Tukhachevsky Mikhail Nikolaevich (born February 4 (February 16) 1893 - death June 12, 1937) - military leader, Marshal of the USSR. During the Civil War, he commanded a number of armies in battles in the Volga region, in the South, the Urals, in Siberia, the troops of the Caucasian Front during the defeat of the troops of A. I. Denikin and the Western Front in the war with Poland.
1921 - commanded troops during the suppression of a peasant uprising in the Tambov and Voronezh provinces. In 1925-28 - Chief of Staff of the Red Army. Since 1931 - Deputy People's Commissar of Military Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. Since 1934 - Deputy, since 1936 - 1st Deputy People's Commissar of Defense. Arrested and executed in 1937 on charges of "military conspiracy" against Stalin.
Origin. Training
Mikhail Tukhachevsky came from an old, but very impoverished noble family. He was born on the estate of the Tukhachevskys in Aleksandrovsky, Smolensk province. His father was a small landowner. From childhood, Mikhail was interested in military affairs. But the father was against the military career of his son and in 1904 he sent him to the 1st Penza gymnasium. Only in 1909, after numerous requests, the boy was transferred to the Moscow Cadet Corps, which Tukhachevsky graduated with honors in 1912.
Continuing his education, he entered the Moscow Alexander Military School, which he graduated in June 1914 with the rank of second lieutenant.
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Military service
During the First World War, he was repeatedly awarded for personal bravery. 1915, February - during the Prasnysh operation on the North-Western Front, he was captured near Lomza. 1917 - after several unsuccessful attempts, he was able to escape from Germany to Russia.
After the 1917 revolution, he went over to the side of the Bolsheviks, in 1918 he joined the party. He worked in the military department of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). May 1918 - military commissar of the defense of the Moscow region, since June of the same year, commander of the First Army on the Eastern Front. He conducted a number of successful offensive operations against the People's Army of the Constituent Assembly Committee and the Czechoslovak Corps.
December 1918 - January 1919 - Assistant Commander of the Southern Front. 1919, January-March - Commander of the 8th Army of the Southern Front. From April to November - commander of the 5th Army, which took part in the counteroffensive of the Eastern Front, in Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk and other operations to liberate the Urals and Siberia from the army of Admiral Kolchak.
1920, January-April - Commander of the Caucasian Front; under his command, the Yegorlyk and North Caucasian operations were carried out. 1920 - during the Soviet-Polish war, he headed the Western Front, which was defeated by the White Poles near Warsaw.
1921, March - took part in suppressing … the Kronstadt rebellion. 1921 - commander of the troops of the Tambov province, carrying out the task of completely eliminating the mass peasant uprising.
1922-1924 - Mikhail Nikolaevich commands the Western Front, while his interference in the political life of the state was extremely wary of the party elite, mired in internal squabbles and struggle. Tukhachevsky actually had political ambitions. Undercover surveillance was established behind him, dirt was collected. 1924 - he becomes Assistant Chief of Staff of the Red Army, and in 1925-1928 - Chief of Staff of the Red Army. Despite the workload, Mikhail Nikolaevich found time for military pedagogical work, lecturing to the students of the Academy. May 1928 - Appointed Commander of the Leningrad Military District. 1931 - he becomes Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR K. Voroshilov.
Personal life
Tukhachevsky was married three times. First wife - Ignatieva Maria Vladimirovna, daughter of the driver of the Penza depot. True, the marriage with Maria did not last long. She committed suicide - she shot herself right in the headquarters of her husband.
According to one version, Maria could not withstand constant betrayal, according to another, his wife was tormented by remorse. In those days, there was a terrible famine in the country, and she secretly sent sacks of flour and canned food to her parents in Penza. The Revolutionary Military Council, having learned this, put sacks of provisions to the commander in appearance. Tukhachevsky began to demand a divorce. Maria shot herself. He did not even attend the funeral, but entrusted all the care of the late spouse to his adjutant. And he did not grieve for long and soon married again.
Since 1921, the second wife is Nina Evgenievna Grinevich. From a noble family. 1922 - daughter Svetlana was born. She was shot in 1941.
The third wife is the secretary Yulia Kuzmina. In this marriage, a daughter was also born, they called the same Sveta.
Opal. Arrest. Execution
Meanwhile, tensions are mounting in Europe. Nazis come to power in Germany. The war was approaching, and Stalin's suspiciousness grew stronger. It was his fears for his own power that was the main reason for the repression in the Red Army. The popular, relatively young and educated Marshal Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky was not needed by the "leader of the peoples" in the big war.
1937, May 1 - after the parade, the top Bolshevik leadership continued to celebrate the holiday at Voroshilov's apartment. Stalin then made a toast that "enemies" within the state would be identified and exterminated. The repressions have already begun, but have not yet reached the army. A few days after this significant scene, the Marshal was dismissed from his post as Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and sent to command the Volga Military District.
1937, May 22 - the commander was arrested in Kuibyshev. During interrogation, Mikhail Nikolaevich admitted that he was preparing a military coup. To do this, he allegedly intended to organize the defeat of the red army in the upcoming war with the Germans or Japanese. On June 11, the court sentenced the former Marshal to death for espionage and treason. He was shot that same night. Posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.
Interesting Facts
• Was there actually a so-called. "Tukhachevsky's conspiracy"? Some historians think so. Mikhail Nikolaevich confessed everything at once, betrayed all accomplices.
• Tukhachevsky was killed by women, one of whom followed him and reported to the NKVD.