May 9, 1683. In 1700-1720 he served as an engineer in the French, Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Kassel and Polish-Saxon armies. In Germany, he earned the rank of colonel, in Poland he received the rank of major general from Augustus II.
In 1721 he was invited to Russia to conduct engineering affairs, conceived by Peter I.
Participated in the organization of navigation on the Neva, the laying of roads, the construction of the Baltic port, the Ladoga Canal.
In 1722 he was promoted to lieutenant general, in 1726, already under Catherine I - to general general, awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, from 1728 - count, governor general of Ingermanland, Karelia and Finland.
In 1730, after accession to the throne, Christopher Munnich was granted General Feldzeugmeister, President of the Military Collegium, Field Marshal General.
Minich formed 2 new guards regiments, reorganized the guards and army regiments, transformed the Military Collegium, founded the first cadet corps in Russia in St. Petersburg, drew up new staffs for the army, introduced a corps (12 regiments) of heavy cavalry (cuirassiers) into the army, created the first regiments hussar, equalized the salary of natural Russian officers with invited foreign ones. He led the Russian army during the Polish campaign of 1733-1734.
During the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739 he was appointed commander of the Russian troops. He organized the siege of Azov and Ochakov, captured Perekop, penetrated the Crimea, capturing the capital of the Crimean Khanate Bakhchisaray.
On the night of November 8 (19) to November 9 (20), 1721, he arrested and proclaimed Anna Leopoldovna the ruler of the state. Appointed as the first Cabinet Minister, but soon resigned.
After the overthrow of the Brunswick dynasty and the accession of Elizabeth Petrovna on November 24-25 (December 5-6), 1741, he was exiled to Pelym (Tobolsk province), where he spent 20 years.
In 1762, by decree of Peter III, he was released and restored to all rights and ranks. During the coup on June 28 (July 9), 1762, he remained close to the emperor, but then swore allegiance to Catherine II.
Appointed commander over the main Baltic ports and over the Ladoga Canal; in subsequent years, he was mainly engaged in the organization of the Rogervik harbor. He died on October 16 (27), 1767 in Dorpat (modern Tartu).
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
MINIKH, CHRISTOFOR ANTONOVICH (BURCHARD-CHRISTOPHER)(1683–1767), count, Russian military and statesman. He was born on May 9 (19), 1683 in the village of Neuenguntdorf near Oldenburg (northwest Germany) in the family of an official who was in charge of dams in the counties of Oldenburg and Dalmengorst. Received an engineering education. During the War of the Spanish Succession, he served from 1701 as a captain in the Hesse-Darmstadt army; then he received the position of chief engineer in the Ost-Friesland principality; in 1706 he entered the rank of major in the Hesse-Kassel Corps; took part in the campaigns of Eugene of Savoy and the Duke of Marlborough; in 1709 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel for bravery. In 1712 he was wounded and taken prisoner by the French at the battle of Denen. At the end of the war he returned to Hesse; received the rank of colonel; led the construction of the Karlshaven and Grabenstein canals. In 1716 he entered the service of August II of Saxony, King of Poland; in 1717 he was promoted to major general and became an inspector of the Polish army. In 1721 he transferred to the Russian service. As a general engineer, he supervised the construction of a lock on the Tosna River, the construction of the Obvodny Canal and the road along the Neva from Shlisselburg to St. Petersburg. In 1723 he headed the work on laying the Ladoga Canal. In 1726 he was granted the rank of General-in-Chief. In 1727 he received the title of chief director of fortifications. In 1728, in connection with the completion of the construction of the Ladoga Canal, he was elevated to the dignity of a count; appointed governor of Ingermanland, Karelia and Finland and commander of troops in these areas. In 1729 he became chief of the artillery.
After accession to the throne of Anna Ivanovna, he became close to A.I. Osterman and, with his help, with the Empress and I.-E. Biron; appointed Feldzeugmeister General, and then President of the Military Collegium. He was one of the initiators of the creation in 1731 of the Cabinet of Ministers and became a member. Having headed the military affairs commission, he reorganized the Russian army: changed the charter for the guards, field and garrison units, created two new guards regiments (Izmailovsky and Cavalry), the Ground Cadet Corps, twenty regiments of the Ukrainian police, separated the engineering units from the artillery, formed the first in Russia cuirassier regiment (based on the Vyborg Dragoon Regiment), improved the equipment and armament of the troops. February 25 (March 7), 1732 received the rank of Field Marshal. Led the Russian army during the Polish campaign of 1733–1734; took Danzig and expelled the French candidate for the Polish throne, Stanislav Leshchinsky, ensuring the victory of the Russian-Austrian henchman August III. Appointed commander of the Russian troops during the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739. In 1736, he invaded the Crimea through Perekop and captured the capital of the Crimean Khanate, Bakhchisarai, but poor supplies and summer heat forced him to retreat; 30,000 Russian soldiers died during this campaign. In 1737 he took Ochakov, in 1738 he entered Bessarabia and captured Khotyn, in 1739 he won a decisive victory over the Turks at Stavuchany. But his victories were in vain: after the signing of a separate treaty with the Ottoman Empire, allied with Austria, Russia was forced to agree to the conclusion of the Belgrade Peace, humiliating for it.
At the end of the reign of Anna Ivanovna, he actively supported the appointment of E.-I. Biron as the future regent under the young emperor Ivan VI Antonovich, but after the death of the empress, he became close to the parents of Ivan VI, Anna Leopoldovna and Anton-Ulrich of Brunswick. On the night of November 8 (19) to November 9 (20), 1721, he arrested Biron and proclaimed Anna Leopoldovna the ruler of the state. Appointed as the first Cabinet Minister, but soon, due to a conflict with Anton-Ulrich and as a result of the intrigues of A.I. Osterman, he resigned on March 6 (17), 1741. After the overthrow of the Brunswick dynasty and the accession of Elizabeth Petrovna on November 24-25 (December 5-6), 1741, he was exiled to Pelym (Tobolsk province), where he spent twenty years. In 1762, by decree of Peter III, he was released and restored to all rights and ranks. During the coup on June 28 (July 9), 1762, he remained close to the emperor, but then swore allegiance to Catherine II. Appointed commander over the main Baltic ports and over the Ladoga Canal; in subsequent years, he was mainly engaged in the organization of the Rogervik harbor. Until the end of his life, he enjoyed the favor of the Empress. He died on October 16 (27), 1767 in Dorpat (modern Tartu).
The figure of B.-H. Minich received the most controversial assessments in historiography. He was often criticized for imposing the Prussian order in the Russian army, for inept actions (slowness, inability to develop success) and for huge losses during the Russian-Turkish war of 1735–1739, for being one of the leaders of the “anti-national (German) party ”, which dominated under Anna Ioannovna and Anna Leopoldovna. Being largely a product of the xenophobic sentiments of Russian society in the late 30s - early 40s. XVIII century, this criticism cannot, however, obscure the positive role of B.-H. Minich in the construction new Russia as an outstanding engineer, as a military reformer and commander, and as an outstanding politician.
Ivan Krivushin
Russian commander and statesman, count (1728), field marshal general (1732).
Burchard Christoph Munnich was born on May 9 (19), 1683 in the county of Oldenburg in the family of a hydraulic engineer. He received a thorough education, focused mainly on engineering.
In 1700-1720, B.K. Minich served as an engineer in the French, Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Kassel and Polish-Saxon armies, gained combat experience in the War of the Spanish Succession.
In 1721, having the rank of major general of the Polish-Saxon army, B.K. Minich came to and was introduced. He successfully passed tests for knowledge of engineering (he was instructed to draw a fortification plan), received the rank of major general in the Russian service, and soon lieutenant general. In Russia, they began to call him Christopher Antonovich.
Since 1723, Kh. A. Minikh supervised the construction of the Ladoga Canal (completed in 1728). In 1726 he was promoted to General-in-Chief and awarded the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky. The promotion of H. A. Munnich was harmed by hostile relations with, while his patron was. After the fall in 1727, Munnich's career went up sharply: in 1728 he received the title of count, and in 1729 - the post of Feldzeugmeister General. Peter II appointed Kh. A. Munnich as governor-general.
The peak of H. A. Munnich's career fell on the years of his reign. In 1731 he became a member of the Cabinet of Ministers, Chief of Police and President of the Military College, in 1732 he received the rank of Field Marshal. Kh. A. Minikh carried out a number of important transformations in the Russian army. On his initiative, a decree was issued on equalizing the salaries of Russian and foreign officers, the Shlyakhetsky Cadet Corps was founded, which soon turned into one of the best educational institutions. Also H. A. Minich is credited with the creation of heavy cavalry in the Russian army - a cuirassier. Thanks to his efforts, the first hussar regiments appeared.
Kh. A. Minikh developed and put into effect a number of new documents of a statutory nature concerning the training of troops, the organization of combat, the structure of army regiments, etc.
In 1734-1735, H. A. Minich commanded the Russian troops in the War of the Polish Succession, took Danzig (Gdansk) and secured the Polish throne for King August III. In the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739, the troops of Kh. A. Minich captured Perekop, penetrated the Crimea and captured the capital of the Crimean Khanate - Bakhchisaray. In July 1737, he stormed the fortress of Ochakov. In August 1739, the army of Kh. A. Minich defeated the Turkish troops, which outnumbered them in the battle near Stavuchany, after which the Khotyn fortress capitulated.
After the death in 1740, H. A. Minich, together with organized a palace coup, which removed the favorite of the empress from power. In 1741, with the accession to the throne, the field marshal was arrested, tried and sentenced to death, replaced by exile in the town of the Tobolsk province of the Siberian province.
In 1762 he returned Kh. A. Munnich from exile and returned to him all the ranks and awards. The field marshal occupied a prominent position at court. Being with the person of the emperor on the day of the coup d'état on June 28 (July 9), 1762, H. A. Minich gave him a number of valuable advice on how to organize resistance to the conspirators, but the emperor did not listen to them. When the case was lost, the commander swore allegiance and was appointed commander-in-chief of the ports of Rogervik, Reval, Narva, Kronstadt, and also over the Ladoga Canal.
IN last years life H. A. Minich was engaged in the construction of the port in Rogervik (now Paldiski in Estonia).
Khristofor Antonovich Minich died on October 16 (27), 1767 in Dorpat (now the Estonian city of Tartu), and was buried in his Livonian estate Lunia.
Burchard Minich, years of life: 1683 - 1767
Burchard Minich was born in Germany in 1683 in the family of a military engineer. Following in the footsteps of his father, for twenty years he served as an engineer in the armies of various European countries - France, Germany, Poland.
In 1720, when the Russian sovereign Peter I was recruiting smart, talented and energetic foreigners to serve in Russia, Minich accepted the proposal of the Russian emperor and moved to St. Petersburg.
From engineers to governors.
Under Peter I, Minikh's career moved in the engineering direction - he was engaged in hydraulic work in the Baltic States, recently recaptured from Sweden, and managed the construction of the Ladoga Canal.
But the true rise for Minich began only after the death of the emperor. In 1728, during the reign of Peter II, he became the governor-general of St. Petersburg - instead of the disgraced Menshikov.
His management is beneficial to the northern capital - construction is actively continuing, the Peter and Paul Fortress is being strengthened, college buildings are being erected, along with this, Vyborg and Kronstadt are being rebuilt. And all this - despite the fact that the beloved city of Peter I is forgotten and abandoned by the new emperor and court.
In 1732, the court returned to St. Petersburg again - together with Empress Anna Ioannovna. Minich is granted a new rank - Field Marshal General - and entrusted with the care of improving the army.
Field Marshal Minich.
In the new position, he showed himself no worse - for a short time he dealt with non-payment of salaries to the military, organized military hospitals, created two new guard regiments, founded the first building of a cadet school in Russia for young nobles.
In addition, heavy cavalry, hussar regiments, sapper regiments and engineering appeared in the army under his command, and Russian officers began to be paid the same as foreigners (previously, foreigners received more).
During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, Field Marshal Munnich participated in the siege of Danzig, led campaigns against Turkey - in particular, he entered the Crimea in 1735, and in 1737 took Ochakov.
Despite the personal courage of Munnich, who always fought in the forefront, the soldiers did not like the commander: he did not spare his own soldiers, and operations under his leadership were often marked by heavy losses - and not from enemy bullets, but from hunger and disease.
Resignation and exile.
In 1740, after the death of Anna Ioannovna, Burchard Christopher Minich took part in the palace coup on the side of Anna Leopoldovna and personally arrested his former patron, Biron. He hoped that he would be granted the title of Generalissimo - the highest military rank in the state.
However, the title went to another, and Minich himself, having written a demonstrative resignation letter, unexpectedly ... received it. Osterman's intrigues had their effect.
With the coming to power of Elizabeth in 1741, Minich was sent into exile, to the Siberian Pelym - where, shortly before that, he himself had sent Biron. Only in 1762 he was able to return to St. Petersburg, where he served first to Peter III, and then to Catherine II.
Once again becoming Governor-General, Minich enthusiastically set to work on the Revel, Baltic and Kronstadt ports. Shortly before his death, he was also granted the Siberian governorship.