August Kork | |
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| Born | 2 August [O.S. 22 July] 1887 Aardla, Kreis Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire |
| Died | 11 June 1937 (aged 49) Kommunarka shooting ground, Moscow, Soviet Union |
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| Rank | Komandarm, 2nd rank |
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| Spouse(s) | Yekaterina Mikhailovna |
August Ivanovich Kork (Russian: Август Иванович Корк, also Аугуст Яанович Корк; 2 August [O.S. 22 July] 1887 – 11 June 1937) was an Estonian Red Army commander (Komandarm 2nd rank) who was tried and executed during the Great Purge in 1937.
Kork became an officer of the Imperial Russian Army and graduated from the General Staff Academy. He served as a staff officer during World War I and in February 1917 was at the Western Front headquarters. Kork became a Bolshevik and joined the Red Army. He fought in the Russian Civil War, initially as chief of staff of the Bolshevik-sponsored Estonian Red Army and then as assistant commander of the 7th Army. In July 1919 Kork became commander of the 15th Army, defeating Nikolai Yudenich's Northwestern Army and defending Petrograd. He led the army in the Polish–Soviet War and in October 1920 became commander of the 6th Army, which defeated the last White Army in Crimea, led by Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel.
After the end of the campaign, Kork took command of the Kharkov Military District and later became the assistant commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Crimea. In October 1922 he took command of the Turkestan Front, fighting against Basmachi rebels. During the late 1920s, Kork commanded the Caucasus Army, several military districts, and was the Soviet military attaché in Germany between 1928 and 1929. Returning from Germany, Kork became commander of the Moscow Military District. In 1935 he became head of the Frunze Military Academy with the rank of Komandarm 2nd rank. At this time he was the highest-ranking Estonian Red Army officer. During the Great Purge, Kork was arrested and shot as part of the Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization. He was acquitted twenty years later.