Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky (; July 21, 1897 – May 10, 1968) was a Soviet general, military theorist,

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (, ) was the second-highest military rank of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin wore the uniform and insignia of Marshal after World War II. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in ...

, and a commander of

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...

's chief of staff, Sokolovsky helped plan and execute the Battle of Berlin. He also served as head of the Soviet Forces in East Germany and the Soviet Chief of the General Staff. Born to a Belarusian peasant family in

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, Sokolovsky joined the

in 1918 and served with distinction in Central Asia during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. He held a number of staff positions, eventually becoming Deputy Chief of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

at the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In late 1941, he helped coordinate the Soviet counter-offensive at the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

and drove German forces from the capital. As commander of the Soviet Western Front, he then took part in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

and

Operation Kutuzov Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German ''Ger ...

. In April 1944, Sokolovsky was named chief of staff of the

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...

under Georgy Zhukov, a position he served until the end of the war. In that capacity, he helped execute Zhukov's capture of Berlin. After the war, Sokolovsky was named deputy commander-in-chief of the Soviet Forces in Germany until July 1946, when he was promoted to commander-in-chief and head of the Soviet Military Administration; he was also named a Marshal of the Soviet Union. In 1949, Sokolovsky became the Soviet Deputy Minister of Defense, and in 1952 he was made Chief of the General Staff. He had effectively retired by 1960 but achieved renewed international fame with his volumes on military strategy. Sokolovsky died in 1968 at the age of 70.

Early life

Sokolovsky was born into a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian peasant family in Kozliki, a small town in the province of

(now in

Białystok County Białystok County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus. It was created on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government refo ...

in eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, then part of the

). He worked as a teacher in a rural school, where he took part in a number of protests and demonstrations against the Tsar.

Military career

Sokolovsky joined the

in February 1918. He began his formal military schooling in 1919, but was frequently called up by the Red Army and forced to leave his schoolwork. He graduated in 1921 and became the

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of a division stationed in

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

. He was wounded during a battle near

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

and subsequently decorated for bravery. After the

ended in 1922/1923 he held a number of staff positions, eventually becoming the chief of staff for the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

and then the Deputy Chief of the

, the position he held at the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union,

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

(22 June 1941). In December 1941, with German forces a mere 20 kilometers from

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Sokolovsky was made the chief of staff of the Soviet Western Front, where he was able to help co-ordinate the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

winter counter-attacks that forced the Germans away from Moscow. He remained in this position until February 1943, when he became the commander of the Western Front. He led this front through the

. In the summer of 1943, the Soviets launched

on 12 July against Army Group Centre in the Orel salient, directly north of the Kursk salient. The Bryansk Front, under the command of Markian Popov, attacked the eastern face of the Orel salient while the Western Front, commanded by Sokolovsky, attacked from the north. The operation ended on 18 August 1943 with the Soviet capture of Orel and collapse of the Orel bulge. In October–November 1943, Sokolovsky commanded the Western Front in failed Soviet Orsha offensives against Gotthard Heinrici's 4th Army in the Orsha region of Belarus. In April 1944 the Western Front was broken into two parts and Sokolovsky was made chief of staff of

under

. He remained in this position until the end of the war in 1945. As the chief of staff of 1st Ukrainian Front, Sokolovsky helped plan and execute the capture of Berlin. Sokolovsky sat next to Zhukov as he accepted the German Instrument of Surrender in Berlin. After World War II, Sokolovsky became the deputy commander-in-chief of the Soviet Forces in East Germany until July 3, 1946. On that day Sokolovsky was promoted to the rank of

, and also made commander-in-chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and head of the

Soviet Military Administration in Germany The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; , SMAD) was the Soviet military government, headquartered in Berlin- Karlshorst, that directly ruled the Soviet occupation zone in German ...

. His walking out of a meeting of the

Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council (ACC) or Allied Control Authority (), also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allies of World War II, Allied Allied-occupied Germany, occupation zones in Germany (1945–1949/1991) and Al ...

on 20 March 1948 as the Soviet representative on that body effectively immobilized it from that date. In 1949 he became the Soviet Union's Deputy Minister of Defense, a position he held until 1952, when he was made the Chief of the General Staff. In 1960 Sokolovsky became the Inspector-General of the Ministry of Defense. He retained this position until his death in 1968. Sokolovsky became widely known in the West with the publication in 1962 of ''Military Strategy'', a book that contained rare detail on Soviet thinking about war, particularly nuclear war. Sokolovsky was a key member of the Soviet war command during

and known as an excellent planner and exceptional military leader. He was particularly well-trusted by Marshal

. Sokolovsky died on May 10, 1968, at aged 70. The urn containing his ashes was buried in the

Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is the former national cemetery of the Soviet Union, located in Red Square in Moscow beside the Moscow Kremlin Wall, Kremlin Wall. Burials there began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolsheviks who died during the Mosc ...

. Sokolovsky appears as a prominent figure in William T. Vollmann's 2005 National Book Award-winning novel, '' Europe Central''.

Honours and awards

;Soviet Union ;Foreign awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokolovsky, Vasily 1897 births 1968 deaths People from Białystok County People from Belostoksky Uyezd Members of the Central Committee of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Candidates of the Central Committee of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Candidates of the Central Committee of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Third convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Fourth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Fifth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Sixth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Seventh convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Nuclear strategists Marshals of the Soviet Union Russian military writers Soviet people of Belarusian descent People of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of World War II Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the Virtuti Militari (1943–1989) Commanders of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 3rd class Grand Crosses of the Order of the White Lion Commanders of the Legion of Merit Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis Frunze Military Academy alumni