Semyon Timoshenko
Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (Russian: Семён Константинович Тимошенко; Ukrainian: Семен Костянтинович Тимошенко, romanized: Semen Kostiantynovych Tymoshenko; 18 February [O.S. 6 February] 1895 – 31 March 1970) was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, and one of the most prominent Red Army commanders during the Second World War.
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Konstantinovich and the family name is Timoshenko.
Semyon Timoshenko
18 February 1895
Orman, Bessarabia Governorate, Russian Empire
31 March 1970 (aged 75)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow
Soviet Union
Communist Party (1919–1970)
Hero of the Soviet Union (twice)
Order of Victory
Order of Lenin (five times)
Order of the October Revolution
Order of the Red Banner (five times)
Order of Suvorov (three times)
Cross of St. George
Russian Empire (1914–1917) Russian Republic (1917)
Soviet Russia (1918–1922) 
Soviet Union (1922–1970)
1914–1970
Born to a Ukrainian family in Bessarabia, Timoshenko was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army and saw action in the First World War as a cavalryman. On the outbreak of the Russian Revolution he joined the Red Army. He served with distinction during the Russian Civil War and the subsequent Polish–Soviet War, which brought him into Vladimir Lenin's and Joseph Stalin's favour. Rapidly rising through the ranks, Timoshenko held several regional commands throughout the 1930s and survived the Great Purge. He led the Ukrainian Front during the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. In early 1940, Timoshenko took over the command of the Winter War in Finland from Kliment Voroshilov and turned the tide for the Soviets, forcing the Finnish to sue for peace a few months later. In May 1940, he was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union and the People's Commissars for Defence. In the latter capacity, he took steps to modernise the Red Army and prepare for a likely war with Nazi Germany.
On the outbreak of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Timoshenko was named chairman of the Stavka. Replaced by Stalin himself a month later, he went on to hold a series of important commands in the following year. In late 1941, he organised a major counter-offensive in Rostov, which brought him international renown. His fortunes had faltered by mid-1942, in particular after the overwhelming Soviet defeat at the Second Battle of Kharkov, and he was relieved from the command of the newly formed Stalingrad Front. He was recalled later that year and appointed commander of the Northwestern Front, and as a Stavka representative he oversaw and coordinated the activities of several fronts in various times during the last phase of the war, including the Leningrad and Volkov fronts, the North Caucasus Front and the Black Sea Fleet, and the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts.
After the war, Timoshenko held commands in several Soviet military districts until his effective retirement in 1960. He died in 1970 at the age of 75.
Early life[edit]
Born in Orman in the Akkerman uezd, Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Furmanivka, Odesa Oblast, Ukraine),[1] to an ethnic Ukrainian family.[2][3]
Military career[edit]
First World War[edit]
In 1914, he was drafted into the army of the Russian Empire and served as a cavalryman on Russia's western front in the First World War. Upon the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917, he sided with the Bolsheviks, joining the Red Army in 1918[4] and the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1919.[5]
Russian Civil War[edit]
During the Russian Civil War of 1917–1923, Timoshenko served on various fronts. He fought against Polish forces in Kiev and then against Pyotr Wrangel's White Army and Nestor Makhno's Black Army.[2] His most important encounter occurred at Tsaritsyn, where he commanded a cavalry regiment and met and befriended Joseph Stalin, who was responsible for the city's defense.[4] The personal connection would ensure his rapid advancement after Stalin gained control of the Communist Party by the end of the 1920s. In 1920–1921, Timoshenko served under Semyon Budyonny and Kliment Voroshilov in the 1st Cavalry Army; Budyonny and Voroshilov became the core of the "Cavalry Army clique" which, under Stalin's patronage, would dominate the Red Army for many years.[6] In April 1920, he was given command of the Sixth Division of the Red Cavalry, which was the first to attack the Polish army during the 'May offensive' launched by the Red Army during the Polish-Soviet War. On 29 May, the Sixth Division charged Polish trenches, taking heavy casualties for no gain, which convinced the Soviet commanders that charging trenches was pointless.[7]
The 1930s[edit]
By the end of the civil and Polish–Soviet wars, Timoshenko had become the commander of the Red Army cavalry forces. Thereafter, under Stalin, he became Red Army commander in Byelorussia (1933); in Kiev (1935); in the northern Caucasus and then Kharkov (1937); and Kiev again (1938). In 1939, he was given command of the entire western border region and led the Ukrainian Front during the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland. He also became a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee. Due to being a loyal friend of Lenin and Stalin, Timoshenko survived the Great Purge to become the Red Army's senior professional soldier.
World War II: The Winter War[edit]
In January 1940, Timoshenko took charge of the Soviet armies fighting Finland in the Soviet-Finnish War. This began the previous November, under the disastrous command of Kliment Voroshilov. Under Timoshenko's leadership, the Soviets succeeded in breaking through the Finnish Mannerheim Line on the Karelian Isthmus, prompting Finland to sue for peace in March. His reputation increased, Timoshenko was made the People's Commissar for Defence and a Marshal of the Soviet Union in May, replacing Marshal Voroshilov as the Minister of Defence.
British historian John Erickson has written:
Assessment[edit]
Timoshenko was highly praised by his contemporary Marshal Georgy Zhukov. During a discussion with Stalin in 1941, Zhukov praised Timoshenko's conducts at Smolensk sector, claimed that he had done everything he could and gained the trust of the soldiers.[23] After the war, Zhukov repeated his praise during an interview with Konstantin Simonov, claimed that Timoshenko was a strong-willed, educated and experienced military man. He was removed from the frontline duty not because of his capability, but mainly because people were upset with his defeat at Kharkov and Timoshenko himself did not attempt to curry favour with his superior.[24]
General A.P. Pokrovsky, also in an interview with Simonov, gave a more multidimensional assessment of Timoshenko. Pokrovsky praised Timoshenko as a well-trained, hard-working commander and was proficient in military matters. However, Timoshenko had a deep distrust of the personnel of STAVKA, therefore he also worked with a separated group of trusted associates and double-checked the data gathered by both the STAVKA group and his own group. Pokrovsky commented that Timoshenko's method was "abnormal" although his desire for accurate information was reasonable.[25] Sergei Shtemenko in his memoirs also recounted Timoshenko's hostile attitude towards High Command's personnels including Shtemenko himself, however their mutual relationship finally improved after some times working together.
There was a Marshala Tymoshenko Street in (the capital of Ukraine) Kyiv's Obolonskyi District.[26] On 27 October 2022 the Kyiv City Council renamed this street to Levko Lukianenko Street.[26]