Background

Dmitriy Ustinov was born on October 17, 1908, in Samara, Russian Empire (now Samara, Russia) in a working-class family. He was the son of Fyodor Ustinov and Yefrosinya Ustinova. Ustinov also had three brothers.

During the Civil War, his father went to Samarkand, leaving Dmitry as head of the family. In 1922, Fyodor Ustinov died, and in 1923, Dmitriy Ustinov and his mother moved to the city of Makarev.

Education

Dmitry Ustinov was born into a poor family and he had to work from the age of 10. In 1927, he attended technical school in Makaryev, Kostroma Oblast, Russia (the Soviet Union at the time). In 1929, Ustinov started training at the Faculty of Mechanics in the Polytechnic Institute of Ivanovo-Voznesensk (now Ivanovo State Polytechnic University). Later Ustinov was transferred to the Moscow Bauman Higher Technical School (now the Bauman Moscow State Technical University). He also studied at the Institute of Military Mechanical Engineering (now Baltic State Technical University) from 1932 to 1934.

Career

Dmitriy Ustinov started his career in 1922 when he volunteered for service in the Red Army. From 1927 to 1929, he worked as a mechanic at Balakhninsky paper mill, then at a factory in Ivanovo. Then, Ustinov became a construction engineer at the Leningrad artillery Marine Research Institute. In 1937, he was transferred to the "Bolshevik" Arms Factory as an engineer and, in 1938, became the director of the Factory.

With the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Dmitriy Ustinov was appointed People's Commissar of Armaments. In this capacity, he played a leading role in organizing the production of Soviet defense industries and was a leading member of Stalin's war cabinet, the State Committee of Defense. In 1944, he was promoted to the military rank of colonel-general. After the end of the war, Ustinov played a crucial role in requisitioning the German missile program, developed during World War II, as an impetus to the Soviet missile and space programs.

In 1952, Ustinov became a member of the Central Committee. After Stalin died in 1953, the Ministry of Armaments was combined with the Ministry of Aviation Industry to become the Ministry of Defense Industry. Soon after that, Ustinov became Minister of Defence Industry on March 19, 1953. He held this post until December 14, 1957. On December 14, 1957, Ustinov was promoted to Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union and became chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission. Ustinov served as First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union from 1963 to 1965. On March 26, 1965, Dmitriy Fedorovich was elected as Secretary of the Central Committee and held the post until October 1976.

In October 1974, Dmitriy Ustinov was made head of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union and held this post until 1983. In the same year, he was awarded the title Marshal of the Soviet Union. Ustinov also served as a candidate member of the Politburo from 1965 to 1976 and as a Full Member from 1976 until his death in 1984.

Achievements

• Dmitriy Ustinov was a Soviet politician and military figure who was known as a Marshal of the Soviet Union and Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union. He also served as a Central Committee secretary in charge of the Soviet military-industrial complex from 1965 to 1976. He was the initiator of the defense industry and rocket and space engineering.
  
  Ustinov received numerous awards, including the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Suvorov, the Order of Kutuzov, the Stalin Prize, and the Lenin Prize. He was awarded eleven Orders of Lenin.
  
  A bronze bust of Dmitriy Ustinov is set in his homeland - in the city of Samara. A Russian warship the RFS Marshal Ustinov was named after him. The Baltic State Technical Military-Mechanical University in Saint Petersburg changed its name to the Ustinov Baltic State Technical Military-Mechanical University.
  
  Dmitriy Ustinov briefly appears in Tom Clancy's 1984 novel The Hunt for Red October in his capacity as Defense Minister. Ustinov is also a character of The Manhattan Projects, a comic book by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Serving the Country and the Communist Cause 1983

Politics

Dmitriy Ustinov became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1927. He said that the Communist Party was the leading force of Soviet society and the nucleus of all state and public organizations.

Some sources claimed, that Ustinov was an active participant in the anti-Khrushchev conspiracy and that the generals of the military-industrial complex, led by Ustinov, played a key role in the overthrow of Khrushchev himself.

Igor Illarionov, an assistant of Ustinov for 30 years, described him as "the most Stalinist of all the Commissars."

Also, Ustinov supported Brezhnev, Andropov and Gromyko in the decision to invade Afghanistan. On December 24, 1979, Soviet troops entered Afghanistan.

Views

Dmitriy Ustinov paid much attention to the training of qualified engineers for enterprises and institutions of the military-industrial complex and the rocket and space industry of the country, foundation and development of research organizations of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union.

Quotations: "The aggressor too should know that the preemptive use of nuclear weapons would not insure victory. With modern detection systems and the combat readiness of the Soviet Union's strategic nuclear forces, the United States would not be able to deal a crippling blow to the socialist countries. The aggressor will not be able to evade an all-crushing retaliatory strike."

"Frankly, we doubt the veracity and seriousness of the United States in regard to achieving results that would be acceptable to both sides in Geneva."

"Risk is justified only when it is necessary when without it the desired result cannot be achieved."

"True happiness is only possible when the path chosen by the individual matches the main course of the entire nation – the direction of social progress and peace."

Personality

Those who knew Dmitriy Ustinov said that he was a hardworking person with an energetic and bright personality. He was 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.

Quotes from others about the person

• Yevgeniy Chazov: "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 during World 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."
  
  Nikolai Yegorichev: "Ustinov was fixated on the defense industry and did not want to help the economy in any way. He contributed a lot to the victory over fascism, but at the same time, I think, he damaged our economy when, at his instigation, the Brezhnev leadership spared nothing for defense, not even for the welfare of workers."

Connections

Dmitriy Ustinov was married to Taisa Alekseevna Briekalova-Ustinova. The marriage produced a son and a daughter.

Father:

Fyodor Ustinov

(died 1922)

Mother:

Yefrosinya Ustinova

(died 1925)

Brother:

Peter Ustinov

Peter Ustinov (December 21, 1890 – April 2, 1938) was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. In 1918, he was deputy commander of the 1st Simbirsk Regiment of the 24th Iron Division of G. Gai. Later, he lived in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and was repressed.

Brother:

Ivan Ustinov

(died 1918)

Brother:

Nikolay Ustinov

late wife:

Taisa Alekseevna Briekalova-Ustinova

Taisa Alekseevna Briekalova-Ustinova (April 12, 1908 — November 30, 1975) was an educator at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

Son:

Nikolay Ustinov

Nikolay Ustinov (June 14, 1931 – November 8, 1992) was a Soviet scientist, radiophysicist, radio technician and corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Daughter:

Vera Ustinova

Vera Ustinova (1940 – 1989) was an Honoured Artist of the RSFSR and chorister of the A.V. Sveshnikov State Academic Russian Choir.

Friend:

Yuri Andropov

Yuri Andropov (June 15, 1914 – February 9, 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

References

• A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev In this widely praised book, Vladislav Zubok argues that Western interpretations of the Cold War have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness.
  2007
• The Brezhnev Politburo and the Decline of Detente
  1984
• Analyzing Soviet Strategic Arms Decisions
  1978