Alexander Ivanovich Litvinov

Alexander Litvinow (seated, 2nd from left), around 1916/17

Alexander Ivanovich Litvinov ( Russian Александр Иванович Литвинов ; born August 22 ^{. Jul} / 3. September  1853 ^greg. , † 1932 ) was an Imperial Russian officer, last cavalry general .

Life

After attending the 1st Moscow Military High School, Litvinov entered the army in 1870. This was followed by training at the Moscow Alexander War School and the St. Petersburg Michail Artillery School, which he graduated in 1873. Then Litvinov came as a Podporutschik to the 1st mounted artillery brigade, later to the 2nd mounted artillery brigade. As a Porutschik (since 1876) he took part in the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877/78. In 1882 he completed the course at the Nikolaus General Staff Academy as a captain . He was then transferred to the Vilnius military district, where he worked as a senior adjutant on the staff of the 4th Cavalry Division until 1884. For the next two years he led a squadron of the 10th Ekaterinoslaw Dragoon Regiment before joining the staff of the Vilnius Military District, where he worked on rail transport issues. His promotion to colonel took place in 1889.

From 1890 to 1891 Litvinov was then Chief of Staff of the 2nd Cavalry Division, before becoming commander of the Yelisavetgrad Cavalry School for five years . From 1896 to 1899 he commanded the 4th Pskov Bodyguard Regiment and was then appointed major general and assigned to the ataman of the Don Cossacks for special assignments. From 1900 to 1904 he was head of the intelligence service in the Warsaw military district, then until 1906 chief of staff of the Vilna military district and was promoted to lieutenant general in 1905 . In October 1906 he took over as commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, which he led until early 1911. As Commanding General of the V Army Corps, he was promoted to General of the Cavalry at the end of 1911.

At the beginning of the First World War , he and his corps were part of the 5th Army under Pawel Adamowitsch von Plehwe and took part in the Battle of Komarów at the beginning of the Battle of Galicia . In September 1914 he crossed the San with his corps and took Jarosław . At a meeting of the High Command in Siedlce at the end of November 1914, he was given command of the 1st Army , whose previous Commander-in-Chief Paul von Rennenkampff had been deposed after the Battle of Łódź .

In January 1915, Litvinov's army was relocated to the Mława area, where they repelled German attacks in the Battle of Przasnysz in February and March . It was not until the summer of 1915 that the Gallwitz army group achieved a breakthrough at Przasnysz as part of the Narew offensive . Like the rest of the troops in Russian Poland, the army was forced to make a long retreat ( Great Withdrawal ). In September 1915 the troops of the army were divided between the 4th and 10th Army and a new 1st Army was set up in the area of Lake Naratsch . At the beginning of 1916, it was involved in side operations in the battle of Lake Naratsch . She was then deployed in the Dvinsk area .

After the February Revolution of 1917 , Litvinov was discharged from the army in April 1917 with permission to continue wearing his uniform and to receive a pension. He joined the Red Army in 1918 .

literature

• К. А. Залесский: Кто был кто в Первой мировой войне. АСТ, 2003, pp. 366–368.

Web links

• Career data on grwar.ru (russ.)
• Biographical information on hrono.ru (russ.)