Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze is a famous figure of the times of the Civil War. "With Lenin in the head, and with a revolver in his hand

22.11.2014 0 6480

“Military affairs are simple and quite accessible to the sound mind of a person. But it is difficult to fight,” wrote the famous theorist and historian General Carl von Clausewitz. This idea can be confirmed by the biographies of many famous commanders who became military only due to a combination of circumstances.

As you know, the civil profession of Marshal Georgy Zhukov is a furrier, Konstantin Rokossovsky is a stonemason, and Marshal of Tank Troops Mikhail Katukov is a milkman. Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze can also be attributed to the number of those who fell into the galaxy of famous military leaders, as they say, “from a civilian”. A professional revolutionary who, having become one of the commanders of the Red Army, won during civil war white generals with academic education.
Gymnasium student from Pishpek

Mikhail Vasilievich Frunze was born on January 21, 1885 in the small town of Pish-pek, Semirechensk region. Now it is the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek. His father, a Moldavian by nationality, was a paramedic. Mother - Russian, daughter of an exiled Narodnaya Volya.

Mikhail Frunze became acquainted with socialist ideas while studying at a gymnasium in the city of Verny (now Alma-Ata). And although the young schoolboy showed great ability to natural sciences, the desire to take part in the transformation of Russia according to the principles of social justice turned out to be stronger.

Mikhail graduated from the gymnasium in Verny with a gold medal. In 1904 he entered the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, where he studied economics. It was then that Frunze decided to become a professional revolutionary. He never finished college. Mikhail decided, in his own words, "to change his whole life so that no one has poverty and deprivation, never ...".

In the same year, 1904, at the age of nineteen, Frunze joined the ranks of the RSDLP. It is interesting that, unlike his party comrades, he occupied somewhat different, if I may say so, pro-imperial positions. For example, he did not want the defeat of Russia in the beginning Russo-Japanese War and deeply experienced the failures of the Russian army and navy.

Nevertheless, Frunze actively waged anti-government agitation among the workers of St. Petersburg factories. He participated in the procession of the people to the Winter Palace on January 9, 1905 and was wounded in the hand during the execution of a workers' demonstration by the tsarist troops.

Twice sentenced

After the tragic events in St. Petersburg, Frunze, on the instructions of the party, went to Ivanovo-Voznesensk. There, under the party pseudonyms Comrade Arseniy and Mikhailov, he began work in the third largest industrial region in terms of the number of workers. Russian Empire. He led a general strike of textile workers and created a fighting squad.

It was in Ivanovo-Voznesensk that the first Soviet of Workers' Deputies in Russia was created. Under the leadership of Frunze, strikes, rallies, seizures of weapons were carried out, leaflets were compiled and published. During this period, Frunze also collaborated with representatives of other political parties. It was then that he showed the makings of a military leader.

In December 1905, he, along with his militants, took part in an armed uprising in Moscow on Presnya. Although the performance was badly organized, the rebels managed to hold out for some time. The barricades on Presnya were defeated only after the arrival of the Semyonovsky Guards Regiment from St. Petersburg in Moscow.

In 1906, Frunze went to Stockholm, where he took part in the IV Congress of the RSDLP. He was the youngest delegate to the congress. In Stockholm, Frunze met Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders.

The Russian Revolution of 1905 was defeated. The Bolsheviks, who had previously denied terrorist methods of fighting for power, decided to use them. Although not as radical as the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Frunze, as a person who already had experience in armed struggle, took part in some military actions. So, he organized the capture of a printing house in Shuya in January 1907 and an armed attack on a police officer.

For this, the court twice sentenced Frunze to death by hanging. But under public pressure (including as a result of the personal intervention of the famous writer Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko), the sentence was commuted. Frunze's death penalty was commuted to six years hard labor.

After serving his sentence, he lived in exile in Siberia. In 1916, Frunze escaped from exile, moved to the European part of Russia and ended up at the front as a volunteer. However, soon, on the instructions of the Bolshevik Party, he, using the passport of Mikhail Alexandrovich Mikhailov, went to work in the All-Russian Zemstvo Union, becoming the so-called "Zemgusar". At the same time, he conducted revolutionary agitation among the soldiers of the Western Front.

By the beginning of the February Revolution, Frunze already had a reputation among the Bolsheviks as a military specialist (although he never received a military education).

From Commissar to Commander

The February Revolution of 1917 found Frunze in Minsk. He created a detachment of Red Guards there, with whom he went to Moscow in October 1917, where he took part in street battles in the Mother See.

In early 1918, Frunze was appointed military commissar of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk province. And in August 1918 he became the military commissar of the Yaroslavl military district. It was in this position that Frunze began to cooperate with Major General of the General Staff Fedor Fedorovich Novitsky, who had great experience military and staff service. Novitsky at that time headed the Yaroslavl Military District and was engaged in the formation of divisions for the Red Army.

Novitsky quickly appreciated the acumen and ability of his commissar. Later, the former tsarist general recalled: “Frunze had an amazing ability to quickly understand the most complex and new issues for him, to separate the essential from the secondary in them, and then distribute the work among the performers in accordance with the abilities of each. He also knew how to select people, as if by instinct guessing who was capable of what ... "

Frunze, unlike many Bolsheviks, respected and appreciated the so-called "military experts" - former tsarist officers and generals. He did not hesitate to learn from them much that he himself did not yet know well. Under their guidance, Frunze was engaged in self-education, studying books by military theorists and diligently studying textbooks on military art.

Frunze began to directly command the troops only in the spring of 1919, when he was appointed commander of the 4th Army of the Eastern Front.

Before that, the 4th Army was defeated by the Whites during unsuccessful battles against Kolchak. Frunze had not only to reorganize it, but also to raise the morale, which this army had lost after a long retreat.

In addition, Frunze assumed command of the so-called Southern Group of Forces of the Eastern Front, which dealt the main blow against the admiral Kolchak's advancing troops. The sudden attack of the Frunze group on the flank of the Western White Army in the Buzuluk region brought success to the general offensive of the Red Army and ultimately led to a turning point in the situation at the front and the transfer of initiative from the Whites to the Reds.

The whole series of offensive operations of the Reds turned out to be successful - Bugulma (Buguruslanskaya), Belebeyskaya, Ufimskaya and Sarapulo-Votkinskaya, which were successively carried out from the end of April to the second half of June 1919. As a result of these operations, the armies of Admiral Kolchak were defeated and thrown back from the Volga region to the Urals, and later driven out to Siberia. For the successful leadership of military operations on the Eastern Front, Frunze was awarded his first Order of the Red Banner.

It must be said that Mikhail Vasilyevich possessed not only experience in party work, but also the charisma of a military leader capable of leading troops. He was characterized by personal courage and determination. When necessary, Frunze was in the thick of the battle, sometimes with a rifle in his hands, in the battle formations of his troops. In June 1919, near Ufa, he was shell-shocked by a bomb dropped from a White Guard airplane.

"East is a delicate matter..."

As a "specialist in the East," Frunze was appointed commander of the Turkestan Front in August 1919. And, as it turned out, not in vain. Under the command of Frunze, they managed to unblock the Turkestan group of troops of the Red Army. And also to defeat the Southern, Separate Ural, Separate Orenburg and Semirechensk armies of the whites. In late August - early September 1920, the Turkestan army stormed Bukhara, thereby putting an end to the Bukhara Emirate.

In September 1920, Frunze was appointed commander of the Southern Front, whose task was to defeat the Russian army of General Wrangel in the Crimea. The Perekop-Chongar operation was successfully carried out by Frunze, and the Insurgent Army of another nugget of the people's commander, Nestor Makhno, provided considerable assistance to the advancing Red Army. By the way, a good personal relationship developed between Makhno and Frunze. Unfortunately, it was Frunze who was later instructed by the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, Lev Trotsky, to liquidate Makhno. And - obeying party discipline, Mikhail Vasilyevich was forced to fulfill this order.

In a battle with the Makhnovists in the summer of 1921, Frunze was wounded. According to a contemporary, “from the Central Committee of the CPB (u) for this risk, comrade. Frunze received a nadir, and from the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, the second Order of the Red Banner. But Frunze was not afraid of the "nadir".

In 1921-1922, Frunze had to carry out not only a military, but also a diplomatic mission. In August 1921, the government of Soviet Ukraine, by agreement with the government of the RSFSR, appointed Frunze, who at that time commanded the armed forces of the Ukrainian SSR, as ambassador extraordinary to the Republic of Turkey.

Then Turkey, due to the tense situation at the front and the financial crisis in the country, was going through hard days. Frunze persistently suggested that the Soviet government find additional funds to help Turkey. After Frunze's trip to Turkey, Moscow increased its diplomatic, military and financial assistance to the Turkish government. Soviet Russia considered Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to be its ally and provided him to the army, which led fighting against the Greek forces, a huge help.

M. Frunze takes the parade of the Red Army on November 7, 1924 on Red Square in Moscow.

And not only weapons. It is believed that Frunze helped the Turkish command in developing offensive operations against the Greeks, which ended in the victory of the Turkish troops. It is not for nothing that the monument to Ataturk in Istanbul on Taksim Square, opened in 1928, has sculptural portraits of Mikhail Frunze and Kliment Voroshilov. This was done at the behest of Mustafa Kemal himself in gratitude for the military assistance from Soviet Russia in the 1920 war.

Trotsky's opponent

After the death of Lenin in 1924, a struggle began in the leadership of the USSR between the groups of Trotsky and Stalin. Trotsky ceased to be the People's Commissariat of War, but many of his nominees remained in the army and navy. To fight them, Stalin decided to use a man who had great authority in the Red Army, and at the same time was not a supporter of Trotsky. Mikhail Frunze became such a person.

In 1924, he was appointed to the posts of Chief of Staff of the Red Army, Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, Head of the Military Academy of the Red Army. And in 1925, Frunze became chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs.

The Red Army after the end of the Civil War was a pitiful sight. Military reform was urgently needed. This is what her new leader did. The reform of the Red Army consisted in an attempt to create a regular army, organize a territorial system of troops and improve the quality of command staff. In addition, it was necessary to improve combat training, remove unreliable elements from the armed forces, reorganize the supply of troops, and strengthen unity of command. Frunze, carrying out military reform, wrote a number of military-theoretical works, including those related to the development of the military doctrine of the Red Army.

At the age of 40, he died unexpectedly on the operating table at the Soldatenkovskaya (Botkinskaya) hospital in Moscow after a routine operation for a stomach ulcer. There are many different versions about the causes of this death. The main one was death from cardiac arrest, which followed from the effects of anesthesia, the intolerance of which Frunze had.

Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was buried near the Kremlin wall. His son Timur became a fighter pilot and died in action in 1942 near Staraya Russa. Posthumously awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.

Viktor TROFIMOV

"Die is cast"

Mikhail Frunze was born in 1885 in the family of a petty bourgeois paramedic and the daughter of a Narodnaya Volya member. His place of birth is Pishpek (as Bishkek was called at that time). In 1904, Frunze became a student at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, after which he joined the RSDLP. On January 9, 1905, he took part in a procession led by Georgy Gapon. A few months after this event, Frunze wrote to his mother: “Dear mother! On me, perhaps, you should put an end to it ... The streams of blood shed on January 9 require retribution. The die is cast, I give my all to the revolution.”

Review of the sentence

Frunze did not live long, but his life could have been even shorter. The fact is that in connection with the attempted murder of a police officer, the revolutionary was arrested and sentenced to hanging. However, Frunze managed to avoid such an outcome: the case was reviewed, and the death penalty was replaced by hard labor. The military prosecutor of the Moscow Military District Court wrote in 1910 to the head of the Vladimir prison where Frunze was kept: “Today I sent the verdict in the case of Mikhail Frunze and Pavel Gusev to the prosecutor of the Vladimir District Court, by whom the death penalty was commuted to hard labor: Gusev for 8 years, and Frunze for 6 years. Reporting this, I consider it necessary to add that, in view of certain information, it seems appropriate to make sure that Frunze does not escape in one way or another or exchange names during any transfer from one prison to another.

Mikhail Vasilievich Frunze

"Katorga, what grace!" - Frunze could have exclaimed in this situation, if, of course, by that time this poem by Pasternak had already been written. The prosecutor's fears were not groundless: a few years later, Frunze still managed to escape.

The riddle of death

It is difficult to say what exactly caused the death - or still the death - of Mikhail Frunze. There are several versions, each of which researchers find both refutation and confirmation. It is known that Frunze had serious stomach problems: he was diagnosed with an ulcer and sent for surgery. This was written about in party publications, and confirmation was also found in the personal correspondence of the Bolshevik. Frunze told his wife in a letter: “I am still in the hospital. On Saturday there will be a new council. I'm afraid that the operation will be refused."

The operation was not refused to the people's commissar, but it didn't get any better. After the operation, Frunze came to his senses, read a friendly note from Stalin, which he was sincerely glad to receive, and died some time later. Whether from blood poisoning, or from heart failure. However, there are also discrepancies about the episode with the note: there is a version that Stalin delivered the message, but Frunze was no longer destined to read it.

Funeral of Mikhail Frunze

Few believed in the version of accidental death. Some were convinced that Trotsky had a hand in Frunze's death - only a few months had passed since the first replaced the second as People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs of the USSR. Others hinted unambiguously at Stalin's involvement. This version found expression in Boris Pilnyak's Tale of the Unextinguished Moon. The circulation of the Novy Mir magazine, on the pages of which the work appeared, was confiscated. After more than ten years, Pilnyak was shot. Obviously, the "Tale of the Unextinguished Moon" played an important role in his case.

Frunze was buried on November 3, 1925 with full honors: his remains are buried in the necropolis near the Kremlin wall.

Frunze through the eyes of Brusilov's wife

In the diary of the wife of General Alexei Brusilov, one can find the following lines, written a month after the death of Frunze: “I would like to write down for memory a few details about the deceased Mikhail Vasilyevich. From a distance, from the outside, I know from rumors what an unfortunate person he was, and it seems to me that he is subject to a completely different assessment than his other "comrades" in crazy and criminal political nonsense. It is obvious to me that retribution, karma clearly manifested itself in his fate. A year ago, his beloved girl, it seems, the only daughter, through childish negligence, gouged out her eye with scissors. She was taken to Berlin for an operation and they barely saved her second eye, she almost went completely blind.

Frunze with children

Also, Nadezhda Vladimirovna Brusilova-Zhelikhovskaya pointed out that the car accident in which Frunze got shortly before his death was obviously rigged. In addition, the general's wife wrote that she talked with several doctors who were sure "that without surgery, he could still live a long time."

The Russian Military Historical Society continues the cycle of stories about events, the centenary of the beginning of which is celebrated this year.

Start life path and revolutionary activities

The life path of Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze began in the city of Bishkek, Semirechensk region. Here, in the family of the paramedic Vasily Frunze, on January 21 (February 2), 1885, the future commander was born. In the city of Verny (now Alma-Ata), he was educated at a local gymnasium. In 1904 he entered the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, but, as befits a professional revolutionary, he failed to graduate from the university. The arrest and subsequent expulsion completed his education in the capital. All further revolutionary activities of Mikhail Frunze are filled with events that could become the plot for an exciting adventure novel.

On January 9, 1905, on a day that went down in history as, he was among the participants in the procession to the Winter Palace. Much later, Mikhail Vasilyevich said that this event made him a "general of the revolution." During December uprising in Moscow, a detachment of weavers under the leadership of "Comrade Arseny" successfully operated on the barricades of Krasnaya Presnya. That was the party pseudonym Frunze. At the IV Congress of the RSDLP, he met with.

In 1907, Frunze was elected a delegate to the 5th Congress of the RSDLP, but his arrest and subsequent sentence to four years in hard labor did not allow him to take part in the work of the congress. Already under arrest, he, along with a friend, tried to kill a policeman. For attempted murder, Frunze was sentenced to death, which was avoided only thanks to the intervention of the public, but another six years of hard labor were added to the main term.

I.I. Brodsky. Portrait of M.V. Frunze

Conclusions began in various hard labor prisons, and in March 1914 he was sent to an eternal settlement in the village of Manzurka, Irkutsk Region, from where he escaped in 1915. The party sent Frunze to work in Belarus, where on March 4, 1917, the birthday of the Belarusian police, he was appointed temporary head of the Minsk police. In Minsk, Mikhail Vasilievich worked until September 1917, then, on behalf of the party, he arrived at the service in the city of Shuya. Here his authority was very high, he occupied only key administrative posts. In October 1917, Frunze was in the forefront of the insurgent Moscow proletariat. In 1918 he returned to the Ivanovo-Voznesensk province.

"General of the Revolution"

In August 1918, Frunze transferred to the post of military commissar of the Yaroslavl military district. At this time, the Civil War was gaining momentum in the country, and Mikhail Vasilyevich proved himself to be a talented commander of the new people's army.

M.V. Frunze in 1919

Frunze led the 4th Army of the Red Army, later the Southern Group of the Eastern Front. It was his troops that defeated the white troops during Kolchak's spring offensive of 1919. The leadership talents of Mikhail Vasilyevich were duly appreciated by the leadership of the Soviet republic, and he became the commander of the Turkestan army, and later of the entire Eastern Front. The Red Army confidently advanced to the East, towards the Urals, and victoriously fought against the Kolchakites. In 1920, Mikhail Frunze fought with the troops of the Emir of Bukhara and.

When the Red Army entered the Crimea, Frunze ordered that the White Guards who had surrendered be spared. The leadership in Moscow did not like this very much, and he was even reprimanded personally by V. I. Lenin. Frunze did not participate in the repressions of the prisoners, he was urgently transferred to Ukraine, where he was to fight the detachments of Nestor Makhno. He also successfully completed this task. For successes during the years of the Civil War, Mikhail Frunze was twice awarded the order Red Banner.

peaceful days

In early 1925, Frunze served as chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and was appointed People's Commissar for Naval Affairs of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Vasilyevich believed that in military affairs, not only the firm discipline and training of the army, but also its technical equipment should be at the forefront.

In an article published in the Pravda newspaper, he proclaimed the slogan "Give us equipment!". Frunze said that future military clashes would depend more on men of science than on command. It was under him that the development of aviation, the navy and tank troops began.

Mikhail Frunze and Klim Voroshilov take over the parade on Red Square

Mikhail Frunze also showed himself as a military theoretician. They prepared a series scientific works, among which are such as "Reorganization of the Red Army" (1921) and "Front and rear in the war of the future" (1924). Subsequently, these and other works of his influenced the formation of a unified Soviet military doctrine.

Unfortunately, the life of Mikhail Vasilyevich was interrupted very early. After going through the hard times of the Civil War, he died on the operating table on October 31, 1925.

The memory of the people's commander was immortalized in the names of geographical objects, the names of numerous settlements, districts, streets, squares. The hometown of M. Frunze - Bishkek - from 1926 to 1991 bore the name of the legendary commander. Until 1998, the Higher Military Academy was also named after him.

Monument to M.V. Frunze in Ivanovo

We add that you can familiarize yourself with the biographies of famous military figures of Russian history on the website created by the Russian Military Historical Society.

Frunze Mikhail Vasilyevich (1885-1925) - leader of the revolutionary movement, Soviet military leader. Born on January 21 (February 2), 1885 in Pishpek, Semirechensk region, in the family of a military paramedic
Frunze Mikhail Vasilyevich - Soviet commander and one of the organizers of the Soviet Red Army and the founder of Soviet military science. The communist commander Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze is one of the small number of military leaders of all times and peoples who have not lost a single battle.
During the years of the Civil War, M. V. Frunze deservedly earned the fame of an outstanding, talented Soviet commander who did not know defeat. And during the transition of the Red Army to a peaceful position, he was one of the organizers and direct leader of the military reform, which laid the foundations for the future might of the Soviet Armed Forces. Frunze is one of the founders of Soviet military science and military art, and left a theoretical legacy of great value to this day.
M. V. Frunze is the author of works that became the basis for the strategy of the Red Army. Among them are the Reorganization of the Red Army (1921), the Unified Military Doctrine and the Red Army (1921), the Front and the Rear in the War of the Future (1924), and the book Lenin and the Red Army (1925). In 1924-1925, he participated in the military reform aimed at reducing military spending and introducing the territorial principle of manning the army.

1. Formation of political beliefs Frunze M.V.

Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was born on January 21 (February 2), 1885 in Pishpek, Semirechensk region, in the family of a military paramedic. (father is Moldovan, mother is Russian)
After graduating from the Pishpek city school, Frunze entered the Verny gymnasium, which he graduated with a gold medal. MV Frunze entered the path of revolutionary struggle as early as his youth. This was facilitated by an early acquaintance with advanced literature, as well as his personal qualities - natural intelligence and breadth of soul, a heightened sense of justice and the ability to see and experience someone else's grief.
The desire to understand the meaning of life, the causes of deep social contrasts, the poverty of some and the wealth of others, to find their place in the struggle for the reorganization of society on new, just principles led the young Frunze to one of the circles of self-education, which united the revolutionary-minded youth of the city of Verny (now Alma- Ata). They met secretly, in secluded places, especially often in a concrete anti-seismic trench laid in the foundation of the gymnasium building
In 1904 he became a student of the economic department of St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, where he joined the Bolshevik Party and became a professional revolutionary.
The turbulent socio-political life of the capital immediately captured him entirely. He establishes contact with the Bolshevik underground. By recommendation letter from the city of Verny Frunze, he met the populist writer N. F. Annensky, in whose apartment in November 1904 he first met Maxim Gorky. Deep in the heart of the young Frunze, the words of the writer sunk down that the victory would be won not by a superhero with his Herculean exploits, but by a simple worker. But he must be helped in this, he must go to the factories, organize people, raise them to fight against the capitalists and the autocracy.
Actively participating in student and worker circles, he joined the Bolshevik faction of the RSDLP, after his arrest he was expelled from the capital, replenishing the number of professional revolutionaries.
At the beginning of 1905, the MK RSDLP was sent to Ivanovo-Voznesensk and Shuya for underground work. In May 1905 he was one of the leaders of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk strike and the first Soviet of Workers' Deputies.
In August 1905, M. V. Frunze, as a delegate from the Ivanovo-Voznesensk organization, took part in the work of the All-Russian Conference of Bolshevik Organizations on the Agrarian Question. Returning from Kazan, where the conference was held, Frunze made a report on its work at a party meeting. As a result of the discussion of this issue, it was decided to organize party groups in the villages and send agitators there. Frunze himself traveled a lot to the villages, made presentations there. He revealed to the peasants the significance of the Leninist directive to ensure an alliance between the working class and the peasantry in the struggle against the exploiters. His speeches left a deep imprint in the hearts of the peasants. M. V. Frunze wrote a leaflet, which was issued by the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Committee. “Join yourself, peasants, in this glorious struggle for the freedom of the people,” it said. "Enough sleep, wake up!" Don’t these groans and tears of your brothers and sons touch you, isn’t there enough people’s blood shed ... So wake up, comrade peasants, join our glorious struggle, and we, united, will go together and overthrow the vile autocracy with armed force and achieve so that power passes from the king to the people ... "
In December 1905 he took part in the battles on Krasnaya Presnya in Moscow. In 1906, Frunze was a delegate to the IV Congress of the RSDLP in Stockholm, where he met V.I. Lenin. In 1907 he was elected a delegate to the Fifth Congress of the RSDLP.
On March 23, 1907, M. V. Frunze held an illegal meeting of the workers of the Tolchevsky foundry and mechanical plant and stayed overnight in a safe house in the house of the worker S. I. Sokolov. Late at night on March 24, the police broke into the house, and Frunze was arrested. During the arrest, two revolvers were found on him. During the search, weapons and ammunition, important party documents, leaflets printed in the Limonov printing house, protocols of the IV (Unification) Congress of the RSDLP and revolutionary literature were found. There were many clues. On the same day, the Bolshevik Pavel Gusev, who lived not far from Sokolov's house, was also arrested.
The news of the arrest of Frunze and Gusev spread like lightning through the city. At 9 o'clock alarm factory beeps were heard. “Shuya workers ...,” wrote A.S. Bubnov, “twice fifteen thousand people approached the prison where Arseniy was then imprisoned in order to release him.” By evening, the Bolsheviks organized a rally of thousands of protesters against the arbitrariness of the tsarist authorities.
On March 25, M. V. Frunze and P. D. Gusev were imprisoned in the Polish corps under investigation, which was known for the special cruelty of the prison regime.
From the very first days, M. V. Frunze organized the education of the illiterate, conducted political discussions and information during the walks of the prisoners. Frunze established contacts with them immediately, easily and simply. His good-natured character predisposed him to sociability with people.
For the creation of a political organization of exiles in the village of Manzurka, for reading and distributing illegal literature and revolutionary propaganda, M. V. Frunze and 13 other exiles were arrested on July 31, 1915 and sent in stages to the Irkutsk provincial prison. At the last stop, 30 miles from Irkutsk, in the village of Os, M.V. Frunze managed to escape. In Irkutsk, he obtained documents in the name of the nobleman V. G. Vasilenko, went to Chita and got a job as a traveling agent of the Trans-Baikal Resettlement Administration.
In 1916 he was sent by the party for revolutionary work in the army. Under the name of Mikhailova, he served in the committee of the All-Russian Zemstvo Union on the Western Front, led the Bolshevik underground in Minsk with branches in the 3rd and 10th armies.
MV Frunze directs his main efforts to the formation of people's militia detachments. On March 7, the newspaper "Izvestia of the Minsk Council" published an appeal by M.V. Frunze to the population of the city. It said: “The protection of public safety must be in the hands of the workers... Loyal servants of the old order... will make attempts to restore the old order for them. The working class needs to keep an eye on them, to be ready at any moment to crush the slightest attempt by the dark forces.
The Bolshevik line consistently pursued by M. V. Frunze in the activities of the workers' militia caused discontent among the local authorities of the Provisional Government. Sharp disagreements arose between Frunze and the provincial commissar of the Provisional Government. In August 1917, Frunze and other police officers wrote a letter addressed to the city government, in which they indicated that they joined the police from purely ideological motives and remained faithful to their difficult, sometimes unpleasant duties. But the provincial commissar imposes on the militia the functions of political investigation that are alien to it. They see their task in maintaining the revolutionary order, and therefore will not fulfill the requirements that are not included in the duties of the police.
The activities of M. V. Frunze as one of the leaders of the Bolshevik organization in Belarus were not limited to work in the police. He also actively participated in solving other tasks set before the party by V. I. Lenin in his famous April Theses. In particular, Frunze is credited with rallying the Byelorussian peasantry around the Bolshevik slogans.
Shortly after the victory of the February Revolution, M. V. Frunze headed the preparations for the congress of peasant delegates from the Minsk and Vilna provinces. The Byelorussian landlords, having created their own national committee and received the support of the Provisional Government, tried in every possible way to impede the Bolshevik solution of the agrarian question.
The desire of M. V. Frunze to return to revolutionary work in Shuya, close to his heart, where his path as a professional revolutionary began, coincided with the wish that V. I. Lenin expressed to him in a personal conversation during a peasant congress in Petrograd. A week after the Second Congress of Belarusian Peasants, Arseniy-Mikhailov-Frunze left for Shuya, the place of his fighting youth.
Frunze's transfer to revolutionary work in the Ivanovo-Voznesensk region was a deeply thought-out and overdue step. Third after Moscow and Petrograd in terms of the number of workers and the volume of industrial output, the Ivanovo-Voznesensky district was to play an important role in the impending socialist revolution. He, naturally, needed leaders of the revolutionary masses of such a scale and experience as M. V. Frunze was.
It is no coincidence that the city of Shuya initially becomes his place of work. Among the peasants of the county, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, who had to be isolated in order to ensure reliable support for the Bolsheviks from the poorest peasantry in the upcoming decisive battle for power, enjoyed a noticeable influence. In addition, a garrison of 20,000 soldiers was stationed in Shuya itself. Their attraction to the side of the Bolsheviks was also of no small importance in the successful outcome of the revolutionary struggle, and not only in the district, but throughout the Ivanovo-Voznesensky industrial region.
From the very first days of his activity in the Ivanovo-Voznesensky region, M.V. Frunze joined in active work to clarify and implement the decisions of the VI Congress of the Bolshevik Party, which headed for the preparation of an armed uprising. As the generally recognized leader of the Shuisky, and then the Ivanovo-Voznesensky district committee of the RSDLP (b), he spoke at party meetings, at meetings and rallies of workers, peasants, soldiers and intellectuals.
The vigorous activity of M. V. Frunze in winning over the masses to the side of the Bolsheviks in this pre-October period unfolded on a broad front and in all directions. He paid the main attention to the strengthening of the positions of the Bolsheviks in the Soviets, which were to become the illumination of the new proletarian power. In the uyezd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, the Bolsheviks had a strong majority ever since its formation during the February Revolution. But the district Soviet of Peasants' Deputies, organized in April 1917, was under the influence of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Frunze often attended meetings of this Soviet, sent his associates there, and ensured that at the county congress of peasants in October 1917, the Bolsheviks won, and the Socialist-Revolutionary leadership was replaced by the Bolsheviks. A decision was also made to merge the Soviets into a single district Soviet of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. MV Frunze was elected chairman of the joint executive committee of the Council.
In August 1917, the campaign for elections to the city duma ended in a convincing victory for the Bolsheviks, led by M.V. Frunze. Fulfilling the demands of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), the Bolsheviks of Shuya, of the entire Ivanovo-Voznesensk region, used the preparation and holding of these elections in the interests of fighting for the masses, mobilizing them for a decisive struggle against the bourgeoisie and the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries who supported it. Of the 102 Bolsheviks elected in Ivaiovo-Voznesensk, there were 58. In Shuya, where Frunze ran, out of the 40 elected vowels, there were 30 Bolsheviks. M. V. Frunze is elected chairman of the city duma, and the Bolshevik worker I. P. Volkov is elected mayor. All leading positions in the Duma and in the city government were occupied by the Bolsheviks.

2. Military organizational and military activities of M. V. Frunze

Interest in military affairs awakened in Frunze from a young age, when he enthusiastically studied military history, and the acquisition of experience in armed struggle took place in the difficult conditions of the revolutionary underground, in the barricade battles on Krasnaya Presnya in Moscow. In Siberian exile, Frunze used all available opportunities to study military affairs. He organized a special circle of exiled Bolshevik revolutionaries, called by its members the "military academy
During the First World War, MV Frunze, who closely followed the course of hostilities, often amazed his comrades with a subtle understanding of special questions of military art and surprisingly accurate prediction of the outcome of many military operations. Frunze significantly expanded his knowledge and developed his military outlook while conducting revolutionary work on the Western Front, where he was on the instructions of the party in 1916-1917.
M. V. Frunze had all the qualities necessary for a military leader. He possessed an iron will, organizational talent, the ability to be close to the masses and an extraordinary capacity for work.
He knew the special military literature well, especially the works of the great Russian generals. Knowing several foreign languages, Frunze read literature on military issues by prominent Western European military theorists.
In a word, throughout his life, as well as the tireless, never-ending work of self-education and self-education, M. V. Frunze prepared himself for the laborious military activity. “Mikhail Vasilyevich,” wrote K. E. Voroshilov, “became a commander and leader of the armed proletarian forces, having passed hard school Bolshevik underground worker, which made up a lot in the gaps in the special military knowledge of this outstanding person. It may seem miraculous that yesterday's convict, hunted fugitive and exiled settler becomes at first an exemplary military organizer in the position of the Yaroslavl district commissar, and then leads the most responsible operations to defeat the counter-revolutionary forces that threatened the still fragile, fragile proletarian state.
Active participation in the construction of a new army began for M. V. Frunze during his work in Shuya. Under his leadership, in January 1918, the first detachment of the Red Army was created here. Shuya became the gathering place for all detachments of the new army, which were created in the Ivanovo-Voznesensk region. Subsequently, the 57th Shuisky regiment was formed from them.
When the German hordes launched an attack on Petrograd, the work of creating the Red Army unfolded with renewed vigor.
In response to the intensification of intervention against the Soviet Republic, by decision of the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets, a transition was made from the volunteer principle of manning the Red Army to general mobilization, and compulsory military training was introduced. M. V. Frunze headed the Ivanovo-Voznesensk provincial military commissariat. On his initiative, instructor courses for general education were organized, in which the entire party activists of the province were enrolled. In one of his speeches, he called for "turning the entire province into a military camp."
Headed by M. V. Frunze, the Gubernia Military Commissariat successfully completed the tasks of forming and sending to the front new units and subunits of the Red Army. The Ivanovo-Voznesensk province was one of the leaders in this work in the Soviet Republic. During the civil war, the provincial military commissariat carried out a total of about 90 different mobilizations, during which many thousands of fighters and commanders were sent to the front.
Taking into account the high military and organizational qualities of M. V. Frunze, the Ivanovo-Voznesensk provincial conference unanimously recommends him for the post of military commissar of the Yaroslavl military district. This recommendation was supported by the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars, and in accordance with its request, the party decides to transfer Frunze to military work.
Under the leadership of Frunze, a fundamental restructuring of party political work is being carried out in the troops and institutions. D. A. Furmanov, seconded at the request of Mikhail Vasilyevich to the headquarters of the district, who worked with Frunze in the provincial executive committee and the provincial party committee, showed himself to be an energetic and skillful employee. In a short time, the publication of the daily district newspaper "Armed Poor" (since 1919 "Nabat") was launched.
On Frunze's instructions, courses are being set up at the provincial commissariats to train agitators for parts of the district. The course program included the study of the economic situation and economic policy party, topical military-political issues, the history of the Russian revolutionary movement. Issues of propaganda art were also not overlooked.
M. V. Frunze gave great importance the cause of enlightenment of the Red Army, especially the elimination of illiteracy. In this he saw one of the decisive means of raising their political consciousness, morale and combat skills. He believed that every fighter must be convinced of the justice of the goals for which he is fighting. At his direction, literacy schools were established in parts of the district, which introduced compulsory education for the illiterate; in the same schools, groups were created for the semi-literate and for the literate in order to improve their educational level.
When M. V. Frunze was the district military commissar, the most essential features of the style of his military activity were clearly manifested. First of all, it is a high level of competence. Those who happened to work with him at that time admired the knowledge of the matter with which he approached the solution of special military issues. So, the experienced lawyer A. A. Ern, who once defended Frunze and Gusev at the trial, was invited in 1918 to the post of legal adviser to the Yaroslavl Military District, recalled: “Weekly I had to participate in the meetings of the district meeting, which were chaired by Mikhail Vasilyevich, and I was amazed at the skill and knowledge that he discovered when discussing issues of a special military nature, which, of course, were completely unfamiliar to him before.
Another old military specialist who knew Frunze from joint work at the headquarters of the Yaroslavl Military District, F. F. Novitsky, wrote in his memoirs: “M. V. Frunze possessed an amazing ability to quickly understand the most complex and until then unknown to him questions, to separate the essential from the secondary in them ... The speed with which he mastered such a complex matter as mobilization work was especially striking. In the old army, it was carried out by specially trained people.
However, the high professionalism that distinguished Frunze can only partly be explained by natural talent. This is primarily the result of self-education, a highly developed sense of personal responsibility for the work assigned by the Party. Having become a military leader, Mikhail Vasilyevich strove to master military affairs to perfection. He could be seen at home late at night, bending over books and maps. He spared no time for business conversations with people from whom he could learn the knowledge he needed.
Another essential feature of MV Frunze's style of military activity is a creative, proactive approach to business. Performing discipline, strict execution of orders and instructions from higher authorities, he put above all else. At the same time, when solving any issue, Frunze strove to find all available opportunities, to show an innovative initiative, independence, and boldly assumed full responsibility for the decisions he made.
Showing initiative and a creative approach to business, Frunze highly valued these qualities in others, and in every possible way contributed to their development in the troops subordinate to him. In the very first orders in the district, he pointed out to some leaders that they lacked the proper energy and initiative in mobilization work.
A resolute opponent of the armchair style of leadership, M. V. Frunze often visited the troops, met with soldiers and commanders. As eyewitnesses recall, Frunze came to the field not as a formidable inspector, but as an authoritative leader. Delving into all aspects of the life of units and formations, revealing shortcomings in the organization of service, equipment, armament, food supply and quartering of troops, in establishing cultural-mass and party-political work, he immediately gave practical instructions and advice on how to eliminate them, taught inexperienced , strictly asked from negligent.
At the same time, M. V. Frunze, who was distinguished by high exactingness and intolerance to shortcomings, refrained from imposing strict penalties. His authority in the troops was so high that there was simply no need for them.
Thanks to the efforts of Frunze, who relied in his military activities on local party organizations, numerous mobilization tasks of the center and fronts were carried out promptly and efficiently. Only from September 1918 to February 1919 in the Ivanovo-Voznesensk province alone, the number of volunteers and mobilized people amounted to over 70 thousand people. In September 1918, 50 marching companies and 20 marching teams with a total of 15 thousand people were sent to the fronts of the civil war. The formation of two full-blooded divisions (1st and 7th) and many special units were deployed, which, as soon as they were ready, were sent to the front
The military talent of M. V. Frunze, so clearly manifested in the post of military commissar of the rear district, was especially needed on the fronts of the civil war, where at the beginning of 1919 a difficult situation developed in connection with the offensive of Kolchak's army. By order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic No. 470 of December 26, 1918, M.V. Frunze was appointed commander of the 4th Army, which operated on the southern wing of the Eastern Front. This appointment corresponded to the desire of Mikhail Vasilyevich himself to go to the front as soon as possible, about which he repeatedly spoke to his friends and associates.
With the appointment of M. V. Frunze to the post of commander, a new chapter in his life begins - the period of combat military leadership
At the end of January 1919, Frunze arrived at the headquarters of the 4th Army of the Eastern Front, which was then located in Samara. The appointment to such a high post of a person who had not previously had experience in driving troops in front-line conditions might seem at first glance not entirely justified. Mikhail Vasilyevich himself was ready to take a more modest post in the army. But the Central Committee of the Party, who knew Mikhail Vasilyevich well and highly appreciated his exceptional organizational skills, decided otherwise. It did not take long for it to become clear how far-sighted and successful this choice was.
On the Eastern Front, M. V. Frunze prepared and successfully carried out an offensive operation (a counterattack against Kolchak), which was included in textbooks on the history of military art.
In the troops of the army, M. V. Frunze found a difficult situation. They were poorly armed, littered with hostile people. Somewhere there were riots. There were cases of disobedience, refusal to carry out orders to attack. Units and formations resembled semi-partisan formations, in which there was no elementary order and military discipline.
Mikhail Vasilievich resolutely demanded that the commanders take urgent measures to create disciplined, trained regular units from semi-partisan, unstable formations.
M. V. Frunze skillfully combined hardness and flexibility in establishing military order. For example, he had to face the direct disobedience of the strong-willed, energetic, but reluctantly obeying the higher command and capable of rash acts, brigade commander Plyasunkov, who distinguished himself in the battles for Uralsk. The latter refused to take part in the appointed garrison parade of troops in the city of Uralsk due to the fact that it was not his brigade that was given the honor of walking at the head of the parade columns. In the form of an ultimatum, the brigade commander demanded that M.V. Frunze appear for an explanation at a meeting of brigade commanders.
Among the particularly urgent and important measures taken by the army commander to increase the combat effectiveness of the troops was the strengthening of command personnel. Having carefully studied them, M.V. Frunze came to a disappointing conclusion about the need for great personal changes. He informed about this by telegram to the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Ya. M. Sverdlov. In poorly disciplined units, some officers were replaced.
Mikhail Vasilyevich had a special flair for good workers, knew how to correctly assess their merits, find an approach to everyone, arouse the desire for selfless service to the cause of the party, the interests of the working people. He boldly nominated people from the people to command positions. He, in particular, is credited with the fact that the commanding talent of the legendary hero of the civil war, V. I. Chapaev, was so clearly manifested. This name became known from the battles of 1918. After returning to the front from the Military Academy of the Red Army, where he was sent to study, V. I. Chapaev was ready to fight in any, the most modest position. But Frunze, having appreciated Chapaev's remarkable commanding abilities, appointed him commander of the Algay group, and then head of the 25th rifle division.
At the same time, M. V. Frunze also treated with great respect the old military specialists who honestly served in the new army; he was one of the most consistent conductors of the Leninist line to win them over to the side of Soviet power.
It took M.V. Frunze less than two months to strengthen discipline and organization in the troops, increase their combat readiness, and make them combat-ready for active offensive operations.
In the defensive operations of the 4th Army against Kolchak, M. V. Frunze shows an example of a creative, innovative approach to solving combat missions. Faced with an experienced opponent who skillfully applied special methods of struggle in each individual case, Frunze carefully studied his tactics and worked out original methods of counteraction that invariably led to victory. He immediately showed himself to be a supporter of maneuvering. Even during the period of heavy defensive battles, Frunze actively maneuvered his troops and delivered decisive counterattacks in the directions where the enemy least expected them.
Everyone who at that time knew M. V. Frunze from joint, combat work, notes his exceptional firmness and consistency in the implementation decisions taken, its constant focus on always being at the center of decisive events, being on the sector where the main hostilities are unfolding. In the most difficult conditions, Frunze managed to prepare and successfully carry out an operation to defeat the White Guard troops, which led to the liberation of the village of Slomphinskaya and Lbischensk in the Ural region. Assessing the activities of M. V. Frunze as commander, F. F. Novitsky wrote: “From the very first days of his military service, he immediately took up a major post of army commander, that is, a post that, according to the old days, was assigned to the end of a military career , Mikhail Vasilyevich immediately began to carry out his combat work in the full sense of the word brilliantly and in accordance with all the rules, the laws of military science.
M. V. Frunze did not stay long as commander of the army. With his skillful actions, he attracted the attention of V. I. Lenin, the Central Committee of the Party. And when the Southern Group of Forces of the Eastern Front was created, which was entrusted with the task of stopping Kolchak's offensive, and then going on the counteroffensive, M.V. Frunze was placed at its head.

3. The defeat of Wrangel

September 21, 1920 M.V. Frunze is appointed commander of the troops of the Southern Front, formed to defeat the anti-Bolshevik forces and interventionists in southern Ukraine and the Russian army, Lieutenant General P.N. Wrangel in the Crimea. The commander in the shortest possible time - in just 50 days - prepared the troops of the Southern Front for military operations. Then he developed and carried out in just 20 days two major military operations in Northern Tavria and an operation to capture the fortified areas of Perekop and Chongar
Before going on the offensive, Frunze decided to wear strike force technically equipped enemy in stubborn defensive battles. Until October 18, the troops of the front fought fierce defensive battles with the Wrangel troops in Northern Tavria and on the Dnieper. In these battles, the Southern Front deprived the enemy of offensive capabilities. Special attention was given to the defense of the Kakhovka bridgehead, which was of great operational importance and from which it was planned to deliver the main blow to the army of Lieutenant General P.N. Wrangel. In order to firmly hold the Kakhovka bridgehead, for the first time a deep echeloned anti-tank defense was created there with the involvement of artillery and anti-tank barriers. After all, the Wrangel command had 35 armored vehicles and 25 tanks, and the Red Army formations opposing them had no tanks at all, and only later received armored vehicles. However, in the very first battles, the artillerymen successfully repulsed the tank attack of the Whites.
After the stabilization of the front, preparations for the operation began. For the offensive operation, the Southern Front had the 4th, 6th and 13th armies (commanders V.S. Lazarevich, A.I. Kork, I.P. Uborevich) and the 1st, 2nd cavalry armies (commanders S.M. Budyonny ; F.M. Mironov, then O.I. Gorodovikov). Frunze managed to create an almost triple superiority in men and artillery.
The southern front under the command of Frunze carried out two consecutive operations in terms of depth and time: the counteroffensive in Northern Tavria (October 28-November 3) and the Perekop-Chongarskaya (November 7-17), which ended with the liberation of the entire Crimean Peninsula.
The defeat of Wrangel's troops is one of the major stages in Frunze's military leadership. After defeating the enemy, Frunze issued an appeal to the officers and soldiers of the White Guard army, promising them forgiveness if they remained in Russia. Tens of thousands of people believed Frunze, who was respected even by enemies, but the party leadership (including B. Kun) ignored Frunze's promises and unleashed bloody terror in the Crimea. Thus, Frunze's name turned out, perhaps against his will, to be associated with the massacres of prisoners of war.
At the final stage of the Civil War, during the operation, Frunze showed all his military talent, many-sided experience, high organizational skills, enriching the young Soviet military art with new methods of preparing and conducting a major operation. So, through a deep operational formation of the troops of the front, the successful development of a tactical breakthrough into an operational one (commissioning the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Armies into battle), in three to four days, units and formations of the Red Army in the Perekop-Chongar operation broke through a heavily fortified, deeply echeloned positional defense enemy. In addition, the same operation gave experience in forcing the Sivash at night with the aim of reaching the rear of the main grouping defending at Perekop. It should be emphasized that Mikhail Vasilievich comprehensively took into account the experience of Field Marshal P. Lassi, when the Russian troops under his command twice, in 1737 and 1738, bypassed the Perekop fortifications of the Crimean Khan through the Sivash. At that time, Lassi took advantage of the temporary passability of Sivash.
By the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of November 25, 1920, for the extraordinary energy shown, for the skillful and correct personal leadership of the troops and the unusually quick defeat of the Wrangel army, M.V. Frunze was awarded the Honorary Revolutionary Weapon - a saber with the inscription "To the People's Hero". We emphasize that the Honorary Revolutionary Weapon was a special type of award in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army in 1919-1930. and was awarded by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the RVSR "for special military distinctions" to the highest commanding officers of the army in the field. A total of 20 people were awarded, including S.S. Kamenev, S.M. Budyonny, M.N. Tukhachevsky, I.P. Uborevich, F.K. Mironov, A.I. Cork, N.D. Kashirin, A.I. Egorov, I.S. Kutyakov and others.
Thus, during the years of the Civil War, M.V. Frunze deservedly earned an outstanding, talented Soviet commander who did not know defeat. And during the transition of the Red Army to a peaceful position, he was one of the organizers and direct leader of the military reform, which laid the foundations for the future might of the Soviet Armed Forces. Frunze is one of the founders of Soviet military science and military art, and left a theoretical legacy of great value to this day.

4. M. V. Frunze - Commander of the Soviet Armed Forces

From December 1920 to March 1924 he was authorized by the RVSR in Ukraine, commander of the troops of Ukraine and the Crimea and at the same time a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine, deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR (since February 1922) and deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Economic Council. In November 1921 - January 1922, he headed the Ukrainian diplomatic delegation to Turkey at the conclusion of a friendship treaty between the Ukrainian SSR and Turkey.
In March 1924 M.V. Frunze was approved as Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR and People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs of the USSR, and from April 1924 he also became Chief of Staff of the Red Army and Head of the Military Academy. Under his leadership, the USSR completed the work begun by L.D. Trotsky military reform 1924-1925. It was held in the context of the economic recovery caused by the NEP. And relative political stability had also been established by that time - the white armies were defeated, the opposition was suppressed, and all conflicts took place only within the Bolshevik Party and were of little interest to the majority of the population, who did not care: that Trotsky, that Zinoviev, that Stalin. Therefore, it was possible short time carry out a reduction in the army and optimize the administrative link.
MV Frunze was unusually far-sighted in determining the prospects for the development of the Red Army. He raised the question of accelerating its technical equipment.
By 1924, some experience had already been accumulated in the transition to territorial militia formations in areas with the most close-knit proletarian population. The fact is that large military spending was unbearable for the economy, hindered the recovery and further development National economy, but even under these conditions it was necessary to ensure reliable military protection of the Soviet state. This problem could be solved by combining personnel and territorial formations. “The presence of territorial militia formations,” wrote M.V. Frunze, “allows us to increase the number of contingent passed through the ranks of our army. In addition to this consideration, we also take into account the fact that this system allows military service to be carried out without a long separation from the economy, which is a great advantage for the population, and, finally, that it also ensures the interests of training in due measure. That is why, on the question of the structure of our armed forces, we took the standpoint of a standing army plus militia formations. Under the given conditions and the number of our peaceful cadres, we have no other way out and cannot have it.
Foreign policy conditions favored the reduction of the Soviet Armed Forces, since at that time international imperialism had not yet succeeded in overcoming the consequences of anti-war actions in its own countries, as well as the economic recession that broke out after the world war. The strip of diplomatic recognition of the USSR in 1924 was regarded by some political observers as the second triumphal procession of Soviet power. The ominous shadow of the intervention that hung over the Soviet borders was gradually dissipating. Germany, suffering from the indemnity of the Entente and from the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, was forced to be the first to renew diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia.
In the implementation of the Soviet military reform, it was necessary to proceed from the fact that the limit of the permanent strength of the Soviet Armed Forces on October 1, 1924 is set at 562 thousand people, not counting the variable (assigned) staff.
The mixed system of military construction gave very tangible savings. The maintenance of one Red Army soldier in personnel units cost an average of 535 rubles, and in territorial units - 291 rubles. It was also important that, at much lower material costs, the territorial system made it possible to significantly increase the number of draft contingents passed through the ranks of the army.
On March 21, 1924, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR approved a resolution on the terms of service in the Red Army, the Red Army and the OGPU troops, which regulated new order passing military service. For all branches of the ground forces, a two-year service life was determined, for air fleet specialists - 3 years and for the Navy - 4 years.
The call to active service was established once a year, in the fall. The draft age was raised to 21 years, the reduced service life for citizens who enjoyed benefits due to marital status was canceled.
The order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR dated June 9, 1924, signed by M.V. Frunze, provided for the creation, in addition to the six national military schools that already existed by that time, of a number of new ones designed to train national command personnel. By November 1924, 18 military educational institutions were functioning, among them the cavalry school of the North Caucasian mountain nationalities, the 6th combined Tatar-Bashkir, 3rd combined school (Polish) of the Red Communards named after Unshlikht in Moscow, etc.
By the end of 1924, four Ukrainian divisions were deployed, a Belarusian, two Georgian, Azerbaijani and Armenian divisions. Rifle and cavalry divisions were formed in the Uzbek SSR, one cavalry division each in the Turkmen SSR and the Kirghiz ASSR. In the autonomous republics of the Russian Federation, a rifle regiment was formed in the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, a cavalry regiment in the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, one rifle division with a cavalry regiment each in the Bashkir and Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics.
At the end of April 1924, under the chairmanship of M.V. Frunze, a meeting of the Main Charter Commission was held, at which subcommittees were created to develop the charters of individual military branches. It was decided to give the name "Combat Charter" to all charters of the military branches. The field charter was to become common to all branches of the military. Already in 1924, the Red Army received new charters - the Charter of the internal service, the Charter of the garrison service, the Combat Charter (two parts), the Charter for small arms, the Combat Charter of the cavalry (two parts), the Combat Charter of artillery, the Combat Charter of the armored forces of the Red Army; in 1925 - the Disciplinary Charter of the Red Army, the Charter of the ship service of the RKKF. In addition, several different instructions were issued.
M. V. Frunze spoke about the need to introduce new guidelines immediately after the war. As an initiative, the headquarters of the troops of Ukraine and the Crimea, with the active participation of the commander, developed draft regulations for cavalry and infantry, a draft manual for aviation commanders, about which M. V. Frunze reported at meeting of military delegates to the XI Congress of the RCP (b).
The demobilization of the older ages of the Red Army after the end of the civil war led to a reduction in the command staff. The most trained and devoted to the Soviet power commanders were left in the cadres.
On July 30, 1924, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR issued an order to confer on the entire command staff a single rank of "Commander of the Red Army." In the autumn of the same year, sleeve insignia were slightly changed. Mikhail Vasilyevich began to wear on his sleeves the blue cavalry galloon of the commander of the 14th category with a red star and four red rhombuses. On the chest of the tunic there are three "conversations" - cloth strips of blue, like the buttonholes.
In November-December 1924, the plenum of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, chaired by M. V. Frunze, worked out the requirements for the curriculum for training troops. This document stated that personnel it is necessary to prepare, first of all, for active offensive actions, to achieve in the course of training the development of a clear interaction between the combat arms in battle and operation.
From March 1924, Frunze resolved the most important issues in the military department of the country. On the basis of the decision of the Plenum of the Central Committee, on January 26, 1925, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR accepted Trotsky's proposal to release him from the duties of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. M. V. Frunze was appointed People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, and I. S. Unshlikht was appointed his deputy. The Revolutionary Military Council included P. I. Baranov, A. S. Bubnov, S. M. Budyonny, K. E. Voroshilov, A. I. Egorov, V. P. Zatonsky. V. I. Zof, M. M. Lashevich, G. K. Ordzhonikidze, Sh. Z. Eliava, Khedyr-Aliev.
On February 10, 1925, the Council of People's Commissars appointed M. V. Frunze a member of the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR.
Back in July 1924, the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) adopted a resolution on the gradual transition in the Soviet Armed Forces to one-man command, entrusting this task to the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. On March 2, 1925, the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR issued an order to introduce unity of command. In March 1925, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) sent a directive letter to the party committees "On Unity of Command in the Red Army", in which he proposed to assist the political bodies of the army as much as possible in carrying out practical measures to strengthen unity of command and strengthen party influence in the army.
The military reform was accompanied by a great upsurge in military-theoretical work. Numerous congresses and meetings of the command staff of various branches of the armed forces were held on the scale of the Armed Forces and in military districts, at which operational-tactical issues, promising tasks of training and indoctrination of this type of troops were discussed. So, in 1924-1925. congresses of infantry, cavalry, artillery chiefs, chiefs of communications, supplies and others were held. Members of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR headed by M. V. Frunze took part in their work. On the pages of the military press, creative discussions unfolded on all topical issues military building. Particularly active was the discussion on the problem of organizing rifle troops, which began at the initiative of Frunze. At this time, military scientific societies were expanding their activities more and more widely.
In 1925, the Red Army had 77 divisions - 31 personnel and 46 territorial. The mobilization readiness of the Red Army was enhanced by the concentration of the main armed forces, mainly personnel formations, in the border districts. “From the point of view of the deployment of the army,” noted M. V. Frunze, “not only has the situation not become worse than it was before, but in some respects there are even serious improvements.” By the middle of 1925, the main measures of the reform were completed.
Mikhail Vasilievich twice got into car accidents, received serious injuries that undermined his health. Despite the objections of M. V. Frunze, in September 1925, accompanied by the head and chief surgeon of the Central Military Hospital P. V. Mandryka, he was sent for treatment to the Crimea. I. V. Stalin, K. E. Voroshilov, M. F. Shkiryatov, who had a rest there, visited Frunze. At times he got better. Once, Mikhail Vasilyevich even managed to get out together with the attending physician Mandryka, Voroshilov and Shkiryatov to the foothills of Ai-Petri to hunt. For a while there was an improvement. However, the bleeding soon reappeared and the headaches resumed. The doctors insisted on the return of M. V. Frunze to the capital for hospitalization. On September 29, together with members of the Central Committee who were vacationing in the Crimea, he left for Moscow.
On October 27, M. V. Frunze was transferred to the Soldatenkovskaya (now Botkinskaya) hospital, and on October 29, Professor Rozanov operated on him. After the operation, Mikhail Vasilievich did not regain consciousness for almost two days. Doctors unsuccessfully struggled with heart failure. At 5:20 am on October 31, the patient's condition became extremely difficult. I.V. Stalin, I.S. Unshlikht and A.S. Bubnov were informed about this by telephone. At 5:40, M.V. Frunze passed away.
On the same day at 10 am, a meeting of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR was held and an order was issued to organize the funeral of M.V. Frunze. From November 1 to 7, inclusive, a week of mourning was declared for the Red Army and Navy. Considering the outstanding merits of M.V. Frunze, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decided to bury him in Red Square.

In the Soviet Union, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, a city in Moldova, numerous villages and towns, ships, mountain peaks in the Pamirs and an airfield in Moscow were named after him. An outstanding figure in the revolutionary movement, the author of the first Soviet military doctrine, a reformer of the Red Army. He became a legend during his lifetime and is still perceived by many of us, especially the older generation, as a legend.

Biography of Mikhail Frunze

He was the son of a Moldavian and a Russian peasant woman. The surname Frunze in translation from the Moldavian language means "green leaf". Mikhail was born on January 21, 1885 in the Kyrgyz city of Bishkek. His father was a military paramedic, passed away when the boy was only 12 years old. The mother alone raised five children. Mikhail graduated from the gymnasium with a gold medal. He knew seven foreign languages and recited the whole of Eugene Onegin by heart. Frunze himself wrote poetry in his youth, however, under a somewhat sinister pseudonym - "Ivan Mogila". The young man dreamed of becoming an economist, for which he entered the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. However, even in the gymnasium, he became interested in revolutionary ideas.

In 1904 he became a member. Soon he was arrested for the first time, and then expelled from the institute as unreliable. During a manifestation on Palace Square in St. Petersburg, known as "Bloody Sunday", he was wounded. Frunze received the party pseudonym "Comrade Arseniy". He is assigned to work in Moscow, as well as in nearby cities - Voznesensk and Shuya. He took an active part in the December armed uprising in Moscow. He was repeatedly arrested by the police, and twice was even sentenced to death.

Thanks to the efforts of lawyers, both times the death penalty was replaced by ten years of hard labor. Conclusion Frunze served in the Vladimir, Alexandrov and Nikolaev hard labor prisons. After seven years of imprisonment, he was sent to a settlement in the Irkutsk province. There he creates an underground organization of exiles. He runs to Chita and lives on a false passport. In 1916 he returned to Moscow. serves as chief of the Minsk police. Frunze is elected Chairman of the Council of Deputies in the Minsk province.

During the revolutionary days, Mikhail Vasilyevich falls in love and marries Sophia Koltanovskaya. From this marriage two children were born. In 1918, Frunze became the military commissar of the Yaroslavl military district. Interestingly, until this moment he had never served in the army. During the civil war he commanded the Turkestan army. Then he was transferred to the Eastern Front and to Turkmenistan, where he became extremely famous cruel ways fight against the Basmachi. Defended Samara from Kolchak. After a brilliant victory over Kolchak, Frunze was entrusted with the command of the Turkestan Front. Soon Turkestan becomes Soviet.

In the autumn of 1920, Frunze finishes off the remnants of the baron's army in the Crimea. The soldiers of the white army were guaranteed forgiveness. Tens of thousands believed it, and paid with their lives. Until 1924, Frunze occupied many leadership positions and took part in punitive operations against that part of the population that continued to be in opposition to the Bolsheviks. He receives the second Order of the Red Banner for the defeat of Makhno's troops. For the first time in the history of the Soviet Republic, he is holding diplomatic negotiations with Turkey.

By military reform unity of command was introduced in the army, its number was significantly reduced. The influence of the political departments on the command staff of the army has significantly decreased. After Trotsky's political defeat, Frunze replaced him in all command posts. He died on October 31, 1925 as a result of an unsuccessful operation to remove a stomach ulcer.

• The writer Boris Pilnyak, in The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon, considered Frunze's death a disguised political assassination from outside.