Wikipedia

Mikhail Diterikhs

Mikhail Konstantinovich Diterikhs(Russian:Михаи́л Константи́нович Ди́терихс,German:Michail Konstantinowitsch Diterichs;May 17, 1874 – September 9, 1937) served as a general in theImperial Russian Armyand subsequently became a key figure in the monarchistWhite movementinSiberiaand theRussian Far Eastarea during theRussian Civil Warof 1917–1923.

Mikhail Diterikhs
Diterikhs in 1918
Born(1874-05-17)May 17, 1874
Saint Petersburg,Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd,Saint Petersburg Governorate,Russian Empire
DiedSeptember 9, 1937(1937-09-09)(aged 63)
Shanghai,Republic of China
AllegianceRussian Empire
Russian Republic
Service/ branchRussian EmpireImperial Russian Army
Russian RepublicWhite Army
RankGeneral
CommandsRussian Salonika Force
Siberian Army
Zemskaya Rat
Battles / warsRusso-Japanese War
World War I
Russian Civil War

3rd Minister of WarofRussian State
In office
10 August – 27 August 1919
Supreme RulerAlexander Kolchak
Prime MinisterPyotr Vologodsky
Preceded byDmitry Lebedev
Succeeded byAlexei von Budberg

Voivoda zemsky of theProvisional Priamurye Government
In office
23 July – 17 October 1922
Preceded bySpiridon Merkulov
Succeeded byAnatoly Pepelyayev

Descended from LutheranSudeten Germanancestors who becameBaltic Germans,[1]Diterikhs had a reputation as "a deeply religious man, the walls of whose private railway coach were plastered withicons";he saw himself as" waging a holy war against theBolshevikheathens ".[2]

Biography

edit

Diterikhs was born to Konstantin Alexandrovich Diterikhs, who served as a general of the Russian Imperial Army in theCaucasus,and Olga Iosifovna Musintskaya, a Russian noblewoman. His family was ofGerman Bohemiandescent, his great-grandfather Johann Gottfried Dieterichs moved fromWolfenbüttel,in theDuchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg,toWaiwarainEstoniaduring the 18th century. In 1900, Diterikhs graduated from thePage Corpsand was assigned a post in theLife Guards2nd Artillery Brigade. In 1900, he graduated from theNikolaevsky Military AcademyinSt. Petersburg.From 1900 to 1903 he served in various staff positions in theMoscow Military District.In 1903 he was appointed commander of the squadron in the 3rdDragoonRegiment.

With the start of theRusso-Japanese Warin 1904, Diterikhs became chief officer for special duties at the 17th Army Corps headquarters. He arrived at the front inManchuriain August 1904, and participated in the Battles ofLiaoyang,ShahoandMukden.By the end of the war, he was a lieutenant. After the end of the war he returned to Moscow, and in 1906 was chief officer for special duties at the 7th Army Corps headquarters. The following year, he had the same position at theKiev Military Districtheadquarters. He was promoted to colonel in 1909. In 1910, he served as a senior aide at the Kiev Military District headquarters. From 1913, Diterikhs was head of the Mobilization Department of the Main Directorate of the General Staff.[3]

With the start ofWorld War I,Diterikhs was assigned asChief of Stafffor theRussian Third Armyon theSouthwestern Frontunder the command of GeneralAleksei Brusilov,with whom he assisted in planning theBrusilov Offensivein August 1916.[4]In September of the same year, he commanded a Russian expeditionary force inThessalonikion theMacedonian frontin support of theSerbian Armyand fought the Bulgarian army and repelled them successfully in theMonastir offensive.

After theFebruary Revolution,Diterikhs was recalled to Russia. In August 1917 theRussian Provisional Governmentoffered Diterikhs the position ofMinister of War,which he refused. By November 3, 1917, Diterikhs was promoted to the chief of staff of the Russian army'sheadquarters,but managed to escape arrest during theBolshevik revolution.Diterikhs escaped toKiev,then made his way toSiberiawhere theCzechoslovak Legionsasked him to become their chief of staff and the commander of the fivesT. G. Masaryk's rifle regiment too.[5]He helped theCzech Legionto organize their first resistance in May 1918, and commanded theirIrkutsk-Chita-Vladivostokarmed group.

Diterikhs was ordered byAdmiral Kolchakto arrest theUfadirectory but delayed his move. After a few days on November 26, 1918, he finally agreed to obey to Kolchak's order and simultaneously resigned from the Czech Legion after a period of tense relations.

From January to July 1919 Diterikhs personally supervised the Sokolov investigation of the murder ofTsar Nicholas II.Later he published a book on this subject, when he already lived abroad.[a]Based on his anti-Semitic views, he tried to present the execution as aritual murderorganized by Jews.[6]

In July 1919 Diterikhs took command of theSiberian Armyof Admiral Kolchak. He assisted in creation of various paramilitary militias in support of the White movement and theRussian Orthodox Churchagainst the Bolsheviks. In September 1919 he commanded Admiral Kolchak's last successful offensive against the Red Army, the Tobolsk Operation. However, in December 1919 he resigned after a bitter quarrel with Kolchak and emigrated toHarbinin Manchuria.

Periodically Diterikhs figured in the negotiations between theProvisional Priamurye Governmentand other White forces. On June 8, 1922, Diterikhs returned to take over the Army of Verzhbitski as well as the civil administration. Based in theAmur Krai,Diterikhs proceeded to reorganize the army and civil government, much in the way GeneralPyotr Wrangelhad done in theCrimeatwo years earlier. Taking a hands-on approach, Diterikhs made efforts to enlist the support of the local population for his cause, calling his battle a religiouscrusadeagainst Bolshevism. He had also tried, in vain, to convince the Japanese not to withdraw theirmilitary support.

Diterikhs founded the lastZemsky Soboron Russian soil on July 23, 1922. On August 8, 1922, the sobor declared that the throne of Russia belonged to the House ofRomanovin the person of Grand DukeNikolai Nikolaevich Romanov.It also named Diterikhs as the ruler of theProvisional Priamur Governmentand its armed forces, called in archaic terms theZemskaya Rat.On October 25, 1922, the Bolsheviks defeated Diterikhs's army, forcing an evacuation from Vladivostok to China andKoreavia Japanese ships.

After May 1923 Diterikhs moved from a military refugee camp to Harbin where manyWhite emigressettled. He became the head of the Far East chapter of theRussian All-Military Unionorganization. Diterikhs died inShanghaiin 1937, where he was buried.[7]

Honors

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^The Murder of the Royal Family and members of the House of Romanoffs in the Urals(Убийство Царской семьи и членов Дома Романовых на Урале)

References

edit
  1. ^Дитерихс Александр Иванович (Dieterichs Alexander Ivanovič)
  2. ^Jamie, Bisher (2006) [2005].White Terror: Cossack warlords of the Trans-Siberian.Abingdon, Oxon, England: Routledge. p. 285.ISBN9781135765958.
  3. ^Биография Дитерихса на сайте Хроноса
  4. ^Белая гвардия
  5. ^Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages, first issue vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karvina, Czech Republic) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019,ISBN978-80-87173-47-3,pages 36 - 39, 41 - 42, 111-112, 124–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–199.
  6. ^Семен, Резник (2 December 2017).Кто распространял слухи о «ритуальном убийстве» царской семьи.chayka.org(in Russian).
  7. ^Умер в Шанхае белый генерал Михаил Константинович Дитерихс, последний вождь Белой армии, правитель Приамурского края
  8. ^Czech order database
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mikhail_Diterikhs&oldid=1258572140"