The commander of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment, Major General Georgy Aleksandrovich Min, was named in history textbooks among the main punishers of revolutionary Moscow in 1905. Today, rethinking the past, we have the right to ask the question: who was this man - the savior of the Fatherland or the murderer?
The general's longtime ancestors moved to Russia from Flanders, having entered military service under Peter I. There were hardly more military men in the family of Minov than writers, and if George's father Alexander Evgenievich finished his service with the rank of lieutenant general, then all three of his brothers were writers and publicists. Our hero was also fond of literature, but preferred to serve in the army. Physically developed, with a strong character and sincere faith, a romantic at heart, named after the patron saint of the Russian army, George the Victorious, he seemed to have been created for military service. And he decided to start it, like his idol Alexander Suvorov, from the bottom. Having successfully graduated from the 1st capital gymnasium, the general's son chooses not a military school, not a Corps of Pages, promising a quick and successful career, but acts as a private in the Life Guards Semyonovsky regiment as a volunteer. This military status differed from a simple soldier primarily in that it gave the bearer the right to be promoted to officer at the end of his service, subject to the successful passing of the exam. After spending the required time in the lower ranks, Georgy Alexandrovich was promoted to ensign.
The Russo-Turkish War began. The Semyonovsky regiment took a direct part in this campaign. The young warrant officer, along with the regiment, was in all the battles that fell to the lot of his unit: the crossing of the Danube, the capture of Plevna, the storming of Pravetsky heights, the battle on Dolny Dubnyak, the transition through the Balkans, the capture of Sofia, Andriapol, San Stefano. Risking his head often, he, as if spellbound, was not even lightly wounded. Having shown enviable courage, personal heroism, excellent organizational qualities, by the end of the war he was already in the rank of second lieutenant in command of a company. For military distinction he was awarded the orders of St. Anne, 4th degree "For Bravery" and St. Stanislaus, 3rd degree with swords and a bow. The war is over, but Ming's authority among officers and subordinates continues to grow. In 1884, with the rank of lieutenant, he was appointed to the post of a regimental adjutant, and in 1887 - a staff captain, elected a member of the regimental court - his extreme scrupulousness in matters of service and officer honor affected.
The next stage in the career of Georgy Alexandrovich, by that time a colonel, was a business trip to Turkestan, where in 1889 a plague epidemic broke out. Here he is placed at the disposal of Prince Alexander of Oldenburg, who leads the fight against a terrible disease on the outskirts of Russia. Showing his best business and human qualities, Min won over a new boss, their relationship ceases to be a real friendship. On his return to the capital, the prince did not fail to tell the sovereign about the active Semenov colonel. And Georgy Aleksandrovich, meanwhile, is already becoming the chairman of the regimental court. In 1903, he was appointed commander of the 12th Grenadier Astrakhan Emperor Alexander the Third Regiment, stationed in Moscow, which he commanded for almost a year. At the end of 1904, to the delight of his former colleagues, Colonel Ming was appointed commander of the Semenovsky regiment, and soon received the court rank of adjutant wing, which ranks him among the retinue of Nicholas II and gives him the right to wear the imperial monogram and aiguillette on epaulettes. With the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, the commander with his regiment departs to the front.
Time of Troubles
However, alarming events, which began almost immediately and in parallel in both capitals, forced the command to return the Semenovites halfway to St. Petersburg, where, after the first defeats in a seemingly quick and victorious war, the situation became more complicated. A turmoil unprecedented since the time of False Dmitry began. Under the slogans of freedom and equality, blood was shed all over the country, estates caught fire, pogroms and interethnic clashes began. Not a day passed so that people, mostly officials and civil servants or simply loyal subjects, did not die at the hands of unbelievable armed hooligans who called themselves revolutionaries or vigilantes. In 1906 alone, 768 were killed and 820 seriously wounded representatives of the authorities and their sympathizers.
In September-October 1905, a well-organized general strike swept across the country. On this occasion, the well-known publicist L. N. Tikhomirov noted: “She stopped the movement of railways, post offices, telegraphs, plunged cities into darkness, stopped the supply of food supplies, stopped the work of factories and plants, deprived the population of the country of the opportunity to earn a living, took away from sick help from doctors and pharmacies. It has created a complete civil lawlessness for the entire nation. The individual has lost the right even to work, to free movement. Everyone had to pester the general strike against their will. But the leaders of the liberation movement do not recognize that they are fighting against the nation itself. The absurdity of the activities of our "liberation" revolution is so clear that it does not require an outline. " But the business was not limited to strikes. A real revolutionary terror unfolded.
At the call of Leon Trotsky, who was the de facto head of the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies, armed squads are beginning to form, preparing to take power in the capital into their own hands. The day and place were appointed where Bloody Sunday should be repeated as a signal for an uprising. The situation was saved by the Semenovites, who took convenient positions in advance and showed their readiness to use weapons. This cooled the ardor of the revolutionaries, broke their plans and soon forced to curtail their activity. And the name of the commander of the Semenovites received great publicity, catching up with fear in some and delighting others. The first, however, were more. When unrest began in one of the barracks of the Baltic naval crew - the sailors refused to obey their officers, the instigators were preparing an armed rebellion - Min received the task of stopping them, as bloodlessly as possible. He acted quickly and decisively: at night, having surrounded the barracks, he personally went inside and suddenly raised the sleeping troublemakers on alarm. This decided the outcome of the case.
A particularly difficult situation was developing in Moscow due to its special status. By 1905, the city had become the center of the liberal and zemstvo opposition. After the assassination of the supporters of drastic measures - the governor-general of the Mother See, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and the mayor and chief of police, P. P. Shuvalov, power in the city actually passed to the liberals and socialists. With their connivance, several opposition meetings are openly held in Moscow, where unlawful and even anti-government decisions are made.
Taking advantage of complete impunity, the militants began to form well-armed and well-equipped squads, terrorizing the population, killing law enforcement officers. This inter-government ended with the fact that on December 10, 1905, the self-proclaimed Executive Committee of Workers' Deputies decided on a general uprising, after which the city plunged into darkness. Inhabitants of the one and a half million metropolis became hostages of hooligans, criminals and revolutionary fanatics. Looting of shops and shops began, the murder of not only police officers or soldiers, but also ordinary inhabitants, who were forced to build barricades by force of the use of weapons. In total, on December 13, 1905, the revolutionary militants killed 80 and wounded 320 people. The garrison troops and the police, not feeling the support of the local authorities, were demoralized.
Life for the king
It was at this moment that the Semenov guards, led by the already legendary commander, arrived to the aid of the Muscovites on the personal order of the tsar. The regiment was divided into two groups. One, under the command of Ming, was cleaning Presnya. The second, headed by Colonel N. K. Riemann, operated along the line of the present Moscow-Kazan railway occupied by the militants. On December 16, an operation began to free the city from illegal armed groups.
Faced with the decisive actions of the Semenovites in the area of the Schmidt factory and the Prokhorov factory, where an open battle ensued, the militants soon realized that they were doomed, and began to scatter and surrender. Colonel Riemann's detachment acted brutally, suppressing looting, looting and armed resistance. Several detainees with weapons in the hands of the militants were shot on the spot. Thus, by December 20, the situation in Moscow had stabilized. The revolution was strangled. The Semenovites paid a high price for this, having lost three comrades in arms. In total, in the course of clashes and shooting from around the corner in Moscow in December 1905, according to the RGA of the Navy, 13 servicemen and 21 police officers were killed. Militants - 32. Bystanders and onlookers - 267.
To the honor of the regiment commander, he did not bury his fallen soldiers in inhospitable Moscow, but at his own expense organized the delivery of the bodies to the capital, where they were buried with military honors in the regimental tomb. Less than a year later, the commander lay next to them. Georgy Alexandrovich knew that he was sentenced by terrorists, but flatly refused bodyguards, considering it unworthy of a guard officer. On August 13, 1906, he was killed in front of his family at the Peterhof railway station.
Nicholas II at the funeral of his faithful servant was dressed in the uniform of the Life Guardsman of the Semenovsky regiment. On the wreaths with which colleagues filled the grave of their beloved commander, an eloquent inscription stood out: "Victim of duty."
His murderer was a village teacher, Socialist-Revolutionary Zinaida Konoplyannikova. Despite the protests of the left-wing public that did not calm down, she was sentenced to death by hanging.
