Who was appointed commander-in-chief? Stalin appointed commander-in-chief of the Soviet army
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Stalin served as Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Armed Forces from August 8, 1941 to September 4, 1945. From June 30, 1941, he was also the chairman of the State Defense Committee, which concentrated in his hands all the military and civil power in the USSR. In addition, Stalin served as Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, and People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. All these positions were not a formality, a flowery pathetic title, but solely reflected the essence of the work Stalin performed.
In the battles of Ancient, Middle Ages and Modern times, to be a military leader meant to be a military leader, to literally lead regiments, to have not only, and not so much, a strategic, tactical outlook, but personal qualities: courage, physical strength. Such commanders were Alexander the Great, Caesar, Svyatoslav, Suvorov. However, at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, a new type of commanders came to the fore - organizational commanders, statesman commanders. Such were Frederick the Great and Napoleon. Both of them had many talented generals: Seydlitz, Murat, Ney, Davout. However, all these generals acted based on the conditions created by Frederick and Napoleon: the moral uplift of the nation, the economic development of the country, and the success of diplomacy.
Stalin represented the highest and, apparently, unattainable manifestation of such a statist commander. How would Zhukov, Konev or Rokossovsky have performed under a Supreme Commander like Nicholas II? It was none other than Stalin who gave our military leaders all the means of struggle: the most advanced weapons in the world, an abundance of ammunition, a stable rear, a healthy moral climate in society, national unity, foreign policy cover. It was these factors that ultimately turned out to be decisive, since the Germans had no shortage of capable generals. However, the Nazi state and Hitler were unable to create the conditions for victory for the army, and without them, all German tactics remained, in Napoleon’s words, “fortification on the sand.” During the war, the USSR was a single military camp, which was pierced through and through by the will of Stalin. Stalin was a commander, a military leader, the leader of the two hundred million army of our people. No commander in history has led such an army with such brilliant success.
They also often say: “our people won the war.” However, the Russian people could not win the First World War. One might also think that we are talking about the superiority of the Russians over the Germans. This is wrong! The Germans are warriors no worse than us, and, let’s be fair, workers too. What's the matter then?
Our ideology, which must be viewed not as a self-sufficient communist, but as a complex social-patriotic one, turned out to be much stronger and more flexible than German bourgeois nationalism. As a result, Stalin during the war could set the people a variety of ideological tasks - defense of the Fatherland, proletarian internationalism, a democratic liberation mission, peaceful coexistence with Western countries. Nazism, having driven the German people into a state of hysterical trance, failed to rouse them even to the defense of the Fatherland, since it brought robbery and murder to the level of a national idea incompatible with the defense of the homeland. The German soldiers continued to be told about the Slavic subhumans, even when they began to be brutally beaten, and the superiority of Soviet military equipment and spirit became obvious to every corporal.
It is in moral superiority that the expression “our people won the war” lies, however, if we consider the source of this superiority, the phrase looks castrated without the addition of “under the leadership of Stalin.”
When we talk about the level of mobilization of the country, we, of course, also mean the opportunities that the socialist form of economy provided in this regard. Of course, life itself has proven this; the socialist economy is not perfect and is not capable of fully satisfying the needs of society. However, in relation to the Great Patriotic War, it should be said that a different form of economy would have been disastrous for the country. As is known, in Tsarist Russia, even during the war period, purchases of weapons and quartermaster equipment for the army were carried out by bidding. Moreover, even under the tsar, orders were carefully fulfilled only by state-owned enterprises. There has not been a single case where weapons or property ordered abroad or from private enterprises in Russia were completed in full and on time. Thus, during the First World War, rifles ordered in the USA to Remington and a number of others were only delivered at 15%, despite an advance payment in gold. A similar situation arose with the purchase of howitzers in Germany during the Russo-Japanese War.
Auctions held in Russia even during wartime were repeatedly postponed “due to the absence of those willing to bargain,” as a result of which the supply of the army turned into a real farce. You can't find another word.
General Kuropatkin, commander of the Manchurian Army in 1904-1905, reported to the General Staff that due to the shortage and disgraceful quality of uniforms, soldiers were forced to wear Chinese cotton jackets instead of overcoats, Chinese conical straw hats instead of caps, and Chinese uls instead of boots. Count A.A. Ignatiev bitterly called the Russian army “a crowd of ragamuffins.”
Of course, it would be impossible to mobilize the country’s forces to repel the invasion of 1941 on the basis of such an economy, such an army and such supplies. Only in the socialist period of our history, for example, was it possible to carry out such a set of measures as the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the development of the Northern Sea ways and creation of the Northern Fleet. In the history of Russia, only Stalin and Peter the Great were able to transform Russia so dramatically. Neither the strategic nuclear fleet, nor the nuclear icebreaker fleet, nor the prospects for developing the riches of the North, nor Norilsk Nickel - nothing would have happened without the feat of our people during the Stalinist period. Just as without the suppression of the Streltsy revolt, Demidov’s concentration camps, and the hellish labor of the builders of St. Petersburg, there would have been no Russian Empire. What right do we, who enjoy all this wealth today, have to condemn the generations who have gone through this way of the cross for us?
Of course, Stalin’s mistakes included the laying down of a series of heavy ships before the war, which were supposed to form the core of the USSR’s ocean-going fleet. However, the whole world suffered from confusion about the role of heavy artillery ships during that period, increasing the displacement, armament and armor of battleships. When the first clashes between the German and British fleets occurred in 1940, the Bismarck and the Hood were lost, the Soviet leadership realized that the era of dreadnoughts was becoming a thing of the past, and work on their construction was stopped.
Speaking about the fleet, I would like to once again emphasize the effectiveness of Soviet power as the state system of Russia of that era, Stalin’s personnel policy. In the Russian fleet under the tsar, the promotion of officers was not determined by personal success or the education of commanders, but was carried out exclusively in turn. Studying foreign innovations and self-education were considered dangerous foolishness, bordering on freethinking. As a result, in the Russian fleet in the 19th and 20th centuries, command posts were occupied by elderly and ignorant admirals. The exceptions can easily be counted on the fingers of one hand.
During the Great Patriotic War, outstanding military commanders-sailors worked in all USSR fleets: N.G. Kuznetsov, F.S. Oktyabrsky, V.F. Tributs, I.S. Isakov, A.G. Golovko. At the same time, the People's Commissar of the Navy Kuznetsov in 1941 was 39 years old, the commander of the Northern Fleet Golovko was 36 years old, the commander of the Baltic Fleet Tributs was 40 years old.
During the war, military and government decisions were made without fanfare or fanfare. Many of the most important meetings of the highest authorities, especially in the initial period of the war, were not even recorded; a number of problems were resolved in a narrow circle of people, one on one, or in a telephone conversation.
Letters, directives, and other documents dictated or written by Stalin were immediately, without retyping, transferred to the adjacent room - the equipment room of a special communications center. Stalin dictated, as a rule, to leaders invited on a specific issue. This joint work with marshals and people's commissars, who wrote under Stalin's dictation, helped to avoid further coordination with them and unnecessary bureaucracy. No typists, stenographers, or assistants were present; Stalin even brewed and poured tea for himself.
Today there are practically no photographs of Stalin during the war. “Stalin over the map”, “Stalin with the military”. All we have are a few photographs from conferences of the Anti-Hitler Coalition, a photo on the podium of the Mausoleum during the November 7, 1941 Parade and the Victory Parade.
Churchill, for example, has hundreds of war photographs: on an airplane, in his office, in the Kremlin, on the ruins of London, with officers, with ladies, with the king. The explanation is simple - Stalin had no time for that, and also once again emphasizes his true attitude towards external, formal side of the matter.
Stalin's influence on the course of the war is revealed, first of all, by the history of military operations, the quality of the rear work, and the provision of military materials, weapons and ammunition to the army. They often say that Stalin, Zhukov, and Russians in general don’t know how to fight, the Germans were overwhelmed with corpses, their army is Asian, etc. Always judge by the result. For example, at the beginning of 1942, against 6.2 million German soldiers, we had 5.5 million in the Red Army, and 1942 ended with the Stalingrad Massacre of the Nazis. The conclusion, in my opinion, is obvious.
Details of the work of the Supreme Commander help to understand the memories of Soviet military leaders, party and economic leaders, designers of military equipment, as well as foreign politicians, scientists and cultural figures. They worked on their memoirs in different circumstances, which often dictated certain emphases to the authors. And yet, I would like to emphasize one common detail for them: everyone who personally encountered Stalin in one way or another, and these are hundreds, thousands of very different people from K.I. Chukovsky to A.A. Gromyko, did not doubt the greatness of Stalin and his enormous human charm. Even Chief Marshal of Aviation Golovanov, who was one of Stalin’s closest collaborators during the war, and who was dismissed from service after the war, worked odd jobs and had difficulty feeding his family, left not just kind, but enthusiastic memories of Stalin.
And on the contrary, those who find themselves on the sidelines of the great achievements of our people, who do not know the real deal, whose worldview was formed not in the army or labor collectives, but in the sterile, decadent atmosphere of higher education, readily attack Stalin and his time.
Marshals and generals took up their pens when the Generalissimo was taken out of the Mausoleum, and Khrushchev gave the command to debunk him. As a result, scolding Stalin became not just good manners, but an indispensable condition for passing a book through the filters of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army.
The competent authorities interfered in the work of the authors even at the manuscript stage, not stopping at attempts to secretly check the texts of famous marshals and generals for loyalty to the new government.
The craze of military leaders for memoirs was dictated by an important circumstance - the power’s passion for rewriting history could erase from it not only Stalin, but also any of the marshals, so they naturally sought to “stake out” their place in history and secure their share of glory.
Of course, the most important source about Stalin’s work should have been the memoirs of G.K. Zhukov, who in 1941-1942 resolved most strategic and operational issues with Stalin one-on-one. However, Zhukov, being in disgrace, was forced to practically not cover Stalin’s role in the war, limiting his huge work to two or three pages dedicated to the Supreme. The listing of well-known figures and facts takes up hundreds of times more space in “Memories and Reflections” than the truthful story about joint work with Stalin, which determined the fate of the war. This shortcoming was partially eliminated in individual interviews with Zhukov.
It is difficult to blame the marshal for his desire to publish his book, since there were those who wanted to completely erase Zhukov from the history of the Patriotic War. Stalin's political heirs, who mocked the Marshal of Victory, should be held accountable for this.
And even despite such conditions, our military leaders conveyed to us the truth, every word of which was given no easier than a fortified enemy line - the truth about what kind of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Stalin was in the Great Patriotic War.
G. K. Zhukov, four times Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief:“Intelligence and talent allowed Stalin to master the operational art so much during the war that, calling the front commanders to him and talking with them on topics related to the conduct of operations, he showed himself as a person who understood this no worse, and sometimes better than his own.” subordinates. At the same time, in a number of cases he found and suggested interesting operational solutions.”
K.K. Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union and Marshal of Poland, twice Hero of the Soviet Union:“For me, Stalin is great and unattainable. He is a giant to me."
A.M. Vasilevsky, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Chief of the General Staff:“In my deep conviction, Stalin is the most powerful and colorful figure in the strategic command. He successfully led the fronts and was able to exert significant influence on the leading political and military leaders of the allied countries. Stalin possessed not only an enormous natural intelligence, but also surprisingly great knowledge.”
M. E. Katukov, Marshal of Armored Forces, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army:“For us, front-line soldiers, the name of Stalin was surrounded by boundless respect. All the most sacred things were associated with this name - the Motherland, faith in victory, faith in the wisdom and fortitude of our people, in the party.”
L.I. Pokryshkin, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, air marshal:“I was raised by Stalin and I believe that if during the war we were led by weak people, we would have lost the war. Only Stalin’s strength and intelligence helped him survive in such a situation.”
As for the numerous conversations about Stalin’s personality, about his habits, inclinations, character, the disclosure of this issue will remain outside the scope of the book. There are too many legends surrounding
Stalin. They say, for example, that Stalin was actually the son of the famous traveler Przhevalsky, and he, in turn, was the offspring of one of the great princes or the emperor himself. They say that Stalin killed Lenin, Krupskaya, his wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva, his friend Kirov, his friend Gorky, Frunze, that Stalin was an agent of the Tsarist secret police, that he had fused toes. Now, with the passage of time, when Stalin’s actions have long since turned into accomplishments, all this no longer plays a role.
Of course, Stalin had human shortcomings: hot temper, suspicion, intolerance to other people's opinions. Sometimes these qualities helped him in his work, sometimes vice versa. And is it possible to maintain complete impartiality, objectivity, and avoid irritation, when faced every day with dozens of very different people, with their opinions, ambitions, temperament, pressure? One might think that Stalin was surrounded throughout his life only by holy dean fathers, sinless, innocent and defenseless.
We must always remember that all historical figures have human qualities. History is made by people. Sometimes they are hot-tempered, unfair, cruel, drunk, funny, but in the end, we judge them by their deeds. And we not only judge our historical figures, our military commanders, our leaders by their deeds, but we must also love them as our strict, sometimes unbearable, but fair fathers.
1. The turning point during the Great Patriotic War between the USSR and Germany is considered to be:
1.Battle of Moscow. 2.Battle of Stalingrad. 3. Battle of the Oryol-Kursk Bulge. 4. Yassy-Kishenev operation.
2. Name the military rank assigned to Stalin after the end of the war with Germany 1. General. 2. Marshal. 3. Field Marshal. 4.Generalissimo
3. The Tehran conference of the heads of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition took place in:
1.1939 2.1941 3.1943 4.1945
4. Name an item that is not related to economic measures during the Great Patriotic War
1. Labor disputes were resolved in court. 2. Labor mobilizations were carried out. 3. Teenagers were involved in labor. 4. Overtime work was introduced.
5. Name the famous Soviet aircraft designer
1.V.Petlyakov. 2. A. Morozov. 3.I.Kurchatov. 4.A.Shamshurin.
6. The central headquarters of the partisan movement at the headquarters of the VKG was created in:
1. September 1941 2. May 1942 3. October 1942 4. February 1943
7. The plan of action for German troops on the Oryol-Kursk Bulge was called:
1. Operation "Citadel". 2. Plan "Typhoon". 3.Plan "Barbarossa". 4.Operation "Panther".
8. The song of V. Lebedev-Kumach became the “anthem” of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War:
1. “In the forest near the front.” 2. "Holy War". 3. “Blue handkerchief.” 4. "Dugout".
9. The first offensive operation of the Soviet troops was carried out under:
1.Kiev. 2. Smolensk. 3. Leningrad. 4. Yelney. 5.Moscow.
10. Celebrate the famous participants of the Battle of Stalingrad:
1. R.Ya.Malinovsky. 2. K.K. Rokossovsky. 3.N.F.Vatutin. 4.A.I.Eremenko. 5. M.S. Shumilov. 6. V.I. Chuikov. 7.A.I.Rodimtsev.
11. Mark the code names of operations related to the conduct of actions on the Kursk Bulge:
1. "Typhoon" 2. "Citadel" 3. "Kutuzov" 4. "Rumyantsev" 5 "Concert" 6 "Saturn"
12. Name the reasons for the temporary failures of the Red Army in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War:
1.The German attack was sudden. 2. There was a lack of experienced command personnel. 3. The troops were not put on combat readiness. 4. Soviet soldiers did not want to fight for the Stalinist regime.
13. According to Hitler’s plan, the sea was supposed to appear on the site of the Soviet city:
1. Kiev. 2.Moscow. 3. Smolensk. 4.Leningrad.
14. On August 8, 1941, the following were appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet troops: 1. G.K. Zhukov. 2. I.V.Stalin. 3. S.K.Timoshenko. 4. K.K. Rokossovsky.
15. The defense of Moscow was led by:
1.A.M.Vasilevsky. 2.G.K.Zhukov. 3.K.K.Rokossovsky. 4. Stalin.
16. The main result of the Moscow Battle:
1. The strategic initiative passed into the hands of the Soviet command. 2. The plan for a “lightning war” was thwarted. 3. A second front was opened in Europe.
4.Japan entered the war with the USSR.
17. The created Evacuation Council was headed by:
1.N.M.Shvernik. 2.A.I.Kosygin. 3.A.I.Mikoyan. 4.K.P.Ponomarenko.
18. During the war in the USSR:
1. Weekends were cancelled. 2. A 10-hour working day was established. 3.Directors of enterprises received the right to extend the working day by 3 hours. 4. Labor mobilization of the population was introduced. 5.The work of children from 10 years of age was allowed.
Marshals of the Great Patriotic War
Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich
11/19 (12/1). 1896—06/18/1974Great commander
Marshal of the Soviet Union,
Minister of Defense of the USSR
Born in the village of Strelkovka near Kaluga in a peasant family. Furrier. In the army since 1915. Participated in the First World War, a junior non-commissioned officer in the cavalry. In the battles he was seriously shell-shocked and awarded 2 Crosses of St. George.
Since August 1918 in the Red Army. During the Civil War, he fought against the Ural Cossacks near Tsaritsyn, fought with the troops of Denikin and Wrangel, took part in the suppression of the Antonov uprising in the Tambov region, was wounded, and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the Civil War, he commanded a regiment, brigade, division, and corps. In the summer of 1939, he carried out a successful encirclement operation and defeated a group of Japanese troops under General. Kamatsubara on the Khalkhin Gol River. G. K. Zhukov received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of the Red Banner of the Mongolian People's Republic.
During the Great Patriotic War (1941 - 1945) he was a member of the Headquarters, Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and commanded the fronts (pseudonyms: Konstantinov, Yuryev, Zharov). He was the first to be awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union during the war (01/18/1943). Under the command of G.K. Zhukov, troops of the Leningrad Front, together with the Baltic Fleet, stopped the advance of Army Group North of Field Marshal F.W. von Leeb on Leningrad in September 1941. Under his command, the troops of the Western Front defeated the troops of Army Group Center under Field Marshal F. von Bock near Moscow and dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the Nazi army. Then Zhukov coordinated the actions of the fronts near Stalingrad (Operation Uranus - 1942), in Operation Iskra during the breakthrough of the Leningrad blockade (1943), in the Battle of Kursk (summer 1943), where Hitler’s plan was thwarted. Citadel" and the troops of Field Marshals Kluge and Manstein were defeated. The name of Marshal Zhukov is also associated with victories near Korsun-Shevchenkovsky and the liberation of Right Bank Ukraine; Operation Bagration (in Belarus), where the Vaterland Line was broken and Army Group Center of Field Marshals E. von Busch and W. von Model was defeated. At the final stage of the war, the 1st Belorussian Front, led by Marshal Zhukov, took Warsaw (01/17/1945), defeated Army Group “A” of General von Harpe and Field Marshal F. Scherner with a dissecting blow in the Vistula-Oder operation and victoriously ended the war with a grandiose Berlin operation. Together with the soldiers, the marshal signed the scorched wall of the Reichstag, over the broken dome of which the Victory Banner fluttered. On May 8, 1945, in Karlshorst (Berlin), the commander accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany from Hitler’s Field Marshal W. von Keitel. General D. Eisenhower presented G. K. Zhukov with the highest military order of the United States “Legion of Honor”, the degree of Commander-in-Chief (06/5/1945). Later in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate, the British Field Marshal Montgomery placed on him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, 1st Class, with star and crimson ribbon. On June 24, 1945, Marshal Zhukov hosted the triumphal Victory Parade in Moscow.
In 1955-1957 “Marshal of Victory” was the Minister of Defense of the USSR.
American military historian Martin Kaiden says: “Zhukov was the commander of commanders in the conduct of war by mass armies of the twentieth century. He inflicted more casualties on the Germans than any other military leader. He was a "miracle marshal". Before us is a military genius."
He wrote the memoirs “Memories and Reflections.”
Marshal G.K. Zhukov had:
- 4 Gold Stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union (08/29/1939, 07/29/1944, 06/1/1945, 12/1/1956),
- 6 Orders of Lenin,
- 2 Orders of Victory (including No. 1 - 04/11/1944, 03/30/1945),
- order of the October Revolution,
- 3 Orders of the Red Banner,
- 2 Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree (including No. 1), a total of 14 orders and 16 medals;
- honorary weapon - a personalized saber with the golden Coat of Arms of the USSR (1968);
- Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic (1969); Order of the Tuvan Republic;
- 17 foreign orders and 10 medals, etc.
In 1995, a monument to Zhukov was erected on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow.
Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich
18(30).09.1895—5.12.1977 Marshal of the Soviet Union,
Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR
Born in the village of Novaya Golchikha near Kineshma on the Volga. Son of a priest. He studied at the Kostroma Theological Seminary. In 1915, he completed courses at the Alexander Military School and, with the rank of ensign, was sent to the front of the First World War (1914-1918). Staff captain of the tsarist army. Having joined the Red Army during the Civil War of 1918-1920, he commanded a company, battalion, and regiment. In 1937 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. From 1940 he served in the General Staff, where he was caught up in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). In June 1942, he became the Chief of the General Staff, replacing Marshal B. M. Shaposhnikov in this post due to illness. Of the 34 months of his tenure as Chief of the General Staff, A. M. Vasilevsky spent 22 directly at the front (pseudonyms: Mikhailov, Alexandrov, Vladimirov). He was wounded and shell-shocked. Over the course of a year and a half, he rose from major general to Marshal of the Soviet Union (02/19/1943) and, together with Mr. K. Zhukov, became the first holder of the Order of Victory. Under his leadership, the largest operations of the Soviet Armed Forces were developed. A. M. Vasilevsky coordinated the actions of the fronts: in the Battle of Stalingrad (Operation Uranus, Little Saturn), near Kursk (Operation Commander Rumyantsev), during the liberation of Donbass (Operation Don "), in the Crimea and during the capture of Sevastopol, in the battles in Right Bank Ukraine; in the Belarusian Operation Bagration.
After the death of General I. D. Chernyakhovsky, he commanded the 3rd Belorussian Front in the East Prussian operation, which ended with the famous “star” assault on Koenigsberg.
On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet commander A. M. Vasilevsky smashed Nazi field marshals and generals F. von Bock, G. Guderian, F. Paulus, E. Manstein, E. Kleist, Eneke, E. von Busch, W. von Model, F. Scherner, von Weichs, etc.
In June 1945, the marshal was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Soviet troops in the Far East (pseudonym Vasiliev). For the quick defeat of the Kwantung Army of the Japanese under General O. Yamada in Manchuria, the commander received a second Gold Star. After the war, from 1946 - Chief of the General Staff; in 1949-1953 - Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
A. M. Vasilevsky is the author of the memoir “The Work of a Whole Life.”
Marshal A. M. Vasilevsky had:
- 2 Gold Stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union (07/29/1944, 09/08/1945),
- 8 Orders of Lenin,
- 2 orders of "Victory" (including No. 2 - 01/10/1944, 04/19/1945),
- order of the October Revolution,
- 2 Orders of the Red Banner,
- Order of Suvorov 1st degree,
- Order of the Red Star,
- Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd degree,
- a total of 16 orders and 14 medals;
- honorary personal weapon - saber with the golden Coat of Arms of the USSR (1968),
- 28 foreign awards (including 18 foreign orders).
Konev Ivan Stepanovich
16(28).12.1897—27.06.1973 Marshal of the Soviet Union
Born in the Vologda region in the village of Lodeyno in a peasant family. In 1916 he was drafted into the army. Upon completion of the training team, junior non-commissioned officer Art. division is sent to the Southwestern Front. Having joined the Red Army in 1918, he took part in battles against the troops of Admiral Kolchak, Ataman Semenov, and the Japanese. Commissioner of the armored train "Grozny", then brigades, divisions. In 1921 he took part in the storming of Kronstadt. Graduated from the Academy. Frunze (1934), commanded a regiment, division, corps, and the 2nd Separate Red Banner Far Eastern Army (1938-1940).
During the Great Patriotic War he commanded the army and fronts (pseudonyms: Stepin, Kyiv). Participated in the battles of Smolensk and Kalinin (1941), in the battle of Moscow (1941-1942). During the Battle of Kursk, together with the troops of General N.F. Vatutin, he defeated the enemy on the Belgorod-Kharkov bridgehead - a German bastion in Ukraine. On August 5, 1943, Konev’s troops took the city of Belgorod, in honor of which Moscow gave its first fireworks, and on August 24, Kharkov was taken. This was followed by the breakthrough of the “Eastern Wall” on the Dnieper.
In 1944, near Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, the Germans set up “New (small) Stalingrad” - 10 divisions and 1 brigade of General V. Stemmeran, who fell on the battlefield, were surrounded and destroyed. I. S. Konev was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union (02/20/1944), and on March 26, 1944, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front were the first to reach the state border. In July-August they defeated the Army Group “Northern Ukraine” of Field Marshal E. von Manstein in the Lvov-Sandomierz operation. The name of Marshal Konev, nicknamed “the forward general,” is associated with brilliant victories at the final stage of the war - in the Vistula-Oder, Berlin and Prague operations. During the Berlin operation, his troops reached the river. Elbe near Torgau and met with the American troops of General O. Bradley (04/25/1945). On May 9, the defeat of Field Marshal Scherner near Prague ended. The highest orders of the “White Lion” 1st class and the “Czechoslovak War Cross of 1939” were a reward to the marshal for the liberation of the Czech capital. Moscow saluted the troops of I. S. Konev 57 times.
In the post-war period, the marshal was the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces (1946-1950; 1955-1956), the first Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact member states (1956-1960).
Marshal I. S. Konev - twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1970), Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic (1971). A bronze bust was installed in his homeland in the village of Lodeyno.
He wrote memoirs: “Forty-fifth” and “Notes of the Front Commander.”
Marshal I. S. Konev had:
- two Gold Stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union (07/29/1944, 06/1/1945),
- 7 Orders of Lenin,
- order of the October Revolution,
- 3 Orders of the Red Banner,
- 2 Orders of Kutuzov 1st degree,
- Order of the Red Star,
- a total of 17 orders and 10 medals;
- honorary personalized weapon - a saber with the Golden Coat of Arms of the USSR (1968),
- 24 foreign awards (including 13 foreign orders).
Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich
10(22).02.1897—19.03.1955 Marshal of the Soviet Union
Born in the village of Butyrki near Vyatka in the family of a peasant, who later became an employee in the city of Elabuga. A student at the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute, L. Govorov, became a cadet at the Konstantinovsky Artillery School in 1916. He began his combat activities in 1918 as an officer in the White Army of Admiral Kolchak.
In 1919, he volunteered to join the Red Army, participated in battles on the Eastern and Southern fronts, commanded an artillery division, and was wounded twice - near Kakhovka and Perekop.
In 1933 he graduated from the Military Academy. Frunze, and then the General Staff Academy (1938). Participated in the war with Finland of 1939-1940.
In the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), artillery general L.A. Govorov became the commander of the 5th Army, which defended the approaches to Moscow in the central direction. In the spring of 1942, on instructions from I.V. Stalin, he went to besieged Leningrad, where he soon led the front (pseudonyms: Leonidov, Leonov, Gavrilov). On January 18, 1943, the troops of generals Govorov and Meretskov broke through the blockade of Leningrad (Operation Iskra), delivering a counter-attack near Shlisselburg. A year later, they struck again, crushing the Germans' Northern Wall, completely lifting the blockade of Leningrad. The German troops of Field Marshal von Küchler suffered huge losses. In June 1944, troops of the Leningrad Front carried out the Vyborg operation, broke through the “Mannerheim Line” and took the city of Vyborg. L.A. Govorov became Marshal of the Soviet Union (06/18/1944). In the fall of 1944, Govorov’s troops liberated Estonia, breaking through the enemy Panther defenses.
While remaining commander of the Leningrad Front, the marshal was also the representative of Headquarters in the Baltic States. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In May 1945, the German army group Kurland surrendered to the front forces.
Moscow saluted the troops of commander L. A. Govorov 14 times. In the post-war period, the marshal became the first Commander-in-Chief of the country's air defense.
Marshal L.A. Govorov had:
- Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union (01/27/1945), 5 Orders of Lenin,
- Order of Victory (05/31/1945),
- 3 Orders of the Red Banner,
- 2 Orders of Suvorov 1st degree,
- Order of Kutuzov 1st degree,
- Order of the Red Star - a total of 13 orders and 7 medals,
- Tuvan "Order of the Republic",
- 3 foreign orders.
Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich
9(21).12.1896—3.08.1968 Marshal of the Soviet Union,
Marshal of Poland
Born in Velikiye Luki in the family of a railway driver, a Pole, Xavier Jozef Rokossovsky, who soon moved to live in Warsaw. He began his service in 1914 in the Russian army. Participated in the First World War. He fought in a dragoon regiment, was a non-commissioned officer, was wounded twice in battle, was awarded the St. George Cross and 2 medals. Red Guard (1917). During the Civil War, he was again wounded 2 times, fought on the Eastern Front against the troops of Admiral Kolchak and in Transbaikalia against Baron Ungern; commanded a squadron, division, cavalry regiment; awarded 2 Orders of the Red Banner. In 1929 he fought against the Chinese at Jalainor (conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway). In 1937-1940 was imprisoned as a victim of slander.
During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) he commanded a mechanized corps, army, and fronts (Pseudonyms: Kostin, Dontsov, Rumyantsev). He distinguished himself in the Battle of Smolensk (1941). Hero of the Battle of Moscow (September 30, 1941—January 8, 1942). He was seriously wounded near Sukhinichi. During the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943), Rokossovsky’s Don Front, together with other fronts, was surrounded by 22 enemy divisions with a total number of 330 thousand people (Operation Uranus). At the beginning of 1943, the Don Front eliminated the encircled group of Germans (Operation “Ring”). Field Marshal F. Paulus was captured (3 days of mourning were declared in Germany). In the Battle of Kursk (1943), Rokossovsky's Central Front defeated the German troops of General Model (Operation Kutuzov) near Orel, in honor of which Moscow gave its first fireworks (08/05/1943). In the grandiose Belorussian operation (1944), Rokossovsky’s 1st Belorussian Front defeated Field Marshal von Busch’s Army Group Center and, together with the troops of General I. D. Chernyakhovsky, surrounded up to 30 drag divisions in the “Minsk Cauldron” (Operation Bagration). . On June 29, 1944, Rokossovsky was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. The highest military orders "Virtuti Militari" and the "Grunwald" cross, 1st class, were awarded to the marshal for the liberation of Poland.
At the final stage of the war, Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front participated in the East Prussian, Pomeranian and Berlin operations. Moscow saluted the troops of commander Rokossovsky 63 times. On June 24, 1945, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, holder of the Order of Victory, Marshal K. K. Rokossovsky commanded the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow. In 1949-1956, K.K. Rokossovsky was the Minister of National Defense of the Polish People's Republic. He was awarded the title of Marshal of Poland (1949). Returning to the Soviet Union, he became the chief inspector of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Wrote a memoir, A Soldier's Duty.
Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky had:
- 2 Gold Stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union (07/29/1944, 06/1/1945),
- 7 Orders of Lenin,
- Order of Victory (30.03.1945),
- order of the October Revolution,
- 6 Orders of the Red Banner,
- Order of Suvorov 1st degree,
- Order of Kutuzov 1st degree,
- a total of 17 orders and 11 medals;
- honorary weapon - saber with the golden coat of arms of the USSR (1968),
- 13 foreign awards (including 9 foreign orders)
Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich
11(23).11.1898—31.03.1967 Marshal of the Soviet Union,
Minister of Defense of the USSR
Born in Odessa, he grew up without a father. In 1914, he volunteered for the front of the 1st World War, where he was seriously wounded and awarded the St. George Cross, 4th degree (1915). In February 1916 he was sent to France as part of the Russian expeditionary force. There he was again wounded and received the French Croix de Guerre. Returning to his homeland, he voluntarily joined the Red Army (1919) and fought against the whites in Siberia. In 1930 he graduated from the Military Academy. M. V. Frunze. In 1937-1938, he volunteered to take part in battles in Spain (under the pseudonym “Malino”) on the side of the republican government, for which he received the Order of the Red Banner.
In the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) he commanded a corps, an army, and a front (pseudonyms: Yakovlev, Rodionov, Morozov). He distinguished himself in the Battle of Stalingrad. Malinovsky’s army, in cooperation with other armies, stopped and then defeated Army Group Don of Field Marshal E. von Manstein, which was trying to relieve Paulus’s group encircled at Stalingrad. The troops of General Malinovsky liberated Rostov and Donbass (1943), participated in the cleansing of Right Bank Ukraine from the enemy; Having defeated the troops of E. von Kleist, they took Odessa on April 10, 1944; together with the troops of General Tolbukhin, they defeated the southern wing of the enemy front, encircling 22 German divisions and the 3rd Romanian Army in the Iasi-Kishinev operation (08.20-29.1944). During the fighting, Malinovsky was slightly wounded; On September 10, 1944, he was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, Marshal R. Ya. Malinovsky, liberated Romania, Hungary, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. On August 13, 1944, they entered Bucharest, took Budapest by storm (02/13/1945), and liberated Prague (05/9/1945). The marshal was awarded the Order of Victory.
From July 1945, Malinovsky commanded the Transbaikal Front (pseudonym Zakharov), which dealt the main blow to the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria (08/1945). Front troops reached Port Arthur. The marshal received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Moscow saluted the troops of commander Malinovsky 49 times.
On October 15, 1957, Marshal R. Ya. Malinovsky was appointed Minister of Defense of the USSR. He remained in this position until the end of his life.
The Marshal is the author of the books “Soldiers of Russia”, “The Angry Whirlwinds of Spain”; under his leadership, “Iasi-Chisinau Cannes”, “Budapest - Vienna - Prague”, “Final” and other works were written.
Marshal R. Ya. Malinovsky had:
- 2 Gold Stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union (09/08/1945, 11/22/1958),
- 5 Orders of Lenin,
- 3 Orders of the Red Banner,
- 2 Orders of Suvorov 1st degree,
- Order of Kutuzov 1st degree,
- a total of 12 orders and 9 medals;
- as well as 24 foreign awards (including 15 orders of foreign states). In 1964 he was awarded the title of People's Hero of Yugoslavia.
Tolbukhin Fedor Ivanovich
4(16).6.1894—17.10.1949 Marshal of the Soviet Union
Born in the village of Androniki near Yaroslavl in a peasant family. He worked as an accountant in Petrograd. In 1914 he was a private motorcyclist. Having become an officer, he took part in battles with Austro-German troops and was awarded the Anna and Stanislav crosses.
In the Red Army since 1918; fought on the fronts of the Civil War against the troops of General N.N. Yudenich, Poles and Finns. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
In the post-war period, Tolbukhin worked in staff positions. In 1934 he graduated from the Military Academy. M. V. Frunze. In 1940 he became a general.
During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) he was the chief of staff of the front, commanded the army and the front. He distinguished himself in the Battle of Stalingrad, commanding the 57th Army. In the spring of 1943, Tolbukhin became commander of the Southern Front, and from October - the 4th Ukrainian Front, from May 1944 until the end of the war - the 3rd Ukrainian Front. General Tolbukhin's troops defeated the enemy at Miussa and Molochnaya and liberated Taganrog and Donbass. In the spring of 1944, they invaded Crimea and took Sevastopol by storm on May 9. In August 1944, together with the troops of R. Ya. Malinovsky, they defeated the army group “Southern Ukraine” of Mr. Frizner in the Iasi-Kishinev operation. On September 12, 1944, F.I. Tolbukhin was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Tolbukhin's troops liberated Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria. Moscow saluted Tolbukhin's troops 34 times. At the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945, the marshal led the column of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.
The marshal's health, undermined by the wars, began to fail, and in 1949 F.I. Tolbukhin died at the age of 56. Three days of mourning were declared in Bulgaria; the city of Dobrich was renamed the city of Tolbukhin.
In 1965, Marshal F.I. Tolbukhin was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
People's Hero of Yugoslavia (1944) and "Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria" (1979).
Marshal F.I. Tolbukhin had:
- 2 Orders of Lenin,
- Order of Victory (04/26/1945),
- 3 Orders of the Red Banner,
- 2 Orders of Suvorov 1st degree,
- Order of Kutuzov 1st degree,
- Order of the Red Star,
- a total of 10 orders and 9 medals;
- as well as 10 foreign awards (including 5 foreign orders).
Meretskov Kirill Afanasyevich
26.05 (7.06).1897—30.12.1968 Marshal of the Soviet Union
Born in the village of Nazaryevo near Zaraysk, Moscow region, into a peasant family. Before serving in the army, he worked as a mechanic. In the Red Army since 1918. During the Civil War he fought on the Eastern and Southern fronts. He took part in battles in the ranks of the 1st Cavalry against Pilsudski's Poles. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
In 1921 he graduated from the Military Academy of the Red Army. In 1936-1937, under the pseudonym "Petrovich", he fought in Spain (awarded the Orders of Lenin and the Red Banner). During the Soviet-Finnish War (December 1939 - March 1940), he commanded the army that broke through the Manerheim Line and took Vyborg, for which he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (1940).
During the Great Patriotic War, he commanded troops in the northern directions (pseudonyms: Afanasyev, Kirillov); was a representative of the Headquarters on the North-Western Front. He commanded the army, the front. In 1941, Meretskov inflicted the first serious defeat of the war on the troops of Field Marshal Leeb near Tikhvin. On January 18, 1943, the troops of generals Govorov and Meretskov, delivering a counter strike near Shlisselburg (Operation Iskra), broke the blockade of Leningrad. On January 20, Novgorod was taken. In February 1944 he became commander of the Karelian Front. In June 1944, Meretskov and Govorov defeated Marshal K. Mannerheim in Karelia. In October 1944, Meretskov's troops defeated the enemy in the Arctic near Pechenga (Petsamo). On October 26, 1944, K. A. Meretskov received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union, and from the Norwegian King Haakon VII the Grand Cross of St. Olaf.
In the spring of 1945, the “cunning Yaroslavets” (as Stalin called him) under the name of “General Maksimov” was sent to the Far East. In August - September 1945, his troops took part in the defeat of the Kwantung Army, breaking into Manchuria from Primorye and liberating areas of China and Korea.
Moscow saluted the troops of commander Meretskov 10 times.
Marshal K. A. Meretskov had:
- Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union (03/21/1940), 7 Orders of Lenin,
- Order of Victory (8.09.1945),
- order of the October Revolution,
- 4 Orders of the Red Banner,
- 2 Orders of Suvorov 1st degree,
- Order of Kutuzov 1st degree,
- 10 medals;
- an honorary weapon - a saber with the Golden Coat of Arms of the USSR, as well as 4 highest foreign orders and 3 medals.
In modern world
supreme commander
, as a rule, the head of state. Therefore, he is simultaneously charged with the responsibility for developing and approving the country’s military doctrine. He also appoints the high command of the regular troops. Of course, this state institution is derived from medieval governors who served under appanage princes. However, monarchical Russia throughout its long history did without the post of supreme commander-in-chief.As a result of such abstinence
position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief
was first introduced in the Russian Empire only at the beginning - on July 20, 1914, by decree of the Senate, it was occupied by cavalry general Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. In Russia of the 21st century, this position is according toLieutenant General Nikolai Nikolaevich Dukhonin (1876-1917) was the last person to serve as Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. He was killed at his post on November 20 (new style - December 3), 1917.
On November 1 (14), by order of Kerensky, who at that time combined the positions of head of the Government and Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Dukhonin was appointed acting Supreme Commander-in-Chief in the ongoing war against Germany and its allies. On the same day, Dukhonin, notifying the Russian armed forces of this order, called on the army to hold the front so as not to allow the enemy, taking advantage of the civil war in Russia, to go even further into its borders.
On November 8 (21), the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) from Petrograd demanded that Dukhonin begin negotiations with the enemy on a truce. The next day, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Lenin and People's Commissars Stalin and Krylenko telephoned Headquarters and repeated their ultimatum to Dukhonin. Dukhonin refused, citing the fact that such negotiations are the business of the government, not the military command. He was immediately informed by phone that he had been removed from the post of Commander-in-Chief and declared an “enemy of the people,” but he had to wait for N.E. to come out to arrest him. Krylenko.
Meanwhile, Lenin broadcast a radiogram calling on Russian troops to enter into direct negotiations on a truce with the enemy on the ground. On November 10 (23), representatives of the armies of the Western Allies at Russian Headquarters protested to Dukhonin against these negotiations. Dukhonin immediately sent the texts of these protests to the commanders of the fronts and armies as documents to be followed.
Naturally, Dukhonin and the front command did not intend to implement the Soviet “Decree on Peace.” They did not simply consider the Bolshevik government incompetent to conduct peace negotiations on behalf of Russia. They regarded a call for a truce at such a moment as high treason. In this, representatives of a huge number of social classes in Russia agreed with them. The problem is that their efforts were paralyzed.
The Supreme Command headquarters was located in Mogilev. Nearby, in Bykhov, participants in the so-called “rebellion of General Kornilov” were detained, arrested in early autumn for participating in a military putsch, which aimed to save Russia from the development of the revolution along the path of Bolshevism. The regime of their detention was quite mild.
Dukhonin thought about evacuating the entire Headquarters. And even earlier, he made efforts to ensure that Headquarters turned into the center of organizing resistance to the Bolsheviks, who seized power in Petrograd and Moscow. For some time, the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionary Party gathered in Mogilev and tried to recreate the Provisional Government. But they became convinced that they had no support both among the soldiers (most of them supported Lenin’s cause) and the officers (who considered the Socialist Revolutionaries, like the entire fallen Provisional Government, to be too left-wing).
On November 17 (30), having learned about the removal and arrest of the commander of the Northern Front, General V.A., by the Bolsheviks. Cheremisov and about the movement of trains with Kronstadt sailors to Mogilev, Dukhonin entered into negotiations with the Central Rada in Kyiv with a proposal to transfer Headquarters to Kyiv. The Rada, hoping for an agreement with the Bolsheviks, delayed its response. Meanwhile, on November 18-19, Dukhonin released Kornilov and his associates - the future organizers and leaders of the White Volunteer Army. This act increased the hatred of revolutionary-minded soldiers towards Dukhonin. Moreover, on the same days, he ordered parts of the Mogilev garrison opposed to the Bolsheviks to leave. He did this as an ultimatum - he saved them from inevitable reprisals. Thus, Dukhonin was left without any protection before the arrival of revolutionary soldiers and sailors in the city.
Why didn’t he go with the Kornilovites to the Don? As Supreme Commander, he could not leave his post - this would be a violation of the oath. In addition, some of the “counter-revolutionaries” at that time still had the illusion that if they surrendered, they would be allowed to speak in a public trial, where they would be able to expose the criminal intentions of the revolutionaries.
All source evidence restores the same picture of the murder. The “supreme commander-in-chief” appointed by the Bolsheviks, N.V. Krylenko, arriving in Mogilev, where the Supreme Command Headquarters was located, arrested Dukhonin. Upon learning of the arrival of the Soviet commissar, a huge crowd of soldiers from the local garrison gathered to greet him. She surrounded the carriage in which Krylenko was going to send Dukhonin to the “trial of the revolutionary tribunal” in Petrograd, and did not allow him to go. Whether Krylenko was sincere in his intention or it was a staged act is unknown. In vain Krylenko appealed to the soldiers to allow them to bring the general to a public trial. The crowd committed lynching. General Dukhonin, apparently already understanding what awaited him, went out onto the platform of the carriage and tried to address the soldiers with his last speech. He barely opened his mouth when someone stuck a bayonet into him. The brutal crowd rushed to torment the already lifeless body of the general, rob his clothes and belongings, and then put his mangled corpse on public display for the residents of Mogilev.