Marshals of Victory. Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky. Marshal Vasilevsky - the great commander and failed teacher

VASILEVSKY Alexander Mikhailovich, Soviet statesman and military figure, commander. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943). Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945).

Born in the family of a clergyman. After graduating in 1915 from the Kostroma Theological Seminary in military service. After graduating in June 1915 from accelerated courses at the Alekseevsky military school, he served in a reserve battalion in Zhytomyr, second lieutenant. Member of the First World War. He fought on the Southwestern and Romanian fronts: junior officer of the company of the 409th Novokhopersky infantry regiment of the 103rd infantry division, then commanded a company, staff captain. In June 1918, he was dismissed from the army and left for the Ugletsky volost executive committee of the Kineshma district of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk province, where he was the hundredth instructor of Vsevobuch at the Ugletsky volost, and later worked as a teacher in the Novosilsky district of the Tula province.

In April 1919 he was drafted into the Red Army. He began his service as an assistant platoon commander in a reserve battalion, then commanded a platoon, a company, a detachment that fought against banditry. In October 1919 he was appointed commander of a battalion, then temporarily commanded the 5th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Tula Infantry Division. As an assistant commander of the 96th Infantry Regiment of the 11th Petrograd Division, he participated in the Soviet-Polish War of 1920. From May 1920 he served in the 48th Infantry Division: assistant regiment commander, head of the divisional school, then successively commanded the rifle regiments of the division .

As one of the best unit commanders in February 1931, he was appointed to the Combat Training Directorate of the Red Army, assistant chief of the 2nd department. He took part in the preparation and conduct of military exercises, in the development of the Manual on the service of headquarters and Instructions for conducting deep combat. Since December 1934 - head of the combat training department of the headquarters of the Volga Military District. After graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1937, he was the head of the department for operational training of the command staff of the General Staff of the Red Army. In August 1938 he was awarded the military rank of brigade commander. Since May 1940, Deputy Chief of the Operational Directorate of the General Staff; participated in the work on the operational part of the plan for the strategic deployment of the Red Army in the north-western and western directions. In June 1940 he was awarded the military rank of major general.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, A.M. Vasilevsky in his former position. Since August 1941 - Deputy Chief of the General Staff - Head of the Operational Directorate. In October 1941 he was awarded the military rank of Lieutenant General, and in April 1942 he was appointed to the post of 1st Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

In June 1942, Colonel General (the military rank was awarded in May 1942) A.M. Vasilevsky was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, and on October 14, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. In January 1943 he was awarded the military rank of army general. As chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky led the planning and development of the most important operations of the Soviet Armed Forces, solved the issues of providing the fronts with personnel, material and technical means, and preparing reserves for the front. As a member and representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK), he was on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, mainly where the most difficult situation developed. His art of military leadership was clearly manifested in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943. Vasilevsky was not only one of the authors of the counteroffensive plan at Stalingrad, but also directly led the repulse of the counterattack of the Goth army group, which was trying to release the encircled army of F. Paulus. The name of Vasilevsky is associated with the implementation of the Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh offensive operation of 1943 on the Upper Don to encircle and destroy 15 German, Hungarian and Italian divisions. In January-February 1943, he planned and carried out the Voronezh-Kastornenskaya operation of the Voronezh Front.

In February 1943 A.M. Vasilevsky was awarded the military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. He was directly involved in the development of offensive strategic operations for the summer campaign of 1943. he coordinated the actions of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts in the Battle of Kursk in 1943, the Southwestern and Southern ones during the liberation of Donbass in the summer of 1943; 4th Ukrainian Front and the Black Sea Fleet during the liberation of the Crimea in the spring of 1944. During the Crimean operation, Vasilevsky was shell-shocked. After his recovery, he took part in the planning of the strategic operation "Bagration" to liberate Belarus, and during the operation, as a representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, he coordinated the actions of the 3rd Belorussian and 1st Baltic fronts.

In February 1945 he was appointed commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front. Under his leadership, the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Koenigsberg. At the end of the East Prussian operation, Vasilevsky was recalled from the front. Under his leadership, in 1945, the General Staff developed a plan for a campaign in the Far East against Japan, and on June 1, 1945, Vasilevsky was appointed commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East. As a result of the successful actions of the Soviet troops, the Japanese Kwantung Army was defeated.

After the war with Japan from March 1946 to November 1948, A.M. Vasilevsky was again Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Minister of the USSR Armed Forces, and from March 6, 1947 - 1st Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR - Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. During this period, his activities were aimed at transferring the Armed Forces to a peaceful position. At the same time, the General Staff, under his leadership, took all measures to maintain the combat power of the Armed Forces of the state, and they were in full combat readiness. The Chief of the General Staff did a great job of generalizing the experience of the Great Patriotic War and introducing it into the troops. He systematically engaged in the operational-strategic training of headquarters, preparing them for the successful command and control of troops.

In March 1949 A.M. Vasilevsky was appointed Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR, and in February 1950 - Minister of War of the USSR. In March 1953 he was appointed First Deputy Minister of Defense. March 15, 1956 A.M. Vasilevsky was released "from his post at his personal request", but in August 1956 he was again appointed Deputy Minister of Defense for military science. In 1956-1957. Chairman of the Soviet Committee of War Veterans. In December 1957, "discharged due to illness with the right to wear a military uniform." In January 1959, he was again returned to the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces and appointed inspector general to the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 2-4 convocations. Author of the memoirs "The Work of All Life". Urn with ashes of A.M. Vasilevsky was buried in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.

Twice awarded the highest Soviet military order "Victory". Awarded: 8 Orders of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov 1st class, Order of the Red Star and "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd class; foreign orders: NRB - "People's Republic of Bulgaria" 1st class; Great Britain - the British Empire of the 1st century; North Korea - the State Banner of the 1st class; PRC - Precious bowl of the 1st class; Mongolian People's Republic - 2 Sukhe-Bator and the Battle Red Banner; Poland - "Virtuti Military" 1st class, "Revival of Poland" 2nd and 3rd class, Cross of Grunwald 1st class; USA - "Legion of Honor" 1st class; France: Legion of Honor 2nd Art. and Military Cross; Czechoslovakia - White Lion 1st class, White Lion "For Victory" 1st class. and Military Cross 1939; SFRY - Partisan Star 1st class. and "National Liberation"; Honorary weapons with the State Emblem of the USSR, many Soviet and foreign medals.

Born into a family of a priest, he graduated from a theological seminary and was preparing to become a rural teacher. But the First World War abruptly changed both the plans and the entire future fate of the future Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Vasilevsky.

"Father always promoted quickly"

Returning from the front in the 18th year, Vasilevsky still managed to work for several months as a rural primary school teacher in the Tula province.

And in the 19th he was drafted into the Red Army, to which the future commander remained devoted until the end of his life.

“Father always somehow quickly advanced in the service, achieved success,” says the son of Marshal Igor. “Even before the start of the Great Patriotic War, he was already a prominent military leader and worked as deputy chief of the General Staff. I was six years old in 1941. But I remember well that when the war started, I didn’t see my father at home for a very long time. At the General Staff, they worked around the clock. They even put beds there.”

Vasilevsky, if possible, took his wife and son to the front

During the days of the defense of Moscow, at the most critical moment - from October to November of the 41st year - Vasilevsky led the task force of the General Staff to serve the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command.

“Then he had to inform the Headquarters and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief about changes in the situation at the front. Develop plans, monitor the implementation of the decisions of the Headquarters,” says Igor Vasilevsky. “During the war, Stalin demanded a daily report on the operational situation. Once my father moved from one front headquarters to another "He did not have the opportunity to get in touch with the Supreme Commander, and he did not make such a report. Stalin told him that if this happens again, it will be the last mistake in his life."

In June 1942, Vasilevsky was appointed chief of the General Staff. In the same year, he returns to Moscow his wife and son, who had previously been evacuated.

“During the war, my father tried not to be separated from us. In total, two of the four years while the war was going on, he spent at the front,” says Igor Vasilevsky. “If there was such an opportunity, he always took me and my mother to the front. There are even chronicles , on which I am small with my father. "

In the first days of the war, Vasilevsky took a portrait of his wife Ekaterina Vasilievna Saburova from home to the General Staff. The portrait moved with him from one front to another. Now it is kept by the son of Marshal Igor.

"Mom's love helped father in everything"

Before meeting with Ekaterina Saburova, Vasilevsky was already married. From his first marriage with Serafima Nikolaevna Voronova, in the 24th year, his son Yuri was born. The family then lived in Tver.

“In the 31st year, my father was transferred to Moscow. Neither he nor my mother ever told me about their first meeting. Maybe because my father was still married by the time he met my mother. But somewhere fate brought them together. By that time, my mother had graduated from military stenographers' courses. In 1934, they got married, and a year later I was born, "said the youngest son of Marshal Igor Vasilevsky.

The family has always been a tangible support for the commander.

During the war, Vasilevsky experienced colossal overloads - sleepless nights affected. It is known that Stalin worked at night and demanded the same from his entourage.

“Of course, mother’s love helped father in everything,” the marshal’s son believes, “we must remember that in addition to responsibility for the duties assigned to him, his father constantly lived in stress from the unknown. He did not know what would happen to him tomorrow.”

In 1944, Vasilevsky said goodbye to his sons

Igor Alexandrovich recalled how one day in 1944 his father called him for a conversation, from which it was clear that he was saying goodbye.

The family then lived at the state dacha in Volynsky, and Igor Alexandrovich was nine years old. A little earlier, Marshal Vasilevsky spoke with his eldest twenty-year-old son Yuri. He was quite clearly told that he remained in charge and was responsible for all the Vasilevskys.

“Why my father said goodbye to us then, he didn’t explain to me or his older brother,” says Igor Vasilevsky. “The time was like this: if necessary, the reasons were found quickly. And in general, our father’s official affairs were never discussed in our house. It was banned."

At the Vasilevskys' dacha in Volynskoye, the hostess, the nanny, the cook, and other servants were people from the NKVD.

“Our personal belongings were always looked through, even my childhood toys,” recalls Igor Vasilevsky, “our conversations and movements, our circle of communication were recorded. It was a life under strict control, and we understood this well.”

Vasilevsky could convince even the Supreme Commander

At the beginning of the war, Stalin rarely listened to military leaders. He believed that the Supreme Commander had the right to make decisions independently.

“According to my father, Stalin radically reorganized and began to use the collective experience of the General Staff only in the 42nd year. That is, when the situation was threatening for us. He realized that it was necessary to use the experience of military people and military science. Father said that , despite the irascibility of the Supreme, his certain emotional imbalance, he always spoke directly, concisely and accurately, "said the marshal's son.

Reporting on the situation on the fronts, Vasilevsky talked to Stalin on the phone every day. During the war, he communicated with the Supreme Commander-in-Chief more often than other military leaders and, if necessary, knew how to convince him.

Vasilevsky restored relations with his father at the suggestion of Stalin

In his autobiography, Vasilevsky wrote in 1938 that "personal and written contact with his parents has been lost since 1924."

Alexander Mikhailovich was born into the family of a priest in the village of Novaya Golchikha, near the ancient Russian city of Kineshma. His father was a church regent, and his mother was the daughter of a psalmist. When the future marshal was two years old, Mikhail Vasilevsky was appointed to serve in the Ascension Church in the village of Novopokrovskoye. It was at this church that Vasilevsky received his primary education at a parochial school. Then he graduated from a religious school and a seminary.

Having become a fighter of the Red Army, and later a red commander, Vasilevsky had to break off relations with his family. Later, he restored them at the suggestion of Stalin.

“This, of course, was such a political game. It is known that Stalin during the war years showed loyalty to the Russian Orthodox Church and the clergy. He understood that for the Victory it was necessary to use all reserves, including spiritual ones,” says Igor Vasilevsky.

Once Stalin called Vasilevsky and told him: "Why don't you go to your father. You haven't seen him for so long."

“Father went to grandfather Mikhail, after that they maintained normal family relations. And in 1946, my older half-brother Yuri brought his grandfather to the state dacha in Volynskoye. I remember he stayed with us for a long time,” said the marshal’s son.

Order of Victory number two

The contribution of Marshal Vasilevsky to the cause of the Victory is enormous. He developed all the major battles of the Great Patriotic War.

Alexander Mikhailovich planned a counteroffensive near Stalingrad. Coordinated the actions of the fronts in the Battle of Kursk. Planned and directed operations to liberate Right-Bank Ukraine and Crimea. On April 10, 1944, the day Odessa was liberated from the Nazis, Vasilevsky was awarded the Order of Victory.

This order was the second in a row since the establishment of this military insignia. The owner of the first order "Victory" was Marshal Zhukov, the third - Stalin.

Order "Victory" - the main military award of the USSR. She was awarded for the successful conduct of military operations on the scale of one or more fronts.

In total, 17 commanders were awarded this order. And only three of them twice: Stalin, Zhukov, Vasilevsky.

The second order of "Victory" was awarded to Alexander Mikhailovich for the development and leadership of the operation to capture Koenigsberg in the 45th.

Igor Vasilevsky during the days of the assault on Koenigsberg was with his father at the front. Marshal then commanded the 3rd Belorussian Front. Now Igor Alexandrovich is 76 years old, and in the days of the capture of Koenigsberg he was 10. According to the marshal's son, the burning ruins of Koenigsberg are still before his eyes.

Khrushchev demanded to confirm that Stalin led military operations on the globe

After the war, Vasilevsky was still in charge of the General Staff until the age of 48, then he held key positions in the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

The death of Stalin and the subsequent exposure of the personality cult of the leader affected the fate of the marshal.

In 1953, Nikita Khrushchev was elected First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

“When Khrushchev was preparing for the 20th Party Congress, he demanded from his father to confirm his words that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief allegedly did not know how to use operational maps, but directed military operations on the globe,” said the marshal’s son.

Vasilevsky, who personally provided operational maps at Stalin's request, refused to do so. Soon Khrushchev, through Zhukov, conveyed to Vasilevsky that it was time for him to submit his resignation. Then Alexander Mikhailovich was the first deputy minister of defense of the USSR.

Vasilevsky suffered a heart attack, and then sat down to write his memoirs. And, according to his son, in his memoirs he survived the war once more. Alexander Mikhailovich died in the 77th year, not recovering from another heart attack.

After the war, Vasilevsky donated his things to museums

The eldest son of the marshal and his first wife, Serafima Nikolaevna Voronova, Yuri continued the military dynasty of the Vasilevskys. From a young age, he raved about airplanes. Yuri devoted his entire life to aviation, and ended his military career at the General Staff. He is a retired lieutenant general.

In the 48th year, Yuri married the eldest daughter of Marshal Zhukov, Era. Era Georgievna gave birth to two daughters. But the family soon fell apart.

Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky was never particularly happy with this union of marshal surnames. Stalin did not encourage the friendship of military leaders, and even more so family ties between them.

The youngest son of the marshal chose a peaceful profession. He is an honored architect of the Russian Federation, professor at the International Academy of Architecture. For more than 30 years, Igor Alexandrovich was the chief architect of Kurortproekt. His works are included in the Anthology of European Architecture. Igor Vasilevsky's wife Roza is also an architect. Her maiden name is Tevosyan.

Her father Ivan Fedorovich Tevosyan during the Great Patriotic War was the People's Commissar of Ferrous Metallurgy and for the Victory he did no less than military leaders.

Already in 1943, largely thanks to People's Commissar Tevosyan, the military industry of the USSR surpassed Germany both in quantity and quality of military equipment.

It so happened that after the war, Marshal Vasilevsky gave away to museums, by the way, mostly provincial ones, almost all the personal belongings that were with him at the front.

Today, in the house of his youngest son, only a portrait of his wife, with whom Vasilevsky was never separated, and a measuring compass are kept.

Holding this compass in his hands, Marshal Vasilevsky developed more than one landmark operation of the Great Patriotic War.

Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky was born in September 1895 in the Ivanovo region. His father was a priest, while his mother was engaged in raising children, of whom there were 8 in the family. In early 1915, Alexander ended up in the Alekseevsky military school. Four months later, after completing an accelerated course, he graduated.

After graduating from college, he received the rank of ensign and arrived to serve in the Novokhopersky regiment, which was at the forefront at the front. The young officer, who immediately fell into the inferno of the First World War, spent two years on the front lines. Without rest, in battles and hardships, the personality of the future great commander was formed.

By the revolutionary events, Vasilevsky was already a staff captain and led a battalion of soldiers. In 1919 he began to serve in the Red Army. He was an assistant platoon commander in a reserve regiment. Soon he began to command a company, then a battalion, and went to the front - he fought with the Poles. For twelve years he served in the 48th Rifle Division, in turn leading the regiments that were part of this formation.

In May 1931, he was transferred to the Combat Training Directorate of the Red Army, participated in the organization of exercises, and the development of instructions for conducting combat. Work in the UPB, with the masters of military affairs Lapinsh and Sidyakin, enriched Vasilevsky with knowledge. In those same days, he met Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov.

Soon Alexander Mikhailovich was transferred to the apparatus of the People's Commissariat, then he went through the school of staff service in the People's Commissariat of Defense, as well as at the headquarters of the Volga Military District. In 1936, the colonel went to the Academy of the General Staff, graduated from it, and, under the patronage of Shaposhnikov, ended up in the General Staff.

By May 1940, Alexander Mikhailovich became deputy head of the Operations Directorate. Shaposhnikov was fired, and Vasilevsky remained in his place. The talent of the future marshal was fully appreciated by Stalin himself - he was included in the government delegation to Berlin, as a military expert.

The beginning hardened Vasilevsky's character, he was in the ranks of those military men whom Stalin directly trusted. And Stalin's trust in the war years was worth a lot. In , he was wounded, joint work on the defense of the city brought him closer to Zhukov.

Soon Vasilevsky had a very hard time. Shaposhnikov, who returned to the army with the outbreak of war, resigned from his post for health reasons. And now, Vasilevsky has become the interim chief of the General Staff. Alexander Mikhailovich, was one on one with Stalin, who issued short-sighted and unprofessional orders. Vasilevsky had to challenge them as much as possible, and also defend generals who had fallen out of favor with Stalin.

In the summer of 42, he was appointed full-fledged chief of the General Staff. Now his leadership talent was revealed, he was engaged in planning operations, supplying the fronts with food and weapons, conducted practical work, and was engaged in the preparation of reserves. He is getting closer and closer to Zhukov. After, the communication of the two great commanders will develop into friendship. In 1943, Vasilevsky received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Now he is the second military man after Zhukov to receive such a military rank.

In the summer of 1943, Vasilevsky was expected. Having shared the responsibility for the operation together with Zhukov, once again, having dissuaded Stalin from his plan, the marshals were waiting for heavy battles. Having bled and exhausted the Germans in defensive battles, the Red Army went on the offensive without a break. From that moment began the expulsion of the Germans from the Russian land. The operation on the Kursk Bulge was brilliantly carried out by the remarkable marshals of the Soviet army.

He was less and less engaged in the affairs of the General Staff. Working with Vasilevsky, Stalin learned to perceive the situation more competently. The great strategist switches his attention to the front, where he conducts several successful operations. The liberation of Donbass, Odessa, Crimea - these are all well-planned operations, behind which was the great work of Marshal Vasilevsky. In the battles for Sevastopol, the marshal was wounded. His car hit a mine. For some time he was on vacation, spending time with his family in Moscow.

Soon he already drew up a plan for the liberation of Belarus. After consultations with Stalin, the plan was approved. The operation was called "Bagration", and was one of the most brilliant of the entire Second World War. Alexander Mikhailovich, developing a plan, applied all his military knowledge, there was everything: creativity, tactics and theory, which was perfectly reproduced in practice. For the liberation of Belarus, he was awarded the title.

In February 45, Vasilevsky, after the death of Chernyakhovsky, was appointed commander of the third Belorussian Front. Under the command of the marshal, the troops completed the defeat of the Germans in East Prussia. After the surrender of Germany, he conducted a brilliant operation in the Far East and quickly defeated the Japanese army. For this campaign, he was awarded the second star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Marshal Vasilevsky - who inscribed his name in golden letters in the history of our Motherland. Alexander Vasilyevich is the owner of many awards of the Soviet Union, but the main award for the marshal is, of course, the people's love, which he deserved by sacrificing himself for the good of the country. He died on December 5, 1977.

The Great Patriotic War found Major General Vasilevsky in the General Staff, in the position of Deputy Chief of Operations. Less than two months later, he was appointed Chief of Operations and Deputy Chief of the General Staff. As you know, Shaposhnikov was the Chief of the General Staff.

Together with Shaposhnikov, Vasilevsky participates in meetings of the Headquarters in the Kremlin. And in December 1941, during Shaposhnikov's illness, Vasilevsky acted as chief of the General Staff.

A. M. Vasilevsky played a key role in organizing the defense of Moscow and the counteroffensive, which began at the end of 1941. In these tragic days, when the fate of Moscow was being decided, from October 16 to the end of November, he led the task force to serve the Headquarters. The group's responsibilities included knowing and correctly evaluating events at the front, constantly informing the Headquarters about them, reporting to the Supreme High Command its proposals in connection with changes in the front-line situation, and quickly and accurately developing plans and directives. The task force, as can be seen from this list of duties, was the brain and heart of the grandiose military operation, called the Battle of Moscow.

In April 1942, Vasilevsky was promoted to the rank of Colonel General, and in June of the same year he took the post of Chief of the General Staff.

All the time of the Battle of Stalingrad, Vasilevsky, as a representative of the Headquarters, was in Stalingrad, coordinating the interaction of the fronts. He plays a decisive role in repulsing the Manstein group. In January 1943, Vasilevsky was awarded the rank of General of the Army, he was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree. And in less than a month, which is extremely unusual, he became a Marshal of the Soviet Union.

It was Vasilevsky who came up with the idea of conducting a defensive operation, with a subsequent transition to a counteroffensive during the Battle of Kursk. It was he who convinced Stalin and other representatives of the General Staff to do just that. In the midst of the Battle of Kursk, he coordinated the actions of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts. Vasilevsky personally observed the tank battle near Prokhorovka from the position of his command post.

Vasilevsky planned and directed operations to liberate Donbass, Crimea and southern Ukraine. On the day of the capture of Odessa in April 1944, Vasilevsky was awarded the Order of Victory. He became the second holder of this order. The first was Zhukov.

When Sevastopol was liberated, in early May 1944, Vasilevsky personally drove around the city, and his car came across a mine. Marshal was wounded. The wound was light, but he had to be treated in Moscow for some time.

However, already at the end of May, Marshal Vasilevsky was leaving for the front to command the actions of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian fronts during Operation Bagration. For the liberation of the Baltic states and Belarus, on July 29, 1944, Vasilevsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

In February 1945, the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, Chernyakhovsky, died. Vasilevsky was appointed in his place. In this position, he led the assault on Koenigsberg - an operation that was included in all military textbooks.

In April 1942, Vasilevsky was promoted to the rank of Colonel General, and in June of the same year he took the post of Chief of the General Staff.