General Brusilov short biography. Brusilov the Red General

“History will figure out soon after the war how things really happened, and now the main thing is to win.”

General A.A. Brusilov

The name of Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov for posterity is primarily associated with the concept of “Brusilovsky breakthrough”. Few representatives of the generals of any era can boast of having military operation, which bears their name.

Born in Tiflis into a general's family. Orphaned at an early age, he and his two brothers were taken in by their aunt. Received primary education at home. Summer of 1867 enrolled in the 3rd class of the Corps of Pages. Released as an ensign (07/17/1872) into the 15th Tver Dragoon Regiment. Regimental adjutant (1873-78). Lieutenant (art. 04/02/1874). Staff captain (01.08.1877). Participant in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-78 (at the Caucasian Theater).

“For the distinction shown in battles with the Turks on May 4 and 5, 1877 during the storming of the Ardahan fortress, awarded the order Stanislav 3rd degree with swords and bow"

This was the first military award of the future General Brusilov. In total, during the Russian-Turkish war, Alexey Brusilov earned three military orders - in addition to Stanislav 3rd degree, the Order of St. Anna 3rd degree with swords and bow (March 16, 1878) and St. Stanislav 2nd degree with swords (September 3 1878), and also acquired invaluable experience in combat operations and the rank of staff captain (August 1, 1877).

In 1878-81 he was the head of the regimental training team. Captain (Art. 12/15/1881). Captain (Art. 08/18/1882). From 1883 he served as a permanent member of the officer cavalry. schools: adjutant, assistant chief (since 1890), head of the riding and dressage department; head of the dragoon department (since 1893). Captain Guards (Article 30.08.1887). Renamed to Lieutenant Colonels (Article 30.08.1887). Colonel (Art. 08/30/1892). While working at the school, he was the first to describe the scientific foundations of training a cavalry soldier and a special system for training horses. To get acquainted with the experience accumulated in the armies of other countries, he traveled around educational institutions France and Germany. Assistant Chief of the Officer Cavalry. schools (11/10/1898-02/10/1902). Head of the Officer Cavalry. schools (10.02.1902-19.04.1906). Major General (Project 1901; Art. 06.12.1900; for distinction).

K. Mannerheim, who served at the school before the Russo-Japanese War under Brusilov, recalled:

“He was an attentive, strict, demanding leader of his subordinates and gave very good knowledge. His military games and exercises on the ground were exemplary and extremely interesting in their development and execution.”

Commander of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division (04/19/12/06/1906). Lieutenant General (project 1906; art. 06.12.1906; for distinction). Head of the same division (06.12.1906-05.01.1909). Commander of the 14th Army Corps (01/05/1909-05/15/1912). Assistant commander of the Warsaw Military District (12/05/1912-08/15/1913). General of the cavalry (project 1912; art. 06.12.1912; for distinction). Commander of the 12th Army Corps (from 08/15/1913).

During mobilization on July 19, 1914, he was appointed commander of the Proskurov group, which on July 28, 1914 was transformed into the 8th Army as part of the Southwestern Front. The army included 4 army corps. The army was armed with 352 machine guns, 480 guns and 18 airplanes.

It occupied the area from the Romanian border to the city of Proskurov (now Khmelnitsky, Ukraine). The army took an active part in the Battle of Galicia: 08/23/1914. took Tarnopol; Participated in the battles near the Zolotaya Lipa and Rotten Lipa rivers (over 20 thousand prisoners and 32 guns were taken); Galich, Lvov (Lemberg) were taken; took part in the Battle of Gorodok

After the Battle of Galicia, the 8th Army was tasked with defending the foothills of the Carpathians from the Upper San to the Upper Dniester. 11/19/1914 Dukla (now Poland) was captured.

At the beginning of 1915 awarded the rank of adjutant general. Winter-spring 1915 he led the 8th Army in the Carpathian operation of the Southwestern Front. On the Hungarian Plain, Russian troops encountered a counter offensive by Austro-Hungarian and German corps. In the winter cold and spring slush, the 8th Army fought stubborn oncoming battles with the enemy and successfully repelled the enemy’s attempts to relieve Przemysl, besieged by Russian troops.

From the memoirs of General Ludendorff:

“The offensive of the Austro-Hungarian army to liberate Przemysl had no success. The Russians soon launched a counterattack. The fate of Przemysl was about to be accomplished. Along the entire eastern front we were in anticipation of Russian attacks."

In the most difficult year for the Russian army, 1915, the troops of General Brusilov successfully defended themselves, carrying out an organized retreat and inflicting serious damage on the enemy.

In the midst of the retreat, he found himself forced to issue an order containing the following lines:

“For the faint-hearted who leave the ranks or surrender, there should be no mercy; Rifle, machine-gun, and cannon fire should be directed at those who surrender, even if there is a ceasefire on the enemy; act in the same way on those retreating or fleeing, and if necessary, do not stop at the general execution... There is no place for the weak-hearted among us and they must be exterminated.”

As a result of the Gorlitsky breakthrough of German troops, by mid-summer 1915 the Russian armies left Galicia. In the autumn of 1915 Russian troops stopped the enemy's offensive, which had been going on since the spring.

03/17/1916 appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front. At the military council held further in Mogilev, where the plan for going on a strategic offensive was discussed, the passive attitude of the commanders of the Western and Northern fronts towards it was revealed. On the contrary, the commander of the Southwestern Front insisted that his front also take part in the offensive.

Thanks to the persistence of Brusilov, who was supported by the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Mikhail Alekseev, Nicholas II ordered the offensive of the Western, Northern and Southwestern Fronts. In May, the Allies, in connection with the heavy defeat of Italian troops in the Trentino region, turned to Russia with a request to speed up the start of the offensive.

The general boldly discarded the template for constructing a front-line operation to break through the enemy’s fortified zone, which did not meet the main task of the Southwestern Front and had become obsolete, and managed to find such methods of conducting an operation that fully corresponded to the task and this specific situation. The main novelty of the plan was that the breakthrough of the deeply echeloned enemy defense was planned to be carried out on several sectors of the front at once in order to disperse the enemy’s attention, forces and means. Having abandoned the breakthrough methods used at that time (on a narrow section of the front with superior forces concentrated in a chosen direction), the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front put forward a new idea - breaking through the enemy’s fortified positions by launching simultaneous strikes by all armies of a given front. The plan and the day the offensive began were kept in the strictest confidence even from members of the royal family.

The command of the Southwestern Front, organizing the front-line operation, carried out long and thorough preparations for the breakthrough. Such training, along with the high fighting qualities of the Russian troops, on the one hand, and the weak combat effectiveness of the Austrian units (Austrian losses in prisoners alone amounted to 28% of total number losses) - on the other hand, initially brought major success to the Russian army.

In total, the armies of the Southwestern Front included 40 infantry and 15 cavalry divisions, which numbered 603,184 bayonets, 62,836 sabers, 223,000 trained reserve soldiers and 115,000 unarmed soldiers (there were not enough rifles). It was armed with 2,480 machine guns and 2,017 field and heavy artillery pieces. The front troops had 2 armored trains, 1 division and 13 platoons of armored vehicles, 20 aviation detachments and 2 Ilya Muromets bombers. The enemy had 39 infantry and 10 cavalry divisions in front of the Southwestern Front, consisting of 592,330 infantry soldiers and 29,764 cavalry soldiers, 757 mortars, 107 flamethrowers, 2,731 field and heavy artillery guns, 8 armored trains, 11 aviation divisions and companies . Russian troops outnumbered the enemy in manpower and light artillery by 1.3 times, and were inferior in heavy artillery by 3.2 times. The enemy erected a strong positional defense using reinforced concrete and numerous wire barriers. The depth of the defense zone reached 7-9 km.

In the created conditions, the main trump cards of the Russian army were the surprise of the attack, its scale, and superiority in manpower, especially pronounced on the front of the 8th Army.

The offensive of Russian troops began along the entire front at about 5 a.m. on June 4, 1916. after strong artillery preparation. The artillery density reached 20-25 guns per 1 km of front. Artillery preparation lasted more than 50 hours. Aviation carried out bombing attacks and machine-gun fire on enemy targets in the rear and on the battlefield. The Austrian front was broken through in four places simultaneously. On the very first day of the offensive, in a number of sectors it was possible to capture the first enemy position, and over the next two days the breakthrough was completely completed and more than 200 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were captured.

When attacking the positions of the Austro-Hungarian troops, the 8th Army of General Kaledin in the Lutsk direction achieved the greatest success (therefore, the operation was initially called the Lutsk breakthrough, and only then the name assigned by the press “Brusilovsky” was established), its success was supported by other armies advancing in narrow areas followed by movement towards the flanks and in depth.

From the memoirs of A.A. Brusilov:

“... by June 10, we had already captured 4,013 officers and about 200,000 soldiers; The military booty was: 219 guns, 644 machine guns, 196 bomb-throwers and mortars, 46 charging boxes, 38 searchlights, about 150,000 rifles, many wagons and countless other military materials. On June 11, the 3rd Army of General Lesh was transferred to the Southwestern Front, and I set the task for the 3rd and 8th armies to defeat the opposing enemy and capture the Gorodok-Manevichi area; two left-flank armies, the 7th and 9th, to continue the attack on Galich and Stanislavov, and, finally, the central, 11th army, to maintain their position. From June 11 to June 21, the troops of Lesh and Kaledin, in fulfillment of the task given to them, carried out the necessary regroupings of their forces. At the same time, Kaledin’s 8th Army had to repel multiple counterattacks from numerous German hordes brought in from other fronts, who were trying to break through the front of the 8th Army and throw it back to Lutsk.”

From June 4 to August 13, Russian troops managed to advance 70-120 km inland over 350 km along the entire front. Bukovina and Southern Galicia were cleared of Austro-Hungarian troops. The enemy lost up to 1.5 million people killed, wounded and prisoners, 581 guns, 1,795 machine guns, 448 bomb throwers and mortars. Russian losses amounted to about 500 thousand people. An area with a total area of ​​25 thousand square meters was occupied. km. To eliminate the breakthrough, the enemy military command was forced to withdraw over 30 infantry and cavalry divisions from the Western and Italian fronts, which eased the position of the French at Verdun and forced the Germans to stop the offensive in Trentino.

An important political result of the offensive of the Southwestern Front was the acceleration of the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the appearance of Romania on the side of the Entente. The Brusilov breakthrough in Galicia, together with the battles of Verdun and the Somme River, marked a turning point in the course of the war.

General A.M. Zayonchkovsky wrote about the results of the Brusilov offensive:

“The decisive successes of the armies of the Southwestern Front forced the Austro-Germans to transfer their operational reserves to the front south of Polesie, where 27 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions were concentrated, of which 18 were German and 2 Turkish. The Germans removed 11 infantry divisions from the French Front, and the Austrians removed 6 infantry divisions from the Italian Front. This is the essential assistance provided by the Russians to their allies during the difficult days of the operations at Verdun and Trentino.

But these successes of the Russian army entailed large losses, which on the Southwestern Front alone by June 13 were determined to be 497,000 soldiers. Conducting further operations and preparing for the 1917 campaign required additional recruits and militia warriors, totaling about 1,900,000 men and 215,000 horses. These additional calls caused serious discontent among the Russian population.

Major successes of the Russians brought Romania out of a neutral position, and it finally came out on the side of the Entente powers, but this action was almost 2 months late, since the offensive operations of the Russian armies gradually died down.”

With the beginning of the February Revolution, Brusilov, along with other commanders-in-chief of the fronts, supported the abdication of Nicholas II, sincerely believing that a change in the leadership of the state would allow Russia to end the war victoriously. 05/21/1917 appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief. After the June offensive on July 19, 1917, which was unsuccessful for the Russian armies, the general was replaced. Kornilov.

Awards: St. Stanislaus 3rd class. with swords and bow (1878); St. Anne 3rd Art. with swords and bow (1878); St. Stanislaus 2nd Art. with swords (1878); St. Stanislaus 1st Art. (1903); St. Anne 1st Art. (1909); St. Vladimir 2nd Art. (1913); St. George 4th Art. (VP 08/23/1914); St. George 3rd Art. (VP 18.09.1914); White Eagle with swords (01/10/1915); St. George's weapon (VP 10/27/1915); St. George's weapon decorated with diamonds (VP ​​07/20/1916).

Lived in Moscow (Mansurovsky pereulok, 4 apt. 3). During the battles between units subordinate to the headquarters of the Moscow Military District and the forces of the Military Revolutionary Committee, a shell hit his apartment and he himself was wounded in the right leg, the consequences of which he treated for a long time. In 08.1918 he was arrested by the Cheka. Released under house arrest. In 12.1918 he was released from house arrest. From 1919 in the Red Army (officially from April 20, 1920 in the Military Historical Commission for the Study and Use of the Experience of the War of 1914-18). From 05.1920 he was a member of the Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army. On September 10-11, 1920 he signed the “Appeal to the officers of Baron Wrangel’s army” (together with M.I. Kalinin, V.I. Lenin, L.D. Trotsky, S.S. Kamenev). From 06.1920 Ch. Inspector of the Central Department of Horse Breeding and Livestock Breeding under the People's Commissariat of Agriculture. In 1922-24. worked as the chief cavalry inspector of the Red Army and was intensively involved in the revival of the Russian cavalry. Brusilov in the fall of 1925. was allowed to go for treatment to the Czechoslovakian city of Karlovy Vary. But in the spring of 1926 he caught a cold and fell ill with lobar pneumonia. He died in Moscow at the age of 72, and was buried with full military honors at the Novodevichy cemetery.

On August 19 (August 31, new style), 1853, Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov was born - Russian military leader and military teacher, general tsarist army, - perhaps the only one of the tsarist generals of the First World War who was not anathematized Soviet history. His name is still known to wide layers of ordinary people thanks to the famous “Brusilovsky breakthrough”.

A.A. Brusilov was born in Tiflis, in the family of a general. His origins, as well as his dashing appearance, allowed him in 1867 to enter the Corps of Pages, an elite military educational institution, after which in 1872 he was released into the 15th Tver Dragoon Regiment. It was in this regiment that Brusilov’s military career began: from 1873 to 1878, he served here as the regiment’s adjutant. With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Brusilov in the active army, he distinguished himself during the capture of the Turkish fortresses of Ardagan and Kars, for which he received the Order of St. Stanislav of the 3rd and 2nd degrees and the Order of St. Anne of the 3rd degree. Then, in 1878-1881, Brusilov continued to serve as head of the regimental training team.

Since 1883, Brusilov continued his military pedagogical service at the St. Petersburg Officer Cavalry School, here he became an adjutant, then an assistant chief and head of the riding and dressage department; head of the dragoon department. In 1900, Brusilov was promoted to major general, and from February 10, 1902 he held the post of head of the school. In those years, Brusilov became known not only in Russia, but also abroad as an outstanding expert in cavalry riding and sports.

Served at the school under his command before Russo-Japanese War the future Marshal Karl Mannerheim recalled: “He was an attentive, strict, demanding leader of his subordinates and gave very good knowledge. His military games and exercises on the ground were exemplary and extremely interesting in their development and execution.”

Since April 19, 1906, Brusilov has been the head of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division; from January 5, 1909 - commander of the 14th Army Corps; from December 5, 1912 - assistant to the commander of the Warsaw Military District. On December 6, 1812, Brusilov was promoted to the rank of cavalry general.

During the First World War A.A. Brusilov served as commander of the 8th Army in the Battle of Galicia, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th and 3rd degree. From March 17, 1916 - Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front.

In the summer of 1916, Brusilov carried out a successful offensive on the Southwestern Front, using a previously unknown form of breaking through a positional front, which consisted of a simultaneous offensive by all armies. In accordance with the plan developed by General M.V. Khanzhin (only with the participation of A.A. Brusilov), the main blow was delivered by the 8th Army under the command of General A.M. Kaledin in the direction of the city of Lutsk. Having broken through the front on the 16-kilometer Nosovichi-Koryto section, the Russian army occupied Lutsk on May 25 (June 7), and by June 2 (15) it defeated the 4th Austro-Hungarian Army of Archduke Joseph Ferdinand and advanced 65 km. This operation went down in history under the name “Brusilovsky breakthrough”. It is also found in military memoirs under original name“Lutsk breakthrough”, but the name of the true author and developer of the operation, General M.V. Khanzhin was mentioned almost nowhere. It was known only at Headquarters and personally to Emperor Nicholas II. Khanzhin, immediately after the Brusilov breakthrough, was promoted to lieutenant general, and Brusilov, instead of the previously promised Order of St. George, 2nd degree, was awarded the St. George weapon with diamonds.

Considering his merits underestimated, A.A. Brusilov allows himself to be seriously offended by the emperor. Obviously, under the influence of this during February revolution In 1917, Brusilov supported the removal of Nicholas II and the coming to power of the Provisional Government.

Brusilov was an ardent supporter of the creation of so-called “shock” and “revolutionary” units. On May 22 (June 4), 1917, Brusilov issued front order No. 561, which stated: “To raise the revolutionary offensive spirit of the army, it is necessary to form special revolutionary shock battalions recruited from volunteers in the center of Russia, in order to instill in the army the belief that the entire Russian people is following her in the name of speedy peace and brotherhood of peoples, so that during the offensive, the revolutionary battalions stationed in the most important combat areas could carry away those who are wavering with their impulse.”

Where and who the revolutionary battalions were able to “carry” with them became clear already in the summer of 1917...

On May 22, 1917, by order of the Provisional Government, Brusilov was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Last Protopresbyter Russian army and fleet o. Georgy Shavelsky recalled Brusilov’s meeting at the station at headquarters (Mogilev) after his appointment: “A guard of honor was lined up, and the ranks of the Headquarters immediately lined up, including many generals. The Supreme Commander got out of the carriage and walked past the Headquarters officials, only nodding his head in response to their greetings. Having reached the guard of honor, he begins to extend his hand to each soldier. The soldiers, with rifles on their shoulders, are embarrassed - they don’t know how to shake hands. It was a disgusting picture..."

The “revolutionary” general, as is known, failed the June offensive. His mistakes had to be corrected by another “revolutionary” general - L. G. Kornilov, who was appointed to the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief instead of Brusilov. During their joint stay in the 8th Army, as is known, the generals were not on friendly terms. In addition, Kornilov immediately demanded that the Provisional Government cancel “Order No. 1,” according to which officers had to obey the decisions of elected soldiers’ committees. The new Commander-in-Chief restored the death penalty for desertion in the army, tried to return talented commanders to their former posts, establish discipline and maintain the front. A.A. Brusilov did not oppose his actions, but did not want to help either, so he withdrew from service and resigned.

After his resignation, Brusilov lives in Moscow as a private citizen. According to the memoirs of participants in the Moscow uprising of 1917 (in particular, S.Ya. Efron speaks about this in “Notes of a Volunteer”), a delegation of officers and cadets from the Moscow Alexander School was sent to him. The famous general was offered to lead the white resistance in the capital, but Brusilov, citing age and unexpected illness, refused. It is symbolic that he has to pay for his indifference: during street battles between the Red Guards and cadets, he was accidentally wounded by a shell fragment that hit his house.

General A.A. Brusilov did not accept the ideas of the White Movement and did not participate in Civil War on neither side. His son Alexei, an officer in the Life Guards Horse Grenadier Regiment, was arrested by the Cheka and spent six months in prison, after which he agreed to serve in the Red Army. According to one version, Alexey Brusilov and a group of officers deliberately went over to the side of the whites and were shot by the Drozdovites as a traitor and traitor. The attitude towards “defectors” in the White Army was not always so harsh, but General Drozdovsky and his subordinates were particularly intransigent towards officers who offered their services to the Bolsheviks. In his memoirs A.I. Denikin also confirms the episode of the massacre of Brusilov Jr. and sincerely regrets it. According to the Commander-in-Chief, Alexey fell victim to the sincere hatred of the White Guards towards his father, General Brusilov. From the point of view of the white warriors, the legendary hero betrayed his duty, disowned Volunteerism, and betrayed the interests of Russia. According to another version, Brusilov Jr. survived and entered as a simple shooter in one of the units of the Volunteer Army, but soon died of typhus in Rostov.

It is possible that not only resentment towards Nicholas II, but also tragic fate son was inspired by the hero of the First World War A.A. Brusilov for further cooperation with the Soviet authorities. Since May 1920, he headed the Special Conference of the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces Soviet Republic, which developed recommendations for strengthening the Red Army. Since 1921, Aleksey Alekseevich was the chairman of the commission for organizing pre-conscription cavalry training; since 1923, he was attached to the Revolutionary Military Council for particularly important assignments. In 1923-1924 - cavalry inspector.

A.A. Brusilov died on March 17, 1926 in Moscow from pneumonia at the age of 73. He was buried with full military honors at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Brusilov left behind a memoir entitled “My Memoirs,” dedicated primarily to his service in Russian Empire and Soviet Russia.

The second volume of memoirs by A.A. Brusilov was transferred to the White emigrant archive in 1932 by his widow N.V. Brusilova-Zhelikhovskaya, who went abroad after the death of her husband. It touches on the description of the general’s life after the October Revolution and is sharply anti-Bolshevik in nature. This part of the memoirs was supposedly written during treatment in Karlovy Vary in 1925 and, according to the will, was to be made public only after the death of the author.

The Soviet edition of “Memoirs” (Voenizdat, 1963) does not include the 2nd volume. According to a number of Soviet scientists, its authorship belonged to Brusilov’s widow herself, who thus tried to justify her husband before the white emigration. However, it is very possible that the general really reconsidered his views and sincerely repented of the mistakes he had made. As we know, people don’t lie before death...

Compilation of Elena Shirokova

(1853-1926) Russian military leader

General Brusilov Alexey Alekseevich came from a family of hereditary military men. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father were generals of the Russian army. Therefore, the father enrolled his four-year-old son Alexei in the Corps of Pages.

But less than two years later, the life of Alexei and his two younger brothers changed dramatically. The father died suddenly, and four months later the mother died from transient consumption.

The children were taken in by their mother's sister. She was married to the famous military engineer K. Hagenmeister. They had no children of their own and immediately adopted three boys. Uncle and aunt became the closest people to Alexei and his brothers. He remained attached to them throughout his life.

At the time of his adoption, Hagenmeister was serving in Kutaisi. In his house, the children received an excellent education at home, and when ten years later, in the summer of 1867, Alexey took exams in the Corps of Pages, then, unlike his peers, he was enrolled not in the first, but immediately in the third grade.

However, he studied unevenly. For the first four years he was considered the best student, but nervous overload took its toll. He had to interrupt his teaching whole year and go for treatment first in Mineral water, and then to Kutaisi.

In the summer of 1872, Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov graduated from the Corps of Pages and was promoted to ensign. But since he did not have the wealth to serve in the guards units, he was sent to the Tver Dragoon Regiment, stationed near Tiflis.

In the regiment, Alexey Brusilov immediately established himself as a neat and efficient officer. Within six months he was appointed adjutant of the regiment and promoted to lieutenant. Brusilov served in the regiment for about three years. When did it start Russian-Turkish war 1877 - 1878, the regiment was immediately sent to the war zone.

Alexei Brusilov was included in the First Cavalry Division and sent to storm the Turkish fortress of Kare. But the situation changed so quickly that when he reached Kars, the fortress was already besieged by the Russian army.

The regiment was transferred again, this time to storm the Ardahan fortress. There Brusilov first found himself in a real battle. For courage, bravery, as well as skillful leadership of the unit during the capture of the fortress, he was awarded the Order of Stanislav, third degree. Alexey will show his military skills in the future.

After the end of the war, Alexei Brusilov’s regiment was transferred to winter quarters, and the young officer was sent for treatment to Mineralnye Vody. Returning to the regiment, he learned that he had been promoted ahead of schedule to staff captain and awarded the Order of Anna with Swords and the Order of Stanislav, second degree. And a year later, as one of the most distinguished officers during the war, he was sent to St. Petersburg to study at the Officer Cavalry School.

In the capital, Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov settled not in an apartment, like many officers, but in a barracks. This allowed him to establish trusting relationships with soldiers and junior officers.

But he also found time for his personal life. In his second year of study, Alexei became engaged to his uncle's niece, Anna von Hagenmeister. After graduating from school and being promoted to the rank of captain, Brusilov got married. He finished his studies first in his class and for his excellent achievements was awarded the Order of Anna, second degree, out of turn.

Alexey Brusilov assumed that he would have to return to his regiment, but he was left at the school as a teacher.

Together with his wife, he settled in St. Petersburg on Shpalernaya Street. True, family happiness was overshadowed by the death of the first-born. But in 1887, the Brusilovs had another son, named Alexei in honor of their grandfather.

While working at school, Alexey Brusilov began to reform the military education system. His immediate superior, General V. Sukhomlinov, gave the young captain complete freedom of action. Using his support, Brusilov in just a year turned the school into one of the best educational institutions in Russia.

A year after starting work, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed head of the faculty of squadron and hundred commanders created at the school.

The successes of Alexey Brusilov were noticed by higher authorities. A year after the school was inspected by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, the talented officer and teacher was promoted to colonel ahead of schedule and transferred to the Life Guards. This is how he celebrated his fortieth birthday.

By this time Brusilov was already the author of several dozen scientific works. He was the first to describe the scientific basis for training a cavalry warrior and a special system for training horses. To get acquainted with the experience accumulated in the armies of other countries, Brusilov toured educational institutions in France and Germany.

However, he worked at a time when any reforms were viewed with hostility by the leadership. Therefore, the higher command did not accept his developments. However, the authority of Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov was so high that he was not prevented from implementing his methodology in his own classes. In 1898, Brusilov was appointed assistant chief, and soon the head of the Officer Cavalry School.

Now he could put most of his developments into practice. The popularity of the school has increased accordingly. All cavalry officers dreamed of getting into it. In the army, the St. Petersburg school was called the Horse Academy.

Then the authorities hastened to transfer Alexei Brusilov to practical work at the first opportunity. In the spring of 1906, he was promoted to major general and appointed head of the Second Guards Cavalry Division, stationed in Tsarskoye Selo.

Although service in the guard was considered privileged, Brusilov considered the years spent in the division to be wasted time. Most of the commanders who served under him were scions of the best aristocratic families and had little interest in service. Therefore, he could only fulfill his duties clearly and competently.

By that time his wife had become seriously ill, she was diagnosed with cancer, and Last year she never got out of bed in her life. In the spring of 1908, Anna died, and Brusilov was left alone. The son left his home because he was enlisted as a cornet in a horse-grenadier regiment.

Life in St. Petersburg became unbearable for Brusilov, and he turned to his superiors with a request for a transfer. Soon he was expelled from the guard and appointed commander of the 14th Army Corps, stationed in Poland near the city of Lublin.

True, just before his departure, Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov was invited to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, who announced to him that he had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. But despite the favor of the reigning person, Brusilov was still sent to the outback, to the outskirts of the Russian Empire.

In Lublin, he plunged headlong into service, trying to drown out his grief and loneliness with work.

By nature, he was a family man and now he found himself completely alone. His leisure time was brightened only by correspondence with N. Zhelikhovskaya, the niece of the famous theosophist E. Blavatsky. The relationship between them moved from friendship to love, and Nadezhda became Brusilov’s wife. In this marriage he had two more children.

The First World War found him in the position of assistant commander of the Warsaw Military District. Shortly before the outbreak of hostilities, he became a full cavalry general.

Immediately after the announcement of mobilization, Alexei Brusilov was appointed commander of the Eighth Army. He immediately established himself as a skilled and at the same time tough military leader. Although at that time the advantage was on the side of the enemy, Brusilov led the troops so accurately that almost all Russian victories at the front began to be associated with his name.

On April 10, 1915, Nicholas II awarded the general one of the highest Russian orders - the Order of the White Eagle, while simultaneously promoting him to adjutant general.

Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov believed that Russian troops should conduct offensive actions. And where he managed to realize his plan, the advantage necessarily passed to the Russian army.

On March 17, 1916, Brusilov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front. He immediately began preparations for the offensive. The talented commander wanted to break through the enemy’s defenses simultaneously along the entire length of the front and personally developed plans for the future offensive.

On May 22, 1916, the famous operation was carried out, which went down in the history of military art under the name of the Brusilov breakthrough. For two days, Russian artillery broke into the enemy’s defenses. Then the troops were raised to the offensive. Within a month, they managed to capture most of Western Ukraine. During the operation, almost 400 thousand German and Austrian soldiers were captured. Later, historians established that the enemy lost more than one and a half million soldiers and officers. The losses of Russian troops were three times less.

However, the victories of Alexei Brusilov could not change the situation at the front, since the German troops still had powerful equipment and had fresh reserves at their disposal. The Russian army no longer possessed all this. True, thanks to Brusilov, it was possible to stabilize the front line, but even such a talented commander as he could not change the course of events. The successes of the Russian army gave way to failures, and Brusilov was again blamed for them. By decision of the Provisional Government he was removed from all posts and sent on leave. After leaving the front, Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov went to Moscow, where his wife was.

His relations with the Bolsheviks were not easy. As a patriot, he could not accept the Brest Peace Treaty. At the same time, Brusilov refused to go over to the side of the White Army. It is difficult to say what his fate would have been if not for a serious illness that allowed him to avoid direct participation in military events. It was only in 1920 that he finally entered the service of the new Russian government.

In 1922, Brusilov was appointed chief military inspector of horse breeding and breeding. He stayed in this position for only six months and was suspended from work along with other former military specialists.

The famous military leader spent the rest of his days working on his memoirs. They were published only many decades later.