Alexei Ivanovich Radzievsky (Russian: Алексей Иванович Радзиевский; Ukrainian: Олексій Іванович Радзієвський; 13 August [O.S. 31 July] 1911 – 30 August 1979), was a professional soldier of the Soviet Union who fought in the Second World War, commanding the 2nd Guards Tank Army during the Lublin–Brest offensive and afterwards. He later rose to the rank of full Army General and was the author of works on military strategy.
Born in Uman (now in the Cherkasy region of central Ukraine), Radzievsky left school in 1927 to work as a moulder in a silicate brick factory in his home town. In 1929 he joined the Red Army and graduated from the Cavalry School in 1931, going on to command first a platoon, later a squadron. In 1938 he attended the M. V. Frunze Military Academy and in 1941 passed the Military Academy of the General Staff.
At the end of July 1944 Radzievsky's 2nd Guards Tank Army routed the German 73rd Infantry Division at Garwolin, capturing its commander, Friedrich Franek, and in the next four days the army advanced to the edge of Warsaw, with five hundred tanks still operational. However, the Warsaw Uprising had begun on 1 August, and the Soviets did not seek to take the Polish capital until January 1945.[3] On 2 November 1944 Radzievsky was promoted Lieutenant General.[2]
Postwar
After the end of the war, Radzievsky continued to serve as chief of staff of the 2nd Guards Tank Army, which was redesignated as the 2nd Guards Mechanized Army on 12 June 1946. He rose to command the army, stationed in occupied Germany, on 28 May 1947. Radzievsky was promoted to a series of progressively more senior posts: to command of the Northern Group of Forces in Poland on 18 September 1950, the Turkestan Military District on 8 July 1952, and the Armored and Mechanized Forces of the Soviet Army on 22 April 1953. He was promoted to the rank of colonel general on 3 August 1953. The title of his position was changed to Chief of the Armored Forces of the Soviet Army on 11 January 1954.[4]
Radzievsky was appointed commander of the Odesa Military District on 31 May 1954, his last operational command before being appointed to the training post of deputy chief of the Military Academy of the General Staff on 3 June 1959. Radzievsky was transferred to serve as chief of the Main Directorate for Military Training Institutions on 11 April 1968 and became chief of the Frunze Military Academy on 18 July 1969, being promoted to the rank of army general on 2 November 1972. This was his last active post before his transfer to the retirement position of inspector of the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense on 7 February 1978. He died in Moscow on 30 August 1979.[4]
A. I. Radzievsky, ed., Akademiya imeni M. V. Frunze: Istoriya voennoi ordena Lenina Krasnoznamennoi ordena Suvorova Akademyi ("The Academy Named after M. V. Frunze: History of the Order of Lenin Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Military Academy") (Moscow: Voyenizdat, 1972)
A. I. Radzievsky, ed., Taktika v boevykh primerakh (polk) ("Tactics by combat example (the regiment)") (Moscow: Voyenisdat, 1974)
A. I. Radzievsky, ed., Taktika v boevykh primerakh (diviziia) ("Tactics by combat example (the division)") (Moscow: Voyenizdat, 1976)
A. I. Radzievsky, Tankovyi udar ("Tank strike") (Moscow: Voyenizdat, 1977)
A. I. Radzievsky, Proryv ("Penetration") (Moscow: Voyenizdat, 1979)
Kalashnikov, Konstantin; Dodonov, Igor (2013). Высший командный состав Вооружённых сил СССР в послевоенный период. Справочные материалы (1945—1975 гг.) [Higher Commanders of the Soviet Armed Forces in the postwar period: Handbook of materials (1945–1975)] (in Russian). Vol. 1. Ust-Kamenogorsk: Media-Alyans. ISBN978-601-7378-16-5.
