Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (; ; 2 February 1885 – 31 October 1925) was a Soviet revolutionary, politician, army officer and military theorist. Born to a

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

n father and a Russian mother in

Russian Turkestan Russian Turkestan () was a colony of the Russian Empire, located in the western portion of the Central Asian region of Turkestan. Administered as a Krai or Governor-Generalship, it comprised the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh Steppe, b ...

, Frunze attended the Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University and became an active member of the

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) or the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDP), was a socialist political party founded in 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire. The ...

(RSDLP). Following the RSDLP ideological split, he sided with

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Bolshevik 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, ...

faction. He led the textile workers strike in

Ivanovo Ivanovo (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia and the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir and Kostroma. ...

during the

1905 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, th ...

, for which he was later sentenced to death before being commuted to life-long hard labour in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. He escaped ten years later and took active part in the 1917

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 ...

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

and the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Frunze distinguished himself as one of the most successful

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 ...

commanders 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 ...

, achieving major victories over the White Army of Pyotr Wrangel in

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

and

Nestor Makhno Nestor Ivanovych Makhno (, ; 7 November 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ( , ), was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine during the Ukrainian War o ...

's anarchist movement in Ukraine. In 1921, Frunze was elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party. In 1925, he was named chairman of the

Revolutionary Military Council The Revolutionary Military Council (), sometimes called the Revolutionary War Council Brian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Raskolnikov s "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin." or ''Revvoyensoviet'' (), was the supreme military authority of Soviet Rus ...

. Frunze died in 1925 from

chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane (often abbreviated as TCM), is an organochloride with the formula and a common solvent. It is a volatile, colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to refrigerants and po ...

poisoning during surgery for a chronic

ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughin ...

. It has been alleged that Frunze was assassinated by

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 ...

, who arranged the surgery. He was buried in the

Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is the former national cemetery of the Soviet Union, located in Red Square in Moscow beside the Moscow Kremlin Wall, Kremlin Wall. Burials there began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolsheviks who died during the Mosc ...

. The capital of the Kirghiz SSR and his birthplace, Pishpek (modern

Bishkek Bishkek, formerly known as Pishpek (until 1926), and then Frunze (1926–1991), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. Bishkek is situated near the Kazakhstan ...

), was renamed after him from 1926 until 1991. 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 ...

, one of the most prestigious military educational institutions in the Soviet Union, was also named in his honour.

Life and political activity

Frunze was born in 1885 in Pishpek (now

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

), then a small Imperial Russian garrison town in the Kyrgyz part of

( Semirechye Oblast). His father was a

n Romanian para-medic ( feldsher) (originally from the Kherson Governorate) and his mother was Russian.Martin McCauley, ''Who's Who in Russia Since 1900'',

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 1997, , pp. 87–88 Frunze began his higher studies at Verniy (present-day Almaty), and in 1904 he attended the Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University. Frunze became active in the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). At the Second Congress of the RSDLP in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(1903),

and Julius Martov, the two main leaders, confronted each other in an ideological split over party tactics (Martov argued for a large party of activists, whilst Lenin wanted a small group of professional revolutionaries with a large fringe group of sympathisers). Frunze at the age of 18 sided with Lenin's majority, the so-called ''Bolsheviks'' ("majoritarians"), as opposed to Martov's minority, the ''

Mensheviks The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...

'' (or "minoritarians"). Two years after the Second Congress, Frunze became an important leader in the 1905 Revolution. He led striking

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

workers in Shuya and

. Following the end of the movement, Frunze was arrested in 1907 and sentenced to death; he was imprisoned and spent several months on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

awaiting his execution. His sentence was commuted to life at hard labour. After 10 years in

n prisons, Frunze escaped to Chita. There he became editor of the Bolshevik weekly newspaper ''Vostochnoe Obozrenie'' (Eastern Review). During the

of 1917, Frunze headed the

civilian

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

before his election as president of the Byelorussian

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He later went to

and led an armed force of workers to aid in the struggle for control of the city.

Russian Civil War

After the

of 1917, Frunze was appointed in 1918 as Military Commissar for the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Province. In the course of the

of 1917–1922, he was appointed as head of the Southern Army Group of the Red Army Eastern Front (March 1919). After Frunze's troops defeated Admiral

Alexander Kolchak Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a mili ...

and the White Army in

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

(the head of the

) gave overall command of the Eastern Front to him (19 July 1919). Frunze drove out Basmachi insurgents and White Army troops from his native

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

. He captured

Khiva Khiva ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva, Хива, ; other names) is a district-level city of approximately 93,000 people in Khorazm Region, Uzbekistan. According to archaeological data, the city was established around 2,500 years ago. In 1997, Khiva celebr ...

in February and

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 ...

in September 1920. In November 1920, Frunze's army took the

and managed to push White general Pyotr Wrangel and his troops out of Russia. As commander of the southern front, Frunze also led the destruction of

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

movement in

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 ...

and the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

movement of Symon Petliura. Leon Trotsky attends The October Revolution parade 1924

In December 1921, Frunze visited

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, during

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

, as an ambassador of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, and established Turkish–Soviet relations.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

valued him as an ally and a friend, to the extent that he placed a statue of Frunze as a part of the Republic Monument at the Taksim Square, in Istanbul. In 1921, Frunze was elected to the Central Committee of the Russian Bolshevik Party. On 2 June 1924 he became candidate member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

and in January 1925, became the Chairman of the

. Frunze's support of

Grigory Zinoviev Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev (born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky; – 25 August 1936) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. A prominent Old Bolsheviks, Old Bolshevik, Zinoviev was a close associate of Vladimir Lenin prior to ...

was enough to attract the unwelcome attention of

, one of Zinoviev's chief opponents. They had previously been on good terms, as Stalin had displayed respect towards his fellow "old guard" revolutionary and former prisoner.Триумф и Трагедия – И. В. Сталин: политический портрет. (Triumph and Tragedy – I. V. Stalin : A Political Portrait) Дмитрий Волкогонов Dmitri Volkogonov. Book 1, Part 1, p. 127 Новости Publications. Moscow. 1989.

Death

Frunze-grave-kremlin-wall-necropolis-july 2016

Frunze had been noted among communist leaders as possessing a very creative and almost unorthodox view on matters of implementation and policy. He gained the respect and admiration of his comrades thanks to his successful pursuit of complicated military objectives, and his endurance during the period when the Communist party was illegal. He had been considered as a potential successor to Lenin, due to his strength in both theoretical and practical matters of advancing the Communist party agenda, and his seeming lack of personal ambition separate from the party. Frunze suffered from a chronic

. Although doctors recommended surgery, he favoured more conservative treatments. After an especially severe episode in 1925, Frunze was hospitalised. Stalin and Anastas Mikoyan both came to visit him, and impressed on him the need for an operation. Not long before his death, Frunze wrote to his wife: "At present I am feeling absolutely healthy, and it seems ridiculous to even think of, and even more-so to undergo an operation. Nevertheless, both party representatives are requiring it." Frunze died during surgery on 31 October 1925. Given the internecine politics, there were rumours that Stalin had secretly ordered his death. Dr Ochkin administered a multiple overdose of ether and chloroform to Frunze, apparently on Stalin's instructions. Several historians have attributed his death to

poisoning, in which the surgery had been arranged by Stalin. Historian Roman Brackman argued that Frunze had refused to support Stalin in his conflict with his political opposition. Brackman also noted that Stalin was in charge of supervising the medical care of senior Soviet officials and ignored warnings from Frunze's physician that the administration of chloroform would be fatal for Frunze. Similarly,

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

historian

Vadim Rogovin Vadim Zakharovich Rogovin (; 10 May 1937 – 18 September 1998) was a Russian Marxist (Trotskyist) historian and sociologist, Ph.D. in philosophy, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the auth ...

wrote that Stalin ordered the consultation of specially chosen doctors, who recommended surgical intervention. Rogovin explained that this decision was made in spite of the fact that previous doctors had refused to recommend an operation because Frunze may not have been able to withstand chloroform due to his weak heart. Rogovin also cited the memoirs of Anna Larina which referenced the testimony of Frunze's mother who believed that Stalin removed Frunze because he "had acknowledged Trotsky's authority until very recently and treated him with great respect". Boris Bazhanov, Stalin's secretary, suggested that Stalin had Frunze poisoned and "had an infinite number of ways to poison Trotsky" before proceeding to bury him in Red Square "with pomp and ceremonious speeches". A 26 October 2010 article in '' Izvestiya'' reported that Frunze had been administered a

dose that exceeded the normal dose by sevenfold.Who Killed Mikhail Frunze
/ Кто убил Михаила Фрунзе. ''Izvestiya'', 26 October 2010 Frunze was buried in the

. Today his grave is one of the twelve individual tombs located between the Lenin Mausoleum and the Kremlin wall.

Legacy

In 1926, the capital city of

, was renamed ''Frunze'' in his honour. It reverted to its former name in 1991, after dissolution of the Soviet Union. Frunze is still commemorated in the city: his equestrian statue stands in front of the main railway station. A street and a museum in the centre of the city are named after him. In addition, the museum contains his childhood home, a cottage that was installed inside a larger modern structure. IATA code for Bishkek's Manas International Airport is FRU, which stands for Frunze, the city's longtime name. Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast is home to another memorial museum dedicated to Frunze. Multiple villages in Russia were named for him. Streets in many Russian cities are named after him. The

in Moscow, one of the most respected in the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, was named in his honour. The Soviet 2nd Rifle Division was formerly known as 2nd Belarusian Red Banner Rifle Division in the name of M.V. Frunze. There are stations named ''Frunzenskaya'' in his honour on the

Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...

, Saint Petersburg Metro and Minsk Metro, and a stone carving of his likeness stands at one end of the station. The Nemyshlyanskyi District of

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

, was formerly named ''Frunzensky District''. In 2016 it was renamed to its current name to comply with decommunization laws. After his death, the first name for boys Frunzik (roughly "Little Frunze") became quite popular in the Caucusus and Soviet Turkestan. The most notable of these is probably Frunzik Mkrtchyan. The Russian battleship Poltava was renamed ''Frunze'' in his honour in January 1926, as was the second Kirov-class nuclear battlecruiser (now the " Admiral Lazarev") in 1981. The Leninets-class submarine L-3, launched in 1931, was named ''Frunzenets'' ("Frunzeist", follower of Frunze) after him. General Frunze is also honoured with a place right behind Atatürk, in the Monument of the Republic, located at the heart of Taksim Square, in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. Frunze is remembered by some for his military doctrine.A. Beleyev, "The Military-Theoretical Heritage of M. V. Frunze", '' Krasnaya Zvezda'' (Red Star), 4 November 1984, quoted in Odom, 1988 One author even ranks him next to Clausewitz.

Literary depictions

Boris Pilnyak's story "The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon" was based on Frunze's death. His death also forms the central element of the first two chapters of Vasily Aksyonov's novel '' Generations of Winter''. Marxist activist

Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (;; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and co ...

featured Frunze in his 2017 biography of Vladimir Lenin, '' The Dilemmas of Lenin''. Ali portrays Frunze as a significant figure in developing the military tactics of the Red Army during the civil war. He emphasizes Frunze's concept of Marxist military tactics, which strongly influenced Soviet military organization.

Quotes

*"All that we do, every action, should correspond to the highest ideals of the Revolution." *"The

was created by the workers and peasants and is led by the will of the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

. That will is being carried out by the united Communist Party."

References

External links

Frunze Museum
''

Atlas Obscura ''Atlas Obscura'' is an United States, American-based travel and exploration company. It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via professiona ...

''
Frunze's writings on military theory
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frunze, Mikhail 1885 births 1925 deaths People from Bishkek People from Semirechye Oblast Soviet people of Romanian descent Russian people of Romanian descent Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Old Bolsheviks Candidates of the Orgburo of the 13th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Candidates of the Politburo of the 13th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Central Committee of the 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Central Committee of the 11th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Central Committee of the 12th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Central Committee of the 13th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Ministers of defence of the Soviet Union Russian Constituent Assembly members Soviet generals Military theorists Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Perpetrators of the Red Terror (Russia) Revolutionaries of the Russian Revolution Russian military leaders Russian military writers Kyrgyzstani diplomats Ambassadors of Kyrgyzstan to Turkey Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University alumni Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis Deaths from chloroform Inmates of Vladimir Central Prison Commandants of the Frunze Military Academy Russian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by the Russian Empire