Golikov, Colonel General Filipp

1900–

   Golikov was an able staff officer whose importance in the Red Army increased throughout the war. He first came into prominence after the Russo-Finnish War when he was appointed General MERETSKOV’s Deputy Chief of General Staff. He then became Head of GRU, military intelligence, and had information from SORGE and others of preparations for a German invasion of the USSR. He did not take these seriously because he thought Germany would have to deal with Great Britain first, andconsequently did not present these reports to STALIN. When the invasion began in June 1941 Golikov was sent on a mission to Washington and London to negotiate aid for the USSR. On his return he was made Commander of the 10th Army and took part in the counterattacks outside Moscow in December 1941. He was then given command of the Bryansk Front which he held throughout Field Marshal TIMOSHENKO’s disastrous Kharkov Offensive. When Golikov informed Stalin that he could not hold up the German advance he was dismissed but was reinstated in time for the great counteroffensive to save Stalingrad. Golikov was now in command of the Voronezh Front and led the offensive to the Donets. In 1943 he became Deputy People’s Commissar of Defense and was given administrative duties until the end of the war. A man of great political skill, he rose to power after the war as an associate of KHRUSHCHEV.