Konev, Ivan Stepanovich

Konev, Ivan Stepanovich (ēvän` styĭpä`nəvĭch kô`nyĭf), 1897–1973, Soviet field marshal. In World War II he reconquered (1944–45) Ukraine and S Poland from the Germans, took Silesia, and participated in the conquest of Czechoslovakia and the capture of Berlin. He became (1945) military governor of the Soviet occupation zone in Austria and (1946) commander in chief of Soviet ground forces. From 1955 to 1960 he commanded the unified military forces set up by the Warsaw Treaty. In 1961–62 he headed Soviet forces in East Germany.