade Voroshilov to cover such a big deal as the NGOs, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks considered it necessary to relieve Comrade Voroshilov from the post of People's Commissar of Defense.

2. At the beginning of the war with Germany Comrade. Voroshilov was sent to the commander-in-chief of the North-Western direction, whose main task was to protect Leningrad. Comrade Voroshilov made serious mistakes in his work in Leningrad.

In view of all this, the State Defense Committee recalled Comrade Voroshilov from Leningrad and gave him work on new military formations in the rear.

3. In view of the request of Comrade Voroshilov, he was sent in February to the Volkhov Front as a representative of the Headquarters to help the front command and stayed there for about a month. However, Comrade Voroshilov's stay on the Volkhov front did not give the desired results.

In view of the above, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks decides:

1. To admit that Comrade Voroshilov did not justify himself in the work entrusted to him at the front.

Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks I. Stalin.”

According to the prominent historian R. Medvedev, as a political personality, Voroshilov was significantly inferior to many of his "colleagues" in influence ": he did not have the intelligence, cunning and business qualities of Mikoyan, he did not have the organizational skills, activity and cruelty of Kaganovich, as well as clerical efficiency and "stone ass" Molotov. Voroshilov did not know how to navigate, like Malenkov, in the intricacies of apparatus intrigues, he lacked the enormous energy of Khrushchev, he did not possess the theoretical knowledge and pretensions of Zhdanov or Voznesensky.

Such unsuitability had to be worked out, and Voroshilov tried.

Already at the Fourteenth Party Congress, in 1925, he declared: “Comrade Stalin, obviously, by nature or fate, is destined to formulate questions somewhat more successfully than any other member of the Politburo. Comrade Stalin is - I affirm this - the main member of the Politburo.

In 1929, on the 50th anniversary of Stalin, Voroshilov wrote an article “Stalin and the Red Army”, in which he wrote: “... In the period 1918-1920, Comrade Stalin was, perhaps, the only person whom the Central Committee threw the other, choosing the most dangerous places, the most terrible for the revolution…”

In 1935, speaking at the All-Union Stakhanovite Congress, he called Stalin “the first marshal of the socialist revolution”, “the great marshal of victories on the fronts and the civil war and socialist construction and strengthening of our party”, “marshal of the communist movement of all mankind” and even “true marshal Communism."

In 1939, in the article “Stalin and the Construction of the Red Army,” Voroshilov writes: “Many volumes will be written about Stalin, the creator of the Red Army, its inspirer and organizer of victories, the author of the laws of strategy and tactics of the proletarian revolution.”

By the 70th anniversary of Stalin, in 1949, Voroshilov came to the conclusion that "the victorious Great Patriotic War will go down in history ... as a triumph of the military-strategic and military genius of the great Stalin."

Voroshilov was one of the first who began to glorify Stalin, to plant his cult of personality. And when the tragic thirties approached, Voroshilov turned into a meek and zealous executor of Stalin's criminal policy.

He was among those who whipped up passions. So, at the February-March Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in 1937, he said: “... it is not excluded, on the contrary, even for sure, and in the ranks of the army there are still many unidentified, undisclosed Japanese-German, Trotskyist-Zinoviev spies, saboteurs and terrorists ".

From June 1 to June 4, 1937, at an expanded meeting of the Military Council under the People's Commissar of Defense, Voroshilov made a report "On the disclosure by the NKVD bodies of a counter-revolutionary conspiracy in the Red Army." He stated in the report:

“The bodies of the People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs uncovered in the army a long-existing and operating with impunity, strictly conspiratorial counter-revolutionary fascist organization, headed by people who were at the head of the army.” Voroshilov in his report called for "checking and purge the army literally to the very

the last slits ... ". This speech, like Stalin's speech, was perceived by the NKVD as a direct directive for a mass purge of the army and navy.

A little more than a year passed and he reported on the results of the purge. At a meeting of the Military Council, which took place on November 29, 1938, Voroshilov said: “When a group of contemptible traitors to our Motherland and the Red Army, headed by Tukhachevsky, was discovered and destroyed by the court of the revolution last year, it could not have occurred to any of us, it didn’t, unfortunately that this abomination, this rottenness, this betrayal is so widely and deeply embedded in the ranks of our army. Throughout 1937 and 1938, we had to mercilessly purge our ranks ... we purged more than 4 tens of thousands of people. Such is the scale of the tragedy, such is the price of Voroshilov's crime together with Stalin. Suffice it to say that following Tukhachevsky, all the other deputies of the people's commissar of defense, Yegorov, Alksnis, Fedko and Orlov, were arrested and shot. Of the 837 people who were given personal military ranks from colonel to marshal in November 1935, 720 were repressed. Of the 16 people who received the ranks of commanders and marshals, three survived after the great purge: Voroshilov himself, Budyonny and Shaposhnikov. During the years of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army lost 180 senior officers from the division commander and above, and for several pre-war years, mainly in 1937-1938, more than 500 commanders in the rank of brigade commander to Marshal were arrested on far-fetched fabricated political charges, of which 412 were shot and 29 died in custody. But none of the prominent military leaders could be arrested without the knowledge and consent of the people's commissar of defense.

As you know, Ya. Gamarnik - First Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, early. Political Directorate of the Red Army, committed suicide on the eve of the imminent arrest. This happened on May 31, 1937, after deputies sent to Gamarnik on behalf of Voroshilov. early PU Red Army Bulin and early. The affairs department of the NPO Smorodinov announced to Gamarnik the order of the NPO to dismiss him from the Red Army. In an order dated June 12, 1937, Voroshilov called him "a traitor and a coward who was afraid to appear before the court of the Soviet people." The People's Commissar did not indicate in the order that all the accusations were the fruit of the imagination of Stalin and the NKVD investigators, that physical and moral methods of influence were used against those arrested, cruelly knocking out false confessions and testimonies.

By a resolution of the Politburo of April 17, 1937, Voroshilov was included in the “permanent commission”, which was instructed to prepare for the PB, and “in case of special urgency” to resolve “issues of a secret nature” itself. Only the members of this commission (Stalin, Molotov, Kaganovich, Voroshilov, Yezhov) developed the strategy and tactics of the Great Purge and had a complete understanding of its scope. In addition, since 1926 he was a member of the Politburo.

At first, he tried to protect some of his subordinates, but after the Tukhachevsky trial, Voroshilov, as a rule, began to sign the lists for arrest without objection. As Khrushchev announced at the Twentieth Congress, Yezhov alone sent 383 lists, including thousands of names of persons whose sentences required approval by members of the PB. Of these lists, 362 were signed by Stalin, 373 by Molotov, 195 by Voroshilov, 191 by Kaganovich, and 177 by Zhdanov.

Voroshilov took an active part in the murder of Marshal Tukhachevsky, army commanders 1st rank Yakir and Uborevich, army commander 2nd rank Kork, commanders Eideman, Feldman, Primakov, Putna. In April-May 1937, he sent Stalin one after another a series of notes with the following content:

“The Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks Comrade. Stalin

I ask you to exclude from the Military Council under the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR: Tukhachevsky M.N., Eideman R.P., Longva R.V., Efimov N.A., Appoga E.F., as expelled from the ranks of the Red Army.

Then he replaced the “expelled” with the “dismissed”.

In the following days, he sent Stalin the same notes, in which he included Gorbachev, Kazansky, Kork, Kutyakov, Feldman, Lapin, Yakir, Uborevich, Germanovich, Sangursky, Oshley and others. Apparently, he did not care that the entire Military Council turned out to be “espionage”, “fascist”.

Before taking the final decision to arrest Tukhachevsky, Stalin listened to Molotov, Voroshilov and Yezhov. Voroshilov made no secret of his long-standing dislike for Tukhachevsky. Voroshilov took part in a meeting with Stalin, where the indictment was considered. Voroshilov predetermined their verdict, in order No. 972 of June 7, 1937, he wrote: “... The agent of Japanese-German fascism Trotsky, this time too, finds out that his faithful henchmen gamarniki and Tukhachevsky, yakirs, oboreviches and other bastards who served capitalism servilely, will be wiped off the face of the earth, and their memory will be cursed and forgotten.” Voroshilov, just like Stalin and Molotov, was sent all the protocols of interrogations, he took part in confrontations and, as it recently became known from V. Leskov's book “Stalin and the Tukhachevsky Conspiracy”, personally SHOT Yakir. There is a message starting. Directorate of Higher Educational Institutions of the Red Army A. I. Todorsky that Voroshilov, a few days after the execution, spoke about the behavior of those doomed to death before execution. This is another proof of his participation in the execution.

The June trial of 1937, after which Tukhachevsky and others were shot on June 12, 1937, became the signal for the deployment of an extermination campaign against military personnel. Already 9 days after this execution, 980 commanders and political workers were arrested, including 29 brigade commanders, 37 divisional commanders, 21 commanders, 16 regimental commissars, 17 brigade and 7 divisional commissars.

And this seemed to Voroshilov insufficient. At a special meeting of the Military Council under the People's Commissar of Defense on November 21, 1937, dedicated to the “purge” of the army, Voroshilov reproached the commander of the Belarusian military district, Belov I.P., later shot, that the “purge” in the Belorussian district was carried out poorly.

Here are some of Voroshilov's personal instructions for group arrests:

On May 28, 1937, the NKVD of the USSR compiled a list of employees of the Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, on which there were testimonies of those arrested as participants in the military-Trotskyist conspiracy. The list included the names of 26 commanders of the Red Army. The list contains Voroshilov's resolution: “Comrade. Yezhov. TAKE ALL THE SCAINERS. May 28, 1937. K. Voroshilov”.

June 5, 1937 beginning. Leplevsky, of the special department of the NKVD GUGB, asks Voroshilov for consent to arrest 17 people at once - “participants in the anti-Soviet military-Trotskyist conspiracy. Resolution: "I don't mind. KV. 15. VI. 37"

On June 11, 1937, Leplevsky asked Voroshilov for consent to the arrest of the commander of the 26th Cavalry Division, Zybin. Two days later, a resolution appears: “Arrest. KV. 13. VI. 37".

June 29, 1937 is already a new beginning. Nikolaev-Zhurid, a special department of the GUGB, applies for permission to arrest another victim. We are talking about the head of the department of military communications of the Military Transport Academy of the Red Army, a military engineer of the 2nd rank G. E. Kuni. People's Commissar resolution: “Arrest. KV. 1. VIII. 37".

In August 1937, the following letter was sent from the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR to the NKVD of the USSR about the arrest of a number of prominent military leaders:

“I report the resolution of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR on Leplevsky's information:

1. About deputy. early political directorate of the KVO Corps Commissar Khorosh M. L.

"To arrest. K.V.“.

2. About the commander-commissar of the 1st Cavalry. corps division commander Demichev.

"To arrest. K.V.“.

3. About the beginning. of the communications department of the KVO brigade commander Ignatovich Yu. I.

"To arrest. K.V.“.

4. About the commander of the cavalry. corps division commander Grigoriev P.P.

"To arrest. K.V.“.

5. About the commander of the 58th SD brigade commander Kaptsevich G. A.

"To arrest. K.V.“.

6. About the head of the 2nd department of the headquarters of the KVO, Colonel Rodionov M.M.

"To arrest. K.V.“.

And so on, all in this list were Voroshilov's decisions to arrest 142 leading military workers. I tried to trace the fate of the named commanders: Khorosh and Ignatovich were shot on October 15, 1937, Rodionov on October 16, 1937, Demichev on November 19, 1937, Grigoriev on November 20, 1937, Kaptsevich on October 17, 1938.

On January 29, 1938, Nikolaev-Zhurid sent Voroshilov a submission for the arrest of brigade commander Khlebnikov. Resolution of the People's Commissar: “Khlebnikov to be arrested. KV. 7. II. 38".

May 17, 1938 Deputy. People's Commissar of the NKVD Frinovsky writes to Voroshilov "about the need to arrest" 15 people. Resolution of the People's Commissar: “I agree to the arrest of these persons. KV. 19. V. 38".

Here are a few of his personal telegrams out of many hundreds of similar ones:

“Sverdlovsk. Goilite. At number 117. Find, arrest and judge harshly." July 1, 1937 K. Voroshilov.

“Vladivostok. Kireev, Okunev. On #2454. Dismiss, and if there are suspicions that he is involved in the affairs of his wife, arrest him. July 21, 1937 K. Voroshilov”

"Tbilisi. Kuibyshev, Anse. On #342. Fire. On #344. Judge and shoot. On #346. Fire. October 2, 1937 K. Voroshilov.

On the report that the corps commissar N. A. Savko called the arrest of one of the military leaders a misunderstanding at a party meeting, Voroshilov wrote: "Arrest." On October 5, 1937, he was sentenced to death.

There are many other vile deeds on Voroshilov's conscience: he summoned Yakir and Uborevich to Moscow for a meeting, ordering them to go by train - on the way they were arrested, respectively, in Bryansk and Smolensk; he sent Marshal Blucher to his dacha to rest in Sochi, and there he and his wife were arrested; Deputy Commander of the PriVO Troops Kutyakov I.S. resisted the NKVD agents during the arrest, but having received a telegram from the people's commissar "I order you to surrender and go to Moscow", Kutyakov surrendered, was arrested and shot on July 28, 1938; First Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR Fedko I.F. resisted the NKVD during the arrest and called Voroshilov, who offered to stop the resistance and promised to look into it. Fedko was arrested and shot on February 26, 1939, etc. Stalin, in a narrow circle - with Molotov and Voroshilov - discussed the results of the "investigation" in the case of Marshal Yegorov. He was arrested and shot on February 23, 1939. On a letter from commander 2nd rank Dybenko, Stalin wrote: "To Voroshilov." Dybenko was shot on July 29, 1938. Etc.

The arrested commanders and their wives turned to Voroshilov, asking them to sort things out and help. On August 21, 1936 Major Kuzmichev wrote to Voroshilov; - brigade commander Kolosov, at the beginning of 1938 - marshal Yegorov, in April 1938 - division commander Kokhansky, divisional commissar Kropichev, in May 1939 - division commander Turzhansky, in December 1939 - major Kulik, on February 12, 1940 - corps commissar Berezkin, etc. .

On March 23, 1937, Voroshilov received a letter from the wife of the arrested commander of the troops of the Ural Military District Garkavy, on June 3 - the wife of the arrested Yakir wrote, on September 10 - the wife of the arrested commander of the Kharkov Military District Dubovoy, on June 14, 1939 - the wife of the arrested commander of the Kyiv Military District Fedko and etc.

There is no evidence that Voroshilov responded to any of these appeals.

All this allowed the former member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the former secretary of the Central Committee A.N. Yakovlev to give the following description of Voroshilov:

“Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov. With his sanction, the destruction of the highest military leaders and political workers of the Red Army was organized. In the 30s, out of 5 marshals - 3, out of 16 army commanders - 15, out of 67 corps commanders - 60, out of 199 division commanders - 136, out of 4 flagships of the fleet - 4, out of 6 flagships of the first rank - 6, out of 15 flagships of the second rank - 9. All 17 army commissars of the first and second ranks, as well as 25 out of 29 corps commissars, were shot. During Voroshilov's tenure as People's Commissar of Defense in the Red Army, in 1936-1940 alone, more than 36,000 middle and high command personnel were repressed. The FSB archive revealed more than 300 Voroshilov's sanctions for the arrest of prominent army commanders. In fact, before the Second World War, the country's armed forces were beheaded.” (“Krestosev”, Moscow, 2000). The result of this is known: 27 million Soviet people died during the war.

And in conclusion, one more stroke to the characterization of Voroshilov. Victoria Yanovna (Gamarnik's daughter) recalled many years later: “On my return from exile, Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan helped me a lot. After the exile, Anastas Ivanovich helped me and Mira (Vladimira Ieronimovna Uborevich - the daughter of I. Uborevich. I.P.) with money, an apartment, and care. Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, I know, warmed up Yakir's family. Not everyone, far from everyone, rushed to our aid even when it became possible. Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov at the same time refused to accept Svetlana Tukhachevskaya. I don't know why. Maybe you didn’t have the courage to look Svetlana in the eye?”

Voroshilov - a mirror of the policy of the VKPb
plotsi 18.12.2010 04:08:01

Despite my relatively young age by historical standards, I want to add that I knew, or rather, saw in 1974 near a man whom Voroshilov sent in 1937 as an enemy of the people to camps for certain death. But this brigade commander (surname can be specified) survived. There were purple bumps on his back, probably formed after being beaten with metal rods. Kind of creepy. But, surprisingly, in public he said that our leadership should have acted this way, otherwise they would not have resisted, would not have built and won. I still can't figure out if he was sincere or was so scared to death. But then for the first time I understood the cost of building our communism. And this was the merit of such sycophants of Stalin as Voroshilov. And for this, he and his followers must be held accountable. And no less severe as their "threes".

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

In 1904 he became a member of the Lugansk Bolshevik Committee. In 1905, he took the place of chairman of the Lugansk Soviet, led the strike of workers, the creation of fighting squads.

In 1906, Kliment Voroshilov was a delegate to the IV Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) in Stockholm, where he met Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin.

Between 1907 and 1917 conducted underground party work, was repeatedly arrested, served exile in the Arkhangelsk province and the Cherdyn region.

During the February Revolution of 1917, Voroshilov was elected to the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. At the III Congress of Soviets, he was elected to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), appointed Commissar of Petrograd and, together with Felix Dzerzhinsky, organized the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK).

During the Civil War, Voroshilov was engaged in the formation of units of the Red Army, commanded a number of armies, and took part in the defense of Tsaritsyn.

Since 1919, Kliment Voroshilov was appointed People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, where he organized punitive operations to eliminate Ukrainian national detachments.

Together with Semyon Budyonny, he was among the main organizers of the 1st Cavalry Army (November 1919) and a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Army. He remained in this post for the entire last period of the Civil War - until May 1921.

At the head of a group of delegates to the 10th Congress of the RCP(b) in 1921, Voroshilov took part in the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising. Since 1921 - member of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). In 1921-1924. - Member of the South-Eastern Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), commander of the North Caucasian Military District. Supervised the destruction of the rebels in the Caucasus.

Since 1924, Voroshilov was the commander of the Moscow Military District and a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR.

In June 1924 - December 1925. - Member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In the inner-party struggle, he always spoke from the positions of the party majority, supported Stalin in his struggle for power in the party and the state.

In 1925, he became Deputy People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, and after the death of People's Commissar Mikhail Frunze, he was appointed People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council (RVS of the USSR). In 1926 Voroshilov was elected to the Politburo.

In the 1930s he took part in a campaign of repression against military personnel.

In 1934, Kliment Voroshilov took the post of People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. In November 1935 he was awarded the title "Marshal of the Soviet Union".

After the war with Finland, which showed the poor combat readiness of the Red Army, in 1940 Voroshilov was removed from the post of People's Commissar of Defense, appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) and Chairman of the Defense Committee under the SNK of the USSR (remained in this post until May 1941) . He was assigned to oversee the defense industries.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Voroshilov commanded first the troops of the North-Western direction, then the Leningrad Front; for the inability to lead the troops was removed from the post of commander of the front.

Subsequently, he held positions not directly related to the leadership of the troops (representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on the Volkhov Front, chairman of the Armistice Commission, etc.). In 1943, he took part in the work of the Tehran Conference.

In 1945-1947. served as chairman of the Allied Control Commission in Hungary.

From 1946 to 1953 Voroshilov was 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.

After Stalin's death, he supported Khrushchev's opponents and was a member of the so-called "anti-party group" (1956-1957). At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU in June 1957, when the defeat of the "group" became obvious, Voroshilov repented in his speech, admitted his mistake and condemned the factionalists.

In May 1960, "for health reasons" Kliment Voroshilov was relieved of his post as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, but remained a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. In July 1960, he was removed from the Presidium of the Central Committee, and in October 1961 he was no longer elected a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

In 1961, Voroshilov addressed the XXII Congress of the CPSU with a letter in which he once again acknowledged his mistakes and his participation in organizing repressions. After Leonid Brezhnev came to power, he again became a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

Marshal Voroshilov received many awards, he was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (1956, 1968), was among the eleven people who were awarded both the highest degrees of distinction of the Soviet Union - Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor (the last title received in 1960 ).

A monument was erected on the grave of Voroshilov, several cities and settlements bore his name at different times. In 1932, the title "Voroshilovsky shooter" was established, a series of heavy tanks (KV - Klim Voroshilov) was named in his honor. The name of Kliment Voroshilov in 1941-1958 and in 1969-1991 worn by the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

Kliment Voroshilov was married to Golda Davidovna Gorbman, whom he met in exile in the Arkhangelsk region in 1909. In order to marry, his wife converted to Orthodoxy and changed her name (after the wedding - Ekaterina Davidovna Voroshilova).

They did not have children of their own, and Voroshilov and his wife raised a son and daughter, Mikhail Frunze, as well as an adopted son, Peter, from whom they had two grandchildren.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources