Yuri Nikiforovich Danilov (; – 3 February 1937) was a Russian military officer. In the years leading up to

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 served as the Quartermaster-General on the Russian General Staff and had a major role in developing Russia's war plan that was implemented in 1914. He served in the Stavka of the Supreme Commander between 1914 and 1915, being responsible for Russian military operations in the early stage of the war, and was decorated for the successful capture of Galicia. But after Russia's

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western F ...

in 1915 led to the removal of the supreme commander, Grand Duke Nicholas, Danilov was transferred from the Stavka to another post. 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 ...

in 1917 he briefly served as a military specialist for the Bolsheviks and participated in the peace talks with the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

that led to the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...

. However, in 1918 he left Bolshevik service and joined the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...

of the

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- ...

, and later emigrated to France after 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 ...

Biography

From 1907 to 1914, Danilov was in charge of the Intelligence Section of the Russian Main Staff of 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 ...

.''Secret Soldiers of the Revolution'' by Raymond W. Leonard, Greenwoodpress, 1999. At the start of

, Danilov was appointed Quartermaster General for the

. He was known as "Danilov the Black." He was third in command after Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich and his

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 ...

Nikolai Yanushkevich. With the Tsar's decision to take personal command of the army at the front in August 1915, both the Grand Duke and Danilov lost their positions. Appointed to the Northern Front, Danilov served as commander of 25th corps (1915–1916), chief of staff of the Northern Front (1916–1917), and commander of the 5th Army (). After the

of 1917, he emigrated to

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he remained until his death on 3 February 1937. He is the grandfather of Nicholas Daniloff who worked in 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 ...

as a reporter for U.S. News & World Report.

References

Works

* ''Россия в мировой войне 1914—1915 гг.'' — Берлин, 1924. ** German translation: ''Russland im Weltkriege, 1914-1915. Jena. 1925.'' ** French translation: ''La Russie dans la guerre mondiale (1914-1917). Traduction française d'Alexandre Kaznakov. Payot. 1927'' * The Red Army.

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Oct., 1928), pp. 96–109.

External links