A. V. Kolchak (1874-1920) on the way to the Bosphorus: from a combat officer to a naval commander

The article examines the problem of Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak’s (1874-1920) preparation of an amphibious operation to capture the Bosphorus during the Great War of 1914-1918. The author examines Kolchak’s participation in the Great War and analyzes a set of sources telling about the preparation of the Bosphorus operation. The author concludes that Admiral Kolchak did not take part in the preparation of the February 1917 coup, that «Alekseev’s conspiracy» against Nicholas II is a historiographical myth, that the preparation of the Bosphorus operation was not connected with the political processes of February 1917, and that the failure of this operation was due to the collapse of the army, which was carried out by the Petrograd Soviet of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies.