Kornilov - Definition and Overview

Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (Russian: Лавр Георгиевич Корнилов) (1870-1918) was a Russian army general best known for the Kornilov Affair, an unsuccessful military coup he staged against Kerensky's Provisional Government during the 1917 Russian Revolution.

A Cossack born in Kazakhstan, Kornilov was a career officer in the Imperial Russian army. He served as military attache in China from 1907-11; he commanded an infantry division at the start of World War I, but was captured by the Austrians in April 1915. Escaping in July 1916, he was given command of the Petrograd Military District in March 1917, and was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional Government's armed forces in July 1917.

After his failed coup attempt in September of 1917, Kornilov was placed under house arrest. The Bolsheviks seized power shortly thereafter. Again escaping from his imprisonment, Kornilov made his way to the Don region, where he helped in the formation of the counter-revolutionary Volunteer Army at Novocherkassk with General Mikhail Alekseev. He was killed during fighting against Red forces at the Kuban capital Ekaterinodar in April 1918, when a shell landed on his headquarters.

See also: Russian Civil War