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Birth of Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, Soviet Military Commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1955), Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945)
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov was born on January 31 (February 12), 1900 in a peasant family in the village of Serebyranye Prudy, Tula Governorate (now Moscow Region). After graduating from four classes of the parish school at the age of 12, he went to Petrograd, where he became a student in a spur workshop. Since December 1917, he was in military service as a cabin boy of a detachment of miners in Kronstadt. In 1918, he graduated from the military instructor courses of the Red Army. During the Civil War, he was an assistant company commander, assistant commander (since November 1918) and commander (since May 1919) of a rifle regiment, in 1921-1922 – head of the garrison of Velizh. He fought on the Southern, Eastern and Western fronts, participated in the Soviet-Polish War (1919-1921). For bravery and heroism, he was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner (in total, during the years of military service, he was awarded four Orders of the Red Banner).
In 1925, Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov graduated from the Frunze Military Academy, in 1927 – the Oriental Faculty of the Academy. In July of the same year, he was appointed military adviser in China. Since September 1929, Chuikov acted as head of the department at the headquarters pf the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army V. K. Blyukher, and since 1932 – head of the advanced training courses of the command staff at the 4th Directorate of the Red Army Headquarters. In 1936, he graduated from the Academic Courses at the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army. Since 1936, he served as the commander of a mechanized brigade, since April 1938 – commander of the rifle corps of the Belarusian Special Military District. Since July 1938, he commanded the Bobruisk Army Group of Troops. During the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940), he commanded the 9th Army. From December 1940 to March 1942, Chuikov worked as a military attaché in China.
From China, Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, with the rank of lieutenant General, was sent to Tula and appointed commander of the 1st Reserve Army (in July 1942, it was transformed into the 64th army). From September 1942, he commanded the 62nd Army. He remained its commander until the end of the war. The 62nd Army under the leadership of Vasily Chuikov became famous for the heroic defence of Stalingrad. In the fierce battles for the city, the military talents of the commander, who developed and creatively applied various methods and techniques of combat operations, were particularly successful. The name of Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, who received the nickname “general-storm”, is associated with the formation of assault groups that were used during urban battles. For the mass heroism and steadfastness of the personnel, in April 1943, the 62nd Army was transformed into the 8th Guards.
After the Battle of Stalingrad, Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, at the head of the 8th Guards Army, participated in the crossing of the Seversky Donets, the Dnieper, the liberation of Zaporozhye, Odessa, and the Vistula-Oder operation. During the Berlin operation, the troops of the 8th Guards Army broke through the enemy’s fortified defenses on the Seelow Heights, and then, having experience in conducting urban battles, fought for Berlin.
For outstanding successes in the liberation of the territory of Right-Bank Ukraine (1944) and successes in the Vistula-Oder offensive operation (1945), Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov was twice awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. During the war, he was also awarded nine Orders of Lenin, three 1st degree Orders of Suvorov (one for the heroic defense of Stalingrad).
Since 1949, Chuikov was Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Troops in Germany, since 1953 – commander of the Kiev Military District, in 1960-1964 – Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, and simultaneously in 1961-1972 – Chief of Civil Defense of the USSR.
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov died on March 18, 1982. In accordance with his will, he was buried in Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan at the foot of the Motherland monument next to the soldiers of his army, at the place where the 62nd Army command post was organized on September 12, 1942.
Lit.: Командарм 62-й / Авт.-сост. Т. Л. Кузьмин. Волгоград, 2002; Нестёркин В. Д. // Большая российская энциклопедия; Чуйков В. И. От Пекина до Берлина, 1927–1945. М., 2015.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Battle of Stalingrad // Memory of the Great Victory: [digital collection];