Pytor Wrangel

**Pytor Wrangel** (born August 27 [O.S. August 15] 1878) is a Russian officer of Baltic German origin in the Imperial Russian Army and now the United Baltic Duchy's Royal Armed Forces.

## History

### Early Life

Wrangel was born in Novalexandrovsk, Kovno Governorate in the Russian Empire (now Zarasai, Lithuania). The Baltic German noble Wrangel family was part of the Uradel (old nobility), the family was of German origin, appearing in the old "Livland" with the German Order. It undoubtedly has a common origin with the noble family Levenwolde and von Engdes. Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel was only distantly related to the famed Arctic explorer Ferdinand von Wrangel and the Prussian Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich von Wrangel.

Of ethnic Baltic German roots, Wrangel grew up in the Russian Orthodox Church. His Lutheran grandfather, Baron Hans Georg Hermann von Wrangel, had married a Russian woman, and all of his descendants were baptized as Orthodox. This branch of the family was Russian Orthodox.

After graduating from the Rostov Technical High School in 1896 and the Institute of Mining in St. Petersburg in 1901, Wrangel volunteered for the prestigious Life Guards cavalry. He was commissioned a reserve officer in 1902 after graduating from the Nikolaev Cavalry School. He soon resigned his commission and traveled to Irkutsk, where he was assigned to special missions by the Governor-General.

### Military Career

At the start of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904, he re-enlisted and was assigned to the 2nd Regiment of the Transbaikal Cossack Corps. In December 1904, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

After the war ended, in January 1906, he was reassigned to the 55th Finland Dragoon Regiment, which, under General A. N. Orlov, took part in pacifying rebels in Siberia. In 1907, he returned to the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. In 1908, he married Olga Mikhaylovna Ivanenko in St. Petersburg, and they had two sons and two daughters. Wrangel graduated from the Nicholas Imperial General Staff Academy in 1910 and the Cavalry Officers' School in 1911.

With the start of World War I, Wrangel was promoted to captain and assigned command of a cavalry squadron. On October 13, 1914, he became one of the first Russian officers to be awarded the Order of St. George (4th degree) in the war, the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire. In December 1914, he was promoted to the rank of colonel. In October 1915, Wrangel was transferred to the Southwestern Front and was appointed commander of the 1st Regiment of the Transbaikal Cossacks.

The unit was very active in Galicia against the Austrians, and Wrangel distinguished himself especially during the Brusilov Offensive. He was promoted to the rank of major general in January 1917 and took command of the 2nd Brigade of the Ussuri Cavalry Division, which was merged with other cavalry units to become the Consolidated Cavalry Corps in July that year. He was further decorated with the George Cross (4th degree) for his defense of the Zbruch River in the summer of 1917.

### Creation of the United Baltic Duchy

After the creation of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Russian Empire, Germany had conquered all of the Eastern Front to make buffer states between it and the Soviet Union. The United Baltic Duchy was created with the merging of Estonia and Latvia into one state. The Country was formerly and Semi Autonomous Colony in Europe ruled by Reichkommissar Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg who was originally gonna be the Grand Duke until he decided to not be in the position knowing his daughter is not a good heir for the throne. Adolf Fredrich then appointed Pytor Wrangel as Prime Minister of the United Batlic Duchy. The two Politicians elected Gustav von Biron as Grand Duke as Pytor Wrangel became Chief of Staff of the Royal Armed Forces.