February 7, 2010 marks 90 years since the day Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, a Russian admiral, one of the organizers of the White movement in Russia during the Civil War, was shot by the sentence of the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee.
Alexander Vasilievich Kolchak was born on November 4, 1874 in the village of Aleksandrovskoye, Petersburg district, Petersburg province, in the family of Major General, military engineer Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak.
In 1984, Alexander Kolchak graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps and was promoted to midshipman. From 1894 to 1900 he served on warships in the Baltic, then on pacific ocean, in parallel independently engaged in the study of hydrology and oceanography. Then he began to publish in the scientific press. In 1900, he was seconded to the Academy of Sciences, and he became a member of the Russian polar expedition of Baron Eduard Toll. One of the islands in the Kara Sea was named after Kolchak (currently called Rastorguev Island).
In 1903, Kolchak led the search for Toll, who had not returned from Bennet Island, on dogs, then on a whaleboat he made a risky transition from Tiksi Bay to Bennet Island, found traces of Toll's stay and scientific materials, but was convinced of his death. Following the results of the expedition, he published a number of special works, the main of which is "The Ice of the Kara and Siberian Seas".
With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, despite chronic pneumonia and articular rheumatism resulting from polar expeditions, Kolchak achieved a return to the Naval Department and a direction to Port Arthur and was appointed to command a destroyer. Under the leadership of Kolchak, minefields were placed at the entrance to Port Arthur Bay. Alexander Kolchak also commanded a coastal artillery battery, where he was wounded during the battle.
After the surrender of the fortress, he was captured, but in April 1905 he returned through America to St. Petersburg. Upon his return, Kolchak was awarded the St. George weapon, the Order of St. Anna 4th degree and St. Stanislav 2nd degree with swords.
In 1905-1906, Kolchak put the materials of the Russian Polar Expedition in order - the work was so informative that it was published until the end of the 1920s.
In 1906, Kolchak was elected a full member of the Russian Geographical Society and was awarded the large gold Konstantinovsky medal for "an outstanding geographical feat that was associated with labor and danger."
Kolchak became one of the founders and chairman of the semi-official Naval Officers' Circle in St. Petersburg, which set itself the task of recreating and reorganizing the Russian fleet on scientific basis. With the formation of the Naval General Staff in 1906, Kolchak became one of its first employees, was involved in the development of operational and strategic plans for the main Baltic theater of alleged military operations, was navy, acted in the State Duma as an expert on naval issues. In 1908 he moved to the Naval Academy.
In 1907-1910, Kolchak was preparing the Hydrographic Expedition of the Arctic Ocean, one of the tasks of which was to explore the Northern Sea Route. In 1909-1910, the expedition, in which Kolchak commanded the Vaigach icebreaker transport, made the transition from the Baltic Sea through Indian Ocean to Vladivostok, and then towards Cape Dezhnev. This voyage was Kolchak's last expedition to the Arctic seas. Since 1910, Kolchak headed the Baltic operational department of the Naval General Staff and also worked on the development of the Russian shipbuilding program, combining this with teaching at the Naval Academy.
Since 1912, Kolchak was in the active fleet, commanded a destroyer in the Baltic, and in December 1913 he was promoted to captain of the 1st rank, appointed flag captain of the operational unit of the headquarters of the fleet commander. During the First World War, Kolchak led the mining of the entrance to the Gulf of Finland and the Bay of Danzig, the landing of amphibious assault forces on the Riga coast in the German rear, and other military operations. Since September 1915, he commanded the Mine Division and led the defense of the Gulf of Riga. In the same year Kolchak was awarded the order St. George 4th degree. In April 1916, Kolchak was promoted to rear admiral, in June he was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet and at the same time promoted to vice admiral - "for distinction in service."
After the February Revolution, Kolchak himself informed the sailors about the course of events in Petrograd. On March 5, 1917, he ordered a parade and prayer service on the occasion of the victory and took the fleet out to sea to demonstrate combat readiness to the enemy. However, under the influence of the agitation of the envoys of the "Kronstadt Republic" and general development events in the country, the delegate assembly of Sevastopol sailors, soldiers and workers on June 6 decided to disarm the officers and remove Kolchak from office. Kolchak defiantly threw his dagger into the sea, announced his resignation, and on June 8 left for Petrograd. In Petrograd, at a meeting of the Provisional Government, Kolchak delivered a speech on the reasons for the collapse of the army and navy. Even then, he began to be considered by the liberal-conservative circles of society as a possible candidate for dictators.
In August, Kolchak left at the head of the Russian naval mission, with stops in England and the United States, where he stayed until mid-October, sharing his combat experience with the Americans and getting acquainted with their military technical training. In November, he arrived in Yokohama (Japan), where he learned about the intention of the Bolsheviks to make peace with Germany. In December, he asked to be accepted into English military service. At the beginning of 1918, Kolchak went to the Mesopotamian front, but on the way he was returned from Singapore and went to Beijing, where he was elected to the board of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER). In April-September 1918, he tried to form a united armed force on the Chinese Eastern Railway to fight the "German-Bolsheviks", but ran into resistance from the Japanese and their protege, Ataman Georgy Semenov.
Having resigned from his duties as a member of the board of the CER, Kolchak decided to make his way to the south and join the Volunteer Army. In mid-October, he arrived in Omsk and on November 4 was appointed military and naval minister of the Directory government. On November 18, as a result of a military coup, the Directory, which was a bloc of right SRs and left Cadets, was abolished, and power passed into the hands of the Council of Ministers. At the next meeting of this Council, Kolchak was elected the Supreme Ruler of Russia with the production of full admirals.
The power of Kolchak was recognized by the leaders of the main formations of the Whites in other regions of Russia, including Anton Denikin. In the hands of Kolchak was the gold reserves of Russia, he received military technical assistance from the United States and the Entente countries. By the spring of 1919, he managed to create an army with a total strength of up to 400 thousand people.
The successes of Kolchak's armies came in March-April 1919, when they occupied the Urals. However, this was followed by defeat. Kolchak was not prepared for the role of a dictator in a civil war: he was poorly versed in political issues, in problems government controlled and was dependent on the conscientiousness of his advisors. In November 1919, under the onslaught of the Red Army, Kolchak left Omsk, and in December, his train was blocked in Nizhneudinsk by the Czechoslovaks.
On January 4, 1920, Kolchak transferred power to Denikin, and command of the armed forces in the East to Ataman Semenov. Kolchak was guaranteed safety by the allied command, however, at the request of the rebellious workers of Irkutsk, on January 15, the Czechoslovaks handed over Kolchak to the Socialist-Revolutionary Menshevik Political Center formed in Irkutsk, which undertook to extradite him and transfer the gold reserve to the Soviet command.
February 7, 1920 Kolchak was shot by the Revolutionary Committee. The remnants of Kolchak's troops left for Transbaikalia.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
Alexander Kolchak - Russian military and political figure, oceanographer, polar explorer, naval commander, who went down in history as the leader of the White movement in the years civil war in Russia. Supreme Ruler of Russia and Supreme Commander of the Russian Army.
Life of Admiral Kolchak full of glorious and dramatic moments, however, like Russia itself at the beginning of the 20th century. We will consider all this in this.
Biography of Kolchak
Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was born on November 4, 1874 in the village of Aleksandrovsky (). He grew up in a noble noble family. Many of Kolchak's ancestors carried out regular service and achieved success in the military field.
He began to hatch ideas on how to contribute to the revival of the Russian fleet.
In 1906, Alexander Kolchak led a commission investigating the causes of the defeat near Tsushima. In parallel with this, he repeatedly spoke in the State Duma with reports on this topic, and also asked officials to allocate funds from the treasury for the creation of the Russian fleet.
During the biography of 1906-1908. the admiral led the construction of 4 battleships and 2 icebreakers.
At the same time, he continues to engage in scientific activities. In 1909, his scientific work was published on the ice cover of the Siberian and Kara Seas.
When Russian oceanographers studied his work, they appreciated it very highly. Thanks to the research conducted by Kolchak, scientists managed to reach a new level in the study of the ice cover.
World War I
Henry of Prussia, who led the German fleet, developed an operation according to which St. Petersburg was to be defeated within a few days.
He planned to destroy strategically important objects and land soldiers in the occupied territories. Then, according to his calculations, the German infantrymen were to capture.
In his thoughts, he was like, who in his career was able to carry out many lightning-fast and successful attacks. However, these plans were not destined to come true.
Admiral Kolchak was well aware that the Russian fleet was inferior in strength and power to the German ships. In this regard, he developed the tactics of mine warfare.
He managed to place about 6,000 mines in the waters of the Gulf of Finland, which became a reliable defense for St. Petersburg.
Henry of Prussia did not expect such a development of events. Instead of easily entering the territory of the Russian Empire, he began to lose his ships daily.
For the skillful conduct of the war in 1915, Alexander Kolchak was appointed commander of the Mine Division.
Kolchak on the Chinese Eastern Railway in the form of the CER, 1917 At the end of the same year, Kolchak decided to transfer Russian troops to the shores of the Gulf of Riga to help the army of the Northern Front. He managed to plan the operation incredibly quickly and accurately, which confused all the cards for the German leadership.
Less than a year later, Kolchak was promoted to vice admiral and appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet.
Admiral Kolchak
During the February Revolution of 1917, Kolchak remained loyal to the emperor, refusing to go over to the side of the Bolsheviks.
There is a case when, having heard a proposal from revolutionary sailors to give up his golden saber, the admiral threw it overboard. To the rebellious sailors, he said his famous phrase: “I didn’t get it from you, I won’t give it to you”.
Admiral Kolchak Arriving in St. Petersburg, Kolchak accused the Provisional Government of the collapse of the army and navy. As a result, he was sent into political exile in America.
By that time, the famous October Revolution had taken place, after which power was in the hands of the Bolsheviks, led by.
In December 1917, Admiral Kolchak wrote a letter to the British government asking them to accept him for service. As a result, she willingly agreed to accept his proposal, since the name of Kolchak was known throughout Europe.
Despite the fact that by this time the Russian Empire was headed by the Bolsheviks, many volunteer armies remained on its territory, refusing to betray the emperor.
Having united in September 1918, they formed the Directory, which claimed the role of the "Provisional All-Russian Government". Kolchak was offered to lead it, to which he agreed.
Admiral Kolchak, his officers and Allied representatives, 1919 However, he warned that if the working conditions were contrary to his views, he would leave this post. As a result, Admiral Kolchak became the Supreme Ruler.
Kolchak government
First of all, Alexander Kolchak banned all extremist parties. After that, an economic reform was developed, according to which industrial plants were to be created in Siberia.
In 1919, Kolchak's army occupied the entire territory of the Urals, but soon began to succumb to the onslaught of the Reds. Military failures were preceded by many different miscalculations:
- Admiral Kolchak's incompetence in regard to public administration;
- Negligent attitude towards the settlement of the agrarian question;
- Partisan and Socialist-Revolutionary resistance;
- Political disagreements with allies.
A few months later, Alexander Kolchak was forced to leave and transfer his powers to Anton Denikin. Soon he was betrayed by the allied Czech Corps and handed over to the Bolsheviks.
Personal life
The wife of Admiral Kolchak was Sofia Omirova. When they began an affair, he had to go on another expedition.
The girl faithfully waited for her fiancé for several years, after which they got married in March 1904.
In this marriage, they had two girls and one boy. Both daughters died at an early age, and the son Rostislav lived until 1965. During World War II (1939-1945), he fought against the Germans on the side of the French.
In 1919, Sophia, with the support of the British allies, emigrated to, where she lived until the end of her life. She died in 1956 and was buried in the cemetery of Russian Parisians.
AT last years life, Admiral Kolchak lived with Anna Timireva, who turned out to be his last love. He met her in 1915 in Helsingfors, where she arrived with her husband.
Divorcing her husband after 3 years, the girl followed Kolchak. As a result, she was arrested and spent the next thirty years in exile and prison. She was later rehabilitated.
Sofia Omirova (Kolchak's wife) and Anna Timireva Anna Timireva passed away in 1975 in Moscow. Five years before her death, in 1970, she writes lines dedicated to the main love of her life - Alexander Kolchak:
Half a century I can not accept -
Nothing can help:
And you all leave again
On that fateful night.And I'm condemned to go
Until the time expires
And the paths are confused
Well-worn roads…But if I'm still alive
Against fate
Just like your love
And the memory of you.
Death of Admiral Kolchak
After his arrest, Kolchak was subjected to constant interrogations. For this, a special commission of inquiry was created. Some biographers believe that Lenin sought to get rid of the famous admiral as soon as possible, because he feared that large forces of the white movement could be thrown to his aid.
As a result, 45-year-old Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was sentenced to death, which was carried out on February 7, 1920.
The last photograph of Kolchak (taken after January 20, 1920) Naturally, in the Soviet period of Russian history, Kolchak's personality was put in a negative light, since he fought on the side of the whites.
However, after the assessment and significance of the personality of Alexander Kolchak were revised. In his honor, they began to erect monuments and memorial plaques, as well as to shoot biographical films in which he is presented as a real hero and patriot of Russia.
If you liked the biography of Alexander Kolchak - share it in social networks. If you like biographies of great people in general, and - subscribe to the site. It's always interesting with us!
Liked the post? Press any button.
Alexander Kolchak remained in history as the leader of the White movement, the Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander of the Russian Army. St. George Cavalier, Admiral.
History knows no examples when a famous person would be perceived either only positively or exclusively negatively. Alexander Kolchak can be attributed to such controversial personalities, over whose merits historians still break spears. During the Civil War, he became the Supreme Ruler of Russia, who tried with the help of the White Army to change the political foundations in the country. He was tough, sometimes even cruel. But on the other hand, if for a moment we forget about this fratricidal war, then we see the figure of a hero, a famous military leader, statesman, oceanographer, polar explorer, naval commander. How such opposite personalities coexisted in one person remained a mystery.
Childhood
Alexander Kolchak was born on November 16, 1874 in St. Petersburg. His father Vasily Kolchak graduated from the Odessa Richelieu Gymnasium, spoke excellent French and was fond of French culture. He served in the naval artillery in the Black Sea Fleet, after being wounded in the Crimean War, he was promoted to ensign. Further study at the Mining Institute of St. Petersburg, work at the Obukhov steel plant, then at the Marine Ministry. He retired in 1889 with the rank of general.
Mom - Olga Kolchak (Posokhova) comes from a merchant family. Calm, reasonable, very pious, she taught children to church from an early age.
Until the age of eleven, Sasha studied at home, then in 1885 he was sent to the 6th St. Petersburg gymnasium, where he barely studied for three years.
Due to poor performance in some subjects, the boy was almost left for the second year in the second grade, but after the retake, he was nevertheless transferred to the third. He always liked the sea, so in 1888 he became a cadet of the Naval Cadet Corps, and began to bring home only excellent grades.
In 1892, Kolchak received the rank of junior non-commissioned officer. When he began to study in the midshipman class, he became a sergeant major and mentor of a junior company. In 1894, Alexander graduated from the Cadet Corps. A young man emerged from its walls as a midshipman.
Career
In 1895-1899, the Baltic and then the Pacific Fleet became the place of service of Alexander Kolchak. He traveled around the world three times, conducted research in the Pacific Ocean, paying maximum attention to its northern territories. In 1900, the young lieutenant was transferred to the Academy of Sciences. Kolchak became the author of several scientific papers, where he devotes more attention to the study of sea currents. However, he was interested not only in theory, Kolchak wanted to learn the unknown in practice - he dreams of going on a polar expedition.
Kolchak's publications aroused the interest of the famous explorer of the Arctic latitudes, Baron E. Toll, who called him in search of the Sannikov Land. In 1902, Kolchak, as part of an expedition led by Eduard Toll, again set off on a polar campaign. This time they chose the wooden whaling schooner Zarya for the trip. In the summer of 1902, Toll and several polar explorers boarded a dog sled and set off to explore the Arctic coast. None of them returned. Even after a long search, no one could be found, so the remaining crew of the schooner returned to their native port. After some time, Kolchak leads a rescue operation to the Northern Islands, they manage to find only traces of the group, and not a single living person. For this expedition, Kolchak received the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, IV degree. The campaign ended with severe pneumonia, which was very difficult.
Russo-Japanese War
In the spring of 1904, at the very beginning of the war with the Japanese, Alexander submitted a report on his transfer to Port Arthur. He did not wait for a full recovery, and went to a new duty station. Kolchak was appointed commander of the destroyer "Angry", whose task was to install deep mines near the Japanese raid. The team successfully coped with the task, several Japanese ships were blown up by barrage mines.
Then Alexander led the coastal artillery, which gave the enemy a lot of trouble. In one of the battles, Kolchak was wounded, and after the fortress fell, he was captured by the enemy. The Japanese saw in him an adversary worthy of respect, so they did not keep him prisoner, and even left him all his weapons. The heroism of Kolchak was adequately appreciated by the Russian authorities. As a reward, he received the St. George weapon, the Order of St. Anna and St. Stanislaus.
Fight for the fleet
Alexander was treated in the hospital, and then was encouraged to leave for six months. He was not indifferent to the deplorable state of the fleet after the Japanese war, and he begins to revive it.
In the summer of 1906, Kolchak was appointed chairman of the commission at the headquarters of the navy, which was engaged in clarifying the reasons for the defeat in the battle of Tsushima. As a military expert, Kolchak often attended State Duma hearings and advocated the allocation of the necessary funding for the fleet.
On the basis of his project, a theoretical base was created for the domestic military shipbuilding in the pre-war period. From 1906 to 1908, Kolchak himself led the construction. During this time, 4 battleships and 2 icebreakers were created.
Kolchak's merits in research work in the Russian North brought him the title of member of the Russian Geographical Society. His name was Kolchak-polar.
Alexander continues his scientific activity, systematizes the materials obtained by previous expeditions. In 1909, he published a work on the ice cover of the Siberian and Kara Seas. She was recognized as the best in this field of oceanography.
World War I
German troops were ready to instantly capture St. Petersburg. At the head of the German fleet was Henry of Prussia, who was going from the first days of the war to enter the Gulf of Finland, and from there to defeat the capital with powerful guns.
After all the main objects were destroyed, he conceived the landing, the capture of the city and a complete victory over Russia. However, he did not take into account the fact that Russian officers have extensive experience in this type of battle, and that their actions can also be instantaneous and successful.
Russian command understood that Germany was superior in the number of ships, so for a start it was decided to use the tactics of mine warfare. The division under the command of Kolchak in a few days from the beginning of the war managed to put more than six thousand deep-sea mines, thus blocking the enemy's path to the Gulf of Finland. The plans of the German command were thwarted.
Then Kolchak began to insist on the use of not only defensive tactics, but also the transition to the offensive. By the end of 1914, the sailors under his command mined the Danzig Bay, right "under the nose" of the enemy, which led to the death of thirty-five German ships. Thanks to the success of this operation, Kolchak received a new appointment.
In September 1915, the Mine Division was under his command. A month later, Alexander developed a new operation, and the landing force landed in the Gulf of Riga to assist the Northern Fleet. The operation was instant and successful, the Germans did not even guess that the Russians were already there.
In the summer of 1916, the Sovereign promoted Kolchak to the commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet.
The revolution
Alexander Kolchak never violated the oath of allegiance given to the emperor. The February Revolution did not break him either. When the revolutionary sailors demanded that he hand over all his weapons, Kolchak threw his saber into the sea, saying that even the Japanese left him all the weapons, and he was not going to give them to anyone.
Upon arrival in Petrograd, Alexander made accusations to the Provisional Government for allowing the country and the army to collapse. The ministers did not stand on ceremony with the admiral for a long time, they offered him to head an allied mission in the United States. In fact, it was a political link.
In December 1917, Kolchak turned to the British government with a request to accept him to serve in its troops. But by that time, the figure of the admiral was already considered in certain circles as a candidate for the position of a leader who would rally the troops around him and start a war with the Bolsheviks.
In the southern regions of the country, the Volunteer Army dominated, in the eastern and northern regions there were several independent governments. In September 1918, they decided to unite and called themselves the Directory. But without a "strong hand" they could not claim victory. After the "white coup" representatives of the Directory contacted Kolchak and offered him to become the Supreme Ruler of Russia.
Kolchak's goals
First of all, Kolchak took up the restoration of the foundations of the empire. He issued decrees banning the work of all extremist parties. In Siberia, they wanted to reconcile the entire population, developed an economic reform that was supposed to help in the creation of industry.
In the spring of 1919, Kolchak's army occupied the Urals, and this was his greatest achievement. But soon the successes were replaced by a streak of failures, and there are many explanations for this. First of all, Kolchak had no experience in government, he refused to settle the agrarian issue. In addition, scattered partisan units and socialist-revolutionaries offered powerful resistance to his army, and it was impossible to reach a political agreement with the allies.
November 1919 was the beginning of the end of his career. Kolchak left Omsk, at the beginning of 1920 he renounced his powers in favor of Denikin. Then he was betrayed by the Czech Allied Corps, and in Irkutsk Alexander was captured by the Bolsheviks.
Personal life
It cannot be said that in his personal life Alexander Kolchak was distinguished by constancy, but he was married once. In 1904, he married Sofya Omirova, a hereditary noblewoman who had to wait several years for her betrothed from the expedition. They got married in one of the Irkutsk churches. Their daughter was born in 1905, but she died as an infant. In March 1910, they became the parents of their son Rostislav, and two years later another daughter, Margarita, was born, but she lived only two years.
In 1919, Sophia managed to emigrate to Constanta, and from there to Paris. She lived there with her son until 1956, her burial place was the Russian cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois.
The son of the admiral - Rostislav worked in the Algiers Bank, fought on the side of the French resistance in the Second world war. He died in 1965. In 1933, the grandson of Alexander Kolchak, also Alexander, was born. All his life he lives in France, in Paris.
In addition to his wife, Alexander had a great love in his life, which he retained until his last days. Her name was Anna Timireva. They first met in Helsingfors in 1915, where she was with her husband, also a naval officer. The feelings were so strong that Anna divorced her husband in 1918 and went after Kolchak. They were arrested together, Alexander was shot, and Anna was sentenced to imprisonment. In total, she spent almost three decades in prison and exile. Then her case was reviewed and rehabilitated. Timireva died in Moscow in 1975.
Death
The biography of Alexander Kolchak has a tragic ending. According to some sources, Lenin himself gave instructions about Kolchak in a secret message. He was afraid that the admiral would be freed from the hands of the revolutionaries by the troops under the command of Kappel. Therefore, they did not hesitate with the death sentence, and on February 7, 1920, he was shot in Irkutsk.
Over time, everything is perceived in a different light, and therefore Kolchak's personality does not cause only negative emotions. He was famous historical personality, his contribution to science and the development of the fleet is hard not to appreciate, so the memory of the heroic admiral lives on among his descendants. Monuments are erected to him, memorial plaques are opened, films are made about his difficult biography.
The relevance and reliability of information is important to us. If you find an error or inaccuracy, please let us know. Highlight the error and press keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Enter .
Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak in the history of the White movement is perhaps the most striking and tragic figure.
A fearless polar explorer, an oceanographer, a brilliant naval officer, who in 1916, at the age of less than 42, became the youngest commander of the Black Sea Fleet.
Most recently, Rodina spoke in detail about the denouement of his fate - the betrayal of the allies, the arrest in Nizhneudinsk, the execution in Irkutsk on February 7, 1920 ... Today, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, in its Rodina supplement, will talk about the admiral's wife.
Wife of Admiral Kolchak - Sofia Kolchak
What do we know about his wife, to whom the admiral turned his last letter: “The Lord God will save and bless you and Slavushka”? For many years I have been studying the life of Sophia Fedorovna Kolchak in exile. I hope these notes will be of interest to Motherland.
Sofia and Alexander Kolchak
The son is not responsible for the father
Sofya Fedorovna was 42 years old when she ended up in France with her nine-year-old son Rostislav - Slavushka, as he was affectionately called in the family.
Was it possible to stay?
It is necessary to recall Sevastopol in June 1917 - the unbridled sailors openly call for disobedience to the officers. Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral A.V.
Kolchak was accused by the Provisional Government of being unable to prevent a riot and, together with the flag-captain M.I. Smirnov summoned to Petrograd for an explanation.
note
note
Sofya Feodorovna and her son remain in the city, where revolutionaries smash apartments every night and arrange lynching of officers and their families.
What fear for the life of her little son must have been experienced by a woman who had twice mourned the loss of her children...
Tanechka died as a baby in 1905, at which time Alexander Vasilyevich participated in the defense of the fortress of Port Arthur.
In 1914, when Sofya Fedorovna, again without a fighting husband, was getting out of Libau under German shelling with four-year-old Rostislav and two-year-old Margarita, her second daughter fell ill on the way and died ...
For the time being, Sofia Kolchak, under a false name, was hiding in Sevastopol with reliable people. But after the October coup, her husband was chosen as the leader of the White movement and the Supreme Ruler of Russia - the main enemy Soviet Republic. One can imagine what fate awaited his family when the offensive of the Red Army began in the spring of 1919.
The mother could not endanger her son.
April 19, 1919 in the Saturday issue of the newspaper "Eco de Paris" in the heading "Latest News" there was an article "The wife of Admiral Kolchak was forced to flee from Sevastopol."
The article reported that on April 18, the cruiser L Isonzo (floating under the English flag) arrived in Marseille from Malta, on which among the passengers were “the wife of the Russian Admiral Kolchak, who currently plays a very important role in the fight against the Bolsheviks.” The correspondent of the newspaper took a short interview with Sofia Feodorovna, she spoke about the difficult and dangerous situation in the Crimea, which prompted her to seek help from the British authorities. She did not hide the fact that their escape with her son from Sevastopol was prepared.
I found confirmation of these words in one of the French archives. A personal card drawn up in the name of Sophie Koltchak nee Omiroff in 1926 indicated that she had arrived in France on a diplomatic passport.
Kolchak and Anna. Kolchak and his Anna: a love story
Anna and Alexander met in 1915 in Helsingfors, where Anna's husband, Captain 1st Rank Sergei Timiryov, was transferred from Petrograd. Anna was 22, Kolchak - 41. The first meeting - in the house of Rear Admiral Nikolai Podgursky, a mutual friend of Kolchak and Timirev - turned out to be fatal. “We were carried away, as if on the crest of a wave,” Timiryova wrote later. She was the first to confess her love to Kolchak: "I said that I love him." And he, already a long time and, as it seemed to him, hopelessly in love, answered: “I did not tell you that I love you. I love you more than anything."
Between their first meeting and the last - five years. Most of this time they lived apart, each with his own family. We didn't see each other for months or even years. Having finally decided to unite with Kolchak, Timiryova announced to her husband her intention to "always be close to Alexander Vasilyevich." In August 1918, by a decree of the Vladivostok Consistory, she was officially divorced from her husband and after that considered herself Kolchak's wife. Together they stayed from the summer of 1918 to January 1920. At that time, Kolchak led the armed struggle against Bolshevism, was the supreme ruler. Until the very end, they addressed each other with "you" and by name and patronymic.
In the surviving letters - there are only 53 of them - only once she escapes - “Sashenka”: “It’s very bad to eat, Sashenka, my dear, Lord, when you just return, I’m cold, sad and so lonely without you.” Infinitely loving the admiral, Timiryova herself went under arrest in January 1920. “I was arrested on the train of Admiral Kolchak and with him. I was then 26 years old, I loved him, and was close to him, and could not leave him in the last years of his life. That, in essence, is all, ”Anna Vasilyevna wrote in her statements about rehabilitation.
A few hours before the execution, Kolchak wrote a note to Anna Vasilyevna, which never reached her: “My dear dove, I received your note, thank you for your kindness and care for me ... Do not worry about me. I feel better, my colds are gone. I think that transfer to another cell is impossible. I only think about you and your fate... I don't worry about myself - everything is known in advance. My every step is being watched, and it is very difficult for me to write... Write to me. Your notes are the only joy I can have. I pray for you and bow before your self-sacrifice. My dear, my adored, do not worry about me and save yourself ... Goodbye, I kiss your hands. ”After his execution in 1920, she lived for another half a century, spending a total of about thirty years in prisons, camps and exile. In the intervals between arrests, she worked as a librarian, archivist, painter, props in the theater, draftsman. Rehabilitated in March 1960. She died in 1975.
Sofia Kolchak
Sophia was born into a noble family in 1876 in Ukraine in the town of Kamenetz-Podolsk. She received her education at the Smolny Institute. Sonya's character was hardened from childhood, she was left an orphan early. She made a living teaching foreign languages, three of the seven she knew perfectly: English, French and German. She was determined, independent and not ashamed of her position.
She was introduced to Kolchak by his parents at a ball at the Naval Assembly. They liked each other, Sophia could not resist the handsome man in a marine uniform and agreed to marry him.
The wedding was to take place after Alexander's expedition, which dragged on for several years. "Two months have passed since I left you, my infinitely dear ..." - this is how Alexander began one of his letters to Sophia. During the expedition, A. Kolchak discovered and named an island in the Litke archipelago and a cape on Bennett Island in honor of Sophia.
They got married only after the second expedition. The next day after the wedding, the husband went to war in Port Arthur.
Years passed, meetings were rare, Sophia for the most part was busy raising children who were born. The first daughter, born in the first year of marriage, died in infancy, later Sophia gave birth to a son, Rostislav, and a daughter, Margarita.
Despite all the hardships, Sophia did not lose heart, she wrote letters to her husband, full of care and tenderness: she talked about children, asked about the news at the exercises, worried about the possible outbreak of war.
Sofya Feodorovna, tall, slender, beautiful with some kind of restrained beauty, differed from other wives of naval officers. How? "Intellectuality," Anna Timireva, "the lovebird," writes in her memoirs. "Modesty," those who knew Kolchak's wife would add.
The first trouble came into Kolchak's life with the outbreak of the First World War. On the way to the evacuation, Margarita dies of a cold, Sophia is left alone with her son. Sophia, having gathered her will into a fist, did not let herself go crazy, in search of support, she goes to her husband in Helsinki, where the Baltic Fleet is located at that time. There she learns about her husband's hobby - Anna Timireva.
When Kolchak became commander of the Black Sea Fleet, in Sevastopol, Sofya Fedorovna did not change herself. She organized a sanatorium for the lower ranks, headed the city named after the Heir to the Tsarevich, a ladies' circle of assistance to sick and wounded soldiers.
Her husband, as always, is all at work, her destiny is only to wait: “I thought,” she wrote, “in the end we will settle down and at least we will have a happy old age, but in the meantime, life is struggle and work, especially for you ...” Later, friend Sophia admitted that she suspected that Alexander had changed, that he would leave her.
She believed that she needed not only her son, but also her husband. Probably, somewhere in her heart she hoped that Alexander would help her cope with the loss of her second daughter. Wrong.
In August 1917, Kerensky forced Kolchak to resign, and he leaves at the invitation of the American navy for the United States. Sonya was again left alone with her son.
Fleeing from the Bolsheviks, she sends her son to Kamenetz-Podolsk, she herself lives on fake documents in Sevastopol, until she finds out that Timirev accompanies her husband who returned to Sevastopol.
Kolchak wrote to his wife: “All I can now wish for you and Slavushka is that you are safe and can live peacefully outside of Russia during the present period of bloody struggle until Her revival. You cannot help me in this matter from any side, except for my confidence in your safety and your peaceful life abroad.
Sofya Fedorovna for many years kept her husband's last letter, which ended with the words: "The Lord God will save and bless you and Slavushka." Alexander Vasilyevich blessed his wife and son for life, and she fulfilled his order, despite all the difficulties.
And she left on an English ship - helped by the British allies - to Constanta. From there, Sofya Fedorovna moved to Bucharest, and then, with her son, to France.
There was no money, and she, like many emigrants, handed over the surviving valuables to the pawnshop - both silver spoons and her husband's awards ... She herself knitted, sewed, and gardened. My husband's colleagues helped in every way they could.
Sofya Fedorovna's cherished dream was to raise her son and give him a good education. Again, my husband's colleagues helped. Sofya Feodorovna's dreams came true, she managed to give her son a good education.
Rostislav Kolchak graduated from the Sorbonne, was a talented financier, an officer in the French army and fought against the Germans in World War II.
Rostislav Kolchak. Died Alexander Rostislavovich Kolchak, grandson of the admiral
On March 9, in Paris, in the eighty-sixth year, Alexander Rostislavovich Kolchak, the grandson of Admiral Alexander Kolchak, died.
Rostislav Alexandrovich Kolchak (March 9, 1910 - July 28, 1965), the son of Alexander Vasilyevich and Sofya Fedorovna Kolchak, at the age of seven after his father left for Petrograd, was sent by his mother to his relatives in Kamenetz-Podolsky. During the Civil War, Sofya Fedorovna waited for her husband to the last in Sevastopol. In 1919, she managed to emigrate from there: the British allies provided her with money and provided her with the opportunity to travel by ship from Sevastopol to Constanta. Then she moved to Bucharest, and then went to Paris. Rostislav was brought there too. Despite the difficult financial situation, Sophia managed to give her son a good education. Rostislav Kolchak graduated in Paris higher school in diplomatic and commercial sciences, since 1931 he served in an Algerian bank, married Ekaterina Razvozova, the daughter of Admiral Alexander Razvozov, who was killed by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd. In 1933, the son Alexander was born in the family.
Alexander Kolchak-grandson graduated from the Sorbonne and studied jazz music. His friends said that he perfectly sang songs and old Russian romances. All his life he closely followed the events in Russia and kept the memory of his grandfather. He was married to a French woman named Françoise, they had three children - a son Kronid (1964) and two daughters. All the great-grandchildren of the admiral live in the United States.
Alexander Rostislavovich Kolchak died on his father's birthday.
In the photo: top - Alexander Rostislavovich Kolchak, member of the Union of Gallipoli Descendants; lower - Sofya Fedorovna Kolchak with her son Rostislav, an officer in the French army, and grandson Alexander in France (1939).
Kolchak quotes. Quotes Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak.
|
Authors: Member of the Union of Journalists of Russia, participant and invalid of the 2nd group of the Second World War, participant in the defense of Moscow, retired lieutenant colonel of the guard Ulyanin Yuri Alekseevich;
Chairman of the Public Council for the Protection and Preservation of the Memorial and Monuments near the Church of All Saints on the Sokol, participant and disabled person of the 2nd group of the Second World War, participant in the defense of Moscow Gitsevich Lev Alexandrovich;
General Director of the Orthodox Funeral Center of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, participant in the Second World War, former partisan Kuznetsov Vyacheslav Mikhailovich;
Chairman of the Board of REVISTOO "Volunteer Corps", grandson of Staff Captain Vinogradov Dmitry Sergeevich - participant of the 1st Kuban "Ice" campaign of the Volunteer Army in 1918. Lamm Leonid Leonidovich.
Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was born on November 4 (16), 1874. His father, Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak, became the hero of the defense of Sevastopol in the years Crimean War. Having retired with the rank of Major General of Artillery, he wrote the famous book "On the Malakhov Kurgan".
A.V. Kolchak graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps with the Admiral Rikord Prize. In 1894 he was promoted to midshipman. In 1895 - to the lieutenant.
KOLCHAK - POLAR EXPLORER (early career)
From 1895 to 1899 Kolchak visited three times circumnavigations. In 1900, Kolchak took part in an expedition to the Arctic Ocean with the famous polar explorer Baron Eduard Toll, who was trying to find the legendary lost Sannikov Land. In 1902 A.V. Kolchak is seeking permission from the Academy of Sciences and funding for an expedition to search for Baron Toll and his companions who remained to winter in the North. Having prepared and led this expedition, Kolchak, with six associates on a wooden whaler "Zarya", explored the New Siberian Islands, found Toll's last stop and established that the expedition had died. During this expedition, Kolchak fell seriously ill and almost died from pneumonia and scurvy.KOLCHAK DURING THE RUSSIAN-JAPANESE WAR
Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, as soon as the Russo-Japanese War began (not fully cured), in March 1904 he went to Port Arthur to serve under Admiral Makarov. After the tragic death of Makarov, Kolchak commands the destroyer "Angry", which made a series of bold attacks on the enemy's strongest squadron. During these combat operations, several Japanese ships were damaged and the Japanese cruiser Takosago was sunk. For this, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 4th degree. In the last 2.5 months of the siege of Port Arthur, Kolchak successfully commanded a battery of naval guns that inflicted the greatest losses on the Japanese. For the defense of Port Arthur, Kolchak was awarded the Golden Weapon with the inscription "For Courage". Respecting his courage and talent, the Japanese command was one of the few left Kolchak in captivity weapons, and then, without waiting for the end of the war, gave him freedom. April 29, 1905 Kolchak returned to St. Petersburg.MILITARY AND SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES OF KOLCHAK From 1906 to 1914
In 1906, with the formation of the Naval General Staff, Kolchak became head of its Statistical Department. And then he headed the unit for the development of operational-strategic plans in the event of a war in the Baltic. Appointed as a naval expert in the 3rd State Duma, Kolchak, together with his colleagues, developed the Large and Small shipbuilding programs for the reconstruction of the Navy after the Russo-Japanese War. All calculations and provisions of the Program were so flawlessly verified that the authorities allocated the necessary funds without delay. As part of this project, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak in 1906-1908. personally oversaw the construction of four battleships.In 1908, at the suggestion of the famous polar explorer Vilkitsky, Kolchak organized a sea expedition along the coast of Siberia. This expedition marked the beginning of the development of the Northern Sea Route. To do this, with the active participation of Kolchak in 1908-1909. a project is being developed and the construction of the famous icebreakers "Vaigach" and "Taimyr" is being organized. In 1909-1911. Kolchak is on a polar expedition again. As a result, he obtained the most unique (not outdated so far) scientific data.
In 1906, for the exploration of the Russian North, Kolchak was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir and the "Great Constantine Medal", which was awarded to only three polar explorers, including Fridtjof Nansen. His name was given to one of the islands in the area of Novaya Zemlya (now Rastorguev Island). Kolchak became a full member of the Imperial Geographical Society. From that moment on, it began to be called "Kolchak-polar". The maps of the Russian North compiled by Kolchak were used by Soviet polar explorers (including military sailors) until the end of the 50s.
In 1912, Kolchak was invited by Rear Admiral von Essen to serve in the Headquarters Baltic Fleet. Von Essen appoints Kolchak to the post of flag-captain of the operational part of the Headquarters. Together with von Essen, Kolchak is developing plans to prepare for a possible war with Germany at sea.
KOLCHAK IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Blitzkrieg on land against France, the Kaiser's high command expected to start with a sudden treacherous and crushing blow to the Russian Capital - St. Petersburg from the sea. The huge German fleet in the Baltic under the command of Henry of Prussia was preparing in the first days of the war (as in a parade) to enter the Gulf of Finland. German ships, unexpectedly coming close to St. Petersburg, were supposed to bring down heavy fire from 12-inch Krupp heavy-duty guns on government and military institutions, land troops and, within a few hours, capture all the most important objects of the Capital and withdraw Russia from the war.These Napoleonic plans of Kaiser Wilhelm were not destined to come true. In the first hours of the First World War, on the orders of Admiral von Essen and under the direct supervision of Kolchak, a mine battalion set up 6,000 mines in the Gulf of Finland, which completely paralyzed the actions of the German fleet on the outskirts of the Capital. This disrupted the enemy blitzkrieg at sea, saved Russia and France.
In 1941, at the initiative of the People's Commissar of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (who studied the actions of the Baltic Fleet during the First World War), this plan was repeated in the early days of the Great Patriotic War to organize the defense of the Gulf of Finland and Leningrad.
In the autumn of 1914, with the personal participation of Kolchak, a unique (unparalleled in the world) mine blockade of German naval bases was developed. Several Russian destroyers made their way to Kiel and Danzig and set up several minefields on the approaches to them (under the noses of the Germans).
In February 1915, the captain of the 1st rank Kolchak, as the commander of a special purpose semi-division, personally undertook a second daring raid. Four destroyers again approached Danzig and put up 180 mines. As a result of this, 4 German cruisers, 8 destroyers and 11 transports were blown up in the minefields (exposed by Kolchak). Later, historians will call this operation of the Russian fleet the most successful in the entire First World War.
Largely due to the talent of Kolchak, the losses of the German fleet in the Baltic exceeded our losses in warships by 3.5 times, and by the number of transports by 5.2 times.
April 10, 1916 Kolchak was awarded the rank of Rear Admiral. After that, his mine division defeated a caravan of German ore carriers, marching under a powerful escort from Stockholm. For this success, the Sovereign promoted Kolchak to vice admiral. He became the youngest admiral and naval commander in Russia.
June 26, 1916 Kolchak is appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet. At the beginning of July 1916, a squadron of Russian ships (during an operation developed by Kolchak) overtakes and during the battle severely damages the German cruiser Breslau, which had previously shelled Russian ports with impunity and sank transports on the Black Sea. Kolchak successfully organizes combat operations to blockade the Eregli-Zongulak coal region, Varna, and other Turkish enemy ports. By the end of 1916, Turkish and German ships were completely locked up in their ports. Kolchak records in his asset even six enemy submarines that were blown up near the Ottoman coast. This allowed the Russian ships to make all the necessary transportation in the Black Sea, as in peacetime. For 11 months of his command of the Black Sea Fleet, Kolchak achieved the absolute combat dominance of the Russian fleet over the enemy.
FEBRUARY REVOLUTION
Admiral Kolchak began preparations for the Great Bosphorus landing operation, with the aim of capturing Constantinople and withdrawing Turkey from the war. These plans are interrupted by the February revolution. Order No. 1 of the Council of Soldiers' and Workers' Deputies abolishes the disciplinary power of commanders. Kolchak is trying to actively fight against revolutionary defeatist agitation and propaganda conducted by left-wing extremist parties with the money of the German General Staff. June 10, 1917 The Provisional Government (under pressure from the left-wing radical opposition) recalls the dangerous admiral to Petrograd in order to float away the enterprising and popular naval commander. Members of the Government listen to Kolchak's report on the catastrophic collapse of the army and navy, the possible future loss of statehood and the inevitability of the establishment in this case of a pro-German Bolshevik dictatorship. After that, Kolchak is sent to the United States as a world-famous mine expert (away from Russia). In San Francisco, Kolchak was offered to stay in the United States, promising him a minecraft department at the best naval college and rich life at your pleasure in a cottage by the ocean. Kolchak said no. Around the world, he moved to Russia.
OCTOBER REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR In Yokohama, Kolchak learns about the October Revolution, the liquidation of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander and the negotiations begun by the Bolsheviks with the Germans. The admiral goes to Tokyo. There he hands over to the British ambassador a request for admission to the English active army, at least as a private. The ambassador consults with London and Kolchak is sent to the Mesopotamian front. On the way there, in Singapore, he is overtaken by a telegram from the Russian envoy to China, Kudashev. Kolchak goes to Beijing. In China, he creates the Russian armed forces to protect the CER. In November 1918 Kolchak arrives in Omsk. He is offered the post of Minister of War and Navy in the Government of the Directory.
Two weeks later, the White officers stage a coup and arrest the left-wing members of the Directory - the Socialist Revolutionaries (who after February 1917, in alliance with the Bolsheviks, Left Social Revolutionaries and anarchists, actively participated in organizing the collapse of the Imperial army and navy, atheistic anti-Orthodox agitation and propaganda). After that, the Council of Ministers of the Siberian Government was formed, which offered Kolchak the title of "Supreme Ruler of Russia".
KOLCHAK AND THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
In January 1919, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon blessed the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral A.V. Kolchak to fight the godless Bolsheviks. At the same time, Patriarch Tikhon refused to bless the command of the Volunteer Army of the South of Russia, since among them were the main culprits of the abdication and subsequent arrest of Sovereign Nicholas 2 in February 1917, including Generals Alekseev and Kornilov. Admiral Kolchak was actually not involved in these tragic events. That is why at the beginning of January 1919 (crossing the front line) a priest sent by Patriarch Tikhon came to Admiral Kolchak. The priest brought the Admiral a personal letter from the Patriarch with a blessing and a photograph of the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the Nikolsky Gates of the Moscow Kremlin, which were sewn into the lining of a peasant scroll.TEXT OF PATRIARCH TIKHON'S MESSAGE TO ADMIRAL KOLCHAK
“As is well known to all Russians and, of course, to Your Excellency,” this letter said, “before this image revered by all of Russia, annually on December 6, on the day of winter St. on their knees. And on December 6, 1918, faithful to the Faith and tradition, the people of Moscow, at the end of the prayer service, knelt down and sang: "Save, Lord." The arriving troops dispersed the worshipers, firing at the Icon from rifles and guns. with a cross in his left hand and a sword in his right. Bullets of fanatics fell around the Saint, nowhere touching the Saint of God. the hand that held the cross.On the same day, by order of the authorities of the Antichrist, this Holy Icon was hung with a large red flag with a satanic emblem. An inscription was made on the wall of the Kremlin: "Death to faith - the opium of the people." The next day, December 7, 1918, many people gathered for a prayer service, which, undisturbed by anyone, was coming to an end! But when the people, on their knees, began to sing "God save!" - the flag fell from the Image of the Wonderworker. the atmosphere of prayerful ecstasy is indescribable! It had to be seen, and who saw it, he remembers and feels today. Singing, sobbing, screaming and raising hands, shooting from rifles, many wounded, were killed. and.the place was cleared.
The next early morning, with my Blessing, the Image was photographed by a very good photographer. The Lord showed the Perfect Miracle through His Saint to the Russian people in Moscow. I am sending a photographic copy of this Miraculous Image, as Mine to you, Your Excellency, Alexander Vasilievich - Blessing - to fight against the atheistic temporary power over the suffering people of Russia. I ask you to consider, venerable Alexander Vasilyevich, that the Bolsheviks managed to beat off the left hand of the Ugodnik with a cross, which is, as it were, an indicator of the temporary trampling of the Orthodox Faith. But the punishing sword in the right hand of the Wonderworker remained to help and Bless Your Excellency, and Your Christian struggle to save the Orthodox Church and Russia.
Admiral Kolchak, after reading the Patriarch's letter, said: "I know that there is a sword of the state, a surgeon's lancet. I feel that the most powerful one is a spiritual sword, which will be an invincible force in a crusade against the monster of violence!"
At the insistence of the Siberian bishops, a Provisional Higher Church Administration was created in Ufa, headed by Archbishop Sylvester of Omsk. In April 1919, the Omsk Council of the Clergy of Siberia unanimously constituted Admiral Kolchak as the temporary head of the Orthodox Church in the Siberian territories liberated from the Bolsheviks - until the time of the liberation of Moscow, when His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon will be able (not hampered by the atheists) to fully begin his duties. At the same time, the Omsk Cathedral decided to mention the name of Kolchak during official church services. These decisions of the Council have not been repealed to this day!
On the personal instructions of Kolchak, the investigator for especially important cases, Sokolov, organized an investigation into the villainous murder of the Romanov Imperial family in Yekaterinburg.
Admiral Kolchak announced a crusade. He gathered more than 3.5 thousand Orthodox clergy, including 1.5 thousand military clergy. At the initiative of Kolchak, separate combat units were formed, consisting only of clergy and believers (including the Old Believers), which Kornilov, Denikin and Yudenich did not have. These are the Orthodox squad of the "Holy Cross", the "333rd Regiment named after Mary Magdalene", the "Holy Brigade", three regiments of "Jesus Christ", "Theotokos" and "Nicholas the Wonderworker".
Military units were created from believers and clergy of other faiths. For example, the Muslim detachments of the Green Banner, the Battalion of the Defenders of the Jewish Faith, etc.
URAL WORKERS IN KOLCHAK'S ARMY
Kolchak's army numbered only 150 thousand people at the front. Its main striking force was the Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions (under the command of General Kappel), formed entirely of craftsmen and workers who raised an uprising at the end of 1918 against the policy of war communism, expropriation and leveling. These were the best in Russia and in the world, highly skilled workers of military factories in the Ural cities of Izhevsk and Votkinsk. The workers went into battle against the Bolsheviks under a red banner on which was written "In the struggle you will find your right." They had almost no ammo. They were obtained from the enemy in psychic bayonet attacks. The Ural workers went into bayonet attacks to the dashing sounds of harmonicas and the music "Varshavyanka", the words to which they composed their own. Izhevtsy and Votkintsy literally terrified the Bolsheviks, sweeping away entire regiments and divisions.ZINOVY SVERDLOV (PESHKOV) IN THE SERVICE OF KOLCHAK
Zinovy Sverdlov (Peshkov), the brother of Yakov Sverdlov, who was the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee among the Bolsheviks and Lenin's right hand, participated in the struggle against the Bolsheviks at Kolchak. At the beginning of 1919, Zinovy sent a telegram to his brother Yakov: "Yashka, when we take Moscow, we will hang Lenin first, and you second, for what you did to Russia!"THE GENUINE RELATIONS OF KOLCHAK WITH THE INTERVENTORS
Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was never a "puppet of the interventionists", as the Soviet agitprop claimed. His relations with the "intervening allies" were extremely strained. At the beginning of 1919, French General Janin arrived in Omsk. On behalf of Lloyd George and Clemenceau, he presented Kolchak with an ultimatum to subordinate to him (Zhanin) not only the allied, but also all Russian White troops in Siberia and declare him (Zhanin) the Supreme Commander. Otherwise, Kolchak will not receive any help from France and England. Kolchak sharply replied that he would rather refuse outside support than agree to the subordination of all Russian troops to a foreign general and the Entente. In September 1919, the allies of the Entente countries demanded the removal of all Russian units from Vladivostok. Kolchak responded with a telegram to the commander of the Russian garrison, General Rozanov: "I command you to leave all Russian troops in Vladivostok and not to withdraw them anywhere without my order. The demand of the allies is an encroachment on the sovereign rights of Russia.".
At the same time, General Mannerheim offered Kolchak the help of the 100,000-strong Finnish army in exchange for the transfer of part of the Karelian Isthmus to Finland and the deployment of the occupying Finnish troops in Petrograd. Kolchak replied: "I do not trade in Russia!"
The admiral made only economic concessions to the Entente. His government allowed the placement of foreign concessions in Siberia and Far East(including the creation of free economic zones there) for 15-25 years, the creation of industrial enterprises and the development of natural resources, in order to use the capital of the Entente countries to restore the Russian economy after the Civil War. "When Russia gets stronger and the time comes, we will throw them out of here," said Kolchak.
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC GOALS OF KOLCHAK
Admiral Kolchak restored laws in Siberia Russian Empire. He himself and his Government have never set as their goal the destruction of entire social groups and strata of the population. Until now, not a single directive of A.V. Kolchak to the massive White terror against the workers and peasants. Lenin's Bolsheviks (as early as the beginning of the First World War) promised to "transfer the imperialist war into a civil one", and having seized power in October 1917, they openly proclaimed mass revolutionary terror and the complete destruction of all "counter-revolutionary classes" - the gene pool of the Russian nation - officers, cadets, clergymen, merchants, nobles, highly skilled craftsmen and wealthy peasants.After the end of the Civil War, the Siberian government hoped to achieve class, civil, interethnic and interreligious reconciliation of various segments of the population and political parties (without the extreme left and without the extreme right). Therefore, in 1919, the Kolchak government banned the activities of both extreme left extremist parties (Bolsheviks and Left Social Revolutionaries) and extreme right Black Hundred organizations. A unique economic program for a state-regulated market economy was developed, including the creation of an industrial base in Central and Western Siberia, the development of arable land and natural resources, and an increase in the population of Siberia by 1950-70. up to 200-400 million people.
DEATH OF ADMIRAL KOLCHAK
In 1919 (realizing the catastrophe threatening Soviet power), the Bolsheviks were forced to refuse to export the world revolution. All combat-ready units of the Red Army, intended for the revolutionary conquest of Central and Western Europe, were thrown to the Eastern Siberian Front against Kolchak. By the middle of 1919, more than half a million forces were operating against the 150,000-strong Kolchak army. Soviet troops, including 50 thousand "red internationalists": Chinese, Latvians, Hungarians and other mercenaries. The Lenin government, through its secret emissaries in Paris, London, Tokyo, New York, began secret negotiations with the Entente. The Bolsheviks were forced to agree to a secret compromise agreement with the Entente on leasing and granting concessions to foreign capital after the Civil War, creating a Free Economic Zone in the form of the so-called. Far Eastern Republic. In addition, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks were promised to create a government coalition with the Bolsheviks.In the midst of hostilities, a terrible epidemic of typhus began in the troops of Admiral Kolchak. More than half of all troops were disabled. At the same time, the "allies" completely stopped the supply of weapons and medicines, tacitly canceling all previous agreements and military orders already paid for in gold abroad. With the consent of General Zhanen, the Czechoslovak Corps at the most desperate moment completely blocked the strategic railway line Nikolaevsk-Irkutsk. The only artery connecting the rear with the front. With the consent of the ANTANTA, on January 6, 1920, the command of the Czech Corps was transferred to the Irkutsk Bolshevik-Left SR Political Center of Admiral Kolchak (by this time he had resigned all powers and transferred them to Ataman Semenov and General Denikin). For this, General Zhanen (with the consent of the Leninist government) transferred part of Russia's gold reserves to the Czechs. The Izhevsk and Votkinsk divisions marching to Irkutsk to rescue Kolchak (under the command of General Kappel) approached the city suburbs too late.
On February 7, 1920, by the verdict of the Irkutsk Revolutionary Committee, Admiral A.V. Kolchak was shot without trial on the banks of the Ushakovka river, a tributary of the Angara. The murder of the Admiral was authorized (with the knowledge of the ANTANTA) by an arch-secret telegram personally by Ulyanov-Lenin to the Irkutsk Revolutionary Committee. Before the execution, Kolchak refused to blindfold with a bandage and presented his silver cigarette case to the commander of the firing squad.