Nikolai
Yudenich was born in 1862. He joined the Russian
Army and became deputy
Chief of Staff under General Mishlaevski in 1907.
During
the First World War he served on the Caucasian
Front and had considerable success with victories at Sarikamish (December,
1914), Malazgirt (August, 1915), Erzurum (February, 1916), Trabzon
(April, 1916) and Erzincan (Jult, 1916).
Yudenich
resigned from office after the Provisional
Government came to power in March, 1917. He returned to Petrograd
but fled to Finland when the Bolsheviks
gained power after the November Revolution.
In October,
1918, Yudenich captured Gatchina, only 50 kilometres from Petrograd.
Leon Trotsky arrived to direct the defence
of the capital. Red Guard units were
established amongst industrial workers and the rail network was used
to bring troops from Moscow. Outnumbered, Yudenich ordered his men
to retreat and headed for Estonia.
Yudenich
was arrested in Estonia but was allowed to emigrate to France. Nikolai
Yudenich died in 1933.
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