Biographies of the Generalissimums

Five Generalissimo Russia: Who are they? To start at least with the fact that for the first time the title was still the title, and not the title of Generalissimo received from the hands of Peter the Great, one of his closest associates, governor Alexei Shein, and this happened on June 27 according to other sources, th year. And the last of the highest rank was awarded exactly a year later, on June 27, Joseph Stalin, who became the first and last Soviet Generalissimo.

In addition, of the four Russian generalissimums, two were subsequently deprived of their rank, both for political reasons, and deprivation was accompanied by a link. But the story of the confession of the title of each of the five Generalissimums of Russia, of course, deserves a separate story. Generalissimo the governor Alexei Shein, Voevoda Alexei Shein received the title of Generalissimus twenty years before this title was formally introduced into the army turnover with the adoption of the military charter of Peter I in the year.

This puts him on a par with the Generalissimums of the Fierce Troops Fedor Romodanovsky and Ivan Buturlin, who received their high titles of the year. But it was the summer boyari Alexei Shein that was the first of the Russian generalissimums who became the owner of this title for military merits and retained it until his death. Successful and competent actions undertaken by him as commander of the Petrine Army during the second Azov campaign in the summer of the year led to the top of the military career of Alexei Shein.

The governor who commanded the Ground Forces was able not only to analyze the reasons for the failure of the first campaign, but also to take advantage of the results of this analysis in order to force the Turkish army, which defended the basics, to surrender to the consistent actions of his subordinates. It is worth noting that Shein actually achieved victory over the enemy, already in a new rank: the fortress fell only on July 19.

Soon after this victory, Generalissimo Aleksee Shein was appointed head of three military orders: Ino -earth, Pushkarsky and Ritarean. In fact, in his hands the leadership of the entire land army was concentrated, and not sitting idle, but continued to fight the Turks. The result of these battles was the Constantinople world, which Shein got from Turkey in the year and which allowed Russia to concentrate forces for the war with Sweden.

This was the last achievement of the first Russian Generalissimo. Generalissimus Prince Alexander Menshikov another Petrovsky associate, Aleksashka Menshikov, as his first Russian emperor called, can be called with confidence the most short -lived generalissimus of Russia. It was under him on May 12 of the year that Prince Alexander Menshikov received the rank of Generalissimo of the Sea and Ground Forces.

And on September 9, he was deprived of this title and sent to exile.

Probably, if the title of Generalissimo were conquered by Prince Menshikov on the battlefield, in difficult victories over a strong enemy, such a fate would have passed him. And there was every reason for everything to turn out just like that! The Northern War allowed the former lady of Peter the Great to prove himself in military affairs, and to show with dignity. Tsar Peter, who approached with special attention to army affairs and did not pamper the court ranks “out of mercy”, consistently held his associate from the title of lieutenant of the Bombardira company of the Preobrazhensky regiment whose captain himself was the Field Marshal, who Menshikov received after the victory of the Russian troops in the battle of Poltava.

But the highest rank of the Russian army went to him already for the political victory. At that moment, when a decree was signed on the new Generalissimo, his daughter Maria, betrothed with the future emperor Peter II, was already preparing for the wedding. But the marriage was not destined to take place, since the influence of Menshikov had already weakened by that time.

Generalissimo Prince Anton Ulrich Braunschweig did not long remained in the Generalissimum of the Russian Army and another “political” owner of this rank-Duke of Browsweig-Beverage-Lunburgh Anton Ulrich, the father of the Russian emperor Ivan VI Antonovich. The prince was also the nephew of the Prussian emperor Friedrich II, whose troops will soon become an enemy, whom the Russian army will encounter during the Seven Years War, in which the future fourth and last Russian generalsimus, Alexander Suvorov, will take part in a very young lieutenant.

The rank of Generalissimus was granted the wife of the imperial niece Anna Leopoldovna shortly after his firstborn, the future young emperor Ivan VI, was born. The boy was born in August, and on November 11, his father was awarded the highest military rank in Russia. However, no military successes for the young dad by that time had not been listed as it did not appear in the future.

The main merit of Prince Anton Ulrich was his marriage to Anna Leopoldovna and the ability to intervene as little as possible in the political and military life of Russia and before her regency with his own son, and during him.So there is nothing surprising in the fact that when the Preobrazhensky regiment literally ascended to the throne Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, who had no authority in the army, Generalissimo quickly lost his rank.

This happened on December 6, on the same day, when the young emperor Ivan VI was overthrown and imprisoned in the fortress, and his parents were arrested and sent from St. Petersburg. Generalissimus Count Alexander Suvorov, the prince of the Italian Count Alexander Suvorov-Rymniksky, was and remains the most, perhaps, famous of all the Russian generalissimums and, I must admit, the only one who got this title exclusively for a military genius.

In fairness, there are no more other military leaders in the history of Russia who enjoyed such a sincere love of soldiers and officers who won so many brilliant victories awarded all the Russian orders and immortalized their name exclusively by merits in the military field. But Suvorov waited for his long time to the well-deserved higher rank undeservedly long. Empress Catherine the Great, on whose reign the heyday of the military career of the brilliant commander fell, died, and not having time to reward her faithful general according to his merits.

The heir - Emperor Paul I - did not like his own mother so much that he consistently destroyed and lowered a lot and many from the inheritance. And among those who were not sweet, Count Suvorov turned out to be. Sent by the imperial command to the family estate of Konchanskoye, he returned to the army only when Pavel was forced to agree with the requirements of the Allies to give the command of the united forces of the anti -French coalition to Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov.

And the brilliant end of the Italian and Swiss campaigns, which was applauded by many monarchs of Europe, forced the emperor to appropriate the disgraced Field Marshal six months before his death for a long time and unconditionally deserved the rank of Generalissimus. Generalissimo Joseph Stalin, after the death of Alexander Suvorov, until the last day of the existence of the Russian Empire, not one of its military leaders was assigned the rank of Generalissimus.

One step before this pedestal, the Savior of Russia in the Patriotic War of the year stopped Prince Mikhail Kutuzov, who wore the title of Field Marshal. And only the Great Patriotic War led to the emergence of the last, fifth Generalissimo - Joseph Stalin in the history of the Russian army. We must pay tribute to the Soviet leader: he for a long time and consistently resisted the assignment of this rank.

Stalin objectively evaluated his general abilities and was not torn to the command. Even the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union was awarded to him only on March 6, and he was far from its first owner. Stalin became the eleventh marshal in the history of the Soviet Union. If you believe the legend, it was this equality in the titles that became the reason why Stalin, which was always shocked by the official titles, agreed to confer the title of Generalissimo.

Say, once Konstantin Rokossovsky, one of the most talented Soviet commanders, told the Father of the Peoples that, if equal to Stalin, as an equal rank, could not even punish him. And this was the last straw. And the formal basis for the introduction of the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was the appeal of the collective of the Moscow Spring plant, which received the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on February 6 after the victory near Stalingrad and backed by a note by the army and fleet of June 24.

Two days later, a corresponding decree was issued on the introduction of a new title, and on the third - he was assigned to Joseph Stalin. But he never once in his life put the uniform of the Generalissimo, since he never approved the sketch of this form. Cover: V. Surikov “Suvorov’s transition through the Alps per year” fragment, year.