Background
Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov was born on September 15, 1896 in Grodno, Belarus; the son of an officer.
Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov was born on September 15, 1896 in Grodno, Belarus; the son of an officer.
Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov was educated at the Pavlovskoe Military School. He graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1931, and the Academy of the General Staff in 1937.
In June 1941 Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov was promoted to general major, one of the “new men” filling the vacuum created by the Great Purges. After being an assistant to Vatutin and deputy in the Kiev Special MD for two months, Antonov was CofS of the Southern Front (Aug 1941 -July 1942). He was promoted in Dec 1941, Gen Lt Antonov was CofS North Caucasus Front (July-Aug 42), of the Black Sea Group of Forces, and of the Transcaucasus Front (Nov-Dec 1942).
Ordered to Moscow, he was first deputy CGS and chief of operations under Vasilevsky from Dec 42 until relieved by Shtemenko on 25 May 1943. He was promoted to General of the Army (No. 8) on 27 Aug 1943. During the frequent absences of Vasilevsky, who spent 22 of the 34 war months at the front, Antonov bore full responsibility as CGS. On 17 Feb 1945 he replaced Vasilevsky as CGS, serving also as a Stavka member.
Antonov, Shaposhnikov, Vasilevsky, and Zhukov were the officers whose judgment Stalin most respected. Antonov frequently signed orders in his own name. But he never became a marshal (MSU), remaining a general of the army for almost 19 years, until retirement, and was passed over by some 20 officers once junior to him. Part of this may be explained by his social background and early service as a tzarist officer, but Volkogonov believes that Beria carried out a whispering campaign that caused Stalin to withhold promotion although the dictator probably knew the charges were bogus.
In 1946 Antonov was demoted to his former post as Vasilevsky’s deputy. Two years later he was further reduced to 1st Deputy Commander of the Transcaucasus MD but stepped up to be commander in 1950. After the deaths of Stalin and Beria, Antonov once again was first deputy CGS (Apr 54). The next year, when the Warsaw Pact was formed, he served as its CofS as an additional duty.
According ro Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov, religion is bad because it doesn't give equal treatment to women and thus offends basic human rights.
Communist Party is the leading force of Soviet society, and the nucleus of all state and public organizations.
Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov was married to Olga Vasiliyevna Lepeshinskaya.
General