Frunze

Frunze, Mikhail Vasilyevich, 1885-1925, Russian general. A revolutionary, he was exiled (1914) to Siberia but returned to take part in the October Revolution of 1917. In the civil war that followed, he led the Soviet armies that forced A. V. Kolchak back into Siberia and drove P. N. Wrangel from the Crimea. He also helped establish Soviet control over Russian Turkistan. As people's commissar for the army and navy (1924-25), he reorganized the armed forces.

Frunze: see Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

(born Jan. 21, 1885, Pishpek, Kirgiziya, Russian Empire—died Oct. 31, 1925, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet army officer and military theorist. An active revolutionary from 1905, he became an outstanding commander in the Russian Civil War. With the support of Joseph Stalin, Frunze replaced Leon Trotsky as commissar for war in 1925. His “unitary military doctrine” asserted that the army should be trained to offensive action, united by its determination to carry out the Communist Party's task of promoting world revolution. He introduced peacetime compulsory military service and standardized military formations, drills, and uniforms. Frunze is regarded as one of the fathers of the Red Army.

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(born Jan. 21, 1885, Pishpek, Kirgiziya, Russian Empire—died Oct. 31, 1925, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet army officer and military theorist. An active revolutionary from 1905, he became an outstanding commander in the Russian Civil War. With the support of Joseph Stalin, Frunze replaced Leon Trotsky as commissar for war in 1925. His “unitary military doctrine” asserted that the army should be trained to offensive action, united by its determination to carry out the Communist Party's task of promoting world revolution. He introduced peacetime compulsory military service and standardized military formations, drills, and uniforms. Frunze is regarded as one of the fathers of the Red Army.

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or Pishpek formerly (1926–91) Frunze

City (pop., 1999: 750,327), capital of Kyrgyzstan. It lies on the Chu River just north of the Kyrgyz Mountains and near the Kazakhstan border. In 1825 the Uzbek khanate of Kokand (see Qoaynqon) established a fortress on the site, which in 1862 was captured by the Russians. The Russians mistakenly called it Pishpek. When the Kirgiz (Kyrgyz) Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was set up in 1926, the city became its capital and was renamed Frunze for a Red Army leader who was born there. It developed as an industrial city, especially in World War II (1939–45) when heavy industries from western Russia were moved there.

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See Bishkek