Pavel Pavlovich Sytin () (30 July .S. 18 July1870 Skopin – 22 August 1938

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 ...

) was a Russian and

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 ...

military leader who reached the rank of major general 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 ...

. He fought 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 ...

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 ...

Biography

Early life

Sytin was born in Skopin in 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 ...

Ryazan Governorate Ryazan Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1929. Its capital was in Ryazan. Administrative division Ryazan Governorate consisted of the follo ...

on 30 July ( O.S. 18 July) 1870, the son of a rider in a

lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by India, Egypt, China, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

who had been promoted to a position as an official in a military department. He graduated from the Kiev Cadet School (later the Kiev Military School) in 1892.

Imperial Russian Army

Upon graduation from the Kiev Cadet School in 1892, Sytin began his

career. He graduated from the Nikolayev Academy of the General Staff in 1899 in the first category. He took part in the

of 1904–1905. From 1908 to 1909 he was the head of the combat department of the

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

of the Brest-Litoŭsk Fortress. In 1909, he became an instructor at a military school, then became a senior

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

at the headquarters of the Kronstadt Fortress. During

, Sytin commanded an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...

, a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

, and the 37th Infantry Division. He was promoted to major general on 23 January 1917. 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 ...

deposed

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 ...

Nicholas II in March 1917, and 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 ...

that took power proclaimed a new

Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federative Republic in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...

. Sytin served in the post-imperial

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

. He commanded the 11th Infantry Division during the Battle of Krechowce on 24 July 1917.

Red Army

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, ...

overthrew the Russian Provisional Government in 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 ...

on 7 November 1917, beginning 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 ...

. Sytin sided with the Bolsheviks. General

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (, ; – 7 August 1947) was a Russian military leader who served as the Supreme Ruler of Russia, acting supreme ruler of the Russian State and the commander-in-chief of the White movement–aligned armed forces of Sout ...

, an opponent of the Bolsheviks,

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- ...

leader, and a commander of

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

forces, mentioned him as follows:

Many schemers came with plans to save Russia. I had s my subordinate in the Imperial Russian Army by the way, the current Bolshevik “commander-in-chief,” then a general, Pavel Sytin. He proposed the following measure to strengthen the front: to declare that land — of landowners, the state, the church — be given free of charge to the peasants, but exclusively to those who fight on the front. “I mentioned,” said Sytin, “this proposal to Kaledin .e., General Alexey Kaledin">Alexey_Kaledin.html" ;"title=".e., General Alexey Kaledin">.e., General Alexey Kaledin but he grabbed his head [and said] 'What you preach, it's pure demagogy!'...” Sytin left without land and without ... [command of] a Division (military), division. He later easily reconciled with the Bolshevik theory of Communism, communist land use.

In December 1917 Sytin was elected as the commander of 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 ...

's 18th Army Corps by the soldier congress. In March 1918, he became the commander of screening units in the

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

region in the Red Western Front, and in May 1918 he served as the head of the Soviet Russian delegation conducting peace negotiations with the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

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

. In July 1918 he took command of the 2nd Oryol Infantry Division. In early September 1918 he became the leader of screening units in the Red Southern Front, and in September–October 1918 he commanded the Red Southern Front. The troops under his leadership fought major battles with the White Cossacks, holding back anti-Bolshevik forces in a vast space from Bryansk to

Kizlyar Kizlyar (; ; , ''Qızlar'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the border with the Chechen Republic in the river delta, delta of the Terek River northwest of Makhachkala, the cap ...

, although the attempted advance of Red Southern Front troops along the Balashov axis was not successful due to poor preparation. Sytin was recalled from the front and appointed head of the administrative affairs department 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 ...

. From 1920 to 1921, he was a military representative to the

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

of the Soviet Russia in the

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, tr) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia (country), Georgia, which exist ...

. In October 1922 he began duty as an instructor at the Military Academy of the Red Army. From 1924 to 1927 he worked in the Military Historical Administration for the study and use of the experience of war. In November 1927, he was assigned to the Revolutionary Military Council to undertake important assignments for the

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 ...

's armed forces. He retired in December 1934.

Later life

After he retired, Sytin became a researcher at the Central State Archive of the Red Army. 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 27 February 1938 and charged with participating in a counterrevolutionary organization. The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union sentenced him to death on 22 August 1938. He was shot and buried the same day at the

Kommunarka shooting ground The Kommunarka firing range (), former dacha of secret police chief Genrikh Yagoda, was used as a burial ground from 1937 to 1941. Executions may have been carried out there by the NKVD during the Great Terror and until the war started; altern ...

in the

Moscow Region Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

. He was rehabilitated on 16 March 1957.

Awards and honors

Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in hono ...

Fourth Class with inscription "For Courage" (1904) *

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

Third Class with Swords and Bow (1904) * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Third Class with Swords and Bow (1904) *

Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov) The Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus (; ), also spelled Stanislas or Stanislav, is a Russian dynastic order of knighthood founded as '' Order of the Knights of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr'' in 1765 by King Stanisław II Augustus of th ...

Second Class with Swords (1905) * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Second Class with Swords (1905) *

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of ...

Fourth Class with Swords and Bow (1906) *

Third Class with Swords (11 February 1915) * RUS Order of Saint George 4th class ribbon 2000

St. George Sword (24 February 1915) * The Highest Favor "for distinction in action against the enemy" (5 April 1915)

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links

* Ганин А. В.br>От военпреда товарища Сытина. Советская военная разведка в Грузии о Белом Крыме
// Родина. 2014. No. 5. pp. 132–135 * Ганин А. В
Советская военная разведка в Грузии в 1920—1921 годах. Миссия Павла Сытина
// Государственное управление. Электронный вестник. 2014. No. 43. Апрель. pp. 207–251 * * Photograph of Pavel Sytin on Russian Wikipedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Sytin, Pavel 1870 births 1938 deaths People from Skopin Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I Imperial Russian Army generals People of the Russian Civil War Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery Great Purge victims from Russia Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union Executed military personnel People executed by the Soviet Union by firearm Soviet rehabilitations