Marshal Konev is one of the most famous people of the 20th century. The famous Soviet commander made an invaluable contribution to the Victory. Under his leadership, many strategically important operations of the Great Patriotic War were developed. His name is known to every person in the post-Soviet space. "Marshal Konev: a short biography" is required reading for all students of military academies.
Youth
Marshal Konev was born on December 28, 1897 in the Vologda province. Ivan's family consisted of simple peasants. The future commander graduated from college and from adolescence he worked in forestry work. He combined this hard work with learning and self-development. At the age of 19, Ivan was drafted into the army. First, he studied at the capital's academy. A year later, he was sent to the West to take part in the battles against the German and Austro-Hungarian troops. Thus began the military career of a great man.
In the battles on the Southwestern Front, where the future Marshal Konev served, Russian troops suffered huge losses. During the first 2 years of the First World War, the coalition of forces of the Triple Alliance advanced hundreds of kilometers, practically reaching the Dnieper. One of the most famous events in this area is the Brusilovsky breakthrough. After a successionmajor defeats, the emperor ordered an offensive operation in the Lutsk region. This was part of the general plan of the Entente. The operation began in the late spring of 1916 and ended in the autumn with a major defeat for the Austro-Hungarian forces. The future Marshal Konev was directly involved in the breakthrough.
After the war
Ivan was demobilized in the winter of 1918. Growing up in a peasant family, he clearly saw the inequality between the workers and the bourgeoisie in the Russian Empire. Therefore, immediately after his arrival, he joined the Bolshevik Party. The experience gained on the battlefields of the First World War allowed him to become a commissar in Nikolsk. He participated in the civil war, mainly in the East. There, detachments of the Red Army entrusted to him fought with units of the "whites" and the Japanese.
When planning operations, the future Marshal Konev proved himself to be an outstanding commander. He did an excellent job with the tasks and often took the initiative. In addition to military merits, he distinguished himself in the construction of a new state.
Marshal Konev: biography. Interwar period
Ivan was devoted to the ideas of communism. Party comrades always listened to his words. He participated in the 10th Congress of the Workers' and Peasants' Party. There it was decided to storm Kronstadt, where the rebels settled. After the end of the civil war and the stabilization of the situation in the country, Konev devoted himself entirely to the art of war. He is studying at the Higher Military Academy. There he is transferred to a special group.
Given combat experience already in1935 Ivan becomes division commander. He is sent to Mongolia, where he stays until the early 40s. While serving in the East, Konev reads a lot and studies all the intricacies of commanding an army. Little is known about his first wife. They met during the civil war. The wounded Konev immediately fell in love with the young Anna and they soon got married. Contemporaries associate this event with Ivan's youth. During the civil war, young Red Army soldiers were overwhelmed with feelings, so field marriages were by no means uncommon. The lovers lived together for 20 years, after which they broke up. For many, this came as a surprise.
Colleagues did not dare to talk about the personal life of the commander if Marshal Konev was nearby. The family was a refuge for him, a quiet haven in which he could rest after the hard everyday life of the war, and which took him almost half of his life. Anna loved open receptions and noisy feasts. Therefore, many historians believe that this was the reason for the rupture of the union.
Beginning of the Great Patriotic War
In 1941, Marshal Konev became a Lieutenant General of the Red Army. The 19th division entrusted to him immediately after the formation was sent to the south. At this time, the Nazis were rapidly breaking through the territory of Belarus. The main lines of defense were located beyond the Dnieper, near the western borders of the USSR, since it was there that the main blow was expected. The sudden invasion through the seemingly impenetrable swampy terrain of Belarus caused panic in the ranks of the Red Army. Therefore, the experienced Konev wassent to the Western Front to reinforce a group of troops.
Vitebsk fell in mid-July. A huge number of military personnel were surrounded. Then the chief of the Nazi general staff, Halder, reported that the war against Russia had been won in 2 weeks. In his opinion, further resistance will not be able to stop the Wehrmacht.
Failure of defense near Vyazma
The Third Reich set its sights on Moscow. Smolensk stood in the way of the Germans. The fighting for the city continued for more than two months. A well-prepared enemy advanced in three directions. The hastily formed units of the Soviet army did not have time to repel the offensive. As a result of the fighting, several divisions fell into the "cauldrons". Marshal Konev Ivan Stepanovich, as part of the 19th Army, was also surrounded.
After the loss of communication, the command believed that the commander was killed or captured. But Ivan Stepanovich managed to organize a withdrawal and brought the headquarters, as well as the communications regiment, to his own. His actions during the battle of Smolensk were approved by Stalin himself. Therefore, Konev was soon appointed commander of the Western Front.
Most difficult operations
It so happened that the Soviet units that took part in the most unsuccessful operations were invariably commanded by Marshal Konev. The biography of the commander has a huge number of difficult periods. But it was precisely the three years of the Second World War that became the real test for Konev.
In the fall, the Germans reached the defense lines in front of Moscow. Here commanded Konev. The German Army Group "Center" inflicted a dissectingblow, and more than half a million people ended up in a "cauldron" near Vyazma. This defeat is the largest in the entire war. On Stalin's orders, a special group was formed to look into the incident. For some time, the threat of execution hung over Konev. Then Zhukov saved him. After the Vyazemsky tragedy, the Germans came close to the capital of the USSR. And only with the efforts of the urgently deployed units of the Red Army and hastily armed militia managed to repulse their attack. Konev participated in the development of the Kalinin operation.
After that, under the command of Ivan Stepanovich, another infamous Rzhev operation was carried out, where the Red Army was opposed by Nazi formations under the command of the defense genius - Model.
The offensive of the Red Army
After a series of failures, Konev was removed from the post of commander of the front. But a year later, he showed himself in the largest tank battle in the history of mankind - the battle of Kursk. Further, Marshal of the Soviet Union Konev led the offensive in the direction of Lvov. For services to the Motherland, he was awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.
In 1944, Konev liberated Prague and other European territories occupied by the Reich. He managed to quickly drive the Germans out of Silesia, where the Nazis intended to destroy the industrial regions of Poland. For special successes in offensive operations, Konev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time.
Children of the Marshal
Marshal Konev's daughter releaseda series of memoirs about his father after his death. There she cited little-known facts from the personal life of the commander. The text also mentioned excerpts from the memoirs of Marshal Konev himself. The collection is also of historical value, since it indirectly reveals the secrets of planning the most important operations of the Great Patriotic War. The children of Marshal Konev lived mainly in Moscow. Helium's son was also a military man.
