Aleksei Ermolaevich Evert (russian: Алексей Ермолаевич Эверт; german: Alexei Ewert; also written ''Everth'' or ''Ewarts''; 4 March 185712 November 1918 or 10 May 1926) was an
Imperial Russian
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
of
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
extraction.
Early life and career
Aleksei Ermolaevich Evert was born on March 4, 1857 in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
, his family was of nobility of
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
ancestry. He was born to Ermolai I. Evert in the small village of
Smolinskoye in the
Moscow Governorate.
Aleksei graduated from the
1st Moscow Catherine II Cadet Corps in 1874 and the
Alexandrovskoye Military School in 1876. After graduating, he served in the
Volinsky Life-Guards Regiment.
He first saw military action in the
Russo-Turkish War
The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...
in 1877. After that in 1882, Evert graduated from the
Nikolayev Academy of General Staff, after which he stayed and served at the
Moscow Military District
The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military D ...
under the commander-in-chief of the military district, General
Pontus Brevern-de la Gardie. In late 1882, Evert was made senior adjutant of the
3rd Infantry Division. In late March 1886, he was appointed to the
Warsaw Military District
The Warsaw Military District ( pl, Warszawski Okręg Wojskowy, WOW) was one of three military districts in Poland, the other two being the Pomeranian Military District and the Silesian Military District. It was the regional executive body of the ...
, and he was made senior adjutant of the headquarters of the military district in November. He later became commander of several minor Regiments before he was appointed staff officer of the Warsaw Military District again, this time for special assignments under the commander-in-chief
Count Gurko. In late January 1893, he was appointed the chief of staff of the
10th Infantry Division. Then in late 1900, 1901, and late October 1903, he was made the chief of staff of the
11th
11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables.
Name
"Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first atteste ...
,
14th and
5th Army Corps respectively.
Russo-Japanese War
In 1904, General Evert took part in the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
. About seven months into the war, he was made quartermaster-general of the Field Staff of the Commander-in-chief
Admiral Yevgeni Alekseyev. In late March 1905, he was appointed the head of the headquarters of
1st Manchurian Army. After the war ended, he was awarded the
Gold Sword for Bravery
The Gold Sword for Bravery (russian: Золотое оружие "За храбрость") was a Russian award for bravery. It was set up with two grades on 27 July 1720 by Peter the Great, reclassified as a public order in 1807 and abolished ...
in 1906, for military distinction. In mid April 1906, he was appointed the chief of staff of the
13th Army Corps, and later commander in 1908. In 1911, Evert was promoted to
General of the Infantry, and in mid 1912, he was appointed the commander-in-chief of the
Irkutsk Military District and
ataman of the
Transbaikal Cossack host.
Upon appointed the commander of the Irkutsk Military District and the ataman of the Transbaikal Cossack host, Evert lived in the former house of a merchant (now the Actor's House). The military district headquartersand the director of the general on duty, were housed in the Fainberg house (now a half-ruined building on Khalturin Street).
World War I
The
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out in 1914, and with that, General Evert was appointed to command the
10th Army. And he briefly participated in the
East Prussian Campaign, but after several days, he was replaced by
Lieutenant-General Vasily Flug
Vasily Yegorovich Flug (March 19, 1860 – December 3, 1955) was an Imperial Russian Army General of the Infantry. A career military officer, he served in the Boxer Rebellion, Russo-Japanese War, and World War I, before joining the White movemen ...
, and he later replaced the aged General
Zaltsa, after which he took part in the
Invasion of Galicia and the battle at
Vistula River
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
. In mid August 1915, Evert later replaced army chief of staff General
Mikhail Alekseyev
Mikhail Vasilyevich Alekseyev (russian: Михаил Васильевич Алексеев) ( – ) was an Imperial Russian Army general during World War I and the Russian Civil War. Between 1915 and 1917 he served as Tsar Nicholas II's Chi ...
as the commander-in-chief of the
Western Front, he was also made adjutant-general later in December of that year. From May to June, Evert and his army fought the
Austro-
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
forces at
Opatov and
Lublin. And in September, his forces successfully repelled the Austro-German breakthrough between the cities of
Smorgon and
Dvinsk
Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the ...
, for this success, he was awarded the Order of St. George of the 3rd degree in early October.
In early March 1916, he commanded an offensive at
Lake Naroch in what is now
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
, together with General
Aleksey Kuropatkin
Aleksey Nikolayevich Kuropatkin (russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Куропа́ткин; March 29, 1848January 16, 1925) served as the Russian Imperial Minister of War from January 1898 to February 1904 and as a field command ...
. But due to a lack of scouting and artillery support, Russian artilleries were unable to capture the well-fortified German defense, causing the offensive to fail.
The French Slavic professor
Jules Legra, who arrived in the Russia in February 1916 on the instructions of the Military Propaganda Department at the second department of the General Staff of the French Ministry of Defense, in his memoirs, he negatively assessed the actions of Evert:
Brusilov Offensive
According to the directive of the Russian Supreme Command Headquarters in late April 1916, an offensive on the middle of the Western Front was entrusted to Evert. However, with the connivance of the Supreme commander-in-chief Tsar
Nicholas II, the general repeatedly delayed the terms of the offensive when the
Brusilov Offensive occurred in the neighbouring
front. The
offensive originally planned to target
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, but it was changed to target
Baranovichi (now Baranavichy in Belarus). Despite months of planning, the offensive failed to break through the German defense.
General
Aleksei Brusilov
Aleksei Alekseyevich Brusilov ( rus, Алексе́й Алексе́евич Бруси́лов, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ brʊˈsʲiɫəf; – 17 March 1926) was a Russian and later Soviet general most noted for the developme ...
,
[Brusilov AA My memories. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1983. S. 201, 215, 214.] commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front and the planner of the Brusilov Offensive (which was named after him), gave the following assessment to General Evert:
Similar estimates are available in some encyclopaedic sources.
In early 1917, General Evert proposed an attack towards Vilnius, but these plans were strongly opposed among other generals, especially General
Vasily Gurko
Vasily Iosifovich Romeyko-Gurko (russian: Васи́лий Ио́сифович Роме́йко-Гу́рко; 20 May 1864 in Tsarskoye Selo – 11 February 1937) served for a brief period as a Chief-of-Staff of the Imperial Russian Army before b ...
and
Alexander Lukomsky
Alexander Sergeyevich Lukomsky (10 July 1868 – 25 January 1939 in Paris) was a Russian military commander, General Staff, Lieutenant-General (April 1916). He fought for the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War and was one of t ...
. Under the new plan by Alekseyev, he assigned the task of inflicting a counterattack to the
10th Army.
February Revolution
On March 2, 1917, after the revolutionaries took over the government, Alekseyev sent Nicholas II a telegram, urging abdication, General Evert replied Alekseyev that he would give his conclusion after General
Ruzsky and Brusilov answered. Learning their answers, he sent the tsar a telegram, in which referred to the fact that the army "in its present composition ... can not be counted," wrote that "finding no other outcome, unlimitedly devoted to your Majesty, the loyal subject begs Your Majesty, in the name of the salvation of the Motherland and the Dynasty, to make a decision ... as the only one apparently capable of ending the revolution and saving Russia from the horrors of anarchy. "
According to the memoirs of General
Ali-Agha Shikhlinsky, after the
February Revolution, one of the members of the
Duma
A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...
,
Nikolai Shchepkin, who was ordered by the new
minister of war
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
of the newly formed
Russian Republic
The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic. in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...
,
Alexander Guchkov
Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Гучко́в) (14 October 1862 – 14 February 1936) was a Russian politician, Chairman of the Third Duma and Minister of War in the Russian Provisional Government. ...
, to go to
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
. After Shchepkin's arrival at Minsk, he suggested to high commands to get General Evert removed, so he did. After his removal, he was briefly replaced by General
Vladimir Smirnov, and then Gurko. In March, he was dismissed from service with pensions and a uniform.
Last years and Death
There is considerable uncertainty about how and when Evert actually died with no clear consensus established from the historical record. One theory is that he was arrested by the
Cheka, and was murdered after being imprisoned in
Mozhaisk
MozhayskAlternative transliterations include ''Mozhaisk'', ''Mozhajsk'', ''Mozhaĭsk'', and ''Možajsk''. ( rus, Можа́йск, p=mɐˈʐajsk) is a town and the administrative center of Mozhaysky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to th ...
(according to the memoirs of
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
Vladimir Drutskoy-Sokolinsky). Another version is that he was released after being imprisoned by the
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
s and after that he engaged in beekeeping and died peacefully at the age of 69. The most likely version is that he was killed by the guards on his way to Mozhaisk, and he was buried in a local cemetery there.
Personal life
General Evert married a woman named Nadezhda Poznanskaya, after which they went on to have seven children: Ignatius, Boris, Vladimir, Sophia, Valentina, Vera, Vsevolod. Vsevolod died very early on in his life in 1910, Ignatius was killed in 1938, Sophia and Valentina died in Moscow, the fates of the others remained unknown. And Poznanskaya had actually preserved the circumstance of her husband's death in a private collection of hers. General Evert had a brother named Apollo Evert, and he was a lieutenant-general in the army.
Honours and awards
Domestic
*
Order of St. Anna
The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...
, 4th class (1878)
*
Order of St. Stanislaus
The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...
, 3rd class (1879)
*
Order of St. Anna, 3rd class (1885)
*
Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd class (1888)
*
Order of St. Anna, 2nd class (1895)
*
Order of St. Vladimir
The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...
, 4th class (1899)
*
Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class (1903)
*
Order of St. Stanislaus], 1st class with swords (VP 28.2.1906)
*
Gold Sword for Bravery
The Gold Sword for Bravery (russian: Золотое оружие "За храбрость") was a Russian award for bravery. It was set up with two grades on 27 July 1720 by Peter the Great, reclassified as a public order in 1807 and abolished ...
(VP 18.6.1906)
*
Order of St. Anna, 1st class (1905)
*
Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class (6.12.1912)
*
Order of St. George
The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...
, 4th class (VP 18.9.1914)
*
Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia.
History
The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Empero ...
(VP 10.01.1915)
*
Order of the White Eagle (VP 10.01.1915)
*
Order of St. George, 3rd class (VP 08.10.1915)
Foreign
*:
**
Cross "For crossing the Danube"
*
**
Order of the Crown of Bukhara
References
External links
Short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evert, Alexei
Russian military personnel of World War I
Imperial Russian Army generals
Russian Provisional Government generals
Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class
Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia)
1857 births
1918 deaths