Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich
- Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich
-
▪ Russian naval officer
born Nov. 4 [Nov. 16, New Style], 1874, St. Petersburg, Russia
died Feb. 7, 1920, Irkutsk, Siberia
Arctic explorer and naval officer, who was recognized in 1919–20 by the “Whites” as supreme ruler of Russia; after his overthrow he was put to death by the Bolsheviks (
Bolshevik).
At the outbreak of World War I, Kolchak was flag captain of the Baltic fleet. By August 1916, as a vice admiral, he was commanding the fleet in the Black Sea. In June 1917, after the February revolution, he resigned under pressure and went to the United States. Next he tried, unsuccessfully, to coordinate White Russian forces in Manchuria. In October 1918 he went to Omsk, where he became war minister in the non-Bolshevik government. On Nov. 18, 1918, a military coup d'état at Omsk brought him absolute power there.
His armies, though at first successful, eventually were routed. When Omsk fell to the Red Army on Nov. 14, 1919, Kolchak transferred his headquarters to Irkutsk, but on Jan. 4, 1920, he was forced to resign when a Socialist Revolutionary–Menshevik group seized power in that city. He placed himself under Allied protection, but the Czechs handed him over to the Irkutsk authorities, from whom he was taken by the Bolsheviks. He was summarily executed and his body thrown into the Angara River.
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Universalium.
2010.
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Kolchak, Aleksandr (Vasilyevich) — born Nov. 16, 1874, St. Petersburg, Russia died Feb. 7, 1920, Irkutsk, Siberia, Soviet Russia Russian naval officer and political leader. He was forced to resign as commander of the fleet in the Black Sea after the Russian Revolution of 1917… … Universalium
Vasilyevich — (as used in expressions) Chicherin Georgy Vasilyevich Frunze Mikhail Vasilyevich Gogol Nikolay Vasilyevich Golitsyn Vasily Vasilyevich Prince Ivan Vasilyevich Kolchak Aleksandr Vasilyevich Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lunacharsky Anatoly… … Universalium
Aleksandr — (as used in expressions) Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandr Nikolayevich Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Borodin Aleksandr Porfiryevich Glazunov Aleksandr Konstantinovich Gorchakov Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prince Gorsky Aleksandr… … Universalium
Kolchak — biographical name Aleksandr Vasilyevich 1873 1920 Russian admiral & counterrevolutionary … New Collegiate Dictionary
Kolchak — /kawl chahk /; Russ. /kul chyahk /, n. Aleksandr Vasilyevich /u lyi ksahndrdd vu syee lyi vyich/, 1874 1920, Russian counterrevolutionary and admiral. * * * … Universalium
Kolchak — /kawl chahk /; Russ. /kul chyahk /, n. Aleksandr Vasilyevich /u lyi ksahndrdd vu syee lyi vyich/, 1874 1920, Russian counterrevolutionary and admiral … Useful english dictionary
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