Ivan Konev

In this name that followsEastern Slavic naming customs,thepatronymicisStepanovichand thefamily nameisKonev.

Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev
Konev in 1945
1st Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization
In office 14 May 1955 – April 1960
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Andrei Grechko
1st High Commissionerof theSoviet occupation of Austria
In office July 1945 – 25 April 1946
President	Karl Renner
Chancellor	Karl Renner
Preceded by	Fyodor Tolbukhin(as military commander)
Succeeded by	Vladimir Kurasov
Personal details
Born	(1897-12-28)28 December 1897 Lodeyno,Nikolsky Uyezd,Vologda Governorate,Russian Empire
Died	21 May 1973(1973-05-21)(aged 75) Moscow,Russian SFSR,Soviet Union
Resting place	Kremlin Wall Necropolis
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union(twice)
Military service
Allegiance	Russian Empire(1916–1917) Soviet Russia(1917–1922) Soviet Union(1922–1962)
Branch/service	Imperial Russian Army(1916–1917) Red Army(1917–1946) Soviet Army(1946–1962)
Years of service	1916–1962
Rank	Marshal of the Soviet Union(1944–1962)
Commands	2nd Rifle Division 2nd Red Banner Army Transbaikal Military District Steppe Front Kalinin Front Western Front 2nd Ukrainian Front 1st Ukrainian Front Commander of Warsaw Pact Armed Forces
Battles/wars	World War I Kerensky Offensive Russian Civil War World War II Great Patriotic War Operation Barbarossa Battle of Moscow Rzhev–Sychyovka offensive Battle of Kursk Belgorod–Kharkov offensive operation Dnieper–Carpathian offensive Battle of Korsun–Cherkassy First Jassy–Kishinev offensive Vistula–Oder offensive Battle of Berlin Occupation of Germany Hungarian Uprising

Ivan Stepanovich Konev(Russian:Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев,IPA:[ɪˈvansʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕˈkonʲɪf];28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general andMarshal of the Soviet Unionwho ledRed Armyforces on theEastern FrontduringWorld War II,responsible for taking much ofAxis-occupiedEastern Europe.

Born to a peasant family, Konev was conscripted into theImperial Russian Armyin 1916 and fought inWorld War I.In 1919, he joined theBolsheviksand served in theRed Armyduring theRussian Civil War.After graduating fromFrunze Military Academyin 1926, Konev gradually rose through the ranks of the Soviet military. By 1939, he had become a candidate to theCentral Committee of the Communist Party.

Following theGerman invasion of the Soviet Unionin 1941, Konev took part in a series of major campaigns, including the battles ofMoscowandRzhev.Konev further commanded forces in major Soviet offensives atKursk,in theDnieper–CarpathianandVistula–Oderoffensives. In February 1944, he was made aMarshal of the Soviet Union.On the eve of German defeat, Konev's1st Ukrainian Frontwas pitted against the armies ofGeorgy Zhukovin theRace to Berlin.Konev was the first Allied commander to enterPrague,the capital ofCzechoslovakia,after thePrague uprising.

He replaced Zhukov as commander of Soviet ground forces in 1946. In 1956, he was appointedcommander of the Warsaw Pact armed forces,and led the violent suppression of theHungarian RevolutionandPrague Spring.In 1961, as commander of Soviet forces in East Germany, he ordered the closing ofWest BerlintoEast Berlinduring the building of theBerlin Wall.Konev remained a popular military figure in the Soviet Union until his death in 1973.

Early life

Konev was born 28 December 1897 in the village ofLodeynoin theNikolsky UyezdofVologda Governorateto a peasant family ofRussianethnicity. Konev graduated from a parish school in the village of Yakovlevskaya Gora in 1906, and later the Nikolo-Pushemsky Zemstvo School in the neighboring village of Schetkino in 1912. At the age of 15, he found work as a forester and lumberjack atPodosinovetsandArkhangelsk.

Military career

Konev as a regimental commander

In the beginning of 1915, he was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army. Konev was sent to the 2nd Heavy Artillery Brigade at Moscow and then graduated from artillery training courses. Posted to the 2nd Separate Heavy Artillery Battalion (then part of theSouthwestern Front) as a junior sergeant in 1917, he fought in theKerensky Offensivein Galicia in July 1917.

When theOctober Revolutionbroke out in November 1917, he was demobilized and returned home; in 1918, he joined theRussian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)and theRed Army,serving as an artilleryman. During theRussian Civil Warof 1917-1923, he served with the Red Army in the RussianFar Eastern Republic.His commander at one time wasKliment Voroshilov,a close colleague ofJoseph Stalin,who later becamePeople's Commissar for Defense(in office: 1925-1940). (This connection was the key to Konev's subsequent career and to his protection during theGreat Purgeof the late 1930s.) In his memoirs, he wrote: "Together with a group of demobilized soldiers, I organized the overthrow of the land administration, the confiscation of agricultural land and the imprisonment of traders." He participated in the violent suppression of the 1921Kronstadt rebellion.

In 1926 Konev completed advanced officer training courses at theFrunze Military Academy,and between then and 1941 he held a series of progressively more senior commands, becoming head first of theTransbaikalthen of theNorth Caucasus Military Districtsin 1940 and 1941, respectively. In 1934 he became commander andpolitical commissarof the37th Rifle Division.In July 1938, he was appointed commander of the2nd Red Banner Army.In 1937 he became a Deputy of theSupreme Sovietand in 1939 a candidate member of the PartyCentral Committee.

World War II

WhenNazi Germanyinvaded the Soviet Unionin June 1941, Konev was assigned command of the19th Armyin theVitebskregion, and waged a series of defensive battles during the Red Army's retreat, first toSmolenskand then to the approaches to Moscow.

He commanded theKalinin Frontfrom October 1941to August 1942, playing a key role in the fighting aroundMoscowand theSoviet counter-offensive during the winter of 1941–42.For his role in the successful defense of the Soviet capital, Stalin promoted Konev toColonel-General.In the summer of 1942 Konev led the Kalinin Front and later theWestern Frontin thebattle on the Rzhev salient.

Konev held"Front"(army group) commands for the rest of the war. He commanded theSoviet Western Frontuntil February 1943, theNorth-Western FrontFebruary–July 1943, and the2nd Ukrainian Frontfrom July 1943 (later further the1st Ukrainian Front) until May 1945.

Konev as commander of theSteppe FrontwithGeorgy Zhukovduring the Battle of Kursk, 1943

He participated in theBattle of Kursk,commanding the southern part of the Soviet counter-offensive, theSteppe Front,where he actively and energetically promotedmaskirovka(the use ofmilitary camouflageanddeception).Among themaskirovkameasures he adopted to achieve tactical surprise were the camouflaging of defense lines and depots; dummy units and supply points; a dummy air-defense network; and the use of reconnaissance units to verify the quality of his army's camouflage and deception works. In David Glantz's view, Konev's forces "generated a major portion of the element of surprise".

As a result, the Germans seriously underestimated the strength of the Soviet defenses. The commander of the19th Panzer divisionof theWehrmacht,General G. Schmidt,wrote that "We did not assume that there was even one fourth [of the Russian strength] of what we had to encounter".

After the Soviet victory (August 1943) at Kursk, Konev's armies retookBelgorod,Odessa,KharkivandKyiv.The subsequentKorsun–Shevchenkovsky Offensiveled to theBattle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocketwhich took place from 24 January to 16 February 1944. The offensive was part of theDnieper–Carpathian Offensive.In it, the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts, commanded, respectively, byNikolai Vatutinand by Konev, trapped German forces ofArmy Group Southin a pocket or "cauldron" west of theDnieper river.During weeks of fighting, the two Red Army Fronts tried to eradicate the pocket; the subsequentKorsun battleeliminated the cauldron. According toMilovan Djilas,Konev openly boasted of his killing of thousands of German prisoners of war: "The cavalry finally finished them off. 'We let the Cossacks cut up as long as they wished. They even hacked off the hands of those who raised them to surrender' the Marshal recounted with a smile."

Residents of Prague greet Marshal Konev upon the arrival of the Red Army on 9 May 1945

For Konev's achievements in Ukraine, thePresidiumpromoted him toMarshal of the Soviet Unionin February 1944.Konev was one of Stalin's favorite generals and one of the few senior commanders whom even Stalin admired for his ruthlessness.

During 1944 Konev's armies advanced fromUkraineandBelarusintoPolandand later intoCzechoslovakia.In May 1944 he participated in an unsuccessful invasion of theBalkans,(thefirst Jassy–Kishinev Offensive) together with GeneralsRodion MalinovskyandFyodor Tolbukhin.

By July, he had advanced to theVistulaRiver in central Poland, and was awarded the title ofHero of the Soviet Union.In September 1944 his forces, now designated theFourth Ukrainian Front,advanced intoSlovakiaand fought alongside theSlovak partisansin theirrebellion against German occupation.

Ivan Konev (front row, 1st from left) at the Victory Parade, 24 June 1945

In January 1945, Konev, together withGeorgy Zhukov,commanded the Soviet armies which launchedthe massive winter offensivein western Poland, driving the German forces from the Vistula to theOder River.In southern Poland his armies seizedKraków(18 January 1945). Soviet historians, and generally Russian sources, claimed that Konev preserved Kraków from Nazi-planned destruction by ordering a lightning attack on the city.Konev's January 1945 offensive also prevented planned destruction of theSilesianindustry by the retreating Germans.

In April Konev's troops, together with the1st Belorussian Frontunder his competitor, Marshal Zhukov, forced the line of the Oder and advanced towardsBerlin.Konev's forces entered the city first, but Stalin gave Zhukov the honor ofcapturing Berlinand hoisting the Soviet flag over theReichstag.Konev was ordered to the south-west, where his forces linked up with elements of theUnited States ArmyatTorgau(25 April 1945) and also retookPrague(9 May 1945) shortly after the official surrender of the German forces.

Post-war career

Konev in Moscow, June 1945

After the war the Soviet Union appointed Konev as head of the Soviet occupation forces inEastern Germanyand also Allied High Commissioner forAustria.In 1946 he became Commander-in-Chief of theSoviet Ground Forcesand First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union, replacing Zhukov. He held these posts until 1950, when he was appointed commander of theCarpathian Military District.He held this post until 1960, when he retired from active service. In 1961–62, however, he was recalled and was again commander of the Soviet forces inEast Germany,where he ordered the closing ofWest BerlintoEast Berlinduring the construction of theBerlin Wall.He was then appointed to the largely ceremonial post of Inspector-General of the Defense Ministry.

Following thePrague Spring,Konev headed a delegation that visited Czechoslovakia in May 1968 to celebrate the anniversary of the Soviet victory during World War II. After Stalin's death, Konev returned to prominence. He became a key ally of the new party leaderNikita Khrushchev,being entrusted with the trial of the Stalinist police chiefLavrenty Beriain 1953. He was again appointed First Deputy Minister of Defense and commander of Soviet ground forces, posts he held until 1956, when he was namedCommander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact.Shortly after his appointment he led the suppression of theHungarian Revolution.It has been claimed that Konev visited military units in Czechoslovakia in order to obtain first-hand information to better assess the situation in the country, but there is no documentary evidence to support this.

Soviet T-54s in Budapest during the suppression of theHungarian Revolution

The British military historianJohn Ericksonwrote that he was surprised with the extent of personal archives (lichnye arkhivy) held by former Red Army soldiers of many ranks, and that "there is no substitute for having the late Marshal Koniev (sic) – spectacles perched on nose – read from his own personal notebook, detailing operational orders, his own personal instructions to select commanders and his tally of Soviet casualties. And while on the subject of casualties, Marshal Koniev made it plain that, though such figures did exist, he was not prepared on his own authority to allow certain figures to be released for publication while a number of commanders were still alive."

Konev remained one of the Soviet Union's most admired military figures until his death in 1973. He married twice, and his daughter Nataliya is Dean of the Department of Linguistics and Literature at theMilitary University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

In 1969, theMinistry of Defence of the USSRpublished Konev's 285-page war memoir calledForty-Five.It was later translated into English in the same year and published byProgress Publishers,Moscow. This work discusses Konev's taking of Berlin, Prague, his work with Zhukov,Stalin,his field meeting with GeneralOmar BradleyandJascha Heifetz.In English, the book was titledI. Konev – Year of Victory.It was also published in Spanish and French under the titlesEl Año 45andL'an 45respectively.

Konev died on 21 May 1973 at age 75 inMoscow.Following his cremation, his ashes were placed in theKremlin Wall Necropoliswith those of the greatest figures of the USSR, and can still be visited today.

Monuments

Konev has monuments, primarily in Russia. The places includeSvidník,Patriot Park(Moscowregion),Kirov,Belgorod,Nizhny Novgorod,Omsk,andVologda.

On 9 January 1991, his memorial sculpture in Kraków was dismantled less than just 4 years after it had been unveiled. The sculpture was given to the Russian city ofKirov.The memorial plaque in front of the apartment building where he lived (three blocks from theKremlin) is still mounted on the brick wall.

TheKonev monument erected by the communist government of CzechoslovakiainPrague 6(náměstí Interbrigády) in 1980 became a subject of controversy that escalated in 2018, after which the city administration added explanatory text to the monument, noting the participation of its subject in the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution and the Prague Spring.The monument was removed on 3 April 2020, with the Czech presidentMiloš Zemancriticizing the removal as "an abuse of the state of emergency".Within days, theInvestigative Committeeof the Russian Federation announced it would begin a symbolic investigation of the alleged "defiling of symbols of Russia's military glory".

• 
  Konev's grave in theKremlin Wall
• 
  Former monument inKharkiv
• 
  Monument inKirov
• 
  Monument inVologda
• 
  Bust inSlovakia

Honours and awards

Konev on a 2022 stamp of Russia

Soviet Union

"Gold Star"Hero of the Soviet Union,twice (29 July 1944, 1 June 1945)

Order of Victory(№ 5–3 March 1945)

SevenOrders of Lenin(29 July 1944, 21 February 1945, 27 December 1947, 18 December 1956, 27 December 1957, 27 December 1967, 28 December 1972)

Order of the October Revolution(22 February 1968)

Order of the Red Banner,three times (22 February 1938, 3 November 1944, 20 June 1949)

Order of Suvorov,1st class, twice (27 August 1943, 17 May 1944)

Order of Kutuzov,1st class, twice (9 April 1943, 28 July 1943)

Order of the Red Star,(16 August 1936)

Medal "For the Defence of Moscow"(1 May 1944)

Medal "For the Liberation of Prague"(9 June 1945)

Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"(9 June 1945)

Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"(1945)

Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"(1965)

Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"(22 February 1938)

Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"(22 February 1948)

Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"(17 February 1958)

Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"(1968)

Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"(1969)

Honorary weapon – sword inscribed with golden national emblem of the Soviet Union (22 February 1968)

• Honorary citizen ofBălți(Moldova) and other cities

Foreign

Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic(28 April 1970)

Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic(Mongolian People's Republic, 7 May 1971)

Patriotic Order of Merit,in silver (East Germany)

Order of Sukhbaatar,twice (Mongolian People's Republic, 1961 and 1971)

Order of the Red Banner(Mongolian People's Republic)

Virtuti Militari,1st class (Poland)

Cross of Grunwald,1st class (Poland)

Order of Polonia Restituta,1st class (Poland)

Golden Order of the Partisan Star(Yugoslavia)

Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, 1st class (Bulgaria)

Order of Klement Gottwald(Czechoslovakia)

Order of the White Lion,1st class (Czechoslovakia)

Military Order of the White Lion,1st class (Czechoslovakia)

War Cross 1939–1945(Czechoslovakia)

Order of Merit of the Hungarian People Republic (Hungary)

Order of the Hungarian Freedom (Hungary)

Honorary Knight Commander,Order of the Bath(UK)

Military Cross(UK)

Grand Officer of theLegion of Honour(France)

Croix de guerre 1939–1945(France)

Chief Commander of theLegion of Merit(USA)

Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship(China)

External links

• Year of Victory,Konev's memoir translated into English byProgress Publishersand reprinted in 1984.
• Ivan Konev NewsreelsatNet-Film Newsreels and Documentary Films Archive