Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Andrei Grechko
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== Minister of Defense == On 12 April 1967, Grechko was made the Minister of Defense, taking over shortly after Marshal [[Rodion Malinovsky]] died. Grechko served in this capacity until his death in 1976. During the 1970s, Grechko served as the chairman of the editorial commission that produced the official Soviet history of the Second World War.<ref>[http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/grechko_aa2/index.html Годы войны. 1941—1943] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305180922/http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/grechko_aa2/index.html |date=2009-03-05 }}. 1976</ref> In January 1968, following the outbreak of the [[Prague Spring]] in [[Czechoslovakia]], Grechko was the major planner and supporter of the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|Warsaw Pact invasion of the country]], which stopped [[Alexander Dubček]]'s Prague Spring liberalisation reforms and strengthened the authoritarian wing of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]] (KSČ). In March 1969, Chinese and Soviet troops fought in [[Sino-Soviet border conflict|violent border clashes]] near [[Damansky Island]] and [[Tielieketi]]. In response to the clashes, Grechko strongly persuaded [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary of the Communist Party]] [[Leonid Brezhnev]] to carry out a surgical nuclear strike against China, especially targeting the [[Lop Nur]] Nuclear Test Site in the [[Autonomous regions of China|Chinese autonomous region]] of [[Xinjiang]]. Due to the resistance of the party factions headed by [[Mikhail Suslov]] and [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Soviet Premier]] [[Alexei Kosygin]], who went to [[Beijing]] to meet with the Chinese leaders to reduce tensions between the two countries, a nuclear war was avoided.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1089303.html|title=Czech Republic: A Chronology Of Events Leading To The 1968 Invasion|first=Matthew|last=Frost|date=1998-08-09|newspaper=RFE/RL |access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cna.org/archive/CNA_Files/pdf/d0022974.a2.pdf|first=Michael S.|last=Geerson|title=The Sino-Soviet Border Conflict: Deterrence, Escalation, and the Threat of Nuclear War in 1969|newspaper=CNA|date=2010 |access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref> [[File:Andrei_Grechko_6_(enlarged).jpg|thumb|200px|Marshal Andrei Grechko]] In December 1971, during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]], Grechko helped to provide military support to India during the war. During the [[Arab-Israeli conflict]], Grechko oversaw the providing of Soviet military support to Arab countries against Israel. In the final days of the [[Yom Kippur War]] in 1973, Grechko authorized the Soviet advisers operating the [[Scud missile]] brigade stationed in [[Egypt]] to fulfill Egyptian request to [[October 22 Scud missile attack|launch a barrage of missiles]] at [[Israeli Defense Forces]] targets at the Israeli bridgehead on the western bank of the [[Suez Canal]] on October 22, just moments before the ceasefire. Seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/calling-the-uss-bluff-in-1971/article30341831.ece|first=Zoarwar Daulet|last=Singh|title=Calling the U.S.'s bluff in 1971|newspaper=The Hindu|date=2019-12-19 |access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/10/israel1|first=Isabella|last=Ginor|title=How Six Day war almost led to Armageddon|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2000-06-10 |access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/erol-araf-incalculable-consequences|first=Erol|last=Araf|title=Incalculable consequences|newspaper=National Post|date=2013-10-07 |access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref> By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 16, 1973, "for services to the Motherland in the construction and strengthening of the Armed Forces of the USSR and in connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth", Grechko was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time.<ref name=":PN"/> Grechko was an active member in the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]], and was a member of the [[Politburo]]. As Minister of Defense, he helped modernize the Soviet Army and was greatly responsible for maintaining the military strength of the Soviet Union. Grechko was known to give preferential treatment to [[Ukrainians]], and attempted to fill command posts with them whenever possible.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Андрей Гречко – министр обороны времен борьбы за мир во всем мире / / Независимая газета |url=https://nvo.ng.ru/nvo/2023-11-30/16_1264_notes.html |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=nvo.ng.ru}}</ref> He was also responsible for maintaining Soviet military might and hegemony over [[Eastern Europe]]. An ideological and strategic hardliner, and a reluctant supporter of the [[Strategic Arms Limitation Talks]] (SALT), his most notable idea was his assumption that a [[Third World War]] would always go nuclear at some point, and as such he planned that if World War III did begin, to launch all-out nuclear strikes against the NATO nations the moment that the war began.<ref name="SS-20">Cant, James "The SS-20 Missile-Why Were You Pointing at Me?" pages 240-253 from ''Russia War, Peace and Diplomacy'' edited by Ljubica and Mark Erickson, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004 page 245</ref> For Grechko, nuclear weapons would be weapons of first resort in a world war, not weapons of last resort. His views had caused opposition within the military and the political leadership, who wanted the Soviet Union to have a second strike capacity in order to prevent a war with the United States from going nuclear immediately as he preferred.<ref name="SS-20"/> [[File:Приказ об увольнении из вооружённых сил СССР военнослужащих в запас 1976 года.jpg|thumb]] In 1976, shortly before his death, he initiated the deployment of the [[RSD-10]] medium-range ballistic missiles, which led to the [[NATO Double-Track Decision]] in the early 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_cmd/introductiond6c9.html?navinfo=14565|first=Christian|last=Nünlist|title=Cold War Generals: The Warsaw Pact Committee of Defense Ministers, 1969-90|newspaper=PHP|date=2016-10-28|access-date=May 25, 2022|archive-date=2022-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525202928/https://php.isn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_cmd/introductiond6c9.html?navinfo=14565|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Ambrose|first=Matthew|date=2014|title=The Limits of Control: A History of the SALT Process, 1969–1983 |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=Ohio State University |url=http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1417687511|access-date=2022-11-21|via=OhioLINK}}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)