Aleksandr Mikhailovich Vasilevsky (1895 - 1977) was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense during World War II, as well as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953. As the Chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky was responsible for planning and coordinating almost all decisive Soviet offensives in World War II, from the Stalingrad counteroffensive to the assault on East Prussia and Konigsberg.