Pyotr Krasnov
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Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov (; – 17 January 1947), also known as Peter Krasnov, was a Russian military leader, writer and later Nazi collaborator. Krasnov served as a
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) 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 norma ...
in the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and later led anti-Bolshevik forces during the
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
, where he served as the
ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; ; ) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukra ...
of the Don Republic until the Red Army conquered the region following their victory at Tsaritsyn. After the civil war, he lived in exile. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Krasnov collaborated with the Germans who mobilized
Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...
forces to fight against the Soviet Union in
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
. Following the end of the war, Krasnov was repatriated and executed by the Soviet authorities.


Early life and service

Pyotr Krasnov was born on 22 September 1869 (
old style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries betwe ...
: 10 September) in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, son to lieutenant-general Nikolay Krasnov and grandson to general Ivan Krasnov. In 1888 Krasnov graduated from Pavlovsk Military School and joined the
Ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; ; ) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukra ...
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
of the Life Guards of the
Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...
. In 1893, he had a son, Semyon Krasno

In April–May 1902 a series of articles were published in ''Russkii Invalid'', the newspaper of the Imperial Russian Army, containing Krasnov's impressions of his trip to Mongolia, China and Japan as the East Asia correspondent of ''Russkii Invalid''. In his article "Fourteen Days in Japan", Krasnov painted the Imperial Japanese Army in a negative light. One staff officer of the Main Staff called Krasnov's article "poorly founded, extraordinarily hasty and far from the truth". Krasnov reported that based on what he had seen in Japan that "the Japanese looks coldly on life and death and does not fear death". He reported that the Japanese soldiers were up to European standards of discipline, but were highly rigid in their conduct of operations and suffered from health problems. Krasnov mockingly noted that during the march on Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, exhausted Japanese soldiers had to be carried in the wagons of the Russian Army. Krasnov noted during the assault on the forts at Tianjin that one Japanese company had lost 90% of its men during a frontal assault on a Chinese fort while at the same time a Russian company had taken a Chinese fort by outflanking it, losing only six men killed. Krasnov felt that the Japanese were brave, but poorly led, declaring "the military deed does not suit the Japanese" as it "was thought up for them by a chauvinist government of complete militarist conviction". About the Japanese infantry, Krasnov wrote the "Japanese soldier is weak and an indifferent marksman, although amenable to training and able to discharge exactly and well what he has learned, regardless of the cost". Krasnov declared "the language of numbers is not my language", stating though the Japanese could mobilize 400,000 troops in 335 battalions and 104 squadrons with 1,903 artillery guns, they would be little match against "European powers holding excellent positions on the Asian mainland". Krasnov had an equally low opinion of the Japanese cavalry, writing that the Japanese had "neither the horses nor riders to create cavalry". Krasnov declared "to destroy all 13 regiments of the Japanese cavalry would be a very easy task". He concluded that once the Japanese cavalry had been defeated "a deaf and blind Japanese army would become a plaything for an enterprising partisan commander" and "a detachment of 2,000 cavalry easily might tire a Japanese division". Krasnov quoted a Frenchman who lived a decade in Japan as saying: "They are a people gone astray, the military deed is not in their nature", to which Krasnov added "I think that this minute they are contemplating the same thing in St. Petersburg". Though the Main Staff officers deplored Krasnov's article with his sweeping generalizations based upon superficial impressions, the Emperor Nicholas II was said to have read and enjoyed his article while Krasnov's articles about his trip through Asia were turned into a book with a grant from the War Ministry.


World War I and Revolution

During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
he commanded the 2nd Combined Cossack Division (Russian Empire), 2nd Combined Cossack Division from 1915 to 1917, and in September–October 1917, the 3rd Cavalry Corps. During the Brusilov offensive in the summer of 1916, the 2nd Combined Cossack Division was the first unit to achieve a breakthrough against Austro-Hungarian positions at the Battle of Lutsk, and Krasnov was injured by a bullet to the leg. He was put in command of the 3rd Cavalry Corps in September 1917 after elements of it took part in the
Kornilov affair The Kornilov affair, or the Kornilov putsch, was an attempted military coup d'état by the commander-in-chief of the Russian Army, General Lavr Kornilov, from 10 to 13 September 1917 ( O.S., 28–31 August), against the Russian Provisional Gov ...
against the
Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government was a provisional government of the Russian Empire and Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II on 2 March, O.S. New_Style.html" ;"title="5 ...
. He restored discipline and morale among the 3rd Corps following the Kornilov affair, but initially tried to stay out of politics. During the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
of 1917, the deposed
head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...
of the Russian Provisional Government
Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 ( N.S.). After th ...
appointed Krasnov commander of the 700
Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...
who marched on
Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
from
Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...
() to suppress the
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
revolt (see Kerensky-Krasnov uprising). These Cossacks were from two regiments of the 1st Don Cossack Division. On 15 November, Bolshevik troops surrounded
Gatchina Palace The Great Gatchina Palace () is a palace in Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It was built from 1766 to 1781 by Antonio Rinaldi (architect), Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov, who was a favourite of Catherine the Great, in ...
, and took Krasnov prisoner, but he was soon released by
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
, whereupon he made his way to the Don.


Russian Civil War

Krasnov fled to the Don region. In May 1918, in
Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...
, he won election as the ''Ataman'' of the Don Cossack Host. The American historian Richard Pipes described Krasnov as an "opportunist and an adventurer", primarily interested in using the Civil War to advance his own interests. Though the White movement was officially committed to overthrowing the Bolsheviks in order to resume the war with Germany, Krasnov entered negotiations with the Germans who were occupying Ukraine with the aim of securing their support, portraying himself as willing to serve as a pro-German warlord in the Don region, which made him the object of much distrust in the Allied governments. The Germans had set up the Ukrainian Zaporizhian Cossack Hetman
Pavlo Skoropadskyi Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi (; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, who served as the Hetman of all Ukraine, hetman of the Ukrainian State throughout 1918 following a 1918 Ukrainian coup d'état, coup d'éta ...
as the puppet
leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...
of
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
in April 1918, and Krasnov indicated his willingness to serve as a
leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...
of a set-up similar to the Skoropadskyi regime. Through not willing to formally embrace Cossack separatism, Krasnov as the first elected ''Ataman'' of the Don Host for centuries favored more autonomy for the Don Host than the Host had enjoyed in the Imperial period. With support from
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, Krasnov equipped his army, which ousted the
Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...
from the Don region in May–June 1918. By the middle of June, a Don Army was in the field with 40,000 men, 56 guns and 179 machine-guns. On 11 July 1918 Krasnov wrote a letter to
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...
declaring that the Cossacks had always been friends of the ''Reich'' and went on to say:
"The glorious Don Cossacks have been engaging in fighting for their freedom for two months and the fight resulted in their complete victory. The Cossacks have fought with a courage only equaled by that displayed against the English by a people of Germanic stock, the Boers".
Krasnov's relations with the
Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...
became strained on account of his pro-German views; furthermore, he was only willing to have the Don Cossacks serve with the Volunteer Army if he was made Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the White forces, a demand that was rejected by Denikin and the other White generals. As the Don Cossack Host outnumbered the Volunteer Army until the summer of 1919, the Volunteer Army's commander, General
Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...
(in office 1918–1920), was at a disadvantage in his negotiations with Krasnov. Members of the White movement generally saw Krasnov as a petty and self-interested
warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...
, only willing to act if there was something of benefit to him on offer. Throughout the Russian Civil War, the Don Cossack Host kept its own identity, with the Don Cossacks serving under their elected colonels in their own regiments, apart from the rest of the White armies. Krasnov wanted Denikin to advance on and take the city of Tsaritsyn (modern Volgograd) on the
Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...
to end the possibility of the Soviet
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
entering the Don region, a demand that Denikin opposed. Krasnov so desperately wanted to secure Tsaritsyn that he even offered to have Don Cossacks temporarily serve under Denikin's command if he was willing to advance on Tsaritsyn, but Denikin had other plans. Viewing Krasnov as unreliable and untrustworthy, Denikin instead decided to launch the Second Kuban Campaign of June–November 1918, taking his army south to the territory of the Kuban Cossack Host to raise more men and to take on the Red North Caucasian Army before turning north towards Moscow. Moscow become the Soviet capital in March 1918 as Lenin had decided that Petrograd (modern St Petersburg) was too exposed to the German Army, which had occupied what is now the Baltic states. Denikin viewed the Kuban Cossacks as more willing to help than Krasnov and his Don Cossacks, who tended to put their own interests first. General Vyacheslav Naumenko, the field ''ataman'' of the Kuban Host, was known to be more willing to work with the White generals. Denikin also believed that he needed to liquidate the 70,000-strong Red North Caucasian Army first before advancing on Moscow, arguing that an advance on Moscow would be impossible with a threat to his rear. Denikin's decision to turn the Volunteer Army south to the Kuban rather than north to Moscow became one of the most controversial of the Russian Civil War - by not advancing north in 1918 Denikin missed his best chance of linking up with the White forces in Siberia under Admiral
Alexander Kolchak Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a mili ...
, who were advancing west along the
Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway ...
in the direction of Moscow. In the second half of 1918 Krasnov advanced towards
Povorino Povorino () is a town and the administrative center of Povorinsky District in the east of Voronezh Oblast, Russia. Population: History It emerged as a settlement around the eponymous railway station in 1870 and was granted town status in 1954.< ...
-
Kamyshin Kamyshin ( rus, Камышин, p=kɐˈmɨʂɨn) is a city in Volgograd Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volgograd Reservoir of the Volga River, in the estuary of the Kamyshinka River. Its population was Past populations for Kam ...
- Tsaritsyn, intending to march on Moscow on his own, but was defeated. In the siege of Tsaritsyn in November–December 1918, Krasnov sent his Cossacks repeatedly to storm Tsaritsyn, only to see them cut down by Red machine-gun and artillery fire. Following his defeat at Tsaritsyn, Krasnov returned to the territory of the Don Cossack Host and refused all offers to co-ordinate with Denikin unless he was made Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Whites first. After Germany's defeat (November 1918) in World War I, Krasnov set his sights on the Entente powers in his search for allies. Under the terms of the armistice of 11 November 1918 ending World War One, Germany was required to pull out its forces out of all the territory gained by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The defeat of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in October 1918 allowed British, French and American naval forces to enter the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
and for the first time allowed direct contact between the Allies and the Whites. Krasnov appealed to the French, offering to allow them to establish a protectorate over the Don Host in an effort to sow discord between the Allies as the territory of the Don Host had assigned beforehand during discussions among Allied leaders to the British sphere of operations. However, Krasnov was informed by Allied diplomats that the Allies would not supply him with arms, arms would be supplied only to the Volunteer Army, which would then pass on arms to the Don Cossack Host if necessary. In January 1919 Krasnov was forced by the Allied arms embargo against the Don Host to acknowledge General Denikin's authority over the White movement, despite his animosity towards Denikin. Krasnov was an organizer of the White Terror in the Don Province; his troops executed between 25,000 and 40,000 people.


Exile in France and Germany

On February 19, 1919, Krasnov fled to
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
after losing the election for the office of Don Ataman. He was succeeded by Afrikan P. Bogaewsky. Arriving first in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, he moved to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in 1923, where he continued his
anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism or anti-Soviet sentiment are activities that were actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union. Three common uses of the term include the following: * Anti-Sovietism in inter ...
activities. In
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
Krasnov was one of the founders of the Brotherhood of Russian Truth, an
anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
organization with an underground network in Russia. In exile, Krasnov wrote memoirs and several novels. His famous trilogy ''Ot Dvuglavogo Orla k krasnomu znameni'' (''From Double Eagle To the Red Flag''), in addition to the main plot, with its hero, General Sablin, has several sub-plots which encompass many places, events, and personages from the time of the Revolution of 1905 to the Russian Civil War. It presents a vast panorama of the Revolution and the Civil War throughout the country. Events are revealed through the fates of many characters, who, in turn, give their own interpretations of the events. Even the revolutionaries have an opportunity to express their views, although, in general, their political expositions seem to be the weakest parts of the novel. The ideology of the book is thus presented polyphonically. The author, although he tends to align himself with his conservative characters, offers no personal opinion of his own. All major themes, such as authority vs. anarchy, respect for human dignity vs. violence, creative work vs. destruction, as well as cruelty and terror, are treated in this polyphonic manner. Krasnov had begun writing ''From Double Eagle to the Red Flag'' when he was in prison in 1917, but the novel was first published in Russian in Berlin in 1921. The American historian Brent Muggenberg wrote that Krasnov had "an impressive grasp of the motivations and mentalities" on both sides in the Russian Civil War. The German historian Daniel Siemens described ''From Double Eagle to the Red Flag'' as a deeply
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
book that accepted '' The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion'' as genuine and accused "international Jewry" of inventing Communism. Siemens noted that the German translation of ''Ot Dvuglavogo Orla k krasnomu znameni'' was the favorite book of the Nazi martyr
Horst Wessel Horst Ludwig Georg Erich Wessel (9 October 1907 – 23 February 1930) was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, who became a propaganda symbol in Nazi Germany following his murder in 1930 by two members ...
. Other books written by Krasnov included a historical novel about a group of Don Cossacks resisting the French invasion of Russia in 1812 and another historical novel about
Yermak Timofeyevich Yermak Timofeyevich (, ; 1532 (supposedly) – August 5 or 6, 1585) was a Cossack ataman who started the Russian conquest of Siberia during the reign of the Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible. He is today a hero in Russian folklore and myths. Ru ...
, the legendary 16th century Cossack conqueror of Siberia. Krasnov's novels were translated into English, German, French, Serbian and other European languages. Despite his chequered military record, Krasnov was seen within émigré circles as a "legendary hero of the Civil War". Another of Krasnov's novels was his 1927 work ''Za chertopolokhom'' (''Behind the Thistle''), a future history set in the 1990s that imagined a post-Communist Russia ruled over by a restored monarchy that had built an enormous wall around the entire empire to prevent any and all contact with the West. Though set in the future, the emperor who has chosen to isolate Russia from the West bears a strong resemblance in both appearance and personality to Ivan the Terrible. The novel begins with the Soviet Union launching an invasion of Eastern Europe sometime in the 1930s, which was to be started by an unleashing of an immense quantity of poisonous gases. However, the Soviet Air Force accidentally unleashed the deadly chemical gases on the Red Army, killing millions while setting off forest fires. The masses of corpses lead to an outbreak of plague, which rendered the borderlands of the Soviet Union uninhabitable for decades and led to a monstrous
thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...
standing several feet high growing up to in the borderlands. After the disaster, the rest of the world assumes that there is no life left behind the thistle. In Krasnov's future history, in Europe, socialist parties have come to power in all of the European nations, leading to an irrevocable economic decline over the course of the 20th century. By the 1990s as a result of decades of socialism, in all the European states food is being severely rationed, technological advances have ceased, housing is in short supply and the triumph of avant-garde has led to a cultural collapse. Disenchanted with life in a declining Europe, a hardy group of the descendants of Russian emigres who have managed to keep the Russian language and culture led by a man named Korenev climb over the thistle to see what lies behind it. Korenev has a dream featuring a beautiful girl threatened by the '' zmei gorynych'', the gigantic, monstrous three-headed dragon of Russian mythology. The girl represents Russia while the ''zmei gorynych'' represents the West whose individualistic ideology that Krasnov portrayed as antithetical to Russian values. Korenev and his companions discover that in the world "behind the thistle" that the Communist regime was overthrown decades ago and was replaced with a restored monarchy. The restored monarchy has brought a return to the dress and culture of the era before the Emperor Peter the Great with the men growing long beards and wearing modified traditional costumes while the women wear the traditional sarafans and keep their hair in long braids. The ideology of the regime is based on the Official Nationality ideology of the Emperor Nicholas I, namely the triad of Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality while the only political party allowed is "The Family of Russian Brothers and Sisters in the name of God and the Tsar". Jews are allowed a place in Krasnov's utopia, but "they no longer have the power to rule over us nor can they hide under false Russian names to infiltrate the government". All of the Russian characters "behind the thistle" speak in a pseudo-folksy way meant to evoke the Russian of the 16th and 17th centuries, which is portrayed as a more "authentic" Russian than modern Russian. In contrast to the declining economies of the socialist West, the Russia that Krasnov imagines under the restored monarchy is economically and culturally flourishing while achieving marvelous technological feats such as building a sort of flying railroad system over the entire country and constructing vast canals that turn deserts into farmland. Every home in Russia has a television, which only airs the emperor's daily speech to his subjects. Every subject has a personal library in their home consisting of traditional books such as dream-readers, patriotic poetry, folk tales and the Bible. However, the regime allows no freedom of expression and one of the returning emigres says: "Some might say that the Russian government is now totalitarian, only this is not the same sort of totalitarianism as that of the Communists and the Masons of the West. They bow down to some invisible force, whose aim is destruction, but our society is founded on the bedrock of family and at its head is the Tsar, blessed by God, a man whose thoughts are only about the prosperity of Russia". The social order is enforced by the public floggings, torture and execution of any Russians who dare to think differently, and those who speak out "return home with black stumps in place of their tongues". The narrator of the novel agrees that despite the use of extreme violence and cruelty by the restored Tsarist regime that the system that exists in Russia is superior to the "rotting democratic West". The narrator of ''Behind the Thistle'' praises extreme violence committed by the state as not canceling out freedom, but rather "is indeed true freedom, a freedom that democratic Europe had never known or experienced-a freedom for good deeds that goes hand in hand with oppression against evil". Krasnov was an Eurasianist, an ideology that saw Russia as an Asian nation, having more in common with other Asian nations such as China, Mongolia, and Japan rather than with the Western nations. Some aspects of the novel such as its nostalgia for the pre-Peterine Russia have led to Krasnov being misidentified as a Slavophile, but he was opposed to the ideology of the Slavophiles, arguing that Russia had little in common with other Slavic nations such as Poland, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. In common with other Eurasianists, Krasnov believed that Russians had a natural affinity with the peoples of Asia, and in ''Behind the Thistle'' Russia has extremely friendly relations with other Asian nations such as China, Mongolia and India (through India was part of the British empire in 1927, Krasnov assumed India would be independent by the 1990s). Krasnov favored Asian values with the focus of putting the collective ahead of the individual, and for this reason, argued that Russia was an Asian nation that should look east towards other Asian nations instead of looking west. Unlike other Eurasianists who saw the Soviet Union as a "stepping stone" towards the development of a Eurasianist Russia, Krasnov's anti-communism led to the rejection of the "stepping stone thesis". In the 1920s-1930s, Krasnov was a popular novelist with his books being translated into 20 languages. ''Behind the Thistle'' however, met with an overwhelmingly negative critical response in 1927, being panned by reviewers in the majority of Russian émigré journals who called ''Behind the Thistle'' badly written, unrealistic and preachy. Despite the negative reviews, the expression "behind the thistle" became popular with the younger Russian emigres as a way describe the Soviet Union. During the Berne Trial of 1933-35, started when a Swiss Jewish group sued a Swiss Nazi group, Krasnov was asked by his fellow emigre Nikolai Markov to come to Berne to testify for the defendants about the alleged authenticity of ''The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion'', but he declined. Markov in turn was a member of the ''Welt-Dienst'', an international antisemitic society based in Erfurt, Germany and headed by a former German Army officer,
Ulrich Fleischhauer Ulrich Fleischhauer (14 July 1876 – 20 October 1960) (Pseudonyms ''Ulrich Bodung'', and ''Israel Fryman'') was a leading publisher of antisemitic books and news articles reporting on a perceived Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory and "nefarious ...
whose efforts to promote ''The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion'' in Switzerland had caused the lawsuit in Berne. In his correspondence with Markov, Krasnov affirmed his belief in the authenticity of ''The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion'', but stated he was unwilling to be grilled by the lawyers for the plaintiffs. In 1937, after several Russian White emigre leaders in Paris had been assassinated by the Soviet NKVD, Krasnov moved to Berlin where he believed he would be safer, and declared his support for the Third Reich. In another of his novels, ''The Lie'' in 1939, Krasnov wrote about one character: "Lisa was right in her severe judgment: Russia was no more. She did not have a Motherland or her own. However, when the ''Bremen'' floated noiselessly by and she saw a black swastika in a white circle on a scarlet banner, a sign of eternal motion and continuum, she was feeling a warm tide covering her heart...That’s Motherland!"


World War II

During World War II, Krasnov continued his "German orientation" by seeking an alliance with Nazi Germany. A major motivation on his part was the repression of the Cossacks and the
Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
by the Soviet government. Upon hearing of the launching of
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
on 22 June 1941, Krasnov immediately issued a statement of support for the "crusade against Judeo-Bolshevism" and declared:
"I wish to state to all Cossacks that this is not a war against Russia, but against Communists, Jews and their minions who trade in Russian blood. May God help the German sword and Hitler! Let them accomplish their endeavor, similar to what the Russians and Emperor Alexander I did for Prussia in 1813."
By all accounts, Krasnov was extremely elated when he heard of Operation Barbarossa and believing it to be the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union and the "liberation of Russia from Judeo-Bolshevism". Krasnov contacted
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
, the German
Minister of Propaganda A ministry of propaganda also known as agency, bureau or department of propaganda is the part of a government charged with generating and distributing propaganda. Though governments routinely engage in propaganda, ministries or departments with t ...
, and asked for permission to speak on Radio Berlin's Russian language broadcasts to deliver pro-Nazi speeches, which was granted. From late June 1941 onward, Krasnov was a regular speaker on Radio Berlin's Russian-language station and delivered very antisemitic speeches that portrayed the Soviet government as the rule of "Judeo-Bolsheviks" and the German forces advancing into the Soviet Union as liberators. Krasnov came into contact with officials of the ''Ostministerium'' (Eastern Ministry) headed by
Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head o ...
, the Baltic German émigré intellectual who besides being the "official philosopher" of the NSDAP was considered to be the resident Nazi expert on the Soviet Union. In January 1943, Rosenberg appointed Krasnov to head the Cossack Central Office of the ''Ostministerium'', making him the point man for the ''Ostministerium'' in its dealings with the Cossacks. The previous head of the Cossack Central Office, Nikolaus Himpel, who was a Baltic German like Rosenberg, had failed to inspire many Cossacks to join the German war effort. Just as Rosenberg, Himpel was fluent in Russian but spoke it with a pronounced German accent, which made him a figure of distrust to the Cossacks. Rosenberg realized that he needed a leader who was a Cossack himself to inspire more recruitment and turned to Krasnov after it was discovered that his first choice, the Prague-based Cossack separatist leader Vasily Glazkov, had no following. Krasnov was aged and had to walk with a cane, but he was known for his political skills. Though "not universally popular", he was relatively well respected amongst the Cossacks as a former ''ataman'' of the Don Cossack Host and as a popular novelist. The Don Host was the largest and oldest of the 11 Hosts, which gave him a certain prestige as a former Don Host ''ataman''. He managed to avoid for the most part the feuds that characterized the Russian diaspora, which made him an acceptable leader. He agreed to organise and head Cossack units out of White emigres and Soviet (mostly Cossack) prisoners of war, to be armed by the Nazis. The Nazis, in turn, expected Krasnov to follow their political line and to keep to a separatist Cossack orientation. Krasnov, who considered himself a Russian first and a Cossack second, was not in sympathy with Rosenberg's notion of establishing a Nazi puppet state to be called " Cossackia" in southeastern Russia. Rosenberg favoured an approach that he called "political warfare" to "free the German ''Reich'' from Pan-Slavic pressure for centuries to come". Rosenberg envisioned breaking up the Soviet Union into four puppet states and added Cossackia as the fifth puppet state in 1942. In September 1943, the soldiers of the newly formed 1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division learned that their division would not, as expected be sent to fight on the Eastern Front, but would go to the Balkans to fight communist partisans. At the request of the division's commander, General Helmuth von Pannwitz, Krasnov travelled to address the division. Krasnov tried to assuage the wounded feelings of the Cossacks, who did not want to go to the Balkans, by assuring them that the fight against the Partisans was part of the same struggle against "the international Communist conspiracy" on the Eastern Front, and he promised them if they did well in the Balkans, they would ultimately go to the Eastern Front. On 31 March 1944, Rosenberg created a "government-in-exile" in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
for Cossackia headed by Krasnov, who, in turn, appointed ''ataman'' Naumenko of the Kuban Host as his "minister of war". The "government-in-exile" was recognized only by Germany. At a meeting with the Cossack separatist Vasily Glazkov in Berlin in July 1944, Krasnov stated that he did not agree with Glazkov's separatism but was forced under pressure from Rosenberg to appoint three supporters of Cossackia to important positions in the Cossack Central Office. In November 1944, Krasnov refused the appeal of General
Andrey Vlasov Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov (, – August 1, 1946) was a Soviet Russian Red Army general. During the Eastern Front (World War II), Axis-Soviet campaigns of World War II, he fought (1941–1942) against the ''Wehrmacht'' in the Battle of Moscow ...
to join the latter's
Russian Liberation Army The Russian Liberation Army (; , ), also known as the Vlasov army () was a collaborationist formation, primarily composed of Russians, that fought under German command during World War II. From January 1945, the army was led by Andrey Vlasov, ...
. Krasnov disliked Vlasov as a former Red Army general, who had defected after his capture in 1942 and because as an old man, he was unwilling to submit to take orders from a much younger man. In addition to this, Krasnov demanded that Vlasov gave a guarantee that in the future Cossacks would receive all the rights they had under the tsarist government, and never reached any agreement with his movement despite all of Vlasov's efforts. At the end of the war, Krasnov and his men voluntarily surrendered to British forces in Austria. All of them were promised upon surrender by Major Davis that as White Russian emigres, they would not be repatriated to the Soviets.


Repatriation and execution

On 28 May 1945, Pyotr Krasnov was repatriated to the Soviets by the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
authorities during
Operation Keelhaul Operation Keelhaul was a forced repatriation of Soviet citizens and members of the Soviet Army in the West to the Soviet Union (although it often included former soldiers of the Russian Empire or Russian Republic, who did not have Soviet citizens ...
. The broken British promise not to hand Krasnov over to the Soviet authorities was influenced by the-then undetected Soviet spy at MI6,
Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring that had divulged British secr ...
, who knew about Krasnov's broken promise to the Soviet government back in late 1917 that he would not take up arms against the new regime in return for being released from prison. As a result of Operation Keelhaul and Philby's actions, Krasnov was taken to Moscow and held in the Lubyanka prison. He was charged with various crimes: for working for Nazi Germany in World War II and for "White Guardist units" in the Russian Civil War. He was sentenced to death by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, together with General Andrei Shkuro, who was another former White movement general, and Timofey Domanov and Helmuth von Pannwitz. On 17 January 1947, he was
hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
. The article in ''Pravda'' that announced his execution stated he had made a guilty plea to all charges; however, this claim is impossible to verify as his trial was not public.


Legacy

In 1994, a monument was erected in Moscow on the territory of the Church of All Saints, dedicated to the memory of "von Pannwitz, A. G. Shkuro, P. N. Krasnov, Sultan Klych-Girey, T. N. Domanov, and other Russian soldiers, the Russian Corps, the Cossack camp, the Cossacks of the 15th SS Cossack Cavalry Corps, who fell for faith and Fatherland". On May 8, 2007, the marble slab was broken. A criminal case was even initiated on this fact under the article "vandalism". The rector of the church, Archpriest Vasily Baburin, noted that this plate has nothing to do with the Church of All Saints: "We ourselves would be happy to move this slab, because we do not want to participate in any political battles. The slab was installed at the end of the last century, but now the temple has nothing to do with it". In 2014, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, a new plate "To the Cossacks who fell for the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland" was installed on the site of the broken plate. A memorial plaque to the generals of the Russian Imperial Army, including P. N. Krasnov, has been preserved nearby, but instead of the name of Krasnov (like A. G. Shkuro), the names of generals of the Russian Imperial Army, heroes of the First World War N. M. Remezov and P. A. Pleve are indicated on the plate. On August 4, 2006, in the village of Yelanskaya in the Sholokhovsky district of the Rostov region, on the territory of a private house, a solemn opening of a memorial complex dedicated to the memory of the Don Cossacks who died in the struggle against Soviet power, including those who fought on the side of Hitler, took place. In the center of the memorial is a large bronze figure of the last ataman of the Don army, Pyotr Krasnov. On July 30, 2008, the Prosecutor's office of the Sholokhovsky district, at the request of
State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
deputy N. V. Kolomeitsev, initiated an administrative case on the installation of this monument. According to the prosecutor's office, the reason for the demolition of the monument is that these sculptural objects are real estate objects and their installation requires permission, as well as the fact that this memorial praises the manifestation of
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
. In 2017, on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the liberation of Rostov-on-Don from the German occupation, activists of the organization " Essence of Time" petitioned the executive and legislative authorities of the Russian Federation, demanding to dismantle the monument to Krasnov as an accomplice of the Third Reich and to stop schoolchildren from familiarizing themselves with the memorial dedicated to the Cossack collaborators. In the issue of "News of the Week" dated April 26, 2020, TV presenter Dmitry Kiselev called for a monument to be erected in honor of Pyotr Krasnov. Discussing the role of
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
in the history of Russia, he stated: "It is necessary to erect monuments to Kolchak, Wrangel, Denikin, Krasnov. <...> Everyone has their own contribution, their own idea and their own tragedy".


Unsuccessful attempts of rehabilitation in modern Russia

Nationalist and monarchist organizations, both in Russia and abroad, have repeatedly appealed to Russian state bodies with requests for the rehabilitation of individual Russian collaborators. In accordance with the conclusions of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office on the refusal to rehabilitate them, the definitions of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 25, 1997, German citizens Krasnov P. N., Shkuro A. G., Sultan Klych-Girey, Krasnov S. N. and USSR citizen Domanov T. N. were recognized as reasonably convicted and not subject to rehabilitation, about which all initiators of appeals on the issue of rehabilitation of these persons have been notified. Nevertheless, on January 17, 2008, ataman of the Don Cossacks, State Duma deputy from the ruling
United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
Viktor Vodolatsky signed a decree on the creation of a working group for the rehabilitation of Pyotr Krasnov in connection with a request from the organization "Cossack Abroad". On January 28, 2008, the Council of atamans of the organization "The Great Army of the Don" adopted a decision in which it was noted: "... historical facts indicate that an active fighter against the Bolsheviks during the Civil War, writer and publicist P. N. Krasnov collaborated with fascist Germany during the Great Patriotic War. <...> Attaching exceptional importance to the above, the Council of Atamans decided: to refuse the petition to the non-profit foundation "Cossack Abroad" in resolving the issue of political rehabilitation of P. N. Krasnov". Viktor Vodolatsky himself stressed: "the fact of his cooperation with Hitler during the war makes the idea of his rehabilitation completely unacceptable to us". The initiative for rehabilitation was condemned by veterans of the Great Patriotic War and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.Кустов М
Реабилитации не подлежит
// Трибуна, № 3, 1 февраля 2008


Honours and awards

* Cross of St. George 4th class * Order of St Vladimir, 4th class * Order of St Vladimir, 3rd class * Order of St. Anne 3rd class * Order of St. Anne 2nd class * Order of St. Stanislaus 3rd class * Order of St. Stanislaus 2nd class * Golden Sword of St George *
Order of the Star of Ethiopia The Order of the Star of Ethiopia was established as an order of knighthood of the Ethiopian Empire, founded by the Negus of Shewa and later Emperor of Ethiopia Menelik II in 1884–1885. It is currently awarded as a house order by the Crown ...
(
Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire, historically known as Abyssinia or simply Ethiopia, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day territories of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from the establishment of the Solomonic dynasty by Yekuno Amlak a ...
)


See also

* Repatriation of Cossacks after World War II * Miguel Krassnoff


Writings

* . New York, Duffield and Company, 1926. 2 vols. * The Unforgiven. New York, Duffield and Company, 1928. 444 p. * The Amazon of the Desert. Trans. by Olga Vitali and Vera Brooke. New York, Duffield, 1929. 272 p.
Napoleon And The Cossacks.
1931. * Largo: A Novel. New York, Duffield and Green, 1932. 599 p.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krasnov, Pyotr Nikolayevich 1869 births 1947 deaths Atamans Don Cossacks White Russian emigrants to France Executed mass murderers Executed people from Saint Petersburg Executed White movement generals Executed White Russian collaborators with Nazi Germany Military personnel from Saint Petersburg Writers from Saint Petersburg People executed by the Soviet Union by hanging People extradited to the Soviet Union People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd People of the Russian Civil War Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Ethiopia Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov) Imperial Russian Army generals Antisemitism in Russia German Army generals of World War II Russian military personnel of World War I Russian Provisional Government generals Russian people executed for war crimes Perpetrators of the White Terror (Russia) Inmates of Lefortovo Prison World War II prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom Inmates of Butyrka prison Warlords