Kirill Meretskov

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K.A. Meretskov
June 7, 1897(1897-06-07) – December 30, 1968 (aged 71)
Kirill Meretskov.
Place of birth	Ryazan Oblast, Russian Empire
Place of death	Moscow, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Years of service	1916 — 1964
Rank	Marshal of the Soviet Union
Commands held	Leningrad Military District 7th Army Volkhov Front Karelian Front Soviet Far East Front
Battles/wars	Russian Civil War Winter War Great Patriotic War Siege of Leningrad Svir–Petrozavodsk Offensive Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive Soviet invasion of Manchuria
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Victory Order of Lenin (7) Order of the Red Banner (4) Order of Suvorov, 1st Class Order of Kutuzov, 1st Class Order of the October Revolution
Other work	Chief of the General Staff Deputy Commissar of Defense Assistant Minister of Defense Inspector-General of the Army

Kirill Afanasievich Meretskov (Russian: Кири́лл Афана́сьевич Мерецко́в; June 7, 1897 – December 30, 1968) was a Soviet military commander.

Early life and career

He was born in the Ryazan province, southeast of Moscow. His parents were peasants and lived in a rural village. He volunteered for the Imperial Army in June 1916, where he worked as a mechanic.

Meretskov joined the Bolsheviks (later the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in August 1917, and became chief of staff of a Red Guard (later Red Army) division. During the Russian Civil War, he attended a military academy, which he was forced to leave several times so as to take command positions where he was desperately needed (see also 1st Cavalry Army). During these battles, he was wounded and subsequently decorated for bravery multiple times. He graduated in 1921. Between 1924 and 1931, he held a number of positions in the Moscow Military District.

In 1936, Meretskov left the Soviet Union to fight for the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. He returned home in 1937. In 1939 he was appointed commander of the Leningrad Military District.

Winter War 1939

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, without declaration of war, beginning the Winter War. Meretskov was in command of the operation, since he was commander of the Leningrad Military District. His initial attempt to defeat the Finns met with disaster. Despite an overwhelming numerical superiority, the Soviet forces were uncoordinated and poorly suited for the winter campaign. By mid-December, the offensive had been called off, due to extensive failures and heavy casualties. The blame for this loss does not lie with Meretskov, however. While the strategic planning of the war was sound, the tactical command, at the divisional level and lower was abysmal. Most Soviet generals had no experience, especially after the purges of the late 1930s had taken their toll. Furthermore, Meretskov's command of the operation was hindered by poor decisions of his superior, the People's Commissar for Defence, Kliment Voroshilov, who was in overall command of the operation.

Nonetheless, Stalin removed Meretskov from command and placed him in charge of the 7th Army, which had also taken part in the offensive. Marshal Semyon Timoshenko was placed in command of the Leningrad Military District. In February 1940, the Soviets once again attacked Finland, but this time they were better prepared. The Soviets were then able to defeat the Finns, who were compelled to sign an armstice on March 12, and Meretskov was able to reap the rewards for being in command of the leading Soviet element. He was given the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest honor in the Soviet Union. Afterwards, Meretskov was made Chief of the General Staff and then Deputy Commissar of Defense.

German assault 1941

On June 21, 1941, Semyon Timoshenko sent Meretskov to Leningrad to represent the High Command (Stavka) in the Leningrad Military District. On June 22 the German invasion of the Soviet Union started, and on June 23 Meretskov was summoned back to Moscow, where he was appointed permanent adviser to Stavka. However, on June 24 he was arrested by the NKVD as a member of an alleged anti-Soviet military conspiracy. Meretskov was severely beaten in custody during the following weeks and under torture admitted his guilt. However, in late September 1941 he was suddenly released, and Stalin immediately appointed him commander of the 7th Separate Army. He was one of the very few of the alleged conspirators who were spared. Most of his fellow commanders arrested in May-July 1941 were summarily executed on the order of Lavrenty Beria near Kuybyshev on October 28, 1941, or sentenced by the Special Council of the NKVD and executed on February 23, 1942.

Victory at Tikhvin

Meretskov was appointed Commander of the Fourth Army which fought in the defense of Leningrad against the Army Group North of von Leeb. applying active defense and constant counterattacks bogged down Germans, went on the offensive and on December 10, 1941 recaptured Tikhvin. In the midst of the battle Stavka ordered Kirill Meretskov to organize a new Volkhov Front. By December 30, 1941 Meretzkov expelled Leeb's troops back to positions from which they began their Tikhvin offense. According to one of the leading historians of the Eastern Front David Glantz: "the concept of blitzkrieg failed for the first time in the Second World War... anticipating" the Soviet victory at Moscow. The battle at Tikhvin was also significant in its direct assistance to the Red Army in the battle of Moscow. Instead of sending troops from the Army Group North to Moscow, Germans were forced to reinforce their armies in the north with divisions from the Army Group Center as well as with other divisions which Germans initially planned to use at Moscow. David Glantz: "During this most critical period of the war, 32 percent of the Wehrmacht's forces, operating north of the Pripiat Marshes, including almost two full panzer groups, were tied down in combat along or adjacent to" Tikhvin. The Wehrmacht lost in the battle 45,000 troops.

In December 1941 Meretskov was appointed commander of the Volkhov Front in the north, a position he held until February 1944.

As commander of Volkhov Front, Meretskov was able to finally halt the German offensive in the north, and prevent the Germans from completely surrounding Leningrad. During much of the war, Meretskov’s Volkhov Front, in co-operation with Leonid Govorov's Leningrad Front, conducted a number of offensives in an attempt to break the German blockade of Leningrad. Finally, in January 1943, during one of the many offensives, Volkhov and Leningrad front forces linked up near Siniavino. With a land bridge now open for supplies and troop movements, Govorov and Meretskov launched a series of offensives designed to push the Germans back and permanently break the blockade of Leningrad. This was accomplished with the Leningrad-Novgorod Strategic Offensive in January 1944.

Karelian Front and Manchuria

In February 1944, Meretskov was transferred to the Karelian Front in the far north. Here, he aided Govorov’s Leningrad Front as they attempted to invade Finland and drive the Finns from the war. The operation was semi-successful, in that the Finns were forced to sue for peace, but the offensive was plagued by a series of difficulties and strong Finnish defence. In October, Meretskov was ordered to clear the city of Petsamo, in northern Finland, of Germans and to drive the German army back into Norway. Meretskov was able to use his knowledge of Arctic warfare to launch a co-ordinated offensive called the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive that drove the Germans back from their positions. After this offensive Meretskov was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union, on October 26, 1944.

Meretskov’s next major command was in Manchuria in 1945, in the Far East, where he was selected to lead the 1st Far Eastern Front in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria because of his knowledge of terrain. Meretskov’s forces easily crushed their Japanese opponents during this final campaign of the war.

Commander and Assistant Minister of Defense

After the war Meretskov commanded a number of military districts until 1955 (including the Moscow Military District in 1947-49)^[1], when he was made the Assistant Minister of Defense, a post he held until 1964. In that year, he was made the Inspector-General Ministry of Defense, a largely ceremonial post. Meretskov died on December 30, 1968. The urn containing his ashes is buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.

Meretskov is regarded as one of the finest Soviet generals of World War II, and was one of the most decorated. He received the Victory Order, the highest medal available, and the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union. A college for tank commanders (ru:Благовещенское высшее танковое командное краснознамённое училище) in Blagoveshchensk in the Far East, and a number of streets in Moscow, Novgorod, and in other cities are named after him.

References

1. ^ Feskov et al. 2004, The Soviet Army during the Period of the Cold War

External links

• Kirill Meretskov (in Russian)
• Biography, Kirill Meretskov (HRONO) (in Russian)
• Kirill Meretskov. In the service of people (На службе народу) (in Russian)

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