Mikhail Stepanovich Svechnikov (30 September 1882 – 26 August 1938) was a Russian military officer in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

and the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. He is best known as one of the military leaders of the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

in the 1918

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

Career

After his service in the Imperial Russian Army, Svechnikov took part at the 1917

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

.Свечников Михаил Степанович (Черушевы, 2014)
(in Russian). Расстрелянное поколение. Retrieved 8 July 2015. During the 1918 Finnish Civil War he worked as a military advisor for the Red Guards. In February 1918, Svechnikov was shortly the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Front, replaced then by

Hugo Salmela Hugo Salmela (13 June 1884 – 28 March 1918) was one of the Red Guards (Finland), Red Guard military leaders in the 1918 Finnish Civil War. He was a saw-mill worker from the town of Kotka in Eastern Finland, without any military background. Salmel ...

. He was the highest ranked Russian officer who joined the Finnish Red Guards.″Suomen itsenäistymisen kronikka″, Gummerus, 1992. . As the Finnish Civil War was over, Svechnikov fought in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, in which he led the Caspian-Caucasian Front in the unsuccessful

Northern Caucasus Operation (1918–1919) The Northern Caucasus Operation was fought between the White and Red Armies during the Russian Civil War between December 1918 and March 1919. The White Army captured the entire Northern Caucasus. The Red Army withdrew to Astrahan and the Volga ...

. Since 1922 he worked as a military lecturer. In 1934 Svechnikov was transferred to the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

. He was arrested in 1937, accused on "Fascist conspiracy", and later executed at the

Kommunarka shooting ground The Kommunarka firing range (russian: Расстрельный полигон «Коммунарка»), former dacha of secret police chief Genrikh Yagoda, was used as a burial ground from 1937 to 1941. Executions may have been carried out th ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Svechnikov was rehabilitated after

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

's death in 1956.

References

1882 births 1938 deaths People from Serafimovichsky District People from Don Host Oblast Imperial Russian Army personnel Russian military personnel of the Boxer Rebellion Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I Russian revolutionaries People of the Finnish Civil War (Red side) People of the Russian Civil War People executed for treason against the Soviet Union Great Purge victims from Russia Soviet kombrigs {{Russia-mil-bio-stub