Nikolay Iudovich Ivanov

Nikolay Iudovich Ivanov
General Ivanov
Born	3 August 1851(1851-08-03)
Died	21 January 1919(1919-01-21) (aged 67)
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service/branch	Russian Imperial Army
Years of service	1869-1919
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) Russo-Japanese War World War I Russian Civil War

Nikolay Iudovich Ivanov (Russian: Никола́й Иу́дович Ивано́в; August 3, 1851–January 27, 1919) was a general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I.

Biography

Ivanov came from a military family. He graduated from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School in 1869, and served in the 3rd Grenadier Guards and artillery brigades. HIs first combat experience came during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), and he subsequently remained in Romania to service as an instructor to the Romanian Army. From July 28, 1884 he was commander of the 2nd Battery of the Imperial Guards Artillery, and on April 11, 1890 was appointed commandant of the fortress artillery of Kronstadt. On December 14, 1899 he was selected to be an aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Michael.

During the Russo-Japanese War. he was assigned to the Russian Manchurian Army, and from July 18, 1904 commanded the 3rd Siberian Corps. For military distinction in the war, he was awarded the Order of St. George (4th class and 3rd class with golden arms, decorated with diamonds). After the of the war, he was briefly Chief of Logistics of the Russian Manchurian Army, overseeing its withdrawal back to Russia. From December 19, 1905 - November 6, 1907 he commanded an Army Corps within the St. Petersburg Military District, further assuming the role of interim governor-general of Kronstadt from November 6, 1907. The fortress city was a hotbed of revolutionary activity following the Russian Revolution of 1905, and Ivanov took decisive action to curb unrest in his military units. He was promoted to Adjutant General in 1907, General of Artillery from April 13, 1908, and Commander of the Kiev Military District from December 2, 1908, a post which he held until the start of World War I in 1914..

With the start of World War I, Ivanov was given command of the Imperial Russian Army on the Southwestern Front, responsible for much of the action in Galicia. Ivanov was able to hand the Austrians a defeat at the Battle of Galicia in August 1914 and a month later had repelled the Austro-Hungarians 100 miles back to the Carpathian Mountains, surrounded Przemyśl, and inflicted 300,000 casualties on the Austrians. For these successes he was awarded the Order of St. George (2nd class) and the Order of St. Vladimir (1st class with Swords).

Ivanov portrait in a French journal, based on a photograph

However, in 1916 Ivanov was sacked by the Russian High Command and replaced with Alexei Brusilov, arguably the best Russian commander during the war, who planned and coordinated the Brusilov Offensive. Ivanov was promoted to the Council of State, and due to his high political standing and reputation, he became a military advisor to Tsar Nicholas II in the Stavka, but his plans and suggestions were completely overshadowed by Mikhail Alekseev. When, in 1916, the Russian forces collapsed and the October Revolution ensued, Ivanov's military career with a united Russia came to an end. On February 27, 1917, he became commander of the Petrograd Military District with powers of martial law granted by the Tsar to suppress revolutionary activity. However, on arrival in Petrograd on March 2, he found the city and its military units to be already under the control of the Russian Provisional Government. Unable to complete his orders, he returned to Moscow, and from there to Kiev, where he was arrested by the local Soviet, and returned to Petrograd as a prisoner. He was released on bail by Alexander Kerensky and quickly fled the city for Novocherkassk, where he joined the White movement.

An ardent royalist, Ivanov formed an ani-Bolshevik Cossack army, but was defeated in the Russian Civil War near the village of Vyoshenskaya, after which the remnants of his army joined in the Don Cossacks. Ivanov died of typhoid fever in January 1919.

Honors

• Order of St. George, 4th class
• Order of St. George, 3rd class
• Order of St. George, 2nd class
• Order of St Vladimir, 1st class
• Gold Sword for Bravery

References

• First World War.com — Who's Who — Nikolai Ivanov
• MSN Encarta — World War I — Operations in Galicia (Archived 2009-11-01)
• Out of My Past: The Memoirs of Count Kokovtsov Edited by H.H. Fisher and translated by Laura Matveev; Stanford University Press, 1935.

Persondata
Name	Ivanov, Nikolay Iudovich
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1851
Place of birth
Date of death	1919
Place of death