Soviet army general who fought in the Battle of Kursk and the invasion of Poland. Born at Shuya, Russia, on 18 February 1897, Pavel Belov joined the Russian army as a private in 1916 during World War I and rose to noncommissioned officer. In 1919, he joined both the Red Army and the Communist Party. During the Russian Civil War, he commanded a cavalry squadron.

Between 1922 and 1929, Belov led a cavalry regiment. He graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1934 and then was deputy commander and later commander of a cavalry division. From 1935 to 1940, he was chief of staff of a cavalry corps.

In 1940, Belov took command of the II Cavalry Corps, later redesignated I Guards Cavalry Corps, which played a major role in halting the German advance on Moscow in December 1941. Promoted to lieutenant general, Belov took command of Sixty-First Army from General M. M. Popov in June 1942 and participated in heavy fighting with the Germans in the Battle of Kursk and also around Voronzeh. Promoted to colonel general in July 1944, Belov fought with his army in the recovery of Ukraine and the invasion of Poland, then participated in the Berlin Offensive.

Following the war, Belov commanded the Southern Ural Military District from 1945 to 1955, then chaired the Voluntary Association for Support of the Army, Air Force, and Navy. He retired in 1960 and died in Moscow on 3 December 1963.

Spencer C. Tucker

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Further Reading
Belov, Pavel A. Za nami Moskva. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1963.; Belov, Pavel A. Istoriia Sotsialisticheskikh Uchenii. Moscow: Nauka, 1977.; Bialer, Seweryn. Stalin and His Generals: Soviet Military Memoirs of World War II. New York: Pegasus, 1969.