Sultan Klych-Girey
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Sultan Klych-Girey | |
|---|---|
 Klych-Girey at the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, 1947 | |
| Native name | Султан Клыщ Кӏэрый |
| Born | 15 March 1880 |
| Died | 17 January 1947 (aged 66) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Allegiance | |
| Years of service | 1897–1920 1941–1945 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Unit | |
| Commands | North Caucasian and Mountain-Caucasian legions |
| Battles / wars | |
| Relations | Giray dynasty |
Sultan Shakhanovich Klych-Girey (Russian: Султа́н Шаха́нович Клыч-Гире́й; Adyghe: Султан Клыщ Кӏэрый, romanized: Sultan Klˢʼəś K'ɛrəj; 15 March 1880 – 17 January 1947) was a Russian and Circassian general of Crimean Tatar descent. A career military officer, Klych-Girey participated in the suppression of Russian Revolution of 1905, fought in World War I and the Russian Civil War for the Russian Empire and White movement before becoming a supporter of Circassian nationalism as a White émigré. During World War II, he collaborated with Nazi Germany and served in Cossack collaborationist units, for which he was repatriated to the Soviet Union and executed by hanging in 1947.
Sultan Shakhanovich Klych-Girey was born in the city of Maykop or the aul of Ulyap, in what is presently the Russian republic of Adygea.[1] He was a descendant of the Giray dynasty, and through the Giray dynasty a Genghisid via Jochi.[2] After receiving an education at the Lutheran Gymnasium in Saint Petersburg, he joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1897 and joined the Yelisavetgrad Cavalry Cadet School, from which he graduated in 1901.[3]
Klych-Girey participated in the government crackdown on the Russian Revolution of 1905,[1] and was serving in the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division when World War I began. During the Russian occupation of Zalishchyky, he suffered from shell shock, but he was not dismissed from service. In 1916 he was promoted to colonel.[3]
Russian Civil War
Following the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and Russia's withdrawal from World War I, Klych-Girey returned to the Caucasus. There, he participated in the defence of the Maykopsky otdel against the Red Army by North Caucasians before joining the White movement.[3] On 25 March 1918, he was promoted to major general and commanded the Circassian Cavalry Regiment[1] (though true power allegedly rested with Sultan Adil-Girey, a colonel serving in the unit).[4]
After the evacuation of the Crimea, Klych-Girey was instructed by Pyotr Wrangel to travel to Karachay and organise "white-green" resistance to Soviet rule. Klych-Girey proceeded to organise a resistance movement in the region, but was soon defeated by the Red Army and forced to flee to the Democratic Republic of Georgia.[1]
