Žanis Bahs (also Žanis Bachs; 6 October 1885 – 16 October 1941) was a Latvian general. He fought in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and later in the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

, where he commanded a division in the

Republic of Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. After the

Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed i ...

Bahs was arrested and shot by Soviet authorities.

Early life

Žanis Bahs was born on 6 October 1885 in the Gaiķi Parish,

Courland Governorate Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland or Governorate of Kurland, and known from 1795 to 1796 as the Viceroyalty of Courland, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the ...

as an innkeeper's son. He studied at the commercial school in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

and later started

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

studies at St. Petersburg Polytechnical Institute. In 1912 he was drafted into the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

and served in the 170th infantry regiment. He graduated the school of ''praporschik'' in 1913.

World War I

After the start of the First World War Bahs served in the 174th and 540th infantry regiments. In December 1916, he was transferred to the

Latvian Rifleman The Latvian Riflemen (; ) were originally a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army assembled starting 1915 in Latvia in order to defend Baltic governorates against the German Empire in World War I. Initially, the battalions were formed ...

units and served in 2nd Riga Latvian rifleman regiment. After the Christmas Battles he was transferred back to the 540th infantry regiment in February 1917. In August 1917 Bahs enlisted in the Russian academy of General staff and served in the headquarters of the 37th army corps as a ''poruchik.'' In October 1917 he was promoted to the rank of ''stabskapitan.'' After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

Bahs was dismissed from the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in February 1918 and returned to

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Latvian War of Independence

Bahs enlisted in the newly formed Latvian Army on 13 December 1918. From April 1919 he served in the Northern Latvian brigade. After the Battle of Cēsis he was the Latvian

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

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n-occupied

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

. In July 1919 he was appointed commander of an Operative part of Latvian army. During the Bermontian attack Bahs served on the General Staff of the Latvian Army.

Later life

After the Latvian War of Independence he served as a Latvian

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

in 1921-1922. In 1922 he was promoted to the rank of a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and appointed Chief of the Staff of the 2nd Vidzeme infantry division. In 1934 he was appointed commander of the 5th Cēsis infantry regiment. In 1936 Bahs was promoted to the rank of a general and appointed commander of the

4th Zemgale infantry division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

and the

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

city garrison. After the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Bahs was arrested and deported to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in December 1940. After long

interrogations Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful infor ...

he was sentenced to death on 18 July 1941. He was shot and buried in

Kommunarka shooting ground The Kommunarka firing range (), former dacha of secret police chief Genrikh Yagoda, was used as a burial ground from 1937 to 1941. Executions may have been carried out there by the NKVD during the Great Terror and until the war started; altern ...

near Moscow on 16 October 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahs, Zanis 1885 births 1941 deaths People from Saldus Municipality People from Courland Governorate Latvian generals Latvian Riflemen Russian military personnel of World War I Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Executed military leaders Latvian people executed by the Soviet Union

Early life

World War I

Latvian War of Independence

Later life

See also

References