Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev (Russian: Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев, IPA: [ɪˈvan sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ˈkonʲɪf]; 28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, responsible for taking much of Axis-occupied Eastern Europe.
Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev | |
|---|---|
Konev in 1945 | |
| 1st Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization | |
| In office 14 May 1955 – April 1960 | |
| Preceded by | Position created |
| Succeeded by | Andrei Grechko |
| 1st High Commissioner of the Soviet occupation of Austria | |
| In office July 1945 – 25 April 1946 | |
| President | Karl Renner |
| Chancellor | Karl Renner |
| Preceded by | Fyodor Tolbukhin (as military commander) |
| Succeeded by | Vladimir Kurasov |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 December 1897 Lodeyno, Nikolsky Uyezd, Vologda Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 21 May 1973 (aged 75) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Resting place | Kremlin Wall Necropolis |
| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union (twice) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Russian Empire (1915–1917) Soviet Russia (1917–1922) Soviet Union (1922–1973) |
| Branch/service | Imperial Russian Army (1915–1917) Red Army (1917–1946) Soviet Army (1946–1973) |
| Years of service | 1915–1973 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944–1973) |
| Commands | 2nd Rifle Division 2nd Red Banner Army Transbaikal Military District Steppe Front Kalinin Front Western Front 2nd Ukrainian Front 1st Ukrainian Front Commander of Warsaw Pact Armed Forces |
| Battles/wars |
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Born to a peasant family, Konev was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army in 1916 and fought in World War I. In 1919, he joined the Bolsheviks and served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. After graduating from Frunze Military Academy in 1926, Konev gradually rose through the ranks of the Soviet military. By 1939, he had become a candidate to the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Konev took part in a series of major campaigns, including the battles of Moscow and Rzhev. Konev further commanded forces in major Soviet offensives at Kursk, in the Dnieper–Carpathian and Vistula–Oder offensives. In February 1944, he was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union. On the eve of German defeat, Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front was pitted against the armies of Georgy Zhukov in the Race to Berlin. Konev was the first Allied commander to enter Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, after the Prague uprising.
He replaced Zhukov as commander of Soviet ground forces in 1946. In 1956, he was appointed commander of the Warsaw Pact armed forces, and led the violent suppression of the Hungarian Revolution and Prague Spring. In 1961, as commander of Soviet forces in East Germany, he ordered the closing of West Berlin to East Berlin during the building of the Berlin Wall. Konev remained a popular military figure in the Soviet Union until his death in 1973.