Nikolay Dukhonin
| Nikolay Nikolayevich Dukhonin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 December 1876 Smolensk Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 3 December 1917 (aged 40) Mogilev, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
| Allegiance |
 Russian Empire Russian Republic
|
| Service/branch |
 Russian Imperial Army
|
| Years of service | 1894—1917 |
| Rank | General |
| Unit | 3rd Army |
| Commands held | Imperial Russian Army |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Nikolay Nikolayevich Dukhonin (Russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Духо́нин; 13 December 1876 – 3 December 1917) was a Russian general, the last commander-in-chief of the Russian Imperial Army.
Dukhonin was born in the Smolensk Governorate. He served in the Kiev Military District before the start of the First World War. There he gained some experience in intelligence work.
At the outset of the War, Dukhonin was given command of a Russian regiment. He was then assigned to the Third Army in Dubno under General Ruzsky as senior adjutant of the intelligence department. In August 1917, Dukhonin was Quartermaster General of the Southwestern Front, and was plucked from this relative obscurity by Kerensky to replace Alexeyev as Chief of Staff at GHQ in Mogilev, as Alexeyev had resigned as a result of Kornilov's failed coup. It was Alexeyev who had suggested Dukhonin as his successor so that he could continue to influence affairs at Stavka in Mogilev.
When Kerensky fled Petrograd and then Russia following the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution, Dukhonin became de facto Supreme Commander, albeit of an army that was rapidly disintegrating, and over which he exercised very little control. During the initial stages of the Bolshevik seizure of power the Council of People's Commissars instructed Dukhonin to cease wartime hostilities and open negotiations with the Central Powers. Lenin and Krylenko visited Dukhonin in Petrograd to discuss an armistice proposal. Dukhonin's response was adamant: on 22 November he categorically declined the directive of the Council of People's Commissars. He had discussed such a development with diplomats from the Entente governments. Dukhonin told Lenin that such an order could only be issued by "a government sustained by the army and the country".
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