Anti-Soviet partisan commander who moved from Estonia to Belarus, changing camps as he went
Pilsudski judged him 'a bandit, but not only a bandit: today a Russian, tomorrow a Pole, the day after a Belarusian.'
He went from the Red Army to the Whites, took Pskov in 1919, broke with Yudenich to side with Estonia and in 1920 moved to Poland for a Belarusian expedition. His troops' anti-Jewish violence is on record; he was killed in occupied Warsaw in 1940.
Activities and affiliations
-
1914–1918
Russian Empire state institutionsCommander of a Cossack Volunteer SquadronMain
Military command -
1919–1920
Russian White movementCommander of an Assault Group
Military command -
1920
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1914Mobilized into the tsarist army; awarded the George Cross and St George medal
- 1918Joined the Red Army; formed the Luga cavalry regiment with Trotsky's sanction
- 1918.11Defected to the Whites with about 400 men
- 1919Colonel then major-general; took Pskov in the Yudenich offensive
- 1920.01Arrested Yudenich and sided with Estonia
- 1920In Polish service took Pinsk and formed the Russian People's Volunteer Army
- 1920.11Invaded Soviet Belarus and proclaimed himself head of a Belarusian state; after defeat fled to Poland
- 1939Helped defend Warsaw; killed in May 1940
Related historical events
- 1914–1918First World WarRussian imperial cavalry officerHe fought as a cavalry officer in the Russian imperial army during the First World War.
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionAnti-Soviet commander from Estonia to BelarusTook Pskov in May 1919 with the White Northern Corps, broke with Yudenich to side with the Estonians, and moved with his troops to Poland in 1920.
- 1918.11–1920.10Baltic wars of independence and border settlementsAnti-Soviet commander from Estonia to BelarusTook Pskov in May 1919 with the White Northern Corps, broke with Yudenich to side with the Estonians, and moved with his troops to Poland in 1920.
- 1917.03–1921.03The Belarusian People’s Republic and Soviet BelarusCommander-in-chief of the BNR forcesTook Mozyr in November 1920 and proclaimed Belarusian independence and a new government before being driven out; remnants of his force passed weapons to the Slutsk insurgents.
- 1919–1921The Soviet-Polish WarAnti-Soviet commander from Estonia to BelarusAfter fighting under Polish command in 1920 he marched on Mozyr under the banner of a Belarusian People's Republic even after the October armistice, and was beaten in November; his troops' anti-Jewish violence is on record.
Revolution and independence wars
Born to a Belarusian-Polish family near Vilnius, he fought as a cavalry officer of the Russian imperial army in the First World War, served briefly in the Red Army in 1918 and went over to the White Northern Corps at Pskov. His troops took Pskov on 25 May 1919, and the executions and abuse of Jewish inhabitants there caused trouble even within the White camp. He broke with Yudenich and sided with the Estonians, briefly detained Yudenich in January 1920 on the eve of the Northwestern Army's dissolution, and then took his men to Poland to fight under Piłsudski. After the armistice of October he marched independently on Mozyr under the banner of a Belarusian People's Republic with Polish acquiescence, was beaten in November, and this campaign too is recorded for his troops' anti-Jewish violence. As a Polish citizen he led volunteers in the defence of Warsaw in 1939, and was killed in occupied Warsaw in 1940.