Grigory Kulik

(1890-1950)

Marshal of the Soviet Union

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Grigory Ivanovich Kulik (Russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Кули́к; 9 November 1890 – 24 August 1950) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union, and chief of the Red Army's Main Artillery Directorate until June 1941. An incompetent commander, his knowledge of military technology was frozen in 1918, and he dismissed innovations such as tanks, anti-tank guns, and the Katyusha rocket launcher; only his personal friendship with Stalin from service together in the Russian Civil War protected him from criticism. He had a reputation as a buffoon and a bully, where he would shriek at subordinates who disagreed with him, "Prison or a medal!" He was dismissed from his posts in 1946, arrested in 1947, and executed for treason on Stalin's orders in 1950.