View source for Andrey Yeryomenko

{{Short description|Soviet general (1892–1970)}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Andrey Yeryomenko
| native_name   = {{langx|ru|Андрей Иванович Ерёменко}}
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1892|10|14}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1970|11|19|1892|10|14}}
| image         = Маршал Советского Союза Герой Советского Союза Андрей Иванович Ерёменко (cropped).jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = Portrait, {{circa|1968|1970}}
| birth_place   = [[Markivka]], [[Kharkov Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] (now [[Ukraine]])
| death_place   = [[Moscow]], [[Russian SFSR]], {{nowrap|[[Soviet Union]]}}
| placeofburial = [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]]
| placeofburial_label = 
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{flag|Russian Empire}} (1913–1917)<br/>{{flag|Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|1918|name=Russian SFSR}} (1917–1922)<br/> {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}} (1922–1958)
| branch        = [[Imperial Russian Army]]<br/>[[Red Army]]
| serviceyears  = 1913–1958
| rank          = [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]]
| unit          = 
| commands      = [[North Caucasus Military District]]<br/>[[Western Front (Soviet Union)|Western Front]]<br/>[[Bryansk Front]]<br/>[[4th Shock Army]]<br/>[[Stalingrad Front]]<br/>[[Kalinin Front]]<br/>[[1st Baltic Front]]<br/>[[Separate Coastal Army]]<br/>[[2nd Baltic Front]]<br/>[[4th Ukrainian Front]]<br/>[[Carpathian Military District]]
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[World War I]]
** [[Romania in World War I|Romanian campaign]]
* [[Russian Civil War]]
* [[World War II]]
** [[Soviet invasion of Poland]]
** [[Great Patriotic War]]
*** [[Battle of Smolensk (1941)|Battle of Smolensk]]
*** [[Battle of Moscow]]
*** [[Toropets&ndash;Kholm offensive]]
*** [[Battle of Stalingrad]]
**** [[Operation Uranus]]
*** [[Battle of Nevel (1943)|Battle of Nevel]]
*** [[Crimean offensive]]
*** [[Baltic offensive]]
*** [[Moravia&ndash;Ostrava offensive]]
*** [[Prague offensive]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]<br/>[[Hero of Czechoslovakia]]<br/>[[Order of Lenin]] (5)<br/>[[Order of the Red Banner]] (4)<br/>[[Order of the October Revolution]]<br/>[[Order of Suvorov]], 1st Class (3)<br/>[[Order of Kutuzov]], 1st Class<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1739 Biography] on War Heroes site.</ref>
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
}}

'''Andrey''' '''Ivanovich Yeryomenko'''{{efn|Also transliterated as '''Yeremenko''' and '''Eremenko'''}} ({{langx|ru|Андре́й Ива́нович Ерёменко}}; [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian:]] Андрій Іванович Єрьоменко; {{OldStyleDate|October 14|1892|October 2}}{{spaced ndash}}November 19, 1970) was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] general during [[World War II]] and [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]]. During the war, Yeryomenko commanded the Southeastern Front (later renamed the Stalingrad Front) during the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] in summer 1942 and planned the successful defense of the city. He later commanded the armies responsible for the occupation of Western [[Hungary]] and Eastern [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1945.

==Military career==

===Draft and early service===
[[File:AI Eremenko 01.jpg|thumb|left|140px|Andrey Yeryomenko as regimental commander ca.1929]]
A [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]], Yeryomenko was born in Markivka in [[Kharkov Governorate]] (today in [[Ukraine]]) to a peasant family, Yeryomenko was drafted into the [[Imperial Russian Army|Imperial Army]] in 1913, serving on the Southwest and [[Romania]]n Fronts during [[World War I]]. He joined the [[Red Army]] in 1918, where he served in the legendary [[Budyonny]] Cavalry ([[First Cavalry Army]]). He attended the [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] Cavalry School and then the [[Frunze Military Academy]], graduating in 1935. In addition to his education, he was appointed to command of a regiment of cavalry in Dec. 1929, then a division in 1937, and then the [[6th Cavalry Corps (Soviet Union)|6th Cavalry Corps]] in 1938.<ref>Glantz, David M.; ''Colossus Reborn''; University Press of Kansas; Lawrence, Kansas, 2005; p 708</ref>
===World War II===
On Sept. 17, 1939, Yeryomenko led his 6th Cavalry Corps into eastern Poland as part of the operations agreed to between Germany and the Soviet Union under the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]]. In general, this Soviet operation was not efficiently organized. Yeryomenko (whose Corps contained light tank and other motorized elements) was forced to request an emergency airlift of fuel so as to continue his advance. Despite these difficulties, the Corps kept moving, and Yeryomenko earned the nickname "the Russian [[Heinz Guderian|Guderian]]".<ref>Glantz, David M.; ''Colossus Reborn''; University Press of Kansas; Lawrence, Kansas, 2005; p 485</ref>

Yeryomenko was given command of the prestigious [[1st Red Banner Army|1st Red Banner Far Eastern Army]], deep in eastern Siberia, where he was serving at the outbreak of [[Operation Barbarossa]] on June 22, 1941.<ref>Glantz, David M.; ''Colossus Reborn''; University Press of Kansas; Lawrence, Kansas, 2005; p 485</ref>

Eight days after the invasion began, Yeryomenko was recalled to [[Moscow]], where he was made the Acting Commander of the [[Soviet Western Front]], two days after its original commander, [[General of the Army (USSR)|General of the Army]] [[Dmitry Pavlov (general)|Dmitri Pavlov]], was dismissed (and later convicted and executed) for incompetence. Yeryomenko was thrust into a very precarious position. The Nazi [[Blitzkrieg]] approach to warfare quickly dominated the Western Front, but Yeryomenko motivated the remaining troops, and halted the [[Germany|German]] offensive just outside [[Smolensk]]. During this vicious defensive [[Battle of Smolensk (1941)|Battle of Smolensk]], Yeryomenko was wounded. Because of his injuries, he was transferred to command the newly created [[Bryansk Front]].

In late August, Yeryomenko was ordered to launch counter-offensive operations along the Bryansk Front, primarily against Guderian's [[Second Panzer Group]] as it began to move south to trap [[Kirponos]]' [[Southwestern Front (Soviet Union)|Southwestern Front]] around [[Kiev]]. [[Stavka]], particularly Stalin and [[Boris Shaposhnikov|Shaposhnikov]], seemed convinced that Yeryomenko could block or distract Guderian's drive and save Kiev from encirclement. The counter-offensive failed to accomplish its objectives despite a valiant effort, leaving Bryansk Front severely weakened.<ref>Glantz, David M.; ''Barbarossa Derailed, vol. 2''; Helion and Co., Ltd.; Solihull, UK, 2012; pp. 364–497</ref>

In October, the Germans launched [[Operation Typhoon]], which was an offensive aimed at capturing Moscow. Most of Yeryomenko's weakened forces ([[3rd Army (Soviet Union)|3rd]], [[13th Army (Soviet Union)|13th]] and 50th Armies) were partially encircled by Oct. 8<ref>[[David Stahel|Stahel, David]]: ''Operation Typhoon''; Cambridge University Press; New York, 2013; pp. 76–77</ref> although small units managed to escape for days or weeks following. On Oct. 13, Yeryomenko was once again wounded, this time severely. He was evacuated to a military hospital in Moscow, where he spent several weeks recovering. In January 1942, Yeryomenko was appointed commander of the [[4th Shock Army]], part of the [[Northwestern Front]]. During the Soviet Winter Counteroffensive, Yeryomenko's army was part of the highly successful [[Toropets–Kholm Offensive]], which liberated [[Toropets]] and much of the surrounding region, helping to create the [[Battles of Rzhev|Rzhev Salient]], which became a major battlefield over the next 15 months. On Jan. 20, 1942, Yeryomenko was again wounded, this time in one leg,<ref>Shaw, John; ''Red Army Resurgent''; Time-Life Books; 1979; p 142</ref> when German planes bombed his headquarters. Yeryomenko refused to evacuate to a hospital until the battle surrounding him finished.

====Battle of Stalingrad====
[[File:RIAN archive 882837 The defenders of Stalingrad.jpg|thumb|General Yeryomenko (right) as the commander of the Stalingrad Front, with [[Nikita Khrushchev]] (left), Chief Commissar of the Stalingrad Front, December 1942]]
Yeryomenko's performance in the winter offensives restored Stalin's confidence, and he was given command of the [[Southeastern Front]], on Aug. 1, 1942,<ref>{{cite book |title= Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad|last=Craig |first=William |year=1973 |publisher=Konecky and Konecky |location=Old Saybrook, CT |isbn= 1-56852-368-8 |page = 25}}</ref> where he proceeded to launch powerful counterattacks against the German offensive into the [[Caucasus]], [[Case Blue|''Fall Blau'']]. Yeryomenko and [[Commissar]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]] planned the defense of [[Stalingrad]], rallying and re-organizing men and equipment falling back to the city from the [[Don River (Russia)|Don River]] and the steppes to the west. When one of his subordinates, Gen. [[Anton Lopatin]], doubted if his [[62nd Army (Soviet Union)|62nd Army]] would be able to defend Stalingrad, Yeryomenko replaced him with Lt. Gen. [[Vasily Chuikov]] as Army commander on Sept. 11, 1942.<ref>{{cite book |title= Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad|last=Craig |first=William |year=1973 |publisher=Konecky and Konecky |location=Old Saybrook, CT |isbn= 1-56852-368-8 |page = 83}}</ref> Chuikov and the 62nd Army went on to prove themselves as the defenders of the city, confirming Yeryomenko's judgement. On Sept. 28, the Southeastern Front was renamed the [[Stalingrad Front]].

During [[Operation Uranus]], November 1942, Yeryomenko's forces helped to surround the German 6th Army from the south, linking up with the northern penetration at [[Kalach-na-Donu]]. German General [[Erich von Manstein]] soon attempted to counterattack the Soviet forces and break through the line to relieve the surrounded Germans. Yeryomenko successfully repelled the attack, largely with the forces of the [[2nd Guards Army]] along their fall-back positions on the Myshkova River.

====After Stalingrad====
[[File:Конев и Ерёменко на церемонии нагоаждения орденами Белого льва.jpg|thumb|Yeremenko and [[Ivan Konev]] in liberated [[Prague]] on 6 June 1945]]
On January 1, 1943, the Stalingrad Front was renamed [[Southern Front (Soviet Union)|Southern Front]]. After the end of the winter offensive, in March 1943, Yeryomenko was transferred north to the [[Kalinin Front]], which remained relatively quiet until September, when Yeryomenko launched a small, but successful offensive. In December, Yeryomenko was once again sent south, this time to take command of the [[Separate Coastal Army]], which was put together to retake [[Crimea]], which was accomplished with assistance from [[Fyodor Tolbukhin]]'s [[4th Ukrainian Front]]. In April, Yeryomenko once again was sent north, to command the [[2nd Baltic Front]]. During the summer campaign, 2nd Baltic was very successful in crushing German opposition, and was able to capture [[Riga]], helping to bottle up some 30 German divisions in [[Latvia]]. On March 26, 1945, Yeryomenko was transferred to the command of the [[4th Ukrainian Front]], the unit he controlled until the end of the war. Fourth Ukrainian was positioned in Eastern [[Hungary]]. Yeryomenko's subsequent offensive helped capture the rest of Hungary, and paved the way for the Soviet liberation of [[Czechoslovakia]]. His army liberated many cities and towns in Czechoslovakia, most notably [[Ostrava]]. Today, many streets in the [[Czech Republic]] bear his name.

==Post-war career==
After the war, Yeryomenko had three major commands: in 1945–1946, he was the Commander in Chief of the [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathian]] Military District, in 1946–1952 he was the Commander in Chief of the Western [[Siberian Military District]], and in 1953–1958 he was the Commander in Chief of the [[North Caucasus Military District]]. On March 11, 1955, Yeryomenko, along with five other noteworthy commanders, was given the rank of [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]]. He was made Inspector General for the Ministry of Defense in 1958, a largely ceremonial role that allowed him to retire that same year.

Yeryomenko died on November 19, 1970, aged 78. The urn containing his ashes is buried in the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]].

==Honours and awards==
;Soviet Union
* "Gold Star" Medal [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] (29 July 1944)
* Five [[Orders of Lenin]] (22 February 1938, 29 July 1944, 21 February 1945, 13 October 1962, 13 October 1967)
* [[Order of the October Revolution]] (22 February 1968)
* [[Order of the Red Banner]], four times (15 June 1926, 22 February 1941, 3 November 1944, 20 June 1949)
* [[Order of Suvorov]], 1st class, four times (23 January 1943, 16 May 1944, 23 May 1945)
* [[Order of Kutuzov]], 1st class (22 September 1943)
* Honorary weapon with a National Emblem of the Soviet Union in gold (22 February 1968)
* [[Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"]]

;Foreign Awards
* [[Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]] (28 April 1970)
* [[Legion of Merit]], Chief Commander (USA)<ref>{{cite book |first=А. И. |last=Еременко |date=11 March 2020 |publisher=Litres |isbn=978-5457162914 |script-title=ru:Годы возмездия. Боевыми дорогами от Керчи до Праги |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZaboeCyVUoC |access-date=2015-03-09|language=ru }}</ref>
* [[Order of Klement Gottwald]]
* Honorary Citizen of [[Volgograd]] (4 May 1970), [[Smolensk]], [[Daugavpils]]  (27 July 1964) and [[Ostrava]] (Czech Republic)

==Commands==
Source:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://generals.dk/general/Eremenko/Andrei_Ivanovich/Soviet_Union.html|title = Biography of Marshal of Soviet Union Andrei Ivanovich Eremenko - (Андрей Иванович Еременко) (1892 – 1970), Soviet Union}}</ref>

{{S-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding Officer of the [[14th Cavalry Division (Soviet Union)|14th Cavalry Division]]|
 before= Unidentified |
 years= 1937–1938|
 after= Unidentified
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[6th Cavalry Corps (Soviet Union)|6th Cavalry Corps]]|
 before= Unidentified |
 years= 1938–1940|
 after= Unidentified
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[3rd Mechanized Corps (Soviet Union)|3rd Mechanized Corps]]|
 before= Unit created|
 years= 1940|
 after= [[Alexey Kurkin]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[North Caucasus Military District]]|
 before= [[Fyodor Kuznetsov]]|
 years= 1940–1941|
 after= [[Ivan Konev]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[1st Red Banner Army]]|
 before= [[Markian Popov]]|
 years= January–June 1941|
 after= [[Vasily Vasilyev (general)|Vasily Vasilyev]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Western Front (Soviet Union)|Western Front]]|
 before= [[Army General]] [[Dmitry Pavlov (general)|Dmitry Pavlov]]|
 years= 28 June – 2 July 1941|
 after= [[Marshal]] [[Semyon Timoshenko|Timoshenko]], Yeryomenko as vice commander of Western Front
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Bryansk Front]]|
 before= Newly formed |
 years= 16 August – 13 October 1941|
 after= Major General [[Georgy Zakharov (army general)|Georgiy Fedorovich Zakharov]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[4th Shock Army (Soviet Union)|4th Shock Army]]|
 before= [[27th Army (Soviet Union)|27th Army]] renamed as 4th Shock Army  |
 years= 26 December 1941 – 13 February 1942|
 after= [[Lieutenant General]] [[Filipp Golikov]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Southwestern Front (Soviet Union)|Southwestern Front]]|
 before= Unidentified |
 years= 1942 – 12 July 1942|
 after= Unidentified
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Stalingrad Front]]|
 before= Newly formed |
 years= 12 July – 7 August 1942|
 after= Unidentified
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Southeastern Front]]|
 before= Newly formed by splitting the Stalingrad Front|
 years= 7 August – 28 September 1942|
 after= Disbanded
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Stalingrad Front]]|
 before= Reformed from Southeastern Front|
 years= 28 September 1942 – 1 January 1943|
 after= Unidentified
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Southern Front (Soviet Union)|Southern Front]]|
 before= Reformed from Stalingrad Front |
 years= 1 January – February 1943|
 after= General Lieutenant [[Rodion Malinovsky]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Kalinin Front]]|
 before= Army General [[Maksim Purkayev]] |
 years= 7 April – 12 October 1943|
 after= Renamed 1st Baltic Front
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[1st Baltic Front]]|
 before= Renamed from Kalinin Front |
 years= 12 October – 19 November 1943|
 after= [[Army General]] [[Hovhannes Bagramyan]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Separate Coastal Army]]|
 before= Army General [[Ivan Yefimovich Petrov]]|
 years= 3 February – 18 April 1944|
 after= Lieutenant General [[Kondrat Melnik|Kondrat Semenovich Melnik]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[2nd Baltic Front]]|
 before= Army General [[Markian Popov]] |
 years= 23 April 1944 – February 1945|
 after= 2nd Baltic Front was merged into [[Leningrad Front]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[4th Ukrainian Front]]|
 before= Army General [[Ivan Yefimovich Petrov]]|
 years= 26 March – 25 August 1945|
 after= Re-designated as [[Carpathian Military District]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Carpathian Military District]]|
 before= Newly formed from [[4th Ukrainian Front]] |
 years= 25 August 1945 – October 1946|
 after= Colonel General K. N. Galytskyy
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[Siberian Military District|Western Siberian Military District]]|
 before= General Lieutenant V. I. Kurdyumov|
 years= October 1946 – November 1953|
 after= Disbanded to form Siberian Military District
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Commanding General of the [[North Caucasus Military District]]|
 before=Colonel General S. G. Trofimenko |
 years= November 1953 – April 1958|
 after= Army General [[Issa Pliyev|Issa Alexandrovich Pliyev]]
}}
{{succession box|
 title=Inspector General of the [[Ministries of the Soviet Union#Defense|Ministry of Defense]]|
 before= Unidentified |
 years= April 1958|
 after= Unidentified
}}
{{S-end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Commons category|Andrey Yeremenko}}
{{reflist}}

{{Battle of Stalingrad |People}}
{{Marshals of the Soviet Union}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeryomenko, Andrey}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Luhansk Oblast]]
[[Category:People from Starobelsky Uyezd]]
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[[Category:Russian military personnel of World War I]]
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[[Category:Frunze Military Academy alumni]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class]]
[[Category:Chief Commanders of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]]
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[[Category:Commanders of the Virtuti Militari]]
[[Category:Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis]]