Yevgeni Ivanovich Alekseyev

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Ivanovich and the family name is Alekseyev.
Yevgeni Ivanovich Alekseyev
Nicholas II
Personal details
Born(1843-05-13)May 13, 1843
St Petersburg, Russian Empire
DiedMay 27, 1917(1917-05-27) (aged 74)
Yalta, Taurida Governorate, Russia
Military service
Allegiance Russian Empire
Branch/service Imperial Russian Navy
Years of service1859-1904
RankAdmiral
Battles/warsBoxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War

Yevgeni Ivanovich Alekseyev or Alexeyev (

Port Arthur and in Manchuria during the first year of the Russo-Japanese War
of 1904-05.

Biography

According to rumor, Alekseyev was an illegitimate son of Emperor Alexander II (r. 1855–1881). Alekseyev was raised by the family of Lieutenant Ivan Maximovich Alekseyev (1796–1849) in Sevastopol.[1]

At the age of 13 Alexeyev attended the Naval Cadet Corps and completed his training three years later. He was assigned as a midshipman for four years to the corvette Varyag on a world tour. Commissioned as an ensign in 1867, he served on numerous ships in the Imperial Russian Navy including the ironclad Kniaz Pozharsky,[2] and in 1878 received his first command: the cruiser Afrika, which he commanded on a voyage around the world from 1880 to 1883.

From 1883 to 1888 Alexeyev served as a

Nicholas II, r. 1894–1917) - during the Eastern journey of Nicholas II
.

The corvette Varyag

Alexeyev was promoted to rear admiral in 1892 and served on the

Qing-dynasty China. In 1898 he was appointed governor of the Kwantung Fortified Region,[citation needed] and was again named commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet from 1899. He participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901 in China as commander of an army corps, following an appointment by War Minister Aleksey Kuropatkin[1] and was promoted to Adjutant general
.

Admiral Alekseyev and his field headquarters, 1900

The failure of Russia to withdraw its forces from Manchuria as scheduled after the end of the Boxer Rebellion further alarmed the Empire of Japan, still upset by the Triple Intervention, by Russian de facto annexation of the Liaodong Peninsula and by increasing Russian influence over the Korean Empire – all of which the Japanese deemed detrimental to their interests and national security.

Alexeyev was a key member of the "Bezobrazov Circle", a politically-motivated investment-group organized by

British East India Company which would reward its investors with financial benefits while setting the stage for the conquest of Manchuria and Korea. Alexeyev reassured the Emperor that increased aggressive action in the region would not provoke a military response from Japan.[1]

On August 13, 1903, Emperor Nicolas II appointed Alexeyev as Far Eastern viceroy [ru], with all civil and military authority over Russian possessions in the Far East, including Russian-occupied Manchuria, the Liaodong Peninsula, and Russia's Amur Military District (present-day Primorsky Krai). As viceroy, he was beyond the jurisdiction of any ministry and reported directly to the Tsar; however, his exact functions remained poorly defined - historian Ian Nish stated: "he himself was unclear about the extent of his autonomy... In any event Alekseyev, who already had been given in May very great powers of coordination, did not greatly welcome the new title and almost declined to accept it."[4]

With the outbreak of the

Oskar Stark (February 24, 1904) until the arrival of Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov (March 8, 1904), and again after Makarov's death (13 April  [O.S. 31 March]  1904) until the appointment (April 1, 1904) of Vice Admiral Nikolai Skrydlov.[1]

On land, Alexeyev had serious and continual disagreements with General

Mukden, and following the Russian defeat at the Battle of Shaho (5 to 17 October 1904, New Style), was relieved of his command and ordered back to St. Petersburg on October 12, 1904.[1]

In June 1905 the post of viceroy was abolished, and Alexeyev became a member of the State Council of Imperial Russia. In his later years he moved to Russian Armenia and worked as a school teacher.[1] In April 1917, in the wake of the February Revolution and the abdication of Emperor Nikolai II in March 1917, he retired from public life. He died a few weeks later in Yalta, on 9 June  [O.S. 27 May]  1917.

Honors

  • Order of St. Stanislaus
    3rd degree, 1871
  • Order of the Crown of Italy, Officer's Cross 1873 (Italy)
  • Order of St Vladimir
    4th degree with bow, 1875 .
  • Osminieh Order
    4th degree 1876 (Ottoman Empire)
  • Order of St. Stanislaus
    2nd degree 1877.
  • Order of St. Anne
    2nd degree 1879
  • Legion of Honor
    , Commander, 1888 (France)
  • , Order of the Redeemer, Commander's Cross 1889 (Greece)
  • Order of St Vladimir
    , 3rd degree, 1890
  • Order of St. Anne
    1st degree, 1896
  • Order of the Double Dragon, 1886 (China)
  • Order of the Rising Sun, 1st degree, 1896 (Japan)
  • Order of St Vladimir
    , 2nd degree, 1898
  • Order of the White Eagle
    , with swords, 1901
  • Legion of Honor
    , Grand Croix, 1901 (France)
  • Order of the Red Eagle, 1st class with swords, 1901 (Prussia)
  • Order of Leopold II, Grand Cross, 1901 (Belgium)
  • Order of St. George, 3rd class, 1903
  • Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
    , 1906
  • Order of St Vladimir
    , 1st degree
  • Order of St. Stanislaus
    1st degree

References

  • Connaughton, R.M (1988). Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear—A Military History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904–5, London,
    ISBN 0-415-00906-5
    .
  • Jukes, Geoffry. The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. Osprey Essential Histories. (2002).
    ISBN 978-1-84176-446-7
    .
  • ISBN 0-8108-4927-5
    .
  • Warner, Denis & Peggy. The Tide at Sunrise, A History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. (1975).
    ISBN 0-7146-5256-3
    .

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 32-33.
  2. ISBN 5-7654-2751-0
    .
  3. OCLC 35657827
    .
  4. ISBN 0-582-49114-2
    ), pp. 174-75.

External links
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