Andrei Grechko
Andrei Antonovich Grechko (
Born to a Ukrainian peasant family near Rostov-on-Don, Grechko served in the Red Army cavalry during the Russian Civil War. After graduating from the Frunze Military Academy, he took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. Grechko was a fresh graduate of the Voroshilov Military Academy when Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union. He held a succession of cavalry and army commands afterwards and saw action in the Caucasus, Ukraine and Central Europe.
After the war, Grechko commanded the Kiev Military District. In 1953, he was appointed commander-in-chief of Soviet Forces in East Germany, and led the suppression of the East German uprising. In 1955, he was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union. In 1957, he became commander-in-chief of the Soviet Ground Forces, and three years later he also became the commander of the Warsaw Pact forces. In 1967, Grechko was appointed Minister of Defence, and oversaw the subsequent Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and violent border clashes with China. He helped modernize the Soviet Army and was responsible for continuing the Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe. An ideological hardliner, he was a defender of the first strike nuclear strategy, and only reluctantly supported Leonid Brezhnev's détente with the United States and the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). Grechko died in 1976 at the age of 72.
Early life
Grechko was the thirteenth child born to a family of Ukrainian peasants on 17 October 1903, at a small town near Rostov-on-Don.[1][2]
Early military career
He joined the
From September 1921 to July 1922, he served in a separate battalion of
From September 1926 to April 1932, he served in the 61st Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Separate Cavalry Brigade at the Moscow Military District, and platoon and machine-gun squadron commander.[2]
Grechko graduated from the
He graduated from the academy of the General Staff of the Red Army named after K. E. Voroshilov in June 1941.[2]
World War II
In October 1938, he was appointed as chief of staff of the 62nd Cavalry Regiment. While serving in this position, he participated in the Soviet invasion of Poland.[2]
In the early days of the
On 15 January 1942, Grechko was put in command of the
From 5 January 1943, Grechko was commander of the
Grechko served as the deputy commander of the
Then, on 14 December 1943, he was made the Commanding General of
Cold War
After the war, Grechko was the Commanding General of the
On 11 March 1955, Grechko and five other high-ranking colleagues, all of whom gained recognition during the
From 1960 to 1967, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Warsaw Pact Forces.[8]
Minister of Defense
On 12 April 1967, Grechko was made the Minister of Defense, taking over shortly after Marshal Rodion Malinovsky died. Grechko served in this capacity until his death in 1976. During the 1970s, Grechko served as the chairman of the editorial commission that produced the official Soviet history of the Second World War.[9]
In January 1968, following the outbreak of the
In December 1971, during the
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 16, 1973, "for services to the Motherland in the construction and strengthening of the Armed Forces of the USSR and in connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth", Grechko was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time.[7]
Grechko was an active member in the
In 1976, shortly before his death, he initiated the deployment of the
Personal life and death
Grechko was married to Claudia Vladimirovna Grechko (1907-1990), with whom he had a daughter Tatyana Andreevna (1927-2002). Tatyana was married to Soviet and Russian diplomat Yuriy Kirichenko (1936-2017), the son of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine Aleksey Kirichenko. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, Grechko was an enthusiastic fan of the sports club CSKA Moscow. Due to his efforts, the club received not only a new stadium, but also an arena, a base in Arkhangelsk and a host of other sports facilities.[18]
Grechko died on 26 April 1976, at the age of 72. According to
Honours and awards
- Foreign
Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, 1st class, twice (Bulgaria) | |
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria) | |
Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship (China) | |
Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (Czechoslovakia) | |
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia) | |
Military Order of the White Lion "For Victory", 1st class (Czechoslovakia) | |
War Cross 1939–1945 (Czechoslovakia) | |
Medal “For Strengthening Friendship in Arms”, Golden class (Czechoslovakia) | |
Military Commemorative Medal with 'USSR' clasp (Czechoslovakia) | |
Order of the Lion of Finland, Knight, 1st class (Finland) | |
Order of Karl Marx (East Germany) | |
Patriotic Order of Merit in gold (East Germany) | |
Order of the Flag of the Republic of Hungary (Hungary )
| |
Order of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic, 1st class (Hungary) | |
Order of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic, 5th class (Hungary) | |
Order of the Two Rivers, military division (Iraq) | |
Order of Sukhbaatar, twice (Mongolia) | |
Medal "30 Years of the Victory in Khalkhin-Gol" (Mongolia) | |
Grand Cross of the Virtuti Militari (Poland) | |
Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland) | |
Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland) | |
Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class (Poland)[24] | |
Medal "For Oder, Neisse and the Baltic" (Poland)
| |
Medal "For Warsaw 1939-1945" (Poland)
| |
Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945 (Poland) | |
Brotherhood of Arms Medal (Poland) | |
Romania )
| |
Order "August 23" (Romania) |
Other honors
- Bronze busts honoring Grechko were installed in his hometown at the Kuibyshevo in Rostov Oblast of Russia and Alley of Heroes Monument in Slovakia.[25]
- Following his death in 1976, the Order of Lenin and Ushakov Naval Academy was renamed to Order of Lenin and Ushakov Marshal of the Soviet Union A.A. Grechko Naval Academy in honor of him. In 1990, the academy's name was changed to honor Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kuznetsov.[4]
- In 1976, part of the former Mozhayskoye Highway in Moscow from General Yermolov Street to Aminyevskoye Highway was named Marshal Grechko Avenue.[4]
- A secondary school in Kuibyshevo was named in honor of Grechko.[26]
- An ore-bulk-oil carrier and oil tanker of the Novorossiysk Shipping Company were named in honor of him.
- Memorial plaques honoring Grechko were installed on the former headquarters of the Kyiv military district and former building of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia in Moscow.[25]
- Streets are named after him in:
- Russia: Krymsk[25]
- Uzbekistan: Nukus
- As part of the decommunization laws in Ukraine, Greckho Streets in Zhytomyr and Kyiv were renamed to honor Vsevolod Petriv and Ivan Vyhovsky respectively.[27][28]
Selected works
- Great Feat of the Soviet People (1970)
- Battle for the Caucasus (1971)
- Through the Carpathians (1972)
- Liberation of Kiev (1973)
- Liberation Mission of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Second World War (1975)
- Years of War 1941—1943 (1976)
- The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union (1977)
References
- ^ Dennis Kavanagh (1998). "Andrei Grechko". A Dictionary of Political Biography. Oxford: OUP. p. 196. Archived from the original on 2019-05-20. Retrieved 2017-08-24.[ISBN missing]
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Герои страны". Archived from the original on 2004-09-07. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ "БИТВА ЗА КАВКАЗ. ВОСПОМИНАНИЯ МАРШАЛА АНДРЕЯ ГРЕЧКО". диктантпобеды.рф. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Andrey Antonovich Grechko (1903-76)". Global Security. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ a b "Дважды герой советского союза гречко андрей антонович. Дважды герой советского союза гречко андрей антонович Биография гречко андрей антонович". goaravetisyan.ru. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ "Soviet Advocate of Preparedness Andrei Antonovich Grechko". The New York Times. 1971-06-15. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ a b "Гречко Андрей Антонович". Pamyat Naroda. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Газета «Северная Осетия» // Гость «СО».
- ^ Годы войны. 1941—1943 Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. 1976
- ^ Frost, Matthew (1998-08-09). "Czech Republic: A Chronology Of Events Leading To The 1968 Invasion". RFE/RL. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Geerson, Michael S. (2010). "The Sino-Soviet Border Conflict: Deterrence, Escalation, and the Threat of Nuclear War in 1969" (PDF). CNA. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Singh, Zoarwar Daulet (2019-12-19). "Calling the U.S.'s bluff in 1971". The Hindu. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Ginor, Isabella (2000-06-10). "How Six Day war almost led to Armageddon". The Guardian. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Araf, Erol (2013-10-07). "Incalculable consequences". National Post. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ a b Cant, James "The SS-20 Missile-Why Were You Pointing at Me?" pages 240-253 from Russia War, Peace and Diplomacy edited by Ljubica and Mark Erickson, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004 page 245
- ^ Nünlist, Christian (2016-10-28). "Cold War Generals: The Warsaw Pact Committee of Defense Ministers, 1969-90". PHP. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Ambrose, Matthew (2014). The Limits of Control: A History of the SALT Process, 1969–1983 (PhD dissertation). Ohio State University. Retrieved 2022-11-21 – via OhioLINK.
- ^ "СПОРТ-ЭКСПРЕСС ФУТБОЛ". sport-express.ru. 2002-11-15. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Wren, Christopher S. (1976-04-27). "Grechko Soviet Defense Chief, Dies at 72". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ "Андрей Антонович Гречко". hrono.ru. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ "Soviet Anthem at State Funeral of Andrei Grechko (30 April, 1976)". YouTube. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ Дважды Герой Советского Союза Гречко Андрей Антонович на сайте «Герои страны»Archived 2016-08-03 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Сайт «Молодая Гвардия». А. А. Гречко Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Uchwała Prezydium Krajowej Rady Narodowej z dnia 24 czerwca 1946 r. o odznaczeniach generałów, oficerów i szeregowych b. 4-go Ukraińskiego Frontu za wybitne zasługi przy wyzwoleniu Polski spod okupacji hitlerowskiej.
- ^ a b c d ""Маршал всего Советского Союза"". stoletie.ru. 2013-10-17. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ "МБОУ КУЙБЫШЕВСКАЯ СОШ ИМ. А.А.ГРЕЧКО". excheck.pro. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ "У Києві вулицю Маршала Гречка перейменували на честь гетьмана Івана Виговського". Istpravda. 2019-12-20. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ "Нові назви вулиць Житомира - пошук та список". streets.in.ua. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ "Andrei Grechko". Goodreads. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ "Grechko, A. A. (Andreĭ Antonovich) 1903-1976". WorldCat Identities. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
External links
- Media related to Andrei Grechko at Wikimedia Commons
- Quotations related to Andrei Grechko at Wikiquote
- The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, book by Grechko published in 1975 and translated into English in 1977
- Liberation Mission of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Second World War, book edited by Grechko and published (with English translation) in 1975