1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Evert, Alexei

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25957211922 Encyclopædia Britannica — Evert, Alexei

EVERT, ALEXEI (1857-1917), Russian general, was born in 1857 and entered the army in 1876 after finishing his course at the infantry military school in Moscow and receiving a commission in the Volinsky Guard Regiment. He passed through the academy of the general staff, and was appointed on the general staff. Later, after commanding an infantry regiment, he was in 1900 promoted to the rank of general. In the war with Japan 1904-5, he served on the commander-in-chief's “quartermaster” (i.e. general) staff and later as the chief of the staff of the I. Army. In 1906 he became chief of the general staff, but very soon afterwards he was appointed commander of the XIII. Corps. In 1912 he was commander of the troops of the Irkutsk military district. In Aug. 1914, while commanding the IV. Army, he participated in the victory of the Russians in the Galician battle, for which he was awarded the cross of St. George of the 4th degree. In Oct. his army was thrown on the W. bank of the river Vistula, where under his leadership it fought in the fierce battles of the winter of 1914-5 and the summer of 1915. In Aug. 1915 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the north-western group of armies, and he extricated the armies under his charge from a very critical position during the Vilna-Molodechno operations. In 1916, in order to relieve pressure on the western front, several attempts to break through the German line were made on his front, causing great losses of men and ending unsuccessfully. In March 1917, at the beginning of the Revolution, he was relieved of his duties, and he was later reported to have been killed by the Bolsheviki.