Baron Alexander Alexandrovich von Taube (21 August 1864 – January 1919) was an Imperial Russian general. He fought in the war of Russia against the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

. In WWI - Major General, later as Lieutenant General commanding 5th Siberian Infantry division. After 1916 democratic revolution in Russia he was elected by soldiers council to lead the Omsk (Siberia) military district. After 1917 Bolshevik insurrection he was conscripted, as military specialist, to serve in the Red army. His service with the Red army, during 1918, was planning strategic operations in Siberia. During that time, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

in Siberia was defeated by the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (russian: Добровольческая армия, translit=Dobrovolcheskaya armiya, abbreviated to russian: Добрармия, translit=Dobrarmiya) was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from ...

of admiral

Alexander Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (russian: link=no, Александр Васильевич Колчак; – 7 February 1920) was an Imperial Russian admiral, military leader and polar explorer who served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought ...

. General Taube was detained on the territory controlled by the Volunteer army. Being taken to Yekaterinburg, at that time one of the centers of the White movement) he was investigated, offered service with the

, however while still in detention he died of typhus. Many years later Soviet historians described him as a first Red General, however it is well known that Soldiers Council

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

in Siberia were under control of

Social Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

who were largely independent of Moscow Bolsheviks. It is confirmed that he was in the Red Army in 1918 as a "military specialist" (a person conscripted to serve the Red Army by order of the government). At the same time, his oldest son Alexandre, was an officer in Volunteer Army under admiral

fighting against the Red troops while his younger children were under

Bolsheviks 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 ...

rule in Moscow. General Taube was born in

Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg Pavlovsk (russian: Па́вловск "he townof Pavel" after Emperor Pavel (Paul) of Russia) is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District in the suburban part of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from St. Peter ...

. He had several brothers, including

Mikhail Taube Baron Mikhail Alexandrovich Taube (May 15, 1869, Pavlovsk, Russian Empire – November 29, 1961; Paris, France) was a famous Russian international lawyer, statesman and legal historian. Being a Catholic converted from Russian Orthodoxy, Taube came ...

. He was a recipient of the Imperial Ruisshan decorations:

Order of Saint 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 ...

, the

Order of Saint 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 Hol ...

, the

Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov) pl, Order św. Stanisława , image = , caption = , image2 = , caption2 = Ribbon of the order , awarded_by = Head of the House of Romanov , type = Dynastic order of knighthood , motto ...

and 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 ...

Bibliography

* Их именами названы улицы Омска. Омск. 1988. * Сибирский красный генерал. В. С. Познанский. Новосибирск, 1972 (2-е изд. — 1978). A Soviet, following communist party line book, being published in the USSR. * Таубе Александр Александрович. Вибе П. П., Михеев А. П., Пугачёва Н. М. Омский историко-краеведческий словарь. Москва. 1994.

Sources

Энциклопедия Омска: Омск в лицах

Биография на сайте Хронос
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taube, Alexander von 1864 births 1919 deaths Deaths from typhus Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery