Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov (russian: Алексей Иннокентьевич Антонов; 9 September 1896 – 16 June 1962) was a

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

of the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

, awarded the

Order of Victory The Order of Victory (russian: Орден «Победа», translit=Orden "Pobeda") was the highest military decoration awarded for World War II service in the Soviet Union, and one of the rarest orders in the world. The order was awarded only ...

for his efforts in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. From 1945 to 1946 he was Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union.

Career

Born in

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

in a family of Kryashen ethnicity as the son of an artillery officer of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

, Antonov graduated from Frunze Military Academy in 1921 and joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

during the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

. He became an instructor at Frunze Military Academy in 1938. In 1941, Antonov became chief of staff for the Soviet Southwestern Front and Southern Front. In December 1942, he became Deputy Chief General Staff of the combined Soviet forces and Head of the Operations Directorate, a pivotal role within the

Stavka The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff ...

. In fact, A. I. Antonov was effective leader of the Soviet General Staff since chief of staff A. M. Vasilevsky was usually absent due to his frequent frontline missions as Stavka representative. As a result, Stavka relieved Antonov of his position in Operational Directorate, so that Antonov could fully concentrate in the leadership in the General Staff. In February 1945, Vasilevsky was appointed as the commander of 3rd Belarusian Front, and Antonov finally became the formal leader of Soviet General Staff. In spite of his key role in the Red Army's ultimate victory, he was never named a

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...

Richard Overy Richard James Overy (born 23 December 1947) is a British historian who has published on the history of World War II and Nazi Germany. In 2007, as ''The Times'' editor of ''Complete History of the World'', he chose the 50 key dates of world his ...

writes of him at this time:

Vasilevsky came to rely on one subordinate above all others: the chief of operations, General Aleksei Antonov. ..On December 11
942 Year 942 ( CMXLII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – The Hungarians invade Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and besiege the fortress ...
the forty-six-year-old Antonov stepped into the role which was more directly exposed to Stalin's inquisitive leadership than any other. Antonov rose to the challenge. Instead of rushing off to report to Stalin when he arrived in Moscow, he spent the first week familiarizing himself thoroughly with the General Staff and the state of the front. Only when he was fully primed did he go to see his commander. The two men developed the most effective working relationship of the war. Antonov displayed a calm intelligence married to a massive energy and exceptional industry. According to his deputy, General
Sergei Shtemenko Sergei Matveevich Shtemenko (russian: Сергей Матвеевич Штеменко; – 23 April 1976) was a Soviet general who served as the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces' General Staff from 1948 to 1952. Biography Early life Sergei Sht ...
, Antonov never lost his temper or allowed circumstances to get the better of him. He was firm, caustic, slow to praise and a tough taskmaster, but the rigorous regimen that he imposed on his staff won their respect. Above all he was adept at manipulating Stalin. He did not sugar-coat his reports. He was prepared to stand up to Stalin with what his deputy regarded as a 'brave outspokenness'. So skilled was he at providing the evening situation reports concisely and accurately that even Zhukov bowed to his capability and allowed Antonov to present them in his place. The trust that Stalin came to place in Antonov was reflected in his survivability. He retained his office until February 1945, when he was made chief of staff in Vasilevsky's place.

By 1944, Antonov was Chief Spokesman and was present at the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...

and

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...

Conferences. At the Yalta Conference, he briefed the Western Allies on co-ordinating military actions, and by stressing how the Allies could aid Soviets through bombing lines of communications contributed to the

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

raid. After the war, Antonov became Deputy Commander-in-Chief and then Commander-in-Chief of the

Transcaucasus Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...

. In 1955, he became Chief of Staff of the Combined Forces of the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...

. He held this post until his death in 1962. Antonov died on 16 June 1962 in Moscow, and his ashes interred in the

Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis was the national cemetery for the Soviet Union. Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik individuals who died during the Moscow Bolshevik Uprising were buried in ma ...

Family

In 1956, Antonov married ballerina Olga Lepeshinskaya. It was his second marriage.Z. Sambuu. ''From Herdsman to Statesman'' (2010) p. 102

References

Sources

* *S. M. Shtemenko. ''The Soviet General Staff''. Progress Publisher, Moskva.

Career

Family

References

Sources

Further reading