During the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet army showed incredible courage. The way our soldiers fought against the fascist invaders went down in world history as an example of heroism, awareness of the absolute value of one's life only in the context of its exceptional usefulness at a particular moment of danger to one's homeland. However, in addition to the heroism of the soldiers, the entire military campaign was also marked by talented strategic decisions that came from the military leaders. Alexey Innokentevich Antonov, whose brief biography is set out in this article, certainly belonged to such professional strategists.
Hereditary military
Future General Alexei Antonov was born in Belarus on September 15, 1896 in a military family, which probably predetermined his fate. His father, Innokenty Alekseevich, was an officer, served in the artillery with the rank of captain. Mother Teresa Ksaveryevna kept house and raised children - the eldest daughter Lyudmila and son Alexei. She was Polish by birth, her fatherexiled to Siberia for participation in the gentry uprising in Poland in 1863-65. The grandfather of Alexei Innokentyevich was also an officer, originally from Siberia, who graduated from the Alexander Military School. My father wanted to study at the Academy of the General Staff, but he was denied admission due to the fact that his wife Teresa was a Catholic. He did not want to force his wife to change her faith to the Orthodox, and therefore went with his family to the Belarusian city of Grodno to serve in an artillery brigade. The future General Antonov, thanks to the origin of his mother, spoke not only Russian, but also Polish.
First years of school
When the boy was eight years old, the family moved to Ukraine, where his father received a transfer to the post of battery commander. Here he began his studies at the gymnasium. Antonov Alexei Innokentyevich, whose biography was probably determined by the military past of his father and grandfather, initially did not show any predisposition to a military career. He was an extremely sickly, shy and nervous boy. Seeing this, Antonov Sr. came to terms with the idea that his son would not follow in his footsteps. He began to actively engage with his son, his physical and intellectual development. Antonov Jr. tempered himself, learned to play chess, ride a horse, later his father instilled in him an interest in photography. In addition, when his son got older, he began to take him to field camps for the summer.
Aleksey was twelve when his father died unexpectedly. The family lived on a military pension, the mother worked part-time with lessons. When the First World War began, the Antonov family moved toPetersburg. A year later, my mother also dies. At the age of 19, the future General Antonov graduates from the St. Petersburg gymnasium and passes tests at the university. His choice fell on the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. However, he will not be able to study there. Lack of livelihood forces the young man to go to work at the factory.
The beginning of the military career
In connection with Russia's participation in the First World War, Antonov was called up for service at the age of 20. In December 1916, he studied as an external student at the Pavlovsk Military School. He was sent to the active army with the rank of ensign. Quite quickly, literally at the beginning of next year, the future General Antonov, whose biography had already entered the military rails, received a baptism of fire, was wounded in the head and sent to the hospital. Then he received his first award - the Order of St. Anne.
After being wounded, he was sent to the reserve regiment. In August 1917 he took part in the suppression of the Kornilov rebellion. He was responsible for the formation of consolidated units and providing them with weapons. In May 1918, his military career seemed to have ended: he retired from the reserve and entered the Petrograd Forest Institute for training. But civilian life did not last long - as soon as the Civil War began, he entered the Red Army.
Participation in the Civil War
The future General Antonov in April 1919 entered the disposal of the Southern Front and was sent to serve as assistant chief of staff of the division near Lugansk. In addition, he trained new recruits. Due to the fighting andthe loss of Lugansk, which was occupied by parts of Denikin, Antonov began to temporarily replace the post of chief of staff. In the second half of 1920, as a result of fierce battles with Wrangel formations, Antonov's division managed to recapture the territory of Ukraine north of Crimea.
During the battles for Sevastopol, the future General Alexei Innokentevich Antonov met the front commander Mikhail Frunze. A few years later, based on the results of past hostilities, he received an award: a Certificate of Honor and an Honorary Weapon of the Revolutionary Military Council.
After Civil War
After the hostilities ended and the Bolsheviks finally gained the upper hand, the future General Antonov and his division switched to a working position and took up field work in southern Ukraine. He decided to continue his military education, starting to prepare for admission to the Academy. Although he was at that time among those few who, having risen to command, remained without the appropriate education, many of his colleagues noted outstanding abilities. Meanwhile, he began studying at the Frunze Academy only six years later, in 1928, after he joined the Communist Party and his first marriage.
He studied at the command department, learned French and became a military translator. According to the testimonies of his classmates, he showed serious zeal in his studies, paid special attention to staff work, and repeatedly underwent internships in the troops. After completing his studies in 1931, he returned to Ukraine and headed the headquarters inKorosteni. A year later, a new faculty was opened at the Academy - for operational work, which the future General Antonov Alexei Innokentievich graduated with honors.
Staff work
In 1935, he received the post of operative of the chief of staff of the Kharkov military district. His duties included, in particular, practicing maneuvers and organizing large-scale military exercises. Tank and aviation branches of the troops were also involved in the maneuvers. In 1935, the largest tactical exercises were held in Ukraine, in which more than sixty thousand people and more than three thousand military equipment took part. It was here that many new achievements in operational work were practiced, for which Antonov, in particular, was awarded the People's Commissar of Defense.
In 1936, Antonov was invited as a student to the new Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army. However, he studied there for only a year, after which he was sent to the Moscow Military District, where he headed the headquarters. In 1938 he moved to teaching and research activities at the Frunze Academy. In particular, he studied the basic tactical methods of the German troops and the expansion of the use of tank units. This was the topic of his scientific work, with reports he repeatedly spoke to the military leadership. In February 1940, he received the title of "Associate Professor", and a little later he was awarded the military rank of "Major General".
AssaultGermany
A few months before the war, the future general of the army Antonov - a biography and a whim of fate led him to the very thick - headed the headquarters of the Kyiv military district. By and large, he was preparing the personnel for a likely strike, but the units were completed according to the rules of peacetime - by 65%. As soon as the war began, he became chief of staff of the Kyiv Special Military District. Within a fairly short period of time - four days - he managed to carry out the draft in ten subordinate areas by 90%, the technicians - by more than 80%. In addition, the evacuation of the civilian population was also in his area of responsibility. Already in August, the future General of the Army Alexei Innokentevich Antonov was engaged in the formation of the headquarters of the Southern Front, which he himself headed.
An extremely difficult situation has been developing on the Southwestern Front for a long time. The experience, which accumulated quite quickly in the first months of the war, was generalized and systematized by Antonov. Based on the results of the recommendations on the conduct of combat, camouflage, reconnaissance, etc., he sent to the military headquarters. He was engaged in preparing a counterattack in the Rostov direction in November, for which he received the Order of the Red Banner and a promotion in the rank - "lieutenant general".
In November 1943, he was awarded the title of "general of the army". Later, he took part in the development of the Battle of Kursk, where he worked closely with Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Vasilevsky. During the operation, he was wounded twice. In the same composition, the third winter military campaign was developed - the cleansing of Ukraine from the Nazis,Crimea, the withdrawal of enemy troops from the borders of the country, as well as the liberation in the northern direction and the lifting of the blockade from Leningrad. The 44-year summer campaign was also developed directly by Antonov, General of the Army of the USSR, about which he personally reported to Stalin in April.
Participation in the Y alta Conference
The second front, despite all the promises, was opened only in June 1944. In this regard, another direction in the work appeared - the coordination of the actions of the allies. This became the responsibility of Antonov, who met regularly with US and British officials. In February 1945, Antonov, an army general, took part in the famous meeting of the leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition in Y alta - he read a detailed report on the state of affairs on the battlefields. He was later appointed Chief of the General Staff. As historians note, he was in Stalin's Kremlin office more than anyone else in the military leadership - more than 280 times.
Aleksey Innokentevich Antonov, whose exploits were more than obvious, personally developed a plan to capture Berlin, later he was assigned to the highest military award - the Order of Victory. It is worth noting that he was the only recipient of the 14 who received the order not in the rank of marshal.
After the end of the war
General Alexei Antonov after the end of the war, the first thing he did was demobilize and disband the troops. Then in 1946 he was elected a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. From 1948 toHe served in the Transcaucasus for 54 years, then returned to Moscow, where he began working as the first deputy chief of the general staff, and also joined the collegium of the Ministry of Defense. In 1955, he headed the Warsaw Pact Organization. He died in Moscow at the age of 66. The ashes of the general are embedded in the Kremlin wall.
