Biography
Ivan Konev was first called to the front very young and managed to make a brilliant military career. He became famous as a talented commander, a fair leader and hero of the Soviet Union.Childhood and youth
16 (28) December 1897 - the date of the birth of the Great Soviet commander Ivan Konev. The boy's childhood passed in the village of Lodeyno, where the spirit reigned and the Slavic culture flourished. Vanya's mother died early, and soon his father re-married, and the child's raising took his aunt.
The family was wealthy, so Koned was given a good education. The young man studied at church-parish school, then entered the Zemstvo school. He began to work as a teenager in the forest industry, first was on the billets, then became a tabler.
Personal life
The personal life of a man was not immediately. With his first wife Anna, he met in his youth. The girl was fascinated by the beauty and charm of the Russian officer, and when he runs down with a typhus, began to hurt him. After recovery, the graceful guy called Anna Marry, and she gladly accepted the offer. Soon the Mayan daughter was born in the family, and then the son of helium.
A man met his second wife during the war with Nazi Germany. Antonina was sent to help an officer on the economy, in their first meeting, Ivan looked pale and exhausted, but still managed to make an impression on the girl. She was still young, recently released from school, but created around the elect, the comfort and treated from severe illness. In marriage, the only daughter Natalia was born, who dedicated the hero of the book "Marshal Konev - My Father."
Military Career
During World War I, Vanya received an agenda in the army ranks. The educator and physical form of the guy attracted the attention of the higher authorities, because of which he was sent to study for service in artillery. After completing the preparation of King, he received the title of the younger Unter-Officer, served in Moscow, and then on the south-western front. But after the change of power, the young man demobilized.In the native edges, Vanya stayed long, soon the civil war began. The guy went to carry the service on the Eastern Front, where the courage and the talent of the commander showed. He was a member of the suppression of the Kronstadt uprising, was listed by the Commissioner in the central headquarters of the Far Eastern Republic.
When the war ended and the temporary period of the clutch came, the officer continued to make a military career. He studied at the Academy named after Mikhail Frunze, which made it possible to get the position of commander of the Rifle Division - first of the 17th, then the 37th and 2nd. In 1938, he had already headed the 57th special corps in the rank of Komdiv.
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War Ivan met in the rank of Lieutenant General. He commanded the 19th Army and managed to distinguish between the Smolensk battle than Iosif Stalin himself. With the assistance of the state leader, the officer headed the West Front and received the rank of Colonel-General.
But under the command of Konev, the Soviet troops lost the battle near Vyazma. Human losses were so big that the question was raised about the court and execution of the commander. According to the legend, Marshal Georgy Zhukov came for him, with the filing of which Ivan Stepanovich headed the Kalinin Front.
Later Alexander Vasilevsky wrote that Konev was close to Zhukov in spirit. They both possessed good intuition, carefully evaluated the situation and planned the battle. It is not surprising that for many of the environments of the commander, his act in relation to Marshal, perfect in the post-war time, became a surprise.
Then the warlord as head of the Kalininsky direction participated in the battle for Moscow and the Rzhev Battle, but did not differ. After that, he again returned to the post of commander of the Western Front, then North-Western, but after a series of unsuccessful operations was translated again.
Only as the head of the steppe front, the officer has achieved success. He distinguished himself in the Kursk battle and battle for the Dnieper, participated in the liberation of Poltava, Belgorod, Kharkov and Kremenchug. The historia entered the feat of the hero during the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky operation, during which he managed to destroy the enemy grouping. For her, the man was honored by Nine Marshal USSR.
After a number of successful battles in May 1944, Ivan Stepanovich headed the 1st Ukrainian Front. During this period, it was written about him as a talented leader and an educated warlord, which equally skillfully conducts defensive and offensive operations.
The Lviv-Sandomir operation conducted by Marshal earned a special place in the textbooks on war art. In the course of the promotion of troops, 8 divisions of the enemy were surrounded, the Western Oblasts of the USSR were released and the Sandomirid scholars are engaged. For this Konev awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
When the troops of the USSR won, the officer was sent to Austria. There he led the central group of troops, was the High Commissioner. Returning to the Motherland, the man served in the military ministries of the Soviet Union, enjoyed continued authority.
With the filing of Konev, the death sentence was signed by Lavrentia Beria, he also supported the exception of George Zhukov from the Central Committee of the Party. Ivan Stepanovich believed that Marshal did not justify confidence and is inclined to adventurism. Recent years, the Soviet hero served under the Ministry of Defense.
Death
The commander died on May 21, 1973, the cause of death was cancer. The funeral of the officer was held with military honors, and his grave is located at the Kremlin wall on Red Square. In memory of the celebrity, photos, awards and numerous references to the exploits remained.
Awards
Soviet awards
- 1936 - Red Star Order
- 1944, 1945 - Hero of the Soviet Union
- 1944 - Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
- 1945 - Order "Victory"
- 1945 - Medal "For Liberation of Prague"
- 1968 - Order of the October Revolution
Foreign awards
- Order "For Merit to Fatherland" in Silver (GDR).
- Star of the Order of the Renaissance of the 1st Class Poland (Poland).
- Order of the Red Banner (MNR).
- Order of the partisan star 1st degree (SFRY).
- The Order of the White Lion "For the victory" of the 1st degree (Czechmill).
- Order merit of the Hungarian People's Republic (VNI).