Former tsarist general who commanded the Red Southern Front in autumn 1918 and clashed with Stalin and Voroshilov at Tsaritsyn
Born in Skopin, Ryazan Province, he graduated from the General Staff Academy in 1899, fought in the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War, and became a major general in January 1917. In December 1917 a soldiers' congress elected him commander of the 18th Army Corps, with which he went over to Soviet power. In September 1918 he took command of the Southern Front, but Stalin, Voroshilov and Minin at Tsaritsyn refused to recognise him, and on 4 October commander-in-chief Vatsetis forbade any transfer of units without Sytin's consent. After the poorly prepared offensive on the Balashov axis failed he was recalled and made head of the administrative department of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, and in 1920–1921 he was military representative in Georgia. Arrested in February 1938, he was shot on 22 August.
Activities and affiliations
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1890–1917
Russian Empire state institutions
Military command -
1917–1934
Soviet Union state institutionsMain
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1892Graduated from the Kiev Military School; commissioned
- 1899Graduated from the General Staff Academy
- 1904–1905Fought in the Russo-Japanese War
- 1914–1917Commanded an artillery battery, battalion and the 79th Artillery Brigade; major general
- 1917Commander of the 37th Infantry Division
- 1917Elected commander of the 18th Army Corps by a soldiers' congress; went over to Soviet power
- 1918Military leader of the Bryansk district, western sector of the screening forces
- 1918Head of the Soviet delegation in peace talks with the Germans at Kharkov
- 1918Commander of the 2nd Oryol Infantry Division
- 1918Commander of the Southern Front
- 1918Head of the administrative department of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic
- 1920–1921Military representative at the Soviet mission in Georgia
- 1922Instructor at the Military Academy of the Red Army
- 1924–1927Military Historical Directorate for the study of war experience
- 1927–1934Officer for special assignments to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR
- 1934Retired; researcher at the Central State Archive of the Red Army
- 1938Arrested and shot