Our neighbors use searchlights, for they want more light. I tell you, Nikolai Pavlovich, we need more darkness. - Ivan Konev

About Ivan Konev

Ivan Stepanovich Konev (28 December [O.S. 16 December] 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, responsible for taking much of Axis-occupied Eastern Europe, including the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin. In 1956, he was appointed commander of the Warsaw Pact armed forces, and led the violent suppression of the Hungarian Revolution. In 1961, as commander of Soviet forces in East Germany, he ordered the closing of West Berlin to East Berlin during the building of the Berlin Wall. Konev remained one of the Soviet Union's most admired military figures until his death in 1973.

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