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Russian military officer and statesman, one of the leaders of the White Movement, polar explorer Admiral Alexander Kolchak was born
Alexander Kolchak (4 (16) November 1874 - 7 February 1920) was a Russian military leader, statesman, polar explorer, oceanographer and admiral. He served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia from 18 November 1918 to 7 February 1920 and as Supreme Commander of the Russian Army from November 1918 until 4 January 1920.
Kolchak was born in Alexandrovskoye village, St. Petersburg governorate, into a family of an artillery officer and hero of the Sevastopol defence operation, Vasily Kolchak. His mother was Olga Posokhova. From the age of 11, he received home education until 1885, when he began studying at the 6th St. Petersburg Gymnasium. After completing his studies there, he joined the Naval Cadet Corps and became one of the best students, earning him the rank of sergeant-major. In 1894, he graduated from the corps as a midshipman with honors.
In 1895-1899, he served in the Baltic and Pacific fleets. During this time, he made three trips around the world, conducting research in the northern territories of the Pacific Ocean and engaging in hydrology and oceanography. His first published scientific works interested the famous Arctic explorer Baron E. V. Toll, who invited Alexander Kolchak to join the Russian Polar Expedition (1900-1902), which aimed to explore the Arctic Ocean north of the Novosibirsk Islands in search of the legendary Sannikov Land.
The materials collected by A. V. Kolchak during his expedition, including the maps he compiled, were used by sailors until the late 1950s. Glaciological information (information about ice), which he gathered during his journey, remains relevant in the 21st century.
The name of the Cape, which A. V. Kolchak named in honor of his fiancée, Sofia Omirova, has survived to this day - Cape Sofia, located in the southeastern part of Bennett Island, in the East Siberian Sea.
Based on the results of his expedition, A. V. Kolchak's great contribution to the exploration of the Russian Arctic was recognized. He was elected a member of the Russian Geographical Society, becoming the fourth navigator to receive the highest award of the society, the Constantine Medal, after F. Nansen, N. Nordenskjold, and N. Jürgens.
After learning about the start of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), A. V. Kolchak managed to transfer to the Far East and take part in the defence of Port Arthur (1904-1905). During the fighting, he was wounded. After the surrender of the fortress's garrison, while in the hospital, he was captured. Along with other officers, he returned to Russia. For his bravery during the war, he received the St. George Cross, the Orders of St. Anna and St. Stanislav.
In 1906, A. V. Kolchak led the military commission at the Naval General Staff, where he studied the actions of the Russian fleet during the war and identified the causes that led to their defeat. He developed a plan that became the theoretical basis for Russian military shipbuilding leading up to the First World War. During this time, he also worked on organizing materials from previous expeditions, and in 1909 he published a study on the ice conditions of the Kara Sea and the Siberian seas.
In 1912, A.V. Kolchak began serving in the mines division of the Baltic Fleet, commanding the destroyer Ussuriets. In 1913, he became commander of another destroyer, the Frontier Guard. In 1914, he was appointed head of the operational department of the Baltic Fleet.
With the beginning of the First World War, plans for mine operations were developed and implemented under the leadership of A. V. Kolchak, with the aim of blocking German naval bases in the Baltic. Thanks to these efforts, the enemy's blitzkrieg at sea was successfully thwarted.
This experience was later repeated in the early days of the Great Patriotic War, when A.V. Kolchak organized the defence of the Gulf of Finland and Leningrad. In July 1916, he was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet, promoted to vice admiral, and began preparing a military operation to remove Turkey from the war. However, these plans were disrupted by the February Revolution in 1917.
The Provisional Government then recalled A. V. Kolchak to Petrograd, where he delivered a report on the disastrous state of the army and navy. He was subsequently sent to the United States as an expert on mine operations.
The news of the October Revolution and the start of the Civil War reached A. V. Kolchak while he was in Yokohama, Japan. He submitted a request for admission to the British Army to the British Ambassador in Tokyo and received a positive response. He was then sent to the Mesopotamian front (present-day Iraq), but on his way there, he received a secret mission to go to China. There, he met with N. A. Kudashev, a former Russian envoy. Kudashev proposed that they unite the anti-Bolshevik forces in the Far East, and they decided to do so at the Chinese-Eastern Railway, with its headquarters in Harbin.
Due to disagreements with the Cossack chieftain, G. M. Semyonov, and the Japanese, in the autumn of 1918 Kolchak decided to join the Volunteer Army of General M. V. Alekseev. On his way to the Don, in November 1918, he stopped in Omsk, where the Ufa Directory, the provisional All-Russian government that united the opponents of the Bolsheviks in Siberia and the Urals, was located. The government appointed him Minister of War and Navy.
After a military coup, which led to the abolition of the Directory, on November 19th, 1918, A. V. Kolchak was declared by its organizers the Supreme Ruler of Russia and the Supreme Commander of the White Army. He was promoted to the rank of full admiral.
The government of A. V. Kolchak reaffirmed its commitment to the Allied cause and established contact with the Entente nations. In domestic policy, its primary goal was to maintain the military dictatorship regime in order to defeat the Bolsheviks and hold a Constituent Assembly where the form of government for Russia would be decided.
In the spring of 1919, the Supreme Ruler's forces achieved significant victories, occupying the Urals region. However, following these successes, a series of setbacks began, due in part to A.V. Kolchak's inexperience in public administration, his refusal to address the agrarian question, partisan resistance, and disagreements with his allies.
On November 10, 1919, A. V. Kolchak, together with his troops and the government, left Omsk for Vladivostok. In January 4th, 1920, he resigned as the Supreme Ruler and handed over power to General A.I. Denikin. Representatives of the Entente promised A.V. Kolchak safety, but on January 15th, with the approval of French General M. Janin, he was handed over to the Socialist Revolutionary-Menshevik forces controlling Irkutsk at Innokentievskaya Station. After the city's transfer of power to the Bolsheviks, on February 7th, 1920, A. V. Kolchak was executed without trial by the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee at the banks of the Angara River's tributary, the Ushakovka.
Lit.: А. В. Колчак, 1874–1920: сборник документов: в 2 т. СПб., 2021 (Т. 1: От кадета до флотоводца, 1874–1918. 2021; Т. 2: Верховный правитель России, 1918–1920. 2021); Адмирал Колчак. Протоколы допроса. М., 2014; Белые офицеры. Колчак и другие. М., 2016; Гинс Г. К. Сибирь, союзники и Колчак: поворотный момент русской истории: 1918–1920 (впечатления и мысли члена Омского Правительства). М., 2008; Кузнецов Н. А. В поисках Земли Санникова. Полярные экспедиции Толля и Колчака. М., 2014; Тухачевский М. Н. Как мы разгромили Колчака. Уроки Гражданской войны: воспоминания. М., 2021; Цветков В. А. Адмирал Колчак. «Преступление и наказание» Верховного правителя России: [история без грифа «Секретно»]. М., 2018; Черкашин Н. А. Адмирал Колчак. Диктатор поневоле. М., 2023; Шмелёв А. В. Внешняя политика правительства адмирала Колчака (1918–1919). СПб., 2017.
Based on the materaisl of Presidential Library:
Болдырев В. Г. Директория. Колчак. Интервенты: воспоминания: Новониколаевск, 1925;
А. Ф. Керенский и А. В. Колчак в автомобиле: [фотография]. 1917;
Буревой К. С. Колчаковщина. М., 1919 (доступно в электронном читальном зале);
Мельгунов С. П. Трагедия адмирала Колчака: из истории гражданской войны на Волге, Урале и в Сибири. Ч. 1: Восточный фронт гражданской войны. Белград, 1930 (доступно в электронном читальном зале);
Мельгунов С. П. Трагедия адмирала Колчака: из истории гражданской войны на Волге, Урале и в Сибири. Ч. 2: В преддверии диктатуры. Белград, 1930 (доступно в электронном читальном зале);
Мельгунов С. П. Трагедия адмирала Колчака: из истории гражданской войны на Волге, Урале и в Сибири. Ч. 3. Т. 1: Конституционная диктатура. Белград, 1930 (доступно в электронном читальном зале);
Мельгунов С. П. Трагедия адмирала Колчака: из истории гражданской войны на Волге, Урале и в Сибири. Ч. 3. Т. 2: Катастрофа. Белград, 1931 (доступно в электронном читальном зале);
Последние дни колчаковщины: сборник. М.–Л., 1926 (доступно в электронном читальном зале);
Субботовский И. Союзники, русские реакционеры и интервенция: краткий обзор исключительно по официальным архивным документам Колчаковского правительства. Л., 1926 (доступно в электронном читальном зале).
The article was prepared by the Tyumen branch of the Presidential Library