Admiral Kolchak was incredibly popular in Russia until 1917 thanks to his polar expeditions and naval activities before and during the First World War. It was thanks to this popularity (whether it corresponded to real merits or not - a separate question) Kolchak and fell to play a significant role in the White movement.
Kolchak met the February revolution as a vice admiral as commander of the Black Sea Fleet. He was one of the first to swear allegiance to the Provisional Government. "Once the emperor has renounced, then by this he frees from all obligations that existed in relation to him ... I ... did not serve this or that form of government, but serve the motherland.", - he will declare later during interrogation by the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry in Irkutsk.
Unlike the Baltic Fleet, the first days of the revolution in Sevastopol passed without mass reprisals by sailors against officers. Sometimes this is presented as a brilliant merit of Kolchak, who managed to maintain order. In fact, however, even he himself named other reasons for the calm. In winter, ice in the Baltic, and the Black Sea Fleet went out on combat missions all year round, did not stand in ports for months. And therefore, the coastal agitation was less exposed.
Commander-in-Chief Kolchak quickly began to adapt to revolutionary innovations - sailors' committees. He argued that the committees "brought a certain calm and order." Been to meetings. He appointed the time of the elections. I coordinated the candidates.
The directors of the sweet film "Admiral" deprived of attention the pages of the transcript of Kolchak's interrogation, describing this period, depicting only the commander's endless contempt for the rebellious "sailor rabble".
"The revolution will bring enthusiasm ... to the masses and make it possible to end this war victoriously ...", "The monarchy is not in a position to bring this war to an end ..." - Kolchak later told the Irkutsk investigators about his mentality of that time. Many thought the same, for example, Denikin. Generals and admirals hoped for revolutionary power, but quickly became disillusioned with Kerensky's Provisional Government, which had shown complete impotence. The socialist revolution, which is understandable, they did not accept.
However, in his rejection of October and the truce with the Germans, Kolchak went further than others - to the British Embassy. He asked to serve in the English army. He explained the act so original for a Russian officer during interrogation with fears that the German Kaiser might gain the upper hand over the Entente, who "then will dictate his will to us": "The only thing I can do good is to fight the Germans and their allies, whenever and as anyone."
And, we add, anywhere, even in the Far East. Kolchak went to fight there against the Bolsheviks under British command and he never concealed this.
In July 1918, the British War Office even had to ask him to be more restrained: the chief of military intelligence, George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, ordered his agent in Manchuria, Captain L. Steveni, immediately "To explain to the admiral that it would be highly desirable that he remained silent about his ties with us." .
At this time, the power of the Bolsheviks beyond the Volga was in May-June 1918 almost universally overthrown with the help of the Czechoslovak corps traveling to Vladivostok, echelons stretching across the Trans-Siberian Railway. And with the help of the "real Russian naval commander" Kolchak, Great Britain could more effectively defend its interests in Russia.
After the overthrow of the Soviet regime, political passions flared up in the Far East. Among the contenders for power were the left Samara Komuch - socialists, members of the dispersed Constituent Assembly - and the right Omsk Provisional Siberian Government (not to be confused with the Provisional Government of Kerensky). The only thing that prevented them from really grabbing each other's throats was the presence of the Bolsheviks in power in Moscow: being in an alliance, albeit shaky, the whites were still able to hold the front line. The Entente did not want to supply small armies and the governments that were interrupted by them, because of their weakness, they were not able to control even an already occupied territory. And so in September 1918 in Ufa, a united center of white power was created, called the Directory, which included most of the former members of Komuch and the Provisional Siberian Government.
Under the pressure of the Red Army, the Directory soon had to be hastily evacuated from Ufa to Omsk. And I must say that the right top of Omsk hated the left anti-Bolsheviks from Komuch almost as much as the Bolsheviks. The Omsk rightists did not believe in the "democratic freedoms" allegedly professed by Komuch. They dreamed of a dictatorship. The Komuchevites from the Directory realized that a mutiny was being prepared against them in Omsk. They could hardly hope only for the help of the Czechoslovak bayonets and for the popularity of their slogans among the population.
And in such a situation, Vice-Admiral Kolchak comes to Omsk, ready to explode. It is popular in Russia. Great Britain believes him. It is he who looks like a compromise figure for the British and French, as well as the Czechs who were under the influence of the British.
The left from Komuch, hoping that London would support them as "more progressive forces," began, together with the right, to invite Kolchak to the post of naval minister of the Directory. He agreed.
And two weeks later, on November 18, 1918, a Bonapartist coup took place in Omsk. The directory was removed from power. Its ministers transferred all powers to a new dictator - Kolchak. On that day, he became the "Supreme Ruler" of Russia. And it was then, by the way, that he was promoted to the rank of full admiral.
England fully supported the Kolchak coup. Seeing the inability of the left to create a strong government, the British preferred the "more progressive forces" to the moderate right representatives of the Omsk elite.
Kolchak's opponents on the right - ataman Semyonov and others - were forced to come to terms with the personality of the new dictator.
At the same time, one should not think that Kolchak was a democrat, as they often try to present him today.
The "democratic" language of negotiations between the Kolchak government and the West was an obvious convention. Both sides well understood the illusory nature of the words about the forthcoming convocation of a new Constituent Assembly, which, they say, would consider the issues of the sovereignty of the national borderlands and the democratization of the new Russia. The admiral himself was not at all shy about naming "dictator". From the very first days he promised that he would overcome the "post-revolutionary collapse" in Siberia and the Urals and defeat the Bolsheviks, concentrating all civil and military power in the country in his hands.
In reality, however, it was not easy to concentrate power in one's hands at that time.
By 1918, there were already about two dozen anti-Bolshevik governments in Russia. Some of them were “for independence”. Others - for the right to gather around themselves "a single and indivisible Russia." All this very opportunely contributed to the collapse of Russia and the control of the allies over it.
There was much less political division within the Bolshevik Party. At the same time, the territory of the RSFSR controlled by the Bolsheviks occupied the center of the country with almost all industrial and military enterprises and a wide transport network.
In such a situation, the separated centers of White could hardly help each other. Transport and telegraph operated across the border. So, couriers from Kolchak to Denikin traveled on steamers across two oceans and on several trains for months. On the other hand, the transfer of manpower and equipment, which was promptly carried out by the Bolsheviks, was out of the question.
Kolchak's political task was to ensure a balance between socialists, cadets and monarchists. Some of the left turned out to be outlawed, but it was vital to come to an agreement with the rest, preventing their reorientation towards the Bolsheviks. However, if Kolchak had been conceded to the left, he would have quickly lost the vital support of the right, already dissatisfied with the "leftist" course of power.
The right and the left pulled the ruler each in their own direction, it was not possible to reach a compromise between them. And soon Kolchak began to rush between them. Increasingly, the outbursts of his emotions alternated with depression, apathy. This could not be overlooked by those around him. "It would be better if he was the most cruel dictator than the dreamer rushing about in search of the common good ... It is a pity to look at the unfortunate admiral, pushed around by various advisers and speakers," Ministry of War. He was echoed by Kolchak's consistent political opponent, the Socialist-Revolutionary Constituent member E. E. Kolosov: “He was positively the same Kerensky ... (the same hysterical and weak-willed creature ...), only, possessing all his shortcomings, he did not have a single of his merits. " Instead of a rapprochement between left and right groups, the gap widened between them.
On December 22, 1918, an anti-Kolchak uprising broke out in Omsk. The monarchist military circles, suppressing it, at the same time dealt with 9 of the former komchevites who were imprisoned. The Komuchevites were awaiting a court decision in prison for their opposition to the admiral's authority.
DF Rakov, a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, a "constituent member", recalled the bloody suppression of the uprising: “... Not less than 1,500 people. Whole carts of corpses were transported through the city, as they carry sheep and pork carcasses in winter ... the city froze with horror. They were afraid to go out, to meet each other. "
And the Social Revolutionary Kolosov commented on this reprisal: “It was possible, taking advantage of the turmoil, to get all the actual power into our own hands to suppress the rebellion and, suppressing the rebellion, direct the tip of the same weapon ... against Kolchak's 'upstart' ... not as easy as, for example, with the Directory. During these days, his house was heavily guarded ... by British soldiers, who rolled out all their machine guns right into the street. "
Kolchak held on to British bayonets. And, having ensured with the help of the British guards the exit from Siberia of the rest of the "Constituent members" who miraculously escaped execution, he was forced to hush up the case.
Simple performers were allowed to hide. Their leaders were not punished. The admiral did not have enough strength to break with the right-wing radicals. The same Kolosov wrote: "Ivanov-Rinov, who vigorously competed with Kolchak, deliberately threw the bodies of the" founders "in his face ... in the expectation that he would not dare to renounce his solidarity with them, and all this would bind him with a circular bloody guarantee with the most vicious of reactionary circles."
All of Kolchak's reforms failed.
The ruler did not resolve the land issue. The law he issued was reactionary for the left (restoration of private property) and insufficient for the right (no restoration of landlord ownership). In the countryside, prosperous peasants were deprived of part of their land for monetary compensation that was unacceptable to them. And the Siberian poor, resettled by Stolypin to land unsuitable for farming and seized suitable peasants from wealthy peasants, were all the more displeased. The poor were offered either to return what they had seized, or to pay the state dearly for land use.
And the white army, liberating the territory from the Bolsheviks, often arbitrarily, disregarding the law, took the land from the peasants and returned it to its former owners. The poor, seeing the return of the bar, took up arms.
The White Terror in Siberia under Kolchak, through which food for the front was confiscated from the population and mobilization was carried out, was terrible. Only a few months of Kolchak's rule will pass, and in the headquarters the maps of Siberia will become centers of peasant uprisings.
Enormous forces will have to be thrown into the fight against the peasants. And it will no longer be possible to understand in which cases the incredible cruelty of the punishers took place with the blessing of Kolchak, and in which - contrary to his direct instructions. However, there was no big difference: the ruler, who himself called himself a dictator, is responsible for everything that makes his power.
Kolosov recalled how rebellious villages were drowned in an ice-hole:
“A peasant woman suspected of Bolshevism was thrown there with a child in her arms. So with the child and thrown under the ice. It was called to deduce treason "by the root" ... "
There is endless evidence of similar evidence. The uprisings were drowned in blood, but they flared up again and again with even greater force. The numbers of the rebels exceeded hundreds of thousands. Peasant uprisings will be a verdict for the regime, which has decided to conquer the people by force.
As for the workers, they did not experience such lack of rights as under Kolchak, either under Nicholas II or under Kerensky. The workers were forced to work for meager wages. The 8 hour day and the health insurance funds were forgotten. Local authorities who supported the manufacturers closed trade unions under the pretext of fighting Bolshevism. Labor Minister Kolchak sounded the alarm in letters to the government, but the government was inactive. The workers in non-industrial Siberia were few in number and resisted weaker than the peasants. But they, too, were unhappy and joined the underground struggle.
As for the financial reform of Kolchak, then, as the Social Revolutionary Kolosov accurately put it, from his unsuccessful reforms it is necessary to give “the palm to the financial measures of Mikhailov and von Goyer, who killed the Siberian currency ... (depreciated 25 times - MM) and enriched ... speculators "associated with the reformers themselves.
Finance Minister I. A. Mikhailov was also criticized by the right wing in the person of General Budberg: “He does not understand anything about finance, he showed this in the idiotic reform of the withdrawal of kernels from circulation ...”, “Reform ... in such proportions, before which stayed Vyshnegradskiy, Witte and Kokovtsev, was carried out in a few days. "
Food prices rose. Household goods - soap, matches, kerosene, etc. - became scarce. The speculators were getting rich. Theft flourished.
The capacity of the Transsib by itself did not allow delivering enough cargo from distant Vladivostok to supply Siberia and the Urals. The difficult situation on the congested railroad was aggravated by the sabotage of the partisans, as well as constant "misunderstandings" between the whites and the Czechs guarding the highway. Corruption added to the chaos. Thus, the Prime Minister of Kolchak, P.V. Vologodsky, recalled the Minister of Railways L.A. Ustrugov, who gave bribes at the stations so that his train would be passed ahead.
Because of the chaos on the lines of communication, the front was supplied with interruptions. Cartridge, gunpowder, cloth factories and warehouses of the Volga region and the Urals were cut off from the White army.
And foreigners imported weapons from different manufacturers to Vladivostok. The cartridges from one did not always fit the other. Confusion arose in deliveries to the front, in some places tragically affecting combat effectiveness.
The clothes for the front, bought by Kolchak for Russian gold, were often of poor quality and sometimes crumbled after three weeks of socks. But even these clothes took a long time to arrive. Kolchakovets G.K. Gins writes: "The uniforms ... rolled on the rails, since the continuous retreat made it impossible to turn around."
But even the supplies that reached the troops were poorly distributed. General M.K.Diterichs, who inspected the troops, wrote: "The inaction of the authorities ... a criminal bureaucratic attitude towards their duties" ... For example, of the 45 thousand sets of clothes received by the intendants of the Siberian Army, 12 thousand went to the front, the rest, as the inspection established, were gathering dust in the warehouses.
Food did not reach the malnourished soldiers on the front line from the warehouses.
Theft of the rear, the desire to cash in on the war was observed everywhere. Thus, the French general Jeannin wrote: “Knox (English general - MM) tells me sad facts about the Russians. 200,000 sets of uniforms, which he supplied them, were sold for next to nothing and some of them went to the Reds. "
As a result, the general of the army of the allies Knox, according to the memoirs of Budberg, was nicknamed the Omsk newspapermen "Intendant of the Red Army"... A mocking letter of thanks to Knox was written and published on behalf of Trotsky for his good supply.
Kolchak also failed to achieve competent campaigning. Siberian newspapers became a weapon of information wars among whites.
Strife was growing within the white camp. Generals, politicians - everyone sorted out relations with each other. They fought for influence in the liberated territories, for supplies, for positions. They substituted each other, denounced, slandered. Interior Minister V.N.Pepelyaev wrote: “We were assured that the Western Army ... has stopped retreating. Today we see that she ... has moved back a lot ... Out of a desire to end (General - MM) Gaida is distorted here the meaning of what is happening. There must be a limit to this ”.
Memoirs of whites clearly indicate that there was a shortage of competent generals in Siberia. The existing ones, in conditions of poor supply and weak interaction between the troops, by May 1919 began to suffer successive defeats.
Indicative is the fate of the Combined Shock Siberian Corps, completely unprepared for battle, but abandoned by the Whites to cover the junction between the Western and Siberian armies. On May 27, the whites advanced without communications, field kitchens, convoys and partially unarmed. Company and battalion commanders were appointed only at the moment the corps moved to the positions. The division commander was generally appointed on May 30, during the rout. As a result, in two days of fighting, the corps lost half of its soldiers, either killed or voluntarily surrendered.
By the fall, the Whites had lost the Urals. Omsk was surrendered by them practically without a fight. Kolchak appointed Irkutsk as his new capital.
The surrender of Omsk aggravated the political crisis within the Kolchak government. The left demanded from the admiral democratization, rapprochement with the Socialist-Revolutionaries and reconciliation with the Entente. The rightists, however, were glad for the tightening of the regime and rapprochement with Japan, which was unacceptable for the Entente.
Kolchak leaned towards the right. The Soviet historian G.Z. Ioffe, citing the admiral's telegrams to his prime minister in November 1919, proves Kolchak's shift from London to Tokyo. Kolchak writes that "Instead of rapprochement with the Czechs, I would raise the question of rapprochement with Japan, which alone is able to help us with a real force to protect the railway."
Socialist-Revolutionary Kolosov gloatingly wrote about this: “The history of Kolchak’s international politics is the story of a gradually deepening break with the Czechs and growing ties with the Japanese. But he followed this path ... with the uncertain steps of a typical hysterical, and, already on the verge of death, he took a decisive ... course towards Japan, it turned out that it was too late. This step ruined him and led to his arrest by virtually the same Czechs. "
The White Army marched from Omsk on foot and was still far away. The Red Army advanced quickly, and the foreign allies feared a serious clash with the Bolsheviks. Therefore, the British, and so disappointed in Kolchak, decided not to suppress the uprising. The Japanese also did not help the Kolchakites.
Ataman Semyonov, sent by Kolchak to Irkutsk, with whom he urgently had to put up with, alone could not suppress the uprising.
In the end, the Czechs surrendered Kolchak and the gold reserve of Russia that was with him to the Irkutsk authorities in exchange for unhindered passage to Vladivostok.
Some of the members of the Kolchak government fled to the Japanese. It is characteristic that many of them - Hins, the financial "genius" Mikhailov, and others - will soon join the ranks of the fascists.
In Irkutsk, during interrogations organized by the government, Kolchak gave detailed testimonies, the transcripts of which were published.
And on February 7, 1920, the Whites came close to Irkutsk, retreating from the Red Army. There was a threat of the capture of the city and the release of the admiral. It was decided to shoot Kolchak.
All perestroika and post-perestroika attempts to rehabilitate Kolchak were unsuccessful. He was recognized as a war criminal who did not resist the terror of his own government in relation to civilians.
Obviously, if Kolchak were defeated, the white groups, even at critical moments on the fronts, sorting out their relations and rejoicing at each other's defeat, would not have been able to create a strong unified government. For their political incapacity, Russia would pay off the Western powers with large territories.
Fortunately, the Bolsheviks turned out to be stronger than Kolchak at the front, more talented and more flexible than him in state building. It was the Bolsheviks who defended the interests of Russia in the Far East, where under Kolchak the Japanese were already in charge. The Allies were escorted out of Vladivostok in October 1922. And two months later, the Soviet Union was created.
based on materials by M. Maksimov
P.S. This is how this "polar explorer" and "oceanographer" was, first of all, he was the executioner of the Russian people, whose hands were covered in blood, and the military who worked for the English crown, that's who he was not, but a patriot of his country , that's for sure, but recently they have been trying to present to us the opposite.
Alexander Vasilievich Kolchak was born on November 4, 1874 in St. Petersburg. His father, Vasily Ivanovich, was the hero of the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. Continuing family traditions, 16-year-old Alexander, after graduating from the gymnasium, entered the Naval Cadet Corps, where he successfully studied for six years. Upon leaving the corps, he was promoted to warrant officer.
The first exit to the sea took place in 1890. The first ship was the armored frigate "Prince Pozharsky". Later his training ships became "Rurik" and "Cruiser". After graduation, Kolchak served in the Pacific Ocean.
Polar explorer
In January 1900, Baron E. Toll invited Alexander Vasilyevich to take part in the polar expedition. The expedition was tasked with exploring unknown regions of the Arctic Ocean and searching for the legendary Sannikov Land. Here Kolchak showed himself to be an energetic and active officer. He was even voted the best officer on the expedition.
As a result, several members of the expedition, along with Baron Toll, went missing. Kolchak submitted a petition to continue the expedition in order to find the members of E. Toll's team. He managed to find traces of the missing expedition, but there were no surviving members.
Based on the results of his work, Kolchak was awarded an order and was elected a member of the Russian Geographical Society.
In military service
With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Kolchak was transferred from the Academy of Sciences to the Naval War Department. In the Pacific Ocean, he served under the leadership of Admiral S. O. Makarov and commanded the destroyer "Angry". For heroism and courage, he was awarded a gold saber and a silver medal.
In the First World War, Alexander Vasilyevich commanded the Mine Division of the Baltic Fleet. Courage and resourcefulness were the admiral's hallmarks. In 1916, Nicholas II appointed Kolchak commander of the Black Sea Fleet. The main task of the fleet was to clear the sea from enemy warships. This task was successfully completed. The February Revolution prevented the fulfillment of other strategic tasks. In June 1917, Kolchak relinquished command of the Black Sea Fleet.
Civil War and the Supreme Ruler of Russia
After his resignation, Kolchak returned to Petrograd. The interim government sent him, as a leading expert in the fight against submarines, at the disposal of the Allies. First, Kolchak arrived in England, and then in America.
In September 1918, he again found himself on Russian soil, in Vladivostok, and already on October 13, 1918, in Omsk, he joined the general command of the volunteer armies in the east of the country. Kolchak led the 150-thousandth army, the purpose of which was to unite with the army of A.I. Denikin and march on Moscow. The numerical superiority of the Red Army did not allow these plans to be realized. On January 15, 1920, Kolchak was arrested and ended up in the Irkutsk prison.
The investigation was conducted by the Extraordinary Commission. Eyewitness accounts and documents from the investigation show that the admiral behaved courageously and with dignity during interrogations. On February 7, 1920, the admiral was shot, and his body was thrown into the hole.
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich (November 4 (16), 1874, St. Petersburg province - February 7, 1920, Irkutsk) - Russian politician, vice-admiral of the Russian Imperial Fleet (1916) and admiral of the Siberian Flotilla (1918 g. ).
Polar explorer and oceanographer, participant of expeditions in 1900-1903 (awarded the Great Constantine Medal by the Imperial Russian Geographical Society).
Member of the Russian-Japanese, World War I and Civil War.
Leader and leader of the White movement in the East of Russia.
The Supreme Ruler of Russia (1918-1920), was recognized in this position by the leadership of all white regions, "de jure" - by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "de facto" - by the Entente states.
The first well-known representative of the Kolchak family was the Ottoman commander Ilias Kolchak Pasha, the commander of the Moldavian front of the Turkish army, and later the commandant of the Khotyn fortress, captured by Field Marshal H.A. Minikh.
After the end of the war, Kolchak Pasha settled in Poland, and in 1794 his descendants moved to Russia and adopted Orthodoxy.
Admiral's great-grandfather Lukyan Kolchak was a centurion of the Bug Cossack army. He received a land plot in the Ananievsky district of the Kherson province, not far from Balta, Zherebkov and Kantakuzinka.
The centurion Lukyan Kolchak had two sons - Ivan and Fedor. The first of them inherited part of the estate, but, having sold it, bought a house in Odessa and entered the civil service.
Ivan Lukyanovich had many daughters and three sons, of whom the eldest became the father of the admiral.
Alexander Vasilyevich was born into the family of Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak (1837-1913) - the staff captain of the naval artillery, later Major General in the Admiralty.
Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak
(1837-1913) - Kolchak's father A.V.
The recruitment of officers in the army of Nicholas I was carried out in three ways: firstly, by graduates of military educational institutions, secondly, by the production of those who voluntarily entered the service, and, finally, by recruiting from the lower ranks.
The officers of the first category accounted for only one third of the number of officers required for the army.
The main contingent of army infantry and cavalry officers was replenished from among the nobles and volunteers. A simple exam for admission to the army as a cadet and further promotion to officer only for a short length of service was a very common thing.
Apparently, V.I. Kolchak, who, according to his service record, entered service on September 30, 1854 as a conductor of the 3rd class of the Naval Artillery corps with a secondment to the 44th naval crew.
Accompanying a powder transport of 1000 poods from Nikolaev to Sevastopol, young Vasily entered the Sevastopol land on one of the April days. There he was assigned to the Malakhov Kurgan, where, after a daily acquaintance with the equipment of explosive shells and the fitting of remote tubes to them, he began to act as an assistant to the battery commander of the glacis battery.
V.I.Kolchak served his first officer rank with a severe wound in the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War of 1853-1856: he turned out to be one of the seven surviving defenders of the Stone Tower on Malakhov Kurgan, whom the French found among the corpses after the assault.
After the war, he graduated from the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg and until his retirement served as an inspector of the Naval Ministry at the Obukhov plant, having a reputation as a direct and extremely scrupulous person.
Mother - Olga Ilyinichna Kolchak, nee Posokhova, came from an Odessa merchant family.
Alexander Vasilyevich himself was born on November 4, 1874 in the village of Aleksandrovskoye near St. Petersburg.
The birth document, "Metric certificate No. 16605", testifies:
“By the decree of His Imperial Majesty, from the St. Petersburg Spiritual Consistory this testimony was given that in the metric book of 1874 of the Trinity Church of the village of Alexandrovsky, St. Petersburg district, number 50 shows: Naval Artillery at Staff Captain Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak and his lawful wife Olga Ilyina, both Orthodox and first-wed, son Alexander, was born on the fourth of November and baptized on the fifteenth of December one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
The recipients were: Staff Captain Morskoy Alexander Ivanov Kolchak and the widow of the collegiate secretary Daria Filippova Ivanova.
The due stamp duty was paid on November 1, 1882 ”.
The future admiral received his primary education at home, and then studied at the 6th St. Petersburg classical gymnasium.
Alexander Vasilievich Kolchak received a good religious education and upbringing. His mother, Olga Ilyinichna (nee Posokhova), played an important role in this.
Cossack by birth, she was very pious and observed all religious rites and fasts. In her father's house, they fervently prayed and fasted, and ate hearty meals on holidays, and Olga Ilyinichna preserved this way of life in her family, having married V.I. Kolchak.
Little Sasha tried to imitate her in everything and loved her very much.
“For life,” writes Rostislav, the son of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, - the father retained the memory of long vespers, to which he went as a boy with his mother to church, somewhere not far from the gloomy Obukhov factory, near which they lived in the service of their father. "
In 1894, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps second in seniority and academic performance with the Admiral Rikord Prize, and on August 6, 1894 he was appointed to the 1st rank cruiser Rurik as an assistant to the chief of watch and on November 15, 1894 was promoted to the rank of midshipman.
On this cruiser, he departed for the Far East.
At the end of 1896, Kolchak was assigned to the 2nd rank cruiser "Cruiser" as the chief of watch. On this ship, for several years, he went on campaigns in the Pacific Ocean, in 1899 he returned to Kronstadt.
On December 6, 1898, he was promoted to lieutenant.
In the campaigns, Kolchak not only fulfilled his official duties, but was also actively engaged in self-education.
He also became interested in oceanography and hydrology. In 1899 he published an article "Observations of surface temperatures and specific gravity of sea water, made on the cruisers" Rurik "and" Cruiser "from May 1897 to March 1898".
Toll (or Toll) Eduard Vasilievich (1858-1902), baron.
Polar traveler.
In 1893-1896. traveled to Yakutia, compiled its geographical description. In 1899 he sailed with Admiral S.O. Makarov on the Ermak icebreaker. Organizer and leader of the Arctic expedition in search of "Salnikov Land" (1900-1902); Kolchak was his closest assistant. The bay in the Kara Sea and other geographical objects are named after Toll. Killed trying to break through to the North Pole. A year later, Kolchak found the place of his death.
Upon arrival in Kronstadt, Kolchak went to the Vice-Admiral S.O. Makarov, who was preparing to sail on the icebreaker "Ermak" in the Arctic Ocean. Alexander Vasilievich asked to be accepted into the expedition, but was refused "for official reasons."
After that, for some time entering the personnel of the ship "Prince Pozharsky", Kolchak in September 1899 switched to the battleship "Petropavlovsk" and on it went to the Far East.
However, while staying in the Greek port of Piraeus, he received an invitation from the Academy of Sciences from Baron E. V. Toll to take part in an expedition on the schooner Zarya. The problem of opening the Northern Sea Route, which, in the event of a war between Russia and other states, would essentially become a "road of life", faced our Fatherland quite acutely.
From Greece through Odessa in January 1900, Kolchak arrived in St. Petersburg. The head of the expedition offered Alexander Vasilyevich to lead the hydrological work, and in addition to be the second magnetologist.
Throughout the winter and spring of 1900, Kolchak was preparing for the expedition.
On July 21, 1900, the expedition on the schooner Zarya moved along the Baltic, North and Norwegian Seas to the shores of the Taimyr Peninsula, where the first wintering was to come.
In October 1900, Kolchak took part in Toll's trip to the Gafner fjord, and in April-May 1901, the two of them traveled along Taimyr.
Throughout the entire expedition, Kolchak was actively involved in scientific work. In 1901, E. V. Toll immortalized the name of A. V. Kolchak, calling him an island in the Kara Sea and a cape discovered by the expedition.
Small digression ...
Kolchak Island (from 1937 to 2005 - Rastorguev Island) is an uninhabited island in the Taimyr Bay of the Kara Sea near the coast of the Taimyr Peninsula to the north of the Pilots Peninsula and the Seeberg Bay. It is separated from the mainland by the Rastorguev Strait.
The island is about 20 km long and up to 6 km wide.
The highest point is 50 m.
Discovered in 1901 by the Russian polar expedition of the Academy of Sciences under the leadership of E. V. Toll. By the decision of Toll, he was named after the hydrograph of the expedition, Lieutenant A. V. Kolchak, later the admiral and leader of the White movement. Coordinates: 76 ° 07 ′ s. NS. 97 ° 01 ′ east etc.
Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 15, 2005 N 433 On renaming a geographical object in the Kara Sea
In accordance with the Federal Law "On the names of geographical objects", the Government of the Russian Federation decides:
On the basis of the submission by the Duma of the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug, rename Rastorguev Island located in the Taimyr Gulf of the Kara Sea into Kolchak Island in order to return this geographical object to its original name.
Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation
M. Fradkov
As a result of the expedition in 1906, Kolchak was elected a full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.
During the Russian polar expedition, it was A.V. Kolchak, in the absence of a priest, conducted all religious services, and he did it as a deeply religious person, with sincere enthusiasm and a great sense of duty. The members of the scientific staff of the expedition jokingly said about him:
"Kolchak is the most Orthodox of all the Orthodox on the ship."
And his companion on the expedition, the ship's doctor from exiled V.N. Katin-Yartsev, recalled in his memoirs:
“On holidays, usually every Sunday, a divine service was performed on the lower deck, which consisted of reading and singing prayers. The priest was Lieutenant Kolchak, and in his absence - Quartermaster Tolstov. "
In the spring of 1902, Toll decided to head north of the New Siberian Islands on foot with the magnetologist FG Zeberg and two mushers. The rest of the members of the expedition, due to a lack of food supplies, had to go from Bennett's Island to the south, to the mainland, and then return to St. Petersburg.
Kolchak and his companions went to the mouth of the Lena and through Yakutsk and Irkutsk arrived in the capital.
Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Alexander Vasilyevich reported to the Academy about the work done, and also informed about the enterprise of Baron Toll, from whom no news had been received either by that time or later.
In January 1903, it was decided to organize an expedition, the purpose of which was to clarify the fate of Toll's expedition. Initially, it was planned to send the icebreaker "Ermak" to Bennett Island, but this idea was abandoned, having decided to organize a luge and boat expedition. It was headed by the author of this project, Lieutenant Kolchak.
The expedition took place from May 5 to December 7, 1903. In its composition, besides Kolchak, there were 16 people on 12 sledges, harnessed by 160 dogs.
The journey to Bennett Island took three months, and was extremely difficult, almost every meter of this journey was associated with a risk to life. Heavy snowfalls were constantly going on, boats had to be dragged off the shallows, and “swimming” in icy water was inevitable.
A.V. Kolchak N.N. Kolomeitsev F.A. Mathisen at the side of the schooner "Zarya"
On August 4, 1903, reaching Bennett Island, the expedition discovered traces of Toll and his companions: documents of the expedition, collections, geodetic instruments and a diary were found. It turned out that Toll arrived on the island in the summer of 1902 and headed south with only 2-3 weeks of provisions.
It became clear that Toll's expedition had died ...
For these expeditions, Kolchak received the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree, and later, in January 1906, the Russian Geographical Society awarded him its highest award - a large gold Constantine medal.
Arctic expeditions brought fame to the young officer (unofficially he was often called "Kolchak-Polar") and authority in the field of hydrography.
In December 1903, the 29-year-old lieutenant Kolchak, exhausted by the polar expedition, set off on the return journey to St. Petersburg, where he was going to marry his bride Sofya Omirova.
Not far from Irkutsk, he was caught by the news of the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War. He summoned his father and bride by telegram to Siberia and immediately after the wedding departed for Port Arthur.
In the metric book of the Irkutsk Kharlampievskaya church for 1904, in the section "about married" under No. 6, we read the following entry:
"5th of March. Lieutenant Alexander Vasiliev Kolchak, Orthodox, first marriage, 29 years old.
The daughter of the actual State Councilor, a hereditary nobleman of the Podolsk province, Sofia Fedorova Omirova, Orthodox, first marriage, 27 years old.
The sacrament of the wedding was performed by Archpriest Ishmael Ioannov Sokolov with Deacon Vasily Petelin.
The guarantors were: for the groom - Major General Vasily Ivanov Kolchak and the boatswain of the Russian Polar Expedition of the schooner "Zarya" Nikifor Alekseev Begichev, for the bride - second lieutenant of the Irkutsk Siberian infantry regiment Ivan Ivanov Zheleishchikov and warrant officer of the Yenisei Siberian infantry regiment of the Vladimir Yakovlev Tolmachev Regiment.
The commander of the Pacific squadron, Admiral S.O. Makarov, invited him to serve on the battleship "Petropavlovsk", from January to April 1904, was the squadron's flagship. Kolchak refused and asked to be assigned to the high-speed cruiser Askold, which soon saved his life. A few days later, "Petropavlovsk" was blown up by a mine and promptly sank, taking to the bottom more than 600 sailors and officers, including Makarov himself and the famous battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin.
Soon after that, Kolchak achieved transfer to the Angry destroyer. He was in command of the destroyer.
By the end of the siege of Port Arthur, he had to command a coastal artillery battery, as severe rheumatism - a consequence of two polar expeditions - forced him to abandon the warship. This was followed by injury, the surrender of Port Arthur and Japanese captivity, in which Kolchak spent 4 months.
- a reward weapon in the Russian Empire, assigned to the status of a state order from 1807 to 1917. The awarding of golden melee weapons - a sword, a dirk later with a saber - was made as a sign of special distinction, for the shown personal courage and dedication. The generals were awarded the Golden Weapons with Diamonds. In the 18th century, the Ephesus of the Golden Weapon was made of pure gold; by the 20th Century, the hilt of a weapon without diamonds was only gilded, although the officer had the right to replace the hilt with a completely gold one at his own expense. Since 1913, the Golden Weapon "For Bravery" was officially called the St. George Weapon and was considered one of the distinctions of the Order of St. George.
The heroic defense of Port Arthur brought Lieutenant A.V. Kolchak not only had a reputation as a wonderful and brave miner, but also the first military awards: the Order of St. Anna IV degree with the inscription "For Bravery", that is, the Annensky weapon (October 1904), the golden St. George weapon with the inscription "For Bravery" and the Order of St. Stanislav II degree with swords (December 1905), as well as a silver medal in memory of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 (1906) and a breastplate of the defender of the Port Arthur fortress (1914).
Freed from captivity, Kolchak received the rank of captain of the second rank. The main task of the group of naval officers and admirals, which included Kolchak, was the development of plans for the further development of the Russian navy.
In 1906, the Naval General Staff was created (including on the initiative of Kolchak), which took over the direct combat training of the fleet. Alexander Vasilyevich was the head of its department of Russian statistics, was engaged in the development of the reorganization of the navy, acted in the State Duma as an expert on naval issues.
Then a shipbuilding program was drawn up. To obtain additional appropriations, officers and admirals actively lobbied for their program in the Duma.
The construction of new ships progressed slowly - 6 (out of 8) battleships, about 10 cruisers and several dozen destroyers and submarines entered service only in 1915-1916, at the height of the First World War, and some of the ships laid down at that time were already being completed in the 1930s.
Taking into account the significant numerical superiority of the potential enemy, the Naval General Staff developed a new plan for the defense of St. Petersburg and the Gulf of Finland - in the event of a threat of attack, all ships of the Baltic Fleet, upon an agreed signal, had to go out to sea and put 8 minefields at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, covered by coastal batteries.
Captain of the second rank Kolchak took part in the design of special icebreaking ships "Taimyr" and "Vaigach", launched in 1909. In the spring of 1910, these ships arrived in Vladivostok, then set off on a cartographic expedition to the Bering Strait and Cape Dezhnev, returning by autumn back to Vladivostok.
Kolchak in this expedition commanded the Vaigach icebreaker.
In 1908, Kolchak joined the Naval Academy.
In 1909, Kolchak published his largest study - a monograph that summarized his glaciological research in the Arctic - "Ice of the Kara and Siberian Seas" (Notes of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Series 8. Phys.-mat. Department. St. Petersburg., 1909. Vol.26, No. 1.).
Participated in the development of an expedition project to study the Northern Sea Route. In 1909-1910. the expedition, in which Kolchak commanded the ship, made the transition from the Baltic Sea to Vladivostok, and then sailed towards Cape Dezhnev. Since 1910, Kolchak at the Naval General Staff was engaged in the development of the shipbuilding program for Russia.
In 1912, Kolchak was invited by the Commander of the Baltic Fleet, Admiral N.O. Essen in the active fleet and was appointed commander of the destroyer "Ussuriets" (1912-1913), and then "Border Guard" (1913-1914).
More than six years of service in the Naval General Staff was over.
In 1913 A.V. Kolchak is invited to read the course "General Staff Service in the Navy" at the Nikolaev Naval Academy, the idea of enrolling in which Alexander Vasilyevich himself had been hatching for some time. In December 1913 he was promoted to captain of the 1st rank.
To protect the capital from a possible attack by the German fleet, the Mine Division, on the personal order of Admiral Essen, set up minefields in the waters of the Gulf of Finland on the night of July 18, 1914, without waiting for the permission of the Minister of the Navy and Nicholas II.
In the fall of 1914, with the personal participation of Kolchak, an operation was developed for a mine blockade of German naval bases. In 1914-1915. destroyers and cruisers, including those under the command of Kolchak, laid mines near Kiel, Danzig (Gdansk), Pillau (modern Baltiysk), Vindava and even off the island of Bornholm.
As a result, 4 German cruisers were blown up in these minefields (2 of them sank - "Friedrich Karl" and "Bremen" (according to other sources, the submarine E-9 was sunk), 8 destroyers and 11 transports.
At the same time, an attempt to intercept a German convoy carrying ore from Sweden, in which Kolchak was directly involved, ended in failure.
In addition to successfully laying mines, Kolchak organized attacks on caravans of German merchant ships. From September 1915 he commanded a mine division, then the naval forces in the Gulf of Riga.
In April 1916 he was promoted to rear admiral.
In July 1916, by order of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, Alexander Vasilyevich was promoted to vice admiral and appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet.
During the First World War, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak received the following awards:
medal in memory of the 200th anniversary of the Gangut victory (1915),
Order of St. Vladimir III degree with swords (February 1915),
Order of St. George IV degree (November 1915),
French Legion of Honor Officer Cross (1914),
English Baths III degree (1916),
May 9, 1915 a gift from the office of His Imperial Majesty.
As the author and direct executor of operations in the Baltic and the Black Sea during the First World War, A.V. Kolchak is "responsible" for 60 sunk military and commercial ships of Germany, Turkey and Bulgaria. It should be noted at the same time that, taking direct control of individual destroyers and cruisers when he was the head of the operational department, commanding a mine division and an entire fleet, he did not lose a single combat ship.
After the February Revolution of 1917, Kolchak was the first in the Black Sea Fleet to swear allegiance to the Provisional Government.
Alexander Kolchak in the new naval uniform of the Provisional Government (introduced by order of Guchkov, without shoulder straps, the cockade is crowned with a five-pointed star), summer 1917.
In the spring of 1917, the Headquarters began preparations for an amphibious operation to capture Constantinople, but due to the disintegration of the army and navy, this idea had to be abandoned.
Received a commendation from the Minister of War Guchkov for "his quick and reasonable actions, with which he helped to maintain order in the Black Sea Fleet."
However, because of the defeatist propaganda and agitation that penetrated the army and navy after February 1917 under the guise and cover of freedom of speech, both the army and the navy began to move towards their collapse.
On April 25, 1917, Alexander Vasilyevich spoke at a meeting of officers with a report "The state of our armed forces and relations with the allies." Among other things, Kolchak noted:
"We are facing the disintegration and destruction of our armed forces, [for] the old forms of discipline have collapsed, and new ones have not been created."
Kolchak demanded an end to the home-grown reforms based on the "conceit of ignorance", and to accept the forms of discipline and organization of internal life, already adopted by the allies.
On April 29, 1917, with Kolchak's sanction, a delegation of about 300 sailors and Sevastopol workers left Sevastopol with the aim of influencing the Baltic Fleet and the armies of the front, "so that they wage the war actively with full exertion of forces."
In June 1917, the Sevastopol Council decided to disarm officers suspected of counter-revolution, including taking away from Kolchak his St. George weapon - the golden saber awarded to him for Port Arthur.
The admiral chose to throw the blade overboard with the words:
"The newspapers don't want us to have weapons, so let them go to sea."
On the same day, Alexander Vasilyevich handed over the files to Rear Admiral V.K. Lukin. Three weeks later, the divers raised the saber from the bottom and handed it to Kolchak, engraving the inscription on the blade:
"To the knight of honor, Admiral Kolchak from the Union of Army and Navy Officers."
At this time, Kolchak, along with the General Staff of Infantry General L.G. Kornilov, was viewed as a potential candidate for military dictators.
It is for this reason that in August A.F. Kerensky summoned the admiral to Petrograd, where he forced him to resign, after which he, at the invitation of the command of the American fleet, went to the United States to advise American specialists on the experience of using mine weapons by Russian sailors in the Baltic and Black Seas. in the First World War.
In San Francisco, Kolchak was offered to stay in the United States, promising him a mine engineering department at the best naval college and a rich life in a cottage on the ocean.
A.V. Kolchak in the uniform of the head of the guard of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
Photo from watercolor by artist A. Sokolov.
Kolchak refused and went back to Russia.
Arriving in Japan, Kolchak learned about the October Revolution, the liquidation of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the negotiations with the Germans begun by the Bolsheviks. He agreed to a telegram with a proposal to nominate his candidacy for the Constituent Assembly from the Cadets and a group of non-partisans in the Black Sea Fleet District, but his reply was received with a delay.
The admiral left for Tokyo. There he handed the British ambassador a request for admission to the British army in the field "even as a private." The ambassador, after consulting with London, handed Kolchak the direction to the Mesopotamian front.
On the way there, in Singapore, he was overtaken by a telegram from the Russian envoy to China, Kudashev, who invited him to Manchuria to form Russian military units.
Kolchak went to Beijing, after which he set about organizing the Russian armed forces to protect the CER.
However, due to disagreements with the ataman Semyonov and the head of the CER, General Horvath, Admiral Kolchak left Manchuria and left for Russia, intending to join the Volunteer Army of Generals Alekseev and Denikin.
In Sevastopol, he has a wife and son.
On October 13, 1918, he arrived in Omsk, from where the next day he sent a letter to General Alekseev (received on the Don in November - after Alekseev's death), in which he expressed his intention to go to the south of Russia in order to enter his order as a subordinate ... Meanwhile, a political crisis erupted in Omsk.
On November 4, 1918, Kolchak, as a popular figure among officers, was invited to the post of Minister of War and Naval Minister in the Council of Ministers of the so-called "Directory" - the united anti-Bolshevik government located in Omsk, where the majority were Social Revolutionaries.
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich 1919.
On the night of November 18, 1918, a coup took place in Omsk - Cossack officers arrested four Social Revolutionaries-leaders of the Directory, headed by its chairman ND Avksentyev. In this situation, the Council of Ministers - the executive body of the Directory - announced that it had assumed the fullness of the supreme power and then decided to hand it over to one person, giving him the title of the Supreme Ruler of the Russian state.
Kolchak was elected to this post by secret ballot of members of the Council of Ministers. The admiral announced his consent to the election and, with his first order in the army, announced his acceptance of the title of Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
After coming to power, A. V. Kolchak canceled the order that Jews, as potential spies, should be evicted from the 100-verst front-line zone.
Addressing the population, Kolchak said:
"Having accepted the cross of this power in the extremely difficult conditions of the civil war and the complete disruption of state life, I declare that I will not follow the path of reaction or the disastrous path of partisanship."
Further, the Supreme Ruler Kolchak proclaimed the goals and objectives of the new government.
The first, most urgent task was called strengthening and increasing the combat capability of the army.
The second, inextricably linked with the first - "victory over Bolshevism."
The third task, the solution of which was recognized as possible only on condition of victory, proclaimed "the revival and resurrection of a dying state." All the activities of the new government were declared aimed at ensuring that "the temporary supreme power of the Supreme Ruler and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief could transfer the fate of the state into the hands of the people, leaving them to arrange state administration at their own will."
Kolchak hoped that under the banner of the struggle against the Reds, he would be able to unite the most diverse political forces and create a new state power.
At first, the situation on the fronts favored these plans. In December 1918, the Siberian army occupied Perm, which was of great strategic importance and significant reserves of military equipment.
Already in Siberia and being proclaimed the Supreme Ruler of Russia, A.V. Kolchak received from His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon as a blessing an icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky the Wonderworker. As it became known recently, it was delivered to him by a priest who later entered the history of the Russian Orthodox Church under the name of Metropolitan Nestor (Anisimov).
Through the front line, to Omsk, he made his way in the attire of a poor peasant with a sack on his back.
In addition to a tiny image, in January 1919 he handed over to the Supreme Ruler a blessed letter from St. Tikhon for the fight against the Bolsheviks.
After reading the patriarchal message, Admiral Kolchak said:
“I know that there is a sword of the state, a lancet for a surgeon, a knife for a bandit ...
Now I know !! I feel that the most powerful spiritual sword, which will be an invincible force in the crusade - against the monster of violence! "
Later, this image was photographed, enlarged and solemnly presented to A.V. Kolchak in Perm on January 19 (February 6) 1919.
The state emblem used under A.V. Kolchak.
In March 1919, Kolchak's troops launched an offensive against Samara and Kazan, in April they occupied the entire Urals and approached the Volga.
However, due to Kolchak's incompetence in organizing and managing the land army (as well as his assistants), the militarily favorable situation soon gave way to a catastrophic one. The dispersion and stretching of forces, the lack of logistical support and the general inconsistency of actions led to the fact that the Red Army was able to first stop Kolchak's troops, and then go over to the counteroffensive.
The result was more than six months of the withdrawal of Kolchak's armies to the east, which ended with the fall of the Omsk regime ...
I must say that Kolchak himself was well aware of the fact of a desperate personnel shortage, which ultimately led to the tragedy of his army in 1919. In particular, in a conversation with General Inostrantsev, Kolchak openly stated this sad circumstance:
"You will soon see for yourself how poor we are in people, why we have to endure even in high positions, not excluding the posts of ministers, people who are far from corresponding to the places they occupy, but this is because there is no one to replace them ..."
The same opinions prevailed in the army in the field. For example, General Schepikhin said:
“… It is incomprehensible to the mind, it is like surprise, how long-suffering our passion-bearer is an ordinary officer and a soldier.
We did not make any experiments with him, what our “strategic boys”, Kostya (Sakharov) and Mitka (Lebedev), did not throw out with his passive participation, and the cup of patience is still not overflowing ... ”.
In May, the retreat of Kolchak's troops began, and by August they were forced to leave Ufa, Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk. 
Parts of the armies under Kolchak's control in Siberia carried out punitive operations in the areas where partisans operated, and units of the Czechoslovak corps were also used in these operations. The attitude of Admiral Kolchak to the Bolsheviks, whom he called "a gang of robbers", "enemies of the people", was extremely negative.
On November 30, 1918, the Kolchak government adopted a decree signed by the Supreme Ruler of Russia, which provided for the death penalty for those guilty of “obstructing” the exercise of power by Kolchak or the Council of Ministers.
In 1914-1917, about a third of Russia's gold reserves were sent for temporary storage to England and Canada, and about half was exported to Kazan. Part of the gold reserve of the Russian Empire, stored in Kazan (more than 500 tons), was captured on August 7, 1918 by the troops of the People's Army under the command of the General Staff of Colonel V.O. Kappel and sent to Samara, where the government of KOMUCH (Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly) was established.
For some time, the gold was transported from Samara to Ufa, and at the end of November 1918, the gold reserve of the Russian Empire was moved to Omsk and placed at the disposal of the Kolchak government.
The gold was deposited in the local branch of the State Bank. In May 1919, it was established that there was a total of 650 million rubles (505 tons) of gold in Omsk ...
With most of Russia's gold reserves at his disposal, Kolchak did not allow his government to spend gold, even to stabilize the financial system and fight inflation (which was facilitated by the unrestrained emission of “Kerenoks” and tsarist rubles by the Bolsheviks).
Kolchak spent 68 million rubles on the purchase of weapons and uniforms for his army. Loans were received from foreign banks on security of 128 million rubles: the proceeds from the placement were returned to Russia.
The last photo of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, late 1919.
On October 31, 1919, the gold reserves were heavily guarded and loaded into 40 wagons, and there were accompanying personnel in 12 more wagons. The Trans-Siberian Railway stretching from Novo-Nikolaevsk (now Novosibirsk) to Irkutsk was controlled by the Czechs, whose main task was their own evacuation from Russia.
Only on December 27, 1919, the headquarters train and the train with gold arrived at the Nizhneudinsk station, where representatives of the Entente forced Admiral Kolchak to sign an order abdicating the rights of the Supreme Ruler of Russia and transferring the echelon with gold reserves under the control of the Czechoslovak Corps.
On January 4, 1920, in Nizhneudinsk, Admiral A. V. Kolchak signed his last decree, in which he announced his intention to transfer the powers of the "Supreme All-Russian Power" to A. I. Denikin. Until the receipt of instructions from A. I. Denikin, "the entire completeness of military and civil power throughout the territory of the Russian Eastern Outskirts" was provided to Lieutenant General G. M. Semyonov.
On January 5, 1920, a coup took place in Irkutsk, the city was captured by the Social Revolutionary-Menshevik Political Center.
On January 15, 1920, A. V. Kolchak, who left Nizhneudinsk in the Czechoslovak echelon, in a carriage under the flags of Great Britain, France, USA, Japan and Czechoslovakia, arrived in the suburbs of Irkutsk. The Czechoslovak command, at the request of the Socialist-Revolutionary Political Center, with the approval of the French General Janin, transferred Kolchak to his representatives.
On January 21, the Political Center handed over power in Irkutsk to the Bolshevik Revolutionary Committee. From January 21 to February 6, 1920, Kolchak was interrogated by the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry.
For Admiral Kolchak, interrogation was of particular importance. He gave testimony willingly, trying to leave for history, for posterity and the whole world and his own biographical data, and information about those major events in which he had a chance to directly participate.
During interrogations, Kolchak behaved with dignity, arousing involuntary respect from the investigators.
Camera # 5 was no different from the others
cameras - a bed, a table, a barred window. Hence A.V. Kolchak was taken away for interrogation, and here he considered possible answers. One floor above, in the common female cell was Anna Vasilievna Timereva. Various legends are associated with camera # 5. For example, As if the admiral, knowing about the inevitable reprisal, painted on the door his portrait in full growth and in uniform.
Admiral Kolchak was accused “of seizing power against the will of the people and of waging a civil war in order to restore the pre-revolutionary regime ... in particular: 1) the abolition of all political and social gains of the revolution, especially in relation to the working class and the poorest peasantry;
2) in the plundering by direct and indirect means of the people's property;
3) in the creation of a whole system of organized robberies, armed robberies and all kinds of violence against the population, routing and burning of entire villages and villages;
4) in organizing single and group killings of political opponents and mass extermination of the population. "
Loyal to Kolchak, General V.O. Kappel, with the remnants of the army still remaining operational, hurried to the rescue of the admiral, despite the fierce cold and deep snow, sparing neither himself nor people, as a result of which he froze and died.
Approaching Irkutsk, the Kappelites demanded the extradition of Kolchak, promising to go further beyond Lake Baikal for this.
In essence, they were bluffing in desperate situations themselves. They had little strength to take Irkutsk by storm. And on their heels the 5th Red Army pursued.
The game of General Voitsekhovsky, who replaced Kappel, was obviously a losing one, and they had no real chance of freeing Kolchak.
Kolchak himself learned about this from Timireva. Anna Vasilievna, selflessly in love with the admiral, voluntarily followed him under arrest in order to share his fate.
In prison, they tried to exchange notes through the guards. Sometimes it succeeded.
In response to her message about Voitsekhovsky's ultimatum, assessing the situation soberly, he replied that "sooner ... nothing will come of it, or there will be an acceleration of the inevitable end." He understood what awaited him, and foresaw his fate.
At the same time, he remains calm, his note to her breathes tenderness:
“My dear dove ... thanks for your affection and care for me ...
I only think about you and your fate, the only thing that worries me.
I'm not worried about myself - because everything is known in advance ... ".
Undoubtedly, the sacrificial act of his beloved woman, who voluntarily followed him to prison, moved him. Later, when, before being shot, he asked for the last meeting with her, the executioners burst out laughing in his face ...
On the night of February 6-7, 1920, Admiral A. V. Kolchak and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Russia V. N. Pepelyaev were shot on the banks of the Ushakovka River without trial, by order of the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee.
The execution was led by the chairman of the regional Cheka Samuil Chudnovsky and the head of the garrison and at the same time the commandant of the city Ivan Bursak.
From the memoirs of I. Bursak:
“Full moon, bright, frosty night ...
Kolchak refuses my offer to blindfold.
The platoon was built, rifles at the ready. 
The mouth of Ushakovka is the place where Admiral A.V. Kolchak died.
Chudnovsky whispers to me:
- It's time.
I give the command:
- Platoon, against the enemies of the revolution - or!
Both fall.
We put the corpses on the sledge-sledge, bring them to the river and lower them into the ice-hole.
So "the supreme ruler of all Russia" Admiral Kolchak leaves for his last voyage. "
In his memoirs, so to speak, unofficial, the same Bursak explained:
“They didn’t bury it, because the Socialist-Revolutionaries could have blabbed out, and the people would have tumbled to the grave.
And so - ends in the water. "
So the admiral was not destined to calm down in the ground. Angara - the abyss of water swallowed him ...
The resolution of the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee on the execution of the Supreme Ruler, Admiral Kolchak and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pepelyaev, was signed by A. Shiryamov, the chairman of the committee and its members A. Snoskarev, M. Levenson and the head of the committee Oborin.
The text of the resolution on the execution of A. V. Kolchak and V. N. Pepelyaev was first published in an article by the former chairman of the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee A. Shiryamov.
In 1991, L.G. Kolotilo made the assumption that the decision on the execution was drawn up after the execution, as an acquittal, for it was dated February 7, and S. Chudnovsky and I. N. Bursak arrived at the prison of the forehead at the second hour of the night on February 7 , allegedly already with the text of the decree, and before that they made up a firing squad from the communists.
In the work of V.I.Shishkin in 1998, it is shown that the original of the decree available in the GARF is dated February 6, and not the seventh, as indicated in the article of A. Shiryamov, who compiled this decree.
However, the same source contains the text of a telegram from the Chairman of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee and a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 5th Army I.N.Smirnov, which says that the decision to shoot Kolchak was made at a meeting on February 7. In addition, Kolchak was interrogated all day on February 6.
The confusion in the dates in the documents raises doubts about the drafting of the execution order before it was committed.
According to the official version, the execution was carried out out of fear that General Kappel's units breaking through to Irkutsk have the goal of freeing Kolchak. However, as can be seen from the study of V. I. Shishkin "The Shooting of Admiral Kolchak", there was no danger of Kolchak's release, and his shooting was just an act of political retribution and intimidation.
According to the most common version, the execution took place on the banks of the Ushakovka River near the Znamensky Women's Monastery. According to legend, sitting on the ice awaiting execution, Admiral Kolchak sang the romance "Burn, burn, my star ...".
There is also a version that Kolchak himself commanded his execution. After the execution, the bodies of those killed were thrown into the hole.
This is how Admiral Kolchak ended his life.
26-year-old Anna Timireva survived him a lot. For most of her long-suffering life, until her rehabilitation in 1960, she weathered grief through Soviet camps, prisons and exile, but carried her feeling through her whole life.
Shortly before her death - and she died in 1975 in Moscow - Anna wrote remarkably pure, spiritual and emotional memoirs. They contain poems dedicated to Admiral Kolchak:
Anna Vasilievna Timereva
(1893-1975),
common-law wife A.V. Kolchak.
Half a century I can not accept -
Nothing can be helped
And all you go away again
That fateful night.
And I am condemned to go
Until the deadline is over
And the paths are confused
Well-beaten roads.
But if I'm still alive
Contrary to fate
It's just like your love
And the memory of you.
Anna Vasilievna Timireva in her declining years recalled that “it was impossible not to notice Alexander Vasilievich - wherever he was, he was always the center.
He spoke beautifully, and no matter what he talked about - even about the book he had read - the impression remained that he had experienced it all. "
The tragedy of Admiral Kolchak ended with his death ...
After the death of Kolchak, the Kapelevites did not dare to storm Irkutsk and left for Baikal in Primorye, where they formed the core of the army of General M.K. Diterichs, and there they continued the struggle for a long time.
On February 7, the Czechoslovakians gave the Bolsheviks 409 million rubles in gold in exchange for guarantees of the unhindered evacuation of the corps from Russia. In June 1921, the People's Commissariat of Finance of the RSFSR compiled a certificate from which it follows that during the reign of Admiral Kolchak, Russia's gold reserves decreased by 235.6 million rubles, or by 182 tons.
Another 35 million rubles from the gold reserve disappeared after its transfer to the Bolsheviks, during transportation from Irkutsk to Kazan ...
Recently, previously unknown documents were found in the Irkutsk region concerning the execution and subsequent burial of Admiral Kolchak. The documents labeled "secret" were found during the work on the performance of the Irkutsk city theater "The Star of the Admiral" based on the play by the former employee of the state security agencies Sergei Ostroumov.
According to the documents found, in the spring of 1920, not far from Innokentyevskaya station (on the bank of the Angara, 20 km below Irkutsk), local residents discovered a corpse in an admiral's uniform, carried by the current to the bank of the Angara.
The arrived representatives of the investigating authorities made an inquiry and identified the body of the executed Admiral Kolchak.
Subsequently, investigators and local residents secretly buried the admiral according to Christian tradition.
The investigators drew up a map on which Kolchak's grave was marked with a cross. Currently, all documents found are under examination.
Based on these documents, the Irkutsk historian I.I.Kozlov established the alleged location of Kolchak's grave.
Kolchak's symbolic grave (cenotaph) is located in the Irkutsk Znamensky Monastery.
The question of the legal rehabilitation of A.V. Kolchak was first raised in the mid-1990s, when a number of public organizations and individuals (including Academician D.S.Likhachev, Admiral V.N. assessment of the legality of the death sentence to the admiral, passed by the Bolshevik Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee.
In 1998, S. Zuev, head of the Public Fund for the creation of a temple-museum in memory of the victims of political repression, sent a statement to the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office for Kolchak's rehabilitation, which reached the court.
On January 26, 1999, the military court of the Trans-Baikal Military District declared A.V. Kolchak not subject to rehabilitation, since, from the point of view of military lawyers, despite his broad powers, the admiral did not stop the terror carried out by his counterintelligence against the civilian population.
The admiral's supporters did not agree with these arguments.
Hieromonk Nikon (Belavenets), the head of the organization "For Faith and Fatherland" applied to the Supreme Court with a request to file a protest against the refusal to rehabilitate A.V. Kolchak. The protest was forwarded to the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court, which, having considered the case in September 2001, decided not to appeal the decision of the Military Court of the Zab.VO.
A propaganda stamp from the so-called "General's Series", 1919.
The members of the Military Collegium decided that the merits of Admiral Kolchak in the pre-revolutionary period could not serve as a basis for his rehabilitation: the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee sentenced the admiral to death for organizing military actions against Soviet Russia and mass repressions against the civilian population and the Red Army, and, consequently, was right.
The admiral's defenders decided to appeal to the Constitutional Court, which in 2000 ruled that the court of the Trans-Baikal Military District had no right to consider the case "without notifying the convicted person or his defenders about the time and place of the court session."
Since the ZabVO court in 1999 considered the case for the rehabilitation of Kolchak in the absence of defenders, then, according to the decision of the Constitutional Court, the case should be considered again, this time with the direct participation of the defense.
In 2004, the Constitutional Court noted that the case for the rehabilitation of a white military leader during the Civil War had not been closed, as the Supreme Court had previously ruled. The members of the Constitutional Court found that the court of first instance, where the issue of the admiral's rehabilitation was first raised, violated the legal procedure.
The process of legal rehabilitation of A.V. Kolchak causes an ambiguous attitude and that part of society, which, in principle, positively assesses this historical figure.
In 2006, the governor of the Omsk region, L. K. Polezhaev, said that A. V. Kolchak did not need rehabilitation, since "time had rehabilitated him, not the military prosecutor's office."
> “My point of view was simply the point of view of a serving officer who did not deal with these issues. I believe that when we are sworn in, my duty is to carry out the service as this oath demanded.
I treated the monarchy as an existing fact, without criticizing and without going into substantive questions about changes in the system.
I was busy with what I was doing.
As a military man, I considered it my duty to fulfill only the oath that I took, and this was the end of my whole attitude. And, as I recall, among the officers where I worked, these questions never arose or were raised. "
A.V. Kolchak.
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich with his inner circle.
Sitting, from left to right: Kolchak's senior adjutant, captain V.V. Knyazev, A.V. Kolchak, head of Kolchak's bodyguard, lieutenant A. Udaltsov.
Standing, from left to right: Kolchak's adjutant, senior lieutenant G.M. Sazonov, captain V.S. Matveev, head of the convoy L.I. Ogrokhin.
Sources of information:
1. Site Wikipedia
2. Site Encyclopedia CHRONOS
3. Handorin V.G. "Admiral Kolchak: truth and myths"
4. Losunov A. “Kolchak. Supreme ruler"
5. Kuznetsov N.A. "Admiral Alexander Vasilievich Kolchak"
One of the most interesting and controversial figures in the history of Russia in the twentieth century is A.V. Kolchak. Admiral, naval commander, traveler, oceanographer and writer. Until now, this historical figure is of interest to historians, writers and directors. Admiral Kolchak, whose biography is shrouded in interesting facts and events, is of great interest to his contemporaries. On the basis of his biographical data, books are created, scripts are written for theatrical stages. Admiral Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich is a hero of documentary films and feature films. It is impossible to fully appreciate the significance of this person in the history of the Russian people.
The first steps of a young cadet
A. V. Kolchak, admiral of the Russian Empire, was born on November 4, 1874 in St. Petersburg. The Kolchak family comes from an ancient noble family. Father - Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak, Major General of Naval Artillery, mother - Olga Ilyinichna Posokhova, Don Cossack. The family of the future admiral of the Russian Empire was deeply religious. In his childhood memoirs, Admiral Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich noted: "I am Orthodox, until the time I entered primary school, I received it under the guidance of my parents." After studying for three years (1885-1888) at the St. Petersburg classical male gymnasium, young Alexander Kolchak enters the Naval School. It was there that A. V. Kolchak, admiral of the Russian fleet, first learns the naval sciences, which will later become the work of his life. Studying at the Naval School revealed A.V. Kolchak's outstanding abilities and talent for naval affairs.
The future Admiral Kolchak, whose brief biography indicates that travel and sea adventures became his main passion. It was in 1890 that, as a sixteen-year-old teenager, a young cadet first set out on the sea. It happened on board the armored frigate "Prince Pozharsky". The training voyage lasted about three months. During this time, junior cadet Alexander Kolchak received his first skills and practical knowledge in maritime affairs. Later, during his training in the Naval Cadet Corps, A. V. Kolchak went on campaigns several times. His training ships were "Rurik" and "Cruiser". Thanks to training trips, A.V. Kolchak began to study oceanography and hydrology in detail, as well as navigational charts of underwater currents off the coast of Korea.
Polar exploration
After graduating from the Naval School, young lieutenant Alexander Kolchak submits a report to the naval service in the Pacific Ocean. The petition was approved, and he was sent to one of the naval garrisons of the Pacific Fleet. In 1900, Admiral Kolchak, whose biography is closely connected with the scientific research of the Arctic Ocean, went on the first polar expedition. On October 10, 1900, at the invitation of the famous traveler Baron Edward Toll, the scientific group set out on a journey. The purpose of the expedition was to establish the geographical coordinates of the mysterious island of Sannikov Land. In February 1901, Kolchak made a big report on the Great Northern Expedition.
In 1902, on the wooden whaling schooner Zarya, Kolchak and Toll set out on a northern voyage again. In the summer of the same year, four polar explorers, led by the head of the expedition, Eduard Toll, left the schooner and set off on dog sleds to explore the Arctic coast. Nobody came back. A long search for the missing expedition yielded no results. The entire crew of the schooner Zarya was forced to return to the mainland. After some time, A. V. Kolchak submitted a petition to the Russian Academy of Sciences for a second expedition to the Northern Islands. The main goal of the campaign was to find members of E. Toll's team. As a result of searches, traces of the missing group were found. However, the living members of the team were gone. For participation in the rescue expedition, A. V. Kolchak was awarded the Imperial Order of the 4th degree. According to the results of the work of the polar research group, Alexander Vasilievich Kolchak was elected a full member of the Russian Geographical Society.
Military conflict with Japan (1904-1905)
With the beginning of the Russian-Japanese war, A. V. Kolchak asks to transfer him from the scientific academy to the Naval War Department. Having received approval, he went to serve in Port Arthur to Admiral S. O. Makarov, A. V. Kolchak was appointed commander of the destroyer "Angry". For six months the future admiral fought valiantly for Port Arthur. However, despite the heroic opposition, the fortress fell. The soldiers of the Russian army surrendered. In one of the battles, Kolchak is wounded and ends up in a Japanese hospital. Thanks to American military intermediaries, Alexander Kolchak and other officers of the Russian army were returned to their homeland. For his heroism and courage, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was awarded a personalized golden saber and a silver medal "In memory of the Russian-Japanese war."
Continuation of scientific activity
After a six-month vacation, Kolchak resumed his research work. The main topic of his scientific work was the processing of materials from polar expeditions. Scientific works on oceanology and on the history of polar research helped the young scientist to win honor and respect in the scientific community. In 1907, his translation of Martin Knudsen's work "Tables of the freezing points of sea water" was published. In 1909 the author's monograph “Ice of the Kara and Siberian Seas” was published. The significance of A. V. Kolchak's works lay in the fact that he was the first to lay the doctrine of sea ice. The Russian Geographical Society highly appreciated the scientific activity of the scientist, presenting him with the highest award "Gold Constantine Medal". A. V. Kolchak became the youngest of the polar explorers to be awarded this high award. All predecessors were foreigners, and only he became the first owner of the high distinction in Russia.
Revival of the Russian fleet
The loss in the Russo-Japanese War was very hard on the Russian officers. A.V. was no exception. Kolchak, an admiral in spirit and a researcher by vocation. Continuing to study the reasons for the defeat of the Russian army, Kolchak is developing a plan to create the Naval General Staff. In his scientific report, he expresses his views on the reasons for the military defeat in the war, what kind of fleet Russia needs, and also points out the shortcomings in the defensive ability of sea vessels. The speaker's speech in the State Duma did not find due approval, and A. V. Kolchak (admiral) left the service in the Naval General Staff. Biography and photos of that time confirm his transfer to teaching at the Maritime Academy. Despite the lack of academic education, the leadership of the academy invited him to lecture on the topic of joint actions of the army and navy. In April 1908, A. V. Kolchak was awarded the military rank of captain of the 2nd rank. Five years later, in 1913, he was promoted to the rank of captain of the 1st rank.
A. V. Kolchak's participation in the First World War
Since September 1915, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak has been in charge of the Mine Division of the Baltic Fleet. The place of deployment was the port of Revel (now Tallinn). The main task of the division was the development of minefields and their installation. In addition, the commander personally conducted sea raids to eliminate enemy ships. This aroused admiration among the rank and file sailors, as well as among the officers of the division. The bravery and resourcefulness of the commander received widespread appreciation in the fleet, and this reached the capital. On April 10, 1916, A.V. Kolchak was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral of the Russian Fleet. And in June 1916, by decree of Emperor Nicholas II, Kolchak was awarded the rank of vice admiral, and he was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet. Thus, Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, admiral of the Russian fleet, becomes the youngest of the naval commanders.
The arrival of the energetic and competent commander was received with great respect. From the first days of work, Kolchak established strict discipline and changed the command leadership of the fleet. The main strategic task is to clear the sea from enemy warships. To accomplish this task, it was proposed to block the ports of Bulgaria and the waters of the Bosphorus Strait. An operation to mine enemy coastlines began. Admiral Kolchak's ship could often be seen while performing combat and tactical missions. The fleet commander personally supervised the situation at sea. A special operation to mine the Bosphorus Strait with a swift blow to Constantinople was approved by Nicholas II. However, a daring military operation did not happen, all plans were disrupted by the February Revolution.
Revolutionary mutiny of 1917
The events of the February 1917 coup found Kolchak in Batumi. It was in this Georgian city that the admiral held a meeting with the Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, the commander of the Caucasian Front. The agenda was to discuss the schedule of shipping and the construction of the seaport in Trebizond (Turkey). Having received a secret dispatch from the General Staff about a military coup in Petrograd, the admiral urgently returns to Sevastopol. Upon his return to the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral A. V. Kolchak gave an order to terminate the telegraph and postal communications of Crimea with other regions of the Russian Empire. This prevents the spread of rumors and panic in the fleet. All telegrams came only to the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet.
In contrast to the situation in the Baltic Fleet, the position on the Black Sea was under the control of the admiral. A. V. Kolchak for a long time kept the Black Sea flotilla from revolutionary collapse. However, political events did not pass by. In June 1917, by the decision of the Sevastopol Council, Admiral Kolchak was removed from the leadership of the Black Sea Fleet. During disarmament, Kolchak, in front of the formation of his subordinates, breaks the award golden saber and says: "The sea has awarded me, and I return the award to the sea."
Russian admiral
Sofia Fedorovna Kolchak (Omirova), the wife of the great naval commander, was a hereditary noblewoman. Sofia was born in 1876 in Kamenets-Podolsk. Father - Fedor Vasilyevich Omirov, secret adviser to His Imperial Majesty, mother - Daria Fedorovna Kamenskaya, came from the family of Major General V.F. Kamensky. Sofya Fedorovna was educated at the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens. A beautiful, strong-willed woman who knew several foreign languages, she was very independent in character.
The wedding with Alexander Vasilyevich took place in the Holy Kharlampiev Church in Irkutsk on March 5, 1904. After the wedding, the young spouse leaves his wife and goes to the active army to protect Port Arthur. S.F. Kolchak, together with his father-in-law, leaves for St. Petersburg. All her life, Sofya Fedorovna remained faithful and loyal to her lawful spouse. She invariably began her letters to him with the words: "My dear and beloved, Sasha." And she ended: "Sonya, who loves you." Admiral Kolchak kept touching letters from his wife until the last days. Constant separations did not allow the spouses to see each other often. The military service obliged to fulfill the duty.
And yet, rare moments of joyful meetings did not pass by the loving spouses. Sofya Fedorovna gave birth to three children. The first daughter Tatiana was born in 1908, however, not having lived a month, the child died. Son Rostislav was born on March 9, 1910 (died in 1965). The third child in the family was Margarita (1912-1914). While fleeing the Germans from Libava (Liepaja, Latvia), the girl caught a cold and soon died. Kolchak's wife lived for some time in Gatchina, then in Libau. During the shelling of the city, the Kolchak family was forced to leave their refuge. Having collected her things, Sophia moves to her husband in Helsingfors, where at that time the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet was located.
It was in this city that Sophia met Anna Timireva, the admiral's last love. Then there was a move to Sevastopol. Throughout the Civil War, she was waiting for her husband. In 1919, Sofya Kolchak emigrated with her son. British allies help them get to Constanta, then there was Bucharest and Paris. Experiencing a difficult financial situation in emigration, Sofya Kolchak was able to give a decent education to her son. Rostislav Aleksandrovich Kolchak graduated from the Higher Diplomatic School and worked for some time in the Algerian banking system. In 1939, Kolchak's son enlisted in the French army and soon fell into German captivity.
Sofia Kolchak will survive the German occupation of Paris. The death of the admiral's wife will occur in the Lunjumeau hospital (France) in 1956. They buried S.F. Kolchak at the cemetery of Russian emigrants in Paris. In 1965 Rostislav Aleksandrovich Kolchak dies. The last refuge of the admiral's wife and son will be the French tomb in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois.
The last love of the Russian admiral
Anna Vasilievna Timireva is the daughter of the outstanding Russian conductor and musician V.I.Safonov. Anna was born in Kislovodsk in 1893. Admiral Kolchak and Anna Timireva met in 1915 in Helsingfors. Her first husband is Sergey Nikolaevich Timirev. The love story with Admiral Kolchak still evokes admiration and respect for this Russian woman. Love and devotion made her go to a voluntary arrest after her lover. Endless arrests and exile could not destroy tender feelings, she loved her admiral until the end of her life. Having survived the execution of Admiral Kolchak in 1920, Anna Timireva was in exile for many years. Only in 1960 was she rehabilitated and lived in the capital. Anna Vasilievna died on January 31, 1975.
Foreign travel
Upon his return to Petrograd in 1917, Admiral Kolchak (his photo is presented in our article) receives an official invitation from the American diplomatic mission. Foreign partners, knowing his extensive experience in mines, ask the Provisional Government to send A. V. Kolchak as a military expert in the fight against submarines. A.F. Kerensky gives his consent to his departure. Soon, Admiral Kolchak went to England, and then to America. There he conducted military consultations, and also took an active part in training maneuvers of the US Navy.
Nevertheless, Kolchak believed that his foreign voyage had failed, and a decision was made to return to Russia. While in San Francisco, the admiral receives a government telegram proposing to run for the Constituent Assembly. Burst out and violated all of Kolchak's plans. The news of the revolutionary uprising catches him in the Japanese port of Yokohama. The temporary stop lasted until the fall of 1918.
The events of the Civil War in the fate of A. V. Kolchak
After long wanderings abroad, A. V. Kolchak on September 20, 1918 returned to the Russian land in Vladivostok. In this city, Kolchak studied the state of military affairs and the revolutionary sentiments of the inhabitants of the eastern outskirts of the country. At this time, the Russian public repeatedly turned to him with a proposal to lead the struggle against the Bolsheviks. On October 13, 1918, Kolchak arrived in Omsk to establish general command of the volunteer armies in the east of the country. After some time, a military seizure of power takes place in the city. A. V. Kolchak - Admiral, Supreme Ruler of Russia. It was this position that the Russian officers entrusted to Alexander Vasilyevich.
Kolchak's army consisted of more than 150 thousand people. The coming to power of Admiral Kolchak inspired the entire eastern region of the country, hoping for the establishment of a tough dictatorship and order. A strong management vertical and the correct organization of the state were established. The main goal of the new military education was to link up with the army of A.I.Denikin and a campaign against Moscow. During the reign of Kolchak, a number of orders, decrees and appointments were issued. A. V. Kolchak was one of the first in Russia to begin an investigation into the death of the royal family. The reward system of tsarist Russia was restored. At the disposal of Kolchak's army was a huge gold reserve of the country, which was exported from Moscow to Kazan with the aim of further moving to England and Canada. With this money, Admiral Kolchak (whose photo can be seen above) provided his army with weapons and uniforms.
Combat path and arrest of the admiral
During the entire existence of the eastern front, Kolchak and his comrades in arms carried out several successful military attacks (Perm, Kazan and Simbirsk operations). However, the numerical superiority of the Red Army did not allow the grandiose seizure of the western borders of Russia. The betrayal of the allies was also an important factor.
On January 15, 1920, Kolchak was arrested and sent to the Irkutsk prison. A few days later, the Extraordinary Commission began the procedure of investigative measures to interrogate the admiral. A.V. Kolchak, admiral (interrogation records testify to this), behaved very dignified during the investigation. Investigators of the Cheka noted that the admiral answered all questions willingly and clearly, while not giving out a single name of his colleagues. Kolchak's arrest lasted until February 6, when the remnants of his army came close to Irkutsk. In 1920, on the banks of the Ushakovka River, the admiral was shot and thrown into an ice-hole. This is how the great son of his Fatherland ended his journey.
On the events of hostilities in the east of Russia from the fall of 1918 to the end of 1919, the book "The Eastern Front of Admiral Kolchak" was written by S.V. Volkov.
Truth and fiction
To this day, the fate of this person has not been fully understood. A. V. Kolchak is an admiral, unknown facts from his life and death are still of interest to historians and people who are not indifferent to this person. One thing can be said quite definitely: the life of an admiral is a vivid example of courage, heroism and high responsibility before his homeland.
Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak - the famous leader of the White Movement in Siberia, Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Admiral, polar explorer and hydrographic scientist was born in the village of Aleksandrovskoye near St. Petersburg on November 16, 1874 in a family of a hereditary military man. Father - Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak, nobleman and major general of naval artillery, mother - Olga Ilyinichna Posokhova, Don Cossack. In 1888, after graduating from the St. Petersburg classical gymnasium for men, Kolchak entered the Naval Cadet Corps, from which he graduated in 1894 with the rank of midshipman. After graduation, Kolchak in 1895, as an officer of the watch on the cruiser "Rurik", went to Vladivostok across the southern seas. During the transition, he became interested in hydrology and hydrography, at the same time he had a desire to independently engage in scientific research.
Two years later, when he was already a lieutenant, Kolchak returned to the position of the Baltic Fleet on the "Cruiser" clipper. Upon returning to Kronstadt, he is trying to get into the polar expedition on the Ermak icebreaker under the leadership of Vice-Admiral Stepan Makarov, but the icebreaker's team was already complete. Kolchak decided not to give up and, having learned that the Imperial Academy of Sciences was preparing a project to explore the Arctic Ocean in the area of the New Siberian Islands, he made efforts to become one of the expedition participants. Fortunately for Kolchak, the head of the expedition, Baron Toll, was familiar with his scientific publications on hydrology and needed naval officers, so he agreed.
Polar Explorer - Lieutenant Kolchak
Under the patronage of the President of the Academy of Sciences, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich, Kolchak was temporarily dismissed from military service, entered the order of the Academy and received the post of head of the hydrological work of the expedition. The plans of the researchers were to round Eurasia from the north, round Cape Dezhnev and return to Vladivostok. This was the first academic voyage of Russia in the Arctic Ocean, performed on its own ship. On June 8, 1900, the expedition schooner "Zarya" left St. Petersburg and headed for the Arctic waters, but in September, leaning against the impassable ice, began to winter in the Taimyr Strait. On August 10, 1901, the ice began to move and the navigation of the Zarya continued, but less than a month later I had to settle for a second wintering near Kotelny Island. During the second wintering, Kolchak takes part in the exploration of the New Siberian Islands, conducting magnetic and astronomical observations. At the end of August, the expedition ended in Tiksi at the mouth of the Lena, and through Yakutsk and Irkutsk by December 1902, Kolchak returned to St. Petersburg.
In 1904, having learned about the beginning of the war with Japan, Kolchak was transferred back to the Naval Department and sent to Port Arthur. There he commanded the destroyer "Angry" for some time, later for health reasons, he was transferred to land and was appointed commander of an artillery battery. After the capitulation of the garrison of Port Arthur, having been in Japanese captivity, in the summer of 1905 he returned to St. Petersburg. For his participation in hostilities, he was awarded the Orders of St. Anne, 4th degree and St. Stanislaus, 2nd degree. After the war, Kolchak is engaged in scientific activities, several of his studies on the hydrology of the northern seas are published. In 1908 he was awarded the rank of captain of the 2nd rank. In 1909-10. participates in the exploration of the sea area near Cape Dezhnev on the icebreakers Vaigach and Taimyr. Since the beginning of the First World War, he has been developing defensive operations and laying minefields at the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet, taking into account the experience of Port Arthur. In June 1916, Kolchak was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet, thus becoming the youngest admiral among all the belligerent powers. Then he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st degree. Being a convinced monarchist, Kolchak received with great grief the news of the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne. Thanks to his leadership and skillful neutralization of the Bolshevik agitators, the Black Sea Fleet managed to avoid anarchy and maintain its combat capability for a long time. In June 1917, Kolchak was removed from office and recalled to Petrograd. As a result of intrigues in the Provisional Government, he was forced to leave the borders of Russia, leaving for the United States as part of a Russian naval mission.
Admiral Kolchak during the Civil War
In November 1917, Kolchak arrived in Japan, where he heard the news of the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. In May 1918, with the support of Britain and Japan in Chinese Harbin, he began to form anti-Bolshevik forces around him. In September, Kolchak arrived in Vladivostok, where he negotiated joint actions against the Bolsheviks with the leaders of the Czechoslovak corps. In October, he arrives in Omsk, where he was appointed Minister of War in the Government of the Directory. On November 18, 1918, as a result of a military coup, Kolchak was proclaimed the Supreme Ruler of Russia. His power was recognized by the entire white movement in Russia, including Denikin. Having received military-technical assistance from the United States and the Entente countries and, using the country's gold reserves, Kolchak formed an army of more than 400 thousand people and began an offensive to the West. In December, as a result of the Perm operation, Perm was captured, and by the spring of 1919 - Ufa, Sterlitamak, Naberezhnye Chelny, Izhevsk. Kolchak's troops reached the approaches to Kazan, Samara and Simbirsk, this was the peak of success. But already in June, the front, under the onslaught of the Red Army, inevitably rolled eastward, and in November Omsk was abandoned. The surrender of the capital set in motion all forces hostile to Kolchak in the rear, chaos and disorganization began. At the Nizhneudinsk station, he was arrested by his Czechoslovak allies, and in January 1920 he was extradited to the Bolsheviks by them in exchange for a free return home. After his arrest, interrogations began, during which he detailed his biography. The protocols of Kolchak's interrogations in the 1920s were published as a separate book. On February 7, 1920, Alexander Kolchak, together with his associate Minister Viktor Pepelyaev, was shot on the banks of the Angara by the decision of the military revolutionary committee.
Repeated attempts at legal rehabilitation of Kolchak in the post-Soviet era were rejected by the court. In the waiting room of the Irkutsk railway station, there is a memorial plaque in memory of the fact that in this place in January 1920 Kolchak was betrayed by his Czechoslovak allies and surrendered to the Bolsheviks. And at the site of the alleged execution of Kolchak on the banks of the Angara near the Irkutsk Znamensky Monastery in 2004, a monument was erected to him by the work of the national sculptor of Russia Vyacheslav Klykov. The 4.5-meter-high figure of the admiral, made of forged copper, stands on a pedestal made of concrete blocks, on which are the reliefs of a Red Army soldier and a White Guard standing opposite each other with arms crossed. The Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore conducts excursions “Kolchak in Irkutsk”, including the “Museum of the History of the A.V. Kolchak ”, in which the exposition of his former camera is equipped.