Marshal of the Soviet Union

Marshal of the Soviet Union Маршал Советского Союза
Uniform shoulder strap (1955–1990)
Marshal Star
Country	USSR
Service branch	Soviet Army
Rank	General officer
NATO rank	OF-10
Formation	1935
Abolished	28 April 1990
Next higher rank	Generalissimus of the Soviet Union
Next lower rank	Chief marshal of the branch
Equivalent ranks	Admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union

Marshal of the Soviet Union (Russian: Маршал Советского Союза Russian pronunciation: [ˈmarʂəl sɐˈvʲɛtskəvə sɐˈjuzə]) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union (while the supreme rank of Generalissimus of the Soviet Union was proposed for Joseph Stalin after the Second World War, it was never officially approved).

The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 1991. Forty-one people held the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. The equivalent naval rank was until 1955 Admiral of the Fleet and from 1955 Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union.

Both ranks were comparable to NATO rank codes OF10, and to the five-star rank in anglophone armed forces.

The military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was established by a decree of the Soviet Cabinet, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), on 22 September 1935. On 20 November, the rank was conferred on five people: People's Commissar of Defence and veteran Bolshevik Kliment Voroshilov, Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army Alexander Ilyich Yegorov, and three senior commanders, Vasily Blyukher, Semyon Budyonny, and Mikhail Tukhachevsky.