"
Vasilevsky was a
Russian career-officer in the
Red Army who attained the rank of
Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He served as the
Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces (1942-1945) and Deputy Minister of Defense during
World War II, and as
Minister of Defense
from 1949 to 1953. As the Chief of the General Staff from 1942 to 1945,
Vasilevsky became involved in planning and coordinating almost all the
decisive Soviet offensives in World War II, from the
Stalingrad counteroffensive of November 1942 to the assaults on
East Prussia (January–April 1945),
Königsberg (January–April 1945) and
Manchuria (August 1945). Vasilevsky began his military career during
World War I, earning the rank of captain by 1917. After the
October Revolution of 1917 and the start of the
Civil War of 1917–1922 he was conscripted into the
Red Army, taking part in the
Polish-Soviet War
of 1919–1921. In peacetime 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 become a
General Staff officer. At the start of the 1943 Soviet counteroffensive of
World War II, Vasilevsky coordinated and executed the Red Army's offensives on the upper
Don, in the
Donbass,
Crimea,
Belarus and the
Baltic states, ending his war in Europe with the capture of
Königsberg in April 1945. In July 1945 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Soviet forces in the
Far East. He executed the
Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation (August 1945) and subsequently accepted
Japan's surrender. After the war he became the
Soviet Defense Minister from 1949 to 1953, a position he held until after Stalin's death in 1953. With
Nikita Khrushchev's
rise to pre-eminence in the mid-1950s, 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 country."
Another capable ally,
Bran & Mel
