It is interesting that Alexander Vasilevsky - the marshal of the Soviet Union and one of the most important military leaders of the USSR - in his youth could not imagine what would make such a dizzying career. His contribution to the long-awaited victory over fascist Germany was truly enormous: in the most difficult years for the Soviet state, he headed the General Staff, developing large-scale military operations and coordinating their implementation.
Childhood and youth
Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich, according to the metric, was born in 1895, September 16 (according to the old style). However, he always believed that he was born a day later, namely on the significant holiday for all Christians, Faith, Hope and Love, celebrated in a new style on September 30. The fact is that on this day his mother was born, whom he loved very much. Perhaps that is why in his memoirs he called precisely this date.
Vasilevsky Alexander - a native of the village of New Golchikha (Kinesham district). His father, Mikhail Alexandrovich, served as a psalmist at the St. Nicholas Cathedral of Believers, and his mother, Sokolova Nadezhda Ivanovna, was the daughter of a clergyman from the neighboring village of Uglets. Alexander grew up in a large family in which eight children were brought up. He was the fourth child in a row.
In 1897, the family moved to the village of Novopokrovskoye, in which the father of Alexander Mikhailovich became the priest of the newly built Ascension Church of the Assumption. The future marshal received his primary education at a parish school, in 1909 he successfully graduated from a religious school in Kineshma, and then entered the Kostroma seminary.
Having become a student, in the same year he took part in the all-Russian strike of students, which opposed the ban on admission to institutes and universities. For this protest, he and several of his comrades were expelled by the authorities from Kostroma. He was able to return to study only a few months later, when some of the requirements of the seminarians were satisfied.
Choice of profession
According to Vasilyevsky himself, the priest’s career was not interesting to him, since he dreamed of working on the ground and wanted to become a land surveyor or an agronomist. But plans changed dramatically when World War I began.
Most of the young people captured slogans about defending the Motherland, Alexander Vasilevsky and his comrades were no exception. To graduate from the seminary a year earlier, he and several of his classmates passed the final exams as an external student, after which they entered the Alekseevsky Military School.
During the First World War
Already in May 1915, after an accelerated training course, which lasted only four months, he received the rank of ensign and was sent to the front. Thus began the military biography of Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich, the future marshal of the Soviet Union. At first he served in one of the spare parts, and a few months later he ended up on the Southwestern Front, where he became a half-company commander in the Novokhopyorsk regiment. For good service, Vasilevsky was soon promoted to company commander, who was subsequently recognized as the best in the regiment.
In the spring of 1916, he and his soldiers participated in the notorious Brusilovsky breakthrough. Then the Russian army suffered heavy losses not only among the personnel, but also among the officers. So, he was appointed commander of the battalion with the rank of headquarters captain. Being near Adjud-Nou (Romania), Alexander Vasilevsky learned about the October Revolution in Russia. After some deliberation in November 1917, he decides to leave the service for a while and goes on vacation.
Civil War
At the end of December of the same year, Vasilevsky received a notification that, on the basis of the then principle of electing commanders, he was elected by the soldiers of his 409th regiment, which at that time was part of the Romanian Front and was under the command of General Shcherbachev. This man was an ardent supporter of the Central Council, who advocated the independence of Ukraine. In this regard, the military department of Kineshma advised Vasilevsky not to return to his native regiment. Before being drafted into the Red Army, while living in his parents' house, he was engaged in agriculture, and then for some time worked as a teacher in two elementary schools in Novosilsky Uyezd (Tula province).
In the spring of 1919, Vasilevsky Alexander was sent to the 4th battalion as a platoon instructor, and literally a month later he was appointed commander of a detachment of one hundred people and sent to Efremov district (Tula province) to combat banditry and to assist in the implementation of the surplus appraisal.
In the summer of the same year he was transferred to Tula, where a new rifle division was just being formed. By that time, the Southern Front, together with the troops of General Denikin, was rapidly approaching the city. Vasilevsky was appointed commander of the 5th Infantry Regiment. However, he and his soldiers did not have to engage in battle with the Denikinites, because the Southern Front did not reach Tula, but stopped at Kromy and Orel.
War with the White Poles
At the end of 1919, the Tula division was sent to the Western Front, where there was already a struggle with the interventionists. Here, Alexander Vasilevsky becomes an assistant commander of the regiment and, as part of the 15th Army, shoulder to shoulder with his soldiers bravely fights against the White Poles. In July of that year, he was transferred back to the regiment, where he had once served. After some time, Vasilevsky participated in the hostilities against the Polish army, which unfolded near Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
At this time, Alexander Mikhailovich first had a conflict with his superiors. The fact is that the brigade commander O. I. Kalnin ordered him to take command of the regiment that had already randomly retreated and did not know where. The order was required to be executed in a very short time, and, according to Vasilevsky himself, it was simply impossible to do. As a result of the conflict, he almost fell under the tribunal, but everything was resolved safely, and he was only first demoted, and then the brigade’s order was canceled altogether.
Joining the party
After the Civil War, Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich, a brief biography of which is presented in this article, took part in the liquidation of the Bulak-Balakhovich detachment, and also fought banditry in the territory of Smolensk province. Over the next ten years, he successfully commanded at the same time three regiments that were part of the 48th Infantry Division, stationed in Tver.
In 1927, passed tactical rifle courses, and a year later one of his regiments distinguished himself in the exercises, which was noted by an inspection team specially created for these purposes. At the district maneuvers in 1930, his soldiers also performed well, having received an excellent mark and taking first place among numerous applicants
It can be assumed that it was precisely these successes that largely dictated his early transfer to work at headquarters. Due to the fact that A.M. Vasilevsky began to occupy higher military posts, his entry into the Communist Party became simply necessary. He filed an application with the Politburo. He was examined in a short time, and Alexander Mikhailovich became a candidate for party membership. However, in connection with the purges of 1933-1936. he will be accepted into the party only a few years later, in 1938, when he will work in the General Staff.
Important negotiations
In 1937, Vasilevsky received a new appointment - the head of one of the branches of the General Staff. In 1939, he took another position - the deputy chief of the Operations Directorate. In this post, he was developing the first variant of military operations against Finland, which was later rejected by Stalin himself. Vasilevsky Alexander was one of the representatives of the USSR who participated in the negotiations, as well as the signing of peace agreements with the Finns. In addition, he was present at the demarcation of the new border between the two countries.
In 1940, as a result of numerous personnel changes in the General Staff and the People’s Commissariat of Defense, he became deputy chief of the Operations Directorate and received the rank of division commander. In April of the same year he took part in the development of a plan regarding possible military operations against Germany. On November 9, A.M. Vasilevsky, as part of a Kremlin delegation led by Vyacheslav Molotov, makes a trip to Berlin to negotiate with the German government.
The beginning of World War II
From the first days of the war, Major General Vasilevsky took an active part in the management and development of military plans to protect our homeland. As you know, Alexander Mikhailovich was one of the key figures involved in organizing the defense of the capital of the Soviet state and the subsequent counteroffensive.
In October and November 1941, when the military situation near Moscow was not in our favor and the General Staff was evacuated, Vasilevsky led the task force that provided full service to the Headquarters. Its main duty was to quickly and objectively evaluate all events occurring at the front, develop strategic directives and plans, maintain strict control over their implementation, prepare, and then build up reserves, as well as provide troops with everything necessary.
Battle of stalingrad
At the beginning of the war A. M. Vasilevsky had several times to replace the ill chief of the General Staff Shaposhnikov and to develop various military operations. In June 1942, he was already officially appointed to this post. As a representative of the Headquarters, from July 23 to August 26 he was at the front and coordinated the joint actions of various military units at the defensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad.
His contribution to the development and improvement of military art at that time was truly enormous. While Zhukov fought on the Western Front, Vasilevsky successfully completed the counterattack near Stalingrad. After that, he was transferred to the southwest, where Soviet troops repelled the attacks of the Manstein group. Unfortunately, in a small article it is impossible to list all the merits of Alexander Mikhailovich during the Second World War, and, as history shows, there were many of them.
Alexander Vasilevsky: personal life
His first wife was Serafima Nikolaevna Voronova. In this marriage, in 1924, his son Yuri was born. At that time, the Vasilevsky family lived in Tver. In 1931, Alexander Mikhailovich was transferred to Moscow, where he met with Ekaterina Saburova, his future second wife. He never told anyone about their first meeting, since at that time he was still married. After 3 years, he left the family and married Catherine, who had already managed to finish the courses of stenographers. A year later, they had a son, who was named Igor.
It must be said that the family has always been significant support for the Soviet commander, especially during the Great Patriotic War. Needless to say, the military biography of Alexander Vasilevsky and the post of chief of the General Staff suggested tremendous moral and physical stress? In addition, numerous sleepless nights began to take their toll, as it is known that JV Stalin worked precisely at this time of day, which he also demanded from his entourage.
Life like a powder keg
The selfless love of his wife, of course, supported Vasilevsky, but none of those close to the Soviet government could live in peace. The constant stress from the unknown what will happen tomorrow with him and his family depressed the marshal very much.
One day in 1944, he called his youngest son to a conversation, from which it became clear that Alexander Mikhailovich wanted to say goodbye. And this was not a surprise, since the life of everyone who was surrounded by Stalin hung literally in the balance. It is known that in Volynsky, at the state house of the Vasilevsky family, all the service staff, including the hostess's sister, the cook and even the nanny, were employees of the NKVD.
Peaceful time
After defeating fascist Germany from March 1946 to November 1948, Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky was simultaneously the chief of the General Staff and deputy minister of the USSR Armed Forces. From 1949 to 1953 he held ministerial posts in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union.
After the death of I.V. Stalin, the marshal's career moved up and down. In 1953-1956 he served as the first deputy defense minister, after which he himself asked to be relieved of his post. In less than five months, Vasilevsky was again returned to his former place of work. At the end of 1957, he was dismissed for health reasons, and then again returned.
Alexander Vasilevsky died (see photo above) December 5, 1977. Almost all of his life and activity was entirely aimed at serving the Motherland, therefore, according to the traditions that have developed in the Soviet Union, he was buried near the wall of the Moscow Kremlin.