Iakov Slashchov

Born Dec. 12 (24), 1885, in St. Petersburg; died Jan. 11, 1929, in Moscow. One of the leaders of the counterrevolution in southern Russia in 1919 and 1920; lieutenant general (1920).

The son of an officer, Slashchov graduated from the Pavel Military School in 1905 and from the Academy of the General Staff in 1911. He fought in World War I (1914–18); he commanded the Moscow Imperial Guards Regiment and in 1916 was made a colonel. During the Civil War (1918–20), he was a brigade and division commander in the White Guard Volunteer Army. In December 1919 he led a separate corps (later called the II Army Corps) from the north to defend the Crimea. He ruthlessly crushed revolutionary outbreaks by workers in Ekaterinoslav, Nikolaev, the Crimea, and elsewhere.

In 1920, as a result of the complex circumstances of the time, Slashchov took sides against General P. N. Wrangel, who removed him from his post in mid-August. After Wrangel’s troops were evacuated to Turkey, Slashchov criticized Wrangel in print and, on the general’s orders, was court-martialed and demoted to the ranks.

In the autumn of 1921, Slashchov and a group of officers returned to Soviet Russia with the permission of the Soviet government. After being amnestied, Slashchov appealed to those formerly serving in the White Army to follow his example. Slashchov’s appeal and the decree of amnesty issued by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on Nov. 3, 1921, helped weaken the White émigré community and bring thousands of soldiers, cossacks, and officers back to their homeland. Slashchov taught military tactics at Vystrel Higher Officers’ School in Moscow. He also wrote reminiscences and books on general military tactics.