04/25/1928. - Died in Brussels (probably poisoned) White General Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel

Wrangel:
"To preserve the honor of the entrusted army of the Russian banner"

Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel (August 15, 1878–April 25, 1928) was born in the city of Novo-Aleksandrovsk, Kovno province, into a noble family of barons of an old Ostsee family, in which military service was the main occupation. In the Russian service, the Wrangels reached the highest military ranks in the reign and. But his father, Nikolai Georgievich, did not choose a military career, but became the director of an insurance company in Rostov-on-Don. Peter spent his childhood and youth in this city.

Having graduated from the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg in 1900, young Wrangel was also very far from a military career. After graduating from the institute, he underwent compulsory military service as a volunteer of the 1st category in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. Having risen to the rank of standard junker and having passed the test for the rank of cornet, he was enrolled in the reserve of the guards cavalry in 1902. Receiving the first officer rank and serving in one of the oldest regiments of the guard changed his attitude towards a military career.

For an overview of the main stages of the White movement and the reasons for its defeat, see the book.

Discussion: 33 comments

Thank you for your work!

Thank you! We must not forget our warriors of the Spirit! And our children will not forget....

A real Officer ....... now there would be more of these ...

It is very important for our people not to forget our heroes. after all, there is no future for the people who do not know their past .....

The elite of the Russian people was brought up, grown up for centuries. The nobles cherished the honor of their family and it is rare in history to find any sort of family where there would be many scoundrels and traitors. For the most part, the nobility chose military service, and the concepts of Honor and Motherland were sacred to him. Tragedy civil war in that each side fought for its own truth and its own Russia. Baron Wrangel was a patriot and hero of his Russia

Thank you, this is exciting and we should not forget it not when, it would be done for us for the sake of our future. Vet so many people died for our freedom and we must remember this.

Thank you for helping me prepare my report!

Eternal memory and the Kingdom of Heaven to the Russian hero-commander Baron Wrangel, who up to the last defended the honor of his Motherland from desecration.

I liked Pts but not that (((But Pts interns)))

I advise you to completely reread the Memoirs of P.N. Wrangel!!!

I read it. There were more questions than answers. I read it this topic after a brief conversation with Father Alexander.

General Wrangel is a faithful son of Russia, and remained faithful to her to the end. His feat, his service to the Motherland, is to this day an example for all patriots of Russia. God rest the soul of your servant Peter, and forgive him all his sins, voluntary and involuntary, and grant him the Kingdom of Heaven!

Interesting, but the material was done too neglected, but +++++++

the article is, of course, healthy, there is no information on economics and finance, because any army is huge costs for supplies, so it would be interesting to know how much and what was sold in absentia to the Entente for armament and food supply for the volunteer army? even if Ukraine and the Caucasus were granted independence, then I’m even afraid to imagine what the Western “allies” “grabbed”, I read somewhere that Wrangel sold Russian to some French bank railways, is it true?

But I read somewhere that all Marxists come from monkeys. Is it true?

One of the outstanding people in the history of Russia, whose family, like himself, put the service to the fatherland above all else! his main character traits are valor, honor, pride, incorruptibility and courage, which he shared with his soldiers! during the years of the civil war, he went over to the side of the white movement and did everything possible so that Bolshevism was defeated! during the war years, I admire the feat of his wife, who cared for ordinary soldiers of the white army, who was always next to her husband. many said about him that he was noble and could sit at the same table with ordinary soldiers and was like a father to them! at the time of the white occupation zone, in which Crimea was located, people did not starve there, under the rule of Wrangel, the white Crimea was prosperous, there was a real market economy and democracy in the most positive respects! but a tragedy happened and the Reds defeated the Whites, alas, and oh, we are mired in terror and famine with the collective farms, which the Bolshevik government arranged for us, claiming millions of lives and instilling fear in the people! if the whites had won, it seems to me that Hitler would hardly have attacked us, since the white army is the heirs of the RIA and there would be strong philanthropic power and smart military leaders like Suvorov, Kutuzov, Ushakov, Yudenich, Wrangel, Kolchak, Nakhimov, that is great heirs of the imperial martial art, smart and strong in strategy and tactics!

In order not to speak gag, I will present a slightly different view of the famous scientist and historiographer, who also has admirers of his talent, as a respected MVN.
And to believe or not to believe in the "holy cause of the white movement" is everyone's business.
Here is an interesting opinion (of course, if censorship allows):
"strategically, the Reds, thanks to the cooperation former leaders Imperial Headquarters, incomparably superior to the "whites".
"If we look at the composition of the Wrangel government, we will see in it such personalities as the legal Marxist Freemason P. B. Struve, the former Minister of Agriculture, the large Freemason A. V. Krivoshein. Krivoshein was Wrangel's head of government, and Struve was in fact the Minister of Foreign Affairs The Minister of Finance of Wrangel was the former Minister of Finance of the Provisional Government, Mason M.V. whose name is for some reason associated with monarchism and right-wing radicalism. V. A. Maklakov wrote on October 21, 1920 in a letter to B. A. Bakhmetyev that Wrangel had no ideology at all “and if skeptics, undermining Wrangel, reproach him restoration plans, they were deeply mistaken in essence.
"And these are Kornilov's statements: "I believe that the coup that has taken place in Russia is a sure guarantee of our victory over the enemy. Only a free Russia, having thrown off the yoke of the old regime, can emerge victorious from the real world struggle."
Author: Petr Multatuli

Name: Wrangel Petr Nikolaevich

State: Russian empire

Field of activity: Army

Greatest achievement: The struggle for autocracy against the Red Army. General

Baron Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel was born on August 27, 1878 in a family of German Russified aristocrats in Novoaleksandrovka.

First he was educated at the Rostov real school. Then in 1901 he graduated from the Mining University in St. Petersburg, choosing engineering as his specialty. However, the young aristocrat did not forget about the military career either. In the same year, Peter volunteered for the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. The following year, Wrangel is selected for a prestigious educational institution - a cavalry school in the capital of Russia and continues his academic path as a reserve lieutenant.

Participated in the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War.

Wrangel adjoins the White Guard, fighting for the preservation of the old order. He leads the cavalry corps and launches successful attacks on the soldiers of the Red Army.

In February 1920, Pyotr Nikolaevich officially resigned and left with his family (his wife Olga and four children - Peter, Natalya, Elena and Alexei) to Constantinople (Istanbul).

As a state, there were both advantages and disadvantages. However, these are the realities of many countries. However, a huge plus for Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was an excellent military education - not only the children of aristocrats, but also mere mortals (with talent) were able to make a dizzying career in the military field. After the revolutionary upheavals of 1917, someone went over to the side of the new, Soviet government, while someone wished to fight for the autocracy to the end. One of these fighters was Pyotr Wrangel, the legendary "black baron" (he was nicknamed so for form style in clothes - a black Cossack Circassian).

The beginning of the way

Baron Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel was born on August 27, 1878 in a family of German Russified aristocrats in Novoaleksandrovka (now the territory of Lithuania). His family tree dates back to the 13th century, the ancestors of Peter Nikolayevich lived in Estonia, Sweden, Russia, were glorious sailors, military figures.

His father, Nikolai Wrangel, was a famous antiques collector and writer. Military service did not bypass him either (according to the law of that time, all aristocrats had to serve - for this one could receive various benefits from the state).

It is not surprising that with such a family biography, Petya decided to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. First he was educated at the Rostov real school. Then in 1901 he graduated from the Mining University in St. Petersburg, choosing engineering as his specialty. However, the young aristocrat did not forget about the military career either. In the same year, Peter volunteered for the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. The following year, Wrangel is selected for a prestigious educational institution - a cavalry school in the capital of Russia and continues his academic path as a reserve lieutenant.

For the first time, Peter is given time to show his knowledge and skills. If before 1904 Wrangel hesitated whether to give preference military service or switch to something else, then with the outbreak of a military conflict with Japan, he makes the final decision to connect his life with the army. He enters (again as a volunteer) in military unit Cossack regiment in Transbaikalia. For courage and valor in battles, he was presented with awards - the medals of St. Stanislav and St. Anna, and he also received award weapons.

In 1907 he was presented to the tsar. Pyotr Nikolaevich had already been promoted to the rank of lieutenant and transferred to his regiment, from where he began his service, simultaneously continuing to improve his knowledge in military affairs and combat technology.

Participation in the First World War

Of course, few of the prominent military leaders want to put into practice the knowledge gained in educational institutions. But the beginning of the 20th century gave many of them a chance to prove themselves in battle. In 1914, one of the most terrible pages in world history began -. Naturally, such a prominent officer as P.N. Wrangel, could not pass by. He held the rank of captain and commanded a squadron. Already from the first weeks of the war, it became clear that Wrangel was a born warrior - he managed to capture a German battery, for which he was assigned to one of the highest military awards and received the rank of colonel.

The subsequent service of Wrangel is again associated with the Trans-Baikal Cossack Regiment. It is worth saying that the rise of Peter Nikolayevich through the ranks was long. But well-deserved. He then and with blood proved that he is worthy of each of the medals and orders issued to him. On the battlefields, according to the memoirs of compatriots and colleagues, Wrangel was distinguished by incredible courage. Of course, he could not help but take part in the legendary (or Lutsk breakthrough, as it is sometimes called) - at that time Peter was on the Southwestern Front. 1917 was marked by new awards. A new rank was also granted - major general.

Wrangel in the Crimea. Participation in the Civil War

In some matters, Wrangel behaved like a true aristocrat. This also applied to autocracy. He was one of the few military leaders who spoke negatively about the Soviet regime and met the revolution of 1917 with hostility. remembered it. They never forgave offenses (just remember further history young and struggle for power). After victory October revolution Wrangel retired from the army and went to the Crimea, where he lived in his mansion in Yalta. The first wave of police came here to arrest Pyotr Nikolayevich. True, he was not detained for a long time and was soon released.

This event further strengthened Wrangel's hatred of the Bolsheviks and the Soviet regime. He decides to start the fight. How? In a known way- war. Just during this period, the Civil War begins in Russia, and Wrangel joins the White Guard, fighting to preserve the old order. He leads a cavalry corps and launches successful attacks on the soldiers. In 1919 he became commander of the Caucasian Army in southern Russia. Soon, the city of Volgograd (former Tsaritsyn) is in the hands of the army.

The defeat of Wrangel's army

His boss was the notorious Anton Denikin, with whom Wrangel had conflicts. proposed to send all forces to Moscow as soon as possible, while Wrangel insisted on advancing along the border of the city. In addition, this would give a chance to combine their forces with units. And then the White Guard would become invincible. However, Denikin rejected Wrangel's proposal and removed him from military service, despite the fact that Wrangel was right. Further battles with the Red Army proved this, but nothing can be corrected. In February 1920, Pyotr Nikolaevich officially resigned and left with his family (his wife Olga and four children - Peter, Natalya, Elena and Alexei) to Constantinople (Istanbul).

Emigration and death

Since 1921, Wrangel lived in Serbia, then moved to Brussels, where he worked in a direct specialty - an engineer. The civil war in Russia was still going on, and Pyotr Nikolaevich did not forget his homeland and led the white movement from afar. In 1928, he suddenly fell ill with tuberculosis and died. His death gave rise to rumors that it was the Bolsheviks who poisoned the former baron. Like it or not, we will never know. And Wrangel himself was buried in Brussels, but a year later he was transported to Belgrade and reburied in Orthodox Church Holy Trinity.

Pyotr Nikolaevich until the last believed in the victory of the White Army over the hated Bolsheviks. He was respected by the soldiers, he taught his subordinates to discipline and severely punished the guilty. Even when it became clear in 1920 that he would win, Wrangel took command of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia and continued the fight. He proposed to create in Crimea a new democratic state with freedom and a well-functioning economic mechanism. However, his dreams were not destined to come true, and the baron soon gave the order to evacuate from the Crimea. Who knows, maybe the history of the Civil War would have turned differently if Denikin had listened to the advice of the Black Baron. But history does not know the subjunctive mood.

Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel - white general, commander in chief armed forces South of Russia, and then the Russian army. Wrangel was born on August 15, 1878 in Novoaleksandrovsk, Kovno province (now Zarasai, Lithuania), and died on April 25, 1928 in Brussels.

Pyotr Wrangel before the Civil War - briefly

Wrangel came from a family of Baltic Germans who had lived in Estonia since the thirteenth century and were possibly of Low Saxon origin. Other branches of this surname settled in Sweden, Prussia and Russia in the 16th-18th centuries, and after 1920 in the USA, France and Belgium. Several representatives of the Wrangel family distinguished themselves in the service of the Swedish, Prussian kings and Russian tsars.

Wrangel first studied at the St. Petersburg Mining Institute, where in 1901 he received an engineering degree. But he abandoned the engineering profession and in 1902 passed the exam at the Nikolaev cavalry school(St. Petersburg), having received the title of cornet. In 1904-1905 Wrangel took part in Russo-Japanese War.

In 1910 Pyotr Nikolaevich graduated from the Nikolaev Guards Academy. In 1914, at the beginning First World War, he was a captain of the horse guard and distinguished himself in the very first battles, capturing a German battery near Kaushen with a fierce attack on August 23. October 12, 1914 Wrangel was promoted to colonel and one of the first officers received the Order of St. George, 4th degree.

In October 1915, Pyotr Nikolaevich was sent to the Southwestern Front. He took command of the 1st Nerchinsk Regiment of Transbaikal Cossacks, with whom he participated in Brusilov breakthrough 1916.

Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel

In 1917, Wrangel became commander of the 2nd brigade of the Ussuri Cossack division. In March 1917, he was one of the few military leaders who advocated sending troops to Petrograd to restore the broken February Revolution order. Wrangel rightly believed that abdication of NicholasII will not only not improve the situation in the country, but worsen it.

But Wrangel did not belong to the highest army command, and no one listened to him. provisional government, who did not like the mood of Peter Nikolaevich, achieved his resignation. Wrangel left with his family for the Crimea.

Wrangel in the Civil War - briefly

At his dacha in Yalta, Wrangel was soon arrested by the Bolsheviks. Pyotr Nikolaevich was obliged to save his life by his wife, who begged the communists to spare him. Having received his freedom, Wrangel remained in the Crimea until the arrival of German troops, who temporarily stopped the Bolshevik terror. Having learned about the aspiration of the hetman Skoropadsky to restore state power, Peter Nikolaevich went to Kyiv to meet with him. Frustrated by the Ukrainian nationalists surrounding Skoropadsky and his dependence on the Germans, Wrangel traveled to the Kuban, where he joined General Denikin in September 1918. He instructed him to bring to order one Cossack division that was on the verge of rebellion. Wrangel managed not only to calm these Cossacks, but also to create a highly disciplined part of them.

Wrangell. The path of the Russian general. Film one

In the winter of 1918-1919, at the head of the Caucasian Army, he occupied the entire basin of the Kuban and Terek, Rostov-on-Don, and in June 1919 took Tsaritsyn. Wrangel's quick victories confirmed his talents in the conduct of the Civil War. He tried in every possible way to limit the inevitable violence in her conditions, severely punishing robbers and marauders in his units. Despite the severity, he enjoyed great respect among the soldiers.

In March 1920, the White Army suffered new losses and barely managed to cross from the Kuban to the Crimea. Denikin was now loudly blamed for the defeat and was left with no choice but to resign. On April 4, Wrangel participated in Sevastopol in the council of white generals, which gave him the powers of command. The White forces received a new name - the "Russian Army". At its head, Wrangel continued the fight against the Bolsheviks in southern Russia.

Wrangel, tried to find a solution not only to the military, but also to the political problems of Russia. He believed in a republic with a strong executive power and a competent ruling class. He created a provisional republican government in the Crimea, trying to win over to his side the people of the whole country, who were disappointed with the Bolshevik regime. Wrangel's political program included the slogans of transferring land to those who cultivate it and providing job security for the poor.

White government of southern Russia, 1920. Pyotr Wrangel sits in the center

Although the British stopped helping the White movement, Wrangel reorganized his army, which at that moment numbered no more than 25,000 armed soldiers. The Bolshevik Council of People's Commissars entered the war with Pilsudski's Poland, and Pyotr Nikolaevich hoped that this distraction of the Red forces would help him gain a foothold in the Crimea and go on the counteroffensive.

On April 13, the first attack of the Reds on the Isthmus of Perekop was easily repulsed by the Whites. Wrangel himself staged an attack, managed to reach Melitopol and capture Tavria (the region adjacent to the Crimea from the north).

The defeat of the whites and the evacuation from the Crimea - briefly

In July 1920, Wrangel repelled a new Bolshevik offensive, but in September the end of active hostilities with Poland allowed the communists to move huge reinforcements to the Crimea. The number of red troops was 100,000 infantry and 33,600 cavalry. The ratio of forces became four to one in favor of the Bolsheviks, and Wrangel knew this well. The Whites left Tavria and retreated beyond the Perekop Isthmus.

The first offensive of the Red Army was stopped on October 28, but Wrangel understood that it would soon resume with greater force. He began to prepare for the evacuation of troops and civilians who were ready to go to a foreign land. November 7, 1920 Frunze's red forces broke into the Crimea. While the general's troops Alexandra Kutepova somehow restrained the enemy pressure, Wrangel proceeded to board people on ships in five ports of the Black Sea. In three days, he managed to evacuate 146 thousand people, including 70 thousand soldiers seated on 126 ships. The French Mediterranean Fleet sent the battleship Waldeck-Rousseau to help with the evacuation. Refugees went to Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria. Among the evacuees were many public figures, intellectuals, scientists. Most of the soldiers found a temporary refuge in Turkish Gallipoli, and then in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Among those Russian emigrants who chose France, many settled in Boulogne-Billancourt. There they worked on the conveyors of the Renault plant and lived in barracks that were previously occupied by the Chinese.

Wrangel himself settled in Belgrade. At first, he remained at the head of the emigrant participants in the white movement and organized them into Russian All-Military Union (ROVS). In November 1924, Wrangel abandoned the supreme leadership of the ROVS in favor of the Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich.

Wrangel with his wife Olga, Russian spiritual, civil and military figures in Yugoslavia, 1927

The death of Wrangel - briefly

In September 1927 Wrangel moved to Brussels, where he worked as an engineer. He died suddenly on April 25, 1928 due to a strange infection with tuberculosis. The family of Peter Nikolaevich believed that he was poisoned by the brother of his servant, who was an agent GPU.

At the urgent request of Russian emigrants in Serbia and Vojvodina, Wrangel was reburied in the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity in Belgrade (October 6, 1929). He left memoirs.

Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel was married to Olga Mikhailovna Ivanenko (1886, St. Petersburg - 1968 New York). They had four children (Natalya, Elena, Petr Alexey).

"Black Baron" Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel - pages of life. P. N. Wrangel was born in 1878 in the city of Novoaleksandrovsk (now Kaunas) in the family of a very famous and ancient family, which gave Europe 7 field marshals and admirals (among them F. Wrangel, the explorer of the Arctic, in whose honor the island was named ), about 30 generals, maybe therefore, having received the education of a mining engineer in 1901, Wrangel understands that he is more attracted to military service, and becomes a volunteer in the Life Guards of the Horse Regiment, and a year later, after passing exams in military affairs, he receives the title officer.

Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 - Wrangel was the commander of a hundred of the 2nd Argun Cossack regiment, for personal military merits he was promoted 2 times, awarded the orders of St. Anna and St. Stanislav.

In 1912, after graduating from the Imperial Nikolaev Military Academy, Wrangel became the commander of one of the units of the Cavalry Regiment.

Order of St. George "black baron" (so named for the habit of wearing a black Circassian) received in the 1st world war, and in 1917 his chest was decorated with the soldier's St. George's Cross of the 4th degree. Dispatches from the fronts characterized him as a talented and courageous officer.

The revolution that took place in October 1917 was negatively perceived by Wrangel, and he decided to move away from military affairs and, together with his wife and 3 children, settle in the Crimea, but peaceful life soon ended, his arrest by the Bolsheviks, dissatisfaction with the situation forced Pyotr Nikolaevich to take the path searches.

A special page in the life of a talented officer was joining the ranks Volunteer army- the most combat-ready unit of the Armed Forces of South Russia, at the head of which he will stand in December 1918, and already in March 1920, by decision of the higher command, Wrangel was appointed commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of South Russia. In this position, Pyotr Nikolaevich tried to expand the movement at the expense of the peasants, promising them the distribution of land into ownership in the new agrarian program. However, the influence of the White Army at that time was already insignificant, limited to the territory of Crimea. The plan failed. And after the capture of the Crimea by the Reds in November 1920, Wrangel, together with the remnants of the army (about 150 thousand people), was generally evacuated to Turkey.

Since 1921, the "black baron" has been living in Yugoslavia in Serbski-Karlovtsy and hatching plans for further struggle against the Bolsheviks. In this regard, in 1924, he was working to unite the White Guards in exile and created the Russian All-Military Union, the main purpose of which was to continue the war with the Reds, conduct subversive work and organize sabotage.
In 1927, Wrangel, continuing his activities, moved to Brussels. Full of strength and energy, he suddenly died there in April 1928. According to one version, a white officer, at the instigation of the NKVD, was poisoned by a servant's relative.
In 1929, the mortal remains of the rebellious baron were transported to Belgrade, to the Church of the Holy Trinity.

WRANGEL PETER NIKOLAEVICH (1878 - 1928)

Born on August 15, 1878 in the city of Novoaleksandrovsk, Kovno province. Baron, Orthodox, by origin - a hereditary nobleman of the Ingermanland province, the owner of an estate in the Minsk province. Father - Nikolai Yegorovich Wrangel, a descendant of Swedish barons who entered the XVIII century. to the Russian service. Although the Wrangel family gave several dozen well-known military leaders, N.E. Wrangel, having served in the L.-Guards. Cavalier Guard Regiment and the Ministry of the Interior, preferred to engage entrepreneurial activity. Mother - Maria Dmitrievna - the daughter of an officer.

In the 1880s - 90s. the family lived in Rostov-on-Don; NOT. Wrangel served as director of the Equitebl insurance company and was on the board of several coal-mining joint-stock companies, and also owned a small estate in the Don region. Peter was the eldest son in the family. The middle one - Nikolai - later became a famous art historian. The youngest - Vsevolod - died in childhood from diphtheria. Upon completion of his studies at the Rostov Real School, Peter, at the request of his father, entered the Mining Institute of Empress Catherine II in St. Petersburg: Baron N.E. Wrangel expected that, having become a mining engineer, the eldest son would go to Siberia, where he would get a job in one of the gold mining joint-stock companies.

In connection with his admission to the Mining Institute, the family moved to St. Petersburg. After graduating from the institute with a gold medal, Pyotr Wrangel, in September 1901, for mandatory active military service under the law, entered the volunteer 1st category in the life guards. The cavalry regiment, where many of the Wrangels served. At the end of the prescribed period - in October 1902 - he passed the test for the cornet of the guard at the Nikolaev Cavalry School in the 1st category, was promoted to officer (received the rank of cornet of the guard) and enlisted in the reserve of the guards cavalry. October 1902 to January 1904 Wrangel served as an official for special assignments under the Irkutsk Governor-General, but quickly became disillusioned with the service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the circumstances of his service and life in Irkutsk are unknown).

After the start Russo-Japanese War he voluntarily joined the army and in February 1904 was enlisted in the 2nd Verkhneudinsk regiment of the Trans-Baikal Cossack army with the rank of cornet, and then transferred to the 2nd Argun Cossack regiment, which was part of the detachment of General Rennenkampf. In May 1905 he was transferred to the 2nd hundred of the Separate Intelligence Division. He took part in hostilities and was awarded the Order of St. Anne IV Art. with the inscription "For Bravery" and the Order of St. Stanislaus III Art. with swords and bow. Having firmly decided to remain in military service, he sought to catch up with his peers, graduates of military schools, in ranks, and therefore tried to receive distinctions not with orders, but with ranks. And he achieved his goal: in December 1904 he was promoted to centurion, and in September 1905 - to podsaul. Having received both ranks ahead of schedule, he not only caught up with his peers in ranks, but also surpassed many in seniority. From Manchuria he wrote long letters home, which Baroness M.D. Wrangel, after literary processing, sent it to the journal Historical Bulletin, where they were published. At the end of the war, Wrangel in January 1906 was transferred to the 55th Finnish Dragoon Regiment with the renaming of the staff captain and until August, being seconded to the Northern Detachment of General Orlov, participated in its composition in the suppression of peasant uprisings in the Baltic.

In May 1906, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna, III class, for distinction in cases against the enemy (during the Russo-Japanese War). In August 1906, he secured a secondment to the Life Guards. Horse regiment.

In March 1907, at the parade on the occasion of the regimental holiday, Nicholas II noticed him in the horse guard formation (the awards, high growth and protective, much more modest in comparison with the horse guards, dragoon uniform helped). Upon learning that the officer was from the family of the Wrangel barons, the emperor expressed a desire that he serve in the life guards. Cavalry regiment, where Wrangel was immediately transferred to lieutenant of the guard. Among fellow soldiers, he stood out for his extreme ambition, determination, resourcefulness and temper, while possessing an immoderate propensity for revelry, which is usual for horse guards. For his passion for Piper-Heidsieck champagne, he received the nickname "Piper" among his comrades.

In August 1907, Wrangel entered the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. Studying was given to him without much difficulty, since he already had a higher education as a mining engineer. In December 1909 he was promoted to staff captain of the guard.

In June 1910 he graduated from the 2nd class of the Academy in the 1st category and successfully completed the additional course. However, he did not join the General Staff of his own free will and returned to continue his service in the Life Guards. The cavalry regiment, counting on the fact that in the guards the production of ranks is going faster than in the General Staff.

In August 1907, he married Olga Mikhailovna Ivanenko, the 24-year-old daughter of a chamberlain and maid of honor to the Empress. By 1914, three children were born in the family: daughter Elena, son Peter and daughter Natalia. In May 1912, having successfully completed a course at the Officers' Cavalry School, he was appointed squadron commander of the L-Guards. Horse regiment. In August 1913 he was promoted to captain of the guard.

In July 1914, as part of the Wrangel regiment, he fought in the First World War. August 6 in the battle near Causeni ( East Prussia) at the head of the squadron attacked the German battery in the equestrian formation and recaptured two guns; the squadron suffered heavy losses in personnel and horses, and Wrangel, under which the horse was killed with the last shot from an enemy gun, was awarded the Order of St. George IV Art. In September, he was appointed chief of staff of the Consolidated Cavalry Division, and then - assistant commander of the Life Guards. Cavalry regiment in combat unit. In December, he was appointed aide-de-camp of the emperor and promoted to colonel of the guard.

In April 1915, Wrangel was awarded the St. George weapon for the fact that on February 20, during the Prasnysh operation (Poland), at the head of the division, he successfully conducted reconnaissance, captured the crossing over the Dovina River, and during the further offensive of the brigade, he knocked out two companies of German infantry from three fortified positions , while capturing prisoners and convoys. In October, he was appointed commander of the 1st Nerchinsk regiment of the Transbaikal Cossack army, in December 1916 - commander of the 2nd brigade of the Ussuri cavalry division. Participated in hostilities on the Southwestern and Romanian fronts; his wife was with him at the front, working in the medical institutions of the units he commanded.

In January 1917, Wrangel was promoted to major general for military distinctions (he received the rank of general in the 13th year of service was the fastest in the imperial army at the beginning of the 20th century) and was appointed temporary commander of the Ussuri Cavalry Division. Persistent monarchist convictions did not prevent him from soberly assessing the weakness and mistakes of Emperor Nicholas II and being critical of the work of his government. However, he met the February Revolution and the establishment of the power of the Provisional Government with hostility, since this accelerated the decomposition of the army. To the extent possible, he opposed the activities of the elected soldiers' committees in subordinate units and fought to maintain discipline. On July 9, he was appointed commander of the 7th Cavalry Division, and a day later - commander of the Consolidated Cavalry Corps. Commanding it, he covered the retreat of infantry units to the line of the Sbruch River during the Tarnopol breakthrough of German troops in the period from July 10 to 20, for which he was awarded the soldier's St. George's Cross IV Art.

September 9, 1917 by order of A.F. Kerensky, who, after the elimination of the rebellion, General L.G. Kornilov the post of supreme commander, Wrangel was appointed commander of the 3rd cavalry corps, stationed near Petrograd. However, when he arrived from Iasi (Romania) to Petrograd to take command, it turned out that General P.N. had already been appointed to this position. Krasnov. Since the army was rapidly decomposing, cases of massacre of soldiers and officers became more frequent, the authority of the Provisional Government was falling, and the threat of a seizure of power by the Bolsheviks was growing, Wrangel chose to resign. However, Kerensky did not accept the resignation, and a few days later Wrangel was offered the post of commander of the troops of the Minsk District, which he refused. In November, after the Bolshevik armed coup in Petrograd, he left for his family in the Crimea. He was going to get to the Don in the Volunteer Army of General Kornilov, but in February 1918 in Yalta he was arrested by the revolutionary sailors of the Black Sea Fleet and escaped execution only thanks to the intercession of his wife. After the occupation of Ukraine and Crimea by German troops, in search of an opportunity to take part in the fight against the Bolsheviks, Wrangel traveled to Kyiv in May 1918, where he met with the Hetman of Ukraine, General P.P. Skoropadsky, his former colleague. But he refused his offer to become the chief of staff of the Ukrainian army (which does not really exist yet), because he was convinced that Germany was striving to dismember Russia and would not help create a large army on the territory of Ukraine capable of fighting against the Bolsheviks. After spending the summer on his estate in the Minsk province, he returned in August to Kyiv, where he met with General A.M. Dragomirov. He accepted the proposal of General M.V. to arrive in the Kuban, in the Volunteer Army, to then go as his assistant to the Volga, where the Entente allies planned to recreate the Eastern Front led by Alekseev against the Germans and Bolsheviks. Having received Dragomirov's offer to go with him, first to the Kuban, and then to the Volga, where to begin the formation of cavalry units, Wrangel agreed. On August 25, he arrived with his family in Yekaterinodar, occupied by the Volunteer Army under the command of General A.I. Denikin. There, however, it turned out that Alekseev was seriously ill and there was no longer any talk of his moving to the Volga. Introducing himself to Denikin and joining the Volunteer Army, on August 31, Wrangel was appointed temporary commander of the 1st Cavalry Division. Successfully commanding a division during the liberation from the Bolsheviks of the North Caucasus, he was appointed in October its chief.

In November, he appointed him commander of the 1st Cavalry Corps and promoted him to lieutenant general for military distinctions. During the creation of the Armed Forces in the South of Russia (VSYUR) and their reorganization, in December he was appointed commander of the VSYUR Denikin as commander of the Volunteer Army, and in January 1919 - commander of the Caucasian Volunteer Army. He was distinguished from other army commanders by a much more decisive and tough fight against robberies of residents, drunkenness, bribery and the participation of officers in speculation in food and manufactured goods, as they decomposed the troops and turned the local population against them. In February, he fell ill with typhus, was treated in Kislovodsk; for several days he was near death; occasionally regaining consciousness, he said that God was punishing him "for exorbitant ambition" and vowed, if he recovered, not to be so ambitious again. Upon recovery, Wrangel returned to duty and on May 8 (21) was appointed commander of the Caucasian army, operating in the Tsaritsyno direction. During the operation to occupy Tsaritsyn, he complained to the headquarters of the commander-in-chief about the insufficient, in his opinion, supply and replenishment of the army. He considered the main task of the All-Union Socialist League to be the connection with the armies of the supreme ruler, Admiral A.V. Kolchak in the Saratov region for the subsequent joint attack on Moscow. Accordingly, in his opinion, it was his army in the direction of Tsaritsyn - Saratov that should deliver the main blow. When, in June, Kolchak's armies retreated beyond the Urals under the blows of the Soviet Eastern Front, Wrangel quickly changed his point of view and suggested to Denikin that a group of 3-4 cavalry corps be concentrated in the Kharkov region (implying that he himself would command it) to inflict strike in the direction of Moscow. But Denikin rejected his proposal and, after the capture of Tsaritsyn, issued on June 20 (July 3) a directive (the so-called “Moscow”), according to which the Volunteer Army of General V.Z. May-Maevsky. The Caucasian army was tasked with advancing on Moscow through Saratov - Penza - Nizhny Novgorod - Vladimir. Wrangel considered this directive a "death sentence" for the All-Union Socialist Youth League, whose armies were to advance on Moscow in three divergent directions (as he put it, "beat not with a fist, but with outstretched fingers"). Denikin regarded Wrangel's claims and his proposals on the strategic plan as the result, firstly, of fears that the troops subordinate to him, numerically inferior to the enemy, would be defeated in the Saratov direction, and secondly, of the desire to "be the first to enter Moscow." Gradually, the strategic differences between Wrangel and Denikin turned into political ones. Although Wrangel himself did not share the radical views of the monarchist-minded officers, which should immediately be declared the goal of the All-Union Socialist Revolutionary Federation, the restoration of the monarchy, he became the center of attraction for the right-wing, monarchist forces. Conservative circles of the generals, landlords, big bourgeoisie, churchmen and public figures, dissatisfied with Denikin's "non-decision", his stake on the Cadets party and "democratic" domestic policy, began to nominate Wrangel as an alternative to Denikin as commander-in-chief of the All-Union Socialist Revolutionary Federation.

In the fall, Wrangel became close to A.V. Krivoshein, leader of the right-wing “Council of the State Unification of Russia” (SGOR), and agreed with him on the following: although due to the anti-monarchist sentiments of the peasants and Cossacks, “it is better to restore the monarchy in Russia five years later than five minutes earlier,” but the Cadets from the Special Meeting should be removed and power should be concentrated in the "right hands", in connection with which a change in the commander-in-chief of the All-Union Socialist Revolution is also desirable. The advance of the units of the Caucasian Army, consisting mainly of the Kuban Cossack units, to Saratov by the armies of the Soviet South-Eastern Front was stopped. In an effort to turn the tide at the front, Wrangel demanded that the headquarters of the commander-in-chief increase the supply and replenishment of his army. One of the reasons for the disruption in supply and replenishment was the unwillingness of the Kuban Cossacks to fight outside their region and the predominance of "independent" sentiments in government institutions of the Kuban Territory (up to breaking off relations with Denikin and separating from Russia). Since the commander-in-chief, his headquarters and the Special Conference were powerless to resolve these issues, Wrangel criticized Denikin more and more openly, going beyond what was permitted by military discipline: he began to distribute his reports among the command staff and public figures, in which the failures of the Caucasian army were explained by Denikin's erroneous strategy, his inability to "arrange the rear" and improve relations with the Kuban, poor supply and replenishment of its army. As a result, relations between Denikin and Wrangel took on the character of a conflict. However, in November they quite found mutual language when relations with the Kuban Cossack authorities escalated to the limit. Fulfilling the directive to restore "order" in the Kuban, declared the "rear area" of the Caucasian army, Wrangel carried out the necessary preparations for the operation, but he himself tried to remain in the shadows, entrusting its implementation to General V.L. Pokrovsky, commander of the 1st Kuban Cavalry Corps, which was part of the Caucasian Army. Pokrovsky brought his units into Yekaterinodar and arrested the leaders of the "independents", one of whom was hanged.

After the defeat of the Volunteer Army near Orel and the beginning of its retreat, Denikin, under pressure from right-wing generals and politicians, on November 26 (December 9), 1919, removed Mai-Maevsky and appointed Wrangel as commander of the Volunteer Army. He took command when parts of the army had already surrendered Kharkov. Deciding that the most rational direction of withdrawal was the Crimean, he began to withdraw the main forces of the army to the Crimea. However, Denikin, fearing a break with the Cossack regions, ordered the army to be withdrawn to the Don; the execution of this order cost the army heavy losses. He tried with harsh measures to combat robbery, drunkenness, speculation and bribery of military and civilian officials, while accusing Denikin of conniving at these phenomena that decomposed the army. In a situation where the armies of the Armed Forces of South Russia were retreating, and collapse and panic were growing in the rear, Wrangel tried to persuade the commanders of the armies (Donskoy - General V.I. Sidorin and Kavkazskaya - General Pokrovsky) to remove Denikin from the post of commander-in-chief, for which convene a meeting of commanders. However, Sidorin, during their personal meeting, spoke out against it, arguing that the Cossacks would refuse to obey the commander-in-chief with a baronial title, and Denikin, having learned about Wrangel's plans, forbade the convening of the meeting. Since Wrangel so openly revealed his intentions to take the post of Commander-in-Chief of the All-Union Socialist League, on December 20 (January 2, 1920) Denikin removed him from the post of commander of the Volunteer Army and turned it into the Volunteer Corps, whose commander was General A.P. Kutepov. The Commander-in-Chief ordered Wrangel to go to the Kuban and Terek to form new Cossack corps, but when he arrived in Yekaterinodar, he discovered that exactly the same order had been given to General A.G. Shkuro. Having refused to fulfill the assigned task, he received a new one - to organize the defense of Novorossiysk. But soon after his arrival in Novorossiysk, General A.S. Lukomsky was appointed Governor-General of the Black Sea; since the issues of strengthening the Novorossiysk bridgehead were also subject to his jurisdiction, Wrangel considered that this task entrusted to him had disappeared by itself. On January 14 (27), he received from Odessa an offer from the commander of the troops of the Novorossiysk region and Crimea, General N.N. Schilling to take the position of his assistant in the military. Denikin at first agreed to this appointment, but in view of the abandonment of Odessa on January 25 (February 7) and Schilling's move to Sevastopol, now it could only be a trip to the Crimea. Although Denikin was under pressure from various sides, including representatives of the allies, to appoint Wrangel as commander of the troops in the Crimea, he did not agree to this. In this situation, Wrangel decided to leave the army, on January 27 (February 9) he submitted his resignation and left for the Crimea. In Sevastopol, the command of the Black Sea Fleet, promising support, persuaded him to put pressure on Schilling, completely discredited after the defeats in Novorossia and the shameful evacuation of Odessa, in which neither troops nor refugees were taken out. Meeting with Schilling, Wrangel offered to transfer military power in the Crimea to him "with a complete break with Denikin." However, General Ya.A. Slashchov, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, the only combat-ready force in the Crimea, refused to side with Wrangel and supported Schilling. As a result, on February 8 (21), Denikin dismissed Wrangel and demanded that he leave the territory of the All-Union Socialist League. Before leaving for Constantinople, Wrangel wrote a multi-page letter to Denikin, in which he outlined his view on the history of their official and personal relationships. He accused Denikin of the fact that, having made strategic and political mistakes that led to defeat, he sees “treason” everywhere, “clings to power” and does not give it to those who can still save the situation (meaning himself). This letter by Wrangel and his supporters was reproduced and widely distributed in the army, in the rear and abroad.

March 20 (April 2) in Constantinople, Wrangel was invited to a meeting with the command of the British forces in Turkey and the Black Sea. At this meeting, he was, firstly, informed that Denikin, having evacuated the remnants of the AFSR from Novorossiysk to the Crimea, decided to leave his post and appointed a military council of senior commanders to elect his successor, inviting Wrangel to him (this was done under pressure English mission). And secondly, it was proposed to return to the Crimea and join the main command of the VSYUR (which was guaranteed support), provided that the fight against the Bolsheviks was immediately stopped and peace was concluded. Wrangel accepted this condition and on March 22 (April 4) arrived in Sevastopol on the British destroyer Emperor of India. Appearing at a meeting of the military council, he briefed senior commanders on the ultimatum of the British government. Although at first Kutepov claimed the post of commander-in-chief, and Sidorin was against Wrangel, this circumstance inclined the council to stop at Wrangel's candidacy, which was defiantly supported by the British. On the same day, Denikin issued an order appointing Wrangel commander-in-chief of the All-Union Socialist League. One of the first orders, Wrangel openly declared himself a military dictator, appropriating full power.

He put Krivoshein at the head of the government he created under the commander-in-chief, appointing the heads of central departments, with rare exceptions, experienced bureaucrats with pre-revolutionary experience and right-wing convictions. In an effort to learn from the defeats of Kolchak and Denikin, he gave priority to strengthening discipline in the army, improving its relations with the population and carrying out measures that would at least partially satisfy the interests of peasants and industrial workers. This course was called "left politics with right hands." Unlike the somewhat straightforward Denikin, Wrangel demonstrated the ability to soberly take into account the real situation in Russia and the changes that had taken place after 1917, the ability to discard ideas, institutions and people that had shown their failure, and the willingness to compromise with all military-political forces that could to be allies of the White movement in the struggle against the Bolsheviks (he owns the formula “Though with the devil, but against the Bolsheviks!”). However, his compromises and concessions were purely tactical, more formal than substantive. During April - May 1920, Wrangel, by decisive and tough measures, strengthened discipline in the units and reorganized the remnants of the All-Union Socialist Revolutionary Federation into the Russian Army (believing that the name "volunteer" was discredited). He appointed his longtime assistant, General P.N., as the chief of his staff. Shatilova. By his orders, he banned arbitrariness and violence against the civilian population. In order to put an end to the Cossack "independence", he removed from office and brought to trial the commander of the Don Corps, General Sidorin, and also imposed two treaties on the Cossack atamans and governments that found themselves in the Crimea "without peoples and territories", according to which he appropriated to himself full power over Cossack troops. In order to win over the peasants to the side of the Russian army, he was the first of the leaders of the White movement to decide on an agrarian reform in the interests of the peasants, breaking the resistance of the landowners: on May 25 (June 6) he issued an “order on land”, according to which the peasants received part of the landowners' land for redemption, already actually captured by them. Finally, he tried to attract N.I. Makhno and ensure that the Ukrainian Insurgent Army supports the Russian Army in the fight against the Bolsheviks. In the field of national policy, he sought to establish cooperation with Ukrainian organizations and Georgia. Being a monarchist and sincerely considering the Jews to be one of the main culprits of the death of Russia, he opposed the monarchist and pogromist agitation in the army and in the rear, considering it unacceptable to "set one part of the population against another." In foreign policy Wrangel reoriented from Great Britain, which insisted on abandoning active offensive operations in order to keep the Crimea as a springboard for anti-Soviet forces, to France, which demanded an offensive in order to support the Polish army fighting against the Red Army. However, despite all the efforts of him and his representatives in Europe and the United States, Wrangel failed to obtain either a large foreign loan or the sums of money in foreign currency that Russian foreign institutions had. As a result, the treasury was chronically short of money, there was nothing to buy the necessary amount of weapons, ammunition, uniforms, equipment, fuel, etc. The only source of money was printing press, which led to a rapid rise in prices and the impoverishment of the population, including officers, officials and intellectuals. The Russian army experienced a chronic lack of everything. In conditions of commodity hunger and inflation, the units, not receiving salaries on time, soon began to rob the inhabitants again. The evasion of France and Great Britain from the disinterested material assistance of the Russian army led Wrangel to complete disappointment in the allies.

On May 25 (June 6), the 25,000-strong Russian army left the Crimea and, having defeated the half-decayed 13th Red Army, occupied the northern districts of the Taurida province and advanced in the direction of Yekaterinoslav and Taganrog. However, all attempts by Wrangel and his staff to develop success came to nothing. The peasantry of Tavria and the Cossacks of the Don and Kuban, devastated by the war, not wanting to fight anymore and dissatisfied with the robberies and repressions of the whites, did not support the power of Wrangel, so it was not possible to both establish replenishment and supply of the army, and expand the occupied territory. Attempts to capture the Kuban, Yekaterinoslav province and part of the Right-Bank Ukraine ended in failure. Makhno rejected the proposed alliance, concluded an agreement with the command of the Southern Front and his troops deployed fighting against parts of the Russian army. As a result, the bloodless Russian army left Northern Tavria in October, and in November it was unable to hold the Crimea. Wrangel did everything possible to carry out a systematic evacuation and export of the largest number of troops: loading took place in relative order and (on more than 100 ships) almost 75 thousand officers, Cossacks, soldiers and officials, as well as about 60 thousand civilians were taken to Turkey refugees, most of whom were connected with the army. In Turkey, Wrangel considered his main task to be the preservation of the army as a combat-ready force and the creation of a body based on this force that could claim the role of the Russian government in exile. Thus, he himself was ensured the preservation of the status of commander in chief. The army, reduced to three corps, was placed in camps and maintained at the expense of French funds. For the winter of 1920/21. the command succeeded by screening out those who were disillusioned with the White movement, harsh measures and organizing regular classes to restore discipline and combat readiness of the units. In March 1921, Wrangel formed the Russian Council as a "successive bearer of legitimate power." However, neither the governments of the countries of Western Europe, nor the majority of emigrant organizations recognized the Russian Council, because they considered the armed struggle against the Bolshevik power of Russia lost, and Wrangel himself too right-wing and discredited to lead the military-political emigration. Therefore, Wrangel did not receive any money to maintain the army and help refugees. The French government, firstly, fearing (in this it was in solidarity with the British) to maintain such a formidable force on the Bosphorus and, secondly, not wanting to bear the costs, gradually reduced the distribution of food, and its representatives in Turkey by all means pushing the officers , soldiers and Cossacks to the transition to the position of civilian refugees, leaving for work in other countries, up to the countries of South America, and even returning to Soviet Russia. Finally, the Cossack atamans and governments broke off contractual relations with the commander-in-chief and got out of subordination to him. Meanwhile, dealing mainly with political and financial matters, Wrangel paid less and less attention to the military; as a result, General Kutepov, the commander of the Volunteer Corps, gradually took over real military power.

In order to save the remnants of the army, Wrangel was forced in the second half of 1921 - the first half of 1922. to transport them to Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes (Yugoslavia), where, due to the lack of funds at the headquarters of the commander-in-chief, they were gradually transferred to a “labor position”, that is, they began to earn a living by their labor. Many began to leave the units and disperse around different countries. In September, after moving to Serbia, the Russian Council ceased to exist. Wrangel himself settled with his family and headquarters in the town of Sremski Karlovtsy (Serbia).

In December 1921 in Constantinople, with the help of his secretary N.M. Kotlyarevsky, he began to write memoirs about the period of his life from November 1916 to November 1920, which were completed in December 1923 in Sremski Karlovtsy. One of the main motives for this work was the need to defend in the eyes of the emigration their position in the conflict with Denikin, who had already begun the publication of Essays on Russian Troubles. In 1924, when the servicemen of the Russian army settled in different countries and began to earn a living by their own labor, the headquarters left without troops turned into a kind of associations of fellow soldiers and wherever they lived former officers, various military organizations arose, Wrangel created the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS). According to his plan, the EMRO was supposed to allow him to retain in his hands the centralized leadership of all military organizations, to protect the officers from the influence of various political forces (from socialists to monarchists) and, to the extent possible, to maintain his mobilization readiness. Wrangel, retaining the title of commander-in-chief of the Russian army, became chairman of the EMRO.

Moving more and more away from the monarchists, Wrangel sought, first of all, as far as the remnants of the treasury allowed, to provide material assistance to officers and save them from participating in adventurous actions against the USSR, which, according to the then balance of power, could only lead to unjustified losses and discredit the EMRO. In particular, he was very wary of those who came from the USSR and sought contacts with emigrants, posing as representatives of some underground organizations fighting against the Bolsheviks. Thanks to this, he managed to save himself and his entourage from being involved in the "Trust", a provocative operation of the OGPU. Since, however, the headquarters of the ROVS was in Paris, General Kutepov, without his knowledge, created within the ROVS a structure subordinate only to him, which, with funds received from foreign intelligence services, conducted intelligence and sabotage work on the territory of the USSR (largely under the control of the OGPU) . This led to a serious disagreement between him and Kutepov.

In 1925, the Wrangel family, in which another child, son Alexei, was born, moved to Brussels, while he and his mother remained in Sremski Karlovtsy, where, among other things, in the winter of 1926, he began editing his memoirs and preparing them for publication. The decision to publish was dictated, firstly, by material reasons (money in the ROVS treasury dried up, receipts from outside almost stopped, and he and his family lived on very meager means) and, secondly, by the need to respond to Denikin's presentation of the conflict between them in " Essays on Russian Troubles.

In November 1926 Wrangel moved to Brussels. He actively sought funds to create an organization that could conduct intelligence and counterintelligence work against the USSR and, moreover, would be protected from the penetration of agents of the OGPU and the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army. After reviewing the 5th and last volume of Essays on Russian Troubles, he also decided to speed up the publication of his memoirs. Since foreign and émigré publishing houses one after another refused to print them, he handed them over to A.A. von Lampe for publication in the chronicle "White Deed".

In February 1928, he called von Lampe from Berlin to Brussels and together with him edited them finally and, on the advice of von Lampe, gave them the title - "Notes". At the same time, he reduced the text by 1/8 of their volume; in particular, the critical characteristics of Nicholas II and the sharpest passages from the controversy with Denikin were removed (the years of exile moderated Wrangel's ambition and, obviously, on the one hand, he no longer considered himself completely right in the conflict with Denikin, on the other, he realized what harm White movement in the south of Russia objectively brought his struggle for the post of commander-in-chief of the All-Russian Union of Youth, regardless of his subjective intentions).

In March 1928, Wrangel fell ill with the flu. His condition deteriorated noticeably, and on April 11, doctors diagnosed him with tuberculosis of the left lung. There was almost no hope of recovery, and he gave orders in case of death. One of them was: after the publication of the "Notes" in the 5th and 6th volumes of the chronicle "White Cause", the original full text of the memoirs should be burned (this was done with all the formalities on October 31).

On April 25, 1928, he died (there is a version that he was poisoned by an OGPU agent, but so far it has not been confirmed by serious arguments). General P.N. Wrangel was buried in Brussels, at the cemetery in Ukkl-Kalvet.

In October 1929, the ashes were transferred to Belgrade, where they were reburied in the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity.