The best thing about the honesty of the accuser
judge on the charges themselves.
Pliny the Younger
The events of the beginning of the last century are of particular interest to historians today. As a result of declassification and study of many documents, we are learning more and more new and, often, amazing, even shocking facts from the life of the country. The Soviet one extolled some and denounced others who played a certain role in the development of the state. A huge number of great people were simply erased from official sources or slandered for ideological reasons. One of these victims of the Bolsheviks was the savior of the Baltic Fleet A.M. Shchastny. What did this man do to deserve the fierce hatred of Lev Davydovich Trotsky, and why is he called the savior of the Navy in the Baltic?
In 1918, under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the Soviet authorities were obliged to withdraw the battle flotilla from the Baltic open spaces. However, this turned out to be very difficult, since the waters were frozen. This circumstance was beneficial to the Germans, who were on the outskirts of Finnish ports and hoped to receive Russian warships without a fight. From documents examined by F. Zinko, it is known that in order to avoid the transfer of such a powerful potential into the hands of the Reich, Great Britain offered to pay a large sum for each destroyed warship. The British, thus, got rid of the dangerous presence of the Soviet fleet in the Baltic, and also did not allow Germany to increase its military potential at the expense of the abandoned ships. If we consider these facts together, it becomes clear why Trotsky sent Shchastny an order ordering the bombing of the entire fleet with the promise of reward to each of the sailors. However, Alexey Mikhailovich was one of those people who faithfully served not so much the state and superiors as their homeland. Instead of carrying out the order, Shchastny sent it to the Council of Fleet Commissioners, indicating that he considered destroying ships and paying rewards for this unacceptable and immoral. This was the first step towards enmity with Lev Davydovich. A particularly large role in the emergence of confrontation was played by the fact that the Council supported Alexei Mikhailovich and stated that the ships would be blown up only in battle, and also if there was no other way left.
According to some researchers, the Bolsheviks were closely connected with both Germany and Great Britain, which is confirmed by documents on the promotion of a sealed carriage and correspondence that Lenin, Trotsky and others hid and tried to pass off as counterfeit.
The merit of Shchastny, who was the head of Morsil in the Baltic, is that in February 1918 he withdrew all ships from Revel and supervised their relocation to Kronstadt. This decision was made against the will of Trotsky, but was then supported by Lenin, largely due to the success of the enterprise and the desire to hide the intentions to destroy the country’s flotilla. After the arrival of the last ship, it became known about a certain oral order from Vladimir Ilyich about relocation. In fact, the Bolsheviks were always afraid of representatives of the naval army, especially after the events in Kronstadt, when officers were simply torn to pieces. Managing a community like the sailors was very difficult, and manipulation had to be skillful and subtle.
Imagine the indignation of the German command when it was discovered that there were no ships in the port. An interesting fact that once again confirms the Bolsheviks’ plan to destroy the fleet and transfer its individual parts to Germany are facts indicating the existence of some kind of agreement. After the Germans did not find the promised ships in Reval, they sent a secret note of protest to Moscow. The question is, what exactly did Shchastny violate when he took the ships to Kronstadt? Under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Agreement there was a provision that Russia could not have a fleet in the Baltic, but there was no talk of the complete destruction of cruisers and battleships and the liquidation of the country's Navy.
Shchastny's personality became popular among sailors, which greatly alarmed the Bolsheviks. Firstly, Alexey Mikhailovich was a hereditary nobleman, that is, a class enemy of the proletariat. Secondly, his career began even before the revolution, and he was considered an honored military commander in the navy and had imperial and foreign awards. Thirdly, he was a highly educated man with an unyielding will, organizational talent, and independent views. Such an influential admiral automatically became a threat to the strengthened revolutionary power. In addition, his bold thoughts about power and the order of organizing the management of naval forces made him a rival in the eyes of the Bolsheviks, and they did not intend to leave their competitors alive.
Once, in a conversation with Zinoviev, Alexei Mikhailovich informed him that he had been elected dictator in Petropavlovsk, but he refused. Many researchers believe that from that moment on, the Bolsheviks took all possible measures to get rid of the hated admiral as soon as possible. Shchastny's arrest took place in Trotsky's office after calm, but very bold and straightforward responses were received to Lev Davydovich's attacks. Alexei Mikhailovich denied his involvement in the counter-revolutionary conspiracy, and since the appearance of justice had to be preserved, Sverdlov developed a provision on the Revolutionary Tribunal. Shchastny became the first defendant in this illusory judicial body.
Fortunately, fragmentary information about the trial has been preserved, and we can reconstruct the course of events and verify the accusatory nature of the process ourselves. There could be no talk of a fair trial; Shchastny’s sentence was pronounced long before the hearing and was only announced at the trial. Certain persons were formally called as witnesses, but none of them appeared, so the only arguments were the testimony of Trotsky. Lev Davydovich took advantage of the opportunity and directed all his oratorical talents to destroy the admiral. The verdict sounded ridiculous, since it followed that Shchastny, through the heroic rescue of the Baltic Fleet, intended to win favor for the development of counter-revolutionary activities. However, there are numerous points in the minutes of the meeting and Trotsky’s testimony that make us think that the prosecution had another reason for the immediate elimination of Alexei Mikhailovich.
During the arrest, the first thing that was seized was the briefcase with the documents of the “red admiral”. What was in this mysterious briefcase can only be judged by fragments of phrases and the further behavior of the Bolsheviks and, most importantly, Trotsky himself. From the testimony of Lev Davydovich it follows that Shchastny is guilty, among other things, of spreading and maintaining rumors about the connection of the Bolsheviks with Germany, as well as falsifying certain documents confirming this connection. From the verdict one can single out a phrase that clearly indicates the existence of such documents, since they are called not only fake, but also classified. The simultaneous recognition of the papers in Alexei Mikhailovich’s briefcase as both forged and secret gives rise to certain thoughts, since it makes no sense to block access to the forgery. By the way, after the refusal to pardon the admiral, the Socialist Revolutionaries demonstratively left the revolutionary tribunal, sincerely believing that with such a protest they would be able to maintain the predominance of legality over revolutionary expediency. However, history has shown that this was a serious mistake that provoked a series of unjust decisions against “the enemies of the proletariat and communism.”
Even the fact that Shchastny was shot at night at the Alexander School and the disappearance of the corpse without a trace suggests that the authorities had something to fear. According to the testimony of Andrievsky, who supervised the execution, the admiral’s body was buried under the floor in the same school, and the order for urgent burial came from the leadership, and officials came in person to ensure that the task was completed. One can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a lot of attention for an ordinary provocateur and traitor? In addition, the death penalty was not applied at the time of execution in the Soviet state, and the case of Shchastny was the first in judicial practice. More dangerous criminals were pardoned, but for some reason they did not do this for Alexei Mikhailovich. Was the admiral shot for treason or...?
In the history that is taught to us in educational institutions, it is almost impossible to find mention of this person. Basic information about it became available only recently, but even today the topic is quite painful and sensitive. When talking about the Bolsheviks, one should not go to extremes and repeat their mistake. Soviet historians have sufficiently discredited themselves with a one-sided view of tsarism, as well as the political background of their works, therefore, returning to the events of that period, one should examine the problem from different angles and try to be as objective as possible. The official interpretation of the reasons for the execution of the admiral is betrayal and counter-revolutionary activity, but there is another point of view that deserves our attention.
Little is still known about the case of Captain 1st Rank Shchastny (October 3, 1881 - 1918). It lay in the KGB archives without movement for more than 70 years. Because of this, not a single archival document was published under Soviet rule for well-known reasons; today it is kept silent for others. The military prosecutor's office of the Baltic Fleet rehabilitated A. Shchastny. But even now, when Alexey Mikhailovich has been completely rehabilitated, we know offensively little about him, but the history of the country is made up of the destinies of its individual citizens.
A.M. Shchastny was arrested personally by Leon Trotsky in 1918 without any sanctions. The arrest came as a surprise not only to Shchastny himself. As Bonch-Bruevich, manager of the Council of People's Commissars, told a Nashe Slovo correspondent: “The arrest of Shchastny was a complete surprise for the Supreme Military Council and the Admiralty.” Instead of a law subject to approval by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, on June 16, 1918, just on the day the indictment in the Shchastny case was published in the press (which is not accidental), a resolution was adopted by the People's Commissariat of Justice to cancel all hitherto issued circulars on revolutionary tribunals. It stated that “the revolutionary tribunals are not bound by any restrictions in choosing measures to combat counter-revolution, sabotage and others” (Code of Decrees of the RSFSR, 1918, No. 44, p. 533).
The trial of Shchastny was presided over by metal worker S. Medvedev. He went down in history as one of the participants in the “workers’ opposition”, which in 1922 sent a statement to the executive committee of the Comintern that the leaders of the Bolshevik Party were “fighting against everyone, especially the proletarians, who allow themselves to have their own opinions, and for expressing them in the party sphere.” They are using all sorts of repressive measures.”
But in 1918 Medvedev sat at the judge's table to condemn Shchastny, who allowed him to have his own opinion about the fate of the Baltic Fleet.
THE FATE OF A. M. SHCHASTNY and his family, unfortunately, is tragic, like many of his contemporaries - sailors who glorified Russia. A.N. passed through prisons and camps. Garsoev (the first “Chief Submariner” of Soviet Russia), A.N. Bakhtin (commander of the famous Panther submarine), traces of N.A. Zarubin (who revived the Submarine Forces of Soviet Russia) have not yet been found. All of them were officers of the tsarist navy who honestly took the side of the revolution.
Military career of A.M. Shchastny's career is similar to the career of many naval officers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born on October 4, 1881 into a hereditary noble family of the Volyn province. Orthodox. At the age of 17 he entered the Naval Cadet Corps, in 1901 he was already a midshipman. From the end of 1902 he was sent to the Far East on the squadron battleship Sevastopol. During the Russo-Japanese War he served on the ships of the Port Arthur squadron and took part in combat operations. Japanese captivity ends, and again service in the Baltic.
A. Shchastny met the First World War as a senior officer of the battleship Poltava. In October 1915, he climbed onto the command bridge of the destroyer Pogranichnik. In July 1917, Shchastny was awarded the next rank - captain 1st rank, and his friends predicted admiral's shoulder straps for him.
The October events of 1917 turned another page in the biography of A.M. Shchastny, which turned out to be the last.
In February 1917, no one imagined that after the Manifesto of Emperor Nicholas II on the abdication of the throne, the situation would worsen in the two Russian maritime capitals on the Baltic and Black Sea (Kronstadt and Sevastopol). Ship crews will also take part in the revolutionary revelry. It was necessary to choose which side to take. A. Shchastny was familiar with Admiral A.V. Kolchak, the head of the mine division of the Baltic Fleet, both had a high opinion of each other, both loved Russia and the Fleet. But as subsequent events showed, everyone chose their own path and followed it until their tragic end. A.M. Shchastny was one of those military specialists who responded to the call of the new government and served it faithfully.
THE BALTIC FLEET IS SAVED! Archival documents retrieved decades later from secret storage facilities and memories of witnesses to the events of the spring of 1918 make it possible to restore the whole picture of what happened in these difficult days for the young republic. Her fate literally hung in the balance. Alarming news came both from the front and from Helsingfors, where the main forces of the Baltic Fleet were concentrated in the fall.
In the first ten days of April, a real threat of its capture arose: intelligence reported that the German squadron was already approaching Helsingfors. Early in the morning of April 11, a radio ultimatum was received from the German flagship: “The German command is forced to occupy Helsingfors to protect the interests of Finland today, and not on April 12 at 12 noon. All ships and armed points are asked to raise white and red flags...” The German squadron was convinced that now the Russian fleet will not go anywhere, the trap must slam shut...
From the first days of negotiations in Brest on concluding peace between Germany and Russia, the Baltic Fleet has been the subject of secret plans of the German command. The treaty documents stipulated the withdrawal of all warships to Russian ports or their immediate disarmament. But in fact, the Germans were plotting to capture the Baltic Fleet. “The landing of the Germans in the Ganga,” according to one of the intelligence reports to the Naval General Staff, “has the goal of occupying Helsingfors in the near future in order to prevent Russian military ships from leaving for Kronstadt. Having taken possession of them, in the event of a renewal of the war with Russia, the Germans will look at the ships as war booty, otherwise the ships will be transferred to the Republic of Finland. In any case, the Germans want to put an end to the Russian fleet before the start of navigation in the Gulf of Finland, in order to have complete freedom of action there...”
The enemy expected that in March-April Helsingfors would be cut off from Kronstadt by continuous ice fields with countless piles of hummocks; in such conditions there were not even attempts at crossings. However, when the German squadron approached Helsingfors on the afternoon of April 11, the Germans saw only the smoke of departing Russian ships on the horizon. It was the third (and last) detachment of the fleet that headed for Kronstadt. The path for the caravan of 167 ships, moving in six columns, like the first two detachments that left Helsingfors in mid-March - early April, was cleared by icebreakers. In total, during this campaign, which will go down in the history of the Baltic Fleet under the name “ice”, 211 ships will arrive at the main base. These include 6 battleships, 5 cruisers, 54 destroyers, 12 submarines, 10 minesweepers, 5 minelayers, 15 patrol ships, 14 auxiliary ships, 4 messenger ships, 45 transports, 25 tugboats, one ferry, a lighthouse and 7 yachts. These ships became the basis of the Red Baltic Fleet and a number of flotillas.
One can imagine what feelings the head of the Baltic Fleet forces and the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Alexei Mikhailovich Shchastny, experienced when the ships of the last column approached the Great Kronstadt roadstead. He was appointed to high positions on the recommendation of a member of the Naval Collegium F. Raskolnikov and with the unanimous support of the council of flagships already during the operation. But from the very beginning, even as chief of staff, he carried out its development, and then its practical implementation. All the last weeks, Alexei Mikhailovich lived in great tension, and only now, watching the ships being pulled into the inner harbors, Shchastny could finally breathe a sigh of relief - the Baltic Fleet was saved! He did not know that he would have to command the fleet, which he managed to take away from under the nose of the enemy, for a very short time. In less than a month, he will be arrested right in the office of the People's Commissar of Military Trotsky, he will appear before the court of the Revolutionary Tribunal of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and on the night of June 23, the former commanding officer will be shot as an enemy of the people.
During the trial in the Shchastny case, some of the behind-the-scenes intrigues surrounding the ships of the Baltic Fleet were touched upon by the only witness himself, Leon Trotsky. To be convinced of this, it is enough to carefully read a relatively large part of the transcript of the Revolutionary Tribunal, although here Trotsky created a lot of fog. “In fact, at the most critical moment, representatives of the English Admiralty came to me and asked whether we would take measures to destroy the Baltic Fleet. Behrens and Altvater are well aware of the identity of the English officers. When this issue was raised at a military meeting, Shchastny spoke extremely vaguely about the possibility of destruction. Only after his departure this issue was considered more specifically at the same meeting... At this time, an English officer appeared to one of the members of the board and stated that England was so interested in blowing up our ships that it was ready to pay those sailors who would take on this matter...”
The only thing that could not be established for a long time was the name of the English officer who offered Trotsky sums of money. Studying the case allowed us to answer this question. It is contained in Altvater’s testimony to investigator Kingisepp dated June 5, 1918: “The name of the English officer mentioned in the testimony of L. Trotsky is Commander Cromi - he is an English naval agent.”
Was this not the reason for the reprisal against Shchastny, the “leader and organizer of the Red Army”, that he opposed the sale of the Russian Baltic Fleet to the side or even its destruction?
Kingisepp was ordered by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to carry out investigative actions in the Shchastny case urgently. This issue was specifically considered on May 28 at a meeting of the Presidium of the highest body of Soviet power. The case contains an extract from protocol No. 26 with the following content: “clause 2. About the arrest of the former head of the Baltic naval forces Shchastny (attitude of Comrade Trotsky). Approve the actions of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs, Comrade Trotsky, and instruct Comrade Kingisepp to urgently conduct an investigation and submit his conclusion to the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Signature of the Secretary of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Avanesov.”
From the extract it follows that the only basis for approving the arrest was a letter from L. Trotsky to the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, written on the same day: “Dear comrades. I forward to you with this resolution the arrest of the former head of the Baltic naval forces, Shchastny. He was arrested yesterday and taken to Taganskaya prison. In view of the exceptional state importance of the crimes he committed, it would seem to me absolutely necessary for the Central Election Commission to directly intervene in this matter... With comradely greetings, L. Trotsky.”
Attached to the letter was a copy of the arrest order, in which Trotsky considered it necessary to bring Shchastny to an “extraordinary trial.” But the Soviet government did not have such a trial, especially for a criminal of “exceptional national importance.” Therefore, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee urgently prepared a decree and approved it the next day. Kingisepp carried out the investigative actions in 10 days. The fate of Captain 1st Rank Shchastny was predetermined. The chief investigator of the Soviet Republic, V. Kingisepp, was very efficient, which could not but affect the quality of the investigation. Here, too, we must look for the reason for the vagueness and confusion of the indictment materials.
REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, on June 21, 1918, sentenced to death the head of the naval forces of the Baltic Fleet, captain 1st rank Alexei Mikhailovich Shchastny, accusing him of committing a counter-revolutionary crime. The wording of the charges is vague and vague and does not provide clarity. Only a study of the entire case leads to a certain conclusion: the arrest was made on May 27 in Trotsky’s office, immediately after a stormy explanation between Shchastny and Trotsky. The rear admiral was ruined by the fact that he directly declared the disastrous policy of those who are currently at the head of the fleet. The People's Commissar of the Military Sea boiled, and Shchastny continued to tell the truth: “At present, those officers who remained in the service, realizing that they were present at the agony of the fleet, nevertheless became so accustomed to it that they decided to remain until its complete liquidation, which Apparently it’s already close, so he can fulfill his duty to the end. The tragic situation of this small number of officers, who bear the entire burden of service. It must be duly appreciated by the state and society.” Shchastny’s conclusion about the difficult situation of the Baltic Fleet in 1918 was not far-fetched, and one cannot agree with Trotsky that Shchastny used this circumstance for counter-revolutionary purposes.
The criminal story in the Shchastny case unfolded with amazing speed. Throughout April and part of May, newspapers were full of articles about the legendary “ice crossing” (February - May 1918), when the combat core of the Baltic Fleet was saved, and the courage of its leadership, where A. Shchastny was the main organizer. And here is such a turn - the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs L. Trotsky did not have the right to dismiss by his order A. Shchastny, appointed by decree of the Council of People's Commissars. And even more so, personally arrest him.
Immediately after the verdict in the Shchastny case was announced, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries spoke out against it, joined by the Maximalist Socialist-Revolutionaries.
The verdict is supported by Lenin and Sverdlov. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries Yanushkevich and Verdnikov leave the Supreme Revolutionary Tribunal, and its chairman S. Medvedev at this time gives orders to the head of the duty unit, consisting of Latvians, to carry out the sentence. Alexei Mikhailovich’s dying words were: “Death is not scary to me. I completed my task - I saved the Baltic Fleet.”
Alexey Mikhailovich Shchastny saved the Baltic Fleet twice. The first time - thanks to the art of the strategist (“Ice Crossing”). The second - at the cost of his own life.
For the first time, archival documents on the case of A.M. Shchastny appeared in the open press in 1991 in the magazine “Man and Law” No. 3-4 in the article “The First Death Sentence” by military lawyer Vyacheslav Zvyagintsev. Unfortunately, this was the only publication. DID YOU SERVE WITH CONSCIENCE? GUILTY! Through the efforts of official propaganda over many decades, we were offered a distorted image of a talented and devoted commander to the fleet. In numerous publications about the heroic “ice campaign” of the Baltic Fleet, this strategic operation was assessed as unprecedented, and unfounded accusations were thrown at its immediate developer and leader. Even now, when Alexei Mikhailovich Shchastny has been completely rehabilitated, many continue to believe in the faceless leadership of this operation by the Bolshevik Party, without even knowing the name of the true leader.
Captain I rank Shchastny commanded the Baltic Fleet. Temporarily appointed to this post on March 20, 1918 after the arrest of Admiral A.V. Razvozov, who refused to recognize the Soviet government, Shchastny was confirmed in his new position by the Council of People's Commissars on April 5.
It should be noted that the then People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs, Trotsky, supported this appointment, and Shchastny accepted it reluctantly. As he later explained, “moral motives forced me to take up the task of saving the fleet, with which I had become accustomed for 20 years, with which I survived Port Arthur and then took part in its revival under Admiral Essen.”
Shchastny was born in 1881 in Zhitomir into the family of a hereditary nobleman and general of the tsarist army. He graduated with honors from the Kiev Cadet Corps and the prestigious Naval Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg. For the first time he had the opportunity to participate in military operations in Port Arthur during the Russian-Japanese War, he was awarded high awards.
Short, thin, with a stern but ruggedly handsome face, in 1914 he married a graduate of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, Premskaya-Serdyukova. They had a son and daughter. The February Revolution of 1917 found Shchastny in Helsingfors, where he, along with other naval officers, was arrested by sailors who intended to “settle scores with them.” But when it became clear that Shchastny welcomed the revolution, he was released and returned to his duties at fleet headquarters. In the spring and early summer of 1917, Shchastny was very active in the socialist organization of naval officers at the Helsingfors Council of Deputies of the Army, Navy and Workers. As a Russian patriot who cared especially about the fate of the Baltic Fleet, he was alarmed by the Baltic sailors' slide to the left, which led them to support the anarchists, left Socialist Revolutionaries and Bolsheviks, as well as the defeat of the Provisional Government in October 1917. Nevertheless, Shchastny, who was respected for his professionalism, strong will, devotion to duty, steadfast resistance to any pressure, adapted to the radical changes in the fleet brought by February and October, especially the important role of elected sailor committees in decision-making. Whatever he thought about these changes, Shchastny, unlike many other officers who stood in opposition to the entire committee system, was able to effectively use it in support of his policies in the fleet. As head of the fleet, he rarely made major decisions without prior discussion and approval from the Council of Commissioners of the Baltic Fleet (Sovkombalt) and the Council of Flags. Moreover, he worked closely and fruitfully with Yevgeny Blokhin, the popular, independent-minded chief commissar of the Baltic Fleet, who was at one time a left Socialist Revolutionary.
The year 1918 became for the thirty-seven-year-old commander of the Baltic Fleet - or, as it was then called, the head of the naval forces of the Baltic Sea, "namorsi" - Rear Admiral Alexei Mikhailovich Shchastny, both a year of feat and a year of tragic death.
After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Baltic Fleet, the main forces of which were then located in Helsingfors and Revel, was expected to either be transferred into the hands of Germany or destroyed: Germany insisted on the urgent transfer of the “Brest Trophy” to it, and the British, fearing the strengthening of the Germans, offered to open large bank accounts for those who would blow up Russian ships.
People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs Lev Davydovich Trotsky conceived, without offending the Germans, to outwit the British - i.e. simulate the explosion of ships and get money from the British, while the Germans will be able to put the ships back into service. However, Shchastny openly reported the People's Commissar's tricks to the Council of Commissioners and Fleet Flag Officers. The sailors were indignant: “We get an eighth of bread, and the destroyers of the fleet get deposits in banks?!” The Board of Commissioners issued a resolution: “There will be no corruption in our fleet!” - and Trotsky’s reputation in the Baltic was greatly damaged.
Alexey Shchastny, a graduate of the Naval Corps and a participant in the war with Japan, understood better than others that the fleet must be immediately saved, and decided to take the ships to Kronstadt. Having agreed on it with Tsentrobalt (but not with Trotsky), the commander on March 12 organized the departure of the first detachment of ships from Helsingfors - four battleships and three cruisers, accompanied by two icebreakers. The transition took place in extremely difficult conditions: the ice thickness reached 75 centimeters, the height of the hummocks was from three to five meters. Ships with undermanned crews were fired upon from Lavensari and other Finnish islands...
At the beginning of April, Shchastny sent a second detachment of ships to Kronstadt, and then a third detachment left Helsingfors for Kronstadt, along with which the admiral left.
The legendary Ice Crossing entered the history of the Baltic Fleet. 236 ships were saved, which soon played an important role in the defeat of the invaders.
Although People's Commissar Trotsky called the operation carried out by Shchastny “skillful and energetic,” he could not forget and forgive the one who “punished” him so sensitively. After waiting until the wave of admiration for the Ice Campaign had subsided somewhat, he began to act. Finding fault with the fact that Shchastny did not immediately dismiss from the fleet two sailors suspected of counter-revolutionary activities, Lev Davydovich on May 27, 1918 summoned him to the People's Commissariat for a board meeting. Having secured the support of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in advance, Trotsky arrested the rear admiral right in his office and handed him over to the immediately created Revolutionary Tribunal. At the tribunal meeting, the People's Commissar simultaneously acted as both a witness and an accuser. As a result, the Russian officer was accused not only of preparing a counter-revolutionary coup and treason, but also of having connections with the German General Staff. The death penalty in the Soviet Republic was abolished in those days, but Rear Admiral Shchastny was sentenced to death... Alexander Mikhailovich was shot at dawn on June 22, 1918 - in the courtyard of the former Alexander Junker School, and his name was forgotten until 1995, when the former Namorsi of the Baltic Sea was completely rehabilitated.
The longest day of the year... June 22... But not exactly four hours, but 4.40. Dawn begins to break over the Kremlin. A Chinese firing squad is lined up in the park of the Alexander Military School. As you know, the Bolshevik government at the dawn of its existence was guarded by the Chinese...
In front of the executioners, with an imperturbable look, stands another young sailor - captain of the 1st rank. The reddening sun in the east is reflected for the last time in the determined eyes. The captain took off his white cap, raised it to his heart, and said to the executioners:
Aim here!
The condemned captain's name was Alexei Mikhailovich Shchastny, and his crime against the Soviet regime was that he saved the Baltic Fleet from capture by Germany or destruction, for which England offered a lot of money.
Alexey Shchastny was born in Zhitomir in 1881. His father served in the artillery and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. Alexey chose maritime affairs. He graduated from the Marine Corps second in academic performance.
His first war was the Russo-Japanese War, where he distinguished himself in repelling attacks by Japanese destroyers on June 10-11, when shelling enemy ground forces on June 26, and in the battle with the Japanese fleet in the Yellow Sea on July 28, 1904. For his valor, the young officer was awarded the Order Saint Anne 3rd degree with swords and bow. The commander of the cruiser “Diana”, on which midshipman Shchastny was then serving, A. A. Lieven characterized his subordinate as follows: “... with his cheerfulness, quick management, presence of mind... he showed combat abilities that are difficult to expect in his youth... This is a high-quality combat officer , he served well in ordinary times, but not every soldier in peacetime turns out to be at the height of his calling in battle, like him.”
In 1906-1909 Alexey Mikhailovich taught radiotelegraphy to the Mine officer class. One of the graduates of this class, G. K. Graf, calls him in his memoirs “an outstanding teacher.”
The Great War finds Shchastny in the Baltic, where he served as senior officer of the battleship Poltava with the rank of captain 2nd rank. Since 1916, he received command of the destroyer Border Guard.
After the February Revolution, Alexei Mikhailovich, like many officers, pursued only one goal - to preserve the fleet and bring the war to victory. After the Bolsheviks came to power, he, promoted to captain of the 1st rank in the summer, remained in the post of flag captain for the administrative part of the headquarters of the Commander of the Baltic Sea Fleet. He could not leave his combat post while the war was still going on. In addition, Shchastny enjoyed the general respect of the fleet, not excluding the sailors, which even revolutionary madness could not change.
In January 1918, Alexey Mikhailovich was appointed 1st assistant to the head of the military department of Tsentrobalt and de facto commanded the Baltic Fleet.
The conclusion of the obscene Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by the Bolsheviks put the Baltic Fleet in a desperate situation. The treaty documents stipulated the withdrawal of all warships to Russian ports or their immediate disarmament. But in fact, the Germans were plotting to capture the Baltic Fleet. “The landing of the Germans in the Ganga,” according to one of the intelligence reports to the Naval General Staff, “has the goal of occupying Helsingfors in the near future in order to prevent Russian military ships from leaving for Kronstadt. Having taken possession of them, in the event of a renewal of the war with Russia, the Germans will look at the ships as war booty, otherwise the ships will be transferred to the Republic of Finland. In any case, the Germans want to put an end to the Russian fleet before the start of navigation in the Gulf of Finland, in order to have complete freedom of action there...”
Later, at a meeting of the Revolutionary Tribunal in the Shchastny case, the main “witness” and accuser of captain Trotsky accused him of the fact that “when at a meeting of the Air Force certain proposals were put forward in order to streamline the international relations of the Baltic Fleet, having clarified first of all the issue of the demarcation line, Shchastny rejected these proposals "
“Voenmor” demanded that the commander establish a certain “demarcation line,” which clearly did not correspond even to the humiliating official borders that were drawn by the Germans in Brest. According to this requirement, the Germans had to cross Fort Ino, which, together with forts Krasnaya Gorka and Gray Horse, was the center of the last defensive position on the immediate approaches to Kronstadt and Petrograd. After the surrender of Gangut and Revel, leaving Fort Ino was impossible for Shchastny.
When the Finns, together with the Germans, approached the fort, Alexey Mikhailovich voluntarily sent a detachment of Admiral Zeleny, consisting of the cruiser “Oleg” and other ships, to defend it. Having made sure that there was no defense on land from Petrograd, Shchastny again, on his own initiative, ordered to blow up this fort so that it would not become a base for an attack from the Karelian Isthmus on Kronstadt and Petrograd. On May 14, 1918, the fort was blown up by Rear Admiral Zeleny. Trotsky called this step “untimely”...
Apparently, part of the secret agreements between the Bolsheviks and the Germans was the transfer of the Baltic Fleet to the latter. Shchastny had documents in his hands that directly testified “to the secret connection of the Soviet government with the German headquarters.” Alexey Mikhailovich will take these papers to Moscow, where he will be summoned for a report and where he will be arrested...
The Germans were convinced that the ice was reliably blocking Russian ships in Helsingfors. The British thought so too, offering to pay well if the Russian fleet was blown up. One person unexpectedly stood in the way of treacherous plans, paid for by both opponents and “allies” - Alexei Shchastny.
To save the fleet, he made a dangerous, but the only right decision - to take the squadron to Kronstadt, clearing the way with icebreakers. Such an undertaking in the early spring was very risky. The ships could be covered in ice and destroyed by the enemy from the air. It should be recalled that in 1918, revolutionary “discipline” had long reigned in the navy and army in general. And the commander’s order was by no means always subject to execution, but had to receive the approval of the lower ranks.
But such was the influence of Alexei Mikhailovich that the general meeting of the fleet expressed “unlimited confidence” in him. Moreover, the sailors decided to “transfer power over Petrograd to the commander of the fleet.” Could a man whose authority could easily elevate him to dictatorship survive under Bolshevik rule?
From April 7 to 11, on the orders of Shchastny, 45 destroyers, three destroyers, ten submarines, five minelayers, six minesweepers, eleven patrol ships, and 81 auxiliary vessels left Helsingfors for Kronstadt. When the commander on the headquarters ship "Krechet" was the last to leave his native harbor, battles were already taking place on the approaches to the city with the advancing German troops. Helsingfors was taken on April 14. And on the 20th, the Baltic Fleet, without losing a single ship, arrived on the shores of Kronstadt.
This unprecedented feat received the name “Ice Campaign” in history.
A month later, the creator of this glorious deed was arrested on Trotsky’s personal order in his own office as the People’s Commissar, who brought the following accusation against Alexei Mikhailovich: “Shchastny persistently and steadily deepened the gap between the fleet and Soviet power. Spreading panic, he invariably put forward his candidacy for the role of savior. The vanguard of the conspiracy - the officers of the mine division - openly put forward the slogan “dictatorship of the fleet.”
Officially, the death penalty in the “young Soviet republic” was abolished at that time. But Trotsky, who acted as the main accuser at the revolutionary tribunal, achieved the death penalty for the captain who dared to oppose him. The death penalty was reinstated in the USSR on the eve of the announcement of the verdict. Lenin and Sverdlov supported this verdict. And how could it be otherwise? The Bolsheviks did not need another similar precedent that would violate their deal with Germany. It won’t exist... Unlike the Baltic, the fate of the glorious Black Sea Fleet was more deplorable. Part of it was flooded, and part passed into the hands of the Germans, who occupied Sevastopol. On August 27, 1918, during the exchange of secret notes between the German and Soviet governments regarding the remaining ships, it was recognized that Russian ships could, if necessary, be used by the Germans for military purposes...
“In the name of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the Revolutionary Tribunal of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers', Peasants', Soldiers' and Cossacks' Deputies, having heard in open sessions on June 20 and 21, 1918 and considered the case against the former head of the naval forces of the Baltic Fleet, Gr. Alexei Mikhailovich Shchastny, 37 years old, recognized as proven that he, Shchastny, consciously and clearly prepared the conditions for a counter-revolutionary coup d'etat, seeking through his activities to restore the sailors of the fleet and their organizations against the decrees and orders approved by the Council of People's Commissars and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. To this end, taking advantage of the grave and alarming state of the fleet, in connection with the possible need, in the interests of the revolution, for the destruction of it and the Kronstadt fortresses, he conducted counter-revolutionary agitation in the Council of Fleet Commissioners and in the Council of Flag Officers: either by presenting provocative documents among them, obviously forged, about the Soviet government allegedly having a secret agreement with the German command on the destruction of the fleet or on its surrender to the Germans, which false documents were taken from him during the search...” - this was stated in the verdict of the revolutionary tribunal. And this test is a direct indictment not of Shchastny, but of his murderers.
Before his execution, Alexey Mikhailovich consoled his lawyer in a letter, thanking him for everything he had done for him. “Death is not scary to me,” he wrote. “I completed my task - I saved the Baltic Fleet.” “In a revolution, people must die courageously,” the captain’s suicide note said. “Before I die, I bless my children Lev and Galina, and when they grow up, I ask you to tell them that I am going to die courageously, as befits a Christian.”
And, behold, the scarlet reflections of the awakening star... Chinese rifles, made for a salvo...
Aim here!
The widow of Captain Shchastny will beg to give her her husband's body for burial, but she will never know where he found his final resting place.
Apparently, Alexei Mikhailovich was secretly buried in an unmarked Mass Grave near the village of Vsekhsvyatskoye, which is located on the territory of the All-Russian Military Fraternal Cemetery of Heroes of the First World War, where the Memorial Park is now located near the Leningrad cinema, near the Church of All Saints on Sokol. Along the brick fence of the Fraternal Cemetery there were nameless ditches and graves, in which, starting in 1918, people who were shot in Moscow were buried.
Maybe one day a memorial plaque will appear in this corner of the capital with the following message: “Captain 1st Rank Alexey Mikhailovich Shchastny. Russian hero, participant in two wars, brilliant naval officer. Shot by the Bolsheviks for saving the Baltic Fleet."
E. Fedorova
for Russian Strategy
