Pēteris Slavens (russian: Славен, Пётр Антонович, ''Slaven, Pyotr Antonovich'') (

Cēsis Cēsis (), (german: Wenden, liv, Venden, et, Võnnu, pl, Kieś) is a town in Latvia located in the northern part of the Vidzeme Upland, Central Vidzeme Upland. Cēsis is on the Gauja, Gauja River valley, and is built on a series of ridges ...

, 5 April 1874 –

Valmiera Valmiera (; german: link=no, Wolmar; pl, Wolmar see other names) is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020 – 24 879. It is a state city ...

, 14 November 1919) was a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

commander, who fought in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

Military career

Slavens attended from 1893 a Junker-school and entered in the Tsarist Army. In 1917, he retired as a regimental commander for health reasons and was in various hospitals for treatment.
After the October Revolution, he was forcibly re-activated by the Red Army in the summer of 1918, despite his poor health. He commanded first a division, then from August the 5th Army in the East, and until January 1919 the Southern Front in the Russian Civil War. Because of illness, Slavens went to Riga, where from March he again had to take up the command of the

Soviet Latvian Army The 15th Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and Polish-Soviet War, which existed between 7 June 1919 and 26 December 1920. History The 15th Army was formed on 7 June 1919 by transformation of the Army of Soviet ...

. He was blamed by the Party leadership for the devastating defeat in May 1919, and court martial investigations were started against him. Slavens received his demobilization for health reasons and then illegally crossed the border into independent Latvia. The local authorities detained Slavens in November 1919 and put him in a POW camp, where he died in hospital from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Sources

* Inta Pētersone (Hrsg.): Latvijas Brīvības cīņas 1918 - 1920. Enciklopēdja. Preses nams, Riga 1999, . Seite 399–400 1874 births 1919 deaths Latvian Riflemen Military personnel of the Russian Empire Russian military personnel of World War I People of the Russian Civil War Deaths from pneumonia in Latvia Russian people imprisoned abroad Russian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Latvian detention {{Latvia-bio-stub