Baron Alexander Wrangel Александр Врангель | |
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Born | June 24, 1922 |
Died | April 27, 2005 London, United Kingdom |
Nationality | |
Other names | Baron Wrangel II, Young Baron |
Citizenship | |
Religion | Russian Orthodox |
Spouse(s) | Maria I |
Children | Ivan Vladimir I Gabriel Maria Anna Elizabeth |
Parents |
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Baron Alexander "Alexis" Petrovich Wrangel (Russian: Александр Петрович Врангель, June 24, 1922 - April 27, 2005) was a Russian noble, military leader, diplomat and statesman, who became the Commander of the Southern Command of the Imperial Russian military, Procurator General of the Russian Empire from 1965 to 1975, where he was known as Baron Wrangel II (Барон Врангель II) and in his early life, the Young Baron (Молодой барон).
He is one of two sons of Baron Pyotr Wrangel and Baronov Zhena Olga Mikhailovna Wrangel (née Ivanenko). As he became a military leader, he inherited the Baron title, and rulership of Crimea too, had been given to his father by Tsar Cyril I.
Alexander was originally slated to have a career with the Imperial Guards, directly responsible for protecting the Romanovs and other Russian nobilities. However, when the Eastern Axis began their invasion of Russia, he chose to serve as a regular soldier. He would later serve a short stint in the Far Eastern Command to diversify his military experience, where he met and interacted with the Ungern-Sternbergs, and Aisin Gioros, and would later succeed Prince Serge II as the Commander of the Southern Command.
He was elected Procurator General in 1975, succeeding Georgy Ungern-Sternberg, also a baron and of Baltic German descent (patrilineal that is), during the tense points of the Cold War. During his reign, the Russian Empire had began to reach superpower parity with the United States. During his tenure, were the tensest points of the Vietnam War, as well as ordering Russian military operations in the West, in support of Western monarchies in regions normally under American influence.
Life[]
Alexander is of Baltic German, Russian and Ukrainian descent, and was born in Kiev to Baron Pyotr Wrangel and his Ukrainian-Russian wife, Olga Wrangel (nee Ivanenko) in 1922.
Alexander's father, Pyotr, is of noble Baltic German and Russian descent as his mother, Alexander's patrilineal grandmother, was Russian; and matrilineal Russian-Ukrainian descent, truly making him South Russian.
In order to escape the dire situation in Russia, Pyotr had Alexander raised and study in France under the care of the White émigré community. Pyotr had a specific request to have Alexander study at France's most prestigious military school, with the intention of continuing the baronial traditions of the Wrangel family.
Alexander became fluent in both Russian and French, but was exclusively and extensively raised within the Russian community of France, being baptized as a Russian Orthodox.
Military career[]
Wrangel, like Pyotr II Wrangel, served in the Imperial Russian military, and had already been raised towards a military career by his father. He inherited the baron title from his father, and was often-known as the Young Baron (Молодой барон), whereas his father as the Black Baron. Despite "barons" being a mere title and position within the Baltic German nobility, his father Pyotr was given control of much South Russian lands as a reward from Cyril I, who succeeded Nicholas II as Russia's reigning monarch - truly fulfilling the definition of a baron.
Although originally slated to serve in the Royal Guards, with his father's hope of him one-day eventually becoming its Commander, the Young Baron opted to go serve in regular battalions.
During the war, Alexander had dreamed to fight for in the battlefront against the invading Turks, however he was too young. He finally entered service in 1947, shortly after World War II and was stationed in Armenia. He was transferred to other parts of the Mediterranean and even the Balkans, being stationed in Constantinople for three years, For the most part, Alexander escaped most fighting and battle, and was mostly involved in reserve units and battalions.
In 1955, Wrangel chose to go serve in Manchuria, in order to diversify his military experience. There, he finally got to meet the Baron of Manchuria, Georgy Ungern-Sternberg, who was optimistic in meeting him. However, Wrangel favored the outwardly European western Russia.
In 1970, Baron Wrangel II finally accepted his father's coronet, and became the Baron of South Russia.
As the Procurator General of Russia[]
In 1964, he was elected by the Military Senate to become the Procurator General. Upon this, Tsar Vladimir I gave him his father's coronet.
Personal life[]
The Baron married Princess Maria I from the House of Massalski. They gave birth to six children, Ivan, Vladimir, Gavril, Maria II, Anna and Elizabeth. Eventually, most of them ended up not pursuing military careers, a fate that Baron Wrangel II knew. Many of the ended up becoming wealthy businessmen, no longer needing pay from the Emperor (and later Empress) of Russia, therefore being addressed by the standard titles prince and princess respectively.