
Nikolai Iudovich Ivanov (3 August 1851-27 January 1919) was an Imperial Russian Army General of the Artillery who served in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, and the Russian Civil War.
Biography[]
Nikolai Iudovich Ivanov was born in Mosalsk, Kaluga Governorate, Russian Empire in 1851, and he joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1869 as an artilleryman. He was promoted to Colonel after serving in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, after which he helped to train the Romanian Army. In 1901, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General after serving in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion, and he took over Fyodor Keller's command in Manchuria after Keller's death in battle during the Russo-Japanese War. Ivanov distinguished himself at the Battle of Mukden, and, after the war, he became commander of the Manchurian Army. In 1908, Ivanov was promoted to General of the Artillery.
At the start of World War I in 1914, Ivanov was given command of the Southwestern Front, suffering a minor defeat at the Battle of Krasnik before achieving huge successes during the Battle of Galicia. During the Battle of the Vistula River, he repulsed the German advance and captured 62 miles of territory, only to fail in his attempt to capture Krakow at the Battle of Limanowa. In 1915, Ivanov received permission to lead an offensive towards Hungary, but the planned offensive was disturbed by the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes in Poland, and the Russians were pushed out of Eastern Galicia by the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. In March 1916, Ivanov was replaced by Alexei Brusilov as commander of the Southwestern Front. He helped to ensure the Russian royal family's safety during the February Revolution of 1917, and, after the October Revolution, he joined the White movement in southern Russia. Pyotr Krasnov gave Ivanov command of the 20,000-strong Southern Army, but Ivanov died of typhus in Novocherkassk in 1919.