Yudenich, Nikolay

Yudenich, Nikolay (Nikolayevich)

(born July 30, 1862, Moscow, Russia—died Oct. 5, 1933, Saint-Laurent-du-Var, France) Russian commander of anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian Civil War. A career army officer who joined the Imperial Army in 1879, he commanded in the Russo-Japanese War and was promoted to general in 1905. In World War I he led Russian troops in the Caucasus (1914–15, 1917). After retiring to Estonia, he organized anti-Bolshevik forces there and launched an unsuccessful offensive toward Petrograd (St. Petersburg). He renewed his offensive in coordination with other White forces but was stopped by the Red Army and forced to retreat to Estonia, where he disbanded his army (1920). He fled to France, where he died in exile.