After the XX Congress of the CPSU in the "secret report" lists of innocent victims of the Stalinist terror were published. The conclusion was that as a result of the violation of the Leninist norms of the leadership of the party and the country, many talented commanders died, whose managerial skills in the Great Patriotic War could have become invaluable. The names of Gamarnik, Tukhachevsky, Yakir were mentioned. Marshal Blucher, a hero of the Civil War, also suffered.
The surname is non-Russian, although its owner is a peasant son from the Yaroslavl province. The fact is that in the era of the Napoleonic wars there was such a Prussian field marshal who played a significant role in the defeat of Bonaparte's army at Waterloo. The landowner, the owner of the great-grandfather of the future commander, gave one of his peasants this nickname because of his heroic participation in the Crimean War. The great-grandson was born either in 1889 or in 1890.
Vasily Blyukher, when he grew up, worked in St. Petersburg, first running errands in a store, then at a carriage building plant. He had a restless disposition, joined the class struggle early and was even sentenced to 32 months in prison.
With the beginning of the World War, Blucher was mobilized, but he did not get to the front right away. First, he served in the Kremlin guard, and once on the front line, he distinguished himself in battle, for which he was awarded a medal and two St. George's crosses. In the non-commissioned officer rank, having received a serious wound, Vasily was commissioned outright and, working at the shipyards in Sormovo, joined the RSDLP.
The career that Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher made during the Civil War is amazing. The biography, which became available to a wide range of readers after 1956, contains meager information that, starting from a modest position as a clerk of the 102nd reserve for the time being, in a few months he "grew" to a member of the Samara Revolutionary Military Commissariat.
Taking an active part in the Civil War, he became the most decorated order bearer of the Red Army. There were four Red Banners on his chest, no one else had so many.
The Far East in 1921 became the place where Marshal Blucher reached the peak of his career. Numerous armed clashes with Japanese militarists, White Chinese and White Guard military formations operating from the territory of Manchuria usually ended successfully for the red commander. Actually, he was awarded the rank of marshal for the victory of the troops of the Far Eastern District in the battles for the CER.
Then there was a trial of Tukhachevsky and other "conspirators" (Eideman, Uborevich, Feldman, Putna and Korka), in which he took an active partMarshal Blucher together with Ulrich and Budyonny. The honored hero of the Civil War branded traitors and traitors with shame, not realizing that he himself would soon take their place. Having proved his loy alty, he returned to his official duties, but the conflict on Lake Khasan in 1938 and its results alerted I. V. Stalin. Formally, everything was fine, the aggressor was defeated, but some circumstances reported to Moscow by "whoever needed" revealed a number of shortcomings in command and control.
Stalin learned that Marshal Blucher drinks a lot, and not tea at all. In work, he took a passive position, does little business, and more and more settles personal problems. In those harsh times, leaders of this rank were not sent to retire. It was much easier to accuse the objectionable commander of criminal negligence or espionage, which was done.
Marshal Blucher was lucky in a certain sense. His he alth, undermined by injury and really immoderate alcohol consumption, could not stand the Lefortovo torture, he died in 1938, on November 9, without waiting for the trial. He was sentenced on March 10, 1939 posthumously.
