In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Antonovich and the family name is Grechko.
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Andrei Grechko
Андрей Гречко
Grechko in 1960
Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union
In office 12 April 1967 – 26 April 1976
Premier
Alexei Kosygin
Preceded by
Rodion Malinovsky
Succeeded by
Dmitriy Ustinov
Supreme Commander of Warsaw Pact Armed Forces
In office 1 April 1960 – 12 April 1967
Preceded by
Ivan Konev
Succeeded by
Ivan Yakubovsky
Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany
In office 26 May 1953 – 17 November 1957
Preceded by
Vasily Chuikov
Succeeded by
Matvei Zakharov
Full member of the 24th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office 27 April 1973 – 26 April 1976
Personal details
Born
Andrei Antonovich Greczhko
(1903-10-04)4 October 1903 Golodaevka, Don Host Oblast, Russian Empire
Died
26 April 1976(1976-04-26) (aged 72) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place
Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow
Nationality
Soviet Union
Political party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1928–1976)
Profession
Soldier
Awards
Hero of the Soviet Union (twice)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance
Soviet Russia (1919–1922) Soviet Union (1922–1976)
Branch/service
Soviet Army
Years of service
1919–1976
Rank
Marshal of the Soviet Union (1955–1976)
Commands
18th Army 1st Guards Army Kiev Military District
Battles/wars
Russian Civil War
World War II
Soviet invasion of Poland
First Battle of Kiev
Barvenkovo–Lozovaya offensive
Battle of the Caucasus
Battle of the Dnieper
Second Battle of Kiev
Zhitomir–Berdichev offensive
Lvov–Sandomierz offensive
Western Carpathian offensive
Moravia–Ostrava offensive
Prague Offensive
Ukrainian insurgency
Cold War
East German uprising
Hungarian uprising
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
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Andrei Antonovich Grechko (Russian: Андре́й Анто́нович Гре́чко, Ukrainian: Андрій Антонович Гречко; 17 October [O.S. 4 October] 1903 – 26 April 1976) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as the Soviet Minister of Defence from 1967 to 1976.
Born to a Ukrainian peasant family near Rostov-on-Don, Grechko served in the Red Army cavalry during the Russian Civil War. After graduating from the Frunze Military Academy, he took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. Grechko was a fresh graduate of the Voroshilov Military Academy when Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union. He held a succession of cavalry and army commands afterwards and saw action in the Caucasus, Ukraine and Central Europe.
After the war, Grechko commanded the Kiev Military District. In 1953, he was appointed commander-in-chief of Soviet Forces in East Germany, and led the suppression of the East German uprising. In 1955, he was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union. In 1957, he became commander-in-chief of the Soviet Ground Forces, and three years later he also became the commander of the Warsaw Pact forces. In 1967, Grechko was appointed Minister of Defence, and oversaw the subsequent Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and violent border clashes with China. He helped modernize the Soviet Army and was responsible for continuing the Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe. An ideological hardliner, he was a defender of the first strike nuclear strategy, and only reluctantly supported Leonid Brezhnev's détente with the United States and the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). Grechko died in 1976 at the age of 72.
policymaking alongside KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov, Defense Minister AndreiGrechko and Grechko's successor, Marshal Dmitry Ustinov. Even after Brezhnev's death...
Grechko is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: AndreiGrechko (1903–1976), Soviet general, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Minister of Defense...
Union's defense industry and its armed forces. By 1976, he succeeded AndreiGrechko as Minister of Defense and received the rank of Marshal of the Soviet...
Soviet policymaking alongside Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, Defense Minister AndreiGrechko and Grechko's successor, Marshal Dmitry Ustinov. Upon Brezhnev's...
Soviet Union and Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union in 1957–1967. AndreiGrechko was the Marshal of the Soviet Union Minister of Defense of the Soviet...
required to present a report of events during the mission to Marshal AndreiGrechko, who substituted for the ill Soviet defense minister. Soviet military...
Leon Trotsky, Vyacheslav Molotov and Andrei Gromyko, heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and AndreiGrechko and Dmitriy Ustinov, the defence ministers...
exist from 1950 to 1955 Ivan Konev, 1955–56 Rodion Malinovsky, 1956–57 AndreiGrechko, 1957–60 Vasily Chuikov, 1960–64 position of commander of ground forces...
the Urals and Siberia. In November 1967 Minister of Defense Marshal AndreiGrechko announced his gratitude and of the Ministry of Defence to all those...
fatality figure of 55 civilians. A declassified report authored by AndreiGrechko, chief of Soviet Forces in East Germany, claimed a total casualty figure...
(1900–1982) 1 April 1949 26 May 1953 4 years, 55 days 4 Grechko, AndreiMarshal of the Soviet Union AndreiGrechko (1903–1976) 27 May 1953 16 November 1957 4 years...
Chairman Yuri Andropov, longtime Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, and Defense Minister AndreiGrechko (who was succeeded by Dmitriy Ustinov in 1976). The...
(Ludvík Svoboda) Elements of 4th Ukrainian Front: Soviet 1st Guards Army (AndreiGrechko) Army Group Heinrici 1st Panzer Army (Gotthard Heinrici) Elements of...
Hoxha Mehmet Shehu Beqir Balluku Nikita Khrushchev Aleksei Antonov AndreiGrechko Units involved Albanian Armed Forces Albanian Naval Force Soviet Armed...
14 May 1955 – April 1960 Preceded by Position created Succeeded by AndreiGrechko 1st High Commissioner of the Soviet occupation of Austria In office...
organization Military doctrine Military science Military unit Order of battle AndreiGrechko, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1976). Советская военная энциклопедия...
distinct groups in the elaboration of the Helsinki Final Act). When AndreiGrechko assumed command of the Warsaw Pact, both Romania and Albania had for...
Minister of Defense of the USSR (simultaneously with the appointment of AndreiGrechko as Minister of Defense) and Marshal of the Soviet Union, whilst from...
Warsaw Pact or as Soviet Defence Ministers. These included Sokolovsky, Grechko, Yakubovsky, Kulikov, Ogarkov, Akhromeev, and Yazov. All Marshals in the...
Andrey Andreyev wanted to be buried next to his wife there. In July 1989, Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was offered a grave in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis,...
Nikita Khrushchev Leonid Brezhnev Preceded by Georgy Zhukov Succeeded by AndreiGrechko Personal details Born (1898-11-23)23 November 1898 Odessa, Russian Empire...
Matvey Blanter Aleksey Buldakov Igor Butman Semyon Farada Oleg Gazmanov AndreiGrechko Sergei Ivanov Konstantin Kinchev Leonid Kuravlyov Otar Kushanashvili...
Timoshenko, Soviet military commander AndreiGrechko, Soviet military commander Efim Shchadenko, Soviet military commander Andrei Bubnov, Soviet military commander...