Marshal Konev is one of the most famous people of the 20th century. The famous Soviet commander made an invaluable contribution to the Victory. Under his leadership, many strategically important operations of the Great Patriotic War were developed. His name is known to every person in the post-Soviet space. "Marshal Konev: A Brief Biography" is a must-read for all students of military academies.
Youth
Marshal Konev was born on December 28, 1897 in the Vologda province. Ivan's family consisted of simple peasants. The future commander graduated from college and already from adolescence worked on forestry. He combined this hard lesson with learning and self-development. At the age of 19, Ivan was drafted into the army. First, he studied at the capital's academy. A year later, he was sent to the West to participate in battles against the German and Austro-Hungarian troops. Thus began the military career of a great man.
In the battles on the South-Western Front, where the future Marshal Konev served, the Russian troops suffered huge losses. For the first 2 years of World War I, the coalition of the forces of the Triple Alliance advanced hundreds of kilometers, almost reaching the Dnieper. One of the most famous events on this site is the Brusilovsky breakthrough. After a series of major defeats, the emperor ordered an offensive operation in the area of Lutsk. This was part of the general plan of the Entente. The operation began in late spring 1916 and ended in the fall with a major defeat of the Austro-Hungarian forces. Future Marshal Konev was directly involved in the breakthrough.
After the war
Ivan was demobilized in the winter of 1918. Growing up in a peasant family, he perfectly saw the inequality between the workers and the bourgeoisie in the Russian Empire. Therefore, immediately after his arrival, he joined the Bolshevik party. The experience gained on the battlefields of the First World War allowed him to become commissar in Nikolsk. He participated in the civil war, mainly in the East. There, detachments of the Red Army entrusted to him fought with the units of the "whites" and the Japanese.
When planning operations, the future Marshal Konev proved to be an outstanding commander. He did an excellent job with the tasks and often took the initiative. In addition to military merit, he distinguished himself in matters of building a new state.
Marshal Konev: biography. Interwar period
Ivan was devoted to the ideas of communism. Party comrades always listened to him. He participated in the 10th congress of the Workers 'and Peasants' Party. There it was decided to storm Kronstadt, where the rebels settled. After the end of the civil war and the stabilization of the situation in the country, Konev completely devoted himself to the art of war. He is studying at the Higher Military Academy. There he is transferred to a special group.
Taking into account the combat experience, already in 1935 Ivan became the commander of the division. He is sent to Mongolia, where he is until the beginning of the 40s. While serving in the East, Konev reads a lot and studies all the subtleties of army command. Little is known about his first wife. They met during the civil war. The wounded Konev immediately fell in love with young Anna and they soon got married. Contemporaries associate this event with the youth of Ivan. During the Civil War, feelings were overwhelmed by young Red Army soldiers, so field marriages were by no means uncommon. The lovers lived together for 20 years, after which they parted. For many, this came as a surprise.
The colleagues did not dare to talk about the personal life of the commander if Marshal Konev was nearby. The family was a refuge for him, a quiet marina in which he could relax after the difficult weekly war, and which took him almost half his life. Anna loved open receptions and noisy feasts. Therefore, many historians believe that this is what caused the breakdown of the union.
The beginning of World War II
In 1941, Marshal Konev became lieutenant general of the Red Army. The 19th division entrusted to him immediately after formation was sent south. At this time, the Nazis quickly broke through the territory of Belarus. The main lines of defense were located beyond the Dnieper, at the western borders of the USSR, since it was there that the main blow was expected. The sudden invasion through the seemingly impassable marshland of Belarus caused a panic in the ranks of the Red Army. Therefore, the experienced Konev was poisoned on the Western Front to strengthen a group of troops.
In mid-July, Vitebsk fell. A huge number of troops were surrounded. Then the head of the Nazi General Staff Halder reported that the war against Russia was won in 2 weeks. In his opinion, further resistance could not stop the Wehrmacht.
Defense failure near Vyazma
The Third Reich set his sights on Moscow. Smolensk stood in the way of the Germans. Fights for the city lasted more than two months. A well-trained opponent advances in three directions. The hastily forming units of the Soviet army did not manage to repulse the offensive. As a result of the fighting, several divisions fell into the "cauldrons". Marshal Konev Ivan Stepanovich as part of the 19th Army was also surrounded.
After losing communication, the command believed that the commander was killed or captured. But Ivan Stepanovich managed to organize a withdrawal and withdrew the headquarters, as well as the regiment of communication with his own. His actions during the battle of Smolensk evoked approval from Stalin himself. Therefore, soon Konev was appointed commander of the Western Front.
The most difficult operations
It so happened that the Soviet units, which took part in the most unsuccessful operations, were invariably commanded by Marshal Konev. The biography of the commander has a huge number of difficult periods. But it was precisely three years of World War II that became a real test for Konev.
In autumn, the Germans reached the frontiers of defense in front of Moscow. Then commanded Konev. A group of German armies "Center" dealt a cutting blow, and more than half a million people were in the "boiler" near Vyazma. This defeat is the largest in the entire war. By order of Stalin, a special group was formed to consider the incident. For a while, Konev was in danger of execution. Then Zhukov saved him. After the Vyazemsky tragedy, the Germans came close to the capital of the USSR. And only through the efforts of the urgently deployed units of the Red Army and the hastily armed militia managed to repel their attack. Konev participated in the development of the Kalinin operation.
After that, under the leadership of Ivan Stepanovich, another notorious Rzhev operation was carried out, where the Nazi formations opposed the Red Army under the command of the defense genius Model.
Offensive of the Red Army
After a series of setbacks, Konev was removed from the post of front commander. But a year later he showed himself in the largest tank battle in the history of mankind - the battle of Kursk. Further, the Marshal of the Soviet Union Konev led the offensive in the Lviv direction. For services to the Motherland, he was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.
In 1944, Konev liberated Prague and other European territories occupied by the Reich. He managed to quickly drive the Germans out of Silesia, where the Nazis intended to destroy the industrial areas of Poland. For special successes in offensive operations, Konev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time.
Marshal's children
Marshal Konev's daughter released a series of memories of her father after his death. There she brought little-known facts from the personal life of the commander. Also in the text excerpts from the memoirs of Marshal Konev himself were mentioned. The meeting is also of historical value, since it indirectly reveals the secrets of planning the most important operations of the Great Patriotic War. The children of Marshal Konev lived mainly in Moscow. Son Helium was also a soldier.