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Alexander Kolchak
Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (Russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Колча́к; 16 November [O.S. 4 November] 1874 – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. When he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a military dictatorship, which ruled over the territory of the former Russian Empire controlled by the Whites. He was a proponent of Russian nationalism and militarism, and opposed democracy as a principle which he believed was tied to pacifism, internationalism, and socialism.
Kolchak served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. The son of a naval artillery officer, he graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps and went on to become an accomplished oceanographer and Arctic explorer. He was involved in several expeditions to northern Russia, including to the New Siberian Islands, and became the youngest vice admiral in the Imperial Navy. He was wounded and taken prisoner during the Russo-Japanese War at the Siege of Port Arthur. When he returned to Russia he lobbied the State Duma to strengthen the fleet by introducing submarines and aircraft. Kolchak was the Baltic Fleet Chief of Operations when World War I broke out and was made the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet shortly before the February Revolution. When Emperor Nicholas II asked the commanders of each army group and fleet for their opinion on whether he should abdicate the throne, Kolchak was the only one who opposed the move.
During the Russian Revolution of 1917, Kolchak was popular among conservative newspapers, who saw him as a potential military dictator. Early in the Russian Civil War, he briefly served as the Minister of War and Navy in the Provisional All-Russian Government – the first government that was recognized by all White military and political forces east of Urals, at least nominally – until a November 1918 coup saw him installed as leader and all authority was transferred to his own government. His government was based in Omsk, in southwestern Siberia. When Kolchak assumed the title of Supreme Ruler, his authority was recognized by the other leaders of the White movement, although Anton Denikin enjoyed more power than Kolchak.
After initial successes in early 1919, Kolchak's forces lost ground due to lack of support from the local populace and failure to unite the leaders of the counterrevolutionary movements. Omsk fell to the Red Army in November 1919 during the Great Siberian Ice March, compelling Kolchak to transfer his headquarters to Irkutsk. In December, he was betrayed and detained by the chief of the Allied military mission in Siberia, Maurice Janin, and the Czechoslovak Legion, who handed him over to local Socialist-Revolutionaries in January 1920. The Bolsheviks executed him the following month in Irkutsk.
Kolchak was born in Saint Petersburg on 4 November 1874. His family was of Moldavian origin, and both his parents were from Odessa. His father was a former major-general of the marine artillery and a veteran of the 1854 siege of Sevastopol, who after retirement worked as an engineer at an ordnance works near St. Petersburg.
Kolchak was educated for a naval career, entering the Naval Cadet Corps in 1888 and graduating in 1894 with honors. After being commissioned as a midshipman in the Imperial Russian Navy he served in the Baltic and Pacific Oceans on several ships between 1895 and 1899, during which time he published articles on hydrology.
After becoming a lieutenant, Kolchak took part in Baron Eduard von Toll's Russian Polar expedition on the ship Zarya as a hydrologist and cartographer. During the winter of 1901, Kolchak and Toll rode on dog sleds for 500 km to make a topographic survey of the Taymyr Peninsula, and in the spring they took dog sleds to make a geologic and hydrographic study of the New Siberian Islands. In 1902 he studied the East Siberian Sea while he was onboard Zarya. After considerable hardship, Kolchak returned in December 1902; Toll, along with three other explorers continued further north and were lost. Kolchak took part in two Arctic expeditions to look for the explorers but could not find them and for a while was nicknamed "Kolchak-Poliarnyi" ("Kolchak the Polar"). For his explorations Kolchak received the Constantine Medal, the highest award of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.[citation needed]
In December 1903, Kolchak was en route to St. Petersburg to marry his fiancée, Sophia Omirova, when, not far from Irkutsk, he received notice of the start of war with the Empire of Japan and hastily summoned his bride and her father to Siberia by telegram for a wedding, before heading directly to Port Arthur. In the early stages of the Russo-Japanese War, he served as a watch officer on the cruiser Askold, and later commanded the destroyer Serdity. He made several night sorties to lay naval mines, one of which succeeded in sinking the Japanese cruiser Takasago. He was decorated with the Order of St. Anna 4th class for the exploit.
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Alexander Kolchak
Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (Russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Колча́к; 16 November [O.S. 4 November] 1874 – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. When he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a military dictatorship, which ruled over the territory of the former Russian Empire controlled by the Whites. He was a proponent of Russian nationalism and militarism, and opposed democracy as a principle which he believed was tied to pacifism, internationalism, and socialism.
Kolchak served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. The son of a naval artillery officer, he graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps and went on to become an accomplished oceanographer and Arctic explorer. He was involved in several expeditions to northern Russia, including to the New Siberian Islands, and became the youngest vice admiral in the Imperial Navy. He was wounded and taken prisoner during the Russo-Japanese War at the Siege of Port Arthur. When he returned to Russia he lobbied the State Duma to strengthen the fleet by introducing submarines and aircraft. Kolchak was the Baltic Fleet Chief of Operations when World War I broke out and was made the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet shortly before the February Revolution. When Emperor Nicholas II asked the commanders of each army group and fleet for their opinion on whether he should abdicate the throne, Kolchak was the only one who opposed the move.
During the Russian Revolution of 1917, Kolchak was popular among conservative newspapers, who saw him as a potential military dictator. Early in the Russian Civil War, he briefly served as the Minister of War and Navy in the Provisional All-Russian Government – the first government that was recognized by all White military and political forces east of Urals, at least nominally – until a November 1918 coup saw him installed as leader and all authority was transferred to his own government. His government was based in Omsk, in southwestern Siberia. When Kolchak assumed the title of Supreme Ruler, his authority was recognized by the other leaders of the White movement, although Anton Denikin enjoyed more power than Kolchak.
After initial successes in early 1919, Kolchak's forces lost ground due to lack of support from the local populace and failure to unite the leaders of the counterrevolutionary movements. Omsk fell to the Red Army in November 1919 during the Great Siberian Ice March, compelling Kolchak to transfer his headquarters to Irkutsk. In December, he was betrayed and detained by the chief of the Allied military mission in Siberia, Maurice Janin, and the Czechoslovak Legion, who handed him over to local Socialist-Revolutionaries in January 1920. The Bolsheviks executed him the following month in Irkutsk.
Kolchak was born in Saint Petersburg on 4 November 1874. His family was of Moldavian origin, and both his parents were from Odessa. His father was a former major-general of the marine artillery and a veteran of the 1854 siege of Sevastopol, who after retirement worked as an engineer at an ordnance works near St. Petersburg.
Kolchak was educated for a naval career, entering the Naval Cadet Corps in 1888 and graduating in 1894 with honors. After being commissioned as a midshipman in the Imperial Russian Navy he served in the Baltic and Pacific Oceans on several ships between 1895 and 1899, during which time he published articles on hydrology.
After becoming a lieutenant, Kolchak took part in Baron Eduard von Toll's Russian Polar expedition on the ship Zarya as a hydrologist and cartographer. During the winter of 1901, Kolchak and Toll rode on dog sleds for 500 km to make a topographic survey of the Taymyr Peninsula, and in the spring they took dog sleds to make a geologic and hydrographic study of the New Siberian Islands. In 1902 he studied the East Siberian Sea while he was onboard Zarya. After considerable hardship, Kolchak returned in December 1902; Toll, along with three other explorers continued further north and were lost. Kolchak took part in two Arctic expeditions to look for the explorers but could not find them and for a while was nicknamed "Kolchak-Poliarnyi" ("Kolchak the Polar"). For his explorations Kolchak received the Constantine Medal, the highest award of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.[citation needed]
In December 1903, Kolchak was en route to St. Petersburg to marry his fiancée, Sophia Omirova, when, not far from Irkutsk, he received notice of the start of war with the Empire of Japan and hastily summoned his bride and her father to Siberia by telegram for a wedding, before heading directly to Port Arthur. In the early stages of the Russo-Japanese War, he served as a watch officer on the cruiser Askold, and later commanded the destroyer Serdity. He made several night sorties to lay naval mines, one of which succeeded in sinking the Japanese cruiser Takasago. He was decorated with the Order of St. Anna 4th class for the exploit.