Jukums Vācietis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Jukums Vācietis

Jukums Vācietis (November 11, 1873 – July 28, 1938) (Russian: Иоаким Иоакимович Вацетис, Ioakim Ioakimovich Vatsetis) was a Latvian Soviet military commander. He was a rare example of notable Soviet leaders who were not members of the Communist Party (nor of any other one).

He started his military career in the time of Imperial Russia, from 1891. During World War I he commanded the 5th Latvian Zemgale rifle regiment (eventually in the rank of colonel), which joined the Soviet power after the October Revolution. From April 1918 he was the commander of the Red Latvian riflemen division. From July to September 1918 he commanded the Eastern Front. He was the first commander-in-chief of the Soviet military, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council (September 4, 1918 - July 8, 1919). In July he was arrested under the false accusation of membership in a counter-revolutionary White Guardist organization, but soon released.

In 1922 he became a professor of the RKKA Military Academy (future Frunze Military Academy).

On November 29, 1937 he was arrested as a "member of Latvian Fascist Organization in RKKA" and executed in 1938. He was rehabilitated in 1957.