Background

Alexander Suvorov was born on November 24, 1730 into a noble family originating from Novgorod at the Moscow mansion of his maternal grandfather Fedosey Manukov. His father, Vasiliy Suvorov, was a general-in-chief and a senator in the Governing Senate, and was credited with translating Vauban's works into Russian. His paternal ancestors had emigrated from Sweden in 1622. His mother, Avdotya Fyodorovna née Manukova, was the daughter of Fedosey Manukov. The name Manukov might be a russified version of the Armenian name Manukian. Still Armenian heritage of Suvorov is considered an unproven legend. There is no academic research or source in Russia that can confirm or deny the origin of Suvorov's paternal or maternal ancestors. There are some claims that he told the Swedish ambassador to Russia in 1791 that his paternal family came from Sweden. Those statements are not reliable due the unknown context of discussion.

Education

As a boy, Suvorov was a sickly child and his father assumed he would work in civil service as an adult. However, he proved to be an excellent learner, avidly studying mathematics, literature, philosophy, and geography, learning to read French, German, Polish, and Italian, and with his father's vast library devoted himself to intense study of military history, strategy, tactics, and several military authors including Plutarch, Quintus Curtius, Cornelius Nepos, Julius Caesar, and Charles XII. This also helped him develop a good understanding of engineering, siege warfare, artillery, and fortification. He tried to overcome his physical ailments through rigorous exercise and exposure to hardship. His father, however, insisted that he was not fit for the military. When Alexander was 12, General Gannibal, who lived in the neighborhood, overheard his father complaining about Alexander and asked to speak to the child. Gannibal was so impressed with the boy that he persuaded the father to allow him to pursue the career of his choice. Suvorov entered the army in 1748 and served in the Semyonovsky Life Guard Regiment for six years. During this period he continued his studies attending classes at Cadet Corps of Land Forces.

Career

He was commissioned a lieutenant of infantry in 1754. Having gained varied experience during the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), in 1763 he became colonel of the Suzdal Regiment, for which he wrote a comprehensive manual notable for its realistic emphasis on battle training at a time when the prevailing fashion was for parade-ground manoeuvres in the Prussian style.

His successes during the Russo-Polish conflict of 1768–72 earned him a reputation as a self-willed subordinate and a boldly unorthodox tactician—a reputation that was confirmed when, in 1773, he joined Count P. A. Rumyantsev’s army fighting the Turks on the Danube. His two successful descents on Turtukai, his brilliant defense of Hirsov, and, above all, his successful direction of the Battle of Kozludji (1774) showed him to be an incomparable commander of the field, but after he helped to suppress the Russian peasant revolt led by Yemelyan Pugachov in the same year and subsequently served in Crimea, his career seemed to founder.

A mission to Astrakhan to prepare an expedition into Persia proved abortive, and, even after he returned to a more active posting in the Caucasus in 1782, the establishment repeatedly passed him over. Returning to St. Petersburg and the court, Suvorov felt consistently ill-at-ease—conscious of his scrawny appearance, rough manners, and inability, as he put it, to “endear myself to my superiors, ” to which he attributed the slow progress of his career. But in 1787, after almost 15 years, he was at last promoted to the rank of general.

In the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–91, he successfully defended Russian territory on the north shore of the Black Sea from Turkish attack. His victory over the Turks at Kinburn (October 1787) restored him to the limelight, and, though his alleged rashness and drunkenness at the siege of Ochakov, in 1788, earned him official displeasure and exclusion from fighting commands, in 1789 he was sent to Moldavia (in present Romania) to conduct joint operations with Russia’s Austrian allies. The ensuing victories at Fokshany (now Foçsani, Rom. ) and his brilliant and bloody storming of the stronghold of Ismail (1790) confirmed his popularity in the army, but his sense of frustration was revived when he was transferred to Finland in 1791. Hostile rumours circulated against him at court, and, as younger, less deserving men overtook him in rank, his embitterment deepened, and he became noticeably more eccentric.

Then, in 1794 he was recalled to crush the nationalist-revolutionary movement in Poland—which he did with ruthless efficiency. The slaughter involved in his storming of the Warsaw suburb of Praga (which he justified as shortening the war and saving lives) shocked Western opinion, but it earned him a reward of 7, 000 serfs and the promotion to field marshal he had long coveted.

Subsequently appointed commander in chief of the southern army, Suvorov set about molding it according to principles he set out in his celebrated military treatise, Nauka pobezhdat (Science of Victory)—remarkable for its clipped, colloquial style, its novel emphasis on speed and mobility, and the use of the bayonet and accuracy of fire. But on the accession of the emperor Paul I (reigned 1796–1801), the old Prussian parade-ground emphasis was reimposed, and, refusing to hide his opposition to it, Suvorov was dismissed.

Suspected of treason, he was kept under close surveillance, but a thorough investigation produced no evidence against him, and the Emperor restored him to favour. But Suvorov continued to show his dislike of the way the army was being managed and soon retired again.

Fiercely antirevolutionary, he responded with enthusiasm when he was recalled in February 1799 to command a Russo-Austrian army against the French in northern Italy. A series of rapid victories (April–August 1799) resulted in his capturing Milan and almost completely expelling French forces from Italy. These successes made him a hero to those opposed to the French Revolution but also aroused Austrian misgivings about Russian ambitions in the west. Suvorov had wished to invade France but was ordered across the Alps to join a Russian force under Aleksandr Rimsky-Korsakov that was being threatened by the French in Switzerland.

Fighting his way across the mountains, he reached Altdorf, only to hear that Korsakov had already been defeated and that the Austrian divisions in Switzerland, intended to support him, had retired. Surrounded by the enemy, short of ammunition and supplies, and with the first snows of winter falling, Suvorov set out to extract his army from an apparently hopeless position. Though old and sick, he succeeded in arousing his starving and dispirited troops, broke out to reach Glarus, and, repulsing a pursuing French force, succeeded in escaping with three quarters of his men, achieving one of the most remarkable exploits in the annals of war.

Though disillusioned with the Austrians, Suvorov still envisaged fighting another campaign, but in January 1800, having been promoted to the unprecedented rank of generalissimo, he was recalled. He arrived at St. Petersburg, exhausted and gravely ill, only to find that, on account of a petty misdemeanour, the hero’s welcome planned for him had been cancelled and he was excluded from the court. He died a few months later in 1800 of illness in Saint Petersburg.

Achievements

• Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov is considered a national hero.
  
  The Russian general was never defeated in battle. Although he demanded discipline and sacrifice, he understood the needs and feelings of his soldiers better than any other commander of his time.
  
  Suvorov was buried in Saint Petersburg in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. His grave stone states simply: "Here lies Suvorov". Within a year after his death, Paul I was murdered in his bedroom for his disastrous leadership by a band of dismissed officers and his son and successor Alexander I erected a statue to Suvorov's memory in the Field of Mars.
  
  Monument to Suvorov as youthful Mars, the Roman god of war, by Mikhail Kozlovsky in St. Petersburg (1801).
  
  He was famed for his military writings, the most well-known being The Science of Victory and Suzdal Regulations, and lesser-known works such as Rules for the Kuban and Crimean Corps, Rules for the Conduct of Military Actions in the Mountains (written during his Swiss campaign), and Rules for the Medical Officers. Suvorov was also noted for several of his sayings, including "What is difficult in training will become easy in a battle, " "The bullet is a mad thing; only the bayonet knows what it is about, " and "Perish yourself but rescue your comrade!" He taught his soldiers to attack instantly and decisively: "Attack with the cold steel! Push hard with the bayonet!" He joked with the men, calling common soldiers "brother, " and shrewdly presented the results of detailed planning and careful strategy as the work of inspiration.
  
  A ‘Suvorov school’ of generals who had apprenticed under him played a prominent role in the Russian military. Among them was future Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov who led the Imperial Russian Army against Napoleon during the Napoleonic Wars, including the French invasion of Russia.
  
  The Suvorov Museum opened in Saint Petersburg in 1900 to commemorate the centenary of the general's death. Apart from in St. Petersburg, other Suvorov monuments have feature in Focşani, Ochakov (1907), Sevastopol, Izmail, Tulchin, Kobrin, Novaya Ladoga, Kherson, Timanovka, Simferopol, Kaliningrad, Konchanskoye, Rymnik, Elm, Switzerland and in the Swiss Alps.
  
  During World War II, the Soviet Union revived the memory of many pre-1917 heroes in order to raise patriotism. Suvorov was the Tsarist military figure most often referred to by Joseph Stalin, who also adopted the rank of Generalissimo that Suvorov had previously held. The Order of Suvorov was established by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on 29 July 1942 and is rewarded to senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations against superior enemy forces.
  
  The town of Suvorovo in Varna Province, Bulgaria, was named after Suvorov, as was the Russian ship which discovered Suwarrow Island in the Pacific in 1814.
  
  Various currency notes of the Transnistrian ruble depict Suvorov.
  
  There is a Square in Tiraspol, Transnistria named after Suvorov.
  
  His prowess, military wisdom, and daring remain in high regard. Another of his many utterances, "Achieve victory not by numbers, but by knowing how" and "Train hard, fight easy. Train easy and you will have hard fighting" are well known in the Russian military. “Train hard, fight easy” became a Russian proverb.
  
  A bust of the Generalissimo is prominently displayed in the office of the Russian Minister of Defense.
  
  In Russia, there are 12 secondary-level military schools called Suvorov Military School that were established during the USSR. There is also a military school in Minsk named after Suvorov. A military school after Alexander Suvorov and Valerian Madatov is currently being constructed in the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Republic under a national security program.

Works

More photos

• book

  • L'Art de Vaincre de Souvorof (Sciences Sociales) (French Edition)

    (L'art de vaincre de Souvorof / General Dragomirof Date de...)

  • Nauka pobezhdat-VPM

    ("Nauka pobezhdat" - genialnoe proizvedenie velichaishego ...)

  • Anekdoten Aus Dem Leben Des Fürsten Italinsky Grafen Suworoff-Rymniksky, Russisck Kaiserlichen Feldmarschalls (German Edition)

    (This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before ...)

  • Correspondenz des Kais. Russ. Generalissimus, Fürsten Italiisky, Grafen Alexander Wassiljewitsch Suworoff-Rimniksky Über die Russisch-Oestreichische ... auf Kaiserl (German Edition)

    (Excerpt from Correspondenz des Kais. Russ. Generalissimus...)

  • Zhizn' Suvorova Im Samim Opisannaya, Ili Sobranie Pisem I Sochinenij Ego Chast' I I II (Russian Edition)

    (V 1812 godu S. Glinka vypuskaet knigu "Zhizn' Suvorova, i...)

Views

Quotations: "Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks. "

"What is difficult in training will become easy in a battle"

"One minute can decide the outcome of the battle, one hour - the outcome of the campaign, and one day - the fate of the country. "

"The more comfort, the less courage there is. "

"A strong pursuit, give no time for the enemy to think, take advantage of victory, uproot him, cut off his escape route. "

"Train hard, fight easy. "

"Judgment of eye, speed and attack are the basis of victory. "

"Win with ability, not with numbers. "

"As long as the enemy fights he must be beaten relentlessly, but a defeated enemy and especially the civilian population must be treated generously. "

"To me death is better than the defensive. "

"A hard drill makes an easy battle. "

"He who is afraid is half beaten. "

"When the enemy is driven back, we have failed, and when he is cut off, encircled and dispersed, we have succeeded. "

Personality

Suvorov's brilliant military skills, his daring disregard of current military theories, and the original methods of waging war peculiar to him seldom found proper appreciation among the military experts of his time. His resolute and independent character did not permit him to engage in court intrigues, thus he could not hope for recognition at home. Abroad, contradictory judgments on Suvorov were the order of the day. Some regarded him as "a general without a science, " a mere rough-and-ready bruiser who rushed headlong into battle with an utter disregard of all rules of warfare; others saw him as a sort of wizard who could conjure up victories as if by magic. Karl Clausewitz described him as a "crude, practical soldier. "

Quotes from others about the person

• Napoleon I said that "Suvorov had the soul of a great general, but not the headpiece. " But Lord Nelson wrote to Suvorov: "I am being overwhelmed with honors, but I was to-day found worthy of the greatest of them all: I was told that I was like you. I am proud that, with so little to my credit, I resemble so a great man. "

Connections

Suvorov was married to Varvara Ivanovna Prozorovskaya of the Golitsyn family and had a son and daughter, but his family life was not happy and he had an unpleasant relationship with his wife due to her infidelity. Suvorov's son, Arkadi Suvorov (1783–1811) served as a general officer in the Russian army during the Napoleonic and Turkish wars of the early 19th century, and drowned in the same river Rymnik in 1811 that had brought his father so much fame. The drowning of his son in the river is supported by Aleksey Yermolov's memoirs, as well as by the military historian Christopher Duffy. His grandson Alexander Arkadievich (1804–1882) served as Governor General of Riga in 1848–61 and Saint Petersburg in 1861–66. Suvorov's daughter Natalia Alexandrovna (1775–1844) known under her name Suvorochka married count Nikolay Zubov.

Father:

Vasiliy Suvorov

He was a general-in-chief and a senator in the Governing Senate, and was credited with translating Vauban's works into Russian.

Mother:

Avdotya (Evdokia) Feodosievna Suvorova

Her father, Feodosiy Semenovich, belonged to the old family of the Moscow service nobility, since 1725 he was vice-president of the Votchina collegium.

Spouse:

Varvara Ivanovna Prozorovskaya

She was of the Golitsyn family.

Daughter:

Natalia Alexandrovna

(1775–1844)

Son:

Arkadi Suvorov

(1783–1811)

References

• Alexander Suvorov, God of War / Alexandr Suvorov Bog voyny
• The Art of Victory: The Life and Achievements of Generalissimo Suvorov 1729 - 1800
• Suvorov, generalissimus-genius (Historiallisia tutkimuksia) (Finnish Edition)
• Versuch Einer Kriegsgeschichte Des Grafen Alexander Suworow Rymnikski: Russl. Kayserl. General Feldmarschal : Mit Kupfern, Volume 1
• Versuch Einer Kriegsgeschichte Des Grafen Alexander Suworow Rymnikski: Russl. Kayserl. General Feldmarschal : Mit Kupfern, Volume 2
• Versuch Einer Kriegsgeschichte Des Grafen Alexander Suworow Rymnikski: Russl. Kayserl. General Feldmarschal : Mit Kupfern, Volume 3
• A Sketch Of Suwarow And His Last Campaign (1851)
• Alexander Suvorov, the generalissimo of the Russian troops. His life and victories (Russian Edition)
• Alexander Suvorov: A Biography
• Suvoroff