General Mikhail Nikolayevich Annenkov (formerly also transcribed Michael Nicolaivitch Annenkoff; ; 1835 in

St. Petersburg 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, ...

– January 21, 1899 in St. Petersburg) was a Russian nobleman, author, military officer, and engineer. An important figure in the history of the Russian conquest of Turkestan in the 19th century, he was Governor-General of the

Transcaspian Region The Transcaspian Oblast, or simply Transcaspia, was an oblast of the Russian Empire and early Soviet Russia to the east of the Caspian Sea during the second half of the 19th century until 1924. It was bounded to the south by Iran's Khorasan Pro ...

(today's

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

). General Annenkov was the builder of the strategic Transcaspian Railway in its initial stages through what is now Turkmenistan, which made possible the bloody defeat of the Turkmen at Geok-Tepe in 1881. He was also involved in the planning of the Trans-Siberian railroad, which was under construction at the time of his death. He also played a major role in the Pendjeh Crisis of 1885, when the UK and Russia nearly went to war.

Education and early career

Born into the wealthy Annenkoff family, son of General Nicholas Annenkov, Governor of

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

and the southwestern provinces and aide-de-camp to the Emperor, Michael studied at the Corps des Pages and was appointed general adjutant to the general staff of the Imperial Army at

. From 1864 to 1866, during the Polish uprising, Michael earned a reputation as a competent commander and military tactician: by age 27 he had been made a Colonel of the Imperial Army and appointed Aide-de-Camp to Emperor

Alexander III of Russia Alexander III (; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894. He was highly reactionary in domestic affairs and reversed some of the libera ...

. In the 1870s, Michael served as Military Attaché to

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 ...

, during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, and then later 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 ...

. His writings on German military tactics during the war were widely read. By 1878 he had been appointed a Lieutenant-General of the Imperial Army. During the

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire which included United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, Romania, Principality of Serbia, Serbia, and Principality of ...

General Annenkoff was placed in charge of transportation, learning the valuable skills that would later make him one of the most prominent engineers of his era. He was awarded Serbian Order of the Cross of Takovo.

Central Asia

In the 1880s, General Annenkoff served on several campaigns in Central Asia, most notably against the Turkmen population (serving under General Mikhail Skobelev in the Merv campaign). In order to move troops and supplies, he supervised construction of the

Trans-Caspian Railway The Trans-Caspian Railway (also called the Central Asian Railway, ) is a railway that follows the path of the Silk Road through much of western Central Asia. It was built by the Russian Empire during its expansion into Central Asia in the 19t ...

. The original portion was opened in 1881 from Uzun-Ada on the Caspian Sea to Kyzyl Aryat (now

Serdar Serdar may refer to * Serdar (given name) * Serdar (surname) Serdar is a surname of the following notable people: * Can Serdar (born 1996), German-Turkish football midfielder * Emerîkê Serdar (1935–2018), Kurdish-Yezidi writer from Armenia * I ...

). The line was opened to Ashkabad (now

Ashgabat Ashgabat (Turkmen language, Turkmen: ''Aşgabat'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag, Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 ...

) in December 1885 and to Merv (modern

Mary, Turkmenistan Mary (; Cyrillic: Мары) is a city on an oasis in the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, located on the Murgab River. It was founded in 1884 about from the ruins of the ancient abandoned great city of Merv and was actually named Merv until 193 ...

) in July 1886. The next section (which reached

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

by an 8-mile branch) was completed to

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

(in what is now

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

) in May 1888. He completed laying more than 1,000 miles of track in less than three years (1885–1888), which brought him immediate engineering fame. (The western terminus was later changed to Krasnovodsk.) He was honored by scientific bodies throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, including being appointed a vice-president of the International Congress of Geography (1891). He later became a planner and chief promoter of the Trans-Siberian railroad. General Annenkoff was involved in the annexation of the

Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara (, ) was a Muslims, Muslim-Uzbeks, Uzbek polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rive ...

as a client state of the

Czar 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 ...

. Upon the death of Emir Mozaffar al-Din in 1885, General Annenkoff marched into Bukhara and put Emir's younger son on the throne. The Russian troops that were left behind placed the Emirate of Bukhara under control of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In 1892 Annenkoff was promoted to General of Infantry and given charge of the construction of the extension of the Trans-Caspian Railway, which in 1898 reached

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

with a branch to

Andijan Andijan ( ), also spelt Andijon () and formerly romanized as Andizhan ( ), is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, economic, and cultural center of Andijan Region. Andijan is a district-level city with an area of . Andijan is the most ...

Family

Most prominent of General Annenkoff's sisters were Madame Marie de Struve, wife of Karl de Struve, Russian Ambassador to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

respectively, Elizabeth, princess

Galitzine Galitzine is an alternative romanization of Golitsyn, a surname chiefly associated with members of the House of Golitsyn of Lithuanian-Russian origin. Notable people with the surname include: House of Golitsyn * Alexandra Pavlovna Galitzine ...

, and Alexandra, Vicomtesse de Vogüé, wife of French critic and author Vicomte Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé. In 1878 the Vicomte de Vogüé and Miss Alexandra N. Annenkova were married at the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

, St. Petersburg. After his first marriage to Baroness Alexandra Zubova ended, in 1883 General Annenkov married Dagmar Elisabeth von Oesterreich (19 years old). The marriage was dissolved in 1889. General Michael N. Annenkoff died in St. Petersburg on 9 (21 New Style) January 1899, reportedly by suicide. There was suspicion that he had misappropriated funds from the Trans-Caspian Railway.In Foreign Lands. New York Times, August 28, 1899: page 7. At the time, he was a member of the Imperial Military Council in St. Petersburg.

Notes

*Ген. М.A. Анненков "Ахал-Техинский Оазис и Пути к Индии" (The Akhal-Teki Oasis and the roads to India) (С.Пб.) 1881 *Ген-Лт.М.А.Терентьев "История Завоевания Средней Азии" (The History of the Conquest of Central Asia) (С.Пб.) 1906 3 Vols {{DEFAULTSORT:Annenkov, Mikhail 1835 births 1899 deaths Engineers from Saint Petersburg Nobility from the Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army generals Civil engineers from the Russian Empire Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Takovo Mikhail 19th-century people from the Russian Empire 19th-century nobility Military personnel from Saint Petersburg