Matvei Zakharov

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Matvei Zakharov
Native name
Матве́й Васи́льевич Заха́ров
Born(1898-08-17)August 17, 1898
Voylovo village, near Tver, Russian Empire
DiedJanuary 31, 1972(1972-01-31) (aged 73)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Buried
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service/branchRed Army
Years of service1917–1971
Rank Marshal of the Soviet Union (1959-1971)
Commands held
Battles/wars
Awards
Signature

Matvei Vasilevich Zakharov (Russian: Матве́й Васи́льевич Заха́ров; August 17, 1898 – January 31, 1972) was Marshal of the Soviet Union, Chief of the General Staff, and Deputy Defense Minister.

Biography

Zakharov in 1940

Zakharov was born in Voylovo, a village in

Soviet General Staff Academy in 1937 (his graduation was actually a year ahead of schedule, due to the lack of officers in the Red Army because of the explosive growth of the army, as well as Stalin's purges.) Zakharov held a number of high-ranking positions before World War II even began. In 1937 he was made the Chief of Staff of the Leningrad Military District, then in 1938–1940 he was the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, and then the Chief of Staff of the Odessa Military District
.

By the end of 1941, after the beginning of

Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation
. Zakharov described in his memoirs how in April–June 1941, the commanders of the Odessa military district were aware of German reconnaissance aircraft violating soviet airspace, and claimed that the Red Army did not have the equipment to shoot them down - though other sources say that
Stalin had given an order that German aircraft were not to be fired on.[1]

After the war, Zakharov held a number of key positions in the army. In 1945–1960, Zakharov was the Commandant of the General Staff Academy, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Chief Inspector of the Army, Commanding General of the Leningrad Military District and, from November 1957, Commander in Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. On May 8, 1959, Zakharov was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union.

In January 1960, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced that within two years, 1,200,000 men, including 250,000 officers, were to be demobilised from the armed forces. When this decision was ratified by the Supreme Soviet on 14 January, the only officers to say anything were Malinovsky and Zakharov, who supported it.[2] It is likely that officers more senior than Zakharov who did not speak, such as Marshal Sokolovsky kept quiet because they opposed the decision.

In April 1960, Zakharov was appointed Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Minister of Defence, replacing Marshal Sokolovsky. In 1963, having apparently fallen out with Khrushchev, he was demoted to the job he had held 18 years earlier, as head of the General Staff Academy. Khrushchev later stated that Zakharov was removed because he used to fall asleep during important meetings.[3] He was reinstated in October 1964, he was reinstated as Chief of the General Staff and USSR First Minister for Defence, after his successor Marshal Biryuzov had been killed in an airplane crash, and Khrushchev had been ousted. When he retired through ill health in September 1971, he was the last active Marshal to have taken part in the events of 1917.

Marshal M. V. Zakharov died on January 31, 1972. The urn containing his ashes is buried by the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. His memoirs, which appear to have been written after 1964, were not published until 1989.

Honours and awards

Further reading

  • Колпакиди А., Север А. ГРУ. Уникальная энциклопедия. — М.: Яуза Эксмо, 2009. — С. 692–693. — 720 с. — (Энциклопедия спецназа). — 5000 экз. —
  • Richard Woff: Matvei Vasilievich Zakharov, in: Shukman Harold: Stalin's Generals (New York 1993). (See also Shukman, Harold (2001). Stalin's Generals. Phoenix Press. .)
  • B.Z. Gryaznow: Marschall Sacharow (Moskau 1979) -russisch

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union
April 1960 – March 1963
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union
November 1964 – September 1971
Succeeded by

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Tatu, Michel (1969). Power in the Kremlin. London: Collins. p. 70.
  3. ^ Khrushchev, Nikita (1974). Khrushchev Remembers, The Last Testament. Little, Brown. pp. 14–15.