TIMOSHENKO, SEMYON KONSTANTINOVICH

born Feb. 18 [Feb. 6, Old Style], 1895, Furmanka, Ukraine, Russian Empire died March 31, 1970, Moscow, Russian S.F.S.R. Soviet general who helped the Red Army withstand German forces during the early part of World War II. Having fought in World War I and the Russian Civil War, Timoshenko held several regional military commands during the 1930s. In January 1940 during the Russo-Finnish war, he was placed in command of faltering Soviet forces and by March had forced the Finns to sue for peace. Named a marshal of the Soviet Union and commissar for defense in May 1940, he worked to upgrade military training and tactical planning as well as to improve Soviet forces' preparedness for a defense against German invasion. He held a succession of important commands during World War II.