Brusilov Alexey Alekseevich (1853-1926), Russian military leader, cavalry general (1912).
Born on August 31, 1853 in Tiflis (now Tbilisi) into a noble family. He graduated from the Corps of Pages in St. Petersburg and in 1872 was accepted into service as an ensign in the 15th Tver Dragoon Regiment. As a cavalryman he participated in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. on the Caucasian front.
In 1881-1906. served in the officer cavalry school, where he successively held positions from riding instructor to head of the school. In 1906-1912 commanded various military units. At the beginning of the First World War, he was appointed commander of the 8th Army, in March 1916 he took the post of commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front and became one of the best commanders.
The offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front in 1916, which brought the Russian army the greatest success in the war, went down in history as the Brusilov breakthrough, but this brilliant maneuver did not receive strategic development. After the February Revolution of 1917, Brusilov, as a supporter of continuing the war to a victorious end, was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but due to the failure of the June offensive and the order to suppress calls for non-execution of military orders, he was replaced by L. G. Kornilov.
In August 1917, when Kornilov moved part of his troops to Petrograd with the aim of introducing a military dictatorship, Brusilov refused to support him. During the fighting in Moscow, Brusilov was wounded in the leg by a shell fragment and was ill for a long time.
Despite his arrest by the Cheka in 1918, he refused to join the White movement and from 1920 began serving in the Red Army. He headed a Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces of the RSFSR, which developed recommendations for strengthening the Red Army. From 1921 he was chairman of the commission for organizing pre-conscription cavalry training, and from 1923 he was attached to the Revolutionary Military Council to carry out particularly important assignments.
Famous Russian commander of the First World War. General of the cavalry.
Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov was a hereditary military man. He received his military education at the Corps of Pages and the Officers' Cavalry School.
He began serving in the Russian army in 1871 in the 15th Tver Dragoon Regiment, with which he participated in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 in the Caucasus. He distinguished himself during the capture of the fortresses of Ardahan and Kars and was awarded three military orders for his valor.
After the war, he served as head of the regimental training team, and then for almost eight years, from 1883, at the Officer Cavalry School: he was head of the riding and dressage department, then head of the dragoon department, assistant chief and head of the school (since 1902). This institution was a genuine cavalry academy of the Russian army.
The command of the St. Petersburg Officer Cavalry School opened up for A.A. Brusilov has a good prospect. In 1906, he became the head of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division. Three years later, he received command of the 14th Army Corps, then was appointed commander of the Warsaw Military District. Also in 1912, Brusilov received the rank of general from the cavalry. He met the highest manifesto on the entry of the Russian Empire into the war as commander of the 12th Army Corps.
With the beginning of the First World War A.A. Brusilov was appointed commander of the Proskurov Group of Forces, which was soon transformed into the 8th Russian Army of the Southwestern Front, which was then headed by artillery general Nikolai Iudovich Ivanov. The army consisted of three army corps, one cavalry and 4 Cossack divisions, and had 472 guns. Its northern neighbor was the 3rd Army under the command of Infantry General N.V. Ruzsky, in the south - the Dniester detachment.
In mid-September 1914, the 8th Russian Army truly heroically fought off the advancing enemy. At the cost of heavy losses, she managed to maintain the integrity of her defensive line. Then the Brusilov army became famous for the capture of the cities of Tarnopol and Galich, the defeat of the 2nd Austro-Hungarian Army that opposed it, and its access to the Duklinsky Pass area in the Carpathians. The last victory was of strategic importance in initial period war, since from Dukla there was a direct route to the Hungarian Plain. In the Khirovsky battle alone, units of the 8th Army took about 15 thousand prisoners, 22 guns and 40 machine guns.
For successful actions in Galicia A.A. Brusilov was awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd and 4th degrees.
In the battle that began in January 1915 in the Carpathians, the Brusilov army as a whole successfully resisted three enemy armies at once - the 2nd and 7th Austro-Hungarian and Southern. Brusilov managed not only to stop the enemy offensive, but also went on a counteroffensive and regained the tactically important Lupkovsky Pass. In total, during these battles in the Carpathian Mountains, the Russians captured about 48 thousand enemy soldiers and 17 guns and 119 machine guns.
Then the troops of A.A. Brusilov took the powerful enemy fortress of Przemysl, where the Russians captured about 30 thousand people and seized them as trophies a large number of artillery pieces. The Austrians surrendered the fortress, having previously blown up its main fortifications. In April 1915, Emperor Nicholas II granted the commander of the 8th Army a court rank - the rank of adjutant general. It was a great reward.
In the spring of 1915, a disaster occurred at the theater of military operations in Galicia - a strike group of troops of German General von Mackensen, supported by a huge number of heavy artillery pieces, broke through the Russian Front in the area of the Polish city of Gorlice. This “pushing through” the general position of the Russian troops led to large territorial losses for Russia. Her armies began to retreat from previously conquered lands.
A.A. Brusilov, by order of Headquarters, withdrew the 8th Army from the ridge of the Carpathian Mountains. His troops fought stubborn battles in Volhynia and Galicia with varying degrees of success. The commander carried out a successful offensive operation with the forces of two army corps, during which the city of Lutsk was temporarily captured.
In March 1916, Brusilov was appointed commander of the Southwestern Front, which included four Russian armies. At a meeting held in April of the same year at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief regarding further plans for waging the war, he announced the need to go on the offensive on his front, vouching for its complete success.
Headquarters, at a meeting in which Emperor Nicholas II took part, decided to launch a major offensive in May with the armies of the Western Front. The Northern and Southwestern Fronts were tasked with carrying out auxiliary attacks. However, subsequent events developed according to a completely different scenario.
It so happened that the greatest success in a large-scale offensive operation on the Russian Front fell to the lot of Brusilov's armies. The Western and Northern fronts were unable to solve the tasks assigned to them. The summer offensive operation of Russian troops in 1916 entered the world military as the famous Brusilov breakthrough.
The breakthrough of enemy defenses was carried out simultaneously in four directions along a 550-kilometer front. This decision of Brusilov did not allow the enemy command, even during the offensive operation itself, to determine the direction of the main Russian attack. The troops carefully prepared for the offensive, replenished with fresh reserves from marching companies and receiving the required amount of ammunition for small arms. There were considerable difficulties in supplying the front artillery with combat supplies, and they had to be saved all the time. Reconnaissance, including aviation, thoroughly studied the front edge of enemy positions and the most convenient approaches to it.
A.A. Brusilov made sure that the military leaders subordinate to him had the opportunity to show their own initiative on the battlefield. The commanders of the armies of the Southwestern Front received full right (it was formalized in Brusilov's order for the offensive) to make independent decisions as the situation changed. By the beginning of the offensive operation, the Southwestern Front numbered 643,500 bayonets, 71,000 sabers and 2,200 guns.
The Brusilov breakthrough began at the scheduled time on May 22. In order to achieve the effect of surprise, the Russians did not carry out preliminary artillery preparation, as well as a preliminary concentration of troops on the sectors of the front designated for a breakthrough. The opposing side also conducted reconnaissance and could easily detect the movement of thousands of troops in any one direction. This would allow the enemy to take adequate measures to suppress possible Russian offensive actions.
Already on the first day of the offensive, a gap 50 kilometers wide was made near the city of Lutsk. However, to develop success here, the front commander did not have large reserves, and besides, the Kovel direction was considered the most important. Increasing the force of the attack, the 9th Front Army defeated the 7th Austro-Hungarian Army and threw it back across the Prut River and into Transnistria. The enemy troops found themselves scattered over a wide front and lost unified control. By the evening of June 1, the Russians had taken about 150 thousand prisoners and a lot of captured weapons.
Already at the very beginning of the offensive of the Southwestern Front, the Kovel railway line, important for enemy maneuvers, was under threat. Success followed success. The 4th Austro-Hungarian Army, commanded by Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, was put to flight. Soon the enemy began a hasty retreat along the entire front line.
The headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief hastily reinforced the Southwestern Front with four army corps, which allowed A.A. Brusilov to increase the offensive in the main directions.
However, soon the general offensive had to be suspended, since the actions of the armies of the neighboring Western Front were not successful, and the right flank of the Southwestern Front could be exposed with further advancement. Meanwhile, the army of Austria-Hungary was on the brink of disaster. She did not have enough ammunition, and her artillery batteries were on starvation rations.
Vienna began to ask Germany for immediate help. Berlin understood the seriousness of the situation on the Eastern Front and took urgent measures to eliminate the Brusilov breakthrough and save its ally. The German command could transport only a small number of troops from East Prussia, and the prepared reserves within Germany itself were clearly insufficient. Berlin had to take extreme measures.
The German command stopped the successful offensive near the French fortress of Verdun and quickly transferred large forces from there by rail to the Russian Front. Now France could breathe freely - true to its allied duty, Russia once again came to its aid. To carry out a counteroffensive, a strong army group was created under the command of German General Alexander von Linsingen. It struck the northern flank of the advancing Southwestern Front.
In early August and mid-September, his troops made their last offensive breakthrough and found themselves in the foothills of the Carpathians. The Brusilov offensive ended with the complete depletion of the attacking potential of the Russian armies, when German troops, hastily transferred from near Verdun, supported the defeated Austrians. If not for these timely reinforcements, Austria-Hungary could have left the war back in 1916.
The victory of the Southwestern Front was impressive primarily for its results. By June 12, the Brusilov armies had about 200 thousand prisoners in combat, and the trophies taken included 219 guns, 196 mortars and 644 machine guns. The total enemy losses exceeded 400 thousand people. The front armies lost about 200 thousand people.
During the Brusilov breakthrough, the troops of Austria-Hungary were defeated in Volyn, Galicia and Bukovina. After such a crushing blow main ally Germany in the First World War was no longer able to restore its former military strength.
The military award to the commander of the Southwestern Front, Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov, was the honorary golden weapon of St. George.
The Brusilov breakthrough of 1916 was highly praised by domestic and foreign historians.
“The Brusilov breakthrough was the most skillful Russian operation of the entire First World War,” write R. Ernest and Trevor N. Dupuis about the Russian commander. — Among its strategic consequences, one can note the weakening of the offensives of the armies of the Central Bloc countries in Italy and near Verdun and the final elimination of Austria from the list of major military powers. However, Russia lost more than a million people (in fact, the losses were half as much. - A.Sh.) - this is more than even such a large country as it could afford. The offensive of General Brusilov cannot be called the direct cause of the Russian revolution, but it is quite possible that it was it that made the revolution inevitable. Austria's losses were even greater than Russia's, and this defeat contributed more to the collapse of the Habsburg Empire than any other factor."
In preparation for the 1917 campaign, A.A. Brusilov proposed a plan for an offensive operation in the Balkans with the forces of the Southwestern and Romanian fronts. However, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief rejected this proposal and assigned the Brusilov Front another task - to advance in the direction of Lvov.
During the February events of 1917, front commander A.A. Brusilov was among those senior military leaders of the Russian army who convinced Emperor Nicholas II Romanov to abdicate power. Thus, the Russian generals hoped to save Russia and the Russian army from death.
In February 1917 A.A. Brusilov became a military adviser to the Provisional Government. In May of the same year, he was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. However, he did not manage to hold on to this high position for long.
Responding to the greetings of the Mogilev Council, General A.A. Brusilov defined his role as Supreme Commander-in-Chief as follows: “I am the leader of the revolutionary army, appointed to my responsible post by the revolutionary people and the Provisional Government, in agreement with the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. I was the first to serve on the side of the people, I serve them, I will serve them, and I will never separate from them.”
However, despite all the efforts, the new Supreme Commander-in-Chief was unable to stop the revolutionary ferment in active army and especially in the rear garrisons. A new revolutionary situation was brewing in Russia, against which the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army was powerless. In July of the same 1917, he was replaced by a much more decisive General L.G. Kornilov and recalled to Petrograd as a military adviser to the Provisional Government.
After the October Revolution of 1917, A.A. Brusilov remained in Soviet Russia, turning down an offer to become one of the military leaders of the white movement in the south of the country, where many of his recent colleagues ended up. He settled in Moscow. During the October battles of the Red Guards with the white cadets, Alexey Alekseevich was accidentally wounded.
In 1919, he enlisted in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, where he held a number of high positions. However, all of them did not belong to the category of command, and direct participation in Civil War he didn't accept. The former tsarist general was (consistently) the chairman of the Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces - created on the initiative of Brusilov himself, an inspector of the cavalry of the Red Army, and the chief military inspector of horse breeding and horse breeding. Since March 1924, he was attached to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR on particularly important assignments.
Political activities of Aleksey Alekseevich in Soviet time didn't study. Except for the fact that at the beginning of the Soviet-Polish war he was one of the signatories of the appeal to the population and society about the fight against Belopa Poland. He died and was buried in Moscow, leaving his descendants with his memoirs “My Memoirs,” which were republished several times.
Brusilov entered the world military as the author of an offensive strategy of parallel strikes in several areas of breaking through the enemy front, separated from each other by unattacked areas, but forming a single system. This required high military art. In the First World War of 1914-1918, such a strategic operation was within the power of only one person - the commander of the Russian Southwestern Front.
Alexey Shishov. 100 great military leaders
Brusilov Alexey Alekseevich (born August 19 (31), 1853 - death March 17, 1926) - infantry general, took part in the Russian-Turkish (1877–1878) and the First World War, commander of the Southwestern Front (1916), Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian troops (1917), inspector of the cavalry of the Red Army (1920)
Origin. Childhood
Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov was a hereditary military man. He was born on August 19, 1853 in the family of a general in Tiflis. By the time his first child was born, the father was already 60 years old, and the mother was 28. But their marriage was happy. After Alexey, three more boys were born. Alexey's childhood passed in an atmosphere of love and happiness. But when he was six years old, a misfortune happened: his father died suddenly, and another 4 months later his mother died. The children's further upbringing took place in the family of their aunt and uncle, who, being childless, doted on the boys. In their home, with the help of governesses and tutors, the children received an excellent education.
Education. Service
At the age of 14, the future commander was taken to St. Petersburg, where he successfully passed the exams in the Corps of Pages and was immediately enrolled in the third class, and in 1872, upon completion of his studies, he was accepted into service as an ensign in the 15th Tver Dragoon Regiment, which was located in Transcaucasia, in Kutaisi, and was soon appointed junior platoon officer in the 1st squadron.
Alexei Brusilov's service in the regiment was favorable and did not differ in anything special: he did not violate discipline, was not late for service, and enjoyed training with the dragoons of his platoon. He himself, adoring horses and riding, willingly learned from veterans how to handle a horse. This was noticed, and six months later the young officer was appointed adjutant of the regiment to a position requiring accuracy, discipline and tact, which the young ensign possessed to the fullest. 1874, April - Brusilov was promoted to lieutenant.
Russo-Turkish War 1877–1878
The first war for the future general was the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. Brusilov and his regiment went to the southern border. Young officers perceived the beginning of the war with great enthusiasm, because their salaries were increased and the opportunity to receive awards appeared. The Tver Regiment was part of the 1st Cavalry Division of the Caucasian Army, under the command of M. T. Loris-Melikov.
Brusilov was able to distinguish himself already in the first battle, when, commanding a detachment of dragoons, he captured Turkish barracks and the commander of the Turkish border brigade. For his distinction during the capture of the Ardahan fortress, he was awarded the first military award - the Order of Stanislav, 3rd degree with swords and bow. Then new awards followed: the Order of Anna 3rd degree, the rank of staff captain and the Order of Stanislav 2nd degree for courage during the assault and capture of Kars. This war gave Brusilov good combat training. At the age of 25 he was already an experienced officer.
A.A. Brusilov Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front
Service after the war
After the end of the war, until the autumn of 1881, Brusilov continued to serve in the Caucasus, and then was sent to study at the St. Petersburg Cavalry School. He enjoyed studying cavalry science and visited the best cavalry units of the Russian army. Brusilov completed the course with honors and was transferred as an adjutant to the permanent staff of the school.
1884 - Alexey Alekseevich married Anna Nikolaevna Gagenmeister, his uncle’s cousin. Three years later, their son Alexei was born. While working at the cavalry school, Brusilov developed vigorous energy in improving the organization of training for cavalry officers. His rank increases and his positions change: adjutant, senior teacher of riding and dressage, head of the department of squadron and hundred commanders, assistant head of the school.
1900 - Brusilov receives the rank of major general and is assigned to the staff of the Life Guards. This was facilitated by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, who was the chief inspector of the cavalry at that time. Alexey Alekseevich worked a lot, wrote articles about cavalry science, studied the experience of horse riding and the work of stud farms in France, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. After 2 years, he was appointed to the post of head of the St. Petersburg cavalry school. Relying on the support of the Grand Duke, Brusilov did a lot to improve the business entrusted to him. The school under his leadership became a recognized center for training command staff of the Russian cavalry.
1906 - Brusilov is appointed commander of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division, where he earned great respect from his subordinates. He paid a lot of attention to training with officers on the map, offensive combat, and maneuver. In the summer, relevant exercises were carried out. But at this time, things in the general’s family deteriorated sharply: his wife was seriously ill and was slowly fading away. 1908 - she died. Brusilov took the loss seriously. Personal drama, as well as the oppressive situation of St. Petersburg life after the revolution of 1905–1907. pushed him to the decision to leave the guard for the army. He achieved an appointment to the Warsaw Military District in Lublin as commander of the 14th Army Corps. At the same time, he was promoted to lieutenant general. The 14th Corps was a large military formation with more than 40 thousand soldiers and officers, so Brusilov had a huge and complex economy under his tutelage.
In Lublin, Alexey Alekseevich met Nadezhda Vladimirovna Zhelikhovskaya, whom he knew from the Caucasus in the days of his youth and with whom he was secretly in love. With her half-brother he took part in the Turkish campaign. Brusilov, who was already 57 years old at that time, offered his hand to 45-year-old Nadezhda. 1909, November - the wedding took place in the church of the dragoon regiment.
1912, May - Brusilov is appointed assistant commander of the Warsaw Military District and promoted to cavalry general. But soon friction began with Governor General Skalon and other “Russian Germans” at the district headquarters, and he was forced to leave Warsaw and take the post of commander of the 12th Army Corps in the Kiev Military District. Meanwhile, peaceful life was coming to an end, World War. In June 1914, a general mobilization of the Russian army was announced.
General A. A. Brusilov with officers of the 8th Army headquarters
World War I
The beginning of the war found A. Brusilov at the post of commander of the 8th Army, which was part of the Southwestern Front. Under his command were the future leaders of the White movement: Quartermaster General, commander of the 12th Cavalry Division A. Kaledin, commander of the 48th Infantry Division. In the very first days of hostilities, Brusilov’s army took part in the Battle of Galicia. Acting together with the 3rd Army of General Ruzsky, units of the 8th Army advanced 130–150 km deep into Galicia during a week of fighting and in mid-August near the Zolotaya Lipa and Gnilaya Lipa rivers, during fierce battles, they were able to defeat the Austrians.
Galich and Lvov were taken, Galicia was cleared of the enemy. For these victories, Brusilov was awarded the Order of George, 4th and 3rd degrees. In the first half of 1915, the fighting took on a positional character. Nevertheless, the 8th Army was able to ensure that the blockade of the Przemysl fortress was maintained, which predetermined its fall. Having visited Galicia, Brusilov was awarded the title of adjutant general.
However, in the summer of 1915 the situation on the Southwestern Front worsened. As a result of the breakthrough of German troops at Gorlitsa, the Russian armies left Galicia. 1916, March - Brusilov was appointed commander of the Southwestern Front. In April, at a meeting at headquarters, Nicholas II decided to launch an offensive by forces of three fronts: Northern, Western and Southwestern. Brusilov was given purely defensive tasks, but he insisted on an offensive.
"Brusilovsky breakthrough"
“The first shell, as indicated in the artillery plan, exploded exactly at 4 o’clock in the morning... Every 6 minutes a heavy gun thundered, sending a huge shell with an ominous whistle. The lighter guns fired in the same measured manner. The cannons fired even faster at the wire fences. An hour later the fire intensified. The roaring tornado of fire and steel grew...
Around 10 am, the artillery fire noticeably weakened... By all indications, the attack of the Russian infantry was about to begin. Tired and exhausted Austrians, Hungarians and Germans crawled out of their shelters and stood next to the surviving machine guns... But the Russian army did not go on the attack. And again after 15 minutes. An avalanche of bombs and shells fell on the enemy's front line. Shrapnel caused terrible devastation among enemy soldiers... Enemy soldiers no longer constituted an organized army. It was a gathering of mentally shocked people thinking only about salvation.
This continued for more than an hour... At exactly noon, the Russian infantry rose from their trenches and launched a swift attack..." - this is how the writer Yu. Weber described the beginning of the famous Brusilov breakthrough - the only battle during the First World War, named after its developer and leader .
In those days, the Battle of Verdun unfolded in France, the Germans were rushing to Paris. It was then, on May 22, that the offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front began, which was called the “Brusilovsky breakthrough.” After a strong and effective artillery preparation, the Austro-Hungarian front for 550 km was penetrated to a depth of 60 to 150 km. The enemy lost up to 1.5 million people killed, wounded and prisoners, and a large number of weapons. Russian troops lost up to 500 thousand people. This victory had great importance. The French commander-in-chief, General Joffre, wrote in a telegram to Emperor Nicholas:
“The entire French army rejoices over the victory of the valiant Russian army - a victory, the meaning and results of which are felt every day...” The Austro-Hungarian army was defeated, the Germans and Austrians stopped the offensive in Italy, German units were transferred from near Verdun to the Russian front, France saved! For this victory, Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov was awarded the St. George's Arms, decorated with diamonds.
General A. A. Brusilov - (1916)
Revolutionary years
During the February events of 1917, front commander A.A. Brusilov was among those senior military leaders of the Russian army who convinced Emperor Nicholas II Romanov to abdicate the throne. With this, the Russian generals hoped to save Russia and the Russian army from destruction.
In February 1917, Brusilov became a military adviser to the Provisional Government. In May of the same year, he was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. But he did not manage to hold on to this high position for long.
Responding to the greeting of the Mogilev Council, General A.A. Brusilov defined his role as Supreme Commander in Chief: “I am the leader of the revolutionary army, appointed to my responsible post by the revolutionary people and the Provisional Government, in agreement with the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. I was the first to serve on the side of the people, I serve them, I will serve them and I will never separate from them.”
But despite all the efforts, the new Supreme Commander-in-Chief was unable to stop the revolutionary ferment in the army and especially in the rear garrisons. A new revolutionary situation was brewing in Russia, against which the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army was powerless. In July of the same 1917, he was replaced by a much more decisive General L. Kornilov and recalled to Petrograd as a military adviser to the Provisional Government.
After the October Revolution of 1917, Brusilov remained in Soviet Russia, declining an offer to become one of the military leaders of the white movement in the south of the country, where many of his recent colleagues ended up. He settled in Moscow. During the October battles between the Red Guards and the white cadets, Brusilov was accidentally wounded.
On the side of the Bolsheviks
After the death of his son, who served in the Red Army and was shot by the Whites in 1919, the general sided with the Bolsheviks, where he held a number of high positions. But all of them did not belong to the category of command, and he did not take direct part in the Civil War. The former tsarist general was (consistently) the chairman of the Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces - created on the initiative of Brusilov himself, an inspector of the Red Army cavalry, and the chief military inspector of horse breeding and breeding. Since March 1924, he was attached to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR on particularly important assignments.
Brusilov in world military history
Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov died in Moscow on March 17, 1926 at the age of 73 and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery with full military honors.
Brusilov entered the world military history as the author of an offensive strategy of parallel attacks on several sectors of the breakthrough of the enemy front, separated from each other by unattacked sections, but forming a single system. This required high military art. In the First World War 1914-1918. Such a strategic operation was within the power of only one person - the commander of the Russian Southwestern Front.
World War I
Revolutionary years
Perpetuation of memory
(August 19 (31), 1853, Tiflis - March 17, 1926, Moscow) - Russian military leader and military educator, cavalry general (from December 6, 1912), adjutant general (from April 10, 1915), chief inspector of the Red Army cavalry (1923) . Nicknames "Fox"
Biography
Born in Tiflis in the family of a general. Mother, Maria Luiza Antonovna (Maria Luiza Niestojemska), came from the family of a Pole, collegiate assessor A. Nestoemsky. In 1867 he entered the page corps. He graduated from it in 1872 and was released into the 16th Tver Dragoon Regiment. In 1873-1878. - regimental adjutant. Participant in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. in the Caucasus. He distinguished himself during the capture of the Turkish fortresses of Ardagan and Kars, for which he received the Order of St. Stanislav, 3rd and 2nd degrees, and the Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree. In 1878-1881. - head of the regimental training team.
From 1883 he served in the St. Petersburg Officer Cavalry School: adjutant, assistant chief (from 1890), head of the riding and dressage department; head of the dragoon department (since 1893). From November 10, 1898 - assistant head, from February 10, 1902 - head of the school. Brusilov became known not only in Russia, but also abroad as an outstanding expert in cavalry riding and sports. Major General (1900). K. Mannerheim, who served at the school under his command before the Russo-Japanese War, recalled: “He was an attentive, strict, demanding leader of his subordinates and gave very good knowledge. His military games and exercises on the ground were exemplary and extremely interesting in their development and execution.”
Having no previous experience of commanding either a regiment or a brigade, only thanks to the patronage of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, who had exceptional influence on the appointment of senior cavalry commanders before the war, he was appointed on April 19, 1906, head of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division. From January 5, 1909 - commander of the 14th Army Corps. From December 5, 1912 - assistant to the commander of the Warsaw Military District. General of the cavalry (art. December 6, 1912). From August 15, 1913 - commander of the 12th Army Corps.
He was seriously involved in the occult, constantly emphasizing “his purely Russian, Orthodox convictions and beliefs.”
He actively intrigued and slandered against his immediate superior, the Warsaw Governor-General, Adjutant General G.A. Skalona, playing on his ethnicity, as well as his wife, Maria Iosifovna Korf. However, Emperor Nicholas II, when he received Brusilov’s complaints, instructed the general to bow to G.A. Skalon. Brusilov, who did not understand anything, later admitted that this order from the Emperor “extremely surprised and offended” him.
World War I
In World War I, commander of the 8th Army in the Battle of Galicia. During this period, due to a lack of experience in leading large formations, he was completely under the influence of the chief of staff. On August 15-16, during the Rohatyn battles, he defeated the 2nd Austro-Hungarian Army, capturing 20 thousand people. and 70 guns. On August 20, Galich was captured. The 8th Army takes an active part in the battles at Rava-Russkaya and in the Battle of Gorodok. In September he commanded a group of troops from the 8th and 3rd armies. From September 28 to October 11, his army withstood a counterattack by the 2nd and 3rd Austro-Hungarian armies in battles on the San River and near the city of Stryi. During the successfully completed battles, 15 thousand prisoners were captured, and at the end of October his army entered the foothills of the Carpathians.
In early November, having pushed back the troops of the 3rd Austro-Hungarian Army from positions on the Beskydy Range, the Carpathians occupied the strategic Lupkovsky Pass. In the Krosno and Limanov battles he defeated the troops of the 3rd and 4th Austro-Hungarian armies. In these battles, his troops captured 48 thousand prisoners, 17 guns and 119 machine guns.
In February 1915, in the battle of Boligrod-Liski, he thwarted the enemy’s attempts to release his troops besieged in the Przemysl fortress, taking 30 thousand people prisoner. In March, he captured the main Beskydy ridge of the Carpathian Mountains and by March 30 completed the operation to cross the Carpathians. German troops pinned down his troops in difficult battles near Kazyuvka and thereby prevented the advance of Russian troops into Hungary. When disaster struck in the spring of 1915 - the Gorlitsky breakthrough and the heavy defeat of the Russian troops - Brusilov began an organized retreat of the army under constant pressure from the enemy and led the army to the river. San. During the battles at Radymno, in the Gorodok positions, he confronted an enemy who had an absolute advantage in artillery, especially heavy artillery. On June 9, Lvov was abandoned. Brusilov's army retreated to Volyn, successfully defending itself in the Battle of Sokal from the troops of the 1st and 2nd Austro-Hungarian armies and in the battle on the river. Goryn in August 1915. At the beginning of September, in the battle of Vishnevets and Dubno, he defeated the 1st and 2nd Austro-Hungarian armies opposing him. On September 10, his troops took Lutsk, and on October 5, Czartorysk. Awarded the Order of St. George, 4th (VP 08/23/1914) and 3rd (VP 09/18/1914) degrees.
In the summer and autumn of 1915, at the request of the commander of the 8th Army Brusilov, repeated attempts were made to expand the scale of deportations of the local German population in geographical and numerical terms; to the west of Sarn, Rovno, Ostrog, Izyaslav, from October 23, the deportation of those still remaining in their places by decision was carried out A special meeting of such categories of German colonists as old people over 60 years old, widows and mothers of those killed at the front, the disabled, the blind, the crippled. According to General Brusilov, they “undoubtedly damage telegraph and telephone wires.” 20 thousand people were expelled within 3 days.
From March 17, 1916 - Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front. In 1916, he carried out a successful offensive on the Southwestern Front, the so-called. Brusilovsky breakthrough, using a previously unknown form of breakthrough of the positional front, which consisted in simultaneous the advance of all armies. The main blow, in accordance with the plan developed by Brusilov, was delivered by the 8th Army under the command of General A. M. Kaledin in the direction of the city of Lutsk. Having broken through the front on the 16-kilometer Nosovichi-Koryto section, the Russian army occupied Lutsk on May 25 (June 7), and by June 2 (15) it defeated the 4th Austro-Hungarian Army of Archduke Joseph Ferdinand and advanced 65 km. This operation went down in history under the name Brusilovsky breakthrough (also found under the original name Lutsk breakthrough). Behind successful implementation of this offensive, A. A. Brusilov, by a majority vote of the St. George Duma at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, was nominated to be awarded the Order of St. George 2nd degree. However, Emperor Nicholas II did not approve the proposal (at Headquarters they knew the “authorship” of the Lutsk breakthrough - General M.V. Khanzhin was promoted to lieutenant general), and A.A. Brusilov, along with General. A.I. Denikin was awarded the St. George's weapon with diamonds, which subsequently fueled Brusilov's dislike for the Tsar.
Revolutionary years
During the February Revolution, he supported the removal of Nicholas II and the rise to power of the Provisional Government. He was an ardent supporter of the creation of the so-called. "shock" and "revolutionary" units. So, on May 22 (June 4), 1917, Brusilov issues order No. 561 on the front, which states:
On May 22, 1917, he was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief by the Provisional Government instead of General Alekseev. Last Protopresbyter Russian army and fleet o. Georgy Shavelsky recalled Brusilov’s meeting at the station at headquarters (Mogilev) after his appointment:
After the failure of the June offensive, Brusilov was removed from his post as Supreme Commander-in-Chief and replaced by General Kornilov. After retirement, he lived in Moscow. During the October Revolution, he was accidentally wounded by a shell fragment that hit his house during the battles between the Red Guards and cadets.
In the Red Army
Since 1920 in the Red Army. From May 1920, he headed the Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces of the Soviet Republic, which developed recommendations for strengthening the Red Army. Since 1921, Aleksey Alekseevich was the chairman of the commission for organizing pre-conscription cavalry training; since 1923, he was attached to the Revolutionary Military Council for particularly important assignments. In 1923-1924 - cavalry inspector.
A. A. Brusilov died on March 17, 1926 in Moscow from pneumonia at the age of 73. He was buried with full military honors at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Family
The younger brother, Lev Alekseevich Brusilov, served in the navy, participated in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, and died in 1909 with the rank of vice admiral. Son Alexey (1887-1919), officer of the Life Guards Horse Grenadier Regiment. In August 1918, the Cheka was arrested and spent six months in prison. Since 1919 - in the Red Army, commander of a cavalry regiment. According to some sources, he was captured by the “Drozdovites” and was shot; according to other sources, while in captivity he entered the White Army as an ordinary rifleman, fell ill with typhus and died in Rostov.
Memoirs
Brusilov left behind a memoir entitled “My Memoirs,” dedicated primarily to his service in Tsarist and Soviet Russia. The second volume of Brusilov’s memoirs was transferred to the White emigrant archive in 1932 by his widow N.V. Brusilova-Zhelikhovskaya, who went abroad after her husband’s death. It touches on the description of his life after the October Revolution and is sharply anti-Bolshevik in nature. This part of the memoirs was presumably written during treatment in Karlovy Vary in 1925 and, according to the will, was to be made public only after the death of the author.
The Soviet edition of “Memoirs” (Voenizdat, 1963) does not include the 2nd volume, the authorship of which, according to a number of Soviet scientists, belonged to Brusilov’s widow Brusilova-Zhelikhovskaya, who thus tried to justify her husband before the White emigration, and the 1st volume was subjected to censorship in places where Brusilov touched upon ideological issues. Currently, a complete edition of the memoirs of A. A. Brusilov has been published.
Awards
- Order of St. Anne, 3rd class (1878)
- Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class with swords and bow (1878)
- Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd class with swords (1878)
- Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st class (1903)
- Order of St. Anne, 1st class (1909)
- Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class (1912)
- Order of St. George 4th class (08/23/1914)
- Order of St. George, 3rd class (09/18/1914)
- Golden Arms of St. George "For Bravery" with diamonds
Perpetuation of memory
On December 1, 2006, in Vinnitsa (Ukraine), at house No. 5 on Architect Artynov Street, a memorial bas-relief depicting the commander of the South-Western Front was unveiled against the backdrop of a diagram of the Brusilov breakthrough. In fact, the general and his family lived for several years in another house, which was located opposite the Vinnitsa State Academic Music and Drama Theater. N.K. Sadovsky does not exist even now.
On November 14, 2007 in St. Petersburg, in the park on Shpalernaya Street, near its intersection with Tavricheskaya Street, a four-meter bronze monument to A. A. Brusilov was erected (sculptor Ya. Ya. Neiman, architect S. P. Odnovalov).
There are streets named after A. A. Brusilov in Voronezh and Moscow (Yuzhnoye Butovo district).
On Saturday evening news different channels TV told about the anniversary of the Brusilov breakthrough.
But no one mentioned that Brusilov sided with the Bolsheviks after October, essentially becoming a general of the Red Army. He became the head of the Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces of the Soviet Republic, which developed recommendations for strengthening the Red Army.
On May 30, 1920, when the situation on the Polish front became threatening for Russia, the Russian officers issued an appeal “to all former officers, wherever they may be” to come to the defense of the Motherland in the ranks of the Red Army. The remarkable words of this address, perhaps, fully reflect the moral position of the best part of the Russian aristocracy, real Russian patriots:
« At this critical historical moment of our folk life we, your senior comrades in arms, appeal to your feelings of love and devotion to the Motherland and appeal to you with an urgent request to forget all insults, no matter who and where you inflict them, and voluntarily go with complete selflessness and eagerness to the Red Army at the front or to the rear, wherever the government of Soviet Workers' and Peasants' Russia appoints you and serve there not out of fear, but out of conscience, so that through your honest service, not sparing your life, you can defend at all costs our dear Russia and prevent its theft , because, in the latter case, it may disappear irrevocably and then our descendants will rightly curse us and correctly blame us for the fact that, due to selfish feelings of class struggle, we did not use our military knowledge and experience, forgot our native Russian people and ruined our Mother Russia».
The appeal bore the signatures of Cavalry General Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov, Infantry General Alexei Andreevich Polivanov, Infantry General Andrei Meandrovich Zayonchkovsky and many other generals of the Russian Army.
In 1921, Brusilov was the chairman of the commission for organizing pre-conscription cavalry training, from 1923 he was attached to the Revolutionary Military Council for especially important assignments, and in 1923-1924 he was the chief inspector of the Red Army cavalry.
The white emigration rained curses on Brusilov's head. In the lists of “traitors who sold out to the Bolsheviks,” he was in proud first place. The general himself reacted to this rather ironically, noting: “The Bolsheviks obviously respect me more, because none of them ever even hinted at promising me anything.”
This should also be discussed in reports dedicated to the great Brusilov, a true patriot of his Fatherland. But this does not fit into the definition of patriotism imposed by the modern system.
General Brusilov in the service of Russia alone
And we will do this in connection with another upcoming centennial anniversary - the Russian Revolution. And that's why. We like to lament that October was the collapse of “old Russia”, that the country lost from it “ the best people", scattered throughout the emigrations. Of course, it is a great pity for those who, due to tragic circumstances, have erased themselves from their homeland. Among them were worthy people, and very worthy people. It’s a shame that many, many never had the chance to become the pride of Russia, the flower of the nation.
But those of our great ancestors who served the Motherland before October 1917 and continued to serve the same Motherland after October 1917 had the opportunity to become the pride of Russia and the flower of the nation.
Today is the time to remember the glorious life of one of them.
Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov comes from an old noble family, many of whose representatives connected their lives with military labor. His father Alexey Nikolaevich participated in Patriotic War 1812, Foreign campaigns of the Russian army of 1813-1814, for which he received several military awards, and ended his career as a lieutenant general. And in 1853, in Tiflis, where he was then serving, the future commander was born.
How to become a general
Alexei lost his parents early (his 70-year-old father died in 1859, and his mother died a few months later) and was raised in his aunt’s family. At the age of 14, he passed the exams for the 4th grade of the Corps of Pages, the most privileged military educational institution of the Russian Empire. The student showed a penchant for military disciplines, and in drill training he preferred cavalry riding.
Upon completion of his studies in 1872, Alexey Alekseevich entered the 15th Tver Dragoon Regiment, stationed in Transcaucasia. The young warrant officer enthusiastically worked with the soldiers of his platoon, which was the beginning of communication with the soldiers, which later gave him a lot.
Lieutenant Brusilov received baptism of fire in Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878 at the Asian theater of military operations - near Kars. He took part in the assault on the Ardahan fortress, the battle at the Aladzhin Heights, went into cavalry attacks, several times found himself under targeted fire, and in one of the battles a horse was killed under him. In 1877, the brave officer was promoted to rank, which few could achieve in one campaign, and his chest was decorated military orders. But the main thing is that the untested newcomer emerged from the war as a battle-hardened commander.
“Until 1881, I continued to pull my weight in the regiment,” Alexey Alekseevich later recalled, “whose life in peacetime with its everyday gossip and squabbles, of course, was of little interest.” Therefore, he willingly accepted the offer to take a course at the newly opened Officer Cavalry School in St. Petersburg. He studied diligently: having completed his studies with an “excellent” grade, Brusilov received the rank of captain, another order, and remained at school as a teacher. In 1884, Brusilov married Anna Nikolaevna Gagemeister, and three years later they had a son, named Alexei in honor of his grandfather and father.
And in 1891, already as a lieutenant colonel, the capable officer headed the department of squadron and hundred commanders of this school. By that time, he was well known in the capital’s military circles: over the years of teaching, almost the entire cavalry chief officer had passed before him.
In 1900, Brusilov was promoted to major general, and two years later he was appointed head of the school. In this post, he tried in every possible way to improve the training of students in accordance with the requirements of modern combat, thanks to which the educational institution he led soon took a prominent place in the military education system.
Theory and practice of new military science
However, Major General Brusilov not only taught, but also studied. The twentieth century had already arrived, and with it came a new type of war - and Brusilov understood that Russia, firstly, would have to fight and, secondly, in a new way.
At the same time, in the “Bulletin of the Russian Cavalry” published at the Officer Cavalry School, as well as in the “Military Collection” and other magazines, he published several works in which he developed views that were progressive for his time on the role and methods of using cavalry in battle. The author especially emphasized the importance of its massive use and proposed creating large formations such as cavalry armies for this purpose.
However, the prospect of finishing his service as head of the school did not appeal to Brusilov. During frequent conversations with the cavalry inspector, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (the Younger), he repeatedly expressed a desire to return to combat service. And in the spring of 1906, the general parted ways with educational institution, to which he devoted almost a quarter of a century, taking over the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division, one of the best in Russia, stationed in St. Petersburg.
Here Alexey Alekseevich also constantly took care of improving the training of commanders, for which the best way He considered tactical exercises, and often led them personally. In addition, he carefully studied the experience of the just ended Russian-Japanese War and saw one of the reasons for its defeat in the low level of education of the officer corps. “We,” the commander wrote, “as always, know how to die valiantly, but, unfortunately, not always bringing tangible benefit to the cause with our death, since very often we lacked the knowledge and ability to apply in practice the knowledge that we had.” .
This period of Brusilov’s service was overshadowed by the death of his wife in 1908. The son, having graduated from the Corps of Pages, plunged headlong into secular life, which outraged the ascetic and demanding commander. The relationship between father and son became strained, and the general was painfully aware of this. He submitted a transfer report from St. Petersburg and at the end of the same year took up the post of commander of the 14th Army Corps, stationed in the Vistula region near Lublin.
On the way to war
Already at the first acquaintance with the state of affairs in the new place, Brusilov became convinced of the disorder of the military economy and the severe neglect of officer training. They did not know how to work with a map, evaluate the location of their own and enemy troops from it, understand the assigned task, make a decision that corresponded to the combat situation, and when it changed abruptly, they showed confusion. And what especially worried the general was that this situation had developed precisely in the Warsaw Military District, bordering Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The new corps commander organized tactical training, obliged officers to make scientific reports on current theoretical issues, and held war games that allowed them to demonstrate their skills in working with a map and improve their combat training. Brusilov himself was often present at company, regimental, and division exercises, led corps exercises, trying to bring them closer in nature to real combat, closely monitored the actions of the troops, and gave the most valuable instructions on improving military skill and developing an offensive impulse. Like Generalissimo Suvorov, Brusilov placed initiative and a conscious attitude towards military duty at the forefront.
At the end of 1910, Alexey Alekseevich entered into his second marriage - with Nadezhda Vladimirovna Zhelikhovskaya, whom he knew during his years of service in the Caucasus. During the Russo-Japanese War, she organized sanitary and charitable institutions, and collaborated on the editorial board of the military magazine “Brotherly Help.”
Much later, the general would write about this period of his military career: “I lived in Lublin for three years... everyone knows that I was very strict towards my corps, but in injustice or lack of concern for my colleagues, generals, officers, and especially No one could blame me among the soldiers.”
As a result, the enormous work he did in a relatively short period of time to improve the combat training of the corps was appreciated by his superiors. In May 1912, Brusilov took the post of assistant commander of the Warsaw Military District, and in August-December, with interruptions, he temporarily acted as commander of the district. In December of the same year, for his distinguished service, he was promoted to the highest rank of the Russian army - cavalry general. In May-June 1913, he again served as commander of the Warsaw district.
But despite the fast career, Alexey Alekseevich saw himself not as a military official, albeit a high-ranking one, but as a combat commander, so he turned to the War Ministry with a request to return him to the troops. And soon, in August 1913, Brusilov headed the 12th Army Corps (Kiev Military District), whose headquarters were located in Vinnitsa. As in his previous posts, the general used every opportunity here to improve the training of the units and formations entrusted to him.
How to become pioneers in military science
With the outbreak of World War I, Brusilov became commander of the 8th Army, which occupied the left flank of the Southwestern Front (from Proskurov to the Romanian border) and opposed the troops of Austria-Hungary. Having received the order to attack, his corps set out on a campaign on August 5. Three days later they reached the state border on the Zbruch River and crossed it. The enemy's attempts to delay the advance of the 8th Army were unsuccessful. And as a result of a continuous 150-kilometer march, she approached the ancient Slavic city of Galich.
Meanwhile, in the zone of the neighboring 3rd Army, the situation was less favorable, and the general changed his plan of action. Leaving one of his corps as a barrier near Galich, he led the rest to Lvov, covering it from the south. Having covered more than 50 kilometers, the 8th Army on the Rotten Lipa River gave a counter battle to the enemy, as a result of which the latter began to retreat, which developed into a stampede. Then both Russian armies headed for Lvov, so quickly that the enemy, fearing encirclement, abandoned the city. Our troops also captured Galich, opening the way for further advancement. This is how the Galich-Lvov operation of the left wing of the Southwestern Front ended victoriously - component The Battle of Galicia, one of the largest in the First World War. Brusilov’s merits were awarded the Order of St. George, 4th and 3rd degree, the highest military awards in Russia.
However, in May 1915, the enemy struck on the right flank of the Southwestern Front - in the Gorlice area, and the 8th Army had to retreat with heavy fighting. To the credit of the commander, it should be said that she retreated in an orderly manner, under the cover of strong rearguards. For the first time in combat practice, on a large scale, Brusilov’s troops used the destruction of bridges, ferry crossings, railroad tracks and other transport facilities along the enemy’s path, which significantly reduced the pace of his advance. In addition, they captured many prisoners and even carried out a counterattack, temporarily returning Lutsk and holding Rivne.
Alexey Alekseevich actively used the techniques that he taught his subordinates in peacetime: wide maneuver, entering the enemy’s flank and rear, persistent movement forward, as well as changes in tactics dictated by the combat situation - the transition to a tough defense, an organized retreat. As a result, the 8th Army demonstrated in practice its ability to act in any situation. The army commander also showed truly Suvorov-like concern for the soldiers, which gained him great popularity. His order of that time “On providing troops hot food“, where it was emphasized: “Those commanders whose soldiers are hungry should be immediately removed from their positions.” And the commander gave many similar orders throughout the war.
“Completely unexpectedly, in mid-March 1916,” Brusilov recalled, “I received an encrypted telegram from Headquarters... which stated that I had been elected... Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front...”. Arrived new period in the life of a general. According to overall plan campaign of 1916, the task of his front was reduced to defense and preparation of a strike after the deployment of hostilities in the neighboring West. However, Alexey Alekseevich insisted: the armies entrusted to him can and must attack. There are few examples in history when a military leader, putting his authority on the line, sought to complicate the task. Supreme Commander-in-Chief Nicholas II generally did not object, although he warned that Brusilov should rely only on his own strength.
Returning from Headquarters, the general outlined his plan to the army commanders: to strike in four directions at once in order to disperse the enemy’s attention, forces and resources, and prevent him from maneuvering his reserves. And its units remaining in the “dead” zones will inevitably abandon their positions under the threat of falling into encirclement “cauldrons” or surrendering. As a result, the Austro-Hungarian front, opposing the South-Western, will completely “collapse”, which is what the innovative general achieved during the offensive of the South-Western Front, which went down in history as the Brusilov breakthrough (May 22 - October 18, 1916). Its organizer, during the hostilities, on June 20, was awarded the St. George weapon - a saber decorated with diamonds.
The enemy, according to our Headquarters, lost up to 1.5 million people killed, wounded and captured, while the Southwestern Front lost three times less. Let us emphasize: the world has witnessed a major achievement of military art, new form breakthrough of the positional front, and without numerical and fire superiority over the enemy.
Crisis and February
It would seem that Brusilov could be generally satisfied with the result of the offensive. “All of Russia rejoiced,” he noted enthusiastically. However, the general was extremely upset that the Headquarters did not use the exceptionally favorable situation to inflict a decisive defeat on the enemy, and therefore the operation of the Southwestern Front did not receive strategic development.
The general considered the figure of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to be a particularly negative factor: “Those people are criminal,” he wrote, “who did not dissuade Emperor Nicholas II in the most decisive manner, even by force, from assuming the responsibilities that he, by his knowledge, abilities, mental makeup and In no case could I bear flabbiness of will.”
During the February Revolution of 1917, Brusilov, along with other major military leaders, put pressure on Nicholas II, convincing him of the need to abdicate the throne. And in March, the headquarters of the Southwestern Front swore allegiance to the Provisional Government, and Aleksey Alekseevich was the first to take the oath. When the country’s leadership faced the question of a new Supreme Commander-in-Chief, everyone agreed: the only one who combined, according to the Chairman of the State Duma Mikhail Rodzianko, “brilliant strategic talents..., a broad understanding of Russia’s political tasks and the ability to quickly assess the current situation, this is precisely... Brusilov.”
The talented commander, who enjoyed enormous popularity and an impeccable reputation in Russia, was appointed to the highest military position on his memorable day, May 22, 1917, the anniversary of the start of the famous breakthrough. He defined his role this way: “I am the leader of the revolutionary army, appointed to my responsible post by the revolutionary people... I was the first to serve on the side of the people, I serve them, I will serve them and I will never separate from them.”
However, due to disagreements with Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky over strengthening discipline in the armed forces, Brusilov was replaced two months later by General Lavr Kornilov and recalled to Petrograd as a government adviser. Soon Alexey Alekseevich left for Moscow, where he settled near the center.
Commander of the Red Commanders
During the October armed uprising of 1917, when many Moscow districts became the scene of fierce fighting between Red Guards and supporters of the Provisional Government, one of the artillery shells hit the general’s apartment, seriously wounding him in the leg. After a major operation, he spent 8 months in the hospital.
In addition to his relatives, representatives of various underground anti-Bolshevik organizations visited him there, trying to win him over to their side. But Alexey Alekseevich answered everyone with a firm refusal.
In May 1918, Brusilov left the hospital, but he was not left alone at home. The leaders of the White movement did not lose hope of seeing the famous commander in their ranks. And soon the security officers intercepted a letter from British diplomat Robert Bruce Lockhart, which, in particular, discussed plans to involve him in the anti-Soviet underground, and the general was immediately arrested. However, after two months they were forced to release him for lack of evidence. And again, proposals from opponents of the Bolsheviks rained down from all sides, but Alexey Alekseevich never went over to their camp, and did not approve of the military intervention of the former Entente allies, because he believed that any outside interference was unacceptable.
Finally, in April 1920, Brusilov returned to military service: became a member of the Military Historical Commission for the study and use of the experience of the World War at the All-Russian General Staff. Polish attack on Soviet Russia April 25 deeply alarmed the old commander. He turned to the All-Russian General Headquarters with a proposal to organize a meeting “of people with combat and life experience for a detailed discussion of the present situation in Russia and the most appropriate measures to get rid of foreign invasion.” And soon, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, a Special Meeting was formed under the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, which was headed by Alexey Alekseevich.
He considered the massive recruitment of former officers into the Red Army one of the most effective measures to combat intervention, so he composed the famous appeal “To all former officers, wherever they are,” which important role in strengthening the armed forces.
In October of the same 1920, Brusilov was appointed a member of the Military Legislative Conference of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic as a cavalry specialist, and in November 1921 - also chairman of the Commission for the organization of cavalry pre-conscription training, in July 1922 - chief military inspector of the Main Directorate of Horse Breeding and horse breeding of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the RSFSR. In February 1923, he took the position of inspector of the Red Army cavalry. Finally, in March 1924, the old general retired due to health reasons and remained at the disposal of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR “for especially important assignments.”
Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov died on March 17, 1926 from cardiac paralysis and was buried with general honors on the territory of the Novodevichy Convent, remaining in people's memory as the personification of all the best that was in the Russian army at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, becoming a symbol of the continuity and continuity of its glorious martial traditions.
Literature:
Bazanov S.N. Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov. M., 2006.
Brusilov A.A. Breakthrough of the Austro-German front in 1916 // War and Revolution, 1927, No. 4, 5.
Brusilov A.A. My memories. M., 2001.
Vetoshnikov L.V. Brusilovsky breakthrough. Operational-strategic essay. M., 1940.
Zayonchkovsky A.M. World War 1914-1918, vol. 1-3. M., 1938.
Portuguese R.M., Alekseev P.D., Runov V.A. The First World War in the biographies of Russian military leaders. M., 1994.
Rostunov I. I. General Brusilov. M., 1964.
Rostunov I.I. Russian front of the First World War. M., 1976.
Semanov S.N. Brusilov. M., 1980.