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61-666: The title of Guards within the Soviet Armed Forces was first introduced on 18 September 1941, at the direction of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ( Stavka ). By order No. 308 of the People's Commissar of Defence , the 100th , 127th , 153rd and 161st Rifle Divisions were renamed the 1st , 2nd , 3rd and 4th Guards Rifle Divisions , respectively, for their distinguished service during

122-505: A white flag . Krebs, under orders from Goebbels, sought conditions for surrender more favorable to the Germans, which Chuikov had no authority to grant and so rejected any terms. On 2 May, he accepted the unconditional surrender of Berlin 's forces from General Helmuth Weidling who had taken command, with the suicide that morning by Gen. Krebs. Chuikov appeared in the documentary film Berlin (1945), directed by Yuli Raizman . After

183-499: A Soviet diplomatic delegation that toured Harbin , Changchun , Port Arthur , Dalian , Tianjin and Beijing , cities in northeastern and northern China . After completing his studies in the fall of 1927, Chuikov was dispatched to China as a military attaché. Chuikov traveled extensively in southern China and Sichuan , became fluent in Chinese, and gained a deeper understanding of Chinese politics and culture. In 1929, during

244-773: A decree of the State Defense Committee , in connection with the formation of the High Commands of the Troops of the Directions (North–West, West and South–West), it was transformed into the Stavka of the High Command, Joseph Stalin became the chairman, and Boris Shaposhnikov was introduced to it. On July 10, 1941, it was renamed into the Stavka of the Supreme High Command. On February 17, 1945, by

305-507: A long time. Well, what could I say? I said: "I understand my orders just fine, and I'll carry them out. I'll do what I can. I'll either keep them out of Stalingrad or die trying". There were no more questions after that. They offered me tea, but I declined, got in my car, and drove to Stalingrad." Chuikov arrived in Stalingrad on 11 September 1942 and occupied Hill 102.24 where he set up his command post, and immediately set about preparing

366-420: A major attack, but we didn't know where exactly. We had sensed this from the very beginning of November. We were being given less and less help. We'd been used to talking to people from front HQ every day, but now they'd all vanished. Khrushchev wasn't here, and Yeryomenko came only once..." On 19 November 1942, Soviet forces launched a massive double pincer attack to the north and south of Stalingrad, exploiting

427-553: A month later, operators of the General Staff were stationed nearby, on the platform of the Kirovskaya metro station – working body of the headquarters. Vasily Chuikov Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (Russian: Васи́лий Ива́нович Чуйко́в , Russian: [vɐˈsʲilʲɪj t͡ɕʉjkof] ; 12 February [ O.S. 31 January] 1900 – 18 March 1982) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of

488-632: A nine-month illness and finally his death. He left his regiment in 1921 to continue his studies at the Frunze Military Academy , from which he graduated in 1925. On account of his excellent academic performance, Chuikov was invited to stay at the Frunze Military Academy for another year to study Chinese language and history in the Orient Studies Department. In the fall of 1926, Chuikov joined

549-509: A resolution of the State Defense Committee , the following composition of the Stavka of the Supreme High Command was determined: Joseph Stalin ( Supreme Commander–in–Chief ), Georgy Zhukov (Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union ), Alexander Vasilevsky (Deputy People's Commissar of Defense), Alexey Antonov , Nikolai Bulganin , Nikolai Kuznetsov . The Stavka of the Supreme High Command carried out its activities under

610-402: A senior commander, is when you lose control and communications. Most of all, we were afraid of losing control of our troops. I may not be able to send one of my commanders any reinforcements, but it's enough for me to grab the phone and say the right thing, that's all he needs." It was at Stalingrad that Chuikov developed the important tactic of "hugging the enemy", by which Soviet soldiers kept

671-693: The 13th Guards Rifle Division . Guards fighter units of the air force also made efforts to retain personnel, with the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment concentrating twelve aces with over ten victories. From March 1942, Guards rifle divisions were organized along a different table of organization and equipment from standard rifle divisions that increased their allocation of personnel, artillery and infantry support weapons. The Guards rifle divisions received an organic SU-76 assault gun battalion to replace their towed anti-tank gun unit in December 1944, which standard rifle divisions did not include until after

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732-667: The China Eastern Railway Incident , Chuikov was forced to leave China after the Soviet Union broke diplomatic relations with the Republic of China on 13 July. Chuikov was assigned to the newly formed Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army in Khabarovsk and worked on military intelligence, reporting to Vasily Blyukher , the commander of the Far Eastern Army. The Soviet Far Eastern Army defeated

793-832: The Chinese Communists so as to ensure Chinese unity against Japan. Chuikov arrived in China with a large supply of Soviet armaments for the Nationalist Army, including tanks, artillery, fighter and bomber aircraft, and trucks. In January 1941 when the Nationalists attacked the Communists in the Southern Anhui Incident in breach of their nominal alliance, Chuikov was criticized by Mao Zedong for failing to stop Chiang's aggression against

854-619: The Cold War . Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Guards designations for military units have been retained by Belarus , Russia , Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan . Ukraine retained the Guards designations until 2016 when it broke away from its Soviet military traditions due to the War in Donbas . The 22nd Separate Guards Spetsnaz Brigade became the first Russian Armed Forces unit to be awarded

915-651: The Frunze Military Academy , Chuikov worked as a military attaché and intelligence officer in China and the Russian Far East . At the outbreak of the Second World War, Chuikov commanded the 4th Army during the Soviet invasion of Poland , and the 9th Army during the Winter War against Finland. In December 1940, he was again appointed military attaché to China in support of Chiang Kai-shek and

976-1135: The Great Patriotic War . On June 23, 1941, the Main Military Council of the Red Army was abolished. On the same day, by the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union and the Central Committee of the All–Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) No. 825, the Headquarters of the Main Command of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union was established. It included: Semyon Timoshenko (Chairman), Georgy Zhukov , Joseph Stalin , Vyacheslav Molotov , Kliment Voroshilov , Semyon Budyonny , Nikolai Kuznetsov . On July 10, 1941, by

1037-505: The Luftwaffe ineffective, since Stuka dive-bombers could not attack Red Army positions without endangering their own forces. "Our soldiers knew that the closer they were to the enemy, the better. They stopped being afraid of tanks. The infantrymen would get in a trench, ravine, or building, and start shooting the enemy infantry who were advancing behind the tanks. The tanks would move through, and we'd leave them to our artillery, which

1098-693: The Nationalist leader, in Chongqing . Prior to his departure for China, he was summoned to meet Joseph Stalin and Semyon Timoshenko , who instructed him to ensure that China remain engaged in the war with Japan so Japan could not challenge the Soviet Union in the Far East and allow the Soviet Union to focus on the German threat from the West. Stalin told Chuikov to prioritize support for Nationalists over

1159-548: The Nationalists in the war against Japan . In March 1942, Chuikov was recalled from China to defend against the German invasion of the Soviet Union. By September, he was assigned command of the 62nd Army in defense of Stalingrad . Tasked with holding the city at all costs, Chuikov adopted keeping the Soviet front-line positions as close to the Germans as physically possible. This served as an effective countermeasure against

1220-640: The Northeastern Army of Zhang Xueliang , and Chuikov participated in negotiations that restored Soviet control of the China Eastern Railway . Chuikov commanded the 4th Army in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. He commanded the 9th Army in the Russo-Finnish War of 1940. In December 1940, Chuikov was appointed the chief Soviet military representative to the Republic of China and adviser to Chiang Kai-shek ,

1281-733: The Red Guards . The year after, in 1918, he joined the Red Army . In October 1918, Chuikov saw active service when he was sent to the Southern Front as a deputy company commander to fight against the White Army . In the spring of 1919, he became commander of the 40th Regiment (later renamed the 43rd), part of the 5th Army under Tukhachevsky facing the White Army under Kolchak in Siberia. Chuikov's record of service during

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1342-534: The 1941 Yelnya Offensive . The Soviet 316th Rifle Division was renamed the 8th Guards Rifle Division on 18 November 1941, following the actions of the Panfilovtsy and was given the Panfilovskaya title in honor of its late commander Ivan Panfilov . By the end of 1941, the 107th , 120th , 64th , 316th, 78th , and 52nd Rifle Divisions had become the 5th through 10th Guards Rifle Divisions . By

1403-592: The Chief of the Civil Defense from 1961 until his retirement in 1972. From 1961 until his death, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . In 1969, Chuikov led the Soviet delegation attending the funeral of Dwight D. Eisenhower . He was a major consultant for the design of The Motherland Calls memorial commemorating Stalingrad battle on Mamayev Kurgan , and

1464-815: The Chinese Communists. Chuikov insisted that the Nationalists could not use Soviet weaponry against the Communists, met with Communist leaders Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying , but in keeping with Stalin's directives, continued to support the Nationalist war effort against Japan, even after the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. In the Second Battle of Changsha in September 1941, he advised Chiang to relieve

1525-685: The Civil War was distinguished. In the fighting from 1919 to 1920 he received two awards of the Order of the Red Banner for bravery and heroism. He was wounded four times—one, in Poland in 1920, left a fragment in his left arm that could not be operated on. It led to partial paralysis and caused him to lose use of his arm temporarily. Chuikov carried this war wound for the rest of his life, and it eventually led to septicaemia breaking out in 1981, causing

1586-596: The German army so close to them as to minimize the airpower enjoyed by the Wehrmacht. Chuikov had witnessed firsthand the blitzkrieg tactics the Wehrmacht had used to sweep across the Russian steppe, so he used the Germans' carpet-bombing of the city to draw panzer units into the rubble and chaos, where their progress was impeded. Here they could be destroyed with Molotov cocktails , antitank rifles, and Soviet artillery operating at close range. This tactic also rendered

1647-585: The Japanese siege on Changsha by attacking the strategic city of Yichang some 400 km to the north, and the strategy succeeded. In March 1942, he was recalled to the USSR, which by then was at war with Germany. On 11 September 1942, General Chuikov was summoned to South Western Front Headquarters to discuss the defense of Stalingrad. In a meeting with South Western Front Commander Lieutenant General Andrey Yeryomenko and Commissar Nikita Khrushchev , Chuikov

1708-541: The Motherland," being enlisted into Guards units during the Red Army's hasty late war enlistment of civilians in areas that they passed through. In spite of these efforts, the unit cohesion of Guards units could be affected by replacement quality, as exemplified by army commander Vasily Chuikov 's January 1943 evaluation that Guards units were not "all that different" from other divisions, which mentioned desertions from

1769-530: The People's Commissariat of Defense directed in December 1941 that wounded Guards personnel, excluding only the most seriously wounded, should be sent to hospitals close to the front line so that they could return to their own units, to preserve the "special nature" of their personnel and "military traditions." These efforts were emphasized in a February 1944 General Staff document that warned of locals from occupied territory, potential "criminal elements and traitors to

1830-529: The Soviet Union After the victory at Stalingrad, the 62nd Army was redesignated the Soviet 8th Guards Army . Chuikov then commanded the 8th Guards as part of 1st Belorussian Front and led its advance through Poland . During the Vistula–Oder offensive , the troops of the 8th Guards under Chuikov participated in breaking the enemy's defense in depth, and liberated Majdanek concentration camp on

1891-654: The Soviet Union . He is best known for commanding the 62nd Army which saw heavy combat during the Battle of Stalingrad in the Second World War . Born to a peasant family near Tula , Chuikov earned his living as a factory worker from the age of 12. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he joined the Red Army and distinguished himself during the Russian Civil War . After graduating from

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1952-537: The Tsaritsa River, while all the command posts were farther back. This turned out to be the right decision. And then there's one thing that went well, if we can use such a word. We immediately began to take the harshest possible actions against cowardice. On the 14th (September) I shot the commander and commissar of one regiment, and a short while later I shot two brigade commanders and their commissars. This caught everyone off guard. We made sure news of this got to

2013-530: The Wehrmacht's combined-arms tactics, but by mid-November 1942 the Germans had captured most of the city after months of slow advance. In late November Chuikov's 62nd Army joined the rest of the Soviet forces in a counter-offensive, which led to the surrender of the German 6th Army in early 1943. After Stalingrad, Chuikov led his forces into Poland during Operation Bagration and the Vistula–Oder Offensive before advancing on Berlin. He personally accepted

2074-406: The city against all odds. "Stalingrad will decide the fate of the motherland. The men understood this. The men were in such a mood that if they'd been wounded, even with a broken spine, they had tears in their eyes as they were being taken to the east bank. They'd say to their comrades who had brought them out: I don't want to go. Better to be buried here. They considered it shameful to go wounded to

2135-700: The decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR . On 21 May 1942, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR introduced Guards ranks , which allowed soldiers of Guards units to append the title to their ranks, for example a major in a Guards unit could be referred to as Guards Major and any soldier could be a Guardsman ( Gvardeyets ) rather than a just a Red Army man ( Krasnoarmeyets ). The decree also introduced Guards badges to be worn of

2196-536: The defense of Stalingrad proper. The 62nd Army in Stalingrad faced threat of envelopment by fast-moving panzer and motorized infantry elements of German 6th Army. In the north, a German strike-force advanced out of the west via Kalach on the Don to a point located just north of Spartakovka and Rynok, and in the south a second strike-force advanced from out of the west toward the Tsimlyanskaya and Kotelnikovo axes. Along

2257-482: The destruction of the garrison in Poznan, part of the forces of the 8th Guards, 69th Armies and the 1st Guards Tank Army were left. The capture of Poznan was personally entrusted to the commander of the 8th Guards Army, General V.I. Chuikov. At that time it was believed that no more than 20 thousand troops were surrounded there, but in reality there were more than 60 thousand of them ..." Georgy Zhukov – Marshal of

2318-472: The end of the war, over 4,500 units, formations, and ships had received the Guards designation, including eleven field armies , six tank armies, 40 rifle corps , and 117 rifle divisions. However, not all Guards units received their status through combat: all artillery units equipped with Katyusha multiple rocket launchers were designated Guards Mortar units upon formation. Airborne units, already considered elite, were also formed as Guards rather than receiving

2379-404: The end of the war. While normal rifle divisions would become seriously understrength as the war progressed and the manpower pool of infantry conscripts declined, efforts were made to keep Guards rifle divisions at higher strength: the guards rifle division was authorized 10,670 soldiers compared to the 9,435 of its normal counterpart. On a wider scale, such benefits of Guards status were reflected in

2440-437: The field armies designated Guards, which were assigned one or two tank or mechanized corps to conduct encirclements of German defenders after their success in the Battle of Stalingrad . The Guards armies tended to have proportionally more artillery and tanks assigned than normal field armies. A Stavka order of April 1943 stipulated that Guards corps and armies were to be used only for offensives or counterattacks and withdrawn from

2501-404: The flanks outside the city to reinforce the urban assault. By mid-November, German forces had taken most of the city and pinned Chuikov and the remaining defenders in several small pockets against the Volga River. In interviews in 1943, Chuikov said he was not informed of the Operation Uranus counter-offensive but could sense one was being planned. "We had sensed that our high command was preparing

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2562-450: The front from Kuporosnoye and Orlovka to Rynok, General Chuikov defended against a German main thrust advancing from the northwest and directed at both Gumrak Airfield as well also the train station in the center of the town, and a second additional German strike-force advancing from the southwest directed against Olshanka and the grain elevator. General Chuikov enacted Joseph Stalin's order no. 227 "not one step back" and immediately stabilized

2623-447: The frontline for training instead of suffering losses in prolonged defense. After the end of the war, the Guards armies that had taken major roles in the final defeat of Germany and the Battle of Berlin were rewarded by being chosen as the units to garrison the Soviet occupation zone of Germany ; they would later become the core of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany that confronted the NATO forces stationed in West Germany during

2684-472: The leadership of the State Defense Committee . Throughout the entire war, the Stavka of the Supreme High Command did not leave Moscow. The members of the Headquarters gathered in Stalin's Kremlin office, but with the start of the bombing of Moscow, it moved from the Kremlin to a small mansion at Kirov Street, 37, with reliable offices and communications. During the bombing, the work moved to the Kirovskaya Metro Station, where an underground strategic center for

2745-424: The management of the Armed Forces was prepared. In October 1945, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command was abolished. Throughout the war, the headquarters was located in Moscow. This was of great moral importance. In connection with the threat of enemy air strikes at the beginning of July, it was transferred from the Kremlin to the Kirov Gate area to a small mansion with reliable work space and communications, and

2806-403: The men, especially the officers. If you go down to the Volga, they said, then you'll find Army HQ right ahead of you. And so they went back to their places. If I'd gone across the Volga myself, they'd have shot me when I got ashore, and they'd have been right. The needs of the day determine what needs to be done." The determination that Chuikov instilled in his men enabled the 62nd Army to defend

2867-403: The other bank. This echoed comrade Stalin's order." Chuikov was concerned about maintaining communications with his troops. "We moved to another command post closer to where the enemy would be attacking. And we stayed there. We knew that every extra meter of telephone wires increased the risk of our communications being broken. The most criminal, most dangerous thing for a commander, especially

2928-405: The outskirts of the Polish city of Lublin . The 8th Guards liberated the city of Łódź , seized the fortress city of Poznań by storm, seized a bridgehead on the left bank of the Oder River and fought for two months to maintain and expand the bridgehead in the Kustrin area, before finally heading the Soviet offensive which conquered Berlin while the Western Allied forces were wiping out what

2989-475: The pay of their counterparts in other units. Such rewards of Guards status meant that it often acted as a morale booster and increased unit cohesion, with soldiers writing letters home about being awarded the status. Guards status also resulted in higher priority for replacements and equipment than normal units, although they were still often understrength by 1944 due to high casualty rates and their frequent usage in offensives. In an effort to keep Guards units elite,

3050-439: The right side of the chest in all uniforms to distinguish those in Guards units from others. The institution of distinctive colors was extended to Guards field armies and corps in June 1943. Guards status was more than just a decoration and had practical benefits for those in such units: enlisted personnel in Guards units received double pay compared to those in other units, and non-commissioned officers and above received 1.5 times

3111-402: The status through combat action. Some twenty Guards Airborne Brigades were converted into the 11th–16th Guards Rifle Divisions in December 1943. The introduction of the title marked a shift away from the Revolutionary symbolism of the Red Army as it referenced the Russian Imperial Guards . The units and formations awarded the Soviet Guard title received special Guards colors in accordance with

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3172-475: The threatened 62nd Army. "When I got to army headquarters I was in a vile mood. I only saw three people: comrade Gurov, Chief of Staff Krylov, and Chief of Artillery Pozharsky. Three of my deputies had fled to the east bank. But the main thing was that we had no dependable combat units, and we needed to hold out for three or four days. The divisions had their respective headquarters on the Volga, and we were still forward on this hill. We were in this tunnel alongside

3233-416: The title in 2001, for its performance during the Second Chechen War . In subsequent years, more Russian units received the title, including several during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Stavka of the Supreme High Command The Stavka of the Supreme High Command was an extraordinary body of the highest military command , exercising strategic leadership of the Soviet Armed Forces during

3294-433: The unconditional surrender of German forces in Berlin on 2 May 1945. After the war, Chuikov served as Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1949–53), commander of the Kiev Military District (1953–60), Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense (1960–64), and head of the Soviet Civil Defense Forces (1961–72). Chuikov was twice awarded the titles Hero of the Soviet Union (1944 and 1945) and

3355-423: The war, Chuikov continued to command the 8th Guards Army in Germany, later serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany from 1949 until 1953, when he was made commander of the Kiev Military District . While serving at that post, on 11 March 1955 he was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union . From 1960 to 1964, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Ground Forces . He also served as

3416-469: The weakened Axis flanks and encircling the German Sixth Army, part of the Fourth Army and the Romanian Third and Fourth Armies in a vast pocket stretching nearly 80 km from Stalingrad to Kalach-on-Don. On 22 November, Chuikov's 62nd Army switched to an offensive posture, counter-attacking to recapture neighborhoods and preventing German forces from leaving the city to fight elsewhere in the pocket. The German Sixth Army surrendered on 31 January 1943. ""For

3477-454: Was appointed as commander of 62nd Army and charged with the defense of the city of Stalingrad itself, directly on the western bank of the Volga River. Chuikov would later recount this in a 1943 interview: "… I was told that I was to take command of 62nd Army. My mission: defend Stalingrad. …After Nikita Sergeyevich [Khrushchev] told me to go to Stalingrad, he asked me: "What are your thoughts?" Yeryomenko also wanted to know. He's known me

3538-422: Was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the United States for his actions during the Battle of Stalingrad. In 1955, he was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union. Following his death in 1982, Chuikov was interred at the Stalingrad memorial at Mamayev Kurgan , which had been the site of heavy fighting. Born into a peasant family in the village of Serebryanye Prudy in the Tula region south of Moscow, Chuikov

3599-485: Was left in Southern and Western Germany in April/May 1945. Chuikov's advance through Poland was characterized by massive advances across difficult terrain [on several occasions, the 8th Guards Army advanced over 40 miles (64 km) in a single day]. On 1 May 1945, Chuikov, who commanded his army operating in central Berlin, was the first Allied officer to learn about Adolf Hitler's suicide , being informed by General Hans Krebs who had come to Chuikov's headquarters under

3660-457: Was the eighth of 12 children and the fifth of eight sons. At the age of 12, he left school and his family home to earn his living in a factory in Saint Petersburg , turning out spurs for cavalry officers. Chuikov and all his brothers became soldiers and fought in the Russian Civil War . During the turmoil of the Russian Revolution of 1917 , Chuikov became unemployed. Later the same year, an older brother arranged for Chuikov to be recruited into

3721-447: Was two to three hundred meters back from the front lines and would fire when they came within twenty to fifty meters. And we didn't let their infantry through. The Germans would think that this area was already cleared, that it was dead ground. But that dead ground came back to life. And we had our Katyushas and artillery." The fierce defense of Stalingrad by the 62nd Army slowed the German advance and forced Axis forces to pull units from

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