Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin | |
|---|---|
 Fyodor Tolbukhin in 1945 | |
| Native name | Фёдор Иванович Толбухин |
| Nickname | Fedya |
| Born | (1894-06-16)16 June 1894 |
| Died | 17 October 1949(1949-10-17) (aged 55) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire (1914–1917) Soviet Russia (1917–1922) Soviet Union (1922–1949) |
| Branch | Imperial Russian Army Red Army Soviet Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1949 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union(1944–1949) |
| Commands | 4th Ukrainian Front 3rd Ukrainian Front Transcaucasian Military District |
| Battles / wars | World War I Russian Civil War World War II |
| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Victory |
| Alma mater | M. V. Frunze Military Academy |
Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (Russian:Фёдор Ива́нович Толбу́хин; 16 June 1894 – 17 October 1949) was aSoviet military commander andMarshal of the Soviet Union. He is regarded as one of the finest Soviet generals ofWorld War II.
Born into a peasant family inYaroslavl, Tolbukhin volunteered for theImperial Russian Army during theFirst World War and served with distinction. He joined theRed Army in 1918 and fought in theRussian Civil War. After graduating from theFrunze Military Academy, he held a succession of commands, rising to the post of chief of staff of theTranscaucasian Military District by 1938. Tolbukhin rose further through the ranks following theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union, and was involved in theBattle of Stalingrad. As commander of the4th Ukrainian Front, he assistedRodion Malinovsky in theLower Dnieper andDnieper–Carpathian offensives. He then contributed to the Soviet drive into the Balkans and forced Romania's defection to theAllies, for which he was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union. Afterwards, Tolbukhin took part in the occupation of Bulgaria and liberated much of Yugoslavia after theBelgrade offensive. He commanded theVienna offensive in May 1945 and helped set up the new Austrian government underKarl Renner.
After the war, Tolbukhin received command of theSouthern Group of Forces in the Balkans before returning to the Transcaucasus. He held the post until his death in October 1949 from diabetes.
Tolbukhin was born into a peasant family in the province ofYaroslavl, north-east ofMoscow. He volunteered for the Imperial Army in 1914 at the outbreak ofWorld War I. He was steadily promoted, advancing from private to captain by 1916. He was also decorated for bravery multiple times.
In August 1918 Tolbukhin joined theRed Army, where he served as the chief of staff of the 56th infantry division. After theRussian Civil War ended (1921), Tolbukhin was given a number of staff positions. He also attended theFrunze Military Academy for advanced staff training, graduating in 1931. In 1937, after a series of staff positions, Tolbukhin was given command of a division. In 1938, he was made chief of staff of theTranscaucasus Military District.[citation needed]
Tolbukhin remained in this position through the opening phases ofOperation Barbarossa until August 1941, when he was made the chief of staff of theCrimean Front, which he held until March 1942. From May to July 1942, he was the assistant commander of theStalingrad Military District. After that, he was the commander of the 57th Army until March 1943. The 57th was involved in theBattle of Stalingrad, where Tolbukhin's superior, Colonel-GeneralAndrei Yeremenko, praised his command organization and military prowess. After his command of the 57th, Tolbukhin was placed in command of theSouthern Front.[citation needed]
In October 1943 the Southern Front was renamed4th Ukrainian Front. Tolbukhin assistedRodion Malinovsky's3rd Ukrainian Front in theLower Dnieper Offensive andDnieper–Carpathian Offensive. In May 1944, Tolbukhin was transferred to control of3rd Ukrainian Front. During the Summer Campaign, from June to October 1944, Tolbukhin and Malinovsky launched their invasion of theBalkans and were able to conquer most ofRomania. On September 12, 1944, two days afterMalinovsky was promoted toMarshal of the Soviet Union, Tolbukhin was promoted to the same rank. While Malinovsky moved northwest, towardsHungary andYugoslavia, Tolbukhin occupiedBulgaria. Starting in the Winter Campaign, Tolbukhin shifted his army to the northwest axis, thereby liberating much ofYugoslavia and invading southern Hungary.[citation needed]
In late April 1945, at the end of theBattle of Vienna, Tolbukhin acted on Stalin's order to entrustKarl Renner with foundation of a new provisional Austrian government in order to prepare democratic elections. On 27 April, Renner was appointed provisional government leader, at Tolbukhin's authority,[1] which renders the latter an important role in the foundation of a new Austrian republic that had been integrated into theThird Reich (1938–1945). Tolbukhin gave the go-ahead at the location, for this important step towards an independentAustria in the formation of the Second Republic (1945–present).
After the war, Tolbukhin was commander-in-chief of theSouthern Group of Forces, which comprised the Balkan region. In January 1947, Tolbukhin was made the commander of theTranscaucasus Military District, a post he held until his death on October 17, 1949, due to complication from diabetes.[citation needed]
Tolbukhin is generally regarded as one of the finest Soviet generals ofWorld War II. Meticulous, careful, and not overly ambitious like some Soviet commanders, Tolbukhin was well respected by fellow commanders and also his men, especially since he had a dedication to keeping casualty rates low. Tolbukhin was the recipient of numerous awards and medals including the highest Soviet medal and rank, theOrder of Victory andHero of the Soviet Union, respectively. Tolbukhin was alsoPeople's Hero of Yugoslavia, whose capitalBelgrade heliberated. The urn containing his ashes is buried in theKremlin Wall Necropolis, and there is a monument to him in his nativeYaroslavl.[citation needed] The city ofDobrich inBulgaria was renamed to Tolbukhin in his honor in 1949.
The Bulgarian city ofDobrich was renamed Tolbukhin, a name it held until the fall ofcommunism in 1989.
InUkraine a Prospect (street) inOdesa holds his name.[2] In December 2022 the Fyodor Tolbukhin street inKyiv was renamed toVasyl Danylevych [uk;be;ru] street and the Fyodor Tolbukhin lane was renamed toMykhailo Yalovy lane.[3]
One of the main streets in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, was named Marshal Tolbukhin Street (in Serbian:Улица маршала Толбухина /Ulica maršala Tolbuhina). The street was originally namedМакензијева /Makenzijeva, afterScottish missionaryFrancis Mackenzie who purchased and developed this part of the city in the late 19th century. After the fall of Communism in Serbia anddemocratic changes in 2000, the name of the street was reverted to its original name.[4] Instead,Goce Delčeva Street, in the new section of the city (New Belgrade) was renamed Boulevard of Marshal Tolbukhin (Булевар маршала Толбухина /Bulevar maršala Tolbuhina) in 2016.[5]
The Laxenburger Straße inVienna was named as Tolbuchinstraße between 1946 and 1956,
Budapest, the capital ofHungary also had one of its streets named after Tolbukhin, as he was one of the major Soviet commanders in the Hungarian war theatre. The previous Mészáros utca (Butchers' Street) was renamed Vámház körút (Custom House Boulevard) during the (re)construction of the area in 1875. The road was renamed after the Tsar ofBulgaria,Ferdinand in 1915, when Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in the First World War. In 1919 the road got back its old name, Vámház körút, which it bore until 1942, when it was once more renamed, this time after son of Regent of Hungary, AdmiralMiklós Horthy,István Horthy. In 1945, the road was named after Marshal Tolbukhin (Tolbuhin Boulevard), and it held this name until 1990 with the fall of communism.
AMonument to Fyodor Tolbukhin was installed in 1960 in Moscow in the square on Samotychnaya Street. The authors of the monument are the sculptor L. E. Kerbel and the architect G. A. Zakharov.[6]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
