Background
He was born in Mukuliai on August 15, 1878. The Wrangel family was of the local Baltic German nobility.
(This is a new release of the original 1927 edition.)
This is a new release of the original 1927 edition.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1494082705/?tag=2022091-20
He was born in Mukuliai on August 15, 1878. The Wrangel family was of the local Baltic German nobility.
He graduated from the Rostov Technical High School in 1896 and the Institute of Mining Engineering in St. Petersburg in 1901 and the Nikolaev Cavalry School in 1902.
A member of an old German baronial family, he served in the Russian imperial guards and became commander of a Cossack division during World War I.
At the start of World War I he was a captain, but soon rose to lieutenant general. He achieved prominence only when he became a leader of the counter-revolutionary forces that attempted to destroy the regime established by the Bolsheviks in 1917.
Serving under Admiral A. V. Kolchak, Wrangel was placed in command of a force of White Guards. When Kolchak resigned, Jan. 4, 1920, General A. I. Denikin succeeded him as commander in chief of the White forces, but after Denikin's retreat into the Crimea, Wrangel, on Apr. 4, 1920, was appointed commander in chief. He reorganized the White forces, established a provisional government in the Crimea, which was recognized and aided by France, and gained several victories against the Red Army.
It was believed that Wrangel had made the Crimea an impregnable fortress and a base for future operations against the revolutionary forces; but late in 1920 the Bolsheviks were able to concentrate on the Crimean front troops that they had transferred from Poland. When these troops finally broke through Wrangel's lines, he was forced to flee to Turkey with the remnants of his army. Wrangel's defeat marked the disappearance of the last of the White Guard generals who had opposed the Soviet revolutionary government.
Even after he had left Russia, Wrangel tried unsuccessfully to organize a military force to lead against the Bolsheviks.
(This is a new release of the original 1927 edition.)
