Editing Andrei Grechko

{{Short description|Soviet military commander (1903–1976)}}
{{family name hatnote|Antonovich|Grechko|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Andrei Grechko
| honorific_prefix    = '''[[Marshal of the Soviet Union]]'''
| birthname           = Andrei Antonovich Greczhko
| honorific_suffix    = 
| image               = Andrei Grechko 3 cropped (a).jpg
| image_size          = 
| caption             = Grechko in 1960
| nationality         = {{USSR}}
| office1             = [[Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization|Supreme Commander of Warsaw Pact Armed Forces]]
| predecessor1        = [[Ivan Konev]]
| successor1          = [[Ivan Yakubovsky]]
| term_start1         = 1 April 1960
| term_end1           = 12 April 1967
| office2             = Commander-in-Chief of the [[Soviet Military Administration in Germany]]
| predecessor2        = [[Vasily Chuikov]]
| successor2          = [[Matvei Zakharov]]
| term_start2         = 26 May 1953
| term_end2           = 17 November 1957
| office3             = Commander of the [[Kiev Military District]]
| predecessor3        = [[Vasyl Herasymenko]]
| successor3          = [[Vasily Chuikov]]
| term_start3         = 9 July 1945
| term_end3           = 25 May 1953
| office4             = Full member of the [[24th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
| term_start4         = 27 April 1973
| term_end4           = 26 April 1976
| office              = [[Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)|Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union]]
| term_start          = 12 April 1967
| term_end            = 26 April 1976
| 1blankname          = Premier
| 1namedata           = [[Alexei Kosygin]]
| predecessor         = [[Rodion Malinovsky]]
| successor           = [[Dmitriy Ustinov]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1903|10|4|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Kuybyshevsky District, Rostov Oblast|Golodaevka]], [[Don Host Oblast]], Russian Empire
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1976|4|26|1903|10|4}}
| death_place         = Moscow, [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], Soviet Union
| resting_place       = [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]], Moscow
| spouse              = 
| profession          = [[Soldier]]
| party               = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (1928–1976)
| otherparty          = [[Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of Ukraine]]
| allegiance          = {{flag|Soviet Russia|1919}}<br/>(1919–1922) <br />{{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}<br/>(1922–1976)
| branch              = [[Soviet Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1919–1976
| rank                = [[File:Rank insignia of маршал Советского Союза.svg|34px]]<br/>[[Marshal of the Soviet Union]] (1955–1976)
| commands            = [[18th Army (Soviet Union)|18th Army]]<br/>[[1st Guards Army (Soviet Union)|1st Guards Army]]<br/>[[Kiev Military District]]
| battles             = {{tree list}}
* [[Russian Civil War]]
* [[World War II]]
** [[Soviet invasion of Poland]]
** [[Great Patriotic War]]
*** [[First Battle of Kiev]]
*** [[Barvenkovo&ndash;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]]
** [[Anti-Soviet resistance by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army|Ukrainian insurgency]]
* [[Cold War]]
** [[East German uprising]]
** [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian uprising]]
** [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards              = [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] (twice)
| signature           = Andrei Grechko Signature 1949.png|
| native_name_lang    = ru
| native_name         = {{nobold|Андрей Гречко}}
}}
'''Andrei Antonovich Grechko''' ({{Langx|ru|Андре́й Анто́нович Гре́чко}}; {{Langx|uk|Андрій Антонович Гречко}}; {{OldStyleDate|17 October|1903|4 October}} – 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 of the Soviet Union|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 [[Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia|Voroshilov Military Academy]] when [[Operation Barbarossa|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 [[Group of Soviet Forces in Germany|Soviet Forces in East Germany]], and led the suppression of the [[East German uprising of 1953|East German uprising]]. In 1955, he was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union. In 1957, he became commander-in-chief of the [[Soviet Army|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 [[Sino-Soviet border conflict|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)|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.

==Early life==
Grechko was the thirteenth child born to a family of [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] peasants on 17 October 1903, at a small town near [[Rostov-on-Don]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Political Biography|year=1998|publisher=OUP|location=Oxford|page=196|url=https://www.questia.com/read/34683590/a-dictionary-of-political-biography|author=Dennis Kavanagh|chapter=Andrei Grechko|access-date=2017-08-24|archive-date=2019-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520164502/https://www.questia.com/read/34683590/a-dictionary-of-political-biography|url-status=dead}}{{ISBN?}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1225 |title=Герои страны |access-date=2019-07-28 |archive-date=2004-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040907182835/http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1225 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Early military career==
[[File:Andrei_Grechko_1.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Grechko as a soldier in the [[Red Army]]]]
He joined the [[Red Army]] in 1919, where he was a part of the [[1st Cavalry Army]]. During the war, he fought in the [[Caucasian Front (RSFSR)|Caucasian Front]] and [[Southern Front (RSFSR)|Southern Front]], where fought in battles against the [[White Army]] troops of Generals 
[[Anton Denikin]] and [[Pyotr Wrangel]], and detachments of Ataman [[Nestor Makhno]], and the elimination of political and criminal banditry.<ref name=":2"/>

From September 1921 to July 1922, he served in a separate battalion of [[OSNAZ]] in [[Taganrog]]. He studied at the [[Crimean]] Cavalry courses Named After the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, in which he graduated in August 1923. After graduation, he was sent to study at the Taganrog Cavalry School of the [[North Caucasian Military District]] and in August 1924, he was transferred to the North Caucasian Mountain Nationalities Cavalry School in [[Krasnodar]]. During his studies, he was a foreman of a squadron and from 1925 to 1926, he participated in military operations against gang formations in [[Chechnya]] and [[Dagestan]]. He graduated in 1926 and became a member of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].<ref name=":2"/>

From September 1926 to April 1932, he served in the 61st Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Separate Cavalry Brigade at the [[Moscow Military District]], and platoon and machine-gun squadron commander.<ref name=":2"/>

Grechko graduated from the [[Frunze Military Academy|Military Academy of the Red Army named after M. V. Frunze]] in 1936. After graduation, he served in the Special Red Banner Cavalry Division named after [[Joseph Stalin|I.V. Stalin]] of the Moscow Military District and later transferred to the [[Belarusian Military District|Belarusian Special Military District]], where he served as assistant chief and chief of the 1st (operational) part of the division headquarters and commander of the 62nd Cavalry Regiment. From May 1938 to October 1938, he served as assistant chief of staff of the division.<ref name=":2"/>

He graduated from the academy of the [[Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia|General Staff of the Red Army named after K. E. Voroshilov]] in June 1941.<ref name=":2"/>

== World War II ==
[[File:Comandante_del_1er_Ejército_de_Guardias_Andréi_Grechko_(segundo_desde_la_derecha).jpg|thumb|left|Grechko (center), commander of the 1st Guards Army, at the [[Árpád Line]] (1944)]]
In October 1938, he was appointed as chief of staff of the 62nd Cavalry Regiment. While serving in this position, he participated in the [[Soviet invasion of Poland]].<ref name=":2"/>

In the early days of the [[German invasion of the Soviet Union]], Grechko served in the Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Red Army. Grechko's first command during [[World War II]] was of the 34th Cavalry Division, which put up a valiant fight around [[Kremenchug]] near Kiev in [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] during the [[First Battle of Kiev]]. The division was assigned to the [[26th Army (Soviet Union)|26th]], [[38th Army (Soviet Union)|38th]] and [[6th Army (Soviet Union)|6th Armies]] on the [[Southwestern Front (Soviet Union)|Southwestern Front]].<ref name=":2"/>

On 15 January 1942, Grechko was put in command of the [[5th Cavalry Corps (Soviet Union)|5th Cavalry Corps]] and took part in the [[Barvenkovo–Lozovaya offensive]]. From March 1942, he was appointed as commander of the operational group of troops in the [[Southern Front (Soviet Union)|Southern Front]], which operated in the [[Donbas]]. Starting 15 April 1942, Grechko was placed in command of [[12th Army (Soviet Union)|12th Army]] and took part in the defense of [[Voroshilovgrad]] and from July, took part in the [[Battle of the Caucasus]]. In September 1942, Grechko commanded the [[47th Army]] and at the same time acting as commander of the Novorossiysk Defensive Region. He commanded the [[47th Army]] in the [[Transcaucasian Front]] from 19 October 1942 and took part in the [[Tuapse]] Operation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://xn--80achcepozjj4ac6j.xn--p1ai/articles/bitva-za-kavkaz-vospominaniya-marshala-andreya-grechko|title=БИТВА ЗА КАВКАЗ. ВОСПОМИНАНИЯ МАРШАЛА АНДРЕЯ ГРЕЧКО |newspaper=диктантпобеды.рф|access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref>

From 5 January 1943, Grechko was commander of the [[56th Army (Soviet Union)|56th Army]] in the Transcaucasian Front, during which he took part in the North Caucasian Strategic Offensive Operation. After fierce battles in January, his unit broke through the heavily fortified enemy defenses and reached the approaches to Krasnodar. From February to March, as part of the [[North Caucasian Front]], he participated in the Krasnodar Offensive, and then in a number of local and mostly unsuccessful offensive operations of the front troops. In September 1943, the troops of the 56th Army, in cooperation with the [[9th Army (Soviet Union)|9th]] and the 18th Armies, liberated the [[Taman Peninsula]] from the direction of [[Novorossiysk]], during the Novorossiysk-Taman Strategic Offensive Operation.<ref name=":GT">{{cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/grechko.htm|title=Andrey Antonovich Grechko (1903-76)|newspaper=Global Security |access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref>

Grechko served as the deputy commander of the [[Voronezh Front]] from 16 October 1943 and on 20 October, he was appointed as deputy commander of the [[1st Ukrainian Front]]. During this time, he fought in the [[Battle of the Dnieper]] and [[Battle of Kiev (1943)|Second Battle of Kiev]].<ref name=":GV">{{cite web|url=https://goaravetisyan.ru/dvazhdy-geroi-sovetskogo-soyuza-grechko-andrei-antonovich-dvazhdy-geroi/|title=Дважды герой советского союза гречко андрей антонович. Дважды герой советского союза гречко андрей антонович Биография гречко андрей антонович|newspaper=goaravetisyan.ru |access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref>

Then, on 14 December 1943, he was made the Commanding General of [[1st Guards Army (Soviet Union)|1st Guards Army]], a position he held until the end of the war. The First Guards Army was a part of the [[4th Ukrainian Front]], which was led by Col.-Gen. [[Ivan Yefimovich Petrov]]. Grechko led the 1st Guards in a number of offensive operations, predominantly in [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungary]] and into [[Austria]].<ref name=":GV"/>

== Warsaw Pact command ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-83697-0003,_Rodion_J._Malinowski,_Heinz_Hoffmann,_Walter_Ulbricht.jpg|thumb|left|Grechko (far right) with [[East German leader]] [[Walter Ulbricht]] (center) and Soviet Minister of Defense Marshal [[Rodion Malinovsky]] (far left) (1961)]] 
After the war, Grechko was the Commanding General of the [[Kiev Military District]], until 1953. Between 1953 and 1957, Grechko was the Commander-in-Chief of [[Soviet Forces in East Germany]]. During this time, he commanded the suppression of the [[East German uprising of 1953]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/15/archives/soviet-advocate-of-preparedness-andrei-antonovich-grechko.html|title=Soviet Advocate of Preparedness Andrei Antonovich Grechko|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1971-06-15|access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref>

On 11 March 1955, Grechko and five other high-ranking colleagues, all of whom gained recognition during the [[Great Patriotic War]] as either [[field army|army]] or [[front (military formation)|front]] commanders - [[Kirill Moskalenko|Moskalenko]], [[Vasily Chuikov|Chuikov]], [[Ivan Bagramyan|Bagramyan]], [[Sergey Biryuzov|Biryuzov]] and [[Andrey Yeryomenko|Yeremenko]] - were promoted to the rank of [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]]. From 1957 to 1960, Grechko was the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. By decree of the Presidium of the [[Supreme Soviet of the USSR]] of 1 February 1958, "for the courage and heroism shown in the fight against the Nazi invaders", Grechko was awarded the title of [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] with the [[Order of Lenin]] and the [[Gold Star medal]].<ref name=":PN">{{cite web|url=https://pamyat-naroda.ru/heroes/pamyat-commander306/|title=Гречко Андрей Антонович|newspaper=Pamyat Naroda |access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref>

From 1960 to 1967, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the [[Warsaw Pact]] Forces.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120910134353/http://www.sevos.ru/2010/10-02/10-02-17/05-gost.htm Газета «Северная Осетия» // Гость «СО»].</ref>

== 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>

== Personal life and death ==
Grechko was married to Claudia Vladimirovna Grechko (1907-1990), with whom he had a daughter Tatyana Andreevna (1927-2002). Tatyana was married to Soviet and Russian diplomat Yuriy Kirichenko (1936-2017), the son of [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine|First Secretary]] of the [[Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of Ukraine]] [[Aleksey Kirichenko]]. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, Grechko was an enthusiastic fan of the sports club [[CSKA Moscow]]. Due to his efforts, the club received not only a [[Grigory Fedotov Stadium|new stadium]], but also an arena, a base in [[Arkhangelsk]] and a host of other sports facilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sport-express.ru/newspaper/2002-11-15/12_1/|title=СПОРТ-ЭКСПРЕСС ФУТБОЛ|date=2002-11-15|newspaper=sport-express.ru|access-date= May 25, 2022}}</ref>

Grechko died on 26 April 1976, at the age of 72. According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', Grechko's medical report which was published by the Soviet press agency ''[[TASS]]'' stated that he had suffered for a long time from [[atherosclerosis]] and [[coronary insufficiency]]. He was honoured with a state funeral and cremated on 30 April. The urn containing his ashes is buried by the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Wren |first=Christopher S. |date=1976-04-27 |title=Grechko Soviet Defense Chief, Dies at 72 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/27/archives/grechko-soviet-defense-chief-dies-at-72-defense-minister-of-soviet.html |access-date=May 25, 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Андрей Антонович Гречко |url=http://www.hrono.ru/biograf/bio_g/grechko_aa.php |access-date=May 25, 2022 |newspaper=hrono.ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Soviet Anthem at State Funeral of Andrei Grechko (30 April, 1976) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNYjhmxYLP0&ab_channel=HungarianBall |access-date=May 25, 2022 |newspaper=YouTube| date=13 October 2021 }}</ref>

==Honours and awards==
[[File:Гречко_Андрей_Антонович_(конверт).jpg|thumb|Portrait of Marshal Grechko featured in the 2003 Russian postal cover]]
{|
|-
|[[File:Hero of the Soviet Union medal.png|20px]] [[File:Hero of the Soviet Union medal.png|20px]]
|[[Hero of the Soviet Union]], twice (1 February 1958, 16 October 1973)<ref>[http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?id=17412 Дважды Герой Советского Союза Гречко Андрей Антонович на сайте «Герои страны»]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803105354/http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?id=17412 |date=2016-08-03 }}.</ref>
|-
|[[File:Order of Lenin ribbon bar.png|60px]]
|[[Order of Lenin]], six times (December 1942, 1945, 1 February 1958, October 1963, 22 February 1968, 16 October 1973)<ref>
[http://www.molodguard.ru/memorial180.htm Сайт «Молодая Гвардия». А. А. Гречко] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102326/http://www.molodguard.ru/memorial180.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}.</ref>
|-
|[[File:Order of Red Banner ribbon bar.png|60px]]
|[[Order of the Red Banner]], three times (1941, 1944, 1950)
|-
|[[File:Order suvorov1 rib.png|60px]]
|[[Order of Suvorov]], 1st class, twice (1944, 1945)
|-
|[[File:Order suvorov2 rib.png|60px]]
|Order of Suvorov, 2nd class (February 1943)
|-
|[[File:Order kutuzov1 rib.png|60px]]
|[[Order of Kutuzov]], 1st class, twice (1943, 1944)
|-
|[[File:SU_Order_of_Bogdan_Khmelnitsky_1st_class_ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union)|Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky]], 1st class (January 1944)
|-
|[[File:Defkiev rib.png|60px]]
|[[Medal "For the Defence of Kiev"]] (1961)
|-
|[[File:Ribbon bar for the medal for the Defense of Moscow.png|60px]]
|[[Medal "For the Defence of Moscow"]] (1944)
|-
|[[File:Defcaucasus rib.png|60px]]
|[[Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus"]] (1944)
|-
|[[File:Order_of_Glory_Ribbon_Bar.png|60px]]
|[[Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"]] (1945)
|-
|[[File:SU Medal In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"]] (1969)
|-
|[[File:SU Medal Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"]] (1965)
|-
|[[File:SU_Medal_Thirty_Years_of_Victory_in_the_Great_Patriotic_War_1941-1945_ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"]] (1975)
|-
|[[File:20 years saf rib.png|60px]]
|[[Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"]] (1938)
|-
|[[File:SU Medal 30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"]] (1948)
|-
|[[File:40 years saf rib.png|60px]]
|[[Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"]] (1958)
|-
|[[File:50_years_saf_rib.png|60px]]
|[[Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"]] (1968)
|-
|[[File:Именная шашка.png|44px]]
|Honorary weapon – sword inscribed with golden national emblem of the Soviet Union (22 February 1968)
|-
|}

;Foreign
{|
|-
|[[File:OrderOfThePeople'sRepublicOfBulgariaRibbon.jpg|60px]]
|Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, 1st class, twice ([[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]])
|-
|[[File:OrderOfGeorgiDimitrovRibbon.jpg|60px]]	
|[[Order of Georgi Dimitrov]] (Bulgaria)
|-
|[[File:Sino Soviet Friendship Ribbon.svg|60px]]
|[[Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship]] ([[China]])
|-
|[[File:Gold_Star_Hero_CSSR.png|20px]]
|[[Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]] ([[Czechoslovakia]])
|-
|[[File:Cs2okg.png|60px]]
|[[Order of Klement Gottwald]] (Czechoslovakia)
|-
|[[File:TCH_CS_Vojensky_Rad_Bileho_Lva_1st_(1945)_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Military Order of the White Lion]] "For Victory", 1st class (Czechoslovakia)
|-
|[[File:Czechoslovak_War_Cross_1939-1945_Ribbon.png|60px]]
|[[Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945|War Cross 1939–1945]] (Czechoslovakia)
|-
|[[File:Medal for Strngthening Brotherhood in Arms 1 kl.png|60px]]
|Medal “For Strengthening Friendship in Arms”, Golden class (Czechoslovakia)
|-
|[[File:TCH_CS_voj_pametni_medaile_(SSSR)_BAR.svg|60px]]
|Military Commemorative Medal with 'USSR' clasp (Czechoslovakia)
|-
|[[File:FIN_Order_of_the_Lion_of_Finland_4Class_BAR.png|60px]]
|[[Order of the Lion of Finland]], Knight, 1st class ([[Finland]])
|-
| 
|[[Order of Karl Marx]] ([[East Germany]])
|-
|[[File:Patriotic Order of Merit GDR ribbon bar gold.png|60px]]
|[[Patriotic Order of Merit|Patriotic Order of Merit in gold]] (East Germany)
|-
|[[File:Hu3ofl0.png|60px]]
|[[Order of the Flag of the Republic of Hungary]] ([[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]])	
|-
|[[File:HUN_Order_of_Merit_of_the_HPR_1kl_BAR.png|60px]]
|Order of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic, 1st class (Hungary)
|-
|[[File:HUN_Order_of_Merit_of_the_Hungarian_People's_Republic_BAR.png|60px]]
|Order of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic, 5th class (Hungary)
|-
|[[File:Order_of_the_Two_Rivers_-_Military_(Iraq)_-_ribbon_bar.png|60px]]
|[[Order of the Two Rivers]], military division ([[Iraq]])
|-
|[[File:OrdenSuheBator.png|60px]] 
|[[Order of Sukhbaatar]], twice ([[Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]])	
|-
|[[File:Med_XXXth_anniversary_of_chalkin_gol_victory_rib.PNG |60px]]
|Medal "30 Years of the Victory in Khalkhin-Gol" (Mongolia)
|-
|[[File:POL_Virtuti_Militari_Wielki_BAR.svg|60px]] 
|Grand Cross of the [[Virtuti Militari]] ([[Polish People's Republic|Poland]])
|-
|[[File:POL_Polonia_Restituta_Wielki_BAR.svg|60px]] 
|Grand Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]] (Poland)
|-
|[[File:POL_Polonia_Restituta_Komandorski_BAR.svg|60px]] 
|Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)
|-
|[[File:POL_Order_Krzyża_Grunwaldu_2_Klasy_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of the Cross of Grunwald]], 2nd class (Poland)<ref>[https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WMP19470270210 Uchwała Prezydium Krajowej Rady Narodowej z dnia 24 czerwca 1946 r. o odznaczeniach generałów, oficerów i szeregowych b. 4-go Ukraińskiego Frontu za wybitne zasługi przy wyzwoleniu Polski spod okupacji hitlerowskiej.]</ref>
|-
|[[File:POL_Medal_za_Odrę_Nysę_i_Bałtyk_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Medal "For Oder, Neisse and the Baltic"]] (Poland)
|-
|[[File:POL_Za_Warszawę_1939-1945_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Medal "For Warsaw 1939-1945"]] (Poland)
|-
|[[File:POL_Medal_Zwycięstwa_i_Wolności_BAR.svg|60px]] 
|[[Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945]] (Poland)
|-
|[[File:POL_Odznaka_Braterstwa_Broni_BAR.png|60px]]
|Brotherhood of Arms Medal (Poland)
|-
|[[File:ROM_Ordinul_Steaua_Republicii_Populare_Române_clasa_I_BAR.svg|60px]]
|[[Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic]], 1st class ([[Romanian People's Republic|Romania]])
|-
|[[File:Order_23_august_1_kl_rib.png|60px]]
|Order "August 23" (Romania)
|-
|}

===Other honors===
[[File:Alej_hrdinov_Andrej_Antonovic_Gre%C4%8Dko.jpg|thumb|Bronze bust of Grechko at the Alley of Heroes Monument]]
*Bronze busts honoring Grechko were installed in his hometown at the [[Kuybyshevo, Rostov Oblast|Kuibyshevo]] in [[Rostov Oblast]] of Russia and Alley of Heroes Monument in [[Slovakia]].<ref name=":M">{{cite web|url=https://www.stoletie.ru/sozidateli/marshal_vsego_sovetskogo_sojuza_479.htm|title="Маршал всего Советского Союза"|newspaper=stoletie.ru|date=2013-10-17 |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref>
*Following his death in 1976, the [[Kuznetsov Naval Academy|Order of Lenin and Ushakov Naval Academy]] was renamed to '''Order of Lenin and Ushakov Marshal of the Soviet Union A.A. Grechko Naval Academy''' in honor of him. In 1990, the academy's name was changed to honor [[Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union]] [[Nikolai Kuznetsov (admiral)|Nikolai Kuznetsov]].<ref name=":GT"/>
*In 1976, part of the former Mozhayskoye Highway in Moscow from [[Aleksey Yermolov (general)|General Yermolov]] Street to Aminyevskoye Highway was named Marshal Grechko Avenue.<ref name=":GT"/> 
*A secondary school in Kuibyshevo was named in honor of Grechko.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://excheck.pro/company/6117000194|title=МБОУ КУЙБЫШЕВСКАЯ СОШ ИМ. А.А.ГРЕЧКО|newspaper=excheck.pro|date= |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref>
*An [[ore-bulk-oil carrier]] and [[oil tanker]] of the Novorossiysk Shipping Company were named in honor of him.
*Memorial plaques honoring Grechko were installed on the former headquarters of the [[Kiev Military District]] and former building of the [[Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia]] in Moscow.<ref name=":M"/>
*Streets are named after him in:
**Russia: [[Krymsk]]<ref name=":M"/>
**[[Ukraine]]: [[Sloviansk]], [[Rovenky]], [[Dnipro]], [[Khmelnytsky]] and [[Shostka]]<ref name=":M"/>
**[[Uzbekistan]]: [[Nukus]]
***As part of the [[Decommunization in Ukraine|decommunization laws in Ukraine]], Greckho Streets in [[Zhytomyr]] and [[Kyiv]] were renamed to honor [[Vsevolod Petriv]] and [[Ivan Vyhovsky]] respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.istpravda.com.ua/short/2019/12/20/156754/|title=У Києві вулицю Маршала Гречка перейменували на честь гетьмана Івана Виговського|newspaper=Istpravda|date=2019-12-20 |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://streets.in.ua/rename.php?lang=ua&town_code=zh|title=Нові назви вулиць Житомира - пошук та список|newspaper=streets.in.ua|date= |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref>

==Selected works==
*''Great Feat of the Soviet People'' (1970)
*''Battle for the Caucasus'' (1971)
*''Through the Carpathians'' (1972)
*''Liberation of Kiev'' (1973)
*''Liberation Mission of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Second World War'' (1975)
*''Years of War 1941—1943'' (1976)
*''The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union'' (1977)
<small>Source:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4197173.Andrei_Grechko|title=Andrei Grechko|newspaper=Goodreads|date= |access-date=May 26, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n50-35566/|title=Grechko, A. A. (Andreĭ Antonovich) 1903-1976|newspaper=WorldCat Identities|date=|access-date=May 26, 2022|archive-date=May 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526165536/http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n50-35566/|url-status=dead}}</ref></small>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons-inline}}
*{{Wikiquote-inline}}
* ''[https://archive.org/details/armedforcesussrgrechko The Armed Forces of the Soviet Union]'', book by Grechko published in 1975 and translated into English in 1977
* ''[https://archive.org/details/liberationmissionsovietarmedforces Liberation Mission of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Second World War]'', book edited by Grechko and published (with English translation) in 1975

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{Succession box
| title=[[Minister of Defence of Soviet Union]]
| before=[[Rodion Malinovsky]]
| after=[[Dmitriy Ustinov]]
| years=1967–1976
}}
{{s-mil}}
{{Succession box
| title=[[Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization]]
| before=[[Ivan Konev]]
| after=[[Ivan Yakubovsky]]
| years=1960–1967
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Brezhnev era}}
{{25th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{24th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{Marshals of the Soviet Union}}
{{Soviet Defence Ministers}}
{{Commanders of the Warsaw Pact}}
{{C-in-C GSFG}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grechko, Andrei}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Rostov Oblast]]
[[Category:People from Don Host Oblast]]
[[Category:Candidates of the Central Committee of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Candidates of the Central Committee of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
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[[Category:Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) members]]
[[Category:Second convocation members of the Soviet of the Union]]
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[[Category:Fifth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union]]
[[Category:Sixth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union]]
[[Category:Seventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union]]
[[Category:Eighth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union]]
[[Category:Ninth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union]]
[[Category:Ministers of defence of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Marshals of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Military personnel of the 1st Cavalry Army]]
[[Category:People of the Soviet invasion of Poland]]
[[Category:Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Soviet military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Warsaw Treaty Organization people]]
[[Category:Frunze Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union), 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Virtuti Militari]]
[[Category:Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Order of the White Lion]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic]]