Boris Chapochnikov

Boris Mikhaîlovitch Chapochnikov (the Ural 1882 - Moscow 1945)

Colonel of the Russian Army during the First World War, former student of the Military academy Nikolaevski (1910), it adopts the mode Bolchevik in 1918. Neither its social origin, nor its past of senior officer of the army of the Tsar, blocks his military career. With Broussilov, it is among the officers most graded old imperial army to serve within the Red Army and to reach the highest level.

In the the Thirties, it becomes the adversary of Mikhaïl Toukhatchevski, follower of the strategy of the armor-plated divisions and which it replaces as chief of general staff in May 1937. Stalin uses of the competition between the two men and makes take part Chapochnikov in the Council of war which condemns Toukhatchevski to dead for so-called treason (the June 11th 1937). Perhaps this attitude, with a fragile health, saves the life to him during the Grandes Purgings. Excel administrator, Stalin charges it with the reorganization of the Red Army in 1939 after the great purgings. It obtains the release of the Gulag of 4.000 essential officers for this operation, of which that of the Rokossovski Marshal. It replaces Joukov as chief of staff after the German attack on July 30th, 1941 but leaves its functions in 1942 for health reasons. He was the author of a book " the Brain of Armée" that Stalin permanently said to have on his desk.

Enough curiously, it was the only general officer that Stalin respected with Joukov, probably because of his competence; when he addressed the word to him, he always used of the first name with the patronym (Boris Mikhaîlovitch) according to the Russian tradition. He died of disease before the end of the Second world war.

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