Admiral Kolchak was probably the most influential, most outstanding leader of the White Guards movement, which opposed the Bolsheviks during the civil war in Russia. From the year 1918 and to 1920 he bore the title of Supreme governor of Russia and commanded a powerful 400,000 strong army. He had his headquarters in Omsk, a big city in Siberia. 

A very popular little song devoted to Admiral Kolchak at the time went something like this – his uniform is English, his tobacco – French, his shoulder strip –Japanese. Such is the Governor of Omsk. The song was meant to say that Admiral Kolchak’s government was backed by France, Britain and Japan. Those countries had their own interests in Russia, both financial and territorial. Kolchak soon found himself a hostage of those interests and that, in the long run, determined his fate. To the losers, history could very often be cruel and unjust, and its memory – selective. That is why Kolchak entered Russia’s history as a despotic ruler, controlling the territories under him in a hard and cruel way. And that land was vast – the Ural region, Siberia, the Pacific coast and the Far East.

Earlier, however, he was known as an outstanding army and naval commander, and a brave Arctic explorer.

Kolchak’s military career began during the Russian-Japanese war, which went on from 1904 to 1905.  He was in command of a destroyer and distinguished himself when defending Port Arthur – a Russian fortress on the Liandun peninsula, part of which Russia in those years leased from China. Later, he was an officer of the General staff for several years and took part in World War One. Russia and its allies fought against Germany, Russia’s fleet, however, wasn’t up in class to that of Germany and therefore the enemy’s ships dominated in the Baltic and Black seas. Kolchak at the time commanded a division of sappers and was in first in the world to introduce the tactics and strategy of mine warfare. And that helped to reliably protect Russia’s seashore. And when in 1916 Kolchak was put in command of the Black sea fleet Russia began winning victories in sea battles.

In the Navy Alexander Kolchak enjoyed absolute authority. However, after the October revolution of 1917, the attitude towards him began to change rapidly. He took a counter-revolutionary stand and at the demand of the revolutionary-minded sailors was recalled from the post of commander and sent to Great Britain and the United States, as he would now say to exchange experience in carrying out political reforms. Kolchak had a chance to stay abroad, his experience as an army and naval commander would have been in demand in any country. But he was a patriot and he returned to Russia in the very midst of the civil war. 

Kolchak managed to set up a military dictatorship over a vast part of Russia. He was in control of the Ural region, Siberia, the Pacific seashore area and the Far East. In the territory under him he ruthlessly suppressed revolutionary activity, and did away with the Soviets as a form of government. At the same time he carried out a land reform, coped with problems of public education and health service and even organized new arctic expeditions. But until recently it was preferred to say nothing about that aspect of Admiral Kolchak’s activity as a governor. As for his personal life, that was altogether a dead secret. And it was in the years of the civil war that Kolchak met his only love – Anna Dimireva. They were together only for two years, but their relations were admired by everyone who knew them. A well-known Russian writer and dissident Vladimir Maximov wrote a novel when in emigration entitled “Look Into the Abyss”, it was about the love of Alexander Kolchak and Anna Dimireva. The author pictured Kolchak not as a despotic ruler, as we were used to consider him, but as a loving and suffering man, a dedicated romantic and a man always true to his word.

It is of course hard to say how true to life such an image is. But, without a doubt, only a very brave man would throw a gold cigarette case into the face of a firing squad with the words: “Here, take this in memory of me.”

When speaking about such men as Admiral Kolchak people usually say “he was born under a lucky star”. His life was breathtaking and his death was an example of courage and will power. And perhaps it is not accidental that Admiral’s favorite song was “Shine Brightly, O My Star”.