Colonel General - Russia

Russia

The rank of colonel general (Russian: генерал-полковник, general-polkovnik) did not exist in Imperial Russia and was first established in the Red Army on 7 May 1940, as a replacement for previously existing командарм второго ранга (kommandarm vtorogo ranga, "comandarm of the second rank"). During World War II, about 199 officers were promoted to colonel general. Before 1943, Soviet colonel generals wore four stars on their collar patches (petlitsy). Since 1943, they have worn three stars on their shoulder straps, so Pettibone compares the rank to the US lieutenant general.

The rank still exists in the contemporary Russian Army. Unlike the German generaloberst (which it most probably calqued), the Soviet and Russian colonel general rank is neither an exceptional nor a rare one, as it is a normal step in the "ladder" between a two-star lieutenant general and a four-star army general.

Other than that, the Soviet and Russian rank systems sometimes cause confusion in regard to equivalence of ranks, because the normal Western title for brigadier or brigadier general ceased to exist for the Russian Army in 1798. The combrig rank that corresponded to one-star general existed in Soviet Union in 1935–1940 years only. Positions typically reserved for these ranks, such as brigade commanders, have always been occupied by colonels (polkovnik) or, very rarely, major generals (see History of Russian military ranks).

The rank has usually been given to district, front and army commanders, and also to Deputy Ministers of Defense, Deputy Heads of the General Staff etc.

In some post-Soviet CIS armies (for example in Belarus) there are no generals of the army or marshals, and so colonel general is the highest rank, usually held by the minister of the defense.

The corresponding naval rank is admiral, which is also denoted by three stars.