Ioan Mihail Racoviță
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Ioan Mihail Racoviță (7 March 1889,
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
– 28 June 1954, Sighet Prison) was a
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n
general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and Minister of Defense in the aftermath of
King Michael's Coup King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...
of August 1944.


Biography

In 1906 he was admitted to the Infantry and Cavalry Officers' School. After one year he was sent to pursue his training at the Military School in
Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, from where he graduated in 1909. Upon returning to Romania, he was assigned with the rank of second lieutenant to the 2nd ''Roșiori'' Regiment from
Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...
. He went back to Germany in 1910 to attend the Officers Riding School at
Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...
, which he completed in 1911. Promoted to lieutenant, he served with the 2nd Regiment in the
Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...
of 1913. He fought during the Romanian Campaign of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, being promoted to captain in 1916, and to major in 1917. After the war, Racoviță was admitted to the Higher War School, graduating in 1921. In 1923 he became a lieutenant colonel, and in 1928 a colonel. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in May 1936, and to major general in June 1940. He commanded the Romanian Cavalry Corps during the initial phase of
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
in June 1941. With his corps he advanced from Romania to the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
. He participated in
Operation München Operation München () was the Romania, Romanian codename of a joint Nazi Germany, German-Romanian offensive during the Operation Barbarossa, German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, with the primary objective of recapturing Bessa ...
, the Battle of the Sea of Azov and the
Battle of the Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet ...
. In May 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant general. He was replaced on 1 January 1943 and called back to Romania. Racoviță was recalled into active service on 25 January 1944 and took over the command of the 4th Army, which had to be completely rebuilt after the
Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...
. He led the army in spring and summer of 1944, in defensive battles in Northern Romania against the advancing
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
. Together with the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
, the 4th Army repulsed several Soviet attacks in the First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive, First Battle of Târgu Frumos and
Second Battle of Târgu Frumos The Second Battle of Târgu Frumos was a military engagement primarily between the Wehrmacht and Red Army forces in May 1944, near Iași, Romania. The battle was the main engagement of the Battle of Târgu Frumos, Târgu Frumos Operation, and is o ...
. In July 1944 he was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...
of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. At the start of
Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
on 20 August 1944, he was in command of the 4th Army (part of the Army Group Wöhler), facing
Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (; ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He served as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1967, during which he oversaw the strengthening of the Sov ...
's
2nd Ukrainian Front The 2nd Ukrainian Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War. History On October 20, 1943, the Steppe Front was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In mid-May 1944 Malinovsky took over the 2nd Ukrainian Front. During t ...
west of
Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...
. Racoviță's forces fell back towards
Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...
, and he was replaced three days later by general Ilie Șteflea. During the 23 August coup d'état he played an important role, alongside the communist activist
Emil Bodnăraș Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian Romanian Communist Party, communist politician, an army officer (armed forces), officer, and a Soviet Union, Soviet Espionage, agent, who had considerable influence in the So ...
and generals Dumitru Dămăceanu and Aurel Aldea. That same day, he was appointed Minister of Defense in the new pro-Allied
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of General Constantin Sănătescu. He remained in this position until 5 November 1944, when he was named General Inspector of the Cavalry. Between 20 May 1945 and 20 May 1946 Racoviță was the Commandant of 3rd Inspectorate-General. He was then promoted to the rank of general and given the command of the 1st Army until 30 June 1947. On 1 September 1947 he was retired. In June 1950, he was arrested and imprisoned at Sighet Prison, where he died on 28 June 1954.


Awards

* Order of the Crown of Romania, Commander Class (8 June 1940) *
Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave () is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign (World War I), Romanian Campaign of the World War I ...
, 3rd Class (17 October 1941) *
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
(1941), 2nd and 1st Class *
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...
(7 July 1944)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Racovita, Mihail 1889 births 1954 deaths Military personnel from Bucharest Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian military personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Ministers of defence of Romania Mihail Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War Romanian military personnel of World War I Carol I National Defence University alumni Inmates of Sighet prison Romanian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Securitate custody