Institutional founder of Soviet military intelligence
Atatürk personally ordered Aralov's bronze figure placed on Istanbul's Taksim Square Republic Monument — the only Soviet diplomat on the monument — in gratitude for the aid Soviet Russia gave during the Turkish War of Independence.
Institutional founder of Soviet military intelligence: first head of the Red Army Registration Directorate (future GRU) in 1918, he built the foundations of Bolshevik strategic intelligence. A member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic and a founding member of the Cheka, he helped construct the Red Army alongside Trotsky. After the Civil War he served as Soviet plenipotentiary to Lithuania, Turkey, Latvia, and China; his bronze figure stands on Istanbul's Taksim Square Republic Monument, placed at Atatürk's personal request for Soviet aid during Turkey's war of independence. Purged from intelligence in 1937, he volunteered for the front at 60 and served as trophy chief of the 33rd Army through WWII.
Career Timeline
- 1902Joined RSDLP and Imperial Russian Army
- 1914–1917Served in WWI, rose to staff-captain; awarded 5 battle orders
- 1918.1Head of Operations, Moscow Military District; founding member of Cheka
- 1918.9–1919.7Member, Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic
- 1918.11–1919.6First head, Registration Directorate (future GRU) of the Red Army
- 1919–1920Member, RVS of 12th Army, 14th Army, South-Western Front
- 1921–1927Plenipotentiary to Lithuania, Turkey, Latvia, and China
- 1927–1937Presidium of VSNKh; head of State Insurance
- 1938–1941Deputy director, State Literature Museum
- 1941–1945Volunteered at 60; trophy department chief, 33rd Army
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionFirst head of the Red Army Registration Directorate (forerunner of the GRU)Appointed first head of the Registration Directorate in November 1918, he laid the foundations of Soviet military intelligence. As a member of the Republic's Revolutionary Military Council he helped build the Red Army, and was also a founding member of the Cheka.
- 1937–1938The Great Purgeintelligence officer