Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (Russian:Михаил Васильевич Фрунзе;Romanian:Mihail Frunză; 2 February 1885 – 31 October 1925) was a Soviet revolutionary, politician, army officer andmilitary theorist.
Frunze died in 1925 fromchloroform poisoning during surgery for a chroniculcer.[1][2][3] It has been alleged that Frunze was assassinated byJoseph Stalin, who arranged the surgery.[4] He was buried in theKremlin Wall Necropolis. The capital of theKirghiz SSR and his birthplace, Pishpek (modernBishkek), was renamed after him from 1926 until 1991. TheFrunze Military Academy, one of the most prestigious military educational institutions in the Soviet Union, was also named in his honour.
Two years after the Second Congress, Frunze became an important leader in the1905 Revolution. He led strikingtextile workers inShuya andIvanovo. Following the end of the movement, Frunze was arrested in 1907 andsentenced to death; he was imprisoned and spent several months ondeath row awaiting his execution.[9] His sentence was commuted to life athard labour. After 10 years inSiberian prisons, Frunze escaped toChita. There he became editor of the Bolshevik weekly newspaperVostochnoe Obozrenie (Eastern Review).
During theFebruary Revolution of 1917, Frunze headed theMinsk civilianmilitia before his election as president of theByelorussianSoviet. He later went toMoscow and led an armed force of workers to aid in the struggle for control of the city.
Frunze's support ofGrigory Zinoviev was enough to attract the unwelcome attention ofJoseph Stalin, one of Zinoviev's chief opponents. They had previously been on good terms, as Stalin had displayed respect towards his fellow "old guard" revolutionary and former prisoner.[10]
Frunze had been noted among communist leaders as possessing a very creative and almost unorthodox view on matters of implementation and policy. He gained the respect and admiration of his comrades thanks to his successful pursuit of complicated military objectives, and his endurance during the period when the Communist party was illegal. He had been considered as a potential successor to Lenin, due to his strength in both theoretical and practical matters of advancing the Communist party agenda, and his seeming lack of personal ambition separate from the party.[10]
Frunze suffered from a chroniculcer. Although doctors recommended surgery, he favoured more conservative treatments. After an especially severe episode in 1925, Frunze was hospitalised. Stalin andAnastas Mikoyan both came to visit him, and impressed on him the need for an operation.[11]
Not long before his death, Frunze wrote to his wife: "At present I am feeling absolutely healthy, and it seems ridiculous to even think of, and even more-so to undergo an operation. Nevertheless, both party representatives are requiring it."[12]
Frunze died during surgery on 31 October 1925. Given the internecine politics, there were rumours that Stalin had secretly ordered his death.[13] Dr Ochkin administered a multiple overdose of ether and chloroform to Frunze, apparently on Stalin's instructions.[14] Several historians have attributed his death tochloroform poisoning,[15][16][17] in which the surgery had been arranged by Stalin.[18]
Historian Roman Brackman argued that Frunze had refused to support Stalin in his conflict with his political opposition. Brackman also noted that Stalin was in charge of supervising the medical care of senior Soviet officials and ignored warnings from Frunze's physician that the administration of a chloroform would be fatal for Frunze.[19]
Similarly,Trotskyist historianVadim Rogovin wrote that Stalin ordered the consultation of specially chosen doctors, who recommended surgical intervention. Rogovin explained that this decision was made in spite of the fact that previous doctors had refused to recommend an operation because Frunze may not have been able to withstand chloroform due to his weak heart. Rogovin also cited the memoirs ofAnna Larina which referenced the testimony of Frunze's mother who believed that Stalin removed Frunze because he "had acknowledged Trotsky's authority until very recently and treated him with great respect".[20]Boris Bazhanov, Stalin's secretary, suggested that Stalin had Frunze poisoned and "had an infinite number of ways to poison Trotsky" before proceeding to bury him in Red Square "with pomp and ceremonious speeches".[21]
A 26 October 2010 article inIzvestiya reported that Frunze had been administered achloroform dose that exceeded the normal dose by sevenfold.[11]
In 1926, the capital city ofBishkek,Kyrgyzstan, was renamedFrunze in his honour. It reverted to its former name in 1991, after dissolution of the Soviet Union. Frunze is still commemorated in the city: his equestrian statue stands in front of the main railway station. A street and a museum in the centre of the city are named after him. In addition, the museum contains his childhood home, a cottage that was installed inside a larger modern structure. IATA code for Bishkek'sManas International Airport is FRU, which stands for Frunze, the city's longtime name.
After his death, the first name for boys Frunzik (roughly "Little Frunze") became quite popular in the Caucusus and Soviet Turkestan. The most notable of these is probablyFrunzik Mkrtchyan.[23]
General Frunze is also honoured with a place right behindAtatürk, in the Monument of the Republic, located at the heart of Taksim Square, inIstanbul, Turkey.
Frunze is remembered by some for his military doctrine.[24][25] One author even ranks him next toClausewitz.[26]
Boris Pilnyak's story "The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon" was based on Frunze's death. His death also forms the central element of the first two chapters ofVasily Aksyonov's novelGenerations of Winter.
Marxist activistTariq Ali featured Frunze in his 2017 biography of Vladimir Lenin,The Dilemmas of Lenin. Ali portrays Frunze as a significant figure in developing the military tactics of the Red Army during the civil war. He emphasizes Frunze's concept of Marxist military tactics, which strongly influenced Soviet military organization.[27]
"All that we do, every action, should correspond to the highest ideals of the Revolution."
"TheRed Army was created by the workers and peasants and is led by the will of theworking class. That will is being carried out by the united Communist Party."
^(in Russian) M.V. Frunze,Autobiography, 1921 from М.В. Фрунзе: Военная и политическая деятельность, М.: Воениздат, 1984, hosted atMilitera project[permanent dead link]
^Триумф и Трагедия – И. В. Сталин: политический портрет. (Triumph and Tragedy – I. V. Stalin : A Political Portrait) Дмитрий Волкогонов (Dmitri Volkogonov). Book 1, Part 1, p. 127 Новости Publications. Moscow. 1989.
^abТриумф и Трагедия – И. В. Сталин: политический портрет. (Triumph and Tragedy – I. V. Stalin : A Political Portrait) Дмитрий ВолкогоновDmitri Volkogonov. Book 1, Part 1, p. 127 Новости Publications. Moscow. 1989.
^Триумф и Трагедия – И. В. Сталин: политический портрет. (Triumph and Tragedy – I. V. Stalin : A Political Portrait) Дмитрий ВолкогоновDmitri Volkogonov. Book 1, Part 1, p. 128 Новости Publications. Moscow. 1989.
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