Alexander Ilyich Yegorov or Egorov () ( – 23 February 1939) was a Soviet military leader and one of the original five Marshals of the Soviet Union.
Yegorov was born in Samara to a middle-class family. He joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1901 and saw action during the First World War. Following the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, Yegorov became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was one of the few trusted ex-tsarist officers in the Red Army. During the Russian Civil War, he commanded the Red Army's Southern Front and played an important part in defeating the White forces in Ukraine. Yegorov was the commander of the Southwestern Front during the Polish–Soviet War.
A good friend of Joseph Stalin, Yegorov further advanced his career in the 1920s. He served briefly as a military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek and Feng Yuxiang in China, and following his return to the Soviet Union he commanded the Belorussian Military District. In 1934, Yegorov was elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and a year later he was named a Marshal of the Soviet Union and Chief of the General Staff.
When the Great Purge began, Yegorov was initially spared, and he was one of the judges that presided over the trial of Mikhail Tukhachevsky. By the end of 1937 he had become a target, and he was arrested a few months later. Yegorov was executed in February 1939.
Early life
Yegorov was born near Samara in central Russia, to a middle-class family. In 1901, after completing six classes of classical gymnasium in Samara, he joined the Imperial Russian Army, as a volunteer.
Military career
After graduating from Junkers school in Kazan in 1905, he was assigned to Transcaucasia, where he and his unit participated in suppressing protests in Tiflis, Baku and Gori, during the Russian Revolution of 1905. For his participation in the pacification of protests, he was awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd class. In 1904, he had joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party, but withdrew his membership in 1909.
World War I
During World War I he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and fought as the commander of the company and battalion within the 132nd Bender Infantry Regiment. He was injured three times, and was awarded the Golden Sword for Bravery and six other decorations for his heroism. In the four months of 1915, he served as a battalion commander of one of the reserve regiments in Tver, followed by another two months training future ensigns in Riga.
Russian Civil War and Polish-Soviet War
During the February Revolution, hoping to further develop his military career, he re-joined the Socialist Revolutionaries and became a member of the military council of the 32nd division on behalf of the Socialist Revolutionaries. He broke up with them in the summer of 1918, after their unsuccessful rebellion against the Bolshevik authorities. In 1918, he joined the newly created Workers and Peasants Red Army and in July 1918, he also became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1918, he chaired the officer verification commission for the newly created Red Army and was the commissioner of its general staff.
As one of the few ex-tsarist officers at this stage who was trusted by the Bolshevik leadership, he was assigned to the Southern Front. From August to October 1918, he commanded the section within Balashov and Kamyshin, and the 9th Army, where he formed regular units from irregular Red Army formations. On 26 December 1918 he replaced Kliment Voroshilov as commander of the 10th Army, during the Battle of Tsaritsyn. In March 1919, with over 23000 troops under his command, he carried out an offensive along the railway line from Tsaritsyn to Velikoknyazheskaya. The 10th Army was halted by the White Army soldiers led by General Konstantin Mamontov, in the swampy areas near River Manych, but the numerical superiority of the Red Army gave them a chance to continue their march towards Bataysk and Tikhoretsk.