page_title: Zinovy Peshkov
section_title: The hero of the Foreign Legion
hierarchical_section_title: Zinovy Peshkov / The hero of the Foreign Legion
caption_attribution_description: English: Russian-born French general and diplomat Zinovi Pechkoff (1884-1966) Русский: Брат Я.М.Свердлова и крестный сын Максима Горького, французский генерал и дипломат Зиновий Пешков (1884-1966)
context_page_description: Zinovy Alekseyevich Peshkov was a Russian-born French general and diplomat.
context_section_description: Guided to the recruitment post in Nice, he enlisted on August 31, 1914 as EVDG (an acronym for “voluntary enlisted for the duration of the war”) in the marching battalion of the 1st Foreign Regiment. Two months were sufficient to equip and train the volunteers at the beginning of the conflict. Peshkov, who was special – in addition to Russian, he knew French, English, Italian and German, which was useful in a unit containing men from all over the world – was given the rank of 1st class on October 21, 1914. Named corporal on April 1, 1915, he was put in command of a squad. Several days later, in May 1915, during combat with his division before Arras, he was seriously wounded. During the capture of Carency, a bullet shattered his arm while he was leading his soldiers.
  Peshkov’s regiment, like its twin, the 2nd marching regiment of the Foreign Legion, absorbed many Russian Jews assembled in these two units, who distinguished themselves in the battle of the Somme and that of Artois. The attack at Carency in May 1915 was a bloody one for these volunteers, as their losses were very great.
  Treated near the front, he had to find the strength to make it to the rear. After succeeding in borrowing a train, he found himself in the American hospital at Neuilly, where only amputation saved him from death. Decorated, Corporal Peshkov underwent rehabilitation and then was pensioned. He then returned to Italy. Introduced into high society, where he was a sensation, he gave lectures on the horrors of war, probably inspired by the meetings organized with Gorky several years earlier, which had a great public success. He then found himself again in Paris. On June 22, 1916, Peshkov again enlisted “for the duration of the war” with the grade of 2nd class. He was attached to the 20th section of the military staff. In Paris, he met Philippe Berthelot, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who realized what this young mutilated soldier, bedecked with decorations, could bring in terms of propaganda aimed at neutral countries, first of all the United States, a place with which Peshkov was well acquainted.
  Convinced of the value of this strategy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Briand sent Zinovy to the French Ambassador, Jusserand, with the grade of temporary 3rd class interpreter (lieutenant), for the duration of his mission. At the end of nine months, Peshkov returned to Paris, having accomplished his mission. In fact, in April 1917, President Wilson had the Senate vote on a declaration of war. The United States joined the allies in the conflict.
  At that time, diplomatic attention was focused on the European continent. Promoted to the rank of 2nd class interpreter officer (captain) on May 13, 1917, Peshkov was present at the events which plunged Russia into the revolution. In May, the French government sent a mission to the provisional government. He was then asked to participate, the objective being for France to convince the new Russian power to continue the war against the German Empire. This return to his roots was, for Zinovy, an occasion to renew ties to his native land and his family. By way of his brother Yakov, he had contacts with the Bolsheviks, but in no way shared their point of view. He probably saw his brother Vieamine as well as his sisters who had remained in Russia, all supporters of the revolution. The contacts with Gorky were cold, but this climate did not harm the solid friendship which tied the two men.
  Lenin’s seizure of power in October was rapidly followed in December by the Brest-Litovsk armistice, which put an end to the Russo-German war, which was a setback for the French diplomatic mission. Zinovy returned to Paris, but the French government, aware of the diplomatic capabilities of Captain Peshkov, soon sent him to advise the White Armies on all the fronts of the civil war which was then bloodying Russia. He was promoted temporary head of a battalion for the duration of his mission from December 9, 1918. He also met the ataman of the Cossacks, Semenov, in Vladivostok, then Admiral Kolchak in the Urals
caption: Major Peshkov, 1926
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