Pavel Rafailovich Bermondt-Avalov (russian: Павел Рафаилович Бермондт-Авалов) or Pavel Avalishvili ( – 27 December 1973) was an Ussuri Cossack and

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

. He is best known as the commander of the West Russian Volunteer Army which was active in present-day

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

in the aftermath of World War I.

Biography

Early life

Bermondt-Avalov was born at

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

in modern Georgia. He adopted his second surname Avalov (

Avalishvili The Avalishvili ( ka, ავალიშვილი) is a Georgian noble family, which branched off the Panaskerteli-Tsitsishvili house in the 16th century. The initial appanage of the family was located in the historical area called Tori and n ...

) after his adoptive father,

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

prince Mikhail Avalishvili. He received a musical education joining the

Ussuri Cossacks Ussuri Cossack Host (russian: Уссури́йское каза́чье во́йско) was a Cossack Host in Imperial Russia, located in Primorye south of Khabarovsk along the Ussuri River, the Sungari River, and around the Khanka Lake. ...

in 1906 after serving as a musical conductor in the Transbaikal Cossacks. He joined a regiment of Lancers in 1909 and was promoted to captain in 1914.

Civil War

He was appointed to lead the German-established Western Russian army (subsequently frequently known after his name as "the

Bermontians The West Russian Volunteer Army or Bermontians was a pro-German military formation in Latvia and Lithuania during the Russian Civil War in 1918–20. History The Western Russian Volunteer Army, unlike the pro- Entente Volunteer Army, was supp ...

"), which was meant to go to fight the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

(Communists) 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 ...

; however, believing that the Bolsheviks would be defeated without his help, Pavel Bermondt-Avalov decided to strike against the newly independent nations of

and

instead. His "Special Russians Corps" supposedly numbered about 50,000 men. He was one of the few anti-bolshevik generals who openly promoted

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

ideals. Bermondt-Avalov was promoted

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in 1918. He took over the White Forces in the Latvia and Lithuania from Prince Anatoly Lieven, who commanded a contingent in the

Baltische Landwehr The Baltic Landwehr or ("Baltic Territorial Army") was the name of the unified armed forces of Couronian and Livonian nobility from 7 December 1918 to 3 July 1919. Command structure The Landeswehr was subordinated to the German VI Reserv ...

. In 1919, his forces joined those of Major General Rüdiger von der Goltz to form the so-called " West Russian Volunteer Army" which attempted to proclaim the " Western Central Government" in Riga. German Free Corps were operating in Latvia since spring 1919 to keep away the Red Army. In the summer of 1919, the

Entente Powers The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...

and the German government ordered the troops back, but the soldiers refused. Until the beginning of October 1919 most of the 40,000 German volunteers entered the Bermondt-Army consisting of about 10,000 Russians, mostly former prisoners of war released from German camps. With this ''masquerade'' the Germans tried to keep their engagement in the Baltics and to secure German interests in the area. They used Bermondt for their own purposes. Since the German government stopped paying for the troops, finances were coming mostly from German economic leaders that had interests in the Baltics. At the end the ''Army'' printed its own money. The Western Russian army managed to capture Zemgale,

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

(except Liepāja), Samogitia and entered

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, but later were defeated by the Latvian and Lithuanian armies, with the help of the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n forces. This Baltic diversion of Bermondt-Avalov heavily contributed to his already existing reputation as an "adventurer" (such as General Bulak-Balakovich) especially among Latvian historians. Under pressure of the Baltic independent states then in formation, the Entente and the German government withdrew the Army. By mid-December 1919 the last Russo-German soldiers crossed the borders into Germany (Tilsit).

Post war

Pavel Bermondt-Avalov then emigrated to Western Europe, where he published a book of memoirs. He lived in Germany from 1921 and was involved in right wing and fascist movements. Strongly supportive of National Socialism, he established his own movement, the Russian National Social Movement. Despite this he was imprisoned by the Nazis in 1939 along with other Russian exiles and deported. He settled in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

and later moved to the United States. He died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1973.

Honours and awards

* Knight of the Order of Saint George IV class *

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

Sources

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bermondt-Avalov, Pavel 1877 births 1974 deaths Military personnel from Tbilisi People from Tiflis Governorate Cossacks from the Russian Empire Memoirists from the Russian Empire Nobility from the Russian Empire Generals of the Russian Empire Anti-communists from the Russian Empire Russian people of World War I White movement generals Warlords Recipients of the Order of St. Anna German emigrants to Yugoslavia Yugoslav emigrants to the United States