Kirill Meretskov | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Meretskov in 1945 | |
| Born | 7 June [O.S. 26 May] 1897 |
| Died | 30 December 1968(1968-12-30) (aged 71) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Russia (1917–1922) Soviet Union (1922–1964) |
| Service years | 1917–1964 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944–1964) |
| Commands | Volga Military District Leningrad Military District 7th Army Chief of the General Staff Volkhov Front Karelian Front Soviet Far East Front Moscow Military District |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Victory |
| 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; 7 June [O.S. 26 May] 1897 – 30 December 1968) was aSoviet military commander. Having joined the Communist Party in 1917, he served in theRed Army from 1920. During theWinter War of 1939–1940 against Finland, he had the task of penetrating theMannerheim Line as commander of the7th Army. He was awarded the title ofHero of the Soviet Union shortly afterwards.
The NKVD arrested Meretskov at the start of theinvasion of the Soviet Union. Released two months later, he returned to command the 7th Army and later theVolkhov Front during the 1941–1944siege of Leningrad. He commanded theKarelian Front from February 1944, notably thePetsamo–Kirkenes Offensive of October 1944. From April 1945 he was assigned to theFar East, where he commanded afront during theSoviet invasion of Japanese Manchuria. During the war he reached the rank ofMarshal of the Soviet Union.[1]
Meretskov was born atNazaryevo inRyazan Governorate (now inMoscow Oblast), southeast ofMoscow. His parents were peasants ofRussian ethnicity and lived in a rural village.[2] He was a factory worker from 1909, first in Moscow, later nearVladimir. He joined theBolsheviks (later theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union) in August 1917, and becamechief of staff of theRed Guard militia that helped to organise in the town. During theRussian Civil War, he was chief of staff of a regiment, and later a division. In 1921, he graduated from the Military Academy (later theM. V. Frunze Military Academy).[1]
From 1922, he held a number of commands as chief of staff, first in a cavalry division, later in various armies and military districts. From September 1936 to May 1937, Meretskov fought for the Republicans during theSpanish Civil War under a pseudonym "General Pavlovich". In 1939, he was appointed commander of theLeningrad Military District.[1]
In November 1939, at the start of theWinter War, Meretskov initially ran the overall operation against the Finns.[3] However, gross underestimations of the Finnish defenses, the size of their forces and the corresponding overestimations of the capacity of the Red Army, led to serious planning flaws. Only five rifle divisions were initially sent to assault theMannerheim Line and piecemeal commitment of reinforcements did not achieve any effect.[4] Meretskov failed and the command was passed on 9 December 1939 to the General Staff Supreme Command,Stavka, directly underKliment Voroshilov (chairman),Nikolai Kuznetsov,Joseph Stalin andBoris Shaposhnikov.[5][6]
Meretskov was appointed to command of the7th Army. In January 1940, the Leningrad Military District was reformed and renamed "North-Western Front."Semyon Timoshenko was chosen Army Commander to break the Mannerheim Line. This Soviet offensive was checked by the Finnish Army in theBattle of Taipale.[7] For the next offensive, theStavka significantly reinforced the 7th Army, deployed the13th Army on its flank and assigned substantial heavy artillery to both armies, includingB-4 howitzers andBr-5 mortars.[8]
The next Soviet offensive began in February 1940. The heavy artillery support allowed the Soviet forces to breach the Mannerheim Line. Meretskov's 7th Army proceeded to fight inViborg, which so far had resisted attempts of Soviet conquest. Less than two weeks after the signing of theMoscow Peace Treaty, on March 21, 1940, Meretskov was awarded the title ofHero of the Soviet Union. Afterwards, Meretskov was promoted to the rank ofarmy general and made Deputy Commissar of Defense. From August 1940 to January 1941, he wasChief of the General Staff.[1] He was dismissed on 14 January 1941, and on 24 January, Stalin spotted him at theBolshoi and, in front of witnesses: "You are courageous, capable, but without principles, spineless. You want to be nice, but you should have a plan instead and adhere to it strictly, despite the fact that someone or other is going to be resentful."[9]
On June 22, 1941, whenOperation Barbarossa started, Meretskov was appointed permanent adviser to Stavka. However, on June 23 he was arrested by theNKVD as a member of an allegedanti-Soviet military conspiracy. The exact reasons are unknown, and the case file was destroyed in 1955. Meretskov's close friendship with GeneralDmitry Pavlov, the Soviet Commander of the Western Front who had been executed, is often considered a factor, although Pavlov, at the time, was yet to even be relieved of duty, much less arrested.Mark Solonin, in his bookJune the 25th: Stupidity or Aggression, proposes a theory that the actual reason might have been Meretskov's skepticism about the need to start bombardments of Finland, and his later release was due to him turning out to have been right, although he admits that direct evidence is unlikely to be found.[10] After being subjected to two months of torture, including being beaten with rubber rods, and having one of his ribs broken by the notorious torturerBoris Rodos[11] inLubyanka Prison, Meretskov relented and signed a written confession.[12] According to Nikita Khrushchev, "before his arrest, Meretskov had been a strapping young general, very strong and impressive-looking. After his release, he was a shadow of his former self. He had lost so much weight he could hardly speak."[13] Released in September, he was taken before the police chief,Vsevolod Merkulov, whom he had known socially: he told Merkulov that their friendship was over. He was then presented to Stalin, in full army dress, and given command of the7th Separate Army. His confession was used against other commanders arrested in May–July 1941, who were executed on the order ofLavrenty Beria nearKuybyshev on October 28, 1941, or sentenced by theSpecial Council of the NKVD and executed on February 23, 1942.[1]
Meretskov was appointed Commander of the4th Army, which fought in the defense of Leningrad against theArmy Group North ofvon Leeb. After stopping the German Tikhvin offensive, his forces, together with the neighboring 52nd and 54th Armies, counterattacked and pushed the German forces back to their starting positions, recapturing Tikhvin on December 10, 1941. This victory was the first Soviet large-scale success during the war. The battle also assisted theBattle of Moscow, as significant German forces were tied down in heavy attrition fighting in the marshes and forests between Tikhvin and Tosno and were not able to assist during the Soviet counteroffensive. Notably, the battle locked down two German panzer divisions and two motorized divisions and inflicted serious casualties to the army group overall.[14]
During the counteroffensive of the battle,Stavka ordered Kirill Meretskov to organize a newVolkhov Front, which he commanded until February 1944 (with the exception of May and June 1942).[1]
In January 1942, Meretskov started a new offensive nearLyuban, aimed at lifting the siege of Leningrad and encircling a large number of German forces. The advance was very slow, however, as the German forces were well dug in, reinforced and no longer overextended. By March the two Soviet armies trying to close the encirclement were less than 25 kilometres (16 mi) apart, but could advance no more.[15] On March 15, German forces began a counteroffensive and cut off the Soviet2nd Shock Army. Soviet forces managed to restore communications by March 30 after heavy fighting. However, when Meretskov reported this to the Stavka, he omitted that the corridor that was linking the 2nd Shock Army to the rest of the Soviet forces was no more than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) wide, under constant German air strikes and artillery bombardment, and therefore, had a very poor transport capacity. As a result, the Stavka did not extract the 2nd Shock Army, when it was still possible.[16] During late April and all of May, the Volkhov Front was temporarily subordinated to lieutenant general Khosin'sLeningrad Front, and Meretskov was sent as deputy high commander to theWestern Front.[17]
By May 1942, the 2nd Shock Army was experiencing supply shortages and low morale. On May 30, the German forces began a second offensive and again cut it off. After part of the encircled force broke out on June 5, the rest of the army was systematically destroyed, with 33,000 men becoming prisoners, about the same number killed, and about 10,000 men who broke out.[18]
Immediately after the battle, Meretskov placed the blame on the captured 2nd Shock Army commander,Andrey Vlasov, whom he himself recommended to the post in April, a claim that was echoed in his post-war memoirs. Since Vlasov went on to collaborate with the German forces, there were few attempts to revisit this claim during the Soviet era. However,David Glantz points out that, irrespective of Vlasov's decision to collaborate with German forces, his level of command in May and June 1942 was not different from most other army commanders.[19] Furthermore, Meretskov does bear some responsibility for the defeat as the commander of the front who planned the operation and carried it out. Khosin, the commander of the Leningrad Front, was removed from command on June 8, reduced in rank and never commanded a front again, humiliatingly assigned from March 1944 to the rear line Volga Military District.[20] Meretskov, who was arrested less than a year earlier, knew that his life may be at risk if he accepted responsibility for the disaster.[21]
After the defeat at Lyuban, Meretskov remained in command of the Volkhov Front. Together with the new Leningrad Front's commander,Leonid Govorov, Meretskov planned a new offensive to break the siege of the city. Volkhov and Leningrad fronts would break the blockade of the city by eliminating the German positions south ofLake Ladoga, where only 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) separated the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts. This position was called "the bottleneck". At the same time, German forces were planning Operation Northern Light (German:Nordlicht) to capture the city and link up with Finnish forces. To achieve that, heavy reinforcements arrived fromSevastopol, which theGerman forces had captured in July 1942.[22] Both sides were unaware of the other's preparations. As a result, the SovietSinyavino Offensive failed and the 2nd Shock army was decimated for the second time in a year, but the German forces suffered heavy casualties and canceled Operation Northern Light.[23] Meretskov wanted to conduct further local attacks, but this request was categorically denied by the Stavka, in addition to a formal critique he received on October 15, 1942, for his conduct of the operation.[24]
In late November 1942, Govorov commenced planning the next operation to break the blockade of Leningrad. Meretskov soon joined the planning. In December, the plan was approved by theStavka and received the codenameOperation Iskra (Spark).[25] Operation Iskra began on January 13, 1943, and on January 18, Soviet forces linked up, breaking the blockade. By January 22, the front line stabilized. The operation successfully opened a land corridor 8–10 km wide to the city. A railroad was swiftly built through the corridor that allowed far more supplies to reach the city than the "Road of Life", eliminating the possibility of the capture of the city and a German-Finnish link up.[26] On January 28, both Meretskov and Govorov were awarded theOrder of Suvorov 1st Class.[1]
Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts tried to follow up their success with a much more ambitious offensive operation namedOperation Polyarnaya Zvezda (Polar Star). This operation had the aim of decisively defeatingArmy Group North, but achieved very modest gains.[27] Several other offensives were conducted by Meretskov in the area in 1943, slowly expanding the corridor, and making other small gains.[28] In November 1943, Meretskov and Govorov began planning theLeningrad-Novgorod Offensive which would drive Army Group North out of the Leningrad region.[29]
On January 14, 1944, the Soviet offensive started. By March 1, the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic Fronts had driven Army Group North back up to 300 kilometres (190 mi) on a 400 kilometres (250 mi) front, liberating the southern Leningrad region and part of the Kalinin region.[30] Meretskov and Govorov were once again awarded the Order of Suvorov 1st Class together.[1]
In February 1944, Meretskov was transferred to theKarelian Front. Here, he participated in theVyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive that started in June 1944. His front liberated the city ofPetrozavodsk and East Karelia.[31] In October, Meretskov was ordered to clear the city ofPetsamo, in northern Finland, of Germans and to drive theGerman army back intoNorway. Meretskov was able to use his knowledge ofArctic warfare to launch a co-ordinated offensive called thePetsamo–Kirkenes Offensive that drove the Germans back from their positions. After this offensive Meretskov was promoted to the rank ofMarshal of the Soviet Union, on October 26, 1944.[1]
Meretskov's next major command was inManchuria in 1945, in theFar East, where he was selected to lead the1st Far East Front during theSoviet invasion of Manchuria, under the overall command ofAleksandr Vasilevsky. According to the plan, the main force of the 1st Far East Front Army of set out fromPrimorsky Krai, broke through the Japanese defense line set up in the East Manchuria, and carried out assaults against theKwantung Army inJilin, in order to compete with MarshalRodion Malinovsky'sTransbaikal Front. The Transbaikal Front Army cooperated and advanced towardsChangchun.[32]
Meretskov's Far East First Front Army andMaksim Purkayev's2nd Far East Front jointly enclosed the Kwantung Army atHarbin in an area with a circumference of 1,500 kilometers. Before the attack on August 9, there was a heavy rain. Meretskov decisively ordered the attack without artillery fire as planned. The sudden attack worked and the Soviet army successfully seized the forward position. Within a week, the 1st Far East Front Army broke through the Kwantung Army's 1st Front Army permanently prepared fortifications and penetrated 120–150 km. The Japanese headquarters completely lost command of the team and did not organize strong resistance until August 15. After August 15, the Japanese tried to organize heavy resistance inMudanjiang, but they still could not stop the advancement of Meretskov's 1st Far East Front Army. On the 18th, the commander of the Kwantung ArmyOtozō Yamada did not reply to Meretskov's telegram requesting him to surrender. Meretskov ordered theairborne troops to be dropped at Harbin and other airports. The Kwantung Army surrendered on August 19.
In addition to military work, Meretskov also did political work. At the end of August, he went to the Chinese brigade inspection training led byZhou Baozhong and asked his subordinates to provide the report of the North Korean battalion commander by futureleader of North KoreaKim Il Sung. In September, Meretskov inspected the liberated cities ofChangchun,Shenyang andDalian, and assisted theChinese Communist Party in restoring the party organization in theNortheast China and the establishment of the Northern Manchurian Committee of CCP. Meretskov was awarded theOrder of Victory.[1] As commander of Soviet forces in Korea, he launched the career of Kim Il Sung.
After the war Meretskov commanded a number of military districts until 1955 (including theMoscow Military District in 1947–49), when he was made Assistant Minister of Defense, a post he held until 1964. In that year, he was made the Inspector-General of the Ministry Defense, a largely ceremonial post.[33]
Meretskov died on December 30, 1968, at the age of 71. The urn containing his ashes is buried in theKremlin Wall Necropolis. Streets inMoscow,St. Petersburg andPetrozavodsk are named after him.[1]
 | Order of the Cloud and Banner with Special Grand Cordon (Republic of China, 1945) |
 | Medal "For Victory over Japan" (Mongolian People's Republic, 1946) |
 | Order of the National Flag, 1st class (North Korea, 1948)[citation needed] |
 | Medal for the Liberation of Korea (North Korea, 1948) |
 | Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of St. Olav (Norway, 1945) |
 | Legion of Merit, Chief Commander (US, 1946) |
Meretskov is a character in the 2009 novelThe Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.
First published in the United States under the title A Frozen Hell: The Russo–Finnish Winter War of 1939–40
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief of the Staff of the Red Army August 1940 – January 1941 | Succeeded by |
