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Pyotr Wrangel

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For people with the same family name, seeWrangel.

In this name that followsEastern Slavic naming customs,thepatronymicisNikolayevichand thefamily nameisWrangel.
General
Baron
Pyotr Wrangel
Пётр Врангель
Pyotr Wrangel,The Black Baron
Commander-in-Chief of theArmed Forces of South Russia
In office
4 April 1920 – 21 November 1920
Preceded byAnton Denikin
Succeeded byOffice disestablished
Personal details
BornAugust 27 [O.S.August 15] 1878
Novalexandrovsk,Zarasai County,Kovno Governorate,Russian Empire
Died25 April 1928(1928-04-25)(aged 49)
Brussels,Belgium
AwardsSeebelow
Signature
Military service
AllegianceRussian Empire(1902–1917)
South Russia (1919–1920)White Movement(1917–1920)
Branch/serviceImperial Russian Army
White Army
Years of service1902–1920
RankLieutenant General
CommandsCaucasus Army of South Russia
Battles/warsRusso-Japanese War
World War I
Russian Civil War

BaronPyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel(Russian:Пётр Николаевич Врангель,pronounced[ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ];German:Peter von Wrangel;August 27 [O.S.August 15] 1878 – 25 April 1928), also known by his nickname theBlack Baron,was a Russian military officer ofBaltic Germanorigin in theImperial Russian Army.During the final phase of theRussian Civil War,he was commanding general of the anti-BolshevikWhite ArmyinSouthern Russia.

A member of the prominentWrangel noble family,Pyotr Wrangel was educated as a mining engineer and volunteered in theRussian Imperial Guard.He served with distinction duringWorld War Ias a cavalry commander, reaching the rank of major general. After theFebruary Revolutionand Russia's exit from the war, Wrangel retired to theCrimea.He was arrested by theBolsheviksfollowing theOctober Revolution,but was soon released[1][2]and later escaped and joined the anti-BolshevikVolunteer Armyof theWhite movement.In 1918, he becameAnton Denikin's chief of staff in theArmed Forces of South Russia.

Wrangel succeeded Denikin as commander-in-chief of the White forces in the Crimea in April 1920. As head of theSouth Russiamilitary government, he attempted to carry out sweeping land reforms, reorganised the White armies into aRussian Army(more commonly known the Army of Wrangel), and established relations withanti-Bolshevik independence movements.Severely outnumbered by theRed Armyand facing certain defeat, Wrangel organised amass evacuation from the Crimeain 1920. Early in his exile he lived inConstantinopleandSerbia,and came to be known as one of the most prominentWhite émigrés.[3]He relocated toBrusselsin 1927 and died a year later.

Family

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Wrangel was born inNovalexandrovsk,Kovno Governoratein theRussian Empire(nowZarasai,Lithuania) as the son of BaronNikolai Egorovich Wrangel[ru](1847–1923) and Maria Dimitrievna Demetieva-Maikova (1856–1944). TheBaltic German nobleWrangel familywas part of theUradel(old nobility), the family was ofGermanorigin, appearing in the old "Livonia"withTeutonic Order.It has a common origin with the noble family vonLöwenwolde[ru]and vonEngdes[de].Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel was only distantly related to the famed Arctic explorerFerdinand von Wrangeland thePrussianGeneralfeldmarschallFriedrich von Wrangel.

His cousin, Baron Nikolai Von Wrangell (1869 - 1927), also belonging to the Estonian Knighthood, reached high military rank. He was adjutant to theGrand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch(1878–1918), rose to the rank of Colonel as Commander of the 16th IrkutskHussarRegiment, and finally to Major General on Grand Duke Michael's staff. He marriedBaroness Elizabeth Hoyningen-Huene.[4]

Early life

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After graduating from theRostovTechnical High School in 1896 and theInstitute of Mining in St. Petersburgin 1901, Wrangel volunteered for the prestigiousLife Guards cavalry.He was commissioned a reserveofficerin 1902 after graduating from theNicholas Cavalry College[ru].He soon resigned his commission and traveled toIrkutsk,where he was assigned to special missions by theGovernor-General.

Military career

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Wrangel and PrinceSidamon-Eristaviat a captured German cannon in 1914

At the start of theRusso-Japanese Warin February 1904, he re-enlisted and was assigned to the 2nd Regiment of theTransbaikal Cossack Corps.In December 1904, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

After the war ended, in January 1906, he was reassigned to the 55th Finland Dragoon Regiment, which, under General A. N. Orlov, took part in pacifying rebels in Siberia. In 1907, he returned to the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. In 1908, he married Olga Mikhaylovna Ivanenko in St. Petersburg, and they had two sons and two daughters.[5]Wrangel graduated from theNicholas Imperial General Staff Academyin 1910 and the Cavalry Officers' School in 1911.

With the start ofWorld War I,Wrangel was promoted to captain and assigned command of a cavalry squadron. On 13 October 1914, he became one of the first Russian officers to be awarded theOrder of St. George(4th degree) in the war, the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire. In December 1914, he was promoted to the rank of colonel. In October 1915, Wrangel was transferred to theSouthwestern Frontand was appointed commander of the 1st Regiment of the Transbaikal Cossacks.

Poster depicting Wrangel, c. 1919

The unit was very active inGaliciaagainst theAustrians,and Wrangel distinguished himself especially during theBrusilov Offensive.He was promoted to the rank of major general in January 1917 and took command of the 2nd Brigade of the Ussuri Cavalry Division, which was merged with other cavalry units to become the Consolidated Cavalry Corps in July that year. He was further decorated with the George Cross (4th degree) for his defense of theZbruch Riverin the summer of 1917.

Russian Civil War

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After the end of Russia's participation in the war, Wrangel resigned his commission and went to live at hisdachaatYalta,in theCrimea.Arrested by theBolsheviksat the end of 1917, he was released and escaped toKiev,where he joinedPavlo Skoropadskyi'sUkrainian State.However, it was soon apparent to him that the new government existed only because of the waning support of Germany, and in August 1918, he joined the anti-BolshevikVolunteer Armybased atYekaterinodar,where he was given command of the 1st Cavalry Division and the rank of major general in theWhite movement.After theSecond Kuban Campaignin late 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant general, and his division's strength was raised to that of acorps.

In August 1918, Wrangel joined Denikin's anti-Bolshevik army. In December 1918, Wrangel becameAnton Denikin's Chief of Staff in theArmed Forces of South Russia,and in January 1919, commander of the Caucasian Volunteer Army within those forces.[6][7]

TheGovernment of South Russiaestablished inSevastopol,Crimeain April 1920

According toPeter Kenez,"Wrangel fought well, but even during his first weeks with the army, he distinguished himself by his arrogant behavior." After defeating the Bolsheviks in the Northern Caucasus, Denikin wanted to move againstTsaritsyn,but the Bolshevik threat to the west of the Don district forced Denikin to send troops to that Don front. According to Kenez, "General Wrangel bitterly criticized Denikin's decision. He was willing to accept not only the loss of theDonets basin,but of the entireDon Voiskobecause he believed strongly that no goal could be more important than meetingKolchak's advance somewhere along theVolga river."[7]

Wrangel gained a reputation as a skilled and just administrator, who, unlike some other White Army generals, did not tolerate lawlessness or looting by his troops.[8]However, after he was unable to join forces with Admiral Kolchak and at the insistence of Denikin, he led his forces north towards Moscow on afailed attempt by the Whites to take itin autumn 1919. Continuing disagreement with Denikin led to his removal from command, and Wrangel departed for exile toConstantinopleon 8 February 1920.

Wrangel, MetropolitanAnthony,MetropolitanAnastasiusand other Russian émigrés in Yugoslavia, 1927
Statue of Wrangel inSremski Karlovci

However, Denikin was forced to resign on 20 March 1920, and a military committee, led by GeneralAbram DragomirovinSevastopol,asked for Wrangel's return asCommander-in-Chiefof the White forces in Crimea. He assumed that post on 4 April 1920, at the head of theRussian Army,and he put forth a coalition government that attempted to institute sweeping reforms (including land reforms).[9]He also recognized and established relations with the new anti-Bolshevik independent states, theUkrainian People's Republicand theDemocratic Republic of Georgia,among others, although they were ultimately conquered by the RussianRed Army.[10]However, by that stage in theRussian Civil War,such measures were too late, and the White movement was rapidly losing support, both domestically and overseas.

Wrangel is immortalized by the nickname of "Black Baron" in the marching songThe Red Army is the Strongest,composed as a rallying call for a final effort on the part of the Bolsheviks to end the war. The song was immensely popular in the early Soviet Union in the 1920s.[citation needed]

From June to October 1920, General Wrangel kept a building inMelitopolas his headquarters. The site later became theMelitopol Museum of Local History.[11]

At a prayer vigil upon accepting command.

After being severely outnumbered and facingdefeat in Northern Tavriaandin Crimea,Wrangel organiseda mass evacuationon the shores of theBlack Sea.[12]Wrangel gave every officer, soldier, and civilian the choice to evacuate and go with him into the unknown, or to remain in Russia. Those who chose to stay in Crimea were subject to brutal repression by the Bolsheviks as part of theRed Terror,along with many civilians, with up to 150,000 murdered.[13][3]Wrangel evacuated the White forces from the Crimea in 1920; the remnants of the Russian Imperial Navy became known asWrangel's fleet.The last military and civilian personnel left Russia with Wrangel on board theGeneral Kornilovon 14 November 1920.[citation needed]

Acommemorative plaquededicated to Wrangel in the village of Ulyanovo inKaliningrad Oblast.Notably, the plaque utilizespre-revolutionary Russian,even though it was created in 2014.

Initially, Wrangel lived on his yacht,Lucullus,atConstantinople.It was rammed and sunk by the Italian steamerAdria,which had sailed from Soviet-heldBatum.Wrangel, then on shore, escaped with his life in what was widely regarded as an assassination attempt.

Emigration

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In 1922, he moved to theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenesas the head of allWhite Russianrefugees.

In 1924, in the Serbian town ofSremski Karlovci,he established theRussian All-Military Union,a civilian organisation that was designed to embrace all Russian military émigrés all over the world.[14]He tried to preserve a Russian military organisation for another fight against Bolshevism.[15]

In September 1927, Wrangel and his family emigrated, settling inBrussels,Belgium,where he worked as a mining engineer.

Wrangel published hismemoirsin the magazineWhite Cause(Белое дело)[16]inBerlinin 1928.

Death and burial

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Wrangel died suddenly on 25 April 1928, possibly after contractingtyphus.His family, however, believed that he had been poisoned by his butler's brother, who briefly lived in the household in Brussels and was allegedly aSovietagent.[17]

He was buried in Brussels. More than a year later, his remains were transported toBelgrade.On 6 October 1929, in a formal public ceremony, his body was reinterred in theChurch of the Holy Trinity, Belgrade,the Russian church, according to his wishes.[18][19]

Family

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Wrangel's wife and children in 1920. From left to right: Helena, Olga, Nathalie, and Peter.

He was married to Russian noblewoman Olga MikhailovnaIvanienko(1883–1968). They had two sons and two daughters:

  • Baroness Helena Petrovna Wrangel (1909–1999); married Baron Fedor vonMeyendorff:married secondly to Phillip Hills; had issue
  • Baron Peter Petrovich Wrangel (1911–1999); no issue
  • Baroness Nathalie Petrovna Wrangel (1913–2013); married to Russian nobleman Alexis GeorgeBasilevski;had issue
  • Baron Alexis Petrovich Wrangel (1922–2005); married to Ekaterina Nikolaevna vonLambsdorff;no issue[20]

His nephew, BaronGeorge Wrangell,became known by theDavid Oglivy-created 1951adcampaign for theHathaway shirt companyin which he was depicted in photos as "a white-shirted, debonair-looking fellow" with a black patch over his right eye, although both his eyes were "perfectly good."[21]

Legacy

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The Serbian town ofSremski Karlovci,which had served as his headquarters after he emigrated from Russia, erected a monument in his honour in 2007. At the time of his death, it was the location of theHoly Synodof theRussian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia(ROCOR, which is now based in New York) and the Russian Ministry of Culture.[22]

During theRussian Civil War,the combat song of theRed Army,White Army, Black Baron,was named for Wrangel, and its first verse identifies Wrangel as both the leader of the Whites and a serious threat to the success of Soviet Russia.

Many Russian officers regarded Wrangel so highly that he had almost a semi-sacred status. AfterHitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941,some prominent military émigrés referred to the position that they believed Wrangel would have taken. For example, Major General Mikhail Mikhailovich Zinkevich said in mid-August 1941, "If General Wrangel were alive today, he would go unhesitatingly with the Germans".[23]

In 2015, the government of theRussian Federationbegan to repatriate the remains of White Emigres that were buried abroad, but the descendants of Wrangel refused to have his remains returned to Russia as the currentRussian governmenthad not "condemned the evil [of Bolshevism],"[24]referring toVladimir Putin's unwillingness to denounce the Soviet crimes and implement a properdecommunization.[25]

He was portrayed by Russian actorAleksandr Galibinin the first season of the Serbian television seriesBalkan Shadows,which features Wrangel's Cossack emigres as major characters.

In September 2021, following thewithdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan,in an opinion piece inThe Wall Street Journal,Wrangel's grandson Peter A. Basilevsky compared the "bureaucratic incompetence" of the U.S. government in Afghanistan to the successful November 1920 evacuation of 150,000 anti-Bolshevik soldiers and civilians under Wrangel which became possible with far inferior resources of the White Army and in the face of the advancing Red Army.[26]

Honours

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Works

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  • Wrangel, Pyotr N. (1963) [1958].Always with Honour [memoirs of General Wrangel].New York: R. Speller.OCLC600910469.

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Wrangel, Petr Nikolaevich, Baron | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)".encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net.
  2. ^"Searching for Peter Wrangel".Hoover Institution.
  3. ^abEgorov, O. (27 December 2019)."Meet Russian Imperial officers who almost stopped the Bolsheviks".Russia Beyond the Headlines.Retrieved29 January2020.
  4. ^Rene Levoll, The Last Motor Race of The Empire 2014ISBN9789949380602.
  5. ^New York Times obituary of his last surviving child
  6. ^Kenez, Peter (2004).Red Attack, White Resistance; Civil War in South Russia 1918.Washington, DC: New Academia Publishing. pp. 204, 267–270.ISBN9780974493442.
  7. ^abKenez, Peter (2004).Red Advance, White Defeat: Civil War in South Russia 1919-1920.Washington, DC: New Academia Publishing. pp. 25, 31–33.ISBN9780974493459.
  8. ^Lincoln 1989,p.430.
  9. ^Luckett 1971,pp.359-360.
  10. ^Iakov Moiseyevich Shafir(1922).Secrets of Menshevik Georgia.London:Communist Party of Great Britain.
  11. ^"Страница не найдена (404-я ошибка) / Мелитопольский краеведческий музей / Музейний простір. Музеї України та світу".prostir.museum.Retrieved10 March2022.
  12. ^Luckett 1971,pp.381-383.
  13. ^"Красный террор в Крыму 1920-1922".
  14. ^Wrangel, Petr Nikolaevich, Baron
  15. ^″Главни војни циљ барона Врангела″. //Politika,7 December 2017, p. 21.
  16. ^An alternative name for theWhite movement.
  17. ^Volodarsky, Boris.The KGB's Poison Factory, from Lenin to Litvinenko.Frontline Books: 2009, p. 58.
  18. ^″Смрт и сахрана генерала Врангела у Београду: Чувени бели генерал је, по сопственој жељи, сахрањен у руској Цркви Свете Тројице на Ташмајдану.″ //Politika,18 January 2018, p. 20.
  19. ^Татоли, Татьяна (Tatoli, Tatiana) (22 January 2020)."Русская военная эмиграция в Сербии (20-30 гг. ХХ в.)"[Russian military emigration in Serbia (20-30 years of the twentieth century.)].Западная Русь (Western Russians) website(in Russian).Retrieved16 April2021.{{cite news}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^"Pyotr Nicolaevich Baron von Wrangell".27 August 1878.
  21. ^"One-Eyed Flattery".Time.23 June 1952.Retrieved19 July2023.
  22. ^Споменик белом баронуPolitika,13 September 2007.
  23. ^O. Beyda, ‘ “Re-Fighting the Civil War”: Second Lieutenant Mikhail Aleksandrovich Gubanov’.Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas,Vol. 66, No. 2, 2018, p. 254.
  24. ^Gessen, Masha."The Dearly Departed Return to Russia".The New Yorker.
  25. ^Karl W. Ryavec.Russian Bureaucracy: Power and Pathology,2003, Rowman & Littlefield,ISBN0-8476-9503-4,page 13
  26. ^"Opinion | Incompetence in Action: Afghanistan Edition".Wall Street Journal.8 September 2021.ISSN0099-9660.Retrieved15 September2021.

Sources

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Further reading

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Media related toPyotr Nikolayevich Wrangelat Wikimedia Commons

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