Semyon Aralov, the future founder of Russian military intelligence and one of the founders of Soviet diplomacy, was born in Moscow on December 30, 1880.
Tsarist officer and revolutionary
Aralov was born into the family of a wealthy merchant, the owner of a tannery, and had to follow in his father's footsteps.
He entered the Moscow Commercial School, then continued his education at the Commercial School.
Karl Masinga.
However, Aralov showed no inclination to engage in commerce.
After the death of his father, he entered the Pernov Grenadier Regiment as a volunteer.
In the army, Aralov found himself in the company of the Social Democrats and became carried away by Marxist ideas, participated in organizing the work of the Moscow committee of the RSDLP.
After the split in the party, he supported the Bolsheviks.
During the Russo-Japanese War, Aralov was sent as an ensign in the Rostov regiment and was assigned to the front.
In the Far East, he was actively engaged in the dissemination of revolutionary ideas among the soldiers.
When the command began to search for the Bolshevik agitator, he fled and hid until the announcement of demobilization.
Back in Moscow, Aralov studied at the Commercial Institute and worked as a mentor in a correctional shelter for juvenile delinquents.
According to historians, in 1907 he retired from politics, and after the outbreak of the First World War, he was again drafted into the army.
“During the First World War, Aralov showed himself more than worthy.
In the ranks of various units, he took part in about 20 battles, was surrounded, was awarded five military orders and rose to the rank of staff captain, "military historian Yuri Knutov said in a conversation with RT.
Semyon Aralov in his youth
In 1917, amid the events of the February Revolution, Aralov returned to politics, joining the Mensheviks.
He was a member of soldiers' committees, wrote articles for newspapers and was a member of the Pre-parliament.
In November, Aralov, as a representative of the Western Front, participated in the Second Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies.
“Soon after the revolution, Aralov began serving at the headquarters of the Moscow military district and joined the RCP (b).
He still had acquaintances among the Bolsheviks, and accordingly, there was someone to give him recommendations, ”said Alexander Kolpakidi, a historian of the special services in an interview with RT.
Soon, according to the expert, Aralov was promoted to the head of the operational department of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs of the RSFSR.
“Aralov began to play an extremely important role.
They trusted him, and he acted as a mediator between regular officers and the Bolsheviks, ”Kolpakidi stressed.
In November 1918, the Registration Directorate was created as part of the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, which was the central body of military intelligence in Soviet Russia.
“Aralov was the first head of the Registration Department, formally becoming the creator of Soviet military intelligence, the founder of the GRU.
And in this capacity he is best known today, ”said Alexander Kolpakidi.
The offensive of Russian troops on one of the sectors of the Southwestern Front (photo of 1916).
Reproduction 1963 by N. Pashin
RIA News
According to the historian Sergei Voytikov, under Aralov, the first staff of the registration department was created, the status of military intelligence officers was determined, and their tasks were clarified.
Management was engaged in Don, Kuban and other territories that opposed the Bolsheviks.
“In 1919, the situation in Ukraine worsened.
Aralov was appointed a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 12th and 14th armies, and then of the Southwestern Front.
He was present at the most difficult sections, ”Kolpakidi stressed.
As noted by Yuri Knutov, Aralov took part in the negotiations on the establishment of a truce on the Soviet-Polish front and in the formation of the Kiev military district.
“During the Civil War, Aralov communicated a lot with Leon Trotsky on duty.
In the 1930s, this will bring him trouble, ”noted historian and writer Alexander Shirokorad.
Diplomat and fighter against Nazism
"Although today Aralov is known primarily as the creator of the GRU, the main thing in his career was still the diplomatic component," Alexander Kolpakidi said in an interview with RT.
According to the expert, since 1921, Aralov was in the service of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR.
At first he was a plenipotentiary representative in Lithuania, and then he was transferred to a similar position in Turkey.
“It was a dangerous journey,” Alexander Shirokorad said in an interview with RT.
In Turkey at that time there was a war of independence with foreign invaders.
And in the area of the Black Sea straits, there were still parts of the Wrangel army evacuated from the Crimea.
As Aralov himself later recalled, Lenin told him in his parting speech: “The Turks are fighting for their national liberation.
Therefore, the Central Committee sends you there as someone who knows military affairs. "
Aralov traveled with Mustafa Ataturk to the front and shared with him the experience gained during the Civil War.
In the summer of 1922, he helped the Turkish command to prepare a general counteroffensive.
“Soviet Russia was practically in complete international isolation, and the fact that Aralov was able to improve relations with Turkey was a breath of fresh air for the young Soviet state,” said Sergei Voytikov.
Historians note that from a long-term adversary, Turkey in the 1920s turned into a partner of Soviet Russia, and this is a significant merit of Aralov.
His figure was included in the composition of the "Republic" monument in Taksim Square in Istanbul.
Soviet plenipotentiary representative in Turkey Semyon Aralov (4th from bottom left) with his wife and staff of the Soviet embassy and Turkish officials.
From the personal album of S. Aralov
RIA News
After completing his mission in Turkey in 1923, Aralov worked for several more years in the USSR People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs - both in the central office and as an authorized representative in various countries.
According to Alexander Kolpakidi, Aralov's mission in China was difficult and important, where in the second half of the 1920s the so-called Northern Expedition took place with the aim of uniting the country, and the Kuomintang first collaborated with the communists, and then broke off relations with them.
Returning to Moscow, Aralov held high positions in the Soviet economic departments: the Supreme Council of the National Economy and the People's Commissariat for Finance, headed "Exportles" and the Main Department of State Insurance.
According to a number of sources, in the 1930s, Aralov was arrested due to his old ties with Trotsky, but after a while he was released.
In 1938 he became Deputy Director of the State Literary Museum.
The post of director at that time was held by the famous revolutionary Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich.
Semyon Aralov during the Great Patriotic War
© Wikimedia Commons
“After the start of the Great Patriotic War, 60-year-old Aralov volunteered for the front, joining a division of the people's militia.
He was an employee of the operational department, and then - the head of the trophy department and other divisions of the headquarters of the 33rd Army.
He distinguished himself by the fact that he evacuated valuable equipment practically from the front line of defense.
At the end of the war, he commanded a brigade to collect trophy property.
He rose to the rank of colonel, ”said Yuri Knutov.
According to the memoirs of Major General Georgy Perevezentsev, Aralov insisted on being hired, despite his age, and demanded an appointment not to the political department, where they wanted to send him initially, but to a command or headquarters position.
In 1945, he was looking for works of art taken by the Nazis to Germany.
After the war, Semyon Aralov was at party work, wrote several books.
He died on May 22, 1969 in Moscow.
Republic Monument at Istanbul's Taksim Square in Turkey.
To the right of the sculpture of Ataturk, located in the center, are Kliment Voroshilov and Semyon Aralov
© KIZILSUNGUR / Wikimedia commons
According to Alexander Kolpakidi, the history of Aralov's life has been poorly studied and is known today only in the most general terms.
We know practically nothing about some periods of his career.
“He was an iron man, honest and conscientious, ready to carry out assignments of any complexity, but at the same time he possessed amazing modesty and did not strive to purposefully occupy high posts.
Although a significant part of his life was connected with the army, he was able to become one of the founders of Soviet diplomacy, ”summed up Kolpakidi.