Belyaev, Mikhail Alekseevich

The son of Lieutenant General Alexei Mikhailovich Belyaev (1831-1885).

The Belyaev noble family gave a lot of military. In particular, cousins ​​of M. A. Belyaev - Paraguayan military leader and hero of the Chak war Ivan Timofeevich Belyaev ^[1] , participant in the First World War and scientist and metallurgist Nikolai Timofeevich Belyaev ^[2] , participant in the Russian-Japanese war General Mikhail Nikolaevich Belyaev ^{[ 3]} . In addition, the cousin Maria is the second wife of Alexander Lvovich Blok and, accordingly, the stepmother of the poet Alexander Blok ^[4] .

He studied at the 3rd St. Petersburg gymnasium . In 1885 he graduated from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School , from where he was released as second lieutenant to the 29th Artillery Brigade . He was later transferred to the Life Guards 2nd Artillery Brigade with the same rank and seniority. Lieutenant (Art. 11.08.1890). In 1893 he graduated from the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff in the first category. Headquarters-Captain of the Guard (Art. 20.05.1893). Since November 26, 1893 - Senior Adjutant to the Headquarters of the 24th Infantry Division. Since January 15, 1897 - chief officer for special assignments at the headquarters of the 18th army corps . Since December 8, 1897 - Head of the General Staff . Lieutenant Colonel (Article 05.04.1898). On December 1, 1898, he was a junior clerk of the office of the military scientific committee of the General Staff. Since April 17, 1901 - senior clerk. Colonel (Art.14.04.1902). From May 11 to October 9, 1902 - commanded a battalion of the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment . Since May 1, 1903 - Head of the General Staff Division.

Russo-Japanese War

Member of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 . Since February 20, 1904, he has been the headquarters officer for special assignments under the chief of the field headquarters of the Viceroy in the Far East, General Zhilinsky . From November 30, 1904 - I.D. Chief of the Chancellery of the Field Headquarters of the 1st Manchurian Army. Since August 13, 1905 - Head of the Office of the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief in the Far East. For military distinctions awarded the Golden Arms (1907).

Since December 5, 1906 - Head of the General Staff Division. Major General (Art.13.04.1908). Quartermaster General of the General Staff (from March 17, 1909). The head of the department for the arrangement and service of the GUGSH troops (from December 31, 1910), simultaneously from March 20, 1909, was a permanent member of the Main Serf Committee. Lieutenant General (project 06.12.1912; Art. 06.04.1914).

World War I

After the mobilization, 08/01/1914 appointed Chief of the General Staff (approved in the post on 04/02/1916). General of Infantry (12/06/1914; Art. 26.03.1920). On June 23, 1915, he simultaneously became Assistant Secretary of War A. A. Polivanov . Since April 2, 1916 and. about. Chief of General Staff. On August 10, 1916, he was removed from the post of chief of the General Staff and was appointed a member of the Military Council and representative of the Russian command at the Romanian Headquarters. Since January 3, 1917, Minister of War.

After the Revolution

During the February Revolution, he tried to organize the suppression of unrest, together with S. S. Khabalov he declared Petrograd in a state of siege, and asked to organize the sending from the front of the faithful units. Arrested on March 1, 1917. He was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Soon released. By order of the Provisional Government of July 1, 1917, he was again arrested. He was interrogated by the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry of the Provisional Government , unsuccessfully trying to accuse Belyaev of abuse. After the October Revolution freed. I did not take part in public activities. In 1918 he was arrested by the Cheka and shot ^[5] .

Protopresbyter Fr. G. I. Shavelsky , Memoirs of the last Protopresbyter of the Russian Army and Navy. - New York: ed. them. Chekhov, 1954, Volume II, Ch. III:

Everyone considered him a hardworking, diligent, neat, but devoid of God's gift, a sharp and broad-minded worker, often a petty and bothersome boss. So he remained until recently. Of course, he was not suitable as minister of war.

Belyaev, the future Minister of War, I knew from the Manchu war. There, he, the colonel of the General Staff, did not find a better use of how to manage the field treasury. He brought us from the rear a pile of yellow ruble pieces of paper — our salary: we called the pieces of paper “the plague”, and Belyaev - the “dead head” because of his bald and lifeless skull. How could I suggest that it would be this zealous cabinet worker, long divorced from the army and military life, who would be destined to make such a brilliant career ?!

- Ignatiev A.A. Fifty years in service. Book III, chapter 9 . - M .: Military Publishing House , 1986. - S. 381. - ISBN 5-203-00055-7 .

• Order of St. Stanislav 3rd degree (1895);
• Order of St. Anne , 3rd art. (1899);
• Order of St. Anne, 2nd art. with swords (1904);
• Order of St. Vladimir 4th art. with swords and bow (1905);
• Golden weapons (1907);
• Order of St. Vladimir 3rd art. (1907);
• Order of St. Stanislav 1st Art. (04/18/1910);
• Order of St. Anne 1st Art. (December 6, 1913);
• Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree (1915).

Foreign:

• Persian Order of Leo and Sun , 2nd art.

• Zalessky K. A. Who was who in the First World War. - M .: AST ; Astrel, 2003 .-- 896 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-019670-9 (ACT); ISBN 5-271-06895-1 (Astrel).

• Biography Belyaev M. A. on the site "Chronos"
• Belyaev, Mikhail Alekseevich (neopr.) . // Project "Russian Army in the Great War".