Mikhail Vasilyevich Alekseyev
(3 November 1857 --> 25 September 1918)
Alekseyev was born in 1857 in Tver. In 1873, he volunteered for the 2nd Grenadiers Regiment in Rostov. He graduated from the Moscow Infantry School in 1876 and joined the 64th Kazan Regiment. He served in the Russo-Turkish War but returned following severe wounds. In 1890, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Between 1898 and 1904, he was a Professor of Military History at the Nicholas General Academy. In 1904, he became a major general.
With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese in October 1904, he was appointed Quartermaster General of the 3rd Manchurian Army.
After the war he became first senior quartermaster of the General Staff’s main directorate, while maintaining his position as professor at the General Staff Academy. In 1908 he was made Chief of Staff within the military district of Kiev. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. In 1912, he became commander of the 13th Army Corps.
In August 1914, Alekseyev was appointed Chief of Staff of the Southwestern Front where he planned the Galician Offensive. In 1915, he became the Overall Commander of the Northwestern Front. From August 1915 until March 1917, he was Overall Chief of Staff of the Russian Army, in charge of staffing all military operations.
In 1917, Mikail Alekseyev sent a telegram to the Czar, advising him to abdicate the throne. He accepted this advice and resigned in favour of his brother who refused the throne.
On November 15th, 1917, he formed an anti-Bolshevik committee called Alekseyev's Officer Organization, which would become the core of an anti-Bolshevik, anti-communist volunteer army. After the death of Kornilov in April of 1918 Alexeyev led Volunteer Army back into the Don region. He was appointed head of the Special Council, which was a government under Denikin. However, Alekseyev, who had been severely ill for some time, died of heart failure in Ekaterinodar in September 1918.
