Editing Pyotr Wrangel (section)

==Russian Civil War==
After the end of Russia's participation in the war, Wrangel resigned his commission and went to live at his [[dacha]] at [[Yalta]], in the [[Crimea]]. Arrested by the [[Bolsheviks]] at the end of 1917, he was released and escaped to [[Kiev]], where he joined [[Pavlo Skoropadskyi]]'s [[Ukrainian State]]. However, it was soon apparent to him that the new government existed only because of the waning support of Germany, and in August 1918, he joined the anti-Bolshevik [[Volunteer Army]] based at [[Krasnodar|Yekaterinodar]], where he was given command of the 1st Cavalry Division and the rank of major general in the [[White movement]]. After the [[Second Kuban Campaign]] in late 1918, he was promoted to lieutenant general, and his division's strength was raised to that of a [[army corps|corps]].

In August 1918, Wrangel joined Denikin's anti-Bolshevik army.  In December 1918, Wrangel became [[Anton Denikin]]'s Chief of Staff in the [[Armed Forces of South Russia]], and in January 1919, commander of the Caucasian Volunteer Army within those forces.<ref name="pk">{{cite book |last1=Kenez |first1=Peter |title=Red Attack, White Resistance; Civil War in South Russia 1918 |date=2004 |publisher=New Academia Publishing |location=Washington, DC |isbn=9780974493442 |pages=204, 267–270}}</ref><ref name="pk2">{{cite book |last1=Kenez |first1=Peter |title=Red Advance, White Defeat: Civil War in South Russia 1919-1920 |date=2004 |publisher=New Academia Publishing |location=Washington, DC |isbn=9780974493459 |pages=25, 31–33}}</ref>

[[File:Government of South Russia 1920 cropped.JPG|thumb|The [[Government of South Russia]] established in [[Sevastopol]], [[Crimea]] in April 1920]]
According to [[Peter Kenez]], "Wrangel fought well, but even during his first weeks with the army, he distinguished himself by his arrogant behavior." After defeating the Bolsheviks in the Northern Caucasus, Denikin wanted to move against [[Tsaritsyn]], but the Bolshevik threat to the west of the Don district forced Denikin to send troops to that Don front. According to Kenez, "General Wrangel bitterly criticized Denikin's decision. He was willing to accept not only the loss of the [[Donets basin]], but of the entire [[Don Voisko]] because he believed strongly that no goal could be more important than meeting [[Alexander Kolchak|Kolchak]]'s advance somewhere along the [[Volga river]]."<ref name=pk2/>

Wrangel gained a reputation as a skilled and just administrator, who, unlike some other White Army generals, did not tolerate lawlessness or looting by his troops.{{sfn |Lincoln |1989 |p=[https://archive.org/details/redvictoryhistor0000linc/page/430/mode/2up 430]}} However, after he was unable to join forces with Admiral Kolchak and at the insistence of Denikin, he led his forces north towards Moscow on a [[Advance on Moscow (1919)|failed attempt by the Whites to take it]] in autumn 1919. Continuing disagreement with Denikin led to his removal from command, and Wrangel departed for exile to [[Constantinople]] on 8 February 1920.[[File:Гости и постояльцы в «Здравнице имени генерала Врангеля» в Белграде.jpg|thumb|Wrangel, Metropolitan [[Antony (Khrapovitsky)|Anthony]], Metropolitan [[Anastasius (Gribanovsky)|Anastasius]] and other Russian émigrés in Yugoslavia, 1927]]
[[File:General Wrangel Statue.jpg|right|thumb|210px|Statue of Wrangel in [[Sremski Karlovci]]]]
However, Denikin was forced to resign on 20 March 1920, and a military committee, led by General [[Abram Dragomirov]] in [[Sevastopol]], asked for Wrangel's return as [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the White forces in Crimea. He assumed that post on 4 April 1920, at the head of the ''[[Army of Wrangel|Russian Army]]'', and he put forth a coalition government that attempted to institute sweeping reforms (including land reforms).{{sfn |Luckett |1971 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/whitegeneralsacc0000luck_t8l7/page/358/mode/2up 359]-[https://archive.org/details/whitegeneralsacc0000luck_t8l7/page/360/mode/2up 360]}} He also recognized and established relations with the new anti-Bolshevik independent states, the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] and the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]], among others, although they were ultimately conquered by the Russian [[Red Army]].<ref name="SMG">{{cite book |last1=Iakov Moiseyevich Shafir |title=Secrets of Menshevik Georgia |date=1922 |publisher=[[Communist Party of Great Britain]] |location=London|author1-link=Iakov Moiseyevich Shafir }}</ref> However, by that stage in the [[Russian Civil War]], such measures were too late, and the White movement was rapidly losing support, both domestically and overseas.

Wrangel is immortalized by the nickname of "Black Baron" in the marching song ''[[The Red Army is the Strongest]]'', composed as a rallying call for a final effort on the part of the Bolsheviks to end the war. The song was immensely popular in the early Soviet Union in the 1920s.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

From June to October 1920, General Wrangel kept a building in [[Melitopol]] as his headquarters. The site later became the [[Melitopol Museum of Local History]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Страница не найдена (404-я ошибка) / Мелитопольский краеведческий музей / Музейний простір. Музеї України та світу |url=http://prostir.museum/ua/file/1031 |access-date=10 March 2022 |website=prostir.museum}}</ref>
[[File:Wrangel in Sevastopol, 1920.jpg|left|thumb|210px|At a prayer vigil upon accepting command.]]
After being severely outnumbered and facing [[Northern Taurida Operation|defeat in Northern Tavria]] and [[Siege of Perekop (1920)|in Crimea]], Wrangel organised [[Evacuation of the Crimea (1920)|a mass evacuation]] on the shores of the [[Black Sea]].{{sfn |Luckett |1971 |pp=[https://archive.org/details/whitegeneralsacc0000luck_t8l7/page/380/mode/2up?q=Perekop 381]-[https://archive.org/details/whitegeneralsacc0000luck_t8l7/page/382/mode/2up?q=Perekop 383]}} Wrangel gave every officer, soldier, and civilian the choice to evacuate and go with him into the unknown, or to remain in Russia. Those who chose to stay in Crimea were subject to brutal repression by the Bolsheviks as part of the [[Red Terror]], along with many civilians, with up to 150,000 murdered.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://urokiistorii.ru/articles/krasnyj-terror-v-krymu-1920-1922 | title=Красный террор в Крыму 1920-1922 }}</ref><ref name=rbth/> Wrangel evacuated the White forces from the Crimea in 1920; the remnants of the Russian Imperial Navy became known as [[Wrangel's fleet]]. The last military and civilian personnel left Russia with Wrangel on board the [[Bogatyr-class cruiser#Ships|''General Kornilov'']] on 14 November 1920.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}
[[File:Доска П.Н. Врангелю.jpg|thumb|A [[commemorative plaque]] dedicated to Wrangel in the village of Ulyanovo in [[Kaliningrad Oblast]]. Notably, the plaque utilizes [[Reforms of Russian orthography#Post-revolution reform|pre-revolutionary Russian]], even though it was created in 2014.]]
Initially, Wrangel lived on his yacht, ''Lucullus'', at [[Constantinople]]. It was rammed and sunk by the Italian steamer ''Adria'', which had sailed from Soviet-held [[Batum]]. Wrangel, then on shore, escaped with his life in what was widely regarded as an assassination attempt.