Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Николай Николаевич Юденич; – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the

Russian Imperial 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 ...

during

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 ...

. He was a leader of the anti-communist

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 northwestern Russia during the

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 ...

Early life

Yudenich was born in

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 ...

, where his father was a minor

court official A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

. Yudenich graduated from the Alexandrovsky Military College in 1881 and the General Staff Academy in 1887. He first served with the Life Guards Regiment in Lithuania from November 1889 to December 1890. In January 1892, he was transferred to the Turkestan Military District and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in April 1892. He was a member of the Pamir Expedition in 1894 and was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 1896. From September 20, 1900, Yudenich served on the staff of the 1st Turkestan Rifle Brigade. In 1902, Yudenich was appointed commander of the 18th Infantry Regiment, which he continued to command during 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 ...

of 1904–1905. He was wounded in the arm during the Battle of Sandepu and wounded in the neck during the

Battle of Mukden The , one of the largest land battles to be fought before World War I and the last and the most decisive major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, was fought from 20 February to 10 March 1905 between Japan and Russia near Mukden ...

. At the end of the war, he was promoted to major general. From February 1907, Yudenich served as

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...

of the General Staff of the

Caucasus Military District The Caucasus Military District (, ''Kavkazskiy voenniy okrug'') was a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army. It was created in 1865 as the successor to the Russian Caucasus Forces (before 1865), Caucasus Army, and was dissolved in 1917. ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1912 and served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, followed by the Caucasus Military District in 1913.

World War I

At the beginning of

, Yudenich was appointed Chief of Staff of the Russian Caucasus Army. Major operations included the

Battle of Sarikamish The Battle of Sarikamish was an engagement between the Russian Empire, Russian and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empires during World War I. It took place from December 22, 1914, to January 17, 1915, as part of the Caucasus campaign. The battle resul ...

, a victory against

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. In January 1915, Yudenich was promoted to General of Infantry and replaced Count

Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov (; 27 May 1837 – 15 January 1916) was a Russian general and official. He served as served as Minister of Imperial Properties between 1881 and 1897 and as Governor-General of the Caucasus Viceroyalty b ...

as commander of the

Caucasus Campaign The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dict ...

. Yudenich tried to exploit the Ottoman defeat by attacking into Turkish territory, specifically around

Lake Van Lake Van (; ; ) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey in the provinces of Van Province, Van and Bitlis Province, Bitlis, in the Armenian highlands. It is a Salt lake, saline Soda lake, soda lake, receiv ...

during the Siege of Van. The Russians captured

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

in May 1915, but they were forced to withdraw from the city two months later. The Ottoman 3rd Army reoccupied Van in August.

Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholas Romanov may refer to: * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), third son of Paul I & Tsaritsa Maria Fedorovna; younger brother of Alexander I, ascended 1825 * Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia (1843–1865), eldest son of Emperor ...

, having been removed from command of all of Russia's armies, was then put in charge of the Caucasus. Yudenich was given a free hand by the Grand Duke, and, in September the Russians retook Van and re-established the Administration for Western Armenia in June 1916. Fighting back and forth around the region continued for the next 14 months without a clear victory for either side. In 1916, Yudenich successfully carried out an offensive, winning the Battle of Erzurum (1916) and the Trebizond Campaign. In the summer of that year, his forces fought off a Turkish counterattack, culminating in the

Battle of Erzincan The Battle of Erzincan (, ) was a Russian Empire, Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire during the World War I, First World War. In February 1916, Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich, Nikolai Yudenich had taken the cities of Erzurum and Trabzon. Tra ...

, which included the presence of Ottoman General

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

. During the battle, Yudenich 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 ...

(2nd degree), the final time the decoration was awarded in the Russian Empire. 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 ...

, Yudenich was appointed commander of the Caucasus Front in 1917, but in May, 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 ...

removed him from command for insubordination. On direct orders from

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 ( N.S.). After th ...

, he retired from the army. Yudenich then relocated from

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Petrograd 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, ...

, where he supported the Kornilov revolt.

White Army

After 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 ...

of 1917, Yudenich went into hiding from 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, ...

and was sheltered by a former sergeant of the Life Guards of Lithuania, who had served with Yudenich from his time in the

Pamirs The Pamir Mountains are a range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among ...

. He managed to escape to exile in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in January 1919. In

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Yudenich joined the "Russian Committee," which had formed in November 1918 to oppose the Bolsheviks, and he was proclaimed as leader of the

northwestern Russia Northwest Russia, or the Russian North is the northern part of European Russia, western Russia. It is bounded by Norway, Finland, the Arctic Ocean, the Ural Mountains and the east-flowing part of the Volga. The area is roughly coterminous with th ...

with absolute powers. In the spring of 1919, Yudenich visited

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, where he met with diplomatic representatives of Britain, France, and the United States and tried with limited success to obtain assistance in developing a Russian volunteer corps to fight the Bolsheviks. In June 1919, Yudenich made contact with Admiral

Aleksandr Kolchak List of Russian admirals, Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and Arctic exploration, polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ru ...

's All-Russian Government based 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 ...

, which subsequently acknowledged him as commander-in-chief of all Russian armed forces operating against the Bolsheviks in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and in northwestern Russia. Kolchak also provided much-needed funds to pay and equip his forces. In June 1919, Yudenich went to

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

to meet with General Aleksandr Rodzyanko, the commander of the White Russian Northern Army, attacking Petrograd formally under the Estonian High Command. Yudenich appointed Rodzyanko as his aide. In August 1919, under pressure from the British government, ''ad hoc'' to issue a legally-binding guarantee of the independence of his key ally

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, Yudenich was forced to create the

counterrevolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

" Regional Government of Northwest Russia," which included monarchists, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and

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 ...

. Yudenich served as Minister of War and spent the next two months organizing and training his army. By September 1919, he had a fairly well-organized army of approximately 17,000 troops, with 53 guns and six tanks. The six

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

s were supplied by Britain, together with their volunteer crews, who were the only British ground troops to fight alongside the Northwestern Army. In early October 1919, Yudenich launched his army against Petrograd, which was only lightly defended, as 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 ...

was actively engaged on several other fronts in fighting Kolchak's forces 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 ...

and several

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

armies 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 ...

. Yudenich's friend from the Imperial Russian Army, General Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim, asked Finnish President

Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg ( , ; 28 January 1865 – 22 September 1952) was a Finnish jurist and academic who was one of the most important pioneers of republicanism in the country. He was the first president of Finland (1919–1925) and a liberal ...

to join Yudenich's force and to attack

with help from the Finnish White Guards. Yudenich would have recognized Finland's independence, and the country's pro-

Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was built upon th ...

relationships would be recognized. As Kolchak, nominally the leader of the White Armies, would not recognize Finland's independence, Stålhberg denied Mannerheim's request. Overall, the Northwestern Army was nationalistic and patriotic and thus rejected ethnic particularism and separatism. The Northwestern Army generally believed in a united multinational Russia and opposed separatists wanting to create

nation-states A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly or ideally) con ...

. On 12 October 1919, the Whites retook Yamburg. Two days later, Yudenich was approaching

Gatchina Gatchina (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which links Saint Petersburg and Pskov. Population: It was pr ...

. On 19 October 1919 his troops reached the outskirts of Petrograd, but his forces failed to secure the vital

Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway 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 ...

, which allowed 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 ...

to send in massive reinforcements to prevent the fall of the city. Yudenich's stalled offensive collapsed in late October, and the 7th and the 15th Red Armies repulsed the White Russian troops back into Estonia in November. Distrustful of the White Russians, the Estonian High Command disarmed and interned the remains of Northwestern Army, which retreated behind Estonian lines. Politically, the Bolsheviks secured a separate armistice with

on 3 January by promising to recognize Estonian independence, an offer contrary to the White Army's and the Kolchak government's position. During the civil war, like many other generals, Yudenich issued currency to pay his troops. They were reported to be so worthless that a

chocolate company requested permission to use the banknotes as wrappers for its products. On 28 January 1920, General Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz, together with several Russian officers and the

Estonian Police The Estonian Police () was the law enforcement agency of Estonia. It was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior (Estonia), Ministry of the Interior. In 2010, the organization was superseded by the Police and Border Guard Board. History ...

, arrested Yudenich as he tried to escape to

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. Yudenich was later released from prison.

Later life

After his release, Yudenich departed for exile in

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 ...

. During his remaining 13 years, he played no significant role among

White émigré White Russian émigrés were Russians who emigrated from the territory of the former Russian Empire in the wake of the Russian Revolution (1917) and Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and who were in opposition to the revolutionary Bolshevik com ...

community there. Yudenich died at

Saint-Laurent-du-Var Saint-Laurent-du-Var (; Occitan: ''Sant Laurenç de Var'', Italian: ''San Lorenzo del Varo'') is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera. History The town was founded in the ...

, near

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

, on 5 October 1933.

Honors

Order of St. Stanislaus 3rd degree, 1889 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne 3rd degree 1893 * Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon

Order of St. Stanislaus 2nd degree 1895 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne 2nd degree 1900 *

Order of St Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus'. Grades The order had four ...

, 4th degree, 1904 *

, 3rd degree with swords, 1906 * Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon

Order of St. Stanislaus 1st degree with swords, 1906 *

Gold Sword for Bravery The Gold Sword for Bravery () was a Russian award for bravery. It was set up with two grades on 27 July 1720 by Peter the Great, reclassified as a public order in 1807 and abolished in 1917. From 1913 to 1917 it was renamed the Saint George ...

, 1906 *

Order of St. Anne 1st degree 1909 *

, 2nd degree with swords, 1913 *

, 4th class, 1916 * RUS Order of Saint George 3rd class ribbon 2000

, 3rd class, 1916 * RUS Order of Saint George 2nd class ribbon 2000

, 2nd class, 2 February 1916

Sources

Biography of Yudenich at First World War.com

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yudenich, Nikolai Nikolaevich 1862 births 1933 deaths Military personnel from Moscow People from Moskovsky Uyezd White movement generals Imperial Russian Army generals Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War People of the Russian Civil War Russian military personnel of World War I Russian Provisional Government generals Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Second Degree Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery White Russian emigrants to France Russian untitled nobility Imperial Nikolayev Military Academy alumni