49 Facts About Aleksandr Vasilevsky

Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky was a Soviet general who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union in February 1943 after playing a key role at the Battle of Stalingrad.

In February 1945, Aleksandr Vasilevsky gained command of the 3rd Belorussian Front in Germany and stepped down as chief of the general staff.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky was born on September 30,1895, in Novaya Golchikha in the Kineshma Uyezd in a family of Russian ethnicity.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky's father, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vasilevsky, was a priest to the nearby St Nicholas Church.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky reportedly broke off all contact with his parents after 1926 because of his Communist Party membership and his military duties in the Red Army; three of his brothers did so.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky's 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 Vasilevsky began his education in the church school.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky took his exams in January 1915 and entered the Alexander Military Law Academy in February.

In November 1917, just after the Russian Revolution, Aleksandr Vasilevsky decided to end his military career.

In December 1917, while back at home, Aleksandr Vasilevsky learned that the men of the 409th regiment, which had been relocated to Ukraine, had elected him as their commander.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky followed this advice and became a drill instructor in his own Kineshma uezd.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky retired in September 1918 and became a school teacher in the Tula Oblast.

Later that year, Aleksandr Vasilevsky took command of a new reserve battalion, and, in October 1919, of a regiment.

In December 1919, Aleksandr Vasilevsky was sent to the Western front as a deputy regimental commander, participating in the Polish-Soviet War.

Since Aleksandr Vasilevsky's father was a priest and thus a potential "enemy of the people", Aleksandr Vasilevsky said that he had ended his relationship with them in 1926.

When most of the General Staff was evacuated from Moscow, Aleksandr Vasilevsky remained in the city as liaison between the Moscow Staff and the evacuated members of the General Staff.

On October 28,1941, Aleksandr Vasilevsky was promoted to Lieutenant General.

In December 1941, Aleksandr 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 May 1942 one of the most controversial episodes in Aleksandr 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 in the south.

In June 1942, Aleksandr 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, Aleksandr Vasilevsky was appointed Chief of the General Staff, and, in October 1942, Deputy Minister of Defense.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky was now one of the few people responsible for the global planning of Soviet offensives.

The army in question was Rodion Malinovsky's 2nd Guards' which Aleksandr Vasilevsky committed against a dangerous German counter-attack launched from Kotelnikovo by the 57th Panzer corps that was designed to deblockade the Stalingrad pocket.

In January 1943, Aleksandr Vasilevsky coordinated the offensives on the upper Don River near Voronezh and Ostrogozhsk, leading to decisive encirclements of several Axis divisions.

In mid-January, Aleksandr Vasilevsky was promoted to General of the Army and only 29 days later, on February 16,1943, to Marshal of the Soviet Union.

When it became clear that the supposed German offensive was postponed and would no longer take place in May 1943 as expected, Aleksandr Vasilevsky successfully defended continuing to wait for the Wehrmacht to attack, rather than making a preemptive strike as Khrushchev wanted.

At the start of 1944, Aleksandr Vasilevsky coordinated the Soviet offensive on the right bank of the Dnieper, leading to a decisive victory in eastern Ukraine.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky's car rolled over a mine during an inspection of Sevastopol after the fighting ended on May 10,1944.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky received a head wound, cut by flying glass, and was evacuated to Moscow for recovery.

When Soviet forces entered the Baltic states, Aleksandr Vasilevsky assumed complete responsibility for all the Baltic fronts, discarding the 3rd Belorussian.

In February 1945, Aleksandr 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.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky negotiated the surrender of the Konigsberg garrison with its commander, Otto Lasch.

Indeed, Aleksandr 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.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky began drafting the war plan for Japan by late 1944 and began full-time preparation by April 27,1945.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky then received the appointment of Commander-in-Chief of USSR Forces in the Far East and travelled by armoured train to Chita to execute the plan.

Between 1946 and 1949, Aleksandr Vasilevsky remained Chief of Staff, then became Defense Minister from 1949 to 1953.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky died on December 5,1977, at the age of 82.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky's body was cremated and his ashes immured in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.

In 1923, Aleksandr Vasilevsky married Serafima Nikolaevna Voronova, before divorcing in 1934.

However, Aleksandr Vasilevsky eventually became one of the most decorated commanders in Soviet history.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky was awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union twice for operations on the German and Japanese fronts.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky was awarded two Orders of Victory for his successes in Crimea and Prussia.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky 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 and the Hundredth Birthday of Lenin medal.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky was regarded by his peers as a kind and soft military commander.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky showed his respect for subordinates and demonstrated an acute sense of diplomacy and politeness, which Stalin appreciated.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky never mentioned his awards in his memoirs, attesting to his modesty.

Aleksandr Vasilevsky claimed that Vasilevsky was the best Soviet military commander and that Soviet victory was mainly due to his actions as the Chief of Staff.

Reportedly, Aleksandr Vasilevsky was appointed to such high military positions because he was easy to manage.