Anton Ivanovich Denikin (Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин; December 16, 1872 – August 8, 1947) was
Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
of the Imperial Russian Army (1916) and one of the foremost generals of the
White RussiansThe White movement , whose military arm was the White Army aka the White Guard , and as the Whites comprised some of the politico-military Russian forces who unsuccessfully fought the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and...
in the
civil warThe Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed and the Soviets under the domination of the Bolshevik party assumed power, first in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a multi-party war that...
.
Childhood
Denikin was born in Szpetal Dolnyj village, now a part of the Polish city Włocławek (then part of the
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n empire). His father, Ivan Efimovich Denikin, had been born a serf in the province of
SaratovSaratov is a major city in southern Russia. It is the administrative center of Saratov Oblast and a major port on the Volga River. Population: In addition to ethnic Russians, the city also has many Tatar, Ukrainian, Jewish and German residents.-History:...
. Sent as a recruit to do 25 years of military service, Ivan Denikin became an officer on the 22nd year of his army service, in 1856. He retired from the army in 1869 with the rank of a major. In 1869 Ivan Denikin married a poor Polish seamstress, Elżbieta Wrzesińska - his second wife. Anton Denikin, the couple's only child, learned to speak two languages (Russian and Polish) at the same time. His father's commitment to Russian patriotism and the Orthodox religion was crucial for Anton Denikin's decision to become a soldier.
The Denikins lived very close to poverty, the retired major's small pension being their only source of income. After his father's death in 1885, Denikin's family financial situation got even worse. Anton Denikin began tutoring younger schoolmates so that the family could earn an additional income. In 1890 Denikin began a course at the Kiev Junker School, a military college from which he graduated in 1892. Twenty-year-old Denikin joined an artillery brigade, in which he served for three years.
In 1895 he was first accepted into
General Staff AcademyThe General Staff Academy was a Russian military academy, established in 1832 in St.Petersburg. It was first known as the Imperial Military Academy , then in 1855 it was renamed Nicholas General Staff Academy and in 1909 - Imperial Nicholas Military Academy The General Staff Academy was a...
, where he did not meet the academic requirements in the first of two years. After the disappointment, Denikin attempted to attain acceptance again. On his next attempt he did better and ended up fourteenth in his class. However, to his misfortune, the Academy decided to introduce a new system of calculating grades and as a result Denikin was not offered a staff appointment after the final exams. Denikin protested the decision to the highest authority (The Grand Duke), and after being offered a settlement which he would rescind his complaint in order to attain acceptance into General Staff school again, Denikin declined, feeling insulted at the lack of integrity presented by the offer.
Denikin first saw active service during the 1905
Russo-Japanese WarThe Russo-Japanese War or the Manchurian Campaign in some English sources, was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
. In 1905 he was promoted to the rank of colonel. In 1910 he was appointed commander of the 17th infantry regiment. A few weeks before the outbreak of the First World War, Denikin reached the rank of major-general.
World War I
By the outbreak of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
in August 1914 Denikin was a Chief of Staff of the Kiev military district with the rank of Major-General. He was initially appointed
QuartermasterQuartermaster refers to two different military occupations. In land armies, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit, who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. It is a non-commissioned rank in many navies...
of General
BrusilovAleksei Alekseevich Brusilov was a Russian general most noted for the development of new offensive tactics used in the 1916 offensive which would come to bear his name. The innovative and relatively successful tactics used were later copied by the Germans...
's 8th Army. Not one for staff service, Denikin petitioned for an appointment to a fighting front. He was transferred to the 4th Rifle brigade. His brigade was transformed into a division in 1915. It was with this brigade Denikin would accomplish his greatest feats as a
GeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
.
In 1916 he was appointed to command the VIII Corps and lead troops in Romania during the last successful Russian campaign of the war, the
Brusilov OffensiveThe Brusilov Offensive was the Russian Empire's greatest feat of arms during World War I, and among the most lethal battles in world history. Professor Graydon A. Tunstall of the University of South Florida called the Brusilov Offensive of 1916 the worst crisis of World War I for Austria-Hungary...
. Following the
February RevolutionThe February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It occurred March 8–12 and its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the collapse of Imperial Russia and the end of the Romanov dynasty. The non-Communist Russian Provisional Government under...
and the overthrow of the Czar he became Chief of Staff to
Mikhail AlekseevMikhail Vasiliyevich Alekseyev was a Russian military leader before and during World War I, and one of the leaders of anti-Bolshevik forces in 1917-1918.-Biography:...
, then
Aleksei BrusilovAleksei Alekseevich Brusilov was a Russian general most noted for the development of new offensive tactics used in the 1916 offensive which would come to bear his name. The innovative and relatively successful tactics used were later copied by the Germans...
, and finally Lavr Georgevich Kornilov. Denikin supported the attempted coup of his commander, the
Kornilov AffairThe Kornilov Affair was a struggle between the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army, General Lavr Kornilov, and Aleksandr Kerensky in August and September of 1917 between the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the October Revolution...
, in September 1917 and was arrested and imprisoned with him. After this Alekseev would be reappointed commander-in-Chief.
Civil War
Following the
October RevolutionTheOctober Revolution , also known as the Soviet Revolution or Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution. It began with an armed insurrection in Petrograd traditionally dated to 25 October 1917 Julian calendar...
both Denikin and Kornilov escaped to
NovocherkasskNovocherkassk is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tuzlov River and on the Aksay River. It was formerly the capital of the Don Cossacks...
in southern Russia and, with other Tsarist officers, formed the
Volunteer ArmyThe Volunteer Army was an anti-Bolshevik army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920....
, initially commanded by Alekseev. Kornilov was killed in April 1918 near Ekaterinodar and the Volunteer Army came under Denikin's command. There was some sentiment to place Grand Duke Nicholas in overall command, but Denikin was not interested in sharing power. In the face of a Communist counter-offensive he withdrew his forces back towards the Don area in what was known as the
Ice MarchThe Ice March , also called the First Kuban Campaign , a military withdrawal lasting from February to May 1918, was one of the defining moments in the Russian Civil War of 1917 to 1921...
. Denikin led one final assault of the southern White forces in their final push to capture
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
in the summer of 1919. For a time, it appeared that the White Army would succeed in its drive; Leon Trotsky, as commander of
Red ArmyThe Red Army The Red Army The Red Army was the Soviet government’s revolutionary militia beginning in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the USSR. Since 1946, after the Second World War, it was called the Soviet Army.The 'Red...
forces hastily concluded an agreement with
Nestor MakhnoNestor Ivanovych Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
's anarchist
Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of UkraineThe Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine , popularly called Makhnovchina and also known as the Black Army, was an anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainian and Crimean peasants and workers under the command of the famous anarchist Nestor Makhno during the Russian Civil War.-Nestor Makhno...
or 'Black Army' for mutual support. Makhno duly turned his Black Army east and led his troops against Denikin's extended lines of supply, forcing him to retreat. Denikin's army was decisively defeated at
OrelOrel or Oryol can refer to:*Oryol, a city in Russia, the administrative center of Oryol OblastIt can also refer to:*Alexander Oryol , Soviet military leader and admiral...
in October 1919, some 400 km south of Moscow. The White forces in southern Russia would be in constant retreat thereafter, eventually reaching the
CrimeaCrimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
in March 1920. The Soviet communist government immediately tore up its agreement with Makhno and attacked his anarchist forces. After a seesaw series of battles in which one side or the other gained a victory, Trotsky's Red Army troops, more numerous and better equipped, defeated and dispersed Makhno's Black Army.
In the occupied territories, Denikin's regime carried out mass executions and plunder. The press of the Denikin regime regularly incited violence against Jews. For example, a proclamation by one of Denikin's generals incited people to "arm themselves" in order to extirpate "the evil force which lives in the hearts of Jew-communists." In the small town of Fastov alone, Denikin's Volunteer Army murdered over 1500 Jews, mostly elderly, women, and children. An estimated 100,000 Jews were killed in pogroms perpetrated by Denikin's forces and other anti-soviet armies.
Under Denikin's regime, former landowners seized peasants' property and labor groups were persecuted, provoking mass resistance. The partisan movement in the Northern Caucasus diverted a considerable portion of Denikin’s forces and helped the Red Army foil the offensive against Astrakhan. In the Novorossisk region, a 15,000-man Red and Green army fought successful battles against the White Guards. Partisans liberated a number of cities such as Poltava and Kremenchug.
Facing increasingly sharp criticism and emotionally exhausted, Denikin resigned in April, 1920 in favor of General Baron
Pyotr WrangelBaron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel was an officer in the Imperial Russian army and later commanding general of the anti-bolshevik White Army in Southern Russia in the later stages of the Russian Civil War.-Life:Wrangel was born in Mukuliai , Lithuania , a descendant of the...
. Denikin left the
CrimeaCrimea or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the only autonomous republic of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history...
by ship to
ConstantinopleIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
and then to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. He spent a few months in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, then moved to
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, and later to
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
.
Exile
From 1926 Denikin lived in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. Although he continued to remain bitterly opposed to Russia's Communist government, he chose to remain discreetly on the periphery of exile politics, spending most of his time writing and lecturing. However, this did not prevent the Soviets from unsuccessfully targeting him for abduction in the same effort that snared exile
General Alexander P. KutepovAlexander Pavlovich Kutepov was a Russian counterrevolutionary in South Russia and White Army General ....
in 1930 and later
General Evgenii K. MillerEvgeny Karlovich Miller was a Russian general and one of the leaders of counterrevolutionary White movement during and after Russian Civil War.-Biography:...
in 1937.
White Against Red - The Life of General Anton Denikin gives possibly the definitive account of the intrigues during these early Soviet "wet-ops."
Denikin was a talented writer, and even before World War I had written several pieces in which he analytically criticized the shortcomings of his beloved Russian Army. His voluminous writings after the Russian Civil War (written while living in exile) are remarkable for their analytical tone and candor and are a "must read" to anyone interested in the Russian Civil War. Since he enjoyed writing and most of his income was derived from it, Denikin started to consider himself a writer and developed close friendships with several Russian émigré authors--among them Ivan Bunin (a Nobel Laurate), Ivan Shmelev, and
Aleksandr KuprinAleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin was a Russian writer, pilot, explorer and adventurer who is perhaps best known for his masterpiece The Duel...
.
Although respected by most of the community of Russian exiles, Denikin was disliked by émigrés of both political extremes, the right and the left.
With the fall of France in 1940, Denikin left Paris in order to avoid imprisonment by the Germans. Although he was eventually captured, he declined all attempts to co-opt him for use in Nazi anti-Soviet propaganda. The Germans did not press the matter and Denikin was allowed to remain in rural exile. Although not formally part of the resistance, his activities would certainly have been sufficient to cause his arrest had they been fully known to the Nazi authorities. Diary entries kept by his wife during this period also make it clear that he was appalled by Nazi anti-Semitism, a fact that may shed light on his actual attitude towards the pogroms of the Russian Civil War.
At the conclusion of the war, correctly anticipating their likely fate at the hands of Stalin's
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
, Denikin attempted to persuade the Western Allies not to forcibly repatriate Soviet POWs. He was largely unsuccessful in his effort.
From 1945 until his death in 1947, Denikin lived in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. On August 8, 1947, at the age of 74, Denikin died while vacationing near Ann Arbor, Michigan.
General Denikin was buried with military honors in Detroit. His remains were later transferred to St. Vladimir's Cemetery in Jackson, New Jersey. His wife, Xenia Vasilievna Chizh, was buried at
Saint Genevieve de Bois cemeterySainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Cemetery, specifically the one known as Cimetière de Liers, as there are two cemeteries in the city, is a Russian Orthodox cemetery, located on Rue Léo Lagrange in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, département Essonne, France....
near
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
His daughter
Marina DenikinaMarina Antonovna Denikina - daughter of Russian general Denikin, leader of the anti-bolshevik White Russians in the civil war....
applied for and was granted
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n citizenship in 2005. On October 3, 2005, in accordance with the wishes of his daughter and by authority of President
Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich Putin was the second President of Russia and is the current Prime Minister of Russia as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus...
of
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the remains of General Denikin were transferred from the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and buried at the
Donskoy MonasteryDonskoy Monastery is a major monastery in Moscow, founded in 1591. in commemoration of Moscow's deliverance from an imminent threat of Khan Kazy-Girey’s invasion...
in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
. Marina Denikina died November 17, 2005, at her home in
VersaillesVersailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial center...
, near
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Denikin's works
Denikin wrote several books, including:
- Russian Turmoil. Memoirs: Military, Social & Political. Hutchinson. London. 1922.
- Republished: Hyperion Press. 1973. ISBN 9780883551004
- The White Army. Translated by Catherine Zvegintsov. Jonathan Cape, 1930.
- Republished: Hyperion Press. 1973. ISBN 9780883551011.
- Republished: Ian Faulkner Publishing. Cambridge. 1992. ISBN 9781857630107.
- The Career of a Tsarist Officer: Memoirs, 1872-1916. Translated by Margaret Patoski. University of Minnesota Press. 1975.
External links