Alexander Yegorov

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Alexander Yegorov
Alexander Yegorov, 1962
Chairman of West Russian Revolutionary Front
Details
Date of Birth	13th October 1883
Place of Birth	Buzuluk, Samara Governorate, Russian Empire
Age at start	80
Nationality	Russian (WRRF)
Role	Head of State of West Russian Revolutionary Front
Political Party	Zapadnorusskiy Revolyutsionnyy Front Западнорусский Революционный Фронт West Russian Revolutionary Front (ZRF)
Ideology	Bolshevik

Alexander Ilyich Yegorov (born 25 October [O.S. 13 October] 1883) is the current leader of the West Russian Revolutionary Front, one of the original five Marshals of the Soviet Union from the Russian Civil War and a key figure in the West Russian Revolutionary Front during the infamous West Russian War.

Now in old age and ailing health, Marshal Yegorov knows his time on this earth is coming to an end, now, he must determine who will succeed him as leader.

In Game Description

Alexander Yegorov has been in the midst of the military throughout his entire adult life. Born in Samara in 1883, at age 18, he joined the Imperial Russian Army and quickly rose through the ranks. Originally a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party prior to the Revolution, he quickly aligned with the new Soviet regime when they came to power in 1917. He served courageously during the First World War, Russian Revolution in the Southwestern Front, the Great Patriotic War and the West Russian War, getting shot more than five times throughout his long service as he often led his men into battle. Ever humble, Yegorov always downplayed his achievements, and silently suffers with the regret of his past defeats even when he himself was not at fault. Still, Yegorov never gave up even after Moscow fell to the huns. In his exile behind the A-A Line, he amassed the remaining red forces in West Russia underneath the banner of the West Russian Revolutionary Front, leading it to the cusp of victory during the West Russian War before the collaborators and reactionaries within the Front tore this away.

Now nearly 80, his once more powerful grip over the Front's leadership is slipping away, with cliques of officers vying for power underneath him. The harsh climate of Arkhangelsk and his many war wounds have not helped improve his health, and the fractures within the Front continue to grow.

Despite the Front's many defeats, Yegorov's resolve remained strong - at least to the outside observer. It needed to be, for the hopes and dreams of those Russians still loyal to the glorious Revolution lie on his shoulders. Only time will tell whether his successor - whoever they may be, can also hold this burden.

Biography

Early Life

Yegorov was born near Samara in central Russia, to a middle-class family. In 1901, after completing six classes of classical gymnasium in Samara, he joined the Imperial Russian Army, as a volunteer.

World War 1 and Russian Civil War

In the same year, he entered military service as a volunteer and was enlisted in the 4th Nesvizh Grenadier Regiment. He graduated with first class (with honors) from the Kazan Infantry Junker School, where he studied from 1902 to 1905. In April 22 , 1905 he was oomisssioned as a second lieutenant and was assigned to the 13th Life Grenadier Erivan Regiment.

In 1904, as per his accounts, he joined the Socialist Revolutionaries, He would remain a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party until 1909.

A career soldier of the Russian Imperial Army since 1902, Yegorov participated in the First World War. In January 1916, whilst holding the rank of captain at the Alekseevsky Military School, he was transferred to the Tiflis Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich Military School, where he taught military sciences at accelerated courses graduating warrant officers, while also being an assistant to the head of the school.

On August 21, 1916 he was appointed acting deputy headquarters officer for assignments from the headquarters of the 2nd Caucasian Cavalry Corps. With the rank of lieutenant colonel from December 6, 1916 he would command a battalion, and then the 132nd Bendery Infantry Regiment, before he was promoted to the rank of colonel. He was wounded and shell-shocked 5 times.

It was in the First World War that Yegorov was awarded the Golden Sword for Bravery and six other decorations for his heroism.

After the February Revolution, then at the rank of lieutenant colonel, he joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party once more. hoping to further develop his military career. Yegorov became a member of the military council of the 32nd division on behalf of the Socialist Revolutionaries. However, he broke up with them in the summer of 1918, after their unsuccessful rebellion against the Bolshevik authorities. That same year, he joined the newly created Workers and Peasants Red Army and in July 1918, he also became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1918, he chaired the officer verification commission for the newly created Red Army and was the commissioner of its general staff.

As one of the few ex-tsarist officers at this stage who was trusted by the Bolshevik leadership, he was assigned to the Southern Front. From August to October 1918, he commanded the section within Balashov and Kamyshin, and the 9th Army, where he formed regular units from irregular Red Army formations. On 26 December 1918 he replaced Kliment Voroshilov as commander of the 10th Army, during the Battle of Tsaritsyn. In March 1919, with over 23,000 troops under his command, he carried out an offensive along the railway line from Tsaritsyn to Velikoknyazheskaya. The 10th Army was halted by the White Army soldiers led by General Konstantin Mamontov, in the swampy areas near River Manych, but the numerical superiority of the Red Army gave them a chance to continue their march towards Bataysk and Tikhoretsk.

From July 1919, he commanded the 14th Army fighting in eastern Ukraine. In the autumn of 1919, replacing Vladimir Gittis, he took command of the entire Southern Front in the face of the threat posed by the offensive of the Armed Forces of South Russia under the command of General Anton Denikin. The forces under his command successfully defeated Denikin's forces and in October 1919, the forces under Yegerov's command captured Oryol and together with the troops of the Southeastern Front led by Vasily Shorin, they captured Voronezh, crossed the Don River and then drove off the White Army units from Rostov-on-Don and Novocherkassk. After these events, the White Army finally lost the initiative in the civil war. For his battle successes, Yegorov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Interwar Era

Polish Soviet War

During the Polish-Soviet War, Yegorov served as commander of the Southwestern Front, which consisted of the 8th, 12th, 13th and 14th Armies. The front commissar was Joseph Stalin, whose deputy was Yan Berzin. Initially, the forces under his command achieved a number of successes, including the capture of Kyiv, Podolia and Galicia from Poles, and approached closer to Lwów. However, Yegorov, disregarding the orders of the high command, did not send the First Cavalry Army commanded by Semyon Budyonny to reinforce the Western Front, which led to successful defense of Lwów by Polish Army troops led by General Edward Rydz-Śmigły and the subsequent Soviet defeat in the Battle of Warsaw in 1920.

Post War

After the Polish-Soviet War, Yegorov served as commander of the Kiev and Petrograd Military Districts from December 1920 to September 1921. From September 1921 to May 1924, he served as commander of the Western Front and the Red Banner Caucasus Army. From April 1924 to March 1925, he again served as the commander of the Kiev Military District.

In 1925, he was sent to China, where he served as a military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek and Feng Yuxiang. This was considered an important task for the Soviet leadership, as Soviet Union sought to protect its own interests in China and also to support the Communist movement in China. He served there till 1926.

In 1927, he became commander of the Belorussian Military District. In 1931, Yegorov was appointed Deputy People's Commissar for Defence and Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army. In 1934, he became a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1935, he became one of the first five Marshals of the Soviet Union when this rank was created.

World War 2 and West Russian War

In World War 2, Yegorov like most Soviet Generals would find themselves fighting a desperate losing battle. In the European part of Russia, the Soviet army was in disarray. Marshal Voroshilov, not so much due to his incompetence, more so due to the fact he had nothing to fight with, failed to hold off the Germans and counterattack along the Volga.

In this power vacuum, came Yegorov, who took charge of the situation. West Russia was now de-facto under his command but de-jure still taking commands from Stalin. With the reinvigoration of the Army, and a competent general at the helm, the German advance was halted at the A-A Line stretching from Astrakhan in the south, to Archangelsk in the north. With the winter coming, a breeze set in for Russia. Stalin formed the West Siberian People's Republic and Yegorov formed the West Russian Revolutionary Front.

The frontlines solidified, the war was over, Russia lost, and Yegorov only had to recuperate his forces, in preparation for a reclamation, a final war that would bring Russia her honor and glory back.

Despite this, Yegorov would find himself leading the shattered Red Army in West Russia, reorganising the shattered Red Army units into the West Russian Revolutionary Front. With Generals such as Zhukov and Tukhachevsky, plans to liberate all of German-occupied lands would be planned, with the codename of Operation Suvorov.

Post West Russian War

By 1962, the old Marshal Yegorov has become senile, and spends most of his days murmuring about old comrades and battles, while Zhukov and Tukhachevsky are locked in a power struggle to determine who would succeed Yegorov. Whilst lucid, Yegorov also spends a lot of time drinking to forget about his current condition, the failure of the West Russian War and the Red Army

He is the leader of the shattered West Russian Revolutionary Front in Archangelsk upon the start of the game before his death soon after in 1963. Depending on who wins the power struggle to succeed him, he will be replaced by either Marshal Georgy Zhukov or Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky.

Trivia

In our timeline (OTL), Yegorov was officially listed as one of the judges at Tukhachevsky's trial in June 1937. He seemed to be safe from the purge, due to his old connections to Stalin and Budyonny.

But at the end of 1937, he was demoted to commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, and was arrested in February 1938 and his military writings were banned.

His downfall seems to have begun with a letter in the spring of 1937 from Kombrig Fedor Sudakov of the Frunze Military Academy to Stalin questioning Yegorov's performance; a similar letter was sent by Kombrig Yan Zhigur to Voroshilov on 20 July, and Yegorov was further damaged by confessions extracted from officers arrested during the general purge of the army. Yegorov was shot on 23 February 1939, having become another victim of Stalin's Great Purge. He was cremated and his ashes were buried in a mass grave at Donskoi Cemetery in Moscow.

After Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev rehabilitated Yegorov by the decision of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union. He was also posthumously reinstated his rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union and military awards restored.

See also

• West Russian War
• Reichskommissariat Moskowien