Count Fyodor Arturovich Keller (; ; – 21 December 1918) was a Russian

General of the cavalry General of the Cavalry () was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers of equivalent rank were called ...

, one of the leaders of the

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

in 1918, and

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. C ...

Military career

Fyodor Arturovich Keller was born in

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

, to the family of ethnic German General Artur Fyodorovich Keller. He was a cousin of Fyodor Eduardovich Keller, who distinguished himself in the

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 ...

. Fyodor Keller studied at the preparatory boarding school of the Nikolaev Cavalry School and passed the entrance exam for the Tver Cavalry Cadet School in 1878. However, after the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, he volunteered for combat and was awarded the 1st and 2nd Class Crosses of St. George for bravery. After the war he served in the 1st Leib Dragoon Moscow Regiment. He ascended ranks and on 16 February 1904, he was appointed the commander of the 15th Alexander Dragoon Regiment in Kiev. From June 1906 he was the commander of the Leib Guards Dragoon Regiment. In 1907, he was awarded the rank of Fliegel-Adjutant and in July of the same year, he was promoted to major general with enrollment in H. I. M. Retinue. During the

First Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

between 1905 and 1907, he acted as a provisional Governor-General of

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

, and survived two assassination attempts. The first attempt failed when Keller managed to catch a bomb thrown at his carriage, and it failed to explode. In the second attempt, Keller received multiple shrapnel wounds, when a bomb exploded beneath his horse. On 14 June 1910 he was appointed commander of the 1st brigade of the Caucasus Cavalry Division, and on 25 February 1912 commander of the 10th Cavalry Division. On 31 May 1913 he received the rank of lieutenant general. When

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 ...

broke out, Keller’s division became part of the 3rd Army of General

Nikolai Ruzsky Nikolai Vladimirovich Ruzsky (; – October 18, 1918) was a Russian general, member of the state and military councils, best known for his role in World War I and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. Early life Nikolai Vladimirovich Ruzsky ...

. On August 21, 1914, commanding the

10th Cavalry Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, he defeated the

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

in the Battle of Jaroslawice, described as the last massive cavalry engagement. During the

Battle of Galicia The Battle of Galicia, also known as the Great Battle of Galicia, was a major battle between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I in 1914. In the course of the battle, the Austro-Hungarian armies were severely def ...

, he organized the pursuit of the enemy and took 500 prisoners and 6 guns near

Yavoriv Yavoriv (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated about from the Poland, Polish border. It serves as the administrative centre of Yavoriv Raion and is situated approximately west of the oblast capital, Lviv. Yavoriv ...

. For services in battle he was awarded the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

of the 4th (September 1914) and 3rd (May 1915) degrees. From April 3, 1915, he was the commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps. During the offensive at the end of April 1915, he distinguished himself with a successful cavalry attack at Balamutivka and Rzhavyntsi, breaking through Austrian fortifications, taking strategically important heights and many prisoners. During the general offensive of the Southwestern Front in

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

in 1916, Keller's corps was part of the 9th Army of General

Platon Lechitsky Platon Alekseevich Lechitsky (; 18 March 1856 – 2 February 1921) was a Russian general. Biography Born in the Grodno province in the family of a rural priest Alexei Nikolaevich and Sofia Alexandrovna (née Pavlovskaya) Lechitsky. His father ...

. In early June, Keller's corps, together with the corps of General Mikhail Promtov was ordered to pursue the retreating southern group of the 7th Austro-Hungarian Army. He was conferred the rank of General of the cavalry on 15 January 1917.

Revolution and civil war

After the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

in 1917, Keller was one of the two Russian generals, along with

Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, or Nakhichevansky, francised spelling: Hussein Nahitchevansky (; or ) (28 July 1863 – January 1919), was a Russian Cavalry General of Azerbaijani origin. He was the only Muslim to serve as General Adjutant of the ...

, who supported the

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

. Keller sent a telegram to the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to offer

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 ...

the use of his corps for suppression of the revolt, but Nicholas II never received this telegram. Count Keller refused to take the oath of allegiance to 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 ...

, and was dismissed from his position. He left for

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, where his family lived at that time. Later Keller moved to Kiev, where on 19 November 1918 he was appointed by

hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

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 ...

the commander-in-chief of all the troops on the territory 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 ...

. Skoropadskyi needed the support of Russian monarchists in his struggle against the Ukrainian insurgents, but Keller understood the appointment as the beginning of his own dictatorship. Keller instituted a five-member Council of the State Defense, composed entirely of the monarchist politicians, and stated that he served one Russian state. Skoropadskyi dismissed Keller on 26 November for "overstepping his authorities" and replaced him with general Prince Alexander Dolgorukov. When Kiev was taken by the troops of

Directorate of Ukraine The Directorate, or Directory () was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on 13–14 November 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against th ...

, Keller was arrested and executed. He was buried in Pokrovskyi Monastery in Kiev.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Fyodor Arturovich 1857 births 1918 deaths Russian military personnel of World War I Imperial Russian Army generals Ukrainian War of Independence Military personnel from Kursk Russian monarchists People executed by Ukraine by firing squad Executed military leaders Executed White movement people