Gayk Bzhishkyan
Encyclopedia
Hayk Bzhishkyan was a Soviet
military commander of the Russian Civil War
and Polish-Soviet War
.
born in Tabriz
, Iran
to a family of teachers; his mother was Persian and his father an Armenian socialist who had taken refuge from Tsarist authorities in Persia during the 1880s. He returned to Russia in his teens, was a radical journalist in Tiflis
, and spent five years in jail for revolutionary activities before he was drafted in 1914. "Because of his background, Gai had been assigned to the Turkish front, where repeated bravery under fire won him a battalion commander's stars, the Cross of St. George
, and the Order of St. Anne
. Captured by the Turks, he escaped and returned, badly wounded, to Russia on the eve of the February Revolution
. Gai had become a Bolshevik
before the October Revolution
." (Lincoln, p. 413) He became a military commander in 1918, when he fought against the Czech Legion ("White
Czechs") and the Orenburg Cossacks
of ataman
Alexander Dutov
. During the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, he helped Tukhachevsky drive the Poles back to Warsaw. His troops murdered more than 1000 Polish P.O.W.s.
From 1922, he was the People's Commissar of the Army and Navy of the Armenian SSR
and later a military history lecturer and researcher.
From 1933, he was a professor and the Chair of the Department of War History and Military Art in the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy.
He was twice awarded with the Order of the Red Banner
; in 1919 for battles in the Volga Region
of 1918 and in 1920 for the Polish campaign.
On July 3, 1935 he was arrested and accused of "participation in an anti-Soviet terrorist organization" by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR
on December 11, 1937 (АП РФ, оп. 24, дело 413, лист 252) and shot the same day. His books were declared politically harmful and banned
. He was rehabilitated on January 21, 1956.
The passenger river motor ship
(riverboat
) Komdiv Gai (Комдив Гай, 1963) bears his name, although according to his rank, it should be Komkor Gai, as Gai was a Commander of Corps.
Hayk Bzhishkyan commanded some regiments, divisions and higher military formations:
is sometimes spelt as "Dimitrievich" or "Dimitriyevich", last name also spelt as Bzhishkyants (Бжишкянц); in Polish sources related to Polish-Soviet War
he is referred to as either Gaj Brzyszkian, Gaj Dimitrijewicz Gaj or Gaj-Chan (Khan
). His first name, Гайк, is a Russian transliteration of "Haik
", which was further corrupted in various Latinizations.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
military commander of the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
and Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
.
Biography
Hayk was an ethnic ArmenianArmenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
born in Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
to a family of teachers; his mother was Persian and his father an Armenian socialist who had taken refuge from Tsarist authorities in Persia during the 1880s. He returned to Russia in his teens, was a radical journalist in Tiflis
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, and spent five years in jail for revolutionary activities before he was drafted in 1914. "Because of his background, Gai had been assigned to the Turkish front, where repeated bravery under fire won him a battalion commander's stars, the Cross of St. George
Cross of St. George
thumb|Original Cross of St. George.Ist and 2nd class were in gold.The Cross of St. George ', or simply the George's Cross, was, until 1913, officially known as the Sign of Distinction of the Military Order of St. George....
, and the Order of St. Anne
Order of St. Anna
The Order of St. Anna ) is a Holstein and then Russian Imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia...
. Captured by the Turks, he escaped and returned, badly wounded, to Russia on the eve of the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
. Gai had become a Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
before the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
." (Lincoln, p. 413) He became a military commander in 1918, when he fought against the Czech Legion ("White
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
Czechs") and the Orenburg Cossacks
Orenburg Cossacks
The Orenburg Cossack Host , a part of the Cossack population in pre-revolutionary Russia, located in the Orenburg province ....
of ataman
Ataman
Ataman was a commander title of the Ukrainian People's Army, Cossack, and haidamak leaders, who were in essence the Cossacks...
Alexander Dutov
Alexander Dutov
Alexander Ilyich Dutov , one of the leaders of the Cossack counterrevolution in the Urals, Lieutenant General .Dutov was born in Kazalinsk...
. During the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, he helped Tukhachevsky drive the Poles back to Warsaw. His troops murdered more than 1000 Polish P.O.W.s.
From 1922, he was the People's Commissar of the Army and Navy of the Armenian SSR
Armenian SSR
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet...
and later a military history lecturer and researcher.
From 1933, he was a professor and the Chair of the Department of War History and Military Art in the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy.
He was twice awarded with the Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Red Banner
The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
; in 1919 for battles in the Volga Region
Volga Region
Volga Region is a historical region of Russia that encompasses the territories adjacent to the flow of Volga River. According to the flow of the river, it is usually classified into the Middle Volga Region and Lower Volga Region...
of 1918 and in 1920 for the Polish campaign.
On July 3, 1935 he was arrested and accused of "participation in an anti-Soviet terrorist organization" by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR
Supreme Court of the USSR
The Supreme Court of the USSR was the supreme court of the Soviet Union during its existence. The Supreme Court of the USSR included the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR and other elements which were not typical of Supreme Courts found in other countries, then or now.-See also:*...
on December 11, 1937 (АП РФ, оп. 24, дело 413, лист 252) and shot the same day. His books were declared politically harmful and banned
Censorship in the Soviet Union
Censorship in the Soviet Union was pervasive and strictly enforced.Censorship was performed in two main directions:*State secrets were handled by Main Administration for Safeguarding State Secrets in the Press was in charge of censoring all publications and broadcasting for state...
. He was rehabilitated on January 21, 1956.
Honors
The town of Guy, Armenia was renamed in his honor.The passenger river motor ship
Motor ship
A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The name of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V.- See also :...
(riverboat
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
) Komdiv Gai (Комдив Гай, 1963) bears his name, although according to his rank, it should be Komkor Gai, as Gai was a Commander of Corps.
Commands
- July–November 1918: 1st Samara Infantry Division, transformed into 24th Rifle Division that took over Simbirsk (UlyanovskUlyanovskUlyanovsk The city is the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin , for whom it is named.-History:Simbirsk was founded in 1648 by the boyar Bogdan Khitrovo. The fort of "Simbirsk" was strategically placed on a hill on the Western bank of the Volga River...
) and was later known as "Samara-Ulyanovsk Iron Division" (Georgy ZhukovGeorgy ZhukovMarshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
served under his command and highly praised him later in his memoirs). - January–May, 1919: 1st Army
- August–September 1919: 42nd Rifle Division
- September 1919-March 1920: 1st Caucasus Cavalry Division
- During the Polish-Soviet WarPolish-Soviet WarThe Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
he commanded the 2nd Cavalry Corps and (from July) 3rd Cavalry Corps on the right flank of the Western Front. In August 1920 he covered the retreat of the 4th Army and was interned in East PrussiaEast PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
Name
Hayk's first name is sometimes given as Gaia, Гая, or Gai, the patronymicPatronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
is sometimes spelt as "Dimitrievich" or "Dimitriyevich", last name also spelt as Bzhishkyants (Бжишкянц); in Polish sources related to Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
he is referred to as either Gaj Brzyszkian, Gaj Dimitrijewicz Gaj or Gaj-Chan (Khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
). His first name, Гайк, is a Russian transliteration of "Haik
Haik
Hayk Nahapet is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation. His story is told in the History of Armenia attributed to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi .- Etymology :...
", which was further corrupted in various Latinizations.
Works
- На Варшаву! Действия 3 конного корпуса на Западном фронте. Moscow, Leningrad, 1928.
- В боях за Симбирск. Ulyanovsk, 1928.
- Первый удар по Колчаку. Leningrad, 1926.