"White" and "Red" movements in the Civil War. History lessons: leaders of the White movement

WHITE ARMY DURING THE CIVIL WAR

White Army(Also White Guard) is a common collective name in historical literature for the armed formations of the White movement and anti-Soviet governments during the Civil War in Russia (1917-1922). During the construction of the White Army, the structure of the old Russian army was mainly used, while almost each individual formation had its own characteristics. The military art of the White Army was based on the experience of the First World War, which, however, was strongly influenced by the specifics of the civil war.

ARMED FORMATIONS

In the north

In North-west

On South

In the East

In Central Asia

COMPOUND

The White armies were recruited both on a voluntary basis and on the basis of mobilizations.

On a voluntary basis, they were recruited mainly from officers of the Russian Imperial Army and Navy.

On a mobilization basis, they were recruited from the population of controlled territories and from captured Red Army soldiers.

The number of white armies fighting against the Red Army, according to intelligence estimates, by June 1919 was about 300,000 people.

Management. During the first period of the struggle - representatives of the generals of the Russian Imperial Army:

L. G. Kornilov ,

General Staff General of Infantry M. V. Alekseev ,

Admiral, Supreme Ruler of Russia since 1918 A. V. Kolchak

A. I. Denikin ,*

General of the Cavalry P. N. Krasnov ,

General of the Cavalry A. M. Kaledin ,

Lieutenant General E. K. Miller ,

General of Infantry N. N. Yudenich ,

Lieutenant General V. G. Boldyrev

Lieutenant General M. K. Diterichs

General Staff Lieutenant General I. P. Romanovsky ,

General Staff Lieutenant General S. L. Markov

and others.

In subsequent periods, military leaders who ended the First World War as officers and received general ranks during the Civil War came to the fore:

General Staff Major General M. G. Drozdovsky

General Staff Lieutenant General V. O. Kappel ,

General of the Cavalry A. I. Dutov ,

Lieutenant General Y. A. Slashchev-Krymsky ,

Lieutenant General A. S. Bakich ,

Lieutenant General A. G. Shkuro ,

Lieutenant General G. M. Semenov ,

Lieutenant General Baron R. F. Ungern von Sternberg ,

Major General B.V. Annenkov ,

Major General Prince P. R. Bermondt-Avalov ,

Major General N. V. Skoblin ,

Major General K. V. Sakharov ,

Major General V. M. Molchanov ,

as well as military leaders who, for various reasons, did not join the white forces at the start of their armed struggle:

P. N. Wrangel - future Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in the Crimea General Staff, Lieutenant General Baron,

M. K. Diterichs - Commander of the Zemskaya Ratyu, Lieutenant General.

HISTORY OF CREATION

The first white army was created by the “Alekseevskaya organization” on a voluntary basis from former officers, which was reflected in the name of the army - on December 25, 1917 (01/07/1918) the Volunteer Army was created on the Don.

Three months later, in April 1918, the Don Army Defense Council formed the Don Army.

In June 1918, the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly, based on the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel V. O. Kappel created the People's Army, and the Provisional Siberian Government at the same time created its own Siberian Army.

On September 23, 1918, the Ufa Directorate united the Volga People's Army and the Siberian Army into one Russian Army (not to be confused with the Russian Army of General Wrangel).

In August 1918, the Supreme Administration of the Northern Region in Arkhangelsk created troops of the Northern Region, sometimes called the Northern Army (not to be confused with the Northern Army of General Rodzianko).

In January 1919, the Don and Volunteer Armies were united into the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (AFSR).

In June 1919, the Northern Army was created from Russian officers and soldiers of the Northern Corps, which left the Estonian army. A month later the army was renamed the North-Western.

In April 1920, in Transbaikalia, from the remnants of the army of Admiral Kolchak under the leadership of General G. M. Semenov created the Far Eastern Army.

In May 1920, the Russian Army was formed from the troops of the All-Soviet Union of Socialists who had withdrawn to Krymostatkov.

In 1921, from the remnants of the Far Eastern army of General Semenov in Primorye, the White Rebel Army was formed, later renamed the Zemstvo Army, since in 1922 the Amur Zemstvo government was created in Vladivostok.

From November 1918 to January 1920, the armed forces of the White movement recognized the supreme leadership of Admiral A.V. Kolchak. After the defeat of Admiral Kolchak’s troops in Siberia, on January 4, 1920, supreme power passed to General A. I. Denikin.

THE WHITE MOVEMENT AND THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

Back in September 1917, while the future leaders of the White movement were imprisoned in Bykhov, the “Bykhov program”, which was the fruit of the collective labor of “prisoners” and the main theses of which were transferred to the “draft constitution of General Kornilov” - the very first political declaration of the White movement, which was prepared in December 1917 - January 1918 by L. G. Kornilov said: “The resolution of the main state-national and social issues is postponed until the Constituent Assembly...”. In the “constitution...” this idea was detailed: “The government created according to the program of the general. Kornilov, is responsible in her actions only to the Constituent Assembly, to which she will transfer the fullness of state legislative power. The Constituent Assembly, as the sole owner of the Russian Land, must develop the basic laws of the Russian constitution and finally construct the state system.”

Because main task The white movement was fighting Bolshevism, then the white leaders did not introduce any other state-building tasks into the agenda until this main task was resolved. Such a non-predecision position was theoretically flawed, but, according to the historian S. Volkov, in conditions when there was no unity on this issue even among the leaders of the white movement, not to mention the fact that in its ranks there were supporters of various forms of the future state structure of Russia, it seemed the only possible one.

HOSTILITIES

A) Fight in the Urals

It acted at the beginning against the Red Guard detachments, from June 1918 - against the 4th and 1st armies of the East, from August 15 - against the Turkestan Red Fronts. In April 1919, during the general offensive of Kolchak’s armies, it broke through the Red front, besieged Uralski, which had been abandoned in January 1919, and reached the approaches to Saratov and Samara. However, limited funds did not allow the Ural region to be captured.

At the beginning of July 1919, the troops of the Turkestan Front launched a counteroffensive against the Ural Army. The well-equipped and armed 25th Infantry Division, transferred from near Ufa, under the command of V. I. Chapaeva, July 5-11, defeated units of the Ural Army, broke the blockade of Uralsk and 07/11/1919. entered the city. The Ural army began to retreat along the entire front.

On July 21, 1919, operational control of the Ural Army was transferred by Admiral A. V. Kolchak to the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (AFSR) (Commander-in-Chief General A. I. Denikin). After the transition of the Ural Army to the operational subordination of the command of the AFSR, its composition was divided into 3 areas:

Buzulukskoye, as part of the 1st Ural Cossack Corps (commander, Colonel Izergin M.I.); with its 1st, 2nd and 6th Cossack and 3rd Iletsk, 1st Ural Infantry Divisions and their 13th Orenburg, 13th, 15th and 18th Cossack, 5th Ural infantry, 12th Consolidated Cossack and several other separate regiments (total 6,000 bayonets and sabers);

Saratov, as part of the 2nd Iletsk Cossack Corps (commander, Lieutenant General Akutin V.I.); and his 5th Cossack division with a number of separate regiments (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 16th, 17th Ural Cossacks, 33rd Nikolaevsky Rifle, Guryevsky Foot Regiment, total 8,300 soldiers);

Astrakhan-Gurievskoe, as part of the Ural-Astrakhan Cossack Corps (commander, Major General N. G. Tetruev, partisan detachments Colonels Kartashev and Chizhinsky and the Separate 9th Ural Cossack Regiment (about 1,400 soldiers).

At the end of July 1919, the Ural Army retreated to Lbischensk (which it left on August 9, 1919), then further down the Urals. At the end of August and beginning of September, a special detachment of Cossacks from the 1st Division of T. I. Sladkova and peasants Lieutenant Colonel F. F. Poznyakov (1192 soldiers with 9 machine guns and 2 guns) under the overall command of Colonel N. N. Borodin, undertook a successful raid deep into the rear of the Reds, to Lbischensk, where on September 5, 1919. destroyed the entire headquarters of the 25th Infantry Division, which was also the headquarters of the entire military group of the Red Army of the Turkestan Front, led by St. I. Chapaev, returning Lbischensk to the Ural Army. According to rough estimates, during the Battle of Lbischen the Reds lost at least 2,500 people killed and captured. The total losses of the Whites during this operation amounted to 118 people - 24 killed (including Major General (posthumously) Borodin N.N.) and 94 wounded. The trophies taken in Lbischensk turned out to be very large. About 700 people were captured, a lot of ammunition, food, equipment, a radio station, machine guns, cinematographic devices, several airplanes, cars, etc. were captured.

During the raid, important results were achieved: the headquarters of the entire military group of the Red Army of the Turkestan Front was destroyed, as a result of which the front troops lost control, decomposed and were demoralized. Units of the Turkestan Front hastily retreated to the positions they occupied in July, in the Uralsk region, and virtually ceased active hostilities. In October 1919, the Cossacks again surrounded and besieged the city.

But after the collapse of Kolchak’s Eastern Front in October-November 1919, the Ural Army found itself blocked by superior Red forces, thereby depriving itself of all sources of replenishment of weapons and ammunition. The defeat of the Urals by the Bolsheviks was only a matter of time.

On November 2, the Turkestan Front, consisting of the 1st and 4th armies (18.5 thousand bayonets, 3.5 thousand sabers, 86 guns and 365 machine guns) launched a general offensive against the Ural Army (5.2 thousand bayonets, 12 thousand sabers , 65 guns, 249 machine guns), planning to encircle and destroy the main forces of the Urals with concentrated attacks on Lbischensk from the north and east. Under pressure from the superior forces of the Reds, the Ural Army began to retreat. On November 20, the Reds captured Lbischensk, however, they were unable to encircle the main forces of the Urals. The front has stabilized south of Lbischensk. The Turkestan Front increased its reserves and was replenished with weapons and ammunition. The Ural Army had neither reserves nor ammunition. On December 10, 1919, the Reds resumed their offensive. The resistance of the weakened Ural units was broken, the front collapsed. On December 11th Art. fell. Slamikhinskaya, on December 18, the Reds captured the city of Kalmykov, thereby cutting off the retreat routes of the Iletsk Corps, and on December 22 - the village of Gorsky, one of the last strongholds of the Urals before Guryev.

The army commander, General Tolstov V.S. and his headquarters retreated to the city of Guryev. The remnants of the Iletsk corps, having suffered heavy losses in the battles during the retreat and from mowing down the ranks personnel typhus and relapsing fever, on January 4, 1920, they were almost completely destroyed and captured by red troops near the village of Maly Baybuz. At the same time, the Kyrgyz regiment of this corps, almost in its entirety, went over to the side of the Alashordy people, who at that time acted as allies of the Bolsheviks, having previously “cut out” the headquarters of the Iletsk corps, the 4th and 5th Iletsk divisions, and “surrendered” the commander to the Reds corps of Lieutenant General Akutin V.I., who was shot by the troops of the 25th (“Chapaevskaya”) division (according to other sources, he was arrested and taken to Moscow, where he was later shot). The 6th Iletsk Division, retreating to the Volga through the steppe of the Bukeev Horde, almost completely died from disease, hunger and mainly from the fire of the red units pursuing it.

On January 5, 1920, the city of Guryev fell. Some of the Ural Army personnel and civilians were captured, and some of the Cossacks went over to the Red side. The remnants of the units of the Ural Army, led by the army commander, General V.S. Tolstov, with convoys and the civilian population (families and refugees), with a total number of approximately 15,000 people, decided to go south, hoping to unite with the Turkestan army of General Kazanovich B.I. (VSYUR troops of General Denikin). The transition took place in the most difficult conditions of a harsh winter, in January-March 1920, in the absence of a sufficient amount of drinking water, a catastrophic shortage of food and medicine. The transition was carried out along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea to Fort Alexandrovsky. After arriving at the fort, it was planned that civilians, wounded and sick, would be evacuated on the ships of the Caspian flotilla of the AFSR to the other side of the sea in Port Petrovsk. By the time they arrived at Fort Alexandrovsky, less than 3 thousand Cossacks remained from the army, most of who were sick (mostly different shapes typhus), or frostbite. The military meaning of the campaign was lost, since by this time Denikin’s troops in the Caucasus were retreating and the port of Petrovsk was abandoned in these days (the last days of March 1920). On April 4, 1920, from the port of Petrovsk, which became the main base of the red Volga-Caspian flotilla, the destroyer Karl Liebknecht (until February 1919 had the name Finn) and the fighter boat Zorkiy approached the fort. The detachment was commanded by the commander of the flotilla, F. F. Raskolnikov. Later he would write in a report:

A detachment of 214 people (several generals, officers, Cossacks, civilians (family members), led by Ataman V.S. Tolstov left for Persia on April 4, 1920, and the Ural Army ceased to exist. The campaign from Fort Alexandrovsky to Persia was detailed described in V. S. Tolstov’s book “From Red Paws to the Unknown Distance” (Campaign of the Uralians), first published in 1921 in Constantinople, the book was currently republished in 2007 in Uralsk, in the “Ural Library” series by the publishing house Optima LLP.

B) Turkestan military organization

TVO was preparing an uprising against Soviet power in Turkestan. Active assistance to the organization was provided by agents of foreign intelligence services, primarily English ones from the border area, and agents operating under the cover of foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Tashkent under the government of the Turkestan Republic. Initially, the action against Soviet power in the region was planned for August 1918, but for a number of reasons the date of this action later had to be moved to the spring of 1919.

The Turkestan military organization included many officers, led by Colonel P. G. Kornilov (brother of the famous leader of the white movement L. G. Kornilov), Colonel I. M. Zaitsev, Lieutenant General L. L. Kondratovich, former assistant to the Governor General of Turkestan, General E. P. Dzhunkovsky Colonel Blavatsky. Later, the Commissar for Military Affairs of the Turkestan Republic also joined the ranks of TVO. P. Osipov, in whose circle such officers as Colonel Rudnev, Osipov’s orderly Bott, Gaginsky, Savin, Butenin, Stremkovsky and others played a prominent role.

All the anti-Bolshevik forces of the region ultimately rallied around TVO - Cadets, Mensheviks, right-wing Socialist Revolutionaries and bourgeois nationalists, Basmachi, and Muslim clergy, former officials of the tsarist administration, Dashnaks, Bundists. The TVO headquarters established contact with Ataman Dutov, General Denikin, Kazakh nationalists-Alashorda, the Emir of Bukhara, the leaders of the Fergana and Turkmen Basmachi, the Trans-Caspian White Guards, and the British consuls in Kashgar, Ghulja, and Mashhad. The leaders of the organization signed an agreement under which they pledged to transfer Turkestan to the English protectorate for a period of 55 years. In turn, the representative of the British intelligence services in Central Asia, Malleson, promised the TVO representatives assistance in the amount of 100 million rubles, 16 mountain guns, 40 machine guns, 25 thousand rifles and a corresponding amount of ammunition. Thus, representatives of the British intelligence services not only helped the conspirators, they determined the goals and objectives of the organization and controlled its actions.

However, in October 1918, the special services of the Turkestan Republic - the TurkChK, together with the criminal investigation department of Tashkent - got on the trail of TVO, after which a number of arrests were made among the leaders of the organization. The remaining leaders of the underground left the city, but some branches of the organization survived and continued to operate. General Malesson's representative in Tashkent, Bailey, went underground. It was TVO that played an important role in initiating the uprising under the leadership of Konstantin Osipov in January 1919. At the last stage of its existence, the ranks of TVO actually included representatives of the new Soviet nomenklatura - the Bolshevik-Leninist Agapov and the technician Popov.

After the defeat of the uprising, the officers who left Tashkent formed the Tashkent officer partisan detachment (101 people), which from March fought together with other anti-Bolshevik formations against the red units in the Fergana Valley, and then near Bukhara. Then the remnants of the Tashkent officer partisan detachment united with units of the Turkestan army.

IN) Fight in the North-West

General Nikolai Yudenich created the North-Western Army on the territory of Estonia to fight Soviet power. The army numbered from 5.5 to 20 thousand soldiers and officers.

On August 11, 1919, the Government of the North-West Region was created in Tallinn (Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finance - Stepan Lianozov, Minister of War - Nikolai Yudenich, Minister of Marine - Vladimir Pilkini, etc.). On the same day, the Government of the North-Western Region, under pressure from the British, who promised weapons and equipment for the army for this recognition, recognized the state independence of Estonia. However, Kolchak's all-Russian government did not approve this decision.

After the recognition of Estonia's independence by the Government of the Russian North-Western Region, Great Britain provided him with financial assistance, and also made minor supplies of weapons and ammunition.

N. N. Yudenich tried to take Petrograd twice (in spring and autumn), but each time was unsuccessful.

The spring offensive (5.5 thousand bayonets and sabers for the Whites against 20 thousand for the Reds) of the Northern Corps (from July 1, the North-Western Army) on Petrograd began on May 13, 1919. The Whites broke through the front near Narva and, by moving around Yamburg, forced the Reds to retreat. On May 15, they captured Gdov. On May 17, Yamburg fell, and on May 25, Pskov. By the beginning of June, the Whites reached the approaches to Luga and Gatchina, threatening Petrograd. But the Reds transferred reserves to Petrograd, increasing the size of their group operating against the North-Western Army to 40 thousand bayonets and sabers, and in mid-July they launched a counteroffensive. During heavy fighting, they pushed back the small units of the North-Western Army beyond the Luga River, and on August 28 captured Pskov.

Autumn offensive on Petrograd. On October 12, 1919, the North-Western Army (20 thousand bayonets and sabers versus 40 thousand for the Reds) broke through the Soviet front at Yamburgai and on October 20, 1919, having taken Tsarskoe Selo, it reached the outskirts of Petrograd. The Whites captured the Pulkovo Heights and, on the far left flank, broke into the outskirts of Ligovo, and scout patrols began fighting at the Izhora plant. But, having no reserves and not receiving support from Finland and Estonia, after ten days of fierce and unequal battles near Petrograd with the Red troops (whose numbers had grown to 60 thousand people), the North-Western Army was unable to capture the city. Finland and Estonia refused assistance because the leadership This white army never recognized the independence of these countries. On November 1, the retreat of the Northwestern White Army began.

By mid-November 1919, Yudenich's army retreated into Estonia through stubborn battles. After the signing of the Tartu Peace Treaty between the RSFSR and Estonia, 15 thousand soldiers and officers of Yudenich's North-Western Army, under the terms of this treaty, were first disarmed, and then 5 thousand of them were captured by the Estonian authorities and sent to concentration camps.

Despite the exodus of the White armies from native land as a result of the Civil War, from a historical perspective, the White movement was by no means defeated: having found itself in exile, it continued to fight against the Bolsheviks in Soviet Russia and beyond.

"WHITE EMIGRATION"

White emigration, which became widespread in 1919, was formed in several stages. The first stage is associated with the evacuation of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, Lieutenant General A. I. Denikin from Novorossiysk in February 1920. The second stage - with the departure of the Russian Army, Lieutenant General Baron P. N. Wrangel from Crimea in November 1920, the third - with the defeat of the troops of Admiral A. V. Kolchakai on the evacuation of the Japanese army from Primorye in the 1920-1921s. After the evacuation of Crimea, the remnants of the Russian Army were stationed in Turkey, where General P. N. Wrangel, his headquarters and senior commanders had the opportunity to restore it as a fighting force. The key task of the command was, firstly, to obtain from the Entente allies material assistance in the required amount, secondly, to fend off all their attempts to disarm and disband the army and, thirdly, disorganized and demoralized by defeats and evacuation of the units as soon as possible to reorganize and put things in order, restoring discipline and morale.

The legal position of the Russian Army and military alliances was complex: the legislation of France, Poland and a number of other countries in whose territory they were located did not allow the existence of any foreign organizations “looking like formations organized on a military model.” The Entente powers sought to turn the Russian army, which had retreated but retained its fighting spirit and organization, into a community of emigrants. “Even more than physical deprivation, complete political lack of rights weighed on us. No one was guaranteed against the arbitrariness of any agent of power of each of the Entente powers. Even the Turks, who themselves were under the regime of arbitrariness of the occupation authorities, were guided in relation to us by the rule of the strong,” wrote N.V. Savich, Wrangel’s employee responsible for finance. That is why Wrangel decides to transfer his troops to the Slavic countries.

In the spring of 1921, Baron P. N. Wrangel approached the Bulgarian and Yugoslav governments with a request for the possibility of resettling Russian Army personnel in Yugoslavia. The units were promised maintenance at the expense of the treasury, which included rations and a small salary. September 1, 1924 P. N. Wrangel issued an order on the formation of the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS). It included all units, as well as military societies and unions that accepted the order for execution. The internal structure of individual military units was kept intact. The EMRO itself acted as a unifying and governing organization. Its head became the Commander-in-Chief, the general management of the affairs of the EMRO was concentrated at Wrangel's headquarters. From this moment on, we can talk about the transformation of the Russian Army into an emigrant military organization. The Russian General Military Union became the legal successor of the White Army. We can talk about this by referring to the opinion of its creators: “The formation of the EMRO prepares the opportunity, in case of need, under the pressure of the general political situation, to accept the Russian Army new uniform existence in the form of military alliances." This “form of being” made it possible to fulfill the main task of the military command in exile - maintaining existing and training new army personnel.

An integral part of the confrontation between the military-political emigration and the Bolshevik regime on the territory of Russia was the struggle of the special services: reconnaissance and sabotage groups of the EMRO with the organs of the OGPU - NKVD, which took place in various regions of the planet.

White emigration in the political spectrum of Russian diaspora

The political sentiments and preferences of the initial period of Russian emigration represented a fairly wide range of trends, almost completely reproducing the picture political life pre-October Russia. In the first half of 1921, a characteristic feature was the strengthening of monarchical tendencies, explained, first of all, by the desire of ordinary refugees to rally around a “leader” who could protect their interests in exile, and in the future ensure their return to their homeland. Such hopes were associated with the personality of P. N. Wrangel and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, to whom General Wrangel reassigned the ROVS as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

White emigration lived in hope of returning to Russia and liberating it from the totalitarian regime of communism. However, the emigration was not united: from the very beginning of the existence of the Russian Abroad, there was a fierce struggle between supporters of reconciliation with the regime established in sub-Soviet Russia (“Smenovekhovtsy”) and supporters of an irreconcilable position in relation to communist power and its legacy. White emigration, led by the EMRO and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, formed the camp of irreconcilable opponents of the “anti-national regime in Russia.” In the thirties, part of the emigrant youth, children of white fighters, decided to go on the offensive against the Bolsheviks. This was the national youth of the Russian emigration, first calling itself the “National Union of Russian Youth”, later renamed the “National Labor Union of the New Generation” (NTSNP). The goal was simple: to contrast Marxism-Leninism with another idea based on solidarity and patriotism. At the same time, the NTSNP never associated itself with the White movement, criticized the Whites, considering itself a political party of a fundamentally new type. This ultimately led to an ideological and organizational break between the NTSNP and the ROWS, which continued to remain in the previous positions of the White movement and was critical of the “national boys” (as NTSNP members began to be called in emigration).

The civil war became a terrible test for Russia. This page of history, which was heroized for many decades, was in fact shameful. Fratricide, numerous betrayals, robberies and violence coexisted with exploits and self-sacrifice. The white army consisted of different people - people from all classes, representatives of various nationalities who inhabited a huge country and had different education. The Red troops were also not a homogeneous mass. Both opposing sides experienced many of the same difficulties. In the end, four years later the Reds won. Why?

When did the Civil War start

When talking about the beginning of the Civil War, historians call different dates. For example, Krasnov nominated units subordinate to him with the goal of taking control of Petrograd on October 25, 1917. Or another fact: General Alekseev arrived on the Don to organize the Volunteer Army - this happened on November 2. And here is Miliukov’s Declaration, published in the Donskaya Rech newspaper on December 27. What is not a reason to consider it an official declaration of war? In a sense, these three versions, like many others, are true. In the last two months of 1917, the Volunteer White Army was formed (and this could not happen at once). In the Civil War, it became the only serious force capable of resisting the Bolsheviks.

Personnel and social cross-section of the White Army

The backbone of the white movement was the Russian officers. Since 1862, its social and class structure has undergone changes, but these processes reached particular speed during the First World War. If in the middle XIX century Since belonging to the highest military leadership was the lot of the aristocracy, at the beginning of the next century commoners began to be increasingly allowed into it. An example is the famous commanders of the White Army. Alekseev is the son of a soldier, Kornilov’s father was a cornet of the Cossack army, and Denikin’s father was a serf. Contrary to the propaganda stereotypes that were being introduced into the mass consciousness, there could be no talk of any “white bone”. By their origin, the officers of the White Army could represent a social cross-section of the entire Russian Empire. During the period from 1916 to 1917, infantry schools graduated 60% of people from peasant families. In Golovin from a thousand warrant officers ( junior lieutenants, By Soviet system military ranks) there were 700 of them. In addition to them, 260 officers came from the middle class, workers and merchants. There were nobles too - four dozen.

The white army was founded and formed by the notorious "cook's children." Only five percent of the organizers of the movement were wealthy and eminent people; the income of the rest before the revolution consisted only of officer salaries.

Modest debut

The officers intervened political events immediately after Ono was an organized military force, the main advantage of which was discipline and combat skills. Officers, as a rule, did not have political convictions in the sense of belonging to a specific party, but they had a desire to restore order in the country and avoid the collapse of the state. As for the quantity, the entire White army, as of January 1918 (General Kaledin’s campaign against Petrograd), consisted of seven hundred Cossacks. The demoralization of the troops led to an almost complete reluctance to fight. Not only ordinary soldiers, but also officers were extremely reluctant (approximately 1% of the total) to obey mobilization orders.

By the beginning of full-scale hostilities, the White Volunteer Army numbered up to seven thousand soldiers and Cossacks, commanded by a thousand officers. She did not have any food supplies or weapons, nor did she have any support from the population. It seemed that an imminent collapse was inevitable.

Siberia

After the Reds seized power in Tomsk, Irkutsk and other Siberian cities, underground anti-Bolshevik centers created by officers began to operate. corps became the signal for their open action against Soviet power in May-June 1918. The West Siberian Army was created (commander - General A. N. Grishin-Almazov), into which volunteers began to enroll. Soon its number exceeded 23 thousand. By August, the White army, united with the troops of Captain G.M. Semenov, was formed into two corps (4th East Siberian and 5th Amur) and controlled a vast territory from the Urals to Baikal. It consisted of about 60 thousand bayonets, 114 thousand unarmed volunteers under the command of almost 11 thousand officers.

North

In the Civil War, in addition to Siberia and the Far East, the White Army fought on three more main fronts: Southern, Northwestern and Northern. Each of them had its own specifics both in terms of the operational situation and the contingent. The most professionally trained officers who had gone through the German War concentrated in the northern theater of military operations. In addition, they were distinguished by excellent education, upbringing and courage. Many commanders of the White Army came from Ukraine and owed their salvation from Bolshevik terror to the German troops, which explained their Germanophilism; others had traditional sympathies for the Entente. This situation sometimes became the cause of conflicts. The white northern army was relatively small.

Northwestern White Army

It was formed with the support of the German armed forces in opposition to the Bolshevik Red Army. After the Germans left, its composition numbered up to 7,000 bayonets. This was the least prepared White Guard front, which, however, was accompanied by temporary success. The sailors of the Chud flotilla, together with the cavalry detachment of Balakhovich and Permykin, having become disillusioned with the communist idea, decided to go over to the side of the White Guards. Volunteer peasants also joined the growing army, and then high school students were forcibly mobilized. The Northwestern Army fought with varying success and became one of the examples of the curiosity of the entire war. Numbering 17 thousand soldiers, it was controlled by 34 generals and many colonels, among whom were those who were not even twenty years old.

South of Russia

Events on this front became decisive in the fate of the country. Population over 35 million, territory equal in area to a couple of large European countries, equipped with a developed transport infrastructure (sea ports, railways) were controlled by Denikin’s white forces. The south of Russia could exist separately from the rest of the territory of the former Russian Empire: it had everything for autonomous development, including agriculture and industry. The White Army generals, who received an excellent military education and extensive experience in combat with Austria-Hungary and Germany, had every chance of winning victories over often poorly educated enemy commanders. However, the problems were still the same. People didn’t want to fight, and it was never possible to create a single ideological platform. Monarchists, democrats, liberals were united only by the desire to resist Bolshevism.

Deserters

Both the Red and White armies suffered from the same disease: representatives of the peasantry did not want to join them voluntarily. Forced mobilizations led to a decrease in overall combat effectiveness. Russian officers, regardless of tradition, constituted a special caste, far from the masses of soldiers, which caused internal contradictions. The scale of punitive measures applied to deserters was monstrous on both sides of the front, but the Bolsheviks practiced executions more often and more decisively, including showing cruelty towards the families of those who escaped. Moreover, they were bolder in their promises. As the number of forcibly conscripted soldiers grew, “eroding” combat-ready officer regiments, control over the execution of combat missions became difficult. There were practically no reserves, supplies were deteriorating. There were other problems that led to the defeat of the army in the South, which was the last stronghold of the whites.

Myths and reality

The image of a White Guard officer, dressed in an impeccable jacket, certainly a nobleman with sonorous surname who spends his leisure time drinking and singing romances is far from the truth. We had to fight in conditions of constant shortage of weapons, ammunition, food, uniforms and everything else, without which it is difficult, if not impossible, to maintain the army in combat-ready condition. The Entente provided support, but this help was not enough, plus there was a moral crisis, expressed in the feeling of fighting against one’s own people.

After defeat in the Civil War, Wrangel and Denikin found salvation abroad. Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak was shot by the Bolsheviks in 1920. The army (White) lost more and more territories with each bloody year. All this led to the forced evacuation from Sevastopol in 1922 of the surviving units of the once powerful army. A little later, the last pockets of resistance in the area were suppressed. Far East.

Many songs of the White Army, after some alteration of the texts, became Red Guard songs. The words “for Holy Rus'” were replaced by the phrase “for the power of the Soviets”; a similar fate awaited other wonderful ones that received new names (“Across the valleys and along the hills”, “Kakhovka”, etc.) Today, after decades of oblivion, they are available to listeners interested in history of the White movement.

However, from the spring - summer of 1918, the fierce political struggle began to develop into forms of open military confrontation between the Bolsheviks and their opponents: moderate socialists, some foreign units, the White Army, and the Cossacks. The second - “front” stage of the Civil War begins, in which, in turn, several periods can be distinguished.

Summer - autumn 1918 - the period of escalation of the war.

It was caused by a change in the agrarian policy of the Bolsheviks: the introduction of a food dictatorship, the organization of poor committees and the incitement of class struggle in the countryside. This led to discontent among the middle and wealthy peasants and the creation of a mass base for the anti-Bolshevik movement, which, in turn, contributed to the consolidation of two movements: the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik “democratic counter-revolution” and the White movement. The period ends with the rupture of these forces.

December 1918 - June 1919 - a period of confrontation between the regular Red and White armies.

In the armed struggle against Soviet power, the white movement achieved the greatest success. Part of the revolutionary democracy cooperates with the Soviet government. Many supporters of a democratic alternative are fighting on two fronts: against the regime of the White and Bolshevik dictatorships. This period of fierce front-line war, red and white terror.

The second half of 1919 - autumn 1920 - the period of military defeat of the white armies.

The Bolsheviks somewhat softened their position towards the middle peasantry, declaring at the VIII Congress of the RCP(b) about “the need for more attentive attitude to his needs - the elimination of arbitrariness on the part of local authorities and the desire to reach an agreement with him.” Oscillating peasantry leans towards the side of the Soviet regime. The stage ends with an acute crisis in the relations of the Bolsheviks with the middle and wealthy peasantry, who did not want to continue the policy of “war communism” after the defeat of the main forces of the white armies.

The end of 1920 - 1922 - the period of the “small civil war”.

The development of mass peasant uprisings against the policy of “war communism”. Growing discontent among workers and the performance of the Kronstadt sailors. At this time, the influence of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks was again increasing. The Bolsheviks were forced to retreat and introduce a new, more liberal one.

Such actions contributed to the gradual fading of the civil war.

The first outbreaks of the Civil War.

Formation of the White movement. On the night of October 26, a group of Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries who left the Second Congress of Soviets formed the All-Russian Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland in the City Duma and revolution. Relying on the help of cadets from Petrograd schools, on October 29 the committee attempted to carry out a counter-coup. But the very next day this performance was suppressed by Red Guard troops.

A.F. Kerensky led the campaign of General P.N. Krasnov’s corps to Petrograd. On October 27 and 28, the Cossacks captured Gatchina and Tsarskoe Selo, creating an immediate threat to Petrograd, but on October 30, Krasnov’s troops were defeated. Kerensky fled. P. N. Krasnov was arrested by his own Cossacks, but then released on his word of honor that he would not fight against new government.

Soviet power was established in Moscow with great complications. Here, on October 26, the City Duma created a Public Security Committee, which had 10 thousand well-armed soldiers at its disposal. Bloody battles broke out in the city. Only on November 3, after the storming of the Kremlin by revolutionary forces, Moscow came under Soviet control.

With the help of weapons, new power was established in the Cossack regions of the Don, Kuban, and Southern Urals.

Ataman A. M. Kaledin headed the anti-Bolshevik movement on the Don. He declared the Don Army's disobedience to the Soviet government. Everyone dissatisfied with the new regime began to flock to the Don.

However, most of the Cossacks adopted a policy of benevolent neutrality towards the new government. And although the Decree on Land gave the Cossacks little, they had land, but they were very impressed by the Decree on Peace.

At the end of November 1917, General M.V. Alekseev began the formation of the Volunteer Army to fight Soviet power. This army marked the beginning of the white movement, so named in contrast to the red one - revolutionary. White color as if symbolizing law and order. And the participants in the white movement considered themselves the spokesmen for the idea of ​​restoring the former power and might of the Russian state, the “Russian state principle” and a merciless struggle against those forces that, in their opinion, plunged Russia into chaos - the Bolsheviks, as well as representatives of other socialist parties.

The Soviet government managed to form a 10,000-strong army, which entered the Don territory in mid-January 1918. Part of the population fought on the side of the Reds. Considering his cause lost, Ataman A. M. Kaledin shot himself. The volunteer army, burdened with convoys with children, women, politicians, journalists, professors, went to the steppes, hoping to continue their work in the Kuban. On April 17, 1918, near Ekaterinodar, the commander of the Volunteer Army, General L. G. Kornilov, was killed. General A.I. Denikin took command.

Simultaneously with the anti-Soviet protests on the Don, a Cossack movement began in the Southern Urals. It was headed by the ataman of the Orenburg Cossack army A.I. Dutov. In Transbaikalia, the fight against the new government was led by Ataman G. M. Semenov.

These protests against Soviet power, although fierce, were spontaneous and scattered, did not enjoy mass support from the population, and took place against the backdrop of the relatively rapid and peaceful establishment of Soviet power almost everywhere (“the triumphal march of Soviet power,” as the Bolsheviks declared). The rebel chieftains were defeated fairly quickly. At the same time, these speeches clearly indicated the formation of two main centers of resistance. In Siberia, the face of resistance was determined by the farms of wealthy peasant owners, often united in cooperatives with the predominant influence of the Socialist Revolutionaries. Resistance in the south was provided by the Cossacks, known for their love of freedom and commitment to a special way of economic and social life.

Intervention.

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Russian Civil War(1917-1922/1923) - a series of armed conflicts between various political, ethnic, social groups and state formations on the territory of the former Russian Empire that followed the transfer of power to the Bolsheviks as a result of the October Revolution of 1917.

The Civil War was the result of the revolutionary crisis that struck Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, which began with the revolution of 1905-1907, aggravated during the World War and led to the fall of the monarchy, economic ruin, and a deep social, national, political and ideological split in Russian society. The apogee of this split was a fierce war throughout the country between the armed forces of the Soviet government and the anti-Bolshevik authorities.

White movement- a military-political movement of politically heterogeneous forces formed during the Civil War of 1917-1923 in Russia with the goal of overthrowing Soviet power. It included representatives of both moderate socialists and republicans, as well as monarchists, united against the Bolshevik ideology and acting on the basis of the principle of “Great, United and Indivisible Russia” (ideological movement of whites). The White movement was the largest anti-Bolshevik military-political force during the Russian Civil War and existed alongside other democratic anti-Bolshevik governments, nationalist separatist movements in Ukraine, the North Caucasus, Crimea, and the Basmachi movement in Central Asia.

A number of features distinguish the White movement from the rest of the anti-Bolshevik forces of the Civil War:

The White movement was an organized military-political movement against Soviet power and its allied political structures; its intransigence towards Soviet power excluded any peaceful, compromise outcome of the Civil War.

The white movement was distinguished by its focus on priority in war time individual power over collegial power, and military power over civil power. White governments were characterized by the absence of a clear separation of powers; representative bodies either did not play any role or had only advisory functions.

The White movement tried to legalize itself on a national scale, proclaiming its continuity from pre-February and pre-October Russia.

Recognition by all regional white governments of the all-Russian power of Admiral A.V. Kolchak led to the desire to achieve community political programs and coordination of military actions. The solution to agrarian, labor, national and other basic issues was fundamentally similar.

The white movement had common symbols: a tricolor white-blue-red flag, the official anthem “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion.”

Publicists and historians who sympathize with whites cite the following reasons for the defeat of the white cause:

The Reds controlled the densely populated central regions. In these territories there was more people than in areas controlled by whites.

Regions that began to support whites (for example, Don and Kuban), as a rule, suffered more than others from the Red Terror.

The inexperience of white leaders in politics and diplomacy.

Conflicts between whites and national separatist governments over the slogan “One and Indivisible.” Therefore, whites repeatedly had to fight on two fronts.

Workers' and Peasants' Red Army- official name of the species armed forces: ground forces and the Air Force, which, together with the Red Army MS, the NKVD troops of the USSR (Border Troops, Internal Security Troops of the Republic and the State Guard Convoy) constituted the Armed Forces of the RSFSR/USSR from February 15 (23), 1918 to February 25, 1946.

The day of the creation of the Red Army is considered to be February 23, 1918 (see Defender of the Fatherland Day). It was on this day that mass enrollment of volunteers began in the Red Army detachments, created in accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR “On the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army,” signed on January 15 (28).

L. D. Trotsky actively participated in the creation of the Red Army.

The supreme governing body of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR (since the formation of the USSR - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR). The leadership and management of the army was concentrated in the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, in the special All-Russian Collegium created under it, since 1923, the Labor and Defense Council of the USSR, and since 1937, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. In 1919-1934, direct leadership of the troops was carried out by the Revolutionary Military Council. In 1934, to replace it, the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR was formed.

Detachments and squads of the Red Guard - armed detachments and squads of sailors, soldiers and workers, in Russia in 1917 - supporters (not necessarily members) of left parties - Social Democrats (Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and “Mezhraiontsev”), Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists, as well as detachments Red partisans became the basis of the Red Army units.

Initially, the main unit of formation of the Red Army, on a voluntary basis, was a separate detachment, which was a military unit with an independent economy. The detachment was headed by a Council consisting of a military leader and two military commissars. He had a small headquarters and an inspectorate.

With the accumulation of experience and after attracting military experts to the ranks of the Red Army, the formation of full-fledged units, units, formations (brigade, division, corps), institutions and establishments began.

The organization of the Red Army was in accordance with its class character and military requirements of the early 20th century. The combined arms formations of the Red Army were structured as follows:

The rifle corps consisted of two to four divisions;

The division consists of three rifle regiments, an artillery regiment (artillery regiment) and technical units;

The regiment consists of three battalions, an artillery division and technical units;

Cavalry Corps - two cavalry divisions;

Cavalry division - four to six regiments, artillery, armored units (armored units), technical units.

The technical equipment of the military formations of the Red Army with fire weapons) and military equipment was mainly at the level of modern advanced armed forces of that time

The USSR Law “On Compulsory Military Service”, adopted on September 18, 1925 by the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, determined the organizational structure of the Armed Forces, which included rifle troops, cavalry, artillery, armored forces, engineering troops, signal troops, air and naval forces, troops United State Political Administration and Convoy Guard of the USSR. Their number in 1927 was 586,000 personnel.

Causes and main stages of the civil war. After the liquidation of the monarchy, the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries were most afraid of civil war, so they agreed to an agreement with the Cadets. The Bolsheviks viewed the civil war as a “natural” continuation of the revolution. Many contemporaries considered the armed seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in October 1917 to be the beginning of the civil war in Russia.

Chronological framework The civil war covers the period from October 1917 to October 1922, that is, from the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd to the end of the armed struggle in the Far East. There are two main stages in the course of the Civil War.

From October 1917 to the spring of 1918, military operations were mainly local in nature. The main anti-Bolshevik forces were either engaged in a political struggle (moderate socialists) or were at the stage of organizational formation (the white movement). The people, attracted by the first decrees of the Soviet government, supported the Bolsheviks en masse.

However, from the spring - summer of 1918, the fierce political struggle began to develop into forms of open military confrontation between the Bolsheviks and their opponents: moderate socialists, some foreign units, the White Army, and the Cossacks. The second - “front” stage of the Civil War begins, in which, in turn, several periods can be distinguished.

Summer - autumn 1918 - period escalation war. It was caused by a change in the agrarian policy of the Bolsheviks: the introduction of a food dictatorship, the organization of poor committees and the incitement of class struggle in the countryside. This led to discontent among the middle and wealthy peasants and the creation of a mass base for the anti-Bolshevik movement, which, in turn, contributed to the consolidation of two movements: the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik “democratic counter-revolution” and the White movement. The period ends with the rupture of these forces.

December 1918 - June 1919 - a period of confrontation between the regular Red and White armies. In the armed struggle against Soviet power, the white movement achieved the greatest success. Part of the revolutionary democracy cooperates with the Soviet government. Many supporters of a democratic alternative are fighting on two fronts: against the regime of the White and Bolshevik dictatorships. This period of fierce front-line war, red and white terror.

The second half of 1919 - autumn 1920 - the period of military defeat of the white armies. The Bolsheviks somewhat softened their position towards the middle peasantry, declaring at the VIII Congress of the RCP(b) about “the need for a more attentive attitude to their needs - the elimination of arbitrariness on the part of local authorities and the desire to reach an agreement with them.” The wavering peasantry is leaning towards the side of Soviet power. The stage ends with an acute crisis in the relations of the Bolsheviks with the middle and wealthy peasantry, who did not want to continue the policy of “war communism” after the defeat of the main forces of the white armies.

The end of 1920 - 1922 - the period of the “small civil war”. The development of mass peasant uprisings against the policy of “war communism”. Growing discontent among workers and the performance of the Kronstadt sailors. At this time, the influence of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks was again increasing. The Bolsheviks were forced to retreat and introduce a new, more liberal economic policy.

Such actions contributed to the gradual fading of the civil war.

The first outbreaks of the Civil War. Formation of the White Movement. On the night of October 26, a group of Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries who left the Second Congress of Soviets formed the All-Russian Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution in the City Duma. Relying on the help of cadets from Petrograd schools, on October 29 the committee attempted to carry out a counter-coup. But the very next day this performance was suppressed by Red Guard troops.

A.F. Kerensky led the campaign of General P.N. Krasnov’s corps to Petrograd. On October 27 and 28, the Cossacks captured Gatchina and Tsarskoe Selo, creating an immediate threat to Petrograd, but on October 30, Krasnov’s troops were defeated. Kerensky fled. P. N. Krasnov was arrested by his own Cossacks, but then released on his word of honor that he would not fight against the new government.

Soviet power was established in Moscow with great complications. Here, on October 26, the City Duma created a Public Security Committee, which had 10 thousand well-armed soldiers at its disposal. Bloody battles broke out in the city. Only on November 3, after the storming of the Kremlin by revolutionary forces, Moscow came under Soviet control.

With the help of weapons, new power was established in the Cossack regions of the Don, Kuban, and Southern Urals.

Ataman A. M. Kaledin headed the anti-Bolshevik movement on the Don. He declared the Don Army's disobedience to the Soviet government. Everyone dissatisfied with the new regime began to flock to the Don.

However, most of the Cossacks adopted a policy of benevolent neutrality towards the new government. And although the Decree on Land gave the Cossacks little, they had land, but they were very impressed by the Decree on Peace.

At the end of November 1917, General M.V. Alekseev began the formation of the Volunteer Army to fight Soviet power. This army marked the beginning of the white movement, so named in contrast to the red one - revolutionary. White color seemed to symbolize law and order. And the participants in the white movement considered themselves the spokesmen for the idea of ​​restoring the former power and might of the Russian state, the “Russian state principle” and a merciless struggle against those forces that, in their opinion, plunged Russia into chaos - the Bolsheviks, as well as representatives of other socialist parties.

The Soviet government managed to form a 10,000-strong army, which entered the Don territory in mid-January 1918. Part of the population fought on the side of the Reds. Considering his cause lost, Ataman A. M. Kaledin shot himself. The volunteer army, burdened with convoys with children, women, politicians, journalists, professors, went to the steppes, hoping to continue their work in the Kuban. On April 17, 1918, near Ekaterinodar, the commander of the Volunteer Army, General L. G. Kornilov, was killed. General A.I. Denikin took command.

Simultaneously with the anti-Soviet protests on the Don, a Cossack movement began in the Southern Urals. It was headed by the ataman of the Orenburg Cossack army A.I. Dutov. In Transbaikalia, the fight against the new government was led by Ataman G. M. Semenov.

These protests against Soviet power, although fierce, were spontaneous and scattered, did not enjoy mass support from the population, and took place against the backdrop of the relatively rapid and peaceful establishment of Soviet power almost everywhere (“the triumphal march of Soviet power,” as the Bolsheviks declared). The rebel chieftains were defeated fairly quickly. At the same time, these speeches clearly indicated the formation of two main centers of resistance. In Siberia, the face of resistance was determined by the farms of wealthy peasant owners, often united in cooperatives with the predominant influence of the Socialist Revolutionaries. Resistance in the south was provided by the Cossacks, known for their love of freedom and commitment to a special way of economic and social life.

Intervention. The civil war that began in Russia was complicated from the very beginning by the intervention of foreign states.

December 1917 Romania, taking advantage of the weakness of the new government, occupied Bessarabia. Austro-German troops ruled the Ukraine. In April 1918 Turkish troops crossed state border and moved deep into Transcaucasia. In May, a German corps also landed in Georgia.

From the end 1917 British, American and Japanese warships began to arrive at Russian ports in the North and Far East, ostensibly to protect them from possible German aggression. At first, the Soviet government took this calmly, and the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) agreed to accept assistance from the Entente countries in the form of food and weapons. But after the conclusion of the Brest Peace Treaty, the military presence of the Entente began to be viewed as a direct threat to Soviet power. However, it was already too late. March, 6 1918 In the port of Murmansk, the first landing force landed from the English cruiser Glory. Following the British, the French and Americans appeared.

In March, at a meeting of heads of government and foreign ministers of the Entente countries, a decision was made on non-recognition of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and the need to intervene in the internal affairs of Russia.

In April 1918 Japanese paratroopers landed in Vladivostok. Then they were joined by British, American, French and other troops. And although the governments of these countries did not declare war on Soviet Russia, moreover, they hid behind the idea of ​​fulfilling their “allied duty,” foreign soldiers behaved like conquerors.

After the surrender of Germany (November 1918 d) and the end of the First World War intervention Entente countries acquired wider proportions. In January 1919 amphibious assaults were landed in Odessa, Crimea, Baku, Batumi, and the military contingent in the ports of the North and Far East was slightly increased.

However, this caused a sharply negative reaction from the personnel of the expeditionary forces, for whom the end of the war was delayed for indefinite term. Therefore, the Black Sea and Caspian landing forces were evacuated in the spring 1919 g., the British left Arkhangelsk and Murmansk in the fall 1919 G.

In 1920, British and American units were forced to evacuate from the Far East. Only Japanese troops remained there until October 1922.

Czechoslovak rebellion. Eastern Front. Since May 1918, the Civil War entered the front-line war phase. The turning point that determined new stage The Civil War and the formation of its Eastern Front was the appearance of the Czechoslovak corps.

The corps consisted of Czech and Slovak prisoners of war of the former Austro-Hungarian army, who expressed a desire to participate in hostilities on the side of the Entente at the end of 1916. In January 1918, the corps leadership declared itself part of the Czechoslovak army, which was under the command of the commander-in-chief of the French troops. An agreement was concluded between Russia and France on the transfer of the Czechoslovak corps to the Western Front.

The trains with Czechoslovaks were supposed to proceed along the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, where they boarded ships and sailed to Europe.

By the end of May 1918, trains with corps units (more than 45 thousand people) stretched across railway from Rtishchevo station near Penza to Vladivostok. A rumor spread through the echelons that the local Soviets had been ordered to disarm the corps and hand over the Czechoslovaks as prisoners of war to Austria-Hungary and Germany.

At a meeting of commanders, it was decided not to surrender their weapons and, if necessary, to fight their way to Vladivostok. On May 25, the commander of the Czechoslovak units concentrated in the Novonikolaevsk area, R. Gaida, in response to the intercepted order of L. Trotsky confirming the disarmament of the corps, gave the order to his echelons to seize those stations where they this moment were located, and, if possible, advance on Irkutsk.

In a relatively short period of time, with the help of the Czechoslovak corps, Soviet power was overthrown in the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East. The Czechoslovak bayonets paved the way for new governments, which, in accordance with the sympathies of the Czechoslovaks, were dominated by the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks.

The disgraced leaders of the dispersed Constituent Assembly flocked to the East.

In September 1918, a meeting of representatives of all anti-Bolshevik governments was held in Ufa, which formed a single “all-Russian” government - the Ufa Directory, in which main role AKP leaders played.

The offensive of the Red Army forced the Ufa directory to move to more safe place- Omsk. There, Admiral A.V. Kolchak was invited to the post of Minister of War.

Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich(1874 - 1920) was born into the family of a naval artillery officer. During his first voyage to Pacific Ocean Kolchak by own initiative began to study oceanography and hydrology. In 1899, he was invited to the Russian polar expedition, led by Baron E.V. Toll.

During the Russo-Japanese War he fought in Port Arthur. At the beginning of September 1915, he was appointed commander of a mine division. For the development and implementation of an operation to land troops on the Riga coast, behind German lines, he received the highest military award - the St. George Cross. In July 1916, Kolchak was appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet with promotion to vice admiral.

February Revolution came as a complete surprise to him, but Kolchak swore allegiance to the Provisional Government without much hesitation, hoping that the revolution would stir up the patriotic enthusiasm of the masses and make it possible to end the war victoriously. In the first weeks of the revolution, he managed to establish some interaction and contact with the Sevastopol Council of Workers' Deputies and the Sailors' Committee. However, at the beginning of June 1917, revolutionary unrest also captured the Black Sea Fleet. The sailor committees decided to disarm the officers. Kolchak took this demand as a personal insult and resigned as commander of the fleet.

At the end of July 1917, at the invitation of the American military mission, Kolchak left for the United States to transfer his experience in organizing mines and fighting submarines. The October Revolution found him on the way: he was returning to his homeland.

The Social Revolutionary leaders of the Directory hoped that the popularity enjoyed by A.V. Kolchak in the Russian army and navy would allow him to unite disparate military formations and create his own armed forces for the Directory. However, the Russian officers did not want to make an unacceptable, in their opinion, compromise with the “socialists.”

On the night of November 17-18, 1918, a group of conspirators from the officers of the Cossack units arrested the socialist leaders of the Directory in Omsk and handed over full power to Admiral A.V. Kolchak. At the insistence of the allies, A.V. Kolchak was declared “the supreme ruler of Russia.”

The command of the Czechoslovak corps received this news without much enthusiasm, but under pressure from the allies they did not resist. And when the news of Germany’s surrender reached the corps, no forces could force the Czechoslovaks to continue the war. The baton of armed struggle against Soviet power on the Eastern Front was picked up by Kolchak’s army. Only from this moment (from November 1918) the front-line Civil War entered the stage of confrontation between the Reds and the Whites and until the end of 1919 was characterized by the persistent desire of the White generals to overthrow the Soviet government through military operations.

However, the admiral's break with the Social Revolutionaries was a gross political miscalculation. The Social Revolutionaries went underground and began active underground work against the Kolchak regime, becoming de facto allies of the Bolsheviks.

On November 28, 1918, Admiral Kolchak met with representatives of the press to explain his political line. He stated that he considered his immediate goal to be the creation of a strong and combat-ready army for the “merciless and inexorable fight against the Bolsheviks.” This is possible with a “sole form of power.” In the future, a National Assembly should be convened in Russia “for the reign of law and order in the country.” All economic and social reforms must also be postponed until the end of the fight against the Bolsheviks. From the first steps of its existence, the Kolchak government embarked on the path of exceptional laws. Martial law and the death penalty were introduced, and punitive expeditions were organized. All these measures caused massive discontent among the population. Peasant uprisings spread throughout Siberia. Has acquired enormous scope partisan movement. Under the blows of the Red Army, the Kolchak government was forced to move to Irkutsk. On December 24, 1919, an anti-Kolchak uprising was raised in Irkutsk. The allied forces and the remaining Czechoslovak troops declared their neutrality.

At the beginning of January 1920, the Czechs handed over A.V. Kolchak to the leaders of the uprising. After a short investigation, the “supreme ruler of Russia” was shot in February 1920.

Southern Front. The second center of resistance to Soviet power was the south of Russia. In the spring of 1918, the Don was filled with rumors about the upcoming equalizing redistribution of all lands. The Cossacks began to murmur. Following this, an order arrived to hand over weapons and requisition bread. An uprising broke out. It coincided with the arrival of the Germans on the Don. The Cossack leaders, forgetting about past patriotism, entered into negotiations with their recent enemy. On April 21, the Provisional Don Government was created, which began to form the Don Army. On May 16, the Cossack circle - the “Circle of Salvation of the Don” - elected General P. N. Krasnov as ataman of the Don Army, giving him almost dictatorial powers. Relying on German support, P.N. Krasnov declared state independence for the region of the All-Great Don Army.

Using cruel methods, II. II Krasnov carried out mass mobilizations, bringing the size of the Don Army to 45 thousand people by mid-July 1918. Weapons were supplied in abundance by Germany. By mid-August, P.N. Krasnov’s units occupied the entire Don region and, together with German troops, launched military operations against the Red Army.

Rushing into the territories of the “red” provinces, Cossack units hanged, shot, raped, robbed and flogged the local population. These atrocities gave rise to fear and hatred, a desire to take revenge using the same methods. A wave of anger and hatred swept the country.

At the same time, A.I. Denikin’s Volunteer Army began its second campaign against Kuban. The “volunteers” adhered to the Entente orientation and tried not to interact with the pro-German detachments of P. N. Krasnov.

Meanwhile, the foreign policy situation changed dramatically due to the defeat of Germany and its allies. Under pressure and with the active assistance of the Entente countries, at the end of 1918, all anti-Bolshevik armed forces of southern Russia were united under the single command of A.I. Denikin.

From the very beginning, White Guard power in southern Russia was military-dictatorial in nature. The main ideas of the movement were the restoration of a united, indivisible Russia and a merciless fight against the Bolsheviks until their complete destruction. In March 1919, Denikin's government published a draft land reform. It spoke of preserving the owners of their rights to land, establishing certain land norms for each individual locality, and transferring the rest of the land to those with limited land “through voluntary agreements or through forced alienation, but also necessarily for a fee.” However, the final solution to the land issue was postponed until complete victory over Bolshevism and was entrusted to the future Legislative Assembly. In the meantime, the government of southern Russia has demanded that the owners of the occupied lands be given a third of the total harvest. Some representatives of the Denikin administration returned the expelled landowners to their estates. Drunkenness, floggings, pogroms, and looting became commonplace in the Volunteer Army. Hatred for the Bolsheviks and everyone who supported them drowned out other feelings and removed all moral prohibitions. Therefore, soon the rear of the Volunteer Army also began to be shaken by peasant uprisings.

White Crimea. At the same time, at the last stage of the existence of the Volunteer Army, an attempt was made to rethink the ideology and policy of the white movement. This attempt is associated with the name of General P. N. Wrangel. At the beginning of April 1920, after the defeat of Denikin’s army, Wrangel was elected commander-in-chief and evacuated troops to the Crimea. In his fight against the Bolsheviks, he relied on the help of the entire Russian population. To this end, Wrangel tried to recreate the democratic order interrupted by October in Crimea. Wrangel hoped that in the future the “Crimean experiment” could be extended to the whole of Russia.

On May 25, 1920, Wrangel published the “Land Law,” the author of which was P. A. Stolypin’s closest associate A. V. Krivoshein, who headed the government of southern Russia in 1920. According to this law, part of the landowners' lands. Wrangel. was transferred into the ownership of the peasants for a small ransom. In addition, the “Law on volost zemstvos and rural communities” was issued, which were to become bodies of peasant self-government instead of rural councils. In an effort to win over the Cossacks, Wrangel approved a new regulation on the order of regional autonomy for the Cossack lands. Workers were promised new factory legislation that would actually protect their rights.

However, time was lost. The Reds took decisive measures to quickly eliminate the last “hotbed of counter-revolution.” In mid-November 1920, Wrangel’s troops were finished.

White North. The government of the north of Russia was formed after the landing of the Entente powers in Arkhangelsk in August 1918. It was headed by people's socialist N. V. Tchaikovsky.

At the very beginning of 1919, the government came into contact with Admiral Kolchak. The “Supreme Ruler of Russia” gave the order to organize a military governor-general in the north of Russia, headed by General E.K. Miller. This meant the establishment of a military dictatorship here.

On August 10, 1919, at the insistence of the British command, the government of the North-Western Region was created. Revel became his residence. In fact, all power was concentrated in the hands of the generals and atamans of the North-Western Army. The army was led by General N.N. Yudenich.

The white rulers of the north issued a decree according to which all sown crops, all mowing land, estates and equipment were returned to the landowners. The arable land remained with the peasants until the land issue was resolved Constituent Assembly. But in the conditions of the north, mowing land was the most valuable, so the peasants again fell into bondage to the landowners.

Reasons for the defeat of the white movement. Why, despite temporary successes and significant material and military assistance from abroad, did the white movement fail? It should be borne in mind that its leaders failed to offer the people an attractive program. In the territories they controlled, the laws of the Russian Empire were restored, property was returned to its previous owners. And although none of the white governments openly put forward the idea of ​​​​restoring the monarchical order, the popular consciousness perceived them as champions for the old government, for the return of the tsar and landowners. The national policy of the white generals, their adherence to the slogan of “united and indivisible Russia” was also suicidal.

The white movement was unable to become the core consolidating all anti-Bolshevik forces. Moreover, by refusing to cooperate with the socialist parties, the white generals themselves split the anti-Bolshevik front, turning the Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, anarchists at your opponents. And in the white camp itself there was no unity and interaction either in the political or military sphere. There were hostile personal relationships between the leaders. Each of them strived for championship. The recognition of Admiral A.V. Kolchak as the “supreme ruler of Russia” was purely formal. The white movement did not have a leader whose authority would be recognized by everyone.

And finally, one of the reasons for the defeat was moral decay armies, applying measures to the population that did not fit into the white code of honor: robberies, pogroms, punitive expeditions, violence. The White movement was started by “almost saints” and ended by “almost bandits” - this was the verdict pronounced by one of the ideologists of the White movement, the former leader of Russian nationalists V.V. Shulgin.

Thus, the political confrontation in society after the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks took the form of a civil war, with whites and reds at opposite poles.

The leaders of the white movement made gross political miscalculations, which led to their defeat.