Bulganin, Nikolay

Bulganin, Nikolay (1895–1975) deputy premier of the Soviet Union Bulganin was among the coterie of Soviet leaders whose World War II experience elevated them to major roles in the postwar Soviet Union. Born in Nizhny Novgorod, Bulganin was an early member of the Bolsheviks and entered the Cheka (secret police) as an officer in 1918. He was later detailed to manage a state-run electrical equipment factory in Moscow, a position in which he distinguished himself. In contrast to many Soviet industrial administrators, Bulganin was innovative and efficient. In 1931, he was named chairman of the Moscow Soviet, then served as premier of the Russian Republic from 1937 to 1938, when he was named chairman of the state bank of the Soviet Union. With the outbreak of World War II, Joseph Stalin tapped Bulganin for the post of deputy premier of the Soviet Union. He was made a full member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1939. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Bulganin entered Stalin's inner circle and, in 1944, was named a member of the State Defense Committee, Stalin's war cabinet. From this point until the end of the war, Bulganin was effectively Stalin's deputy for war-related matters. After the war, in 1947, he returned to the post of deputy premier of the Soviet Union and was also named to succeed Stalin himself as minister of the armed forces, a position that carried the military rank of marshal of the Soviet Union. In 1948, Bulganin was elevated to full membership in the Politburo of the Central Committee. After Stalin's death on March 5, 1953, Bulganin became deputy premier and minister of defense in the government of Stalin's successor, Georgy M. Malenkov. A canny politician, Bulganin turned on Malenkov when Nikita S. Khrushchev made his move to succeed him. This put Bulganin in position, on February 8, 1955, to become chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, effectively the nation's premier. Bulganin became virtually inseparable from Khrushchev but again proved disloyal by siding with the "antiparty group" that attempted to topple Khrushchev from his party leadership position in June 1957. The group was suppressed and its leaders purged from the Central Committee and its Presidium in July, but Bulganin managed to remain premier until March 27, 1958, and a member of the Presidium until September 5, 1958. At last, as 1958 came to a close, he was ousted, stripped of his marshal's rank, and consigned to a low-level party position. The final blow came in 1961, when he lost his membership on the Central Committee.