(1854-1941), Austro-Hungarian colonel general.

Dunsterville Lionel Charles(1865-1946), English. Major General

Debeney Eugene-Marie(1864-1943), French general of division.

De-Witt Vladimir Vladimirovich(15.1.1859 - ?), Russian. infantry general.

Deguis Victor(1855-1922), Belgian general.

Degoutte Jean-Marie-Joseph(1866 - 1938), French. division general

Delvig Sergey Nikolaevich(1866 -1944), Russian lieutenant general.

Denikin Anton Ivanovich(1872-1947), During the 1st World War he commanded an infantry brigade and a division, an army corps.

Denisov Svyatoslav Varlamovich(1878-1957), Lieutenant General of the General Staff.

De Robeck John Mikael(1862 -1928), English admiral of the fleet.

Giardino by Gaetano Ettore(1864 -1935), Marshal of Italy.

Cevad Pasha Chobanli(Cevat Cobanli Rasa) (1870 -1938), Turkish lieutenant general.

Jackson (Jackson) Henry Bradwardein(1855-1929), English admiral of the fleet.

Jellicoe John Rushworth(1859-1935), Admiral Lord Scapa, commanded the Grand Fleet for most of the First World War.

Dzevanovsky Vyacheslav Andreevich(1870-1944), Major General of the General Staff.

Dzichkavets Boris Alekseevich(1866-1940), Russian lieutenant general.

Diaz Armando(1861-1928), Duke della Vittoria, Marshal of Italy.

Diterikhs Mikhail Konstantinovich(1874 -1937), Lieutenant General.

Dieffenbach Karl(2.11.1859, Schlitz, Upper Hesse - ?), German. general of infantry The son of an official, a privy councilor. Graduated from the cadet corps (1879) and Military Academy(1891). Released to the 69th Infantry. regiment; lieutenant (1880). In 1893 he was enrolled in the General Staff. In 1896-98, company commander of the 35th infantry. shelf. In 1898-1901 he served in the General Staff. Since 1901, battalion commander of the 40th Infantry. shelf. Since 1904, head of the military school in Neisse. From 1908 commander of the 6th Grenadier Regiment, from 1912 - 28th Infantry.

Dmitrievsky Petr Ivanovich(1869-1926), Major General of the General Staff.

Dobell Charles McPherson(1869-1954), English general.

Dobrovolsky Sergey Konstantinovich(1867-1930), Russian lieutenant general.

Dobrotin Sergey Fedorovich(1854 - ?), Russian infantry general.

Dobrynin Vladimir Vasilievich(1883-1938), Colonel of the General Staff.

Dobryshin Alexander Fedorovich(1871 - ?), Russian. Lieutenant General

Dovbor-Musnitsky Joseph (Yuzef) Romanovich(1867-1937), Russian lieutenant general, Polish general of armor.

Dokukin Ivan Pavlovich(1880-1956), Major General.

Dolgov Dmitry Alexandrovich(1860-1939), infantry general.

Dorman Pavel Evstigneevich(?-1945), Colonel of the General Staff.

Dostovalov Evgeniy Isaakovich(1882-1938), Lieutenant General of the General Staff.

Dragomirov Abram Mikhailovich(1868-1955), cavalry general.

Dragomirov Vladimir Mikhailovich(1867-1928), Russian lieutenant general.

Dratsenko Daniil Pavlovich(1876-194?), Lieutenant General of the General Staff.

Drozdovsky Mikhail Gordeevich(1881-1919), Major General of the General Staff.

Dubyago Georgy Alexandrovich(1884-1954), Major General of the General Staff.

Dutov Alexander Ilyich(1879 - 1921), ataman of the Orenburg Cossacks.

Dushkevich Alexander Alexandrovich(20.9.1853-?), Russian. infantry general.

Dyakov Alexey Lvovich(1876-1940) - Major General. Graduated from the 2nd Moscow Cadet Corps and Novocherkassk military school. He spent the war as part of the 46th Don Cossack Regiment and was promoted to colonel for military distinction. In the Don Army from May 1918. Commander of a brigade and then a division. Major General. In the Russian army of General Wrangel - as part of the Don Corps.

After his stay on the island of Lemnos, he lived in Yugoslavia, and from 1928 in the USA. Died in New York on December 6, 1940. Dyakov Vasily Avramievich

(1883-1945?), Major General. Dubail Augustin-Yvon-Edmond

(1851-1934), French general of division. Dubois Pierre Joseph Louis Alfred

(11/21/1852, Cendan, Ardennes - 1924), French divisional general. He began his service in 1874 as a lieutenant in a dragoon regiment. Participated in hostilities in Tunisia and Algeria. In 1913 he was appointed commander of the IX AK, with which he entered the war. As part of the 2nd Army, Gen. N. Castelnau took part in the defense of Nancy, and then fought on the Franco-Belgian border. From March 13, 1915, he commanded the 6th Army operating in the area of ​​the Verdun fortress.(1857-1918), Russian naval general.

Duchene Denis-Augustin(1862-1950), French general of division.

Captured in battle. Trophies of the Russian army in the First World War Alexey Vladimirovich Oleynikov

4. GENERALS OF THE GERMAN BLOCK WHO KILLED AND CAPTURED ON THE RUSSIAN FRONT OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The loss of a general is evidence of a major military failure of a formation, often proof that the enemy has violated the structure and control of a brigade, division or corps (although the accidental death of generals also occurred).

At all times, captured generals were, along with captured banners, guns (and during the First World War, machine guns) one of the most significant species battle trophies. We have combined in the article information on killed and captured generals - being completely incapacitated (prisoners for the entire period of the war), in this case they are irretrievable losses of the enemy during the Great War on the Russian Front. Incapacitating a representative of the enemy generals is an indicator of the combat effectiveness of the Russian army, its success.

We examined only a few documented cases of capture or death of generals of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey during the First World War on the Russian Front. Considering the poor knowledge of the problem, it is very promising for further scientific development.

Examining the generals of Astro-Hungary and Turkey, I would like to note the fact that a number of general positions in their armies were held by staff officers - for example, in the 15th Infantry Division of the Austrians, both brigade commanders were colonels, and among the Turks, even divisions were often not commanded by generals (corps commander Iskhan Pasha, captured near Sarykamysh, is only a major general). If not for this circumstance, the number of “general trophies” of the Russian army would have been greater.

It is particularly difficult to establish the number of captured generals Turkish army. It is necessary to take into account, first of all, the number of captured pashas: in our case, a pasha is a general. It is also necessary to take into account the position of the prisoner - the division commander is actually a general, even if he is a colonel in rank.

German generals

The East Prussian operation of August 4 - September 1, 1914, operationally unsuccessful for the Russian army, is significant for a number of remarkable tactical victories of the Russian troops. In military history, it is noted in this regard: “In its instructiveness, the East Prussian operation is one of the most interesting operations of the maneuver period of the world imperialist war of 1914–1918. On the fields of East Prussia, the military doctrine and combat training of the two most powerful opponents were tested in bloody battles. The Russian troops, in terms of their level of tactical training, were in no way inferior to the Germans during all the battles in East Prussia, inflicting a number of heavy defeats on the Germans” (679).

During the East Prussian operation, at least 1 German general was killed.

Major General F. von Trotta, commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division of the 1st Army Corps of the 8th Army, was killed on August 17 near Malgaofen in a battle with units of the Russian 2nd Army breaking out of encirclement.

At noon on August 17, in the area between Muschaken and Wallendorf, a stubborn battle between units of the German 1st Infantry Division and a Russian group emerging from encirclement took place. German infantrymen of the 42nd regiment attacked the Russian battery, but were shot. After the German artillery was brought into battle, the battery was suppressed, but the Russian infantry left.

One km southwest of Malgaofen, the pursuing Russian units of General F. Trotta made a halt. During the halt, the breaking through Russian unit attacked the enemy. The general was killed, and his brigade was defeated and scattered. The German infantry, which had fallen into disarray, exchanged fire among themselves for some time. Materials from the German Reichsarchive indicate that in a difficult battle at Malgaofen, in addition to the general, 2 battalion commanders were killed, and the losses were very large (680).

During the Battle of Galicia on August 5 - September 13, 1914, a German general also died. To stabilize the situation, the enemy deployed the German Silesian Landwehr Corps of Infantry General R. von Woyrsch on the front of the defeated Austrian 10th Corps. In the battle of Tarnavka and immediately after its completion, the Russian corps took up to 5 thousand prisoners (681), of which about half were Germans, a huge number of guns were lost by the Germans and Austrians. It is significant that the Germans consider the losses of the Landwehr Corps (8 thousand people in 2 divisions in 2 days of fighting near Tarnavka) (682) to be one of the most severe losses suffered by the formation in 1914.

Lieutenant General F. von Busse, commander of the 21st reserve brigade of the Silesian Landwehr Corps, was killed on August 26 at Tarnavka (the northern front of the Battle of Galicia). The circumstances of the general’s death are unknown, but an interesting eyewitness account of enemy positions captured by Russian troops has been preserved: “The positions behind the village of Tarnavka... presented a picture of terrible destruction. Our howitzer shell, which hit one of the enemy mortars, threw up this 150-pound colossus, threw it over the trench and threw it at a distance of ten fathoms. The damaged weapon lay with its trunk up. Elsewhere, a shell hit a charging box, causing a huge explosion. Among the corpses of horses lying side by side here, five mutilated bodies of Prussians with their heads blown off were discovered. Right there, not far from the right-flank gun, lay the twisted corpse of a German general” (683). Most likely, this was the body of General von Busse.

On September 15, during the First August Operation, which was successful for the Russian 10th Army, Major General Adolf Brenthaut, commander of the 70th Combined Landwehr Brigade, was killed.

On October 13, Major General F. von Massenbach, commander of the 19th Landwehr Brigade of the 18th Landwehr Division, was killed at Bialini (fighting on Ravka). For the Germans, the battles on Ravka were part of the Polish campaign of 1914; for the Russians, they were part of the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation, one of the most successful strategic operations Russian army in the world war.

The “Brief Description of Combat Operations in the Warsaw Region” summarized some of the results of this operation before the Russian armies launched a general offensive, i.e. in the Battle of Warsaw itself: “... Our troops, vigorously pursuing the enemy, had already captured 1 general, the Chief of Horsemen of the Saxon King... and the royal car...” (684)

An interesting question is about the presence of a chief echelon master in the ranks of the advancing German troops. The fact is that the enemy was so confident of his victory and the imminent fall of Warsaw that the troops had with them the master of ceremonies of the Saxon court, who had a court car at his disposal. This car was to be used for the ceremonial departure of the King of Saxony or the heir to the throne from the Warsaw Palace to the Cathedral of St. John. It was assumed that this monarch (or his crown prince) would be crowned with the crown of the Polish kings of the House of Saxony, who in ancient times occupied the Polish throne. But, unfortunately for the Saxons, the Russian Cossacks captured both the car and the master of ceremonies.

We are talking about a captured high-ranking German general - the horsemaster of the Saxon king Frederick Augustus, Lieutenant General von Gauck, captured in the city of Lowicz on October 8, 1914.

Although not a combat general, von Gauck was nevertheless an active general in the German service. The general was settled in Tashkent, and in 1915 there was a question of applying to von Gauck a regime of detention in a disciplinary company (as a response to the Germans’ oppression of the captured Warsaw governor, Baron Korff) (685).

During the autumn battles in East Prussia (for the Russians - the Second Campaign in East Prussia), successful for the Russian troops, Major General P. von Blankense was wounded in the battles near Romanov on October 15 (died of his wounds on October 28). He was the commander of the 98th reserve brigade of the 49th reserve division of the 25th reserve corps of the 8th Army. The Germans suffered large losses in the autumn battles in East Prussia - from 15 to 20 thousand people (686) by mid-October.

The most difficult operation in terms of losses for the German generals was the Lodz operation of October 29 - December 6, 1914. The Battle of Lodz was of great strategic importance both in its configuration and in the number of troops involved and reserves deployed. This was the time of the heaviest losses of the German army on the Russian Front in the campaign of 1914. The total losses of German troops in the Battle of Lodz were over 100 thousand people - of which 36 thousand were “buried at the battlefields” (687).

At the very beginning of the Lodz operation on October 30 near Wloclawsk (battle with units of the 5th Siberian Army Corps of the 1st Army), General of Infantry A. von Briesen (688), head of the 49th reserve division of the 25th reserve corps of the 9th Army, was killed army. A German source conveyed the degree of ferocity of the Wloclaw battle as follows: “With the onset of darkness, an extremely fierce battle was going on in the western outskirts of Wloclawsk, bayonets and rifle butts were doing their job” (689).

During the battle at Wloclawsk and the withdrawal, the 79th Division of the 5th Siberian Army Corps lost over 3 thousand people killed and wounded, up to 1.2 thousand missing, 8 guns and 13 machine guns, or up to 22% of its personnel. The 50th Division lost over 7.8 thousand killed and wounded, 7 guns and 8 machine guns (up to 60% of its strength (690)). The Germans also suffered seriously.

A German source paints a picture of the general’s death this way: “With a feeling of victory, General von Briesen, who himself controlled the attack, first on the right and then on the left flank of his division, rode on horseback over the embankment railway and gave the order to his headquarters convoy to reconnoiter the bridge leading across Zgloviončka in the city. They galloped along the pavement, when suddenly fire was opened from all the houses. Four horses fell onto the pavement, crushing their riders. The division lost its brave leader. General von Briesen, wounded in the neck, died immediately the death of a hero” (691).

The next chief of the division, Lieutenant General F. Weinker von Dankeshweil, briefly outlived his predecessor. The commander of the 49th reserve division of the 25th reserve corps of the 9th Army, F. Weinker von Dankeshweil, died on November 10 in the battle of Borovo. At this time, the division was part of the strike group of the German corps under the command of General of Infantry R. von Schaeffer-Boyadel (25th Reserve Corps, 3rd Guards Division, 1st Cavalry Corps). On November 9, the group was surrounded, from which it managed to escape on November 11, at the cost of heavy losses. In total, during the fighting in encirclement and the breakthrough from the cauldron, the group lost 87.5% of its strength.

A German historian writes about the fate of the 49th division: “A week ago the division lost its commander. After him, it was commanded by Lieutenant General von Tiesenhausen. On this day, in the evening, in the midst of the battle, a new commander, Lieutenant General von Wenker, took command... He did not foresee that he would suffer the same heroic death here in Borovo as his predecessors... By the end of the day on November 21 (new style - A.O.) he (F. Weinker von Danckeschweil) was under heavy fire from windmill north of Rzgov; then, while under the same fire in the priest's house, he began to receive one sadder report than the other, first about the death of the 1st battalion of the 225th regiment, then about serious Russian attacks on the front of the southern group, about the loss of the 9th battery and the related with this breakthrough at the division’s position...” (692) The general died during the division’s breakthrough from the Lodz “cauldron”: “General von Wenker crossed the street (the village of Borowo. - A.O.), to see what was happening to his division. As far as his eye could see, he saw a picture of complete devastation. The Russian artillery was working hard on the wide, arrow-straight street. Everywhere lay overturned, broken or tightly squashed carts, horses and dead baggage trains lay scattered about. Suddenly, the crack of machine guns was heard among the houses, and the general fell dead to the ground. The major who was with him from the General Staff was seriously wounded; they were carried into the house. For the second time in a short time, Lieutenant General von Tiesenhausen, in difficult times, had to take command of the division... Carts and horses fell in droves. Many of the wounded evacuated at night were freed from suffering by an enemy bullet” (693).

As a result: “Lieutenant General von Wenker rushed at the enemy like a lion, but his vanguard was destroyed, left without support from both the east and the west; there was no significant help from the rear either. He himself was killed; his faithful chief of staff, an officer of the general staff, was wounded" (694).

On November 12, Lieutenant General O. von Henning, commander of the 35th Infantry Division of the 17th Army Corps of the 9th Army, was killed near Zgierz near Lodz.

At Zamichkov (Poland) on November 29, Major General von Martin, commander of the 125th Infantry Regiment of the 26th Infantry Division of the 13th Army Corps, was killed.

The list of German generals killed on the Russian Front in 1915 was opened by Major General P. von Tippelskirch, commander of the 69th Infantry Brigade of the 36th Infantry Division of the 17th Army Corps. He was killed on January 9, during heavy fighting in Bzura (Poland). The battles on Bzura were among the bloodiest on the Russian Front. During this battle, the enemy tried to break through to Warsaw. The fighting was incredibly stubborn. The 2nd Siberian Army Corps and the 6th Army Corps of the 2nd Army opposed five German corps (17th, 2nd, 20th Army, 1st and 25th Reserve). General von Tippelskirch served in the first.

The August operation January 25 - February 13, 1915 1915 (for the Germans - “Winter Battle in Masuria”) - in fact, one of the most successful coalition battles for the Entente, which marked large transfers of enemy troops to an unpromising theater of military operations, where they could not achieve results. The snow and the valor of the Russian troops absorbed the enthusiasm and power of the German shock fist, but without any meaningful result for the enemy. But operationally the battle was unsuccessful for the Northwestern Front - the 20th Army Corps of the Russian 10th Army was killed in encirclement. The corps breaking out of encirclement inflicted a number of defeats on the German troops and seriously battered the enemy. Thus, in the battles of Mahartse, units of the Russian 27th Infantry Division defeated three regiments of the German 42nd Infantry Division of the 21st Army Corps. E. von Ludendorff wrote: “... the vanguard of the 21st Army Corps... advanced far into the forest. But here he was crushed by Russian columns departing from west to east and partly captured” (695).

German archival materials recorded the total losses of the 21st Army Corps at 120 officers and 5.6 thousand soldiers, noting that 1 general was killed and 2 regimental commanders were wounded (696). One 65th infantry brigade had 60 officers and 2 thousand soldiers (697).

The loss of the general and the wounding of senior officers in battle indicated a serious defeat for the enemy brigade. This brigade was commanded by Major General E. von Estorff. The commander of the 65th Infantry Brigade of the 21st Army Corps of the 10th Army was killed in battle on February 7, 1915 near Rudavka.

A Russian front-line soldier described these events as follows: “The rearguard of the corps (20th. - A.O.). It was formed on February 20 (7) under the command of the chief of staff of the 27th division, consisting of ten companies of the 112th regiment (about 1200 people), four companies of the 110th and four companies of the 210th regiments (a total of eight companies about 800 people), 8 machine guns and 8 batteries... At night, the commander of the rearguard placed one battery by platoon directly in the rifle trenches in the most dangerous places to give stability to his exhausted infantry. Thanks to this measure, two night attacks were successfully repulsed. These guns, according to the Germans, inflicted heavy losses on them. Here the commander of the 42nd Infantry Division, who was in the forefront of the attacking units, was killed (this is a mistake: the brigade commander was killed. - A. O.)" (698) .

A German source notes: “... the 65th Infantry Brigade failed to push back the enemy, although it was fully aware of the importance of the task assigned to it, since the 15th (new style. - A.O.), with the onset of dusk, the movement of carts could be heard in the southeast direction. The Russians, hiding behind the forest, following directly behind the brigade, moved along the high road to Grodno. The brigade commander, Major General von Estorff, sent the 1st Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment to Sajonek to cover the left flank. Until the morning of the 16th it was not possible to restore contact with this unit. It was, as we learned later, destroyed by the Russians. Once again we saw the brave men of this battalion already dead and the wounded. The battalion's banner was initially believed to be missing, and only after a long search it was found under a pile of bodies. True to their oath, they last breath fought for this symbol of fidelity. The orderly officers and patrols sent by the 65th Brigade to the high road to Sejny on the night of 15–16 to communicate with the headquarters of the 42nd Infantry Division were forced at Serskilyas to return back without information, because they were met with fire. The 65th Infantry Brigade, having lost all contact with its troops, was cut off. How could this happen? (699) .

In fact, General von Estorff, who participated in the operation to encircle the Russian 20th Army Corps, was himself surrounded with his brigade. When trying to break through near the village. Borov, he died. This was the second “layer cake” after the Lodz “cauldron”. Russian troops did not remain idle, did not wait for their death in the encirclement - they acted as actively as possible.

General of Infantry W. von Dietfurth, commander of the 34th Landwehr Brigade of the 1st Landwehr Division of the 8th Army, was wounded at Staviski during the Second (or Winter) Prasnysh operation, died of wounds on February 26, 1915. The Battle of Prasnysh, victorious for Russia February 7 - March 17, 1915 is significant not only for the large trophies of the Russian troops, but also for the fact that the consequences of the tactically unsuccessful Second August Battle were largely eliminated.

April 25, 1915, again during battles with the troops of the North-Western Front near the places. Krakinow (Schawelsky district), Major General E. Freiherr von Krelsgein, commander of the 5th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade of the Bavarian Cavalry Division, was killed. The general died during the spring invasion of the army group of Lieutenant General O. von Lauenstein in the Baltics (the group included 3 cavalry (6th, 3rd and Bavarian) and three infantry (78, 36 and 6th reserve) divisions).

The general was present in the battle formations of his troops. During the ensuing cavalry battle, which abounded in maneuverable combat operations in the Baltic states, a squadron of the Russian 5th Dragoon Regiment of Kargopol (5th Cavalry Division) attacked from the direction of Ponevezh two squadrons of Württemberg shvolezher (the rearguard of the brigade, the main forces of which had already crossed the river). During the battle, 40 Germans were killed. Among those killed was Major General E. Freiherr von Krelsgein. The Germans comment on the death of their general as follows: he “was seriously wounded during this pike attack and died in the evening in Beysagola, where he was buried the next day. The Bavarian cavalry division lost in the person of this general an outstanding commander, who had already distinguished himself more than once in particularly difficult situations” (700).

On August 10, 1915, Major General Hummitsch, commander of the 133rd Landwehr Infantry Regiment of the 18th Landwehr Division, was seriously wounded in the battles near Busmice (Slonim region) and died of his wounds on October 4, 1917.

Major General Wolf von Helldorff, signal inspector of the South German Army, died on September 26, 1915 in Frankfurt am Main from wounds received on the Russian Front.

On November 15, Major General Siegfried Fabarius, commander of the 82nd Reserve Division, was captured and committed suicide. The headquarters of the 82nd Reserve Division fell victim to a night attack by one of the so-called. “partisan detachments” formed on the Northern, Western and Southwestern fronts from regular units and volunteers and whose task was to carry out sabotage and search operations in the near rear of the enemy. One of these detachments southwest of Pinsk (near Nevel) attacked the manor house where the headquarters of the German division was located.

The raid on the town of Nevel and the capture of the head of the 82nd German reserve division along with the headquarters was the most successful operation of the Russian partisans in the First World War. The head of this division is the only combatant general of the German Imperial Army who found himself (albeit briefly) in Russian captivity.

The raid was carried out by partisan detachments of the 7th, 11th Cavalry, Consolidated Guards, 1st Tersk, 1st Don and Orenburg Cossack divisions, as well as the Consolidated Partisan Detachment on the night of November 14-15, 1915. The operation was carried out by north of Pripyat, after preliminary reconnaissance of the Khoino - Zhidcha - Nevel area, 25 versts southwest of Pinsk.

The choice of the area of ​​action, according to an eyewitness, was due to the fact that “since in 1915 the entire front was a continuous trench, both on the enemy’s side and on ours, and the only place where there were trenches intermittently was the Pinsky area swamps."

The partisans built a pontoon bridge: two pairs of boats placed along the river were secured with a rope and stakes; on these boats they laid a flooring of boards of such width that they could pass in rows. All this work was carried out secretly by peasants under the supervision of an officer. The weapons of the partisans are rifles and carbines (the Kubans, in addition to carbines, kept daggers with them), hand grenades, and the officers - revolvers.

The village of Nevel - the main target of the raid - was destroyed by artillery fire in previous battles, and the German infantry regiment stationed there was housed in comfortable dugouts. 2 squadrons of cavalry were housed in large barns where bread was once stored. The headquarters was located in a folvark (landowner's house).

The attackers were organized in such a way that some of the detachments (Nevel group) fought in a populated area, others supported the operation - they destroyed enemy posts and outposts west of the village of Zhidchi and repulsed the movement of a German infantry company from Zhidchi to the village of Nevel and half a company from the village of Perekladniki to the crossing. By 2 hours 30 minutes, the partisans reached the forest north of the village of Nevel, and, turning against its northern outskirts, with a swift blow, removing enemy posts, broke into Nevel without firing a shot - and after a short but fierce bayonet battle, they captured it. The German patrols were destroyed, and the partisans, dispersing to the dugouts, stabbed the sleeping Germans or, without entering the premises, threw hand grenades there. After the first 10–15 minutes, sleepy Germans jumped out of the dugouts, in most cases without weapons, and died, since no prisoners were taken.

In total, about an infantry battalion of the German 271st reserve regiment with convoy and park teams, including up to 20 officers, was stabbed, died in fire and from hand grenades, up to 100 horses were destroyed, the headquarters of the 271st regiment and the commander who was there were captured 82nd Reserve Division General Z. Fabarius. Important documents and maps captured at the headquarters revealed the grouping of German troops in the area southwest of Pinsk.

The general was captured by a detachment of the 11th Cavalry Division, whose chief was Captain A.A. Ostrogradsky. For the destruction of the headquarters of the 82nd German reserve division located in the farmstead and the capture of the division chief, the commander of the partisan detachment of the 10th cavalry division, staff captain Ostrogradsky, was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree (V.P. 01/12/1917).

An eyewitness recalled the attack on the headquarters: “We walked on foot. About an hour and a half later, when we approached the estate, we silently removed the posts of the sentries who were not expecting anything. In the darkness they took us for their own. My platoon was assigned to attack the central building - the landowner's house - which housed the headquarters officers, a canteen, an office and telegraph operators. All the details of the location of the headquarters were told to us in advance, from which we could conclude that our intelligence had previously established all the details of the objects of our attack.

So, without firing shots and stealthily, we approached the glass gallery of the manor house, outside the windows of which telegraph operators could be seen working at the machines. Having suddenly burst into the gallery through the open doors, we also captured the telegraph operators without firing a shot, who, out of amazement, did not even have time to raise their hands. Without stopping, my people ran into the reception room, quite wide, through which a soldier-messenger was just walking with a tray of glasses. The poor fellow didn’t even have time to scream before he was pinned down with a bayonet. Running up to the doors of the officers' mess, we saw officers sitting at separate tables after dinner, some of whom were also sitting at the large central table. At this point, someone threw a grenade through the window outside, and there was a short and bloody struggle as some officers began to fire back. Some of them tried to jump out of windows or run out of other doors, but everywhere they ran into our soldiers... the German general, division chief, von Fabarius, was lying in bed. They literally tore him, naked, from the bed and somehow covered him with a blanket... they dragged him through the corridor into the courtyard of the house.

As I remember now, at the time of the attack in the dining room, one of the German officers shouted in purely Russian: “This is a night attack by bandits!” - and was immediately killed by a rifle shot. Just as sudden was the attack on the covering squadrons of the headquarters, where the people had already laid down to rest. IN panic horror Austrian cavalrymen scattered in all directions or, running into our soldiers, ended their lives with bayonets. The entire operation lasted less than an hour, and the detachment, dividing into separate groups, no longer observing precautions, with captured prisoners, straight and running, headed towards their own, across the front line. My platoon, in a hurry and in the dark, ran into a German battery from the rear. To escape, the artillerymen jumped out of the dugouts and ran away without resistance, since they did not expect an attack from the rear. We were in such a hurry that we didn’t even have time to rivet the guns: shooting had already begun along the front, and many of the prisoners, who did not want to lie down or run, fell from their own fire.

As a result, we brought no more than ten captured prisoners, but among them was the head of the division, General von Fabarius. The entire field between the trenches was strewn with the bodies of killed Germans...” (701)

After 30–45 minutes of combat work by the detachment, Lieutenant Colonel Leontyev (the author of the idea of ​​​​the raid on Nevel) was killed, whose body was carried out. As the detachment retreated, there were several more shots fired from the enemy who had come to their senses.

For a successful raid, in which the German infantry regiment and division headquarters were actually destroyed, and the division chief was captured, Lieutenant Colonel Leontyev, as the initiator and organizer of this raid, who developed all the details, was posthumously awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd degree (very high - "General's" award).

As a result of the operation, the following were destroyed: a telephone exchange with an extensive network, gigs (2 telephone, 8 cartridges), 2 guns without locks, 6 charging boxes, 13 wagons with quartermaster cargo and a fodder warehouse. Initially, a significant number of captured officers and lower ranks were captured, but when the detachments retreated during the ensuing battle with enemy reinforcements arriving from the west, as well as due to the prisoners’ attempt to escape, the latter were destroyed. The following prisoners were taken with them: 1 general (according to other sources - 2 generals, 3 officers and a doctor), non-commissioned officers of the 271st reserve and 69th artillery regiments, 2 privates of the 271st regiment, 5 convoys and 1 civilian servant.

Russian losses - 1 officer and 1 soldier were killed, 3 officers (2nd Zaamur Regiment, staff captain Nikolsky, Narva Hussar Regiment, Cornet Voitsekhovsky, 11th Don Cossack Regiment, Ensign Borisov) and 6 soldiers were wounded.

“I am announcing for information that I received a copy of the telegram from the Chiefs of the partisan detachments to the Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the Southwestern Front about the partisan attack on the headquarters of the 271st German Infantry Regiment and the commander of the 82nd Infantry. German division, in which the partisans of the division entrusted to me under the command of the 9th Don Cossack Regiment, Perfilov, also took part. I am proud of the well done partisans, for their brave actions I sincerely thank Podesaul Perfilov, Messrs. officers of the detachment, well done to the village residents, heartfelt thanks.”

At the same time, the events in Nevel made a depressing moral impression on some participants in the raid.

Of particular interest is the fate of Z. Fabarius.

As already noted, when the Russians attacked the manor house where the division headquarters was located, destroying the cover with hand grenades and bayonets, Z. Fabarius was in bed. But, having overcome the initial confusion, the German general behaved with dignity and preferred death to captivity. The circumstances of the general's death are not entirely clear. According to an eyewitness: “Returning after the raid through the location of the 4th Cavalry Corps, where the corps headquarters apparently expected us, we were invited by the corps commander to have lunch and among the invited officers was General Fabarius, who did not eat anything and was noticeably very tired. worried. General Fabarius, escorted by an officer and lower ranks, was sent to the headquarters of the 8th Army, but on the way he shot himself, as they said - from the revolver of the officer who accompanied him. At some stop this officer got out for a minute, leaving his revolver. The general took advantage of this moment and shot himself” (702).

Another participant in the events also confirms this fact: “...It was precisely the ensign of the Novorossiysk Dragoon Regiment who captured General Fabarius, pulling him out from under the blanket in his underwear. He was ordered to deliver the general to the corps headquarters... On the road, Fabarius shot himself with a revolver that belonged to the ensign” (703).

Finally, the third participant in the raid reports even more interesting details in relation to the events that followed the capture of the general: “After resting for some time in the village of Komora, where they somehow managed to dress the general in a new sheepskin coat and hat they had procured (which, by the way, he did not want to wear) and, putting him in a sleigh, accompanied by guards, they took him to the officers' wing in Mutvitsa. With the news of the capture of a German general who was placed in the house of our commander... the corps commander himself, General Gillenschmidt (Major General J.F. Gillenschmidt - commander of the 4th Cavalry Corps. - arrived) A.O.), with the chief of staff, Colonel Cheryachukin... and with a translator, a former Austrian officer, but with the shoulder straps of a Russian ensign. With the arrival of our superiors, the German general was taken for the first interrogation, which took place in the landowner's house of this town. Here the mistress of the house found suitable clothes for the prisoner, a warm sweatshirt, etc. After interrogation, the general was brought back to our outbuilding. No special guard was posted for him. The general was clearly nervous and refused the food offered, drank only tea and sometimes ate chocolate... For the night, the prisoner was settled in a manor house and given over to the care of the housewives, where he was persuaded to have dinner and given coffee. I remember that, by order of our commander, all of us officers were warned not to leave our weapons anywhere and to have them with us.

The next day, in the morning, a young ensign arrived from corps headquarters with ten hussars of the 17th Chernigov Hussar Regiment. It was very cold, but out of a strange whim the general did not want to put on the offered hat, but when the ladies offered him a woolen knitted helmet, he put it on. He was given warm woolen clothes for the journey. Having placed the general in a sleigh, the young warrant officer, accompanied by hussars, took him to the Gantsevichi railway station, from where he was to be sent to headquarters. Here, unfortunately, this ensign met his friend, the station commandant. The meeting was, of course, very joyful; the commandant invited his friend to his apartment. It was lunch time, and they stayed for lunch. Not without libations. The general went into the next room and asked the orderly for water to wash himself. The orderly went out to get water, and the general grabbed a revolver lying on the table and shot himself.

So the ensign drank his captive, a general of the German army, to drink and did not take him to the headquarters of our 3rd Army... And in the village of Nevel a monument was erected listing all the German officers who died then, where more than thirty names could be counted. The village of Comoros was literally wiped off the face of the earth by artillery fire, but we were no longer there, since we were soon transferred to another front” (704).

On October 24, 1916, Major General M. Pecht, commander of the 22nd Bavarian Infantry Brigade of the 12th Bavarian Infantry Division, was killed in the Kamplung area (Romanian Front). Considering the fact that it was the Russian army that “reanimated” the Romanian resistance, gave it impetus, cemented with its units the front, now called the Russian-Romanian, and the shock units of this front were precisely the Russian units (both in qualitative and quantitative aspects), we considered it is possible to attribute the enemy generals who died on the Russian-Romanian front (especially at the end of 1916–1917) to the combat efforts of the Russian army.

On August 26, 1917, General of Infantry K. Ritter von Wenninger, commander of the 18th Reserve Corps, was mortally wounded and died of his wounds at Susita (Romanian Front).

Austro-Hungarian generals

A number of generals of the Austro-Hungarian army died or were captured during the Battle of Galicia.

During the cavalry attack at Saganov, the head of the 5th Honved Cavalry Division, Field Marshal Lieutenant Ernst von Froreich, one of the most prominent cavalry commanders of the Austro-Hungarian army, was killed. Ernst Anton von Froreich-Szabo died on August 4, 1914 in battle with the 2nd Combined Cossack Division. The battle at Satanov (Gorodok) is one of the most striking cavalry clashes in the First World War (705). After an unsuccessful attack, having lost his sons (one died, the other was captured), General E. Froreich shot himself.

On August 11, 1914, during the battle near Krasnik, the commander of the 10th Infantry Brigade of the 5th Infantry Division of the 1st Army Corps of the 1st Army, Major General Richard Kucera, was killed.

On August 15, 1914, the Austrian 15th Infantry Division was defeated at Lashchov. More than 100 officers were captured, including the division chief, division chief of staff and brigade commander.

Shocked by the unsuccessful outcome of the battle, the head of the 15th division, Field Marshal Lieutenant F.F. Wodniansky von Windenfeld shot himself.

A participant in the battle conveys his impressions of the circumstances of the suicide of the Austrian general as follows: “The head of the 15th Austrian division after the battle walked around all our active units and asked how many of ours fought against his division, he interviewed several of our officers and soldiers from the Germans (Russian colonists) and , when he was convinced with his own eyes that there were only 6 battalions of us, he walked away from Lieutenant Lyatoshinsky, who was assigned to him from the headquarters of our division, behind the house where lunch was prepared for him, and shot himself, without suffering the shame” (706).

But the funeral of the person who committed suicide (which is not a sign from Above) was overshadowed by the death of other people. A Russian eyewitness recalled: “They bring a coffin for the head of the Austrian division who shot himself... Half an hour later they line up the prisoners without weapons, and our troops line up opposite. Five orchestras of music under the general command of the bandmaster of the Tomsk regiment play Chopin's funeral march. The artillery and infantry fired three salvos each. The grave was dug 100 paces away on the river bank. Our orchestras play “Kol Slaven”, a short service by the priest, and a volley from captured Austrian guns - they fired this volley with live shells, with the expectation that the explosions would be wet meadow in a river. But, apparently, their artillerymen were not very good. 5-6 shells overshot and fell near the road across the river, and at that time their own convoy with prisoners was stretching along it, again there were casualties, and, in addition, one shell hit a cart with weapons of captured officers and almost nothing came from it left" (707) . Even after death, the unlucky division commander continued to destroy his subordinates.

On August 16, during the final stage of the Tomashovsky battle with the Russian 5th Army (“Battle of Komarov”), Major General E. Hertzberg, commander of the 16th Infantry Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division of the 14th Army Corps, was killed. The corps was part of the group of Archduke Ferdinand and had to bypass the Russian 5th Army on the left. Army P.A. Plehve did everything to prevent encirclement. Hertzberg's brigade encountered "serious resistance" at Gulche around noon. As reported by the Austrian

In short, military leaders played a significant role in the victories and defeats of the First World War. After all, it was they who made the decisions about attacks and retreats; they, by and large, controlled the destinies of hundreds of thousands of people. Smart and not so smart, tacticians and strategists - each of them made an invaluable contribution to the course of hostilities and the history of the first armed conflict of this scale.

Great Britain

Despite the fact that the British army was not as numerous as the Russian and French in combat operations on the continent, it had commanders who wrote their names in the history of the war.
One of them is John Denton Pinkston French, who led the British Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front of the First World War.
Neither he nor his troops were subordinate to the French command, which often led to inconsistency between the allies.
In the famous Battle of the Marne, he showed unacceptable negligence, which allowed the enemy troops to strike back. He also commanded troops in the equally famous battle of Ypres, in which German troops used chemical weapons for the first time. Having been defeated and suffering huge casualties, D. Frenz was removed from command.

John French was succeeded by Haig Douglas. During his years of command, the English army that fought at the Somme, Passchendaele and the Hundred Days Offensive also suffered huge losses.
He was one of those who actively resisted the creation of a single Franco-English command, because he did not want to lose independence in the conduct of hostilities. However, by the end of the war, he was still forced to completely come under the command of the French command.

Germany

German commanders also played a significant role during the armed conflict and even in the defeat of their own country in the war.
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg became famous as the commander-in-chief who managed to thwart the offensive of the Russian imperial army at Lake Naroch in 1916.

Max Hoffmann went down in history as the developer of the plan for the Battle of Tannenberg, which became one of the saddest pages in the history of the Russian army. He also took an active part in the development of other operations on the Eastern Front of the First World War.

Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff - it is believed that it was his adventurous strategy that caused Germany's defeat in the war.

Russia

There were quite a lot of commanders in the Russian army during the First World War. But the most famous (but always the best), briefly speaking, can be called Grand Duke Nicholas (grandson of Nicholas I), A. Brusilov, L. Kornilov, A. Denikin.
At the same time, Prince Nikolai Nikolaevich, who held the post of commander-in-chief at the first stage of the war, showed himself to be a self-confident person, but at the same time he knew little about military affairs. And if at first, “noting the merits” of his relative, the Russian emperor repeatedly awarded Nicholas the Younger, then later, due to his numerous mistakes, he nevertheless removed him from command. The shameful surrender of Warsaw to the enemy and the beginning of the Riga evacuation played a significant role here.

Alexey Brusilov - went down in history as the “savior of the Russian army” during the retreat after the Gorlitsky breakthrough, as well as as the commander who carried out the famous breakthrough in the summer of 1916, which was later named after him.
Many historians and military researchers call him the only general who preserved the honor of his uniform to the end and earned the true respect of his soldiers.

Lavr Kornilov. Many people know this general from the Kornilov rebellion, which he organized against the Provisional Government after the February Revolution. However, few people remember that before that, he showed courage and intransigence in many battles of the First World War. At the same time, following the orders of the higher command, he spared neither himself nor his soldiers. One of his exploits was the capture of the Zboro heights.

Anton Denikin is considered one of the most effective generals of the Russian Imperial Army. He commanded his brigade in the battle of Grodek, under his command the village of Gorny Luzhesk was recaptured from the enemy and directions for the offensive of the Russian army were opened.
He showed himself heroically in the Carpathian operation and many others, for which he was repeatedly awarded the highest awards of the state.
France
Speaking about the French commanders of the First World War, it is briefly worth noting that they were among the best representatives of their Motherland, unconditionally devoted to serving it and their people.
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre - divisional general who led his soldiers to victory on the Marne River in 1914.

Ferdinand Foch - during the war, he commanded first the border corps (participation in the Lorraine operation), then the 9th Army (Battle of the Marne), and Army Group North. In 1917 he was appointed chief of the General Staff. All Allied forces were united under his command. It was largely thanks to him that the Allied forces were able to defeat the Central Powers. It was his signature that stood under the Compiegne Agreement after the surrender of Germany.
A significant contribution to the victory of the Entente was made by Henri Petain, who gained fame after the victory in the Battle of Verdun and Louis d’Espery, who had many victories in the most significant battles of the First World War.

Article 14 of the Basic State Laws of the Russian Empire proclaimed the emperor “the sovereign leader of the Russian army and navy.” The sovereign determined the structure of the army and navy, issued decrees and commands regarding “... everything generally related to the structure of the armed forces and defense of the Russian State” 1. On the eve of the First World War, on July 16, 1914, the “Regulations on Field Command of Troops in Wartime” was approved, which allowed the Emperor, if he “does not deign to lead the troops personally,” to delegate control of the armed forces to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The Commander-in-Chief received the broadest powers, his orders in the theater of military operations were equated to the highest commands. He was appointed by the emperor, obeyed only him and reported to him 2.

For the first time in national history the position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief was filled on July 20, 1914. In total, during the years of the Great War until the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army was replaced by eight people, among whom, along with full generals, there was an ensign and even, in an unprecedented case, a “shtafirka”, a civilian.

On March 9, 1918, the last Supreme Commander-in-Chief was relieved of his post, and on March 27, the Russian army itself ceased to exist.

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (junior) (6.11.1856 - 5.01.1929)

Term of command. 20.07.1914 - 23.08.1915

Rank, rank.

Battle path. With his participation in 1914, the unsuccessful East Prussian and triumphant Galician operations were carried out, the enemy offensive was repelled during the Warsaw-Ivangorod and Lodz operations, and the Przemysl fortress was taken. He was extremely popular among the troops. Even major setbacks at the front in 1915 - the loss of Galicia, Poland and a large part of the Baltic states - did not affect his reputation.

He was removed from office at his own request (another version is due to political intrigue). After the decision of Nicholas II to personally lead the army, he was appointed governor in the Caucasus and commander-in-chief of the Caucasian Front.

Before abdicating the throne on March 2, 1917, Nicholas II again appointed Nikolai Nikolaevich as commander-in-chief. However, a week later, the Provisional Government forced the Grand Duke to resign - hatred of the Romanov dynasty was already seething over the edge.

Awards. Order of St. George 4th degree, St. George 3rd degree, St. George 2nd degree; St. George's weapon, decorated with diamonds, with the inscription "For the liberation of Chervona Rus."

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT

A man of great scope, direct, decisive, having completed a higher military education and having experience behind him Turkish war...impressed by his appearance, held a number of military positions from a junior officer to the commander-in-chief of the capital district inclusive - this is how the appearance of the Grand Duke of Russia was depicted 3.

_Infantry General A.Yu. Danilov

(06.05.1868 - 17.07.1918)

Term of command. 23.08.1915 - 2.03.1917

Chin. Colonel of the Guard.

Combat path. With the outbreak of the war, Nicholas II wanted to personally lead the army, but was forced to yield to the government, which categorically did not accept this decision. The “Great Retreat” of the summer of 1915 strengthened the tsar’s conviction to fulfill his royal duty - “when the enemy went deeper into the empire, to assume supreme command of the active troops and... to defend the Russian Land from enemy attacks” 4 .

He made successful personnel changes and appointed the experienced and popular General M.V. as chief of staff. Alekseev, established supplies, raised the morale of the troops. All this led to the stabilization of the front and largely prepared the Brusilov breakthrough of 1916, which became turning point in war.

Awards. Order of St. George 4th degree.

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT

It’s calmer with the Emperor. His Majesty gives instructions that are so consistent with combat strategic tasks that you develop these directives with full conviction of their expediency. He knows the front perfectly and has a rare memory 5 .

_Infantry General M.V. Alekseev

(03.11.1857-08.10.1918)

Term of command. 1.04.1917 - 21.05.1917

Rank, rank. Infantry General, Adjutant General.

Combat path. Trying to stop the disintegration of the army, he demanded that all orders for the army go through the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. After the appearance of the order N1 and the soldiers' committees, he compromised, hoping to take control of the committees by introducing officers into them. The “Temporary Regulations on the Organization of the Ranks of the Active Army and Navy,” sent out on March 30, 1917, authorized military committees, but limited the scope of their competence.

He participated in the creation of the "Union of Army and Navy Officers", and at the First Congress on May 7 he spoke out against the demand for peace without annexations and indemnities. On May 21, he demanded the restoration of the activities of military courts and the introduction of the death penalty at the front, after which he was removed from his post and appointed military adviser to the Provisional Government.

Awards. Order of St. George 4th degree, St. Anna 4th degree "For bravery", St. Stanislaus 3rd degree with swords and bow, St. Anna 3rd degree with swords and bow, St. Vladimir 4th degree with swords and bow, St. Stanislav 1st degree with swords; Golden weapon with the inscription "For bravery."

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT

Tremendous efficiency, excellent familiarity with the army and its needs, great caution, and thoughtfulness ensure [Alekseev] the systematic conduct of operations without risky moves that do not correspond to the current disordered state of the army 6 .

_Cavalry General A.M. Dragomirov

(01.08.1853-17.03.1926)

Term of command. 22.05.1917 - 19.07.1917

Rank, rank. General of the cavalry, adjutant general.

Combat path. One of the best commanders of the First World War, who developed and carried out a fateful breakthrough. After the abdication of Nicholas II, he was considered as an alternative to Alekseev for the post of Commander-in-Chief, and after his resignation he headed the army.

On May 22, 1917, by order at the front, he began the formation of “special shock revolutionary battalions recruited in the center of Russia,” designed to “carry along the hesitant” during the offensive 7 . Brusilov was preparing an offensive under the red flag, but on the basis of a plan developed by the Tsarist Headquarters. The offensive of the Russian army in the summer of 1917 failed. As the retreat began on July 12, military revolutionary courts were established and the the death penalty at the front.

Awards. Order of St. George 4th degree, St. George 3rd degree, St. Stanislaus 3rd degree with swords and bow, St. Anna 3rd degree with swords and bow, St. Stanislav 2nd degree with swords, White Eagle with swords; St. George's weapon, decorated with diamonds, with the inscription "For the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian armies in Volyn, Bukovina and Galicia on May 22-25, 1916."

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT

The head of a broad flight of thought and a clear understanding of the matter... The only general who combines both brilliant strategic talents and a broad understanding of Russia's political tasks and is able to quickly assess the current situation 8.

_Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko

(18.08.1870-31.03.1918)

Term of command. 19.07.1917 - 27.08.1917

Chin. General of Infantry.

Battle path. He gained fame after escaping from Austrian captivity in July 1916. After the February Revolution, in five months he went from corps commander to Supreme Commander-in-Chief. On July 19, 1917, he agreed to accept supreme command on the condition of non-interference with his orders. The front was stabilized by tough measures.

At the State Conference on August 12-15 in Moscow, he outlined his program for establishing order in the rear. At the end of August, from Headquarters he negotiated with Kerensky about establishing firm power in the country, but the words of the Commander-in-Chief were regarded as an ultimatum. He was declared a rebel, removed from his post, and after the suppression of the protest on August 25-31, he was arrested.

Awards. Order of St. George 4th degree, St. George 3rd degree, St. Vladimir 3rd degree with swords, St. Stanislav 2nd degree with swords, St. Vladimir 3rd degree with swords, St. Stanislav 1st degree with swords, St. Anna 1st degree with swords.

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT

“Kornilov is brave, courageous, stern, decisive, independent and will not stop at any independent actions required by the situation, and at any responsibility” 9.

_Lieutenant General A.I. Denikin

Alexander Fedorovich Kerensky (22.04.1881-11.06.1970)

Term of command. 30.08.1917 - 3.11.1917

Chin. I didn't. Civilian "shtafirka". Declared himself Supreme Commander.

Combat path. On May 3, 1917, he was appointed Minister of War, in this capacity, in preparation for the summer offensive, he toured front-line units with patriotic speeches, for which he received the nickname “chief persuader.”

Having dealt with Kornilov, in view of the refusal of other candidates, he declared himself supreme commander-in-chief. In September, he formed the “Business Cabinet” and declared Russia a republic, held a Democratic Conference and formed the Pre-Parliament. At this time, the army actually found itself in the hands of committees and was rapidly disintegrating.

Awards. Soldiers' St. George Crosses of the 1st, 2nd and 4th degrees (awarded to the Minister of War for “great feats in the struggle for the freedom of the Russian land” by soldiers and officers).

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT

Kerensky should be considered one of the greatest orators of his kind in history. There was nothing charming about his performances. His voice became rough from constant screaming. He gestured little... but he spoke and spoke with endearing conviction 10 .

_British Consul General R.B. Lockhart

(01.12.1876-20.11.1917)

Term of command. 3.11.1917 - 9.11.1917

Chin. Lieutenant General.

Combat path. One of A.A.’s closest assistants. Brusilova. On September 10, 1917, Kerensky's chief of staff, after the latter's escape, became acting Commander-in-Chief. He ordered the troops to stand in position, and on November 7-8 refused to negotiate peace with the enemy on behalf of the Council of People's Commissars, since "only the central government, supported by the army and the country, can have sufficient weight and significance for the opponents." “For disobedience to government orders and for behavior that brings unprecedented misfortune to the working masses of all countries and especially the armies” he was dismissed from his post. Waiting for the arrival of the new commander-in-chief, on November 18 he ordered the release of Kornilov from custody, remained at Headquarters and on November 20 fell victim to soldier lynching.

Awards. Order of St. George 4th degree, St. George 3rd degree, St. Stanislav 2nd degree with swords, St. Vladimir 4th degree with swords and bow, St. Vladimir 3rd degree with swords; St. George's weapon.

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT

Dukhonin was broad-minded, frank and fair man, far from political squabbles and machinations. Unlike some older officers, he did not complain and grumble about the “new system” and did not at all idealize the old army... There was nothing in him from the old military bureaucrat and martinet 13.

_A.F. Kerensky

Nikolai Vasilievich Krylenko (05/02/1885-07/29/1938)

Term of command. 9.11.1917 - 5.03.1918

Chin. Ensign

Combat path. After the October coup, he joined the first Council of People's Commissars as a member of the Committee on Military and Naval Affairs. After N.N.’s refusal Dukhonin was appointed to negotiate peace on November 9 by V.I. Lenin Supreme Commander-in-Chief. On November 12, he gave the order to all units at the front to begin negotiations on an armistice; on November 13, he began negotiations with Germany, which ended on December 2 with an armistice.

He reported to the Council of People's Commissars about the army's loss of combat effectiveness and advocated peace on any terms. After the signing of the Brest Peace Treaty, he resigned, and on March 13, 1918, the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief was abolished.

Awards. didn't have

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT

Ensign Krylenko, by his revolutionary nickname - "Comrade Abram", squat, short-legged, stooped, with unshaven red stubble on his cheeks, in a protective jacket, with his combat equipment carelessly put on and hanging awkwardly... 14.

_Major General G.I. Goncharenko (Yuri Galich)

1. Full Assembly Laws of the Russian Empire. Third meeting. Volume XXV. 1905. Dept. I. Ch. I. C. 457.
2. Regulations on field control of troops in wartime. St. Petersburg 1914. From 1-3.
3. Danilov Yu.N. Russia in the World War of 1914-1915. Berlin. 1924. P. 144.
4. The highest rescript to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. August 23, 1915. Quoted. by: Polivanov A.A. Nine months at the head of the War Ministry (June 13, 1915 - March 13, 1916) // Questions of history. 1994. N3. P. 121.
5. Quote. by: Multatuli P.V. God bless my decision... Emperor Nicholas II at the head of the active army and the conspiracy of the generals. M. 2002. P. 115.
6. Telegram from Dragomirov to Minister of War Guchkov, March 21, 1917 // Zayonchkovsky A.M. Strategic outline of the war of 1914-1918. P. 128.
7. Order on the front N 561 of May 22, 1917 // Golovin N.N. Military efforts of Russia in the World War M. 2001. P. 359.
8. Letter from M.V. Rodzianko G.E. Guchkov March 18, 1917 // Zayonchkovsky A.M. Decree. op. P. 125.
9. Denikin A.I. Essays on Russian Troubles. The collapse of power and the army. Paris, 1921. P. 193.
10. Lockhart R.B. History from the inside. Memoirs of a British agent. M., Berlin, 2017. P. 195.
11. Conversation between the government and headquarters via direct wire on November 9, 1917 // Worker and Soldier. N 20.1917. November 9.
12. Ibid.
13. Kerensky A.F. Russia is at a historical turning point. Memoirs. M.: Republic, 1993. P. 297.
14. Yuri Galich. Death of Dukhonin. On the sixth anniversary of his death. (From an eyewitness diary) // Today. Riga. N267. 1923. November 30

THE FIRST WORLD AND ITS HEROES
(To the 100th anniversary of the First World War)

We want to tell you about the one
Deliberately forgotten by someone,
But not that far away
War,
About the First World War!

Yu. Pyatibat

“This year (2014) the Day of Remembrance of Soldiers Who Fell in the Battles of the First World War is celebrated for the first time in Russia. The events and heroes of the bloody massacre, underestimated during the Soviet period, are now emerging from the shadows, arousing serious interest from scientists, as well as the descendants of the participants in the hostilities themselves. “A forgotten war, erased from history, is actually returning for the first time to official historiography on the scale it deserves”

V. Medinsky

FROM THE HISTORY OF WORLD WAR I

The reason for the start of the war was the famous shot in Sarajevo on July 28, 1914. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. But in order for this “small war” to become the First World War, the great powers had to be drawn into it. They were ready for this, but to varying degrees.
The Russian government knew that the country was not ready for war, but Russia could not give Serbia to be torn to pieces by the Austrians, sacrificing its authority in the Balkans, won with the blood of Russian soldiers. Emperor Nicholas II signed a decree on general mobilization. This was not yet a declaration of war, but a formidable sign for Austria-Hungary and Germany. And on July 31, 1914, Germany demanded that Russia stop mobilization within 24 hours. There was no response to the German ultimatum, and on August 1, the German ambassador Count Pourtales brought a note declaring war to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Two days later, Germany declared war on France, an ally of Russia and Serbia, and the next day German troops invaded neutral Belgium in order to go to Paris through its territory, the shortest route. Then events escalated: on August 6, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia; On August 23, seemingly distant Japan intervened in the war, declaring war on Germany, and in October the Ottoman Empire took the side of Germany, a year later - Bulgaria... The world war began, and there was no longer any way to stop it: each participant only needed victory ...
The war lasted more than four years, killing about 30 million people. After its end, the world was missing four empires - Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German and Ottoman, and new countries appeared on the political map of the world.

GENERALS OF WAR

That's how it happened in popular consciousness, that, no matter how much heroism ordinary soldiers and junior commanders show, battles are won (and lost) by commanders - field marshals, generals... They make decisions, determine the strategy for the future battle, send soldiers to their deaths in the name of victory. They are responsible for the outcome of each battle and the war as a whole...
In the Russian army during the First World War there were enough generals who commanded divisions, armies, and fronts. Each of them had his own path, his own military destiny, his own measure of military leadership talent.

Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov (1853 - 1926)– a man with “military bones”, a career military man. He also fought in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, where he distinguished himself during the capture of the fortresses of Kara and Ardahan. Before the First World War, he was an assistant to the commander of the Warsaw Military District (remember that part of Poland with Warsaw at that time was part of the Russian Empire). It was Brusilov who had the opportunity to prove the power of Russian weapons when in the summer of 1916, as commander of the Southwestern Front, he carried out a brilliant offensive operation. This operation received the name “Brusilovsky breakthrough” in military textbooks.
What happened at the end of May 1916? The offensive was planned in advance on several fronts, but it was not yet fully prepared when the French allies asked for help: the Germans were advancing and threatening to crush the French army. The Allies were also defeated on the Italian front. It was decided to provide assistance.

Baron
P. N. Wrangel

Brusilov knew how well the enemy defenses were fortified, but decided to attack. He was a talented military leader and decided to use the tactics of several simultaneous strikes, forcing the enemy to guess - which of them is the main one? On May 22, Brusilov’s army went on the offensive and broke through the enemy’s defenses in four places at once, capturing more than 100 thousand people in three days of fighting! The offensive of the Russian army continued throughout the summer, and a large territory was conquered from the Germans and Austrians up to the Carpathians. Our losses amounted to about 500 thousand people, but the enemy lost three times as many killed, wounded and prisoners - up to 1.5 million!

Admiral
A. V. Kolchak

After such successes of the Russian army for a long time the hesitant Romanian king decided to take the side of the Entente. But even the victorious Brusilov breakthrough could not provide the Russian Empire with overall success in the war. Its economy was falling apart, its power was weakening every month, and 1917, with its revolutions, was inevitable...
And what about Brusilov himself? He gained wide popularity not only in the army, but also among the common people. After the February Revolution, in May 1917 he was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and then advisor to the Provisional Government. He refused to participate in the Civil War on the side of the White Army, and in 1920 he even received a position in the Red Army, which caused outrage among many of his military comrades. And the descendants inherited from the famous general interesting memoirs about World War I, which historians still use in their works.
It is worth remembering the chief of staff of the Russian army, general of infantry (that is, infantry general) Mikhail Vasilievich Alekseev (1857 -1918), he was the son of a simple soldier and, having begun his service at the age of 16, rose to the rank of general. He fought with the Turks in 1877-1878, with the Japanese in 1904-1905, and began World War I as the chief of staff of the Southwestern Front. From August 1915 he became the chief of staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Headquarters (in August 1915, Emperor Nicholas II assumed the duties of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief). But in fact, Alekseev led all major operations of the Russian armies on the German front. After October revolution In 1917, he became one of the leaders of the White movement, but did not finish the Civil War, dying in September 1918 in Yekaterinodar (now Krasnodar).
Many future leaders of the White Army - A. I. Denikin, L. G. Kornilov, N. I. Ivanov, N. N. Yudenich and others - proved themselves to be talented military leaders during World War I. Participated in the battles of World War I and such historical figures(military leaders of the Civil War), like Admiral A.V. Kolchak (he was also a famous polar explorer), Baron P.N. Wrangel, hundreds of other military generals and officers.
Some senior officers from the First World War went to serve in the Red Army - M. D. Bonch-Bruevich, S. S. Kamenev. Many famous Soviet generals and marshals took part in the war, most often as non-commissioned officers and ordinary soldiers.

GEORGIAN CAVALIERS

The famous St. George's Cross, the highest soldier's award during the First World War, was established back in 1807, at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, and for more than 100 years bore the official name "Insignia of the Military Order." It was awarded only for personal courage shown in battle, and in 1913, by imperial decree, it received the official name “St. George’s Cross,” which was soon renamed among the people to “Egoria.”
The St. George Cross had four degrees of distinction. In addition, special St. George medals. Soldiers' Yegoriyas of the 1st and 2nd degrees were made of gold, and those of the 3rd and 4th degrees were made of silver. Only at the end of 1916, when the country's economy found itself in a deep crisis, it was decided to replace gold and silver with similar, but not precious metals.

K. F. Kryuchkov

The first in history to receive the soldier's "George" was non-commissioned officer of the Cavalry Regiment Yegor Mitrokhin, who distinguished himself in the battle with the French near Friedland on June 2, 1807. And the first person to earn the St. George Cross in World War I was Kozma Kryuchkov, who served in the Don Cossack Regiment. Having met with four of his comrades a patrol of 22 German cavalrymen, he personally killed the officer and 10 more enemies, receiving 16 wounds. The award found the hero ten days after the start of the war - on August 11, 1914. Newspapers wrote about the hero, his portraits were cut out from magazines and decorated the walls of lordly apartments and peasant huts. During the Civil War, Kryuchkov fought in units of the White Army and died in 1919 in a battle with the Bolsheviks.
Among the Knights of St. George there were many soldiers who linked their fate with the Red Army. Many of them eventually became famous commanders. This is the hero of the Civil War Vasily Chapaev (three "Egoria"), future marshals: Georgy Zhukov, Rodion Malinovsky and Konstantin Rokossovsky (two crosses each). Full holders of the soldier's St. George Cross (award of all degrees) were future military leaders I.V. Tyulenev, K.P. Trubnikov and S.M. Budyonny. Among the Knights of St. George there were also women and children. The only foreigner awarded all four degrees of the St. George Cross was the famous French pilot Poiret. In total, during the First World War, almost two million Egorievs of all grades were manufactured and awarded to soldiers and non-commissioned officers who distinguished themselves in battle.

CHILDREN IN WORLD WAR I

Children have always sought to imitate adults. Fathers served in the army, fought, and sons played war, and in the event of a real enemy appearing, by hook or by crook they tried to get into the active army. This was the case during the Patriotic War of 1812; and during the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855; and in the Russian-Turkish, Russian-Japanese wars. and during the First World War. In order to get to the front, not only high school students, but also boys of 12-13 years old were ready to quit their studies.
During these years, in England and France, Boy Scouts (a children's movement that united hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren in its ranks) guarded railway stations, bridges, and patrolled roads. But even there there were escapes to the front a common occurrence. And let’s not even talk about Russia! Dozens of boys were taken off trains heading to the front line, caught at railway stations, and put on the wanted list as “runaways from home.” Most of them were returned to their parents, but there were also “lucky ones” who managed to become soldiers or partisans. Many of them behaved like real brave men and earned military awards - St. George's crosses and medals. Portraits of yesterday's high school students in gymnasiums with brand new "St. Georges" on their chests excited the imagination of their peers, and hundreds of new "young fighters" fled to the front. Thus, in 1915, newspapers published a portrait of a Chechen boy, Abubakar Dzhurkaev, a 12-year-old student at a real school who became a dashing cavalryman.

Some boys tried to act “according to the law”: applications with a request to enlist them in the active army were received from all eighth-grade students at the Libau gymnasium, from half of the high school students of the Riga and Kazan gymnasiums, from students of the Penza Drawing School...
7th grade high school student Mazur from the city of Vilna (today it is Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania) turned to the commander of the 1st Army, General P.K. Rennenkampf, with a request to enlist him in military service. And the general agreed! The boy was left at headquarters, where he even made important improvements to the design of the telegraph. And then he died, as millions of adult soldiers and hundreds of children who made their way into the active army died during the war.
Young volunteers fled from Moscow, Petrograd, Odessa, Kyiv, Novgorod, and even Vladivostok, far from the front. They fled from villages and Cossack villages. Escapes to the front were both individual and group. In the newspapers of those years, there is a story about the son of a gendarme captain from the city of Dvinsk, a high school student Sosionkov, who gathered a group of eight students and went to war.
What did the boys do during the war? They were orderlies, staff clerks, orderlies, carried cartridges, and sometimes became dashing scouts. There was also such a case: six partisan boys from the Pskov and Novgorod provinces, having made their way to the rear of the German army, which was fighting against the 2nd Army of General A.V. Samsonov, shot down an enemy plane with a rifle.

HEROES OF THE FIRST WORLD

ALEXEEV Mikhail Vasilievich
(1857 -1918)

General, the largest military leader, the son of an officer who began his service as a soldier. He was an orderly of the famous General M.D. Skobelev during Russian-Turkish War, participated in the war with the Japanese, was the chief of staff of the Headquarters of Emperor Nicholas II, and after the revolution - one of the creators of the White Army.

BOCHKAREVA Maria Leontievna
(1889 -1920)

Peasant woman, first after famous Nadezhda Durova is a Russian female officer. She took part in battles and was awarded the St. George Cross and several medals for bravery. In 1917 she organized a “women’s death battalion” that defended the Provisional Government. She fought in Kolchak's army. After his defeat, the Cheka executed him in August 1920 in Krasnoyarsk.

BRUSILOV Alexey Alekseevich
(1853 -1926)

General, an excellent cavalryman, participant in the Russian-Turkish War, holder of many military orders and two St. Georges. He became famous during the First World War as a skilled military leader and organizer of the famous breakthrough. After the revolution he served in the Red Army.

DENIKIN Anton Ivanovich
(1872 -1947)

Military leader, writer and memoirist. One of the most talented generals of the First World War, commander of the “iron brigade”, which distinguished itself in battle. After the October Revolution, commander armed forces South of Russia, who fought the Red Army. While in exile, he wrote several books. Died in the USA. In 2005, his ashes were transferred to Moscow and buried at the Donskoye Cemetery.

KRYUCHKOV Kozma Firsovich
(1890 -1919)

Don Cossack, who destroyed 11 Germans in battle, received 16 wounds and was awarded for this the first in the history of this war the St. George Cross of the 4th degree. In one of the battles of the Civil War, Kryuchkov, who fought on the side of the whites, was killed.

NESTEROV Pyotr Nikolaevich
(1887 -1914)

One of the first Russian pilots, staff captain, founder of aerobatics, who invented the aerial “Nesterov loop”. He died in battle on August 26, 1914 near Lvov, having made the first ramming of an enemy airplane in history.

ROMANOV Oleg Konstantinovich
(1892 -1914)

Son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, great-grandson of Nicholas I, poet, admirer of A. S. Pushkin, the only member of the imperial family who died in World War I. Died from a wound received during the battle, a few hours before his death he was awarded the St. George Cross .

CHERKASOV Pyotr Nilovich
(1882 -1915)

Captain 1st rank (posthumously), hereditary sailor, participant in the Russo-Japanese War. He fought an unequal battle with superior enemy forces and died while standing on the captain's bridge. After this battle, German ships left the Gulf of Riga.

WRITERS AND WORLD WAR I

“The writer cannot remain indifferent to the incessant, brazen, murderous, dirty crime that is war.”

E. Hemingway

Those who write about the war, in most cases, know the war firsthand: they themselves fought, were soldiers, officers, and war correspondents. First World War gave the world many brilliant names, both from both sides of the front line. The famous writer Erich Maria Remarque (1898 -1970), who wrote the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front,” fought in the German army and was even awarded the Iron Cross for bravery. Together with the Austro-Hungarian army, the author of the great novel about the brave soldier Schweik, Jaroslav Hasek (1883 -1923), went on a campaign against Russia (and was later captured). Ernest Hemingway (1899 -1961), an American writer who gained fame for his novels and stories, was also a military driver.
Many Russian writers and poets, being very young people during the First World War, fought in the army as officers or soldiers, and were military doctors and orderlies: Mikhail Zoshchenko, Mikhail Bulgakov, Nikolai Gumilyov, Sergei Yesenin, Konstantin Paustovsky, Benedict Lifshits, Isaac Babel and others. Many established writers at the beginning of the war also put on military uniforms. They either fought as part of the active army (the famous prose writer I. Kuprin, writer V. Svetlov), or became war correspondents, like V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and children's writer K. I. Chukovsky.
The First World War, having left an indelible mark on their souls, one way or another influenced their creativity. You know some of these authors, and some you are hearing about for the first time. This means that there is a reason to find their books and read them.

We present to your attention an annotated list:
THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN LITERATURE

Book “White Generals” is a unique and first attempt to objectively show and comprehend the life and work of outstanding Russian military officers: Denikin, Wrangel, Krasnov, Kornilov, Yudenich.
The fate of most of them was tragic, and their dreams were not destined to come true. But the authors urge us not to judge history and its characters. They encourage us to understand the feelings, thoughts and actions of their characters. We all need this, because history often repeats itself.

This is not just a work, but a kind of chronicle of time - a historical description of events in chronological order, seen through the prism of perception of the “children of the terrible years of Russia” during the First World War and the violent civil war.
The complex and sad fate of a noble family, suffocating in a bloody whirlpool, under the pen of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov, takes on the features of an epic tragedy for the entire Russian intelligentsia - a tragedy, the echoes of which reach us to this day.

Exactly this popular work Czech literature, translated into almost all languages ​​of the world. A great, original and outrageous novel. A book that can be perceived both as a “soldier’s tale” and as classic, directly related to the traditions of the Renaissance. This is a sparkling text that makes you laugh until you cry, and a powerful call to “lay down your arms,” and one of the most objective historical evidence in satirical literature.

First World War. The eve of the revolution. A terrible time for our country. And - the legend of the Baltic Fleet, which performed miracles of heroism in unequal battles with the German army for Moonsund. A legend about the courage of officers - and the almost suicidal courage of ordinary sailors.
One of the most powerful, tough and multifaceted books by Valentin Pikul. A book that grabs you from the first page and keeps you in suspense until the last page.

Remarque, E. M. On the Western Front no change [Text]: novel T. 1 / E. M. Remarque. – M.: VITA-CENTER, 1991. – 192 p.

The novel by E. M. Remarque is one of the most striking literary works about the First World War. They were torn out of their usual life and thrown into the bloody mud of war. Once they were young men learning to live and think. Now they are cannon fodder. And they learn to survive and not think. Thousands and thousands will forever die on the fields of the First World War. Thousands and thousands of those who returned will still regret that they did not lie down with the dead. But for now, there is still no change on the Western Front...

Love and loyalty helped the sisters Katya and Dasha Bulavin, Ivan Telegin and Vadim Roshchin survive the turmoil of revolutionary upheavals and the fire of civil war. Russian people, they have drunk to the full the cup of sorrows and suffering that befell Russia. Their life - with separations and meetings, mortal danger and short, sizzling moments of happiness - is a true journey through torment with a guiding star of hope in the dark sky.

“Chapayev” by Dmitry Andreevich Furmanov (1891 -1926), a book about the famous division commander, hero of the civil war, is one of the first outstanding works of realism literature.

The novel that made Ernest Hemingway famous. The first - and the best! - a book of the “lost generation” of English-language literature about World War I. The center of the novel is not war, but love.
A soldier falls in love with a nurse working in a hospital. Together they decide to flee from possible reprisals to which the hero may be subjected. Lovers who escaped death, having seen enough of the war, strive to find a quiet haven, escape and live without blood and weapons. They end up in Switzerland. Everything seems to be fine and they are safe, but then the heroine is in labor...

The novel tells about the class struggle during the First World War and the Civil War on the Don, about the hard way Don Cossacks into the revolution. It’s as if life itself speaks from the pages of Quiet Don.
The smells of the steppe, the freshness of the free wind, the heat and cold, the living speech of people - all this merges into a free-flowing, unique melody, striking with its tragic beauty and authenticity.

The entire issue is dedicated centenary anniversary the beginning of the First World War, which redrew the map of Europe beyond recognition and changed the destinies of peoples.

Feat of war

Not the first evening the waves sang
In the people's sea, and moaned
Elemental wind, full of power,
And the anthem flew to the sky like a shaft;
The sky was burning again
Dawn, unprecedentedly clear,
When from the enemy's border
The news of war arrived. War!
War! War! So these are the ones
The doors have opened before you,
Loving Russia,
A country with Christ's destiny!
So accept the crown of thorns
And go to murderous hell
In his hand with his stern sword,
With a cross shining in your chest!
Forgive me, unharvested, peaceful ear!
Dear earth, forgive me!
Fate itself thunderous voice
Calling Russia to go into battle.

S. Gorodetsky

The shoulder straps have not yet been torn off
And the regiments were not shot.
Not yet red, but green
The field by the river is rising.
They are neither too old nor too young,
But their fate is sealed.
They are not generals yet,
And the war is not lost.

Z. Yashchenko

Our fellow countrymen - participants in World War I

The first one on the left is Kulbikayan Ambartsum

We are waiting for you at:
346800, Russia,
Rostov region,
Myasnikovsky district,
With. Chaltyr, st. 6th line, 6
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The First World War and its heroes [Text]: information and bibliographic annotated list of literature for high school students / MBUK Myasnikovsky district "MCB" Children's library; resp. for ed. M. N. Khachkinayan; comp.: E. L. Andonyan. – Chaltyr, 2014. – 12 p.: ill.