Defence commissar on the eve of war
On 7 January 1940, Stalin asked: 'Who will take command?' After a long silence, Timoshenko rose: 'Give me everything we discussed, and I'll take command. I hope I won't let you down.'
A marshal forged in Budyonny's cavalry army, Timoshenko earned fame by breaching the Mannerheim Line in the Winter War. As defence commissar from 1940 he replaced Voroshilov and pushed to mechanise and restructure a Red Army gutted by the Great Purge. But time ran out before the German invasion of June 1941. He chaired the Stavka in the war's first weeks, then commanded multiple fronts, winning the Rostov counter-offensive before the Kharkov disaster ended his field command career. He remained a Soviet military elder after the war.
Career Timeline
- 1918–1920Civil-war cavalry commander rising through Budyonny’s cavalry circles
- 1939–1940Gains prominence in the later Winter War and is promoted marshal
- 1940–1941Defense commissar attempting to rebuild the Red Army after the purges
- 1941–1942Commands several fronts early in the German-Soviet war, including the Kharkov disaster
- 1943–1945Moves into Stavka representative and elder-commander roles
- 전후Remains a military elder in postwar honorary roles
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionCivil War commander in the 1st Cavalry Army
- 1937–1938The Great Purgecommander
- 1939.11–1940.03The Winter WarCommander of the North-Western Front, the February offensiveGiven the North-Western Front formed in January 1940, he turned the war around with a breakthrough backed by massed artillery and materiel, and on that record replaced Voroshilov as defence commissar.
- 1941–1945The Great Patriotic WarDefense commissar in 1941Defense commissar at the outbreak of war, he commanded the defensive battles on the western and southwestern axes in 1941 and 1942.
- 1957The Anti-Party GroupCentral Committee member
Winter War and the Mannerheim Line Breakthrough
In the early phase of the 1939–1940 Soviet-Finnish War (Winter War), the Red Army suffered repeated bloody defeats against the Mannerheim Line under Kliment Voroshilov's command. At a Supreme Military Council meeting on 7 January 1940, Stalin asked who would take command. After a long silence, Timoshenko stood and replied: 'If you give me everything we have discussed here, I am ready to take command and, I hope, will not let you down.' Appointed commander of the North-Western Front, he immediately overhauled tactics: tanks were pulled back from the front, heavy artillery was massed, and ski groups and snipers modelled on Finnish units were sharply expanded. By early February he had concentrated 25 divisions on the western Karelian Isthmus. On 1 February alone, some 3,000 shells fell on the Summa fortified area. This was the heaviest artillery bombardment since Verdun in World War I. The bombardment cracked the Mannerheim Line, the breakthrough began in mid-February, and Vyborg fell. On 13 March 1940 the USSR signed peace on its own terms. Timoshenko was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union and promoted to Marshal on 21 March.