Alexander Suvorov: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Suvorov_statue_Mars.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Monument to Suvorov as youthful [[Mars]], the Roman god of war ([[1801]]).]]
 
'''Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov''' (''{{lang-ru|Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров''}}) (sometimes transliterated as '''Aleksandr''', '''Aleksander''' and '''Suvarov'''), Count Suvorov of Rymnik, Prince of [[Italy]] (граф Рымникский, князь Италийский) ([[November 24]], [[1729]] - –[[May 18]], [[1800]]), was a Russian [[Generalissimo]], reckoned one of a few great [[general]]s in history who never lost a battle. He was famed for his manual ''The Science of Victory'', and noted for the saying "Train hard, fight easy."
 
== Early life and career ==
 
== Early life and career ==
Suvorov was born in [[Moscow]] into a noble family of [[Novgorod]] descent. He entered the army as a boy, served against the [[Sweden | Swede]]s in [[Finland]] and against the [[Prussia]]ns during the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756 - 1763). After repeatedly distinguishing himself in battle he became a colonel in 1762.
 
Suvorov next served in [[Poland]] during the [[Confederation of Bar]], dispersed the Polish forces under [[Kazimierz Pulaski | Pułaski]], stormed [[Kraków]] (1768) and reached the rank of major-general. The [[Russo-Turkish War, 1768-74 1774| Russo-Turkish War of 1768 - –1774]] saw his first campaigns against the [[Ottoman Empire | Turk]]s in 1773 - –1774, and particularly in the battle of [[Kozludji]] in the latter year, he laid the foundations of his reputation.
 
In 1775, Suvorov was dispatched to suppress the rebellion of [[Yemelian Ivanovich Pugachev | Pugachev]] but arrived at the scene only in time to conduct the first interrogation of the rebel leader who had been betrayed by his fellow [[Cossacks]] and later on suffered decapitation in Moscow.
 
==Scourge of the Poles and the Turks==
 
From 1777 to 1783 Suvorov served in the [[Crimea]] and in the [[Caucasus]], becoming a lieutenant-general in 1780, and general of infantry in 1783, on the conclusion of his work there. From 1787 to 1791 he again fought the Turks during the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1787-92 | Russo-Turkish War of 1787 - 1792]] and won many victories; he was wounded twice at Kinburn (1787), took part in the siege of [[Ochakov]], and in 1788 won two great victories at [[Focsani]] and by the river [[Rimnik]].
 
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It is said that the Russian commander sent a report to his sovereign consisting of only three words: ''hurrah from Warsaw, Suvorov.'' The Empress of Russia replied equally briefly: ''Congratulations, Field Marshal. Catherine.'' The newly-appointed field marshal remained in Poland until 1795, when he returned to [[Saint Petersburg]]. But his sovereign and friend [[Catherine II of Russia | Catherine]] died in 1796, and her successor [[Paul of Russia | Paul]] dismissed the veteran in disgrace.
 
== Suvorov's Italian campaign ==
 
Suvorov then lived for some years in retirement on his estate of Konchanskoe, near [[Novgorod]]. He criticised the new military tactics and dress introduced by the emperor, and some of his caustic verse reached the ears of Paul. His conduct therefore came under surveillance and his correspondence with his wife, who had remained at Moscow - for his marriage relations had not been happy - was tampered with. On Sundays he tolled the bell for church and sang among the rustics in the village choir. On week days he worked among them in a smock frock. But in February [[1799]] the Emperor [[Paul I of Russia]] summoned him to take the field again, this time against the [[French Revolution]]ary armies in [[Italy]].
 
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Suvorov lies buried in the church of the Annunciation in the [[Alexander Nevsky Monastery]], the simple inscription on his grave stating, according to his own direction, "Here lies Suvorov". But within a year of his death the tsar [[Alexander I of Russia | Alexander I]] erected a statue to his memory in the Field of Mars, Saint Petersburg.
 
== His progeny and titles ==
 
His full name and titles (according to Russian pronunciation), ranks and awards
are the following:Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Suvorov, Prince of [[Italy]] (''Kniaz Italyiskiy''), Count of Rimnik (''Graf Rimnikskiy''), Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Sardinia, Generalissimo of Russia's Ground and Naval forces, Field Marshal of the [[Austria]]n and [[Sardinia]]n Armies; seriously wounded six times, he was the recipient of the [[Order of St. Andrew]] the First Called Apostle, [[Order of St. George]] the Triumphant First Class, [[Order of St. Vladimir]] First Class, [[Order of St. Aleksandr Nevskiy]], [[Order of St. Anna]] First Class, Grand Cross of the [[Order of St. Joan of Jerusalem]], (Austria) Order of Maria Teresia First Class, (Prussia) Order of the Black Eagle, Order of the Red Eagle, the Pour le Merite, (Sardinia) Order of the Revered Saints Maurice and Lazarus, (Bavaria) Order of St. Gubert, the Golden Lionness, (France) Order of the Carmelite Virgin Mary, St. Lasara, (Poland) [[Order of the White Eagle]], the [[Order of St. Stanislaus]].
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Suvorov's son Arkadi (1783 - 1811) served as a general officer in the Russian army during the Napoleonic and Turkish wars of the early 19th century, and drowned in the same river Rimnik that had brought his father so much fame. His grandson Alexander Arkadievich (1804 - 1882) also became a Russian general.
 
== Assessment ==
[[Image:Suworow-denkmal.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Suvorov monument in the Swiss Alps]]
The Russians long cherished the memory of Suvorov. A great captain, viewed from the standpoint of any age of military history, he functions specially as the great captain of the Russian [[nation]], for the character of his [[leadership]] responded to the character of the Russian soldier. In an age when war had become an act of [[diplomacy]] he restored its true significance as an act of force. He had a great simplicity of manner, and while on a campaign lived as a private soldier, sleeping on straw and contenting himself with the humblest fare. But he had himself passed through all the gradations of military service.
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{{1911}}
 
== External links and references ==
*[http://www.ganesha.org/hall/suvorov.html Alexander V. Suvorov: Russian Field Marshal, 1729-1800]
*[http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1986/nov-dec/menning.html Speed, Assessment, and Hitting Power: Suvorov's Art of Victory]