Sulkevich, Matvey Alexandrovich

M. A. Sulkevich was born in a family of hereditary nobles of the Vilna province , by nationality - Belarusian (Polish-Lithuanian) Tatar ^[2] . His father, Alexander Sulkevich, reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in a hussar regiment ^{[3] [4]} .

Being a descendant of Tatar aristocratic families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , M. Sulkevich devoted his life to a military career. He received his general education at the Mikhailovsky Cadet Corps in Voronezh .

He entered the service as a cadet of a rank of rank in the Mikhailovsky Artillery School in St. Petersburg . At the end of the school for the first category, Second-Lieutenant Sulkevich was sent to the 6th Artillery Brigade .

On October 3, 1889, Lieutenant Sulkevich was a student of the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff . In July 1894, for excellent achievements in the sciences at the Academy, he was promoted to captain .

July 20, 1894 M. Sulkevich promoted to captain . Prescription commander of the troops of the Odessa Military District number 5084 was sent to the headquarters of the 7th Army Corps . In 1899 he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav . In the same year he was promoted to lieutenant colonel .

On December 17, 1900, the staff officer for special assignments at the headquarters of the Landing Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Sulkevich was appointed chief of staff of the Ochakov fortress ^[5] .

In 1902, M. Sulkevich published in Odessa at his own expense a book entitled “Investigation of the Origin and Current Situation of Lithuanian Tatars” by a Polish orientalist and professor at St. Petersburg University Anton Mukhlinsky (1808–1877).

In 1903 he was appointed chief of staff of the 15th Infantry Division . December 6, 1903 Sulkevich was promoted to colonel ^[6] . During the Russian-Japanese War he served in the 8th Army Corps . He was a member of the Mukden battle . June 11, 1905 was appointed commander of the 57th Modlin Infantry Regiment ^[7] . He was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the 2nd degree with swords , the Order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree with swords and bow . On May 20, 1907, he was awarded a golden weapon with the inscription "For Bravery" ^[8] .

On October 17, 1910, M. Sulkevich was promoted to major general ^[9] . Some time later, he was appointed quartermaster general of the headquarters of the Irkutsk Military District . He was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 2nd and 3rd degrees. In 1915 he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree. On February 26, 1915, the commander of the 33rd Infantry Division ^[10] . April 9, 1915 was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 1st degree with swords ^[11] . On April 26, 1916, M. Sulkevich was promoted to lieutenant general for combat distinction. February 27, 1917 led the 37th Army Corps .

In October 1917, the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Sulkevich was nominated for the post of commander of the 1st Muslim Corps , which planned to form an interim government .

In 1918, M. Sulkevich arrived in the Crimea . By May 1, 1918, the Crimea was fully occupied by the Kaiser troops under the command of General Kosh (three infantry divisions and a horse brigade).

On June 25, 1918, with the support of the German leadership, Lieutenant-General Sulkevich received the post of prime minister and minister of internal and military affairs of the Crimean regional government ^[12] .

M. Sulkevich appointed Asan Sabri Aivazov (1878–1938) as the Ambassador of the Crimea to the Ottoman Empire and established contacts with the Muslim countries formed in the territory of the Russian Empire. Known in the Crimea as Suleiman Pasha. He sought to convene the Crimean Kurultai (constituent assembly), which would proclaim the creation of the Crimean Tatar state ^[1] .

General Sulkevich sought to uphold the interests of the small peninsula at all levels and in all matters ^[1] .

Central Rada , and then the government of Hetman Skoropadsky sought to subjugate the Crimea. For Germany, the existence of two vassal regimes in the south of the former Russian empire, Skoropadsky and Sulkevich, was undoubtedly beneficial. As a result, Berlin intimidated Sulkevich with the threat of subordination of the Crimea to Kiev - it was easier to keep the Crimea in check; Skoropadsky, however, was reassured by the Germans in the sense that soon all the territorial claims of the Kiev government would be satisfied and the Crimea would come under its control, however, they did not do anything for it. As a result, the contradictions of the two pro-German regimes resulted in an open confrontation that ended in the blockade of the Crimea from Kiev " ^[12] .

After the German occupation troops left Crimea, the government of M. Sulkevich on November 15, 1918 transferred power to the second Crimean regional government headed by S. S. Crimea ^[13] .

In December 1918, Sulkevich arrived in Azerbaijan, where he became known as Mamed-Bek. On March 26, 1919, by order No. 147 on the military department, Lieutenant-General Sulkevich was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan ^[14] . Mamed-Bek Sulkevich played a major role in the creation on June 16, 1919 of the military-defense alliance between Georgia and Azerbaijan ^{[15] [16]} . M. Sulkevich’s wife Maryam-khanum worked in the school for girls G. Z. Tagiyeva and was an active member of the Baku Muslim Women’s Charitable Organization ^[17] .

As a result of the Baku operation of the 11th Red Army units in April 1920, the Azerbaijani government was overthrown and Soviet power was established . In May 1920, M. Sulkevich was arrested by the Cheka . He spent his last days before being shot in Bail prison . July 15 Sulkevich was shot for "counter-revolutionary activities." M.A. Rasulzade recalls in his book:

• Monument to military leaders of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic opened in Warsaw

• Azerbaijani commanders who were victims of Soviet political repression

• Zalessky K.A. Who was who in the First World War. - M .: AST ; Astrel, 2003. - 896 p. - 5000 copies - ISBN 5-17-019670-9 (ACT); ISBN 5-271-06895-1 (Astrel).
• Nazirli Shamistan. The shot generals of Azerbaijan = Güllələnmiş Azərbaycan Generalları. - 2nd ed. - M. Baku, 2006. - pp. 38-46. - 655 s.
• CHRONOS - the world history on the Internet. Sulkevich Matvey Aleksandrovich.
• “1K”: News of Ukraine and Crimea N 75: Lithuanian Tatar who wanted to reconcile everyone
• Gasyrlar Avazy - Echo of the Ages. Scientific documentary magazine. Russian General Suleiman Sulkevich
• Crimea in the XX century. "Without winners." To the 75th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.
• Republican Committee for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Under the command of Sulkevich and Schneider (inaccessible link)
• Unknown pages from the life of Lieutenant-General M. Sulkevich
• CRIMEAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT OF GENERAL MA A. SULKEVICH
• Sulkevich Macey (Mohammed bek) - Lieutenant-General, Chief of the General Staff of the National Army of the ADR
• Biography on the materials of the journal "Tatarstan" (inaccessible link)
• General Sulkevich: from the Crimea to Baku
• Sulkevich, Matvey Alexandrovich (Neopr.) . // Project "Russian Army in the Great War."