Lavr Kornilov

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General Lavr Kornilov in 1917
General Lavr Kornilov in 1917

Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (Russian: Лавр Гео́ргиевич Корни́лов) (August 18, 1870–April 13, 1918) was a senior Russian army general during World War I and the ensuing Russian Civil War. He is today best remembered for the Kornilov Affair, an unsuccessful endeavor in August/September 1917 that purported to strengthen Alexander Kerensky's Provisional Government, but which led to Kerensky eventually having Kornilov arrested and charged with attempting a coup d'état.

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[edit] Pre-revolutionary career

Originally a Cossack born in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan (then Russian Turkestan) in a family of Cossack militaryman and his wife of Asian origin, Kornilov was a career officer in the Imperial Russian army. Between 1890 and 1904 he led several exploration missions in Eastern Turkestan, Afghanistan and Persia, learned several Central Asian languages, and wrote detailed reports about his observations. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 he was awarded the Cross of St. George for bravery and promoted to the rank of colonel.

He served as military attache in China from 1907-11 and with a rank of major general commanded an infantry division at the start of World War I. During heavy fighting he was captured by the Austrians in April 1915, when his division became isolated from the rest of the Russian forces. After his capture, Field Marshall Conrad, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army, made a point of meeting him in person. Being a major general he was a high value prisoner of war, but in July of 1916 Kornilov managed to escape back to Russia. Kornilov was critical of the Russian monarchy and, after the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II he was given command of the Petrograd Military District in March 1917. In July, after commanding the only successful front in the disastrous Russian offensive of June, 1917, he became Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional Government's armed forces.

[edit] Kornilov Affair

Main article: Kornilov Affair

Although critical of the Czar, General Kornilov felt that Russia, as part of the Triple Entente, was committed to continue the war against the Central Powers, and he shared the widespread belief of many Russians that after the February Revolution the country was descending into anarchy and that military defeat would be disastrous for Russia. Lenin and his 'German spies', he announced, should be hanged, the Soviets stamped out, military discipline restored and the provisional government 'restructured'. He thought, thanks to unclear and perhaps deliberately distorted communications from Petrograd, that Kerensky had authorized him to impose order in the capital and restructure the government, and ordered the Third Corps to Petrograd to place it under martial law. Kerensky dismissed his commander-in-chief from his post on September 9, claiming Kornilov intended to set up a military dictatorship. Kornilov, convinced that Kerensky had been taken prisoner by the Bolsheviks and was acting under duress, replied by issuing a call to all Russians to "save their dying land."

[edit] Ice March

Main article: Ice March

After the alleged coup failed, Kornilov and his supporters were placed under arrest in the Bikhov jail. The Bolsheviks seized power shortly thereafter. Again escaping from his imprisonment (the Bikhov jail was guarded by Kornilov's supporters), Kornilov made his way to the Don region, where he helped in the formation of the anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army at Novocherkassk with General Mikhail Alekseev. Although badly outnumbered, he lead a small army through a vigorous campaign against Bolshevik forces until the April 1918 battle for Ekaterinodar, the capital of the Kuban region. While his forces were laying siege to the city, a Red Army shell landed on his headquarters and killed him. He was buried in a nearby village. A few days later, when the Bolsheviks gained control of the village, they unearthed Kornilov's coffin and made a public mockery of his remains. The Kornilov Division, one of the crack units of the White Army, was named after him.

[edit] References

  • Richard Pipes, The Russian Revolution (Knopf, 1990)
  • Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy (Viking, 1996)

[edit] External links