We remember Chapaev from books and films, we tell jokes about him. But the real life of the red commander was no less interesting. He loved cars, argued with the teachers of the military academy. And Chapaev is not a real surname.
Hard childhood
Vasily Ivanovich was born into a poor family of peasants. The only wealth of his parents is nine eternally hungry children, of which the famous divisional commander was the sixth.
As the legend says, he was born prematurely and kept warm in his father's fur mitten on the stove. When the son grew up a little, his father assigned him to the seminary, in the hope that he would become a priest. But when once guilty Vasya was put in a wooden punishment cell in a severe frost in one shirt, he escaped.
He tried to become a merchant, but he couldn’t - the main trading commandment was too disgusting for him: “If you don’t deceive, you won’t sell, you won’t cheat, you won’t make money.” “My childhood was dark and difficult. I had to humiliate myself and starve a lot. From an early age, he roamed around strangers, ”the divisional commander later recalled.
"Chapaev"
It is believed that the family of Vasily Ivanovich bore the name of Gavrilov. "Chapaev" or "Chepai" was the nickname that the grandfather of the divisional commander, Stepan Gavrilovich, received. Either in 1882, or in 1883, they loaded logs with their comrades, and Stepan, as the eldest, constantly commanded - “Chop, scoop!”, Which meant: “take it, take it”. So it stuck to him - Chepai, and the nickname later turned into a surname.
They say that the original "Chepai" became "Chapaev" with light hand Dmitry Furmanov, the author of the famous novel, who decided that “it sounds better this way.” But in the surviving documents from the time of the civil war, Vasily appears under both options.
Perhaps the name "Chapaev" appeared as a result of a typo.
Academy student
Chapaev's education, contrary to popular belief, was not limited to two years of parochial school. In 1918 he was enrolled in military academy The Red Army, where many fighters were "driven" to improve their general literacy and strategy training. According to the memoirs of his classmate, the peaceful student life weighed heavily on Chapaev: “Damn it! I'm leaving! To come up with such nonsense - fighting people at a desk! Two months later, he filed a report with a request to release him from this "prison" to the front.
Several stories have been preserved about Vasily Ivanovich's stay at the academy. The first one says that in a geography exam, in response to an old general's question about the significance of the Neman River, Chapaev asked the professor if he knew about the significance of the Solyanka River, where he fought with the Cossacks. According to the second, in a discussion of the battle at Cannae, he called the Romans "blind kittens", telling the teacher - military theorist Sechenov: "We have already shown generals like you how to fight!"
Motorist
We all imagine Chapaev as a courageous fighter with a fluffy mustache, a naked saber and galloping on a dashing horse. This image was created by the national actor Boris Babochkin. In life, Vasily Ivanovich preferred cars to horses.
Even on the fronts of the First World War, he received a serious wound in the thigh, so riding became a problem. So Chapaev became one of the first red commanders who moved to the car.
He chose iron horses very meticulously. The first - the American "Stever", he rejected due to strong shaking, the red "Packard", which replaced him, also had to be abandoned - he was not suitable for military operations in the steppe. But Ford, who then squeezed 70 miles off-road, liked the red commander. Chapaev also selected the best drivers. One of them, Nikolai Ivanov, was practically taken to Moscow by force and put as the personal driver of Lenin's sister, Anna Ulyanova-Elizarova.
Women's deceit
The famous commander Chapaev was the eternal loser on the personal front. His first wife, the petty-bourgeois Pelageya Metlina, whom Chapaev's parents disapproved of, calling her the "urban white hand", gave birth to three children for him, but she did not wait for her husband from the front - she went to a neighbor. Vasily Ivanovich was very upset by her act - he loved his wife. Chapaev often repeated to his daughter Claudia: “Oh, you are beautiful. Looks like a mother."
The second companion of Chapaev, however, already a civilian, was also called Pelageya. She was the widow of Vasily's comrade-in-arms, Pyotr Kamishkertsev, to whom the division commander promised to take care of his family. At first he sent her benefits, then they decided to move in together. But history repeated itself - during the absence of her husband, Pelageya had an affair with a certain Georgy Zhivolozhinov. Once Chapaev found them together and almost sent the unfortunate lover to the next world.
When the passions subsided, Kamishkertseva decided to go to the world, took the children and went to her husband's headquarters. The children were allowed to visit their father, but she was not. They say that after that she took revenge on Chapaev, giving the Whites the location of the Red Army troops and data on their numbers.
fatal water
The death of Vasily Ivanovich is shrouded in mystery. On September 4, 1919, Borodin's detachments approached the city of Lbischensk, where the headquarters of Chapaev's division was located with a small number of fighters. During the defense, Chapaev was severely wounded in the stomach, his soldiers put the commander on a raft and ferried across the Urals, but he died from loss of blood. The body was buried in the coastal sand, and the traces were hidden so that the Cossacks would not find it. Searching for the grave subsequently became useless, as the river changed its course. This story was confirmed by a participant in the events. According to another version, being wounded in the arm, Chapaev drowned, unable to cope with the current.
“Maybe he floated out?”
Despite a long search, neither the body nor the grave of Chapaev could be found. This gave rise to a completely logical version of the surviving hero. Someone said that due to a severe wound, he lost his memory and lived somewhere under a different name.
Some claimed that he was safely transported to the other side, from where he went to Frunze, to be responsible for the surrendered city. In Samara, he was put under arrest, and then they decided to officially “kill the hero”, ending his military career with a beautiful end.
This story was told by a certain Onyanov from the Tomsk region, who allegedly met his aged commander many years later. The story looks doubtful, because in the difficult conditions of the civil war it was inappropriate to "scatter" experienced military leaders, who were highly respected by the soldiers.
Most likely, this is a myth generated by the hope that the hero was saved.
22.11.2016
Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev is one of the legendary figures, which remain in the memory of people after many decades after their death. He was a fearless and very talented military leader - this can be evidenced not only by official sources covering history in the perspective that is now pleasing ruling elite, but also the memories of contemporaries, those people with whom Chapaev communicated, served, made friends. What genuine interesting facts from Chapaev's biography can they tell us?
- The future folk hero was born into a poor family. Vasily was the sixth child, after him there were three more. He was so small and weak (he was born seven months old) that, as his fellow villagers joked after, he warmed himself on the stove in his father's mitten.
- The surname "Chapaev" most likely came from the nickname "Chepai". That was the nickname of the famous divisional commander, who worked as a loader and picked up - “chased” - boxes and boxes.
- When the boy grew up a little, he was sent to study. But no one thought, did not guess that Vasya would become a military man. He was assigned to a parochial school and predicted for him the fate of a clergyman.
- Young Vasily married at the age of 18 a 16-year-old girl Pelageya. She bore him three children. Before Chapaev was taken to the front, the couple lived quite happily: the head of the family was a carpenter, his wife raised heirs.
- In World War I, Chapaev served for the "Tsar-Father". He distinguished himself even then: in the very first battles he received four "George" - for courage.
- When the young commander went over to the side of the Bolsheviks and returned home on one of his vacations, the most unpleasant news awaited him: his wife had gone to another. Vasily enthusiastically gave himself up to military service in order to forget the trouble, he did not try to take revenge on his unfaithful wife.
- It is believed that Chapaev had practically no education. This is not so: in 1918 he was sent to study at the Academy of the Red Army. It cannot be said that this delighted the young hero: he began to ask for the front, saying that there was no place for military commanders at the student's desk. And he even allegedly rude to one eminent professor who was trying to extract knowledge about the Neman River from a student. "What do you know about the Neman?" the teacher insisted. “What do you know about the Solyanka River?” - the negligent student retorted, alluding to the battle in which he took part and which he won.
- Love dramas directly pursued the military commander. When he learned about the death of his friend Kamishkertsev in battle, then, according to a long-standing agreement between them, he went to a distant village in order to take his children under his care. Friends agreed: if one dies, the second will take care of the family of the fallen in battle. The wife of Kamishkertsev (by the way, also Pelageya) asked Chapaev: “Take me with the children.” They began to live as one family - but one day the second Pelageya fell passionately in love with a colleague Chapaev and cheated on him. Once again, the red commander was left alone.
- The death of the legendary Chapai as a result of a combat wound is beyond doubt. But he did not drown while swimming across the Ural River: he was severely wounded in the head and stomach. Colleagues tried to ferry their commander to the other side, but he died from his wounds. They buried him on the bank, but then the course of the river changed a little, and Chapaev's grave was at the bottom. Still, the river swallowed the legendary Chapai...
The name of Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev does not have a bright political connotation - for us he is a hero, an excellent commander who knew how to take care of his soldiers and throw them thoughtlessly into the attack. No wonder there are so many stories, myths and even anecdotes about him - such popularity confirms the true nationality, the sincerity of the image of Vasily Chapaev. So he remained in the people's memory: honest, brave, generous and fearless.
And about the life and death of Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev there is an incredible number of legends, rumors and anecdotes. And there is probably no more unique person in Russian history than Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. His real life was short - he died at the age of 32, but posthumous fame surpassed all conceivable and inconceivable boundaries.
Among the real historical figures of the past, one cannot find another who would become an integral part of Russian folklore. What to talk about if one of the varieties of checkers games is called "chapaev".
On January 28, 1887, in the village of Budaika, Cheboksary district, Kazan province, the sixth child was born in the family of the Russian peasant Ivan Chapaev, neither mother nor father could even think about the glory that awaits their son.
Rather, they thought about the upcoming funeral - the baby, named Vasenka, was born seven months old, was very weak and, it seemed, could not survive. However, the will to live turned out to be stronger than death- the boy survived and began to grow to the delight of his parents.
Vasya Chapaev did not even think about any military career - in poor Budaika there was a problem of everyday survival, there was no time for heavenly pretzels.
The origin of the family name is interesting. Chapaev's grandfather, Stepan Gavrilovich, was engaged in unloading timber and other heavy cargo floating down the Volga at the Cheboksary pier. And he often shouted “chap”, “chain”, “chap”, that is, “cling” or “hooking”. Over time, the word "chepay" stuck to him as a street nickname, and then became the official surname.
It is curious that the red commander himself subsequently wrote his last name precisely as “Chepaev”, and not “Chapaev”.
The poverty of the Chapaev family drove them in search of a better life to the Samara province, to the village of Balakovo. Here, Father Vasily had a cousin who acted as a patron of the parish school. The boy was assigned to study, hoping that over time he would become a priest.
In 1908, Vasily Chapaev was drafted into the army, but a year later he was dismissed due to illness. Even before leaving for the army, Vasily started a family by marrying the 16-year-old daughter of a priest, Pelageya Metlina. Returning from the army, Chapaev began to engage in a purely peaceful carpentry trade. In 1912, while continuing to work as a carpenter, Vasily moved to Melekess with his family. Until 1914, three children were born in the family of Pelageya and Vasily - two sons and a daughter.
The whole life of Chapaev and his family was turned upside down by the First World War. Called up in September 1914, Vasily went to the front in January 1915. He fought in Volhynia in Galicia and proved himself to be a skilled warrior. Chapaev finished the First World War with the rank of sergeant major, being awarded the soldier's St. George's crosses of three degrees and the St. George medal.
In the autumn of 1917, the brave soldier Chapaev joined the Bolsheviks and unexpectedly showed himself to be a brilliant organizer. In the Nikolaevsky district of the Saratov province, he created 14 detachments of the Red Guard, which took part in the campaign against the troops of General Kaledin. On the basis of these detachments, in May 1918, the Pugachev brigade was created under the command of Chapaev. Together with this brigade, the self-taught commander recaptured the city of Nikolaevsk from the Czechoslovaks.
The fame and popularity of the young commander grew before our eyes. In September 1918, Chapaev led the 2nd Nikolaev division, which instilled fear in the enemy. Nevertheless, the steep temper of Chapaev, his inability to obey unquestioningly led to the fact that the command considered it a good thing to send him from the front to study at the Academy of the General Staff.
Already in the 1970s, another legendary red commander Semyon Budyonny, listening to jokes about Chapaev, shook his head: “I told Vaska: study, you fool, otherwise they will laugh at you! So you didn’t listen!”
Chapaev really did not stay long at the academy, again going to the front. In the summer of 1919, he led the 25th Infantry Division, which quickly became legendary, as part of which he carried out brilliant operations against Kolchak's troops. On June 9, 1919, the Chapaevs liberated Ufa, on July 11 - Uralsk.
During the summer of 1919, Divisional Commander Chapaev managed to surprise the regular white generals with his talent as a commander. Both comrades-in-arms and enemies saw in him a real military nugget. Alas, Chapaev did not have time to really open up.
The tragedy, which is called Chapaev's only military mistake, occurred on September 5, 1919. Chapaev's division was rapidly advancing, breaking away from the rear. Parts of the division stopped to rest, and the headquarters was located in the village of Lbischensk.
On September 5, whites numbering up to 2000 bayonets under the command of General Borodin, having made a raid, suddenly attacked the headquarters of the 25th division. The main forces of the Chapayevites were 40 km from Lbischensk and could not come to the rescue.
The real forces that could resist the whites were 600 bayonets, and they entered into battle, which lasted six hours. He hunted for Chapaev himself special squad which, however, did not succeed. Vasily Ivanovich managed to get out of the house where he lodged, gather about a hundred fighters who were retreating in disorder, and organize defense.
Contradictory information circulated about the circumstances of Chapaev's death for a long time, until in 1962 the daughter of division commander Claudius received a letter from Hungary in which two Chapaev veterans, Hungarians by nationality, who were personally present during the last minutes of the division commander's life, told what really happened.
During the battle with the whites, Chapaev was wounded in the head and stomach, after which four Red Army soldiers, having built a raft from the boards, managed to transport the commander to the other side of the Urals. However, Chapaev died of his wounds during the crossing.
The Red Army soldiers, fearing the mockery of the body by the enemies, buried Chapaev in the coastal sand, throwing branches at this place.
An active search for the grave of the divisional commander was not carried out immediately after the Civil War, because the version set forth by the commissar of the 25th division Dmitry Furmanov in his book “Chapaev” became canonical - as if the wounded divisional commander drowned while trying to swim across the river.
In the 1960s, Chapaev's daughter tried to search for her father's grave, but it turned out that this was impossible - the channel of the Urals changed its course, and the bottom of the river became the final resting place of the red hero.
Not everyone believed in Chapaev's death. Historians involved in the biography of Chapaev noted that among the Chapaev veterans there was a story that their Chapai swam out, was rescued by the Kazakhs, had typhoid fever, lost his memory and now works as a carpenter in Kazakhstan, remembering nothing about his heroic past.
Fans of the white movement love to give the Lbischensky raid great importance, calling it a major victory, but it is not. Even the defeat of the headquarters of the 25th division and the death of its commander did not affect the overall course of the war - the Chapaev division continued to successfully destroy enemy units.
Not everyone knows that the Chapayevites avenged their commander on the same day, September 5th. General Borodin, commander of the white raid, who was victoriously passing through Lbischensk after the defeat of Chapaev's headquarters, was shot by a Red Army soldier Volkov.
Historians still cannot agree on what was actually the role of Chapaev as a commander in the Civil War. Some believe that he really played a prominent role, others believe that his image is exaggerated due to art.
Indeed, a book written by the former commissar of the 25th division, Dmitry Furmanov, brought Chapaev wide popularity.
During life, the relationship between Chapaev and Furmanov could not be called simple, which, by the way, will be best reflected later in jokes. Chapaev's romance with Furmanov's wife Anna Steshenko led to the fact that the commissar had to leave the division. However, Furmanov's writing talent smoothed out personal contradictions.
But the real, boundless glory of Chapaev, Furmanov, and other now folk heroes overtook in 1934, when the Vasilyev brothers made the film Chapaev, which was based on Furmanov’s book and the memoirs of the Chapaevs.
Furmanov himself was not alive by that time - he died suddenly in 1926 from meningitis. And the author of the script for the film was Anna Furmanova, the wife of the commissar and the mistress of the divisional commander.
It is to her that we owe the appearance in the history of Chapaev of Anka the machine gunner. The fact is that in reality there was no such character. The prototype was the nurse of the 25th division, Maria Popova. In one of the battles, the nurse crawled up to the wounded elderly machine gunner and wanted to bandage him, but the soldier, heated by the battle, pointed a revolver at the nurse and literally forced Maria to take a place behind the machine gun.
The directors, having learned about this story and having an assignment from Stalin to show the image of a woman in the Civil War in the film, came up with a machine gunner. But Anna Furmanova insisted that her name would be Anka.
After the release of the film, both Chapaev, and Furmanov, and Anka the machine gunner, and orderly Petka (in real life- Pyotr Isaev, who really died in the same battle with Chapaev) forever went to the people, becoming an integral part of it.
The life of Chapaev's children was interesting. The marriage of Vasily and Pelageya actually broke up with the outbreak of the First World War, and in 1917 Chapaev took the children from his wife and raised them himself, as far as military life allowed.
The eldest son of Chapaev, Alexander Vasilyevich, followed in the footsteps of his father, becoming a professional military man. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 30-year-old Captain Chapaev was the commander of a battery of cadets at the Podolsk Artillery School. From there he went to the front. Chapaev fought in a family way, not disgracing the honor of his famous father. He fought near Moscow, near Rzhev, near Voronezh, was wounded. In 1943, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Alexander Chapaev participated in the famous battle of Prokhorovka.
Alexander Chapaev completed his military service with the rank of Major General, holding the position of Deputy Chief of Artillery of the Moscow Military District.
The youngest son, Arkady Chapaev, became a test pilot, worked with Valery Chkalov himself. In 1939, 25-year-old Arkady Chapaev died while testing a new fighter.
Chapaev's daughter, Claudia, made a party career and was engaged in historical research dedicated to her father. True story Chapaev's life became known largely thanks to her.
Studying the life of Chapaev, you are surprised to find how closely the legendary hero is connected with other historical figures.
For example, the fighter of the Chapaev division was the writer Yaroslav Gashek, the author of The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik.
The head of the trophy team of the Chapaev division was Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak. In the Great Patriotic War, the mere name of this commander of a partisan unit will terrify the Nazis.
Major General Ivan Panfilov, whose division's resilience helped defend Moscow in 1941, began his military career as a platoon commander in an infantry company of the Chapaev division.
And the last. Water is fatally connected not only with the fate of division commander Chapaev, but also with the fate of the division.
The 25th Rifle Division existed in the ranks of the Red Army until the Great Patriotic War, took part in the defense of Sevastopol. It was the fighters of the 25th Chapaev division who fought to the last in the most tragic, last days city defense. The division was completely destroyed, and so that the enemy did not get its banners, the last surviving soldiers drowned them in the Black Sea.
Few of the leaders Russian history In the 20th century, such nationwide fame and love fell like the red commander Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. The beginning of this was laid by the novel by the commissar of the Chapaev division Dmitry Furmanov and the film based on the same book. But their hero has little in common with the real Chapaev.
Chapaev almost never rode
In Furmanov's novel, Chapaev repeatedly appears on a dashing horse, galloping across the battlefield from one unit to another, and leading the fighters behind him into the attack. The same Chapaev, galloping ahead of the cavalry lava on a white horse, is depicted in the painting by the artist Pyotr Vasiliev "Chapaev in battle." But there was nothing like that. Chapaev very rarely sat in the saddle and never so skillfully owned a horse to command at a gallop.
First, Chapaev was an infantry fighter. During the First World War, he rose to the rank of sergeant major in the 326th Belgorai Infantry Regiment. Secondly, his way of life before the revolution - work in a carpenter's artel - also did not imply the skills of a horseman. Thirdly, and most importantly, during the World War, Chapaev was wounded three times, and the first time the bullet shattered the tendon of the arm, the third time shrapnel hit the right leg(the second wound was light). And during the civil war, Chapaev did not saddle without special need, preferring to move in a car or cart.
There was no psychic attack
One of the most memorable episodes of the film "Chapaev" was the psychic attack of the Whites. The "attack of officers" in black uniforms on June 9, 1919 at the position of Chapaev's division was described not only by Furmanov, but also by other participants in the battle. In fact, recent students of real schools in Ufa, Omsk and other cities, yesterday's schoolchildren who joined the white army as volunteers, who had not yet changed their black student uniforms to military ones and were thrown into battle, were taken for the "officer unit".
Did Chapaev sink?
The last minutes of Chapaev's life, when he, wounded, drowns in the Ural River, have become an integral part of the canonical myth about him. However, there is other evidence of his death. So, according to one of them, the wounded Chapaev was transported across the river by two Hungarian Red Army soldiers on an impromptu raft, but during the crossing Vasily Ivanovich died from blood loss. The divisional commander was buried in the river sand, and the signs of the grave were destroyed so that the White Cossacks would not desecrate it. Since the Ural River often changes its course, Chapaev's grave could then end up at the bottom of the river. According to another testimony, the wounded Chapaev was captured by the Cossacks and shot.
Little Known Facts
Many facts from the life of Chapaev were not covered in the Soviet myth about him. Some of these facts do not contain anything amazing, but it was not customary to mention them. So, although it is well known that Chapaev was born in Chuvashia, it was almost never said that his maternal ancestors were Chuvash, and Chapaev's father was, most likely, a Mordvin (Erzyan) by nationality.
Now sometimes you can find statements that the real name of Chapaev was Chepaev. The fact is that in the signature of Vasily Ivanovich, the second letter is more like an “e”. However, studies of documents do not confirm this version.
Difficult relationship with the church
As a child, Vasya Chapaev showed a wonderful voice, and his parents predicted for him a career as a singer in the church choir, and then as a priest. In old Russia, this was one of the ways for the son of a poor man to break out "into the people." But in the third grade of the parochial school (which was headed by a relative of the Chapaevs), Vasya was punished for some kind of prank by being placed in a punishment cell. The punishment cell was located on the fire tower. And Vasya decided to run away from there. He jumped from a height into a snowdrift, which, although it softened the fall, Vasya after that treated bruises for a long time. He never returned to school.
Despite such a bad memory of the church, 21-year-old Vasily Chapaev burned with love for the priest's daughter. His passion was not left without reciprocity. Despite the resistance of the parents of both the groom and the bride, the young people got married in 1909. Before the outbreak of World War I, they had three children.
St. George Cavalier, unfit for service
Back in 1908, Vasily Chapaev was, as expected, drafted into the army, but there he was almost immediately diagnosed with an eye disease and written off to the reserve. However, with the outbreak of the First World War, he was drafted into a reserve infantry regiment, and then enrolled in a training team that trained non-commissioned officers. At the front, Chapaev, as already mentioned, was wounded three times and was awarded three St. George Crosses for bravery. There is a version that he became a full Knight of St. George, however, does not find documentary evidence. Either it was a myth of that turbulent time to add an even greater heroic halo to the commander, or the papers were lost.
The betrayal of the wife and the widow of the deceased comrade
While in the hospital after the first wound, Chapaev learned from his father's letter that his wife had abandoned him and fled, leaving her young children with her father-in-law, with some kind of railway conductor. Vasily Ivanovich was very upset by this news, climbed under the bullets, was wounded a second time. Having received a vacation and went home, he ... found his wife there - her “going to the left” had already ended. Outwardly, the family was reunited, but there was no previous agreement.
In the summer of 1916, during the Brusilov breakthrough, a fellow countryman and friend of Chapaev died. Before his death, Chapaev swore to him to take care of his children. When he came to his house on his second vacation (after the third injury), events began to unfold according to an unforeseen scenario - the friend's widow began to live with Chapaev. By the way, she, like her legal wife, was also called Pelageya.
SR-drummer
After the February Revolution, Chapaev joined the Social Revolutionaries for a short time and even joined a shock volunteer battalion. Such shock units were created by the Provisional Government in the hope that by their example and strict discipline they would be able to stop the collapse of the army. So what if Chapaev survived civil war, then it is not known whether this “counter-revolution” in 1937 would have been remembered to him.
Who is Anka
The romantic plot about Anka the machine gunner was included in the film on the personal instructions of Stalin. But there really was a real Anna in Chapaev's life. And this is none other than the wife of Commissar Furmanov, nurse Anna Steshenko.
Chapaev was unable to restore relations with his lawful traitor wife, and he did not have deep feelings for the widow of his deceased friend who had imposed on him. On the other hand, he immediately fell in love with the commissar's wife and did not hesitate to explain this to her. What exactly happened there - history is silent, however, it is likely that the signs of attention that Vasily Ivanovich showed to Anna did not remain without an encouraging response from her. Otherwise, Chapaev would hardly have demanded the commissar's departure so harshly.
On Chapaev's recommendation to the army headquarters, Furmanov was recalled from his division. But… Anna left with him.
Young Chapaev was sent to a Church school. His dad wanted his son to become a priest in the future, but, as we know, his life was not connected with the church. Already in 1908, the guy was drafted into the army and sent to Kyiv. Moreover, Chapaev was returned home to the reserve ahead of schedule.
During the peace, Chapaev was a carpenter and a family man in Melekess. However, in 1914, with the beginning of the First World War, the soldier went to serve in the Tsarist army. He ended up in the 82nd Infantry Division, and it was she who fought the Germans.
Due to the fact that Chapaev was temporarily out of action due to injury, he was sent to Saratov, to the hospital. There he met with the February Revolution. After treatment, Chapaev went to the Bolsheviks.
Tactician
One of the features of Chapaev is that he had several different tactics used during the march of the division in an easterly direction. Characteristic his military actions - to leave part of the army in a small margin. His army always moved so fast and was so grouped that the whites did not have time to counterattack.
And here's another one important point- in the army of Chapaev there was a trained group, the main task which - to strike during the battle. With the help of just such a maneuver, Chapaev's army brought real chaos into the ranks of the Whites.
Doom
For one of the battles, namely for the victory in the city of Ufa, he received his Order of the Red Banner. In the summer, Chapaev and the division defended the approaches to the Volga. With the participation of Chapaev, Ufa, being an important city, was taken and completely cleared of whites.
In September 1919, Chapaev, while in Lbischensk, was attacked by the Whites. The goal of White's attack was Chapaev, who was a real headache for his opponents. As a result, Chapaev, a valiant husband and a brave warrior, died. This ended his biography, but his image was repeatedly transferred to the works of our time.
Some interesting facts
- Nickname Chepay, or Take. Chapai is not a real, but an acquired surname. She came from her grandfather, who worked loading logs. Chepay - take it, cling it.
- Red centaur. The stereotypical image of Chapaev - a luxurious mustache, checker and boiled potatoes on the war map. This image was born thanks to the actor Boris Babochkin. Without all this, we cannot imagine Chapaev on horseback. However, there is an explanation for this - Chkalov's navigator Alexander Belyakov said that for the first time, when he saw Chapaev, he was in front of the army on a horse and seemed to have grown into his horse. And then he was on a horse-pacer due to the fact that he was wounded in the thigh.
- Started by car. Again, due to a wound in the thigh, Chapaev moved from the pacer to the car. At first it was a shaky "Stever", then just a "Packard", not created for the steppe fighting. So best option- Ford car.
- Chemical weapons. Chapaev understood that it was difficult to fight only with sabers, so he used armored formations, equipment, armadillos and even poisonous substances.
- Came out. Everyone who watched the film about Chapaev tearfully begged him to swim out. And in 1941, the short film "Chapaev is with us" was released, where it is shown that Chapaev nevertheless emerges.
