Andrey Vlasov was a Lieutenant General of the Soviet Union's Red Army. During the
Second World War, he was given command of entire armies, tasked with the defence of Moscow and
with organising the relief of Leningrad. But it was during his attempts to relieve the siege that
the Germans encircled and captured him and his army. Now, this man was a Soviet hero-general,
which makes what followed all the more surprising. Because before too long Vlasov openly collaborated
with Nazi Germany, established the so-called Russian Liberation Army, and managed to convert
a dozen other Soviet generals and thousands of former Red Army soldiers to defect and side
themselves on the German side. These men took up arms against the Red Army, which they had been
commanding and serving in not too long before. The entire existence of the Russian Liberation
Army and Vlasov as the embodiment of a disillusioned, bitter Soviet general speak to the
imagination. Still, their stories have been snowed under by the magnitude of the Second World War.
Early Life
Although Vlasov didn't rise to infamy until halfway through the Second World War, he saw quite
a number of turbulent changes during his lifetime. Until he was 17, the Tsar was still in power,
but the February revolution toppled him. Later that year, the Bolshevik revolution launched the
former empire into a state of gruesome civil war. He was born as Andrey Andreevich Vlasov, the
youngest of thirteen children, in September 1900 to a farmer's family in the village of Lomakino.
Although born in a serf family, Vlasov's father did all he could to ensure his
children received an education. He managed to send off the oldest son, Ivan, to school,
but his education depleted the family's income. The only reason Vlasov was able to attend school,
and later a theological seminary, was because his older brother paid for it. As a teenager,
he himself taught local children to earn a modest income and support himself and his studies.
He graduated from the local theological school, continuing his studies by enrolling
in the Agricultural school of Nizhny Novgorod. Bolsheviks were still consolidating their power,
and War Communism meant every aspect of life was dedicated to achieving victory.
The Bolsheviks were fighting battles on multiple fronts, with Admiral Kolchak in the east,
Yudenich in the Baltics and Wrangel and Denikin in the southwest all trying to defeat the Communists.
Territory under Bolshevik occupation was in a dire situation, with widespread
famine and drafts trying to replenish the ever-thinning ranks of the Red Army.
In spring 1919, Vlasov was drafted into the 27th Infantry Volga Regiment. He quit his
studies and took up arms against the White forces. Showing a talent for strategy and organisational
capabilities, the Red Army sent him off to the Officer's school. By late summer that year,
Vlasov already sported the rank of lieutenant, commanding the 2nd Don
Division in Crimea, against Denikin's White army. He distinguished himself in several battles fought
in the south. Denikin's White army suffered two defeats at Orel and Voronezh in late 1919, with
Vlasov chasing him. Contemporary reports note that Vlasov's unit was among the most exemplary ones.
When in 1920 the Bolsheviks more or less cleared the region from the White army,
Vlasov's Don Division was sent to the Caucasus to take up arms against the "Black
Baron" Pyotr Wrangel, preparing an offensive. Vlasov reached the rank of company commander,
and after a few months, he was sent to the division's headquarters as Deputy Chief of Staff.
The last action Vlasov saw during the civil war was against the Ukrainian anarchist Nestor Makhno.
By the time the civil war ended, he was a captain, looking forward to a successful career path within
the Red Army. Perhaps surprising, he didn't actually join the Communist Party until 1930. At
the time of the civil war, Vlasov firmly believed the Bolsheviks were bringing prosperity to Russia.
Sources indicate news of the Kronstadt Rebellion did reach him, as did the terror of the secret
police, the Cheka. Still, according to him all these events could be justified by the fact a
new world was being created, and people first had to suffer before real communism could take shape.
When in 1921 the civil war died down, the Red Army was significantly reduced in size.
Still, Vlasov managed to remain in service and steadily rise through the ranks.
Earning rapid promotions, his men became some of the most excellent of the Soviet Union.
Sources survive stating Red Army's Chief of Staf, Pavel Lebedev,
was very impressed by the superb training Vlasov's men received. Vlasov kept rising through the
ranks, commanding regimental schools, becoming a battalion commander by the late 1920s. By 1930
he became the tactical instructor of the Leningrad School for Red Army Officers. Around this time, he
formally joined the Communist Party and received postings at multiple advanced military schools.
In 1937 the Second Sino-Japanese war broke out. The Soviet Union's military advisor
to China's Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek was General Aleksandr Cherepanov. One year after
the outbreak of war, Vlasov was dispatched to China, as Cherepanov's Chief of Staff.
Vlasov lectured senior Chinese officers on operational tactics before being assigned
as military advisor to General Yan Xishan. It was Vlasov who had to convince the old warlord,
who held two northern Chinese provinces, to send his troops to Chiang's aid against the Japanese.
After four months, Yan finally gave in and joined the fight. Coincidentally, around that time
Cherepanov was recalled to Moscow and Vlasov now took over his role as military advisor to Chiang.
In the background other developments took place, and Vlasov's posting in China has to be seen in a
broader context. Because it became his blessing. Stalin's great purge reached its height in the
late 1930s. The purge saw an enormous number of Vlasov's colleagues and superiors arrested,
interned and executed. Yet Vlasov survived the purge unscathed, which says quite a bit
because there weren't many men of his rank to survive it. To put things into perspective:
The purge eliminated three of the five marshals, 13 of 15 army commanders, eight of nine admirals
and 154 of 186 division commanders. You could say the Red Army was decapitated,
at a crucial time in history, as Europe was at the brink of the outbreak of the Second World War.
But Vlasov escaped the terror. In late 1939 he was replaced by General Kuzmin Kachanov. He returned
to Moscow and received the Golden Order of the Dragon for his efforts in improving Soviet-Chinese
relations. He also was promoted to division commander and major general. Understanding
war was coming closer, he devoted day and night to increase the organisation of the Red Army's
training facilities. By December, he was sent into the field, stationed in Peremyshl,
a frontier area of the Soviet Union. Commanding the multi-ethnic 99th Infantry Division, Vlasov
was fully aware of Red Army units' often poor condition. The enormous losses during the Winter
War against Finland made that all too clear. When in fall 1940, the Red Army command made a
list of the best Red Army divisions, Vlasov's ranked first in the Kyiv military district.
According to Soviet Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, it was the best division of the entire Red Army.
Vlasov's division earned the banner for best artillery regiment, banner for the
best infantry regiment and banner for the best division as a whole. Timoshenko awarded Vlasov
an inscribed gold watch, and Stalin rewarded him with the Order of Lenin. Later that year,
Moscow called on Vlasov to aid Commander in Chief Kirill Meretskov in organising the entire Red
Army's training instructions. Vlasov was one of the men critical in the Red Army's infrastructure,
recognised for his expertise, lauded by friends and revered by foes. Against this backdrop,
Germany was planning its invasion of the Soviet Union, which would
eventually lead to Vlasov turning his back to everything he had worked to build up
his entire life. So… what were the events that led him to take such drastic action?
The War
In January 1941, Vlasov received command of the 4th Mechanized Corps stationed at
Lwow. This tank corps consisted of approximately 28000 soldiers and nearly 1000 tanks, although
the Soviet Union lagged behind in a war that would largely revolve around mechanised warfare.
The Germans launched Operation Barbarossa in June that year. Vlasov was sent to Kyiv to stop the
rapidly advancing Germans. But the Red Army was no match for the better-equipped invaders. Within the
first few days, it became painfully obvious the Red Army was entirely unprepared. Vlasov's men saw
combat in western Ukraine, but General Kirponos took one and a half tank divisions to organise
a counter-attack from the south. To no avail, and all tanks ran aground in a swamp near Uman, where
the Wehrmacht encircled and annihilated them. Vlasov barely managed to escape with his army,
breaking out of a near-encirclement. One month after the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa,
Vlasov had already fought twenty battles with his badly beaten division.
Due to fuel and spare parts shortage, many tanks were left behind. On July 17, Vlasov
was ordered to return to Kyiv to defend the city. He did so until September, albeit under horrible
circumstances, ending in encirclement once again. In late September, he was allowed to retreat by
Stalin personally. His division now had to fight for 550km, all the way to the east, realising in
what disorganised state the Red Army was. There was a shortage of virtually everything, and a
man's life was worth nothing. It must have been around this time that Vlasov began forming the
opinion that the Bolsheviks, embodied by Stalin, were responsible for this horrible situation.
In November 1941, he arrived in Moscow, where the Soviet high command assigned him to prepare
the cities defence. Still, Moscow was in a deplorable state. Schoolboys and the elderly
were ordered to dig anti-tank ditches. Weaponry and ammunition were scarce, food even scarcer.
Vlasov tried his best to organise the 20th army to defend Moscow. Surprisingly,
he was successful and managed to push back the Germans to Rzhev. For his successful defence,
he was promoted to Lieutenant General and received the Order of the Red Banner.
Three months later Vlasov was sent up north. Stalin directly ordered him to command the 2nd
Shock Army and break the siege of Leningrad. Unfortunately for him, the Germans had enough
supplies at that point to withstand his attack. After a battle with incredibly heavy losses,
The Germans encircled Vlasov's army group in the swamps south-east of Leningrad. He now
put everything on everything to ensure his army was liberated. He took an aeroplane, flew to the
surrounding troops and tried to have them rescue his men. When the army of a fellow general managed
to create a 3 km corridor, other surrounding armies did not come to the rescue. Vlasov flew
back to his army, and although he was ordered to leave them behind and fly back to Moscow,
he remained. He decided to stay with his men and be captured, whatever may happen to him.
The Defection
It was July 1942 when the Germans captured Vlasov. The Lieutenant General, once lauded by all those
of the Red Army, was completely disillusioned. His superiors were willing to have all his men perish,
as the official order was to not get captured. The Germans transported Vlasov to Vinnytsia,
a city in west-central Ukraine that doubled as a POW camp. In his captivity,
between interrogations, Vlasov had plenty of time to think over the wrongs of the Communists
and how things had gotten this bad. Together with fellow-minded disillusioned officers,
Vlasov wrote a pamphlet to the German high command to develop an army composed of Russian patriots
fighting Stalin's communism. This proposal was rejected initially, mainly because Hitler feared
a patriotic Russian political movement would ruin his plans for the colonisation of the east
in case of a German victory. Although faced with rejection, the letter led to Vlasov
gaining contact with former Tsarist and White Army officers fighting on the German side.
These Russian officers fighting on Germany's side, responsible for anti-communist propaganda
pamphlets dropped behind front lines, now arranged for Vlasov to be flown to Berlin. Here,
he was put at the head of a group of defected Soviet officers and tasked with establishing
the Russian Liberation Movement. The Russian Liberation Army (Abbreviated as
ROA) eventually became its military arm. In January 1943 Vlasov wrote a pamphlet calling on
the Russian soldiers to rise up against Stalin's criminal regime. The Germans would liberate Russia
from the Communist scourge. This pamphlet became known as the 'Smolensk Proclamation'.
Vlasov outlined several points in the pamphlet, giving us a clear view of where
his disillusionment with the Soviet system and especially Stalin's regime stemmed from.
To begin with, Vlasov promised the abolition of forced labour and the guarantee that work leads to
material welfare. Secondly, the collective farms should be abolished and land should be transferred
into private peasant property. Thirdly, trade, handcrafts, artisan trades and private initiative
to participate in economic life should be reestablished. Fourthly, intelligentsia should not
be censored by the state anymore. Fifthly, social justice and the protection of working people from
exploitation should be guaranteed. Sixthly, working people should receive proper education,
and secure retirements and the right to leisure. Seventhly, the reign of terror and violence should
be terminated. Here, Vlasov most likely referred to the Great Purge preceding the outbreak of the
war. Actual freedom of religion, conscience, speech, assembly and personal residence should
be guaranteed. Political prisoners of Bolshevism should be liberated. One of the last points
he makes is that freedom should be ensured for ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union,
often suffering under the dominant Russian ethnic group. But the list goes on and on.
Luftwaffe bombers dropped the pamphlets behind enemy lines.
Still, historians agree Vlasov's call to action didn't have any notable success.
This also had to do with the morale boost the Red Army received after their victory at Stalingrad.
But for Russians already fighting on the German side, the pamphlet was an incredible morale boost.
They were recognised for their efforts to fight communism,
received their own insignia and even a newspaper named 'the Volunteer.' In this newspaper,
Vlasov published an open letter titled 'Why have I taken up the struggle against Bolshevism.'
Vlasov travelled through Germany and occupied territories, attempting to gain support for
his movement. The Soviet response was rather… mild. Initially, they ignored Vlasov's desertion
altogether. And when the pamphlets became too many to ignore, they tried to have him assassinated.
However, when this failed, it already was clear Germany was on the backfoot and aside from hit
pieces, the Soviets didn't really have to do anything: Vlasov was fighting a losing battle.
Vlasov's ambitions under the Germans weren't realised. Not even close. The few commanders of
the ROA who survived the war by being fortunate enough not to end up in Soviet captivity
later noted how the Germans promised to supply more Soviet POWs than the ROA
ever received. Their equipment was subpar as well. Although Vlasov's army was autonomous in theory,
in reality, it was monitored very closely by the Gestapo, SS, and regular German army.
As such, when Vlasov began emerging as a potential future Russian head of state by swaying the masses
in Russian territories occupied by Germany, the high command took control.
They forbade him to make any political statements. After the failed Battle of Kursk, most Russian
troops were sent to the western and southern fronts, as the Germans suspected foul play.
After the failed assassination attempt on Hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg, Heinrich Himmler
understood the precarious situation Germany found itself in. He organised a meeting with Vlasov in
September and agreed to aid him in equipping and organising an army consisting of Russian
nationals. Up until that point, Russian volunteers hadn't been centralised under Vlasov's control,
instead fighting as 'Eastern' Battalions. Subsequently, Vlasov issued the so-called
Prague Manifesto, issued in November 1944. This four-point manifesto encompassed the entire
ideology behind Vlasov's reason to defect and the aims he had for the ROA. In short:
their aim was to overthrow the "Stalin tyranny", return to the liberties of the February 1917
People's revolution (the revolution before the actual Bolshevik revolution),
to sue for peace with Germany immediately and to create a Russian state, not governed by
Communists and exploiters. Vlasov supposedly refused to entertain antisemitic passages.
It is worth examining what the ROA ended up consisting of. Ironically, but logically, it
reached its peak in late 1944 when it became clear Germany lost the war. Vlasov commanded thirty
poorly equipped divisions of Soviet defectors and forced labourers. According to a contemporary
pamphlet written by a Russian journalist in exile, Vlasov commanded up to half a million soldiers.
Approximately 50.000 of these men were operational and directly under Vlasov's command.
Yet they only saw one significant battle, at Erlenhof near the Oder River in April 1945.
Vlasov ordered his men to try and concentrate their forces in Bohemia, in the hopes they would
be able to either trek westward and surrender to the allies, or trek southward and join the Serbian
Chetniks in the Balkan. The Capture
By April 1945, it was clear to the vast majority of people fighting on Germany's side
that they lost the war. Vlasov too realised this,
and he realised the horrible fate that awaited him if the Soviets would re-capture him.
In the hopes western powers would not extradite him to the Soviets, he ordered the Russian
Liberation Army to support the Prague insurgents, who had risen up against the Germans in May 1945.
The ROA subsequently trekked westward. But none of this mattered. Most of the ROA were
arrested by Soviet forces near the city of Pilsen. Others, who managed to reach American frontlines,
were extradited regardless. The only men who escaped extradition were 8000-odd soldiers
who were fortunate enough to surrender to George Patton. The American general refused
to extradite any POWs to the Soviets, which became their lifesaver. Literally.
Vlasov was captured by a Soviet Captain not much later. The Soviets put him under 24/7 surveillance
because it was deemed likely for him to take his own life. He arrived in the Lubyanka prison in
Moscow, where he was interrogated and severely tortured for a year. It wasn't until the summer
of 1946 that he was convicted of high treason and executed after a brief show trial. All members of
the ROA in Soviet captivity were executed. Vlasov remains a lesser-known figure of the
Second World War, even though his story is an incredibly fascinating one. One of the very few
reminders of him is a controversial monument close by New York. In 1967 a Russian-orthodox
abbey revealed a memorial, dedicated to Andrey Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Army.