---
born: 1895-06-11
category: Intelligence & Government
died: 1975-02-24
location: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
summary: Nikolai Bulganin was a Soviet politician who served as the Premier of the
  Soviet Union from 1955 to 1958.
tags:
- Person
- CIA
- Politician
- Israel
- Soviet
- Military
---

Nikolai Bulganin was a Soviet politician who served as the Premier of the [Soviet Union](/places/soviet-union/) from 1955 to 1958. During the [Suez Crisis](/events/suez-crisis/) in 1956, he explicitly warned [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/) that the [Soviet Union](/places/soviet-union/) was capable of attacking with "remote-controlled vehicles" and threatened to send troops as "volunteers" into the Middle East. This warning, perceived as a nuclear ultimatum, contributed to Britain and [France](/places/france/)'s decision to cease their military actions and forced [Israel](/places/israel/) to agree to a cease-fire.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3.