Until 1940 it was the fourth highest military rank of the Red Army. It was equivalent to corps commissar (ru: корпусной комиссар) of the political staff in all military branches, flag officer 1st rank (ru: флагман 1-го ранга) in the Soviet navy, or to commissar of state security 3rd rank (ru: комиссар государственной безопасности 3-го ранга). With the reintroduction of regular general ranks in 1940, the designation komkor was abolished, and replaced by colonel general.
This rank was introduced by a decision of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the Council of People's Commissars, from September 22, 1935.[1]
The new rank structure was as follows:
A total number of 146 military personnel were promoted to Komkor. However, 59 were purged during the Great Purge. As a result of the reintroduction of the regular military rank system in 1940, one Komkor was promoted to General of the Army (Georgy Zhukov), 51 to Lieutenant general (OF-7), and six to Major general (OF-6). Finally, KomkorLeonid Grigorevich Petrovsky was promoted to lieutenant general in 1941.
The following officers were assigned the rank of Komkor by Order No. 2395 of the People's Commissar of Defence dated November 11, 1935, pertaining to the "personnel of the Army":[2]
Alexander Todorsky, arrested 1938, 1939 sentenced to 15 years in Gulag, he was rehabilitated and restored in the army with the rank of lieutenant general, died in 1965;
Vladimir Kachalov, promoted to Komandarm 2nd rank, converted to lieutenant general, held higher command positions during World War II, army commander, killed in World War II;
Yevgeny Ptukhin, converted to lieutenant general, during Operation Barbarossa chief of the Southwestern Front Air Force, arrested 27 June 1941, executed 1942
On 9 February, fourteen officers were promoted to Komkor:
Ivan Boldin, promoted to Komandarm 2nd rank, converted to lieutenant general, during World War II held higher command positions, army commander, promoted to colonel general in 1944;
Ivan Zakharkin, promoted to Komandarm 2nd rank, converted to lieutenant general, during World War II held higher command positions, army commander, promoted to colonel general in 1943;
Vasily Chuikov, converted to lieutenant general during the great patriotic war at the highest command positions, commander of the armies, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1955);
Matvei Zakharov, converted to major general, during the great patriotic war at the highest staff positions, the Chief of staff of a number of fronts, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1959);
On 31 July, the following officer was promoted to Komkor:
Georgy Zhukov, converted to the general of the army, during World War II in higher command and staff positions, commander of a front, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943);
On 13 August, two officers were promoted to the rank:
Vladimir Grendal, promoted to Komandarm 2nd rank, converted to colonel general, died of lung cancer in 1940
On 31 December, two more officers received the rank:
Vasily Sokolovsky, converted to lieutenant general, served as front chief of staff and commander during World War II, became Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1946
Pavel Fedorovich Zhigarev, converted to lieutenant general of the aviation, 1953 appointed to Marshal of the aviation, 1955 to Chief marshal of the aviation;
Mikhail Artemievich Parsegov, converted to lieutenant-general of the artillery, during the Great Patriotic War at the highest command positions, commander of armies and artillery of a number of Fronts, colonel-general of the artillery in 1958;
Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov, converted to lieutenant general, reached senior command posts as commander of armies and fronts during the Great Patriotic War.
^Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the Council of People's Commissars, from September 22, 1935, on introduction of individual military rank designation to commanding personnel of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
Soviet Union
