Cavalry general who led the 11th Army in the Brusilov Offensive and joined the White movement
In his 2 March 1917 telegram to Nicholas II, he denounced the State Duma as a 'criminal band' and ended: 'I, an unshakeably loyal subject of Your Majesty, sobbing, am compelled to say that perhaps the most painless way out is to meet the conditions already stated.'
Vladimir Viktorovich Sakharov was an Imperial Russian general of the cavalry whose fifty-year career spanned the Russo-Turkish War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Russo-Japanese War, and the First World War. Appointed commander of the 11th Army in 1915, he led the secondary axis of the Brusilov Offensive, capturing Brody and taking tens of thousands of prisoners. Sent to Romania in late 1916 as commander of the Danube Army, he became de facto commander of the Romanian Front as assistant to King Ferdinand I. His telegram to Nicholas II during the February Revolution, denouncing the Duma while tearfully advising abdication, captured the fractured loyalties of the imperial officer corps. Removed after the revolution, he joined the White movement in Crimea and was shot by Green partisans in 1920.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1869–1878Entered army, graduated Pavlovsk Military School and General Staff Academy
- 1877–1878Fought in the Russo-Turkish War
- 1880–1897Military school instructor, staff posts, cavalry regiment commander
- 1900–1901Commander of forces in northern Manchuria during Boxer Rebellion
- 1904–1905Russo-Japanese War: field chief of staff Manchurian Army, chief of staff to C-in-C
- 1906–1914Commander VII Corps, XI Corps; promoted general of cavalry (1908)
- 1914–1915Led XI Corps in Battle of Galicia and Gorlice-Tarnów
- 1915–1916Commander 11th Army; captured Brody in the Brusilov Offensive
- 1916–1917Commander Danube Army; assistant to C-in-C Romanian Front (de facto commander)
- 1917Removed by Guchkov after the February Revolution
- 1918–1920Joined White movement; captured by Green partisans in Crimea and shot
Related historical events
- 1914–1918First World War11th Army commanderHe led the secondary axis of the Brusilov Offensive and captured Brody.
- 1917.02–07The February RevolutionGeneral who advised abdicationIn a March 1917 telegram, he denounced the Duma and advised Nicholas II to abdicate.
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionGeneral who joined the White movementHe joined the White movement in Crimea during the Civil War.
Command of the 11th Army in the Brusilov Offensive
Appointed commander of the Southwestern Front’s 11th Army on 25 October 1915, Sakharov led it in the 1916 Brusilov Offensive, where it was assigned a supporting rather than the main role. He planned an advance from Tarnopol toward Dubno and Brody. The 6th Corps’s opening attack suffered heavy losses without success, while the 17th Corps broke through the front at Sopanov between the Austro-Hungarian First and Second Armies. The 11th Army subsequently crossed the Plyashivka River and took Berestechko, Radziwillow, and Pochayiv. In July, it crossed the Styr and drove the enemy beyond the Lypa, taking about 14,000 prisoners; in the fighting for Brody from 25 to 29 July, it captured the town and about 14,000 prisoners and nine guns. The army’s task remained a supporting operation, however, and its August offensive was halted after heavy losses. A renewed attack in September was also repulsed. The campaign brought the 11th Army advances and prisoners but did not complete a breakthrough toward Lviv.