Mikhail Afanasyevich Demichev (; 1885 – November 19, 1937) was a

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 ...

komdiv () is the syllabic abbreviation to commanding officer of the division (; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command ...

'' (division commander). He fought in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

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 ...

before going over to the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

in the subsequent

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. He was a recipient of the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

. During the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

, he was arrested on August 9, 1937, and later executed. After the death of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, he was rehabilitated in 1956.

Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War

Demichev was born in 1885 to a Russian peasant family in the village of Kuprino, Karachevsky Uyezd,

Oryol Governorate Oryol Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1928. Its seat was in the city of Oryol. Administrative division Oryol Governorate consisted of t ...

. After graduating from the village school, he went to work in

Yekaterinoslav Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

, becoming a roller and paperboy at a printing house. Drafted into the

in 1908, Demichev served with the 14th Little Russia Dragoon Regiment as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

before rising to

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

in 1911. He entered a school for ''

praporshchik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...

''s (ensigns) at the division headquarters in 1913, but did not graduate due to the outbreak of

. Demichev fought with the regiment in the war and was promoted to ''

'' for distinguishing himself in battle. After joining the

in June 1918 during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, Demichev served as a platoon and squadron commander in the 4th Oryol Cavalry Regiment, assistant commander of the 5th Alatyr Cavalry Regiment for personnel, and commander of the latter regiment between 1918 and 1919. On the night of 25 February 1920, during Red attacks on Crimea in early 1920, Demichev led his regiment as part of the 13th Cavalry Brigade in a raid on Tyup-Dzhankoy and put the opposing White forces to flight while suffering minimal casualties. Continuing the pursuit allowed neighbouring units to also advance. For his leadership of the raid, Demichev was awarded the

on 11 September. In 1920, with the regiment, he joined the Red Cossacks division and was appointed commander of its 3rd Brigade. He was twice wounded in action during the war.

Interwar period

From December 1920, he led the 8th Cavalry Division, which he commanded until August 1921, when it became the 1st Cavalry Division. Demichev continued in command of the division until 1932, simultaneously serving as its military commissar. He received a second Order of the Red Banner in 1923. During this period he graduated from Higher Academic Courses at the

Military Academy of the Red Army The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), 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 (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

in 1924, Courses of Improvement for Higher Officers at the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), 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 (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

in 1930, and Courses for Commanders at the Tolmachev Military-Political Academy. Advancing to serve as commander and military commissar of the 1st Cavalry Corps in November 1932, Demichev was transferred to the reserve in August 1937 due to "political unreliability." He was arrested on 9 August 1937 and sentenced to death by the

Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union () was created in 1924 by the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union as a court for the higher military and political personnel of the Red Army and Fleet. In addition it was an immedia ...

on 19 November, charged with participating in a military conspiracy. Demichev was shot a day later. He was posthumously rehabilitated on 20 October 1956.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *Краснознамённый Киевский. Очерки истории Краснознамённого Киевского военного округа (1919–1979). Издание второе, исправленное и дополненное. Киев, издательство политической литературы Украины. 1979. С.85-о кавалерии, с.с.92-94- Киевские манёвры. * Горбатов А.В. Годы и войны. — М.: Воениздат, 1989. Книга на сайте: http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/gorbatov/index.html * Дубинский Илья. ПРИМАКОВ. Выпуск 2. (445). Основные даты жизни и деятельности В. М. Примакова. (см. lib.rus.ec/b/105117/read)

Sources

Червоні аватари України: уніформа орлів Примакова.

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20181111150439/http://rkka.ru/cavalry/ Кавалерийские корпуса РККА
Кавалерийская дивизия 14-й армии, с 4.12.19 г. – 8-я кавалерийская дивизия Червонного казачества, с 6.05.22 г. – 1-я кавалерийская Запорожская Червонного казачества Краснознаменная дивизия имени Французской компартии.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120403064821/http://rkka.ru/handbook/personal/2395.htm Приказ НКО СССР по личному составу армии от 20 ноября 1935 года. № 2395.]
Сборник лиц награждённых орденом Красного Знамени (РСФСР) и почётным революционным оружием. Демичев Михаил Афанасьевич: Командир полка 5, приказ РВСР № 438: 1920 г. Командир 1-й кавалерийской дивизии Червоного Казачества, приказ РВСР № 56: 1923 г.: Вторичное награждение.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demichev, Mik 1885 births 1937 deaths Soviet komdivs Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Great Purge victims from Russia People executed by the Soviet Union