16. From Soviet Hero to Fighting For Hitler
Quisling might have been exceptional in the grubbiness of his treason, but WWII produced plenty of other traitors. One such was Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov (1900 – 1946), who had been one of Joseph Stalin’s favorite Red Army generals. He ended up turning on the Soviet dictator during WWII, and switching sides after his capture by the Germans in 1942. Throwing in his lot with the Nazis, Vlasov turned coat and fought for the Germans against the Soviet Union at the head of the so-called Russian Liberation Army. It was quite the turnaround for Vlasov, who had been drafted into the Red Army in 1919, and fought in its ranks during the Russian Civil War, during which he distinguished himself. Rising steadily through the officer ranks, he earned a reputation for his ability to whip poor units into shape.
In 1930, Vlasov improved his career by joining the Communist Party, and in 1938, he was sent to China as a Soviet military adviser to its generalissimo, Chiang Kai-Shek. When Germany invaded the USSR in 1941, Vlasov was a mechanized corps commander in Ukraine. Fighting his way out of multiple encirclements, Vlasov was among the few generals who got their units to safety. His skill and aggressiveness brought him to Stalin’s attention, who summoned him in November of 1941, and promoted him to command an army in Moscow’s defenses. Vlasov and his army played a key role in keeping the Germans out of Moscow, and in January, 1942, he spearheaded the counteroffensive that pushed the Germans 100 miles from the Soviet capital. He earned decorations and acclaim, plus the admiration of Stalin, who promoted Vlasov to deputy commander of the Volkhov Front, 300 miles northwest of Moscow.