Historical Dictionary of the Russian Civil Wars, 1916-1926

In November 1917, Voroshilov joined the Military-Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, with responsibility for local government affairs, and in January 1918 was named chairman of the Cheka’s defense commission in Petrograd. Thereafter, during the civil wars, he was chiefly active in Ukraine and southern Russia in a host of appointments, including: commander of the 1st Lugansk Socialist Detachment of Red Guards (from March 1918); commander of the 5th Red Army (15 March–July 1918); commander of the Tsaritsyn Front (July–August 1918); member of the Revvoensovet of the Northern Caucasus Military District (August–23 September 1918); member of the Revvoensovet and assistant commander of the Southern Front (17 September–3 October 1918); commander of the 10th Red Army (3 October–18 December 1918); people’s commissar of internal affairs of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (29 January–September 1919); member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine (6 March 1919–5 April 1920); commander of forces of the Khar′kov Military District (10 May–14 June 1919); commander of the 14th Red Army (4 June–18 July 1919); commander of forces for internal security (VOKhR) of the Ukrainian SSR (August 1919); member of the Revvoensovet of the 12th Red Army (August 1919); and member of the Politbiuro of the Central Committee of the CP(B) of Ukraine (2 August 1919–17 March 1920). In this period, he worked in very close collaboration with Stalin and was the latter’s chief aide during the defense of Tsaritsyn and the so-called Tsaritsyn affair. As a member of the Revvoensovet of the 1st Cavalry Army (17 November 1919–29 April 1921), he was also close to Stalin during the controversies surrounding developments on the South-West Front during the Soviet–Polish War. Finally, he served as commissar of the Southern Group of forces during the suppression of the Kronshtadt Revolt (March 1921) and was subsequently commander of forces of the North Caucasus Military District (4 May 1921–17 May 1924).

Following the civil wars, being instrumental in Stalin’s rise to power, Voroshilov enjoyed one of the longest and most influential political careers of any Bolshevik. He was elected to the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) on 16 March 1921 and remained on it until 17 October 1961. At the same time, he occupied numerous governmental and military posts, including: people’s commissar of military and naval affairs of the USSR (6 November 1925–20 June 1934); chairman of the Revvoensovet of the USSR (6 November 1925–20 June 1934); member of the Politbiuro of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (1 January 1926–5 October 1952); and people’s commissar for defense of the USSR (20 June 1934–7 May 1940). During the Second World War, he was a member of the Committee of State Defense (30 June 1941–21 November 1944). Throughout his career, he remained notoriously subservient to Stalin (it was Voroshilov’s article in Pravda of 21 December 1929, “Stalin and the Red Army,” that began the construction of the myth of Stalin’s preeminent role in founding and organizing the Red Army) and was fully involved in the murderous regime that the dictator inflicted on the USSR in the 1930s and 1940s, reaping the rewards for his obeisance even when making catastrophic errors (such as his disastrous handling of the 1939–1940 Winter War against Finland). In the postwar years, among other roles, he was made head of state as chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (15 March 1953–7 May 1960), subsequently serving (largely symbolically) as its deputy chairman until his death in Moscow in 1969. He was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.

The list of military and civil honors accorded to Voroshilov in his lifetime would fill a small book (he was twice made a Hero of the Soviet Union, in 1956 and 1968). The KV series of Soviet tanks was named after him, and Lugansk was called Voroshilovgrad from 5 November 1935 to 5 March 1958, while Ussuriisk in the Far East was called Voroshilov for the same period. Stavropol′ was also Voroshilovsk from 1935 to 1943. For all that, during his lifetime and afterward he was one of the most reviled figures in Soviet history.

VOSKANOV (VOSKANYAN), GASPAR KARAPETOVICH (29 December 1886–20 September 1937). Lieutenant (191?), komkor (16 April 1936). The Soviet military commander G. K. Voskanov was born into an Armenian family in Kherson guberniia, graduated from the Tiflis Military School (1913), and was a participant in the First World War.