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 the history of the Second World War. He served as Deputy

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

of the

Armed Forces of the USSR 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 ...

. Until his death, he was the president of 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 ...

. A decorated veteran of the

Second World War 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 ...

, he had a lifelong career in the

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 ...

starting from the

Junior Lieutenant Junior lieutenant is a junior officer rank in several countries, equivalent to Sub-lieutenant. Germany In the National People's Army, the rank of () was introduced in 1956. Eastern Europe In many Eastern European countries, the rank of junior l ...

in the beginning of the war and reaching general rank in the 1970s. His positions also included serving as the military adviser to the

President of Egypt The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egyp ...

in the 1970s and to President Najibullah of the

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...

in 1989–1991. Gareev served as an

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

and authored a few books himself. In September 2015, Chinese President

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

awarded Gareev the Medal of Honor for his contribution in the 1945 battle to liberate

Mudanjiang Mudanjiang (; Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later ...

Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of t ...

from the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

Early life

Gareev was born in

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

, the child of ethnic

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

originally from the Chimshin region of Bashkiria. His father Akhmat Gareev was an industrial worker and his mother, Rahema was a housewife. The family also lived in Central Asia. Gareev joined the Red Army in 1939 as a volunteer and graduated from the Tashkent Infantry School in 1941. He was initially posted to an infantry unit in the

Turkestan Military District The Turkestan Military District (russian: Туркестанский военный округ (ТуркВО), ''Turkestansky voyenyi okrug (TurkVO)'') was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces, with it ...

World War II

Gareev was transferred to the Western Front in November 1942 and fought as an infantry officer in the Battle of Rzhev where he was wounded. Gareev was subsequently promoted to a deputy commander of an infantry battalion and a staff officer of the 45th Rifle Corps. Gareev was wounded in the head in 1944 in Belorussia. Upon recovering from his wound he was posted to the Far East in January 1945 joining the staff of the 5th Army. He fought in the

Soviet–Japanese War The Soviet–Japanese War (russian: Советско-японская война; ja, ソ連対日参戦, soren tai nichi sansen, Soviet Union entry into war against Japan), known in Mongolia as the Liberation War of 1945 (), was a military ...

(

August Storm August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

) and finished the war as a Major.

Post War service

Gareev continued on the staff of the 5th Army in the Far East after the war and then graduated from the

M. V. 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 ...

in 1950. During 1950-1957, he was the chief of staff of the regiment, senior officer of the operational command of the headquarters of the

Belorussian Military District , image = Soviet Union Belorussian Military District.svg , image_size = 300px , caption = The territory of the Byelorussian Military District in 1991. , dates = 28 November 1918 – 6 May 1992 , country = (1918–1920) (1920–1991) (1922� ...

, commander of the 307th Guards Motor Rifle Training Regiment in the 45th Tank Training Division of the Belorussian Military District, chief of staff of the 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division. In 1959 Gareev graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. He became a Deputy Division Commander in 1959. Since February 1965 he was commander of the 50th Guards Motor Rifle Division in the 28th Combined Arms Army of the Belorussian Military District. Since June 1966, he commanded a tank division. From July 1968 to September 1970 he was Chief of Staff and then First Deputy Commander of the 28th Combined Arms Army. In 1970-71 he was a military adviser to the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

. He became commander of the

Urals Military District The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

in 1971. From February 1974, he was head of the Military Scientific Directorate of the General Staff, deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff, and in 1984 was deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Gareev was promoted to Colonel General in October 1978. In 1989, he was the Chief Military Adviser in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of a limited contingent of Soviet troops from there. He played a large role in planning the military operations of government forces of President

Mohammad Najibullah Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (Pashto/ prs, محمد نجیب‌الله احمدزی, ; 6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996), commonly known as Dr. Najib, was an Afghan politician who served as the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Par ...

. Gareev was promoted to the rank of General of the Army in 1990. From 1990, he served as Military Adviser - Inspector of the

Group of Inspectors General The Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (), colloquially known as the paradise group, was a body of the Soviet Ministry of Defense established in 1958. A sinecure position for semi-retired senior officers, th ...

of the USSR Ministry of Defence. Gareev retired from active service in 1992

Family

Gareev married Tamara Ivanovna after the war, his wife was of Belorussian origin and died in 1998. They had two children: Timur (born 1961) a retired Major General in the Russian army and Galia (born 1952) who is a retired English language teacher.

Military Science and Theory

Gareev began to actively engage in military scientific work back in the 1960s and 1970s. Author of over 100 scientific papers, over 300 articles and publications in collections, magazine and newspapers. He was the lead author of numerous Soviet Army manuals. In February 1995 he was elected as the first president of Academy of Military Sciences, a non-governmental research organisation. Gareev was engaged in the study of the history of the Great Patriotic War, was actively involved in scientific discussions, and opposed the falsification of the history of the war. He believed that the desire to challenge the victory of the USSR over fascism is closely connected with the propaganda campaign against modern Russia. He was the author of numerous historical works. In addition, he was an inspector general with the

Office of Inspectors General The Office of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Управление генеральных инспекторов Министерства обороны Российской Федерации) i ...

of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Public Council under the Chairman of the Military Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation. Gareev died on 25 December 2019 at the age of 96 and was buried at the

Federal Military Memorial Cemetery The Federal Military Memorial Cemetery (Russian: Федеральное военное мемориальное кладбище) is a national cemetery of Russia, located in Mytishchinsky District, Moscow Oblast, on the north-eastern outskirts o ...

Partial bibliography

* General Gareev, ''If War Comes Tomorrow?: The Contours of Future Armed Conflict (Cass Series on Soviet Military Theory and Practice)'' (Paperback),

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, 1998, * Makhmut Akhmetovich Gareev, ''M.V. Frunze, Military Theorist'' (Hardcover),

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, 1988, * M. A. Gareev, ''Marshal Zhukov: Velichie i unikalnost polkovodcheskogo iskusstva'', Vostochnyi universitet, 1996, * M. A. Gareev, ''Neodnoznachnye stranitsy voiny: Ocherki o problemnykh voprosakh istorii Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny'', ''RFM'', 1995, * M. A. Gareev, ''Konturen des bewaffneten Kampfes der Zukunft: Ein Ausblick auf das Militarwesen in den nachsten 10 bis 15 Jahren (Schriftenreihe des Bundesinstituts fur ... und Internationale Studien, Koln)'', Nomos; 1. Aufl edition (1996), * M. A. Gareev, ''Moia posledniaia voina: Afganistan bez sovetskikh voisk'', INSAN, 1996,

References

Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gareev, Makhmut 1923 births 2019 deaths Volga Tatar people People of the Soviet–Afghan War Frunze Military Academy alumni Russian generals 20th-century Russian historians Russian Sunni Muslims Army generals (Soviet Union) Soviet military personnel of World War II Tatar people of Russia Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 2nd class Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Burials at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni