Alexei Andreyevich Polivanov (); – 25 September 1920) was a Russian military figure, infantry general (1915). He served as Russia's

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

from June 1915 until the Tsarina Alexandra forced his removal from office in March 1916.

Biography

Polivanov was born to an aristocratic family. He graduated from the Nikolaevsky Military Engineering Academy in Petersburg, present-day Saint Petersburg Military Engineering-Technical University (Nikolaevsky), from which he graduated in 1880. He served in the 1877–78

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

. He later became a member of the Russian General Staff (1899–1904), rising in 1905 to become its chief the following year. Following the disastrous defeat in the 1904–1905

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, he was appointed assistant Minister of War and quickly recommended extensive political and military reforms. However, he was dismissed in 1912 because of his cooperation with liberal factions within the Duma. Polivanov was appointed to the State Council in 1912 and served until June 1915 when he replaced

Vladimir Sukhomlinov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sukhomlinov ( rus, Владимир Александрович Сухомлинов, p=sʊxɐˈmlʲinəf; – 2 February 1926) was a Russian general in the Imperial Russian Army who served as the Chief of the General Staf ...

as Minister of War; and at once started transforming the Russian army's training system and tried with limited success to improve its supply and communications systems. However, in August 1915 he became aware of

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

's plan to replace Grand Duke Nikolai as commander-in-chief of the army and personally lead the Russian armies at the front, and made strenuous efforts to persuade him not to. This helped alienate Polivanov from the Tsarina, who then conspired to have him sacked, and achieved this when Tsar Nicholas dismissed him in March 1916. He was succeeded by

Dmitry Shuvayev Dmitry Savelyevich Shuvayev (; – 19 December 1937) was a Russian military leader, Infantry General (1912) and Ministry of War of the Russian Empire, Minister of War (1916). Life Dmitry Shuvayev graduated from Alexander Military School in 187 ...

. Following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Polivanov joined the

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 ...

in February 1920, participating in the Soviet-Polish peace talks in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

later that year but died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

during the talks. He was awarded Order of Prince Danilo I and other decorations.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Polivanov, Alexei 1855 births 1920 deaths Military Engineering-Technical University alumni Generals of the infantry (Russian Empire) Politicians from the Russian Empire Russian military personnel of World War I Deaths from typhus Soviet Army officers Burials at Nikolskoe Cemetery Ministers of War of the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire)