Vasily Fedorovich Novitsky ( rus, Василий Фёдорович Новицкий, - 15 January 1929) was a Russian general with a liberal, progressive viewpoint during the 19th century of

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, 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 th ...

. During the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, in 1917, he sided with the Bolsheviks.

Service

While Captain, in 1888, he spent four months as a guest of the Indian Army. His Indian studies were released in 1899, in a semi-classified document, ''Military Sketches of India'', which he was held in high regard for, especially since he had detailed the dangerous Leh-Yarkand-Kashgar route. He is most famously known for his liberal handling of the 1899 Russian student strike, as he was called in to handle protesting students as a military officer. He was the head of the Kiev Gendarme. But when he arrived, he saw that the student demonstrations were peaceful, and "he brought in the dean, who was immediately offered an armchair by the side of the chairman f the student demonstrators" The student chairman said to the rector, "We wanted to meet with you, but you wouldn't have it! So you have been fetched here by the gendarmes!" But in 1902, as the head of the Kiev gendarme, he became more menacing towards revolutionary elements. He systematically interrogated members of the group

Iskra ''Iskra'' ( rus, Искра, , ''the Spark'') was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). History Due to political repression under Tsar Nicho ...

, who were emigre Socialist Revolutionaries, and for whom he was planning a great, state trial, hoping that he could get a heavy sentence passed against the revolutionaries. During

World War I 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 ...

, Novitsky was part of the Northern Front, responsible for fighting the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

in the north down to northern

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 R ...

.Северный фронт
. Ria1914.info. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

Soviet Union

When the Russian Revolution destroyed Imperial Russia, Novitsky came to accept the new social and political change. In Soviet history, he is credited by historians with having made "a notable contribution to the rise and evolution of Soviet military art."

Works

* ''Military Sketches of India'' (1899) * ''Cossacks, Cossack groups, Cossack military forces'' (1915)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novitsky, Vasily Fedorovich Imperial Russian Army generals Soviet generals 1869 births 1929 deaths Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery 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, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Explorers from the Russian Empire