{{Short description|Russian general (1861–1918)}} {{Fnh|Maksimovich|Kaledin|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Ataman | name = Alexey Maksimovich Kaledin | image = Войсковой Атаман Области Войска Донского, генерал от кавалерии Каледин Алексей Максимович.PNG | image_size = | caption = | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1861|10|24|df=y}} | birth_place = Ust-Khopyorskaya, Saratov Governorate, Russian Empire | death_date = {{Death date and age|1918|2|11|1861|10|24|df=y}} | death_place = Novocherkassk, Russian SFSR | burial_place = | allegiance = {{flag|Russian Empire|1914}}<br />{{flag|Don Republic}} (White Movement) | branch = {{flagicon|Russian Empire|1914}} Imperial Russian Army<br/>{{flagicon|Don Republic}} Don Army (White Movement) | service_years = 1889–1918 | rank = General of the cavalry | unit = | commands = 12th Cavalry Division and 8th Army (WW1)<br />Don Army | battles = {{tree list}} * Russo-Japanese War * World War I ** Brusilov offensive *** Battle of Lutsk *** Battle of Kostiuchnówka * Russian Civil War {{tree list/end}} }}
'''Alexey Maksimovich Kaledin''' ({{langx|ru|Алексей Максимович Каледин}}; 24 October 1861 – 11 February 1918) was a Don Cossack Cavalry General who commanded the 12th Cavalry Division and Russian Eight Army during World War I. He also led the Don Cossack White movement in the opening stages of the Russian Civil War.
==Early years== Kaledin attended the Mikhaylovskoye Artillery School and the General Staff Academy.<ref name="pk">{{cite book |last1=Kenez |first1=Peter |title=Red Attack, White Resistance; Civil War in South Russia 1918 |date=2004 |publisher=New Academia Publishing |location=Washington, DC |isbn=9780974493442 |pages=41–42}}</ref>
==World War I== Kaledin served as a cavalry commander at the beginning of the war, before taking over command of a cavalry corps, and rising to the rank of General of the Cavalry. He was then assigned command of the 8th Army on the Southwest Front, participated in the Brusilov Offensive,<ref name="pk" /><ref name="rlg">{{cite book |last1=Buttar |first1=Prit |title=Russia's Last Gasp: The Eastern Front 1916-17 |date=2017 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford |isbn=9781472824899 |pages=120, 126}}</ref> and won the Battle of Lutsk.
Kaledin spoke at the Moscow State Conference, stating "all Soviets and committees must be abolished, both in the army and in the rear." Following the Kornilov affair, Kaledin retreated back to Novocherkassk, and protection of the ''voisko'', to avoid arrest by the Provisional Government.<ref name="wc">{{cite book |last1=Chamberlin |first1=William |title=The Russian Revolution, 1917-1921 |date=1935 |publisher=The Macmillan Company |location=New York |pages=204, 220}}</ref><ref name=pk/>
When he was 55 years old, the Cossack ''krug'' had elected Kaledin as their ataman. According to Peter Kenez, Kaledin "...thus became the first democratically chosen leader of the Cossacks since 1723."<ref name=pk/>
==Civil War== According to Kenez, "On November 9, immediately after receiving news of the Petrograd revolution, and acting in the name of the ''voisko'' government, he invited the members of the Provisional Government to Novocherkassk to join him in organizing the anti-Bolshevik struggle." On 15 November, Mikhail Alekseyev arrived and started organizing a new army. On 20 November, the ''voisko'' declared its independence. On 5 December, Kaledin declared martial law when news came of a Red Guard detachment had been sent by the Soviet regime. Between 9 and 15 December, with the aid of the Alekseev Organization, Kaledin was able to suppress Bolshevik resistance in Rostov-on-Don, and then open the third session of the ''krug''. On 19 December, Lavr Kornilov arrived, and by the end of the month, had reorganized the Alekseev Organization into the Volunteer Army. By January 1918, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko was threatening Rostov and Taganrog with a force led by Sivers. On 8 February, Sivers had taken control of Taganrog, and Kornilov decided to retreat from the Don.<ref name=pk/>{{rp|57–65,74–75}}
The ensuing loss of Rostov-on-the-Don and the Volunteer Army's retreat during their Ice March led Kaledin to believe that the whole situation had become hopeless. On 11 February, he resigned from his post and committed suicide by shooting himself.<ref>[http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/kaledin.htm First World War.com - a multimedia history of world war one]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bourne|first=J. M.|title=Who's who in World War One|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bWuwUsDQruYC&pg=PA150|accessdate=June 17, 2009|year=2001|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-14179-6|page=150}}</ref>
==Honours and awards== {{unreferenced section|date=February 2021}} *Order of St. Anna, 3rd class (1897) *Order of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd class (1902) *Order of St. George, 4th class for the battle on the river near the village of Hnyla Lypa, October 12, 1914. *Order of St. George, 3rd class for the Battle of Kalush, September 12, 1915. *Sword of St. George
==References== {{reflist}} *[http://www.hrono.info/biograf/kaledina.html A biography and other resources] {{in lang|ru}} *[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article057819.html The Great Soviet Encyclopedia entry for Kaledin] {{in lang|ru}}
==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Alexey Kaledin}} * {{Cite EB1922 |last=Golovin |first=Nikolai |authorlink=Nikolai Golovin |wstitle=Kaledin, Alexei |short=x}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaledin, Alexey}} Category:1861 births Category:1918 deaths Category:People from Serafimovichsky District Category:People from Don Host Oblast Category:Don Cossacks Category:Don Cossacks noble families Category:Atamans Category:Imperial Nikolayev Military Academy alumni Category:Russian military personnel of World War I Category:Russian Constituent Assembly members Category:Generals of the cavalry (Russian Empire) Category:Generals of the cavalry (Russian Provisional Government) Category:Generals of the cavalry (White movement) Category:Don Army personnel Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree Category:Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Category:Russian military personnel who died by suicide Category:Suicides by firearm in the Soviet Union