Aleksandr Vasilevsky Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky ( , , Vichuga – December 5 , 1977 ) was a Russian career officer in the Red Army , promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943 . He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense during World War II , as well as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953 . As the Chief of the General Staff , Vasilevsky was responsible for planning and coordinating almost all decisive Soviet offensives , from the Stalingrad counteroffensive to the assault on East Prussia and Königsberg . Vasilevsky began his military career during World War I , earning the rank of captain by 1917 . At the start of the October Revolution and the Civil War he was conscripted into the Red Army , taking part in the Polish - Soviet War . After the war , he quickly rose through the ranks , becoming a regimental commander by 1930 . In this position , he showed great skill in organizing and training his troops . Vasilevsky ' s talent was noticed , and in 1931 he was appointed a member of the Directorate of Military Training . In 1937 , following Stalin ' s Great Purge , he was promoted to General Staff officer . At the start of the 1943 Soviet counteroffensive of World War II , Vasilevsky coordinated and executed the Red Army ' s offensive on the upper Don , in the Donbass , Crimea , Belarus and Baltic states , ending the war with the capture of Königsberg in April 1945 . In July 1945 , he was appointed Commander - in - Chief of Soviet forces in the Far East , executing the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation and subsequently accepting Japan ' s surrender . After the war , he became the Soviet Defense Minister , a position he held until Stalin ' s death in 1953 . With Nikita Khrushchev ' s rise , Vasilevsky began losing power and was eventually pensioned off . After his death , he was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in recognition of his past service and contributions to his nation . Biography . Childhood and early years . 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 ) . 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 . Vasilevsky reportedly broke off all contact with his parents after 1926 because of his Communist Party of the Soviet Union membership and his military duties in the Red Army ; three of his brothers did so also . However , the family resumed relations in 1940 , following Joseph Stalin ' s suggestion that they do so . According to Vasilevsky , his family was extremely poor . His father spent most of his time working to earn money , while the children assisted by working in the fields . 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 . World War I and Civil war . 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 . According to his own words , he was " overwhelmed with patriotic feelings " and decided to become a soldier instead . Vasilevsky took his exams in January 1915 and entered the Alexander Military Law Academy in February . As he recalls , " I did not decide to become an officer to start a military career . I still wanted to be an agronomist and work in some remote corner of Russia after the war . I could not suppose that my country would change , and I would . " 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 . As he wrote in his memoirs , " There was a time when I led soldiers to battle , thinking I was doing my duty as a Russian patriot . However , I understood that we have been cheated , that people needed peace . . . Therefore , my military career had to end . With no remorse , I could go back to my favorite occupation , working in the field . " He travelled from Romania , where his unit was deployed in 1917 , back to his own village . 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 . However , his regiment never took part in the battles of the Russian Civil War , as Anton Denikin ' s troops never got close to Tula . 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 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 . The interwar period . 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 , where he showed great skill in organizing and training his troops . In 1928 , he graduated from the " Vystrel " regimental commander ' s course . During these years , Vasilevsky established friendships with higher commanders and Party members , including Kliment Voroshilov , Vladimir Triandafillov and Boris Shaposhnikov . Shaposhnikov , in particular , would become Vasilevsky ' s protector until the former ' s death in 1945 . 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 . He also met several senior military commanders , such as Mikhail Tukhachevsky and Georgy Zhukov , then the Deputy Cavalry Inspector of the Red Army . Zhukov would later characterize 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 1934 , Vasilevsky was appointed to be the Senior Military Training Supervisor of the Volga Military District ( " Privolzhsky voyenny okrug " ) . 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 . To his amazement , 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 ( a sine qua non condition for a successful career in 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 . World War II . Start and Battle of Moscow . By June 1941 , Vasilevsky was working around the clock in his General Staff office . On June 22 , 1941 , he learned of the German bombing of several important military and civilian objectives , starting Operation Barbarossa . 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 , with German forces advancing towards Moscow during Operation Typhoon . 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 and men towards the region of Mozhaisk , where Soviet forces were attempting to contain the German advance . 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 . When most of the General Staff ( including its chief Marshal Shaposhnikov ) was evacuated from Moscow , Vasilevsky remained in the city as liaison between the Moscow Staff and the evacuated members of the General Staff . In his memoirs , Nikita Khrushchev described Vasilevsky as an " able specialist " even so early in the war . On October 28 , 1941 , Vasilevsky was promoted to Lieutenant General . The Battle of Moscow was a very difficult period in Vasilevsky ' s life , with the Wehrmacht approaching close enough to the city for German officers to make out some of Moscow ' s buildings through their field glasses . As he recalls , his workday often ended at 4 a . m . Moreover , with Marshal Shaposhnikov having fallen ill , Vasilevsky had to make important decisions by himself . On October 29 , 1941 , a bomb exploded in the courtyard of the General Staff . Vasilevsky was slightly wounded but continued working . The kitchen was damaged by the explosion , and the General Staff was relocated underground without hot food . Nevertheless , the Staff continued to function . In December 1941 , Vasilevsky coordinated the Moscow counteroffensive , and by early 1942 , the general counteroffensive in the Moscow and Rostov directions , further motivated in his work by the return of his evacuated family to Moscow . 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 again , Vasilevsky was appointed as acting Chief of Staff and promoted to Colonel General on April 26 . Summer and fall 1942 . 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 . After repelling the enemy from Moscow , Soviet morale was high and Stalin was determined to launch another general counteroffensive during the summer . However , Vasilevsky recognized that " the reality was more harsh than that . " Following Stalin ' s orders , the Kharkov offensive was launched on May 12 , 1942 . When the threat of encirclement became obvious , Vasilevsky and Zhukov asked for permission to withdraw the advancing Soviet forces . Stalin refused , leading to the encirclement of the Red Army forces and a total defeat . In his memoirs , Khrushchev accused Vasilevsky of being too passive and indecisive , as well as being unable to defend his point of view in front of Stalin during that particular operation . As he wrote , " It was my view that the catastrophe . . . could have been avoided if Vasilevsky had taken the position he should have . He could have taken a different position . . . but he didn ' t do that , and as a result , in my view , he had a hand in the destruction of thousands of Red Army fighters in the Kharkov campaign . " 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 . The battle of Stalingrad was another difficult period in Vasilevsky ' s life . Sent with Zhukov to the Stalingrad Front , he tried to coordinate the defenses of Stalingrad with radio links working intermittently , at best . On September 12 , 1942 , during a meeting with Stalin , Vasilevsky and Zhukov presented their plan for the Stalingrad counteroffensive after an all - night brainstorming session . Two months later , on November 19 , with Stalingrad still unconquered , Operation Uranus was launched . Since Zhukov had been sent to near Rzhev to execute Operation Mars ( the Rzhev counteroffensive ) , Vasilevsky remained near Stalingrad to coordinate the double - pincer attack that ultimately led to the German defeat and annihilation of the armies entrapped in the cauldron , all a result of the plan he had presented to Stalin on December 9 . This plan sparked some debate between Vasilevsky and Rokossovsky , who wanted an additional army for clearing Stalingrad , which Rokossovsky continued to mention to Vasilevsky even years after the war . The army in question was Rodion Malinovsky ' s 2nd Guards ' which Vasilevsky committed against a dangerous German counter - attack launched from Kotelnikovo by the 57th Panzer corps and designed to deblockade the Stalingrad pocket . Soviet victory . 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 . In March 1943 , after the creation of the Kursk salient and the failure of the Third Battle of Kharkov , Stalin and the Stavka had to decide if the offensive should be resumed despite this setback , or if it was better to adopt a defensive stance . Vasilevsky and Zhukov managed to persuade Stalin that it was necessary to halt the offensive for now , and wait for the initiative from the Wehrmacht . When it became clear that the supposed German offensive was postponed and would no longer take place in May 1943 as expected , Vasilevsky successfully defended continuing to wait for the Wehrmacht to attack , rather than making a preemptive strike as Khrushchev wanted . When the Battle of Kursk finally began on July 4 , 1943 , Vasilevsky was responsible for coordinating the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts . After the German failure at Kursk and the start of the general counteroffensive on the left bank of the Dnieper , Vasilevsky planned and executed offensive operations in the Donbass region . Later that year , he developed and executed the clearing of Nazi forces from Crimea . 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 Front s . 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 . After the war , Lasch claimed that Vasilevsky did not respect the guarantees made during the city ' s capitulation . Indeed , Vasilevsky promised that German soldiers would not be executed , that prisoners , civilians and wounded would be treated decently , and that all prisoners would return to Germany after the end of the war . Instead , Lasch remained in prison for 10 years and returned to Germany only in 1955 , as did many of the Wehrmacht soldiers and officers , while all German population was expelled from Eastern Prussia . For the brilliant successes at Königsberg and in Eastern Prussia , Vasilevsky was awarded his second Order of Victory . Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation . During the 1944 summer offensive , Stalin announced that he would appoint Vasilevsky Commander - in - Chief of Soviet Forces in the Far East once the war against Germany ended . Vasilevsky began drafting the war plan for Japan by late 1944 and began full - time preparation by April 27 , 1945 . In June 1945 , Stalin approved his plan . Vasilevsky then received the appointment of Commander - in - Chief of Soviet Forces in the Far East and flew to Chita to execute the plan . During the preparation phase , Vasilevsky further rehearsed the offensive with his army commanders and directed the start of Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation , also known as the " Battle of Manchuria " . In twenty - four days , from August 9 to September 2 , 1945 , the Japanese armies in Manchukuo were defeated , with just 37 , 000 casualties out of 1 , 600 , 000 troops on the Soviet side . For his success in this operation , Vasilevsky was awarded his second Hero of the Soviet Union decoration on September 8 . After World War II . 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 of 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 General Inspector of the Ministry of Defense , an honorary position . In 1973 , he published his memoirs , " The Matter of My Whole Life . " Aleksandr Vasilevsky died on December 5 , 1977 . His body was cremated and his ashes immured in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis . Awards . In his memoirs , Vasilevsky recalls Stalin ' s astonishment when , at a ceremony taking place in the Kremlin on December 4 , 1941 , the Soviet leader saw just a single Order of the Red Star and a medal on Vasilevsky ' s uniform . However , Vasilevsky eventually became one of the most decorated commanders in Soviet history . Vasilevsky was awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union twice for operations on the German and Japanese fronts . He was awarded two Orders of Victory ( an achievement matched only by Zhukov and Stalin ) for his successes in Crimea and Prussia . During his career , he was awarded eight Orders of Lenin ( several of them after the war ) , the Order of the October Revolution when it was created in 1967 , two Orders of the Red Banner , a first class Order of Suvorov for his operations in Ukraine and Crimea , and his first decoration , an Order of the Red Star , earned in 1940 for his brilliant staff work during the Winter War . Finally , he was awarded a third class Order for Service to the Homeland as recognition for his entire military career when this order was created in 1974 , just three years before Vasilevsky ' s death . Vasilevsky was also awarded fourteen medals . For his participation in various campaigns , he was awarded the Defense of Leningrad , Defense of Moscow , Defense of Stalingrad and Capture of Königsberg medals . As with all Soviet soldiers who took part in the war with Germany and Japan , he was awarded the Medal For the Victory Over Germany and the Medal " For the Victory over Japan " . He also received several commemorative medals , such as Twenty , Thirty , Forty , and Fifty Years Since the Creation of the Soviet Armed Forces medals , Twenty and Thirty Years Since the Victory in the Great Patriotic War medals , the Eight Hundredth Anniversary of Moscow medal ( awarded in 1947 for his participation in the battle of Moscow ) and the Hundredth Birthday of Lenin medal . In addition to Soviet orders and medals , Vasilevsky was awarded several foreign decorations such as the Polish " Virtuti Militari " Order from the Polish communist government . Personality and opinions . Vasilevsky was regarded by his peers as a kind and soft military commander . 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 . Shtemenko pointed out Vasilevsky ' s prodigious talent for strategic and operational planning . Vasilevsky also showed his respect for subordinates and demonstrated an acute sense of diplomacy and politeness , which Stalin appreciated . As a result , Vasilevsky enjoyed almost unlimited trust from Stalin . Several years before the war , Zhukov described Vasilevsky as " a man who knew his job as he spent a long time commanding a regiment and who earned great respect from everybody . " During the war , Zhukov described Vasilevsky as an able commander , enjoying exceptional trust from Stalin , and able to persuade him even during heated discussions . Vasilevsky never mentioned his awards ( including the two orders of Victory ) in his memoirs , attesting to his modesty . Vasilevsky ' s actions and personality were sometimes the object of dispute , while less controversial than those of Zhukov . In particular , Nikita Khrushchev defined Vasilevsky in his memoirs as a passive commander completely under the control of Stalin , and blamed him for the Kharkov failure in Spring 1942 . Among Vasilevsky ' s strongest critics was Rokossovsky , who criticized Vasilevsky ' s decisions during the Stalingrad counteroffensive , especially his refusal to commit the 2nd Army to the annihilation of the encircled German divisions , and for general interference with his own work . Rokossovsky even wrote in his memoirs : " I do not even understand what role could Zhukov and Vasilevsky play on Stalingrad front . " In fairness to Vasilevsky it needs noting that he only diverted the 2nd army from the assault on the Stalingrad pocket to commit it against a dangerous German counter - attack from Kotelnikovo , designed to deblockade the pocket , which was enjoying great numerical superiority . Vasilevsky , it seems , was dismayed by Rokossovsky ' s opposition to the transfer . On the other hand , the writer Victor Suvorov held up Vasilevsky over Zhukov . According to him , Vasilevsky was the only officer responsible for the successful planning and execution of the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad , and Zhukov played no role whatsoever in it . He claimed that Vasilevsky was the best Soviet military commander and that Soviet victory was mainly due to his actions as the Chief of Staff . According to Suvorov , Zhukov and the Soviet propaganda machine tried , after the war , to reduce the role of the General Staff ( and thus Vasilevsky ' s importance ) and to increase the role of the Party and Zhukov . A post - 1991 view on Vasilevsky was elaborated by Mezhiritzky in his book , " Reading Marshal Zhukov " . Mezhiritzky points out Vasilevsky ' s timidity and his inability to defend his opinions before Stalin . Reportedly , Vasilevsky was appointed to such high military positions because he was easy to manage . However , Mezhiritzky recognizes Vasilevsky ' s intelligence and assumes that Vasilevsky was indeed the main author of the Stalingrad counteroffensive . He also points out that Vasilevsky and Zhukov probably deliberately under - reported the estimated strength of the 6th Army to gain Stalin ' s approval for that risky operation .