Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. As the Chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky was responsible for planning and coordinating almost all decisive Soviet offensives in World War II, from the Stalingrad counteroffensive to the assault on East Prussia and Königsberg.
Background
Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky was born on September 30, 1895 in Novaya Golchikha in the Kineshma Uyezd (now part of the city of Vichuga in the Ivanovo Oblast) in a family of Russian ethnicity. Vasilevsky was the fourth of eight children. His father, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vasilevsky, was a priest to the nearby St. Nicholas Church. His mother, Nadezhda Ivanovna Sokolova, was the daughter of a priest in the nearby village of Ugletz.
Education
In 1897, the family moved to Novopokrovskoe, where his father became a priest to the newly built Ascension Church, and where Aleksandr began his education in the church school. In 1909, he entered Kostroma seminary, which required considerable financial sacrifice on the part of his parents. The same year, a ministerial directive preventing former seminarists from starting university studies initiated a nationwide seminarist movement, with classes stopping in most Russian seminaries. Vasilevsky, among others, was expelled from Kostroma, and only returned several months later, after the seminarists' demands had been satisfied.
After completing his studies in the seminary and spending a few years working as a teacher, Vasilevsky intended to become an agronomist or a surveyor, but the outbreak of the First World War changed his plans. Vasilevsky took his exams in January 1915 and entered the Alexander Military Law Academy in February. After four months of courses that he later considered to be completely outdated, theoretical, and inappropriate for modern warfare, he was sent to the front with the rank of praporshchik, the highest non-commissioned rank in the Russian infantry, in May 1915. From June to September, Vasilevsky was assigned to a series of reserve regiments, and finally arrived at the front in September as a half-company commander (polurotny) in the 409th Novokhopersky regiment, 109th division, 9th Army. In the spring of 1916, Vasilevsky took command of a company, which eventually became one of the most recognized in the regiment In May 1916, he led his men during the Brusilov offensive, becoming a battalion commander after heavy casualties among officers, and gaining the rank of captain by age 22.
In November 1917, just after the Russian Revolution, Vasilevsky decided to end his military career. He travelled from Romania, where his unit was deployed in 1917, back to his own village.
Career
In December 1917, while back at home, Vasilevsky learned that the men of the 409th regiment, which had been relocated to Ukraine, had elected him as their commander (at the start of the Russian Revolution, commanders were elected by their own men). However, the local military authorities recommended that he decline the proposal because of the heavy fighting taking place in Ukraine between pro-Soviet forces and the pro-independence Ukrainian government (the Central Rada). He followed this advice and became a drill instructor in his own Kineshma uezd. He retired in September 1918 and became a school teacher in the Tula Oblast.
In April 1919, Vasilevsky was again conscripted into the Red Army and sent to command a company fighting against peasant uprisings and assisting in the emergency Soviet policy of prodrazvyorstka, which required peasants to surrender agricultural surplus for a fixed price. Later that year, Vasilevsky took command of a new reserve battalion, and, in October 1919, of a regiment. In December 1919, Vasilevsky was sent to the Western front as a deputy regimental commander, participating in the Polish-Soviet War.
As deputy regimental commander of the 427th regiment, 32nd brigade, 11th division, Vasilevsky participated at the battle of Berezina, pulling back as the Polish forces had been slowly but steadily advancing eastward, and in the subsequent counterattack that began on May 14, 1920, breaking through Polish lines before being stopped by cavalry counterattacks. Later, starting from July 4, 1920, he took part at the Soviet offensive towards Wilno, advancing to the Neman River despite heavy Polish resistance and German fortifications erected in the region during World War I. Vasilevsky's regiment arrived near Wilno by mid-July and stayed there on a garrison duty until the Treaty of Riga.
After the Treaty of Riga, Vasilevsky fought against remaining White forces and peasant uprisings in Belarus and in the Smolensk Oblast until August 1921 By 1930, he had served as the regimental commander of the 142nd, 143rd, and 144th rifle regiments. In 1928, he graduated from the Vystrel regimental commander's course. Vasilevsky's connections and good performance earned him an appointment to the Directorate of Military Training in 1931. While at the Directorate of Military Training, Vasilevsky supervised the Red Army's training and worked on military manuals and field books.
In 1934, Vasilevsky was appointed to be the Senior Military Training Supervisor of the Volga Military District (Privolzhsky voyenny okrug).[6] In 1937, he entered the Academy of the General Staff, where he studied important aspects of military strategy and other topics under experienced generals, including Mikhail Tukhachevsky.
By mid-1937, Stalin's Great Purge eliminated a significant number of senior military commanders, vacating a number of positions on the General Staff. Vasilevsky was appointed to the General Staff in October 1937 and held "responsible for operational training of senior officers."In 1938, he was made a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1939, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff, while holding the rank of divisional commander. While in this position he and Shaposhnikov were responsible for the planning of the Winter War, and after the Moscow peace treaty, for setting the demarcation line with Finland.
As a senior officer, Vasilevsky met frequently with Joseph Stalin. During one of these meetings, Stalin asked Vasilevsky about his family. Since Vasilevsky's father was a priest and thus a potential "enemy of the people", Vasilevsky said that he had ended his relationship with them in 1926. Stalin, surprised, suggested that he reestablish his family ties at once, and help his parents with whatever needs they might have.
By June 1941, Vasilevsky was working around the clock in his General Staff office. In August 1941, Vasilevsky was appointed Chief of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff and Deputy Chief of the General Staff, making him one of the key figures in the Soviet military leadership. At the end of September 1941, Vasilevsky gave a speech before the General Staff, describing the situation as extremely difficult, but pointing out that the northern part of the front was holding, that Leningrad still offered resistance, and that such a situation would potentially allow some reserves to be gathered in the northern part of the front.
In October 1941, the situation at the front was becoming critical. As a representative of the Soviet General Staff (Stavka), Vasilevsky was sent to the Western Front to coordinate the defense and guarantee a flow of supplies. During heavy fighting near the outskirts of Moscow, Vasilevsky spent all of his available time both in the Stavka and on the front line trying to coordinate the three fronts committed to Moscow's defense.On October 28, 1941, Vasilevsky was promoted to Lieutenant General.
The Battle of Moscow was a very difficult period in Vasilevsky's life.In December 1941, Vasilevsky coordinated the Moscow counteroffensive, and by early 1942, the general counteroffensive in the Moscow and Rostov directions. In April 1942, he coordinated the unsuccessful elimination of the Demyansk pocket, the encirclement of the German 2nd Army Corps near Leningrad. On April 24, with Shaposhnikov seriously ill, Vasilevsky was appointed as acting Chief of Staff and promoted to Colonel General on April 26.
In May 1942 one of the most controversial episodes in Vasilevsky's career occurred: the Second Battle of Kharkov, a failed counteroffensive that led to a stinging Red Army defeat, and ultimately to a successful German offensive (Operation Blue) in the south.
In June 1942, Vasilevsky was briefly sent to Leningrad to coordinate an attempt to break the encirclement of the 2nd Shock Army led by General Andrei Vlasov. On June 26, 1942 Vasilevsky was appointed Chief of the General Staff, and, in October 1942, Deputy Minister of Defense. He was now one of the few people responsible for the global planning of Soviet offensives. Starting from July 23, 1942, Vasilevsky was a Stavka representative on the Stalingrad front, which he correctly anticipated as the main axis of attack.
In January 1943, Vasilevsky coordinated the offensives on the upper Don River near Voronezh and Ostrogozhsk, leading to decisive encirclements of several Axis divisions.In mid-January, Vasilevsky was promoted to General of the Army and only 29 days later, on February 16, 1943, to Marshal of the Soviet Union.
At the start of 1944, Vasilevsky coordinated the Soviet offensive on the right bank of the Dnieper, leading to a decisive victory in eastern Ukraine. On April 10, 1944, the day Odessa was retaken, Vasilevsky was presented with the Order of Victory, only the second ever awarded (the first having been awarded to Zhukov). Vasilevsky's car rolled over a mine during an inspection of Sevastopol after the fighting ended on May 10, 1944. He received a head wound, cut by flying glass, and was evacuated to Moscow for recovery.
During Operation Bagration, the general counteroffensive in Belarus, Vasilevsky coordinated the offensives of the 1st Baltic and 3rd Belorussian Fronts. When Soviet forces entered the Baltic states, Vasilevsky assumed complete responsibility for all the Baltic fronts, discarding the 3rd Belorussian. On July 29, 1944, he was made Hero of the Soviet Union for his military successes In February 1945, Vasilevsky was again appointed commander of 3rd Belorussian Front to lead the East Prussian Operation, leaving the post of General Chief of Staff to Aleksei Antonov. As a front commander, Vasilevsky led the East Prussian operation and organized the assaults on Königsberg and Pillau. He also negotiated the surrender of the Königsberg garrison with its commander, Otto Lasch. For the brilliant successes at Königsberg and in Eastern Prussia, Vasilevsky was awarded his second Order of Victory.Between 1946 and 1949, Vasilevsky remained Chief of Staff, then became Defense Minister from 1949 to 1953. Following Stalin's death in 1953, Vasilevsky fell from grace and was replaced by Nikolai Bulganin, although he remained deputy Defense minister. In 1956, he was appointed Deputy Defense Minister for Military Science, a secondary position with no real military power. Vasilevsky would occupy this position for only one year before being pensioned off by Nikita Khrushchev, thus becoming a victim of the bloodless purge that also saw the end of Zhukov. In 1959, he was appointed a General Inspector of the Ministry of Defense, an honorary position.
In 1973, he published his memoirs, The Cause of My Whole Life. Aleksandr Vasilevsky died on December 5, 1977. His body was cremated and his ashes immured in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
Personality
Vasilevsky was regarded by his peers as a kind and soft military commander. Vasilevsky also showed his respected for subordinates and demonstrated an acute sense of diplomacy and politeness, which Stalin appreciated. As a result, Vasilevsky enjoyed almost unlimited trust from Stalin.
Quotes from others about the person
Georgy Zhukov characterized Vasilevsky as "a man who knew his job as he spent a long time commanding a regiment and who earned great respect from everybody."
In his memoirs, Nikita Khrushchev described Vasilevsky as an "able specialist" even so early in the war.
John Erickson wrote that: "Vasilevskii is a much underestimated soldier, a figure who flits about Soviet historiography but a commander inured to the battlefield yet deft in his handling of the whole Soviet war machine."\
General Sergei Shtemenko, a member of the General Staff during the war, described Vasilevsky "as a brilliant, yet modest officer with outstanding experience in staff work".