Rodion Yakovlevich
Malinovsky
1898-1967
Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was Soviet military leader and statesman, Military commander of the Great Patriotic War, Marshal of the Soviet Union (September 10, 1944), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1945, 1958), holder of the Order of Victory. He was born on November 23, 1898. He volunteered as a soldier in the First World War, serving as a machine gunner. In 1916, as part of the Russian Expeditionary Corps, he was sent to France, where he fought on the Western Front. In September 1918, he distinguished himself during the breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line, for which he received a French award, the Croix de Guerre with a silver star, as well as the Cross of St. George, 3rd Class. After returning to Russia in 1919, he participated in the Civil War on the Eastern Front against the forces of Admiral Kolchak. Before the revolution, he held the rank of Corporal; during the Civil War, he was a commander of a machine gun unit. He joined the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1926 and the Red Army in 1919. His education included graduating from Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze in 1930, and he spoke French and Spanish. From 1937 to 1938, he participated in the Spanish Civil War as a military advisor. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he was in command of the 48th Rifle Corps, stationed near the Soviet-Romanian border; under his leadership, the corps stubbornly defended its positions and conducted fighting retreats. During the war, he commanded a number of fronts: Commander of the Southern Front (December 24, 1941 – July 28, 1942; February 20, 1943 – March 22, 1943); Southwestern Front (March 27, 1943 – October 20, 1943); 3rd Ukrainian Front (October 20, 1943 – May 15, 1944); 2nd Ukrainian Front (May 22, 1944 – June 10, 1945). He participated in many operations, including the Battle of Stalingrad, the liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine, the Iasi–Kishinev Offensive, and the liberation of Romania, Hungary, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. In August 1945, he commanded the Transbaikal Front (July 12, 1945 – October 1, 1945) during the war with Japan, where his forces executed a brilliant offensive operation across the Gobi Desert and the Greater Khingan range. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces (1956-1957). He was Minister of Defence of the USSR (October 1957 – March 1967); in this position, he oversaw a large-scale modernization of the army and the development of the missile forces and the country’s nuclear shield.
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