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Aleksandr Vasilevsky

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Military People

                Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky
   September 30, 1895 - December 5, 1977
    Place of birth  Novaya Golchikha, Russia
    Place of death  Moscow, USSR
      Allegiance    Imperial Russia,
                    Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
   Years of service 1915-1959
         Rank       Marshal of the Soviet Union
       Commands     Chief of General Staff,
                    Minister of Defense
     Battles/wars   World War I,
                    Russian Civil War,
                    Polish-Soviet War,
                    Winter War,
                    Great Patriotic War,
                    Operation August Storm
        Awards      Order of Victory (×2),
                    Hero of the Soviet Union (×2),
                    Order of Lenin (×8),
                    Order of the Red Banner (×2),
                    Virtuti Militari
      Other work    Memoirs: The Matter of My Whole Life, 1973.

   Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович
   Василе́вский, September 30, 1895 – December 5, 1977) was a Soviet
   military commander, promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He
   was the Soviet Chief of the General Staff 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 the planning and coordination of almost all decisive Soviet
   offensives, from the Stalingrad counteroffensive to the assault on East
   Prussia and Königsberg.

   Vasilevsky started his military career during the First World War,
   earning the rank of captain by 1917. At the beginning 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 the organization and training of his
   troops. Vasilevsky's talent did not go unnoticed, 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 the Second World
   War, 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 Operation August Storm 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
   Khrushchev's rise, Vasilevsky started to lose 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 [ O.S. September 18], 1895 in
   Novaya Golchikha in the Kineshma Uezd (now part of the city of Vichuga
   in the Kostroma 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 VKP(b) membership and his military duties in the Red Army; three of
   his brothers did so as well. However, the family resumed relations in
   1940, following Stalin's suggestion that they do so.

   According to Vasilevsky himself, 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

   World War I Russian infantry
   Enlarge
   World War I Russian infantry

   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 beginning 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 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.
   Aleksandr Vasilevsky in 1928.
   Enlarge
   Aleksandr Vasilevsky in 1928.

   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 started 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 the organization and training of 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.
   Vasilevsky as Deputy Commander of Operations Directorate of the General
   Staff in 1940.
   Enlarge
   Vasilevsky as Deputy Commander of Operations Directorate of the General
   Staff in 1940.

   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 the Great
   Patriotic War. In August 1941, Vasilevsky was appointed Commander of
   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 four 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

   Vasilevsky inspecting the front.
   Enlarge
   Vasilevsky inspecting the front.

   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
   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 Vasilievsky committed against
   a dangerous German counter-attack launched from Kotelnikovo by the 57th
   Panzer corps and designed to deblockade the Stalingrad pocket. This
   attack, hitherto, had enjoyed overwhelming numerical superiority.

Soviet victory

   Vasilevsky and Budyonny in the Donbass, 1943.
   Enlarge
   Vasilevsky and Budyonny in the Donbass, 1943.

   In January 1943, Vasilevsky coordinated the offensives on the upper Don
   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
   whether the offensive should be resumed despite this setback, or
   whether 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 started on July 4, 1943, Vasilevsky was
   responsible for the coordination of 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 beginning 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.
   Vasilevsky during Operation Bagration in 1944.
   Enlarge
   Vasilevsky during Operation Bagration in 1944.

   During Operation Bagration, the general counteroffensive in Belarus,
   Vasilevsky coordinated the offensives of the 1st Baltic and 3rd
   Belorussian Fronts. 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.

Operation August Storm

   Vasilevsky in Port Arthur, China, 1945
   Enlarge
   Vasilevsky in Port Arthur, China, 1945

   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 was over. Vasilevsky started 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 its start. 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

   Image:Soviet army 50th annivrsary.jpg
   Vasilevsky in the Kremlin on the fiftieth anniversary of the Soviet
   Army.

   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 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 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
   puppet 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.

Awards

   A reconstruction of Vasilevsky's ribbon bar (foreign decorations not
   pictured).
   Enlarge
   A reconstruction of Vasilevsky's ribbon bar (foreign decorations not
   pictured).

   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 for his successes in Crimea and Prussia (an
   achievement matched only by Zhukov and Stalin). 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, Rokossovsky and Stalin on Lenin Mausoleum's tribune during
   a military parade.
   Enlarge
   Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky and Stalin on Lenin Mausoleum's tribune during
   a military parade.

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

   This being said, 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 in order to commit it
   against a dangerous German counter-attack from Kotelnikovo, designed to
   deblockade the pocket, which was enjoying great numerical superiority.
   Vasilievsky, it seems, was dismayed by Rokossovsky's opposition to the
   transfer.

   On the other hand, the controversial historian 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 more balanced 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 in order to have
   Stalin's approval for that risky operation.
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