Grigoriy Fedotovich Krivosheyev (russian: Григорий Федотович Кривошеев, 15 September 1929 – 29 April 2019) was a Russian military historian and a
Colonel General
Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...
of the
Russian military
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...
. He is mostly known in the West, via an alternative transliteration of his name, ''Krivosheev'', as the editor of a book on
Soviet military
The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...
casualties in the 20th century, which was translated and published in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
Biography
Grigoriy Krivosheyev was born in the village of
Kinterep,
Legostayevsky (now
Maslyaninsky District
Maslyaninsky District (russian: Масля́нинский райо́н) is an administrative and municipalLaw #200-OZ district (raion), one of the thirty in Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the east of the oblast. The area of the distr ...
) of the
Novosibirsk Oblast
Novosibirsk Oblast (russian: Новосиби́рская о́бласть, ''Novosibirskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southwestern Siberia. Its administrative and economic center is the city of Novosibirsk ...
(
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
) in western
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
.
He was a graduate of the
Frunze Military Academy
The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...
. A
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
(
Kandidat nauk
Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "do ...
) in
military science
Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mil ...
, from 1995 Krivosheyev is a professor in the
Russian Academy of Military Sciences
Academy of Military Science (russian: Академия военных наук Российской Федерации) is a Russian non-governmental research interregional public organization. Conducts basic and applied military research, and has ...
.
Published works
General Krivosheyev became widely known after the 1993 publication of the book titled ''Гриф секретности снят: Потери Вооруженных Сил СССР в войнах, боевых действиях и военных конфликтах'' (
Transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
: ''Grif sekretnosti snyat: poteri vooruzhyonnyh sil SSSR v voynah, boevyh deystviyah i voennyh konfliktah''), originally in Russian, and about Soviet military casualties in various conflicts of the twentieth century, particularly in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
With Krivosheyev being the general editor of the book, this analysis prepared by historians based on declassified Soviet archival data represents the first comprehensive attempt to scientifically address the losses of the armed forces of the former Soviet Union during World War II. Previously, the number of human casualties was mostly a matter of political speculations, and widely fluctuated with changes in political expediencies. In 1997 Krivosheyev's book was translated and published in English under the title of ''Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century''.
A follow-up book also under editorship of Krivosheyev addressed Russian and Soviet combat losses in the wars of the 20th century, titled ''Russia and the USSR in the Wars of the Twentieth Century: Losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study'', was published in Moscow in 2001.
Commentary on Krivosheev
Krivosheev's analysis has generally been accepted by historians, however his study has been disputed by some independent researchers in Russia. His critics maintain that he underestimated the number of missing in action and POW deaths
[ (In Russian)] and deaths of service personnel in rear area hospitals.
Makhmut Gareev
Makhmut Akhmetovich Gareyev (russian: Махмут Ахметович Гареев, tt-Cyrl, Мәхмүт Әхмәт улы Гәрәев; 23 June 1923 – 25 December 2019) was a Russian General of the Army and an author of several books on t ...
former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR maintains that the published information on Soviet casualties is the work of the individual authors and not based on official data. According to Gareev the Russian government has not disclosed the actual losses in the war. In 2000
S. N. Mikhalev published a study of Soviet casualties. From 1989 to 1996 he was an associate of the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defence. Mikhalev disputed Krivosheev's figure of 8.7 million military war dead, he put the losses of the at more than 10.9 million persons based on his analysis of those conscripted. He maintained that the official figures cannot be reconciled to the total men drafted and that POW deaths were understated. Mikhalev put total irreplaceable losses at 13.7 million, he believed at the official figures understated POW and missing losses, the deaths of service personnel convicted of offenses were not included with overall losses and the number that died of wounds was understated.
[Mikhalev, S. N (2000). Liudskie poteri v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine 1941–1945 gg: Statisticheskoe issledovanie (Human Losses in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945 A Statistical Investigation). Krasnoiarskii gos. pedagog. universitet (Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University). pp.26-28 . (In Russian)] German historian Roman Töppel, in his 2017 book on the battle of Kursk (written after consulting all available armies and units archives), noted that Krivosheev's figures for the Battle of Kursk are underestimated, probably by 40%
Krivosheev did maintain POW and MIA losses of the combat forces were actually 1.783 million, according to Krivosheev the higher figures of dead includes reservists not on active strength, civilians and military personnel who were captured in the war.
References
Further reading
*A book review of ''Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century'' by Walter S. Dunn, ''
The Journal of Military History
''The Journal of Military History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the military history of all times and places. It is the official journal of the Society for Military History. The journal was established in 1937 and the ed ...
'', Vol. 62, No. 3 (Jul., 1998), pp. 660–661.
*A book review of ''Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century'' by James F. Dunningan in ''The World War II Bookshelf: Fifty Must-Read Books'', 2004, Citadel Press, , pp. 136–139.
Google translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krivosheyev, Grigoriy
1929 births
2019 deaths
People from Novosibirsk Oblast
Soviet colonel generals
Russian military historians
20th-century Russian historians
21st-century Russian historians
Frunze Military Academy alumni
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni