State Defense Committee

The State Defense Committee (Государственный комитет обороны (ГКО)) was an extraordinary organ of state power in the Soviet Union during the German-Soviet War, also called the Great Patriotic War, with complete state power in the country.

General scope
The Soviets set up the GKO on 30 June 1941, a week after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, by a joint decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The war situation at the front lines required a more centralized form of government. The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, however, continued unsuspended. On 18 June 1942, over a thousand members attended the 9th session of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow.

Geoffrey Roberts sees the GKO as "a sort of war cabinet".

Composition
The initial composition of the committee was such:
 * Chairman – Joseph Stalin
 * Deputy Chairman – Vyacheslav Molotov
 * Members – Lavrentiy Beria (State Security), Georgy Malenkov (Aviation Industry), Kliment Voroshilov

On 3 February 1942, Nikolai Voznesensky and Anastas Mikoyan were added as additional members of the committee. On 20 February 1942, Lazar Kaganovich was added. On 16 May 1944, Beria replaced Molotov as deputy chairman. On 22 November 1944, Nikolai Bulganin replaced Voroshilov as a member.