Alexander Egorov was born on October 25, 1883 in the small town of Buzuluk. He was the youngest, fourth child in an ordinary family. Nothing foretold that the boy would make an amazing career and become a marshal of the Red Army in a completely different country. And yet it happened.
Education
Future Marshal Yegorov dreamed of a military career since childhood (moreover, his father was an officer). In 1902, the young man entered the Kazan Infantry Junker School. Study was given to the young man easily. The program included mathematics, Russian, chemistry, physics, God's law, drawing, a foreign language (Egorov chose French). There were also special military subjects: general tactics, military history, topography, military administration, artillery, many practical exercises, etc. In the workshops, the junkers learned the basics of weapons.
Soviet Marshal Yegorov was an outstanding military personnel of the tsarist school. Dramatic events fell on his years of study at the Kazan School: the Russo-Japanese War and the first revolution that began after Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg. Internal unrest in the empire could not but affectthe sentiments of the junkers. The school was divided into two groups: monarchists and oppositionists. The future marshal Yegorov also joined the last circle. Many years later, in his autobiography, he noted that since 1904 he shared the views of the Socialist-Revolutionaries.
World War I
Egorov's studies ended in April 1905, when he received the rank of second lieutenant and left to serve in the 13th Erivan Life Grenadier Regiment. The career of an officer developed successfully. Its course was turned on its head after the outbreak of the First World War. With the rank of staff captain, the future Marshal Yegorov received his baptism of fire in the Battle of Galicia on the Southwestern Front. The first attack with his participation took place on August 13, 1914 in the battle of Busk. The bayonet fight ended with the pushing back of two enemy companies.
Unlike many other officers, Yegorov tried to take care of his soldiers. He did not like desperate and baseless heroism, the only result of which could be a useless death. In the first year of the war alone, the staff captain received four awards. Later, others joined them: the Order of St. Stanislaus of the 2nd degree, as well as the honorary St. George's weapon.
But there were other "awards" that the future Marshal Egorov was awarded. The biography of the military would remain incomplete without mentioning several wounds. In August 1914, two weeks after the outbreak of hostilities in the vicinity of Logivitz, an officer received a rifle bullet that hit his shin. The wounded man was discharged from the hospital ahead of schedule. In April 1915, near the village of Zarinis, Yegorov was severely shell-shocked.projectile explosion. At that time, he did not stay in the hospital. Two more shocks followed. The unconscious officer was evacuated to the rear. He still returned to the front line, despite the limp.
In May 1916, Yegorov was promoted to captain and sent to the rear for the first time in the war. The commander became the commander of the 4th battalion and the 196th infantry reserve regiment, located in Tver.
Towards a revolution
A new appointment followed at the end of 1916. Yegorov began to command the 132nd Bendery Infantry Regiment, which occupied a position on the Western Dvina. At that time, Alexander Ilyich was already a lieutenant colonel. In this rank, he met the February Revolution. The front was especially sensitive to news from the rear. The army is tired of fighting and shedding blood in a protracted and futile war.
Many soldiers and officers hopefully reached into politics, expecting that the new authorities will quickly bring the country to peace. Marshal Egorov, who had not yet taken place, was no exception. The military leader (after the February Revolution) officially joined the Social Revolutionaries. It is curious that in the Soviet era, Georgy Zhukov, in his letter to Voroshilov, recalled how in the fall of 1917 Alexander Yegorov publicly called Vladimir Lenin an adventurer and a German spy.
Transition to the Red Army
With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the country was on the verge of a Civil War. In December 1917, Yegorov arrived in Petrograd and joined the Red Army. As an experienced officer, he began to work in the commission for the demobilization and acceptance of new personnel. At this stage of his career, Yegorov was the right hand of the head of the military department of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Avel Yenukidze. The old Bolshevik (in the party since 1898) highly appreciated the abilities and energy of the young colonel.
In the spring of 1918, Yegorov not only led the work of the re-certification commission (for example, the talented and ambitious tsarist officer Mikhail Tukhachevsky, another of the first five marshals of the USSR, passed through it), but also negotiated with the Germans about the exchange prisoners. He was also in constant contact with representatives of the Red Cross.
Leading the 9th Army
On August 31, 1918, the future Marshal of the USSR Yegorov filed a petition with a request to send him to the active army that fought on the fronts of the Civil War. The day before this episode, the Socialist-Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan made an unsuccessful attempt on Lenin's life. A shot near the Michelson plant led to the beginning of terror against her party. Yegorov himself broke with the Social Revolutionaries in July, and the field joined the RCP (b). He was lucky to "change course" shortly before belonging to the Socialist Revolutionaries could end in disgrace and death. However, the SR past of the military backfired on him much later, when in the 30s Stalin began total purges in the Red Army.
In August 1918, Yegorov was appointed commander of the 9th Army operating on the Southern Front. It was located on the Kamyshin - Novokhopersk section and repelled the blows of General Krasnov. While the officer received the long-awaited appointment, the whites cut the Balashov railway. It was with such an unimportant state of affairs that the future Marshal Yegorov faced. Biographythe military was already full of a variety of operations on the fronts of the First World War, so the commander, not a bit confused, set about restoring the status quo.
Egorov's main task was the complete restructuring of the 9th Army. In a short time, thanks to his own energy and perseverance, he managed to create a new combat-ready large force from this formation. Active operations began on the Sebryakov and Filonov directions. Thanks to the help of the 9th Army, the defenders of Tsaritsyn were able to defend this strategically important city.
Save Tsaritsyn
In October, the army commander fell seriously ill and had to stay in the hospital for two months. In the House, he accepted a new appointment. The 10th Army became a new tactical unit, headed by Marshal Yegorov. The ranks succeeded each other one after another, but at each new place the military invariably laid out his own maximum. Now he faced a new serious task - to save Tsaritsyn, who was again in the hands of the Whites.
On December 19, 1918, Yegorov, who had recovered, went to the front. While the commander was in the hospital, his place was temporarily taken by Nikolai Khudyakov (also later shot). In Tsaritsyn, things were extremely bad. Not a single enterprise (except for the gun factory) worked. The city party organization mobilized 5,000 people, but the human strength was still not enough. The fighting went right on the outskirts. Railroad tracks, streets and factories were constantly shelled. On January 19, 1919, the Whites tried to cross the Volga on the ice and thereby completely encircle the city.
Egorov startedorganizing a counterattack. A key role in it was played by the cavalry division under the command of Boris Dumenko. On January 22, a raid began, the main purpose of which was to break through the front and walk through the rear of the whites. In the very first battle near the Pryamaya Balka farm, the Reds defeated five enemy cavalry regiments. We managed to break through to Davydovka. On January 28, Marshal Yegorov arrived there. The awards that he received in the tsarist era turned out to be completely deserved. He managed to achieve a turning point in the battle for Tsaritsyn. In Davydovka, Yegorov met with Budyonny, who replaced the seriously ill Dumenko.
Wounded and returned to duty
April 4, 1919, Lenin sent a telegram addressed to Yegorov, in which he congratulated the heroes of the 10th Army on their success in the winter campaign. Meanwhile, Denikin's army became more active in the south, and Kolchak's troops began their offensive in the east. These maneuvers practically nullified the results of the Red Army near Tsaritsyn. In May 1919, in another battle on the banks of the Sal River, the future Marshal of the USSR Yegorov (together with Dumenko) was seriously wounded and was out of action for some time. Nevertheless, the army managed to achieve victory that day. For this success, the commander received the highest military award of the Bolsheviks at that time - the Order of the Red Banner.
Egorov spent several weeks in hospitals in Saratov and Moscow. In July, he returned to the front and led the 14th Army. Then, in October 1919 - January 1920, Alexander Ilyich served as commander of the troops of the Southern Front. He was appointed at the most tense moment of the Civil War.war. The Whites were closer than ever to Moscow. On October 13 they occupied Orel. The headquarters of the Southern Front at that time was located in Serpukhov near Moscow. The situation was extremely serious. The loss of Moscow could lead to the final defeat of the Bolsheviks.
Leading the Southern Front
Despite everything, Marshal Yegorov Alexander Ilyich did not give up. On the initiative of Lenin, he carried out the transfer from the Western Front of the Latvian Rifle Division, Pavlov's Rifle Brigade, Primakov's Cavalry Brigade, as well as some other units of the RVS. From this hodgepodge, the commander created a special strike group. She was supposed to be the gravedigger of white successes.
The multi-day battle near Kromy and Orel began. The 13th, 14th armies and the strike group defeated the corps of Aleksandrov Kutepov. Thus, Denikin's offensive was thwarted. Meanwhile, another strike group under the command of Budyonny in the Voronezh direction defeated several more white cavalry corps. On October 25, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern Front sent a telegram to Lenin announcing the long-awaited victory over the main stronghold of the counter-revolution. The message was signed by Yegorov and Stalin.
On December 12, the Red Army liberated Kharkov, and on the 16th - Kyiv. In January 1920, Rostov was cleared of whites. So the forces of the Southern Front completed their task and defeated Denikin's Volunteer Army. Of course, Alexander Egorov made a huge contribution to this success. Marshal later wrote detailed memoirs about the days of defeats and victories on the fronts of the Civil War.
In Petrograd
In early 1921, Yegorov was elected a deputy of the X Congress of the Communist Party. In April, he became commander of the Petrograd Military District. In this position, the military remained until September 1921. In Petrograd, Egorov had to deal primarily with the consequences of the Kronstadt rebellion. The sailors revolted right at the time of the Tenth Congress. For the Bolsheviks, this was a painful blow. Egorov began to reorganize party political work in military units.
Also, the commander fought the famine that tormented Petrograd. Being in the actual border strip, he formed new border guard departments (separately for the Finnish and Latvian-Estonian borders). This was followed by reassignment - first to the Western Front, then to the Caucasian Red Banner Army.
Peace years
In 1931, Alexander Ilyich was appointed Chief of Staff of the Red Army. In this position, he became one of the first five marshals. The highest rank in the Red Army was given to Yegorov for a reason. During the years of the Civil War, he became a real all-Union hero. Alexander Ilyich belonged to a galaxy of generals who forged victory in a bloody struggle against the Whites.
As Chief of Staff of the Red Army in peacetime, Yegorov led a great deal of work on developing a plan for the technical reconstruction of the armed forces. The problem of modernization became acute in the early 1930s. At the same time, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR instructed the Headquarters of the Red Army to begin rearmament and reconstruction. A report on the results of this strategically important work was prepared by a groupselected specialists. The team was headed by Marshal Yegorov.
The military wife Galina Tseshkovskaya supported her husband at every stage of his life (they got married back in tsarist times). The period of his stay at the Headquarters of the Red Army was no exception. Egorov remained in this position for a record long time. His entire career consisted of constant moving and changing activities. He remained Chief of Staff until 1935, when he became Chief of the General Staff.
Disgrace and doom
In May 1937, Marshal of the Soviet Union Yegorov was removed from the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army (Boris Shaposhnikov took his place). Alexander Ilyich became Deputy People's Commissar of Defense. In 1937, reshuffles in the army took on a massive character. It soon became clear that they were the prologue to terrible purges in the Red Army. In the context of the heated political situation in Europe (the Nazis came to power in Germany, the bourgeois countries were losing ground, the Old World was inevitably approaching a big war), Stalin decided to clean up the Red Army.
The main blow fell on those who made their careers during the Civil War. In the 30s, these people held key positions in the Red Army. Their attitude towards Stalin was heterogeneous. The heroes of the "citizen" were the same age as Koba, they had the moral right to consider him the first among equals. Stalin built a dictatorship. Such a proud and independent army frightened him. Marshal Yegorov was also on Stalin's blacklists. The "family" of the old Bolsheviks who divided the trenches during the Civil War is a thing of the past. First, a public message rained down on Yegorov.criticism of the leader. Then came the real disgrace.
The fate of the marshal in the last year of his life was typical for the victims of the Stalinist terror. Yegorov was systematically moved to new, less and less visible and important positions. In January 1938, he actually ended up in exile. Yegorov was sent to command the Transcaucasian Military District. It was a typical move by Stalin. For example, shortly before the execution, Tukhachevsky was sent to the Volga region in the same way.
While Egorov was taking over business in the Caucasus, the last clouds were gathering over him in Moscow. On February 8, 1938, his wife Galina Tseshkovskaya was arrested. The wife of Marshal Yegorov became a natural victim of terror. As a rule, the NKVD first of all took on the relatives of a high-ranking person who had a black mark on him.
On February 21, Marshal Yegorov was summoned to Moscow. The wife had already been arrested, but this misfortune was only the beginning of the destruction of the military family. Alexander Ilyich was detained in the capital on March 27. He was sent to the Lubyanka. There is an unconfirmed legend that in July 1938, the People's Commissar of the NKVD, Yezhov, handed over another execution list to Stalin. There were 139 names in this paper. Stalin agreed with the execution 138, but at the same time crossed out the name of Yegorov. For historians, it remains unknown what was the reason for this decision. One way or another, but Marshal Yegorov, whose photo ceased to appear in newspaper publications, lived in prison for another six months.
On February 22, 1939, the Supreme Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR announced the verdict on the military case. Marshal was accused of organizingmilitary conspiracy and espionage. The court found Egorov guilty. Marshal was shot the very next day. It was February 23 - the Day of the Red Army and Navy.
Together with Yegorov, many professionals in their field laid down their heads. A gaping void formed in the place of this cohort of the high command of the Red Army. The consequences of the purges in the army affected very soon. Already in 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. It was then that the country felt the lack of trained personnel. Almost the entire commanding staff was recruited from untrained and unprepared youth. Stalin, who in a fit of paranoid fear shot the entire flower of his army, was left without personnel reserves. The result of this turn was the colossal losses at the first stage of the Great Patriotic War. Throughout the confrontation with the Third Reich in the Red Army, the abilities and experience of Alexander Yegorov were sorely lacking.
