Causes and main stages of the civil war. After the liquidation of the monarchy, the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries were most afraid of a civil war, so they agreed with the Cadets. The Bolsheviks viewed the civil war as a "natural" continuation of the revolution. Many contemporaries considered the beginning of the civil war in Russia to be the armed seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in October 1917.
The chronological framework of 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 itself.
From October 1917 to the spring of 1918, hostilities were mostly local in nature. The main anti-Bolshevik forces were either engaged in political struggle (moderate socialists) or were in the stage of organizational formation (white movement). The people attracted by the first decrees Soviet power, in the mass supported the Bolsheviks.
However, since the spring - summer of 1918, a fierce political struggle began to develop into forms of open military confrontation between the Bolsheviks and their opponents: moderate socialists, some foreign formations, the white army, 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 committees and the incitement of class struggle in the countryside. This led to the discontent of the middle peasants and wealthy peasants and the creation of a mass base for the anti-Bolshevik movement, which, in turn, contributed to the consolidation of two currents: the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik "democratic counter-revolution" and the White movement. The period ends with the rupture of these forces.
December 1918 - June 1919 - the period of confrontation between the regular red and white armies. In the armed struggle against the Soviet power, the white movement achieves greatest success. Part of the revolutionary democracy goes to cooperate with the Soviet government. Many supporters of the democratic alternative are fighting on two fronts: with the White regime and the Bolshevik dictatorship. This is a period of fierce front-line war, red and white terror.
The second half of 1919 - autumn 1920 - the period of the military defeat of the White armies. The Bolsheviks somewhat softened their position in relation to the middle peasantry, declaring at the VIII Congress of the RCP (b) about "the need for a more attentive attitude to its needs - the elimination of arbitrariness on the part of local authorities and the desire for an agreement with it." The vacillating peasantry is leaning towards the side of the Soviet government. The stage ends with an acute crisis in relations between the Bolsheviks and the middle and prosperous 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". Deployment of mass peasant uprisings against the policy of "war communism". Growing dissatisfaction with the workers and the performance of the Kronstadt sailors. At this time, the influence of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks again increased. The Bolsheviks were forced to retreat, to 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 SRs who left the II 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 the junkers of the 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 detachments.
A.F. Kerensky led the campaign of the corps of General P.N. Krasnov against Petrograd. On October 27 and 28, the Cossacks captured Gatchina and Tsarskoe Selo, creating a direct threat to Petrograd, but on October 30, Krasnov's detachments were defeated. Kerensky fled. P. N. Krasnov was arrested by his own Cossacks, but then released on parole that he would not fight against the new government.
With great complications, Soviet power was established in Moscow. Here, on October 26, the City Duma created the Committee of Public Security, which had 10,000 well-armed fighters at its disposal. Bloody battles unfolded in the city. Only on November 3, after the storming of the Kremlin by revolutionary forces, did Moscow come under the control of the Soviets.
With the help of weapons, a new government was established in the Cossack regions of the Don, Kuban, and the South Urals.
At the head of the anti-Bolshevik movement on the Don stood Ataman A. M. Kaledin. He declared the insubordination of the Don Cossacks 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 in relation to the new government. And although the Decree on Land gave little to the Cossacks, 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 Volunteer army to fight the Soviet regime. This army marked the beginning of the white movement, so named in contrast to the red - revolutionary. The white color seemed to symbolize law and order. And the participants in the white movement considered themselves to be the spokesmen for the idea of restoring the former power and might of the Russian state, the “Russian state principle” and the merciless struggle against the 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 an army of 10,000, which in mid-January 1918 entered the territory of the Don. 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 carts with children, women, politicians, journalists, professors, went to the steppes, hoping to continue their work in the Kuban. On April 17, 1918, the commander of the Volunteer Army, General L. G. Kornilov, was killed near Ekaterinodar. General A.I. Denikin took command.
Simultaneously with the anti-Soviet speeches on the Don, the movement of the Cossacks in the South Urals began. A. I. Dutov, the ataman of the Orenburg Cossack army, stood at its head. In Transbaikalia, the fight against the new government was led by ataman G. M. Semenov.
These uprisings against the Soviet regime, although fierce, were spontaneous and scattered, did not enjoy the mass support of the population and took place against the backdrop of a relatively quick and peaceful establishment of the power of the Soviets 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 proprietors, 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 in it.
December 1917 Romania, taking advantage of the weakness of the new government, occupied Bessarabia. In Ukraine, the Austro-German troops were in charge. In April 1918 Turkish troops crossed the state border and moved into the depths of Transcaucasia. In May, a German corps also landed in Georgia.
From the end 1917 English, American and Japanese warships began to arrive in Russian ports in the North and the 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 military presence The Entente began to be seen 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 came the French and Americans.
In March, at a meeting of the heads of government and foreign ministers of the Entente countries, it was decided not to recognize the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the need to interfere in Russia's internal affairs.
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 covered themselves with the idea of fulfilling "allied duty", foreign soldiers behaved like conquerors.
After the surrender of Germany (November 1918 d) and the end of the First World War intervention countries of the Entente has acquired a wider scope. In January 1919 In the 18th century, amphibious assaults were landed in Odessa, the Crimea, Baku, Batumi, and the military contingent was slightly increased in the ports of the North and the Far East.
However, this caused a sharply negative reaction from the personnel of the expeditionary forces, for whom the end of the war dragged on for indefinite term. Therefore, the Black Sea and Caspian landing forces were evacuated in the spring 1919 the British left Arkhangelsk and Murmansk in autumn 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 revolt. Eastern Front. Since May 1918, the Civil War entered the phase of a front-line war. The turning point that determined the new stage of the Civil War and the formation of its Eastern Front was the performance of the Czechoslovak Corps.
The corps consisted of prisoners of war Czechs and Slovaks 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 proclaimed 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 echelons with the Czechoslovaks were supposed to proceed along the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, there they boarded ships and sailed to Europe.
By the end of May 1918, echelons with parts of the corps (more than 45 thousand people) stretched along the railroad from the Rtishchevo station near Penza to Vladivostok. A rumor spread through the echelons that the local Soviets had been ordered to disarm the corps and extradite the Czechoslovaks as prisoners of war to Austria-Hungary and Germany.
At a meeting of commanders, it was decided not to surrender weapons and, if necessary, 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, ordered his echelons to seize the stations where they were currently located and, if possible, advance on Irkutsk.
In a relatively short time, with the help of the Czechoslovak corps, Soviet power was overthrown in the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East. 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 were drawn 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 the leaders of the AKP played the main role.
The offensive of the Red Army forced the Ufa directory to move into 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 in the family of a naval artillery officer. During his first voyage in the Pacific Ocean, Kolchak, on his own initiative, became involved in 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. In early September 1915, he was appointed commander of a mine division. For the development and implementation of the landing operation 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.
The February Revolution came as a complete surprise to him, but Kolchak, without much hesitation, swore allegiance to the Provisional Government, 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 Soviet of Workers' Deputies and the Sailors' Committee. However, in early June 1917, revolutionary unrest also captured the Black Sea Fleet. The sailors' 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 experience in organizing minecraft and combating submarines. The October Revolution caught 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 their 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 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 took this news without much enthusiasm, but under the pressure of the allies did not resist. And when the news of the surrender of Germany reached the corps, no forces could force the Czechoslovaks to continue the war. The baton of the armed struggle against the Soviet regime on the Eastern Front was picked up by Kolchak's army. Only from that moment (from November 1918) did the front-line Civil War enter the stage of confrontation between the Reds and the Whites, and until the end of 1919 it was characterized by the stubborn 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, while becoming de facto allies of the Bolsheviks.
On November 28, 1918, Admiral Kolchak met with representatives of the press to clarify his political line. He stated that he considers his immediate goal to be the creation of a strong and combat-ready army for "a merciless and inexorable struggle 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, the death penalty were introduced, and punitive expeditions were organized. All these measures caused mass discontent among the population. Peasant uprisings engulfed all of Siberia. The partisan movement gained momentum. 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. Allied troops and the remaining Czechoslovak detachments declared their neutrality.
In early 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 south of Russia became the second center of resistance to Soviet power. In the spring of 1918, the Don was filled with rumors about the upcoming equalizing redistribution of all lands. The Cossacks murmured. Following that, an order arrived in time for the surrender of weapons and the requisition of 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 a recent enemy. On April 21, the Provisional Don Government was created, which began the formation of the Don Army. On May 16, the Cossack circle - the “Circle of Don Salvation” - elected General P. N. Krasnov as ataman of the Don Cossacks, endowing him with almost dictatorial powers. Relying on German support, P. N. Krasnov declared the state independence of the region of the 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 excess by Germany. By mid-August, units of P. N. Krasnov occupied the entire Don region and, together with the German troops, launched military operations against the Red Army.
Breaking into the territories of the "red" provinces, the Cossack units hanged, shot, raped, robbed and flogged the local population. These atrocities gave rise to fear and hatred, the desire to take revenge, using the same methods. A wave of anger and hatred swept over the country.
At the same time, the Volunteer Army of A.I. Denikin began its second campaign against the 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 has 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 the anti-Bolshevik armed forces of southern Russia were united under the unified command of A. I. Denikin.
The White Guard power in the south of Russia from the very beginning had a military-dictatorial character. The main ideas of the movement were the restoration of a single, indivisible Russia and a merciless struggle against the Bolsheviks until their complete destruction. In March 1919, the Denikin government published a draft land reform. It spoke about the preservation of the owners of their rights to land, the establishment of certain land norms for each individual locality, and the transfer of the rest of the land to small land "by voluntary agreements or by compulsory alienation, but also necessarily for a fee." However, the final solution of the land question was postponed until the complete victory over Bolshevism and was assigned to the future Legislative Assembly. In the meantime, the government of southern Russia has demanded that a third of the entire crop be provided to the owners of the occupied lands. Some representatives of the Denikin administration returned the exiled landowners to their estates. Drunkenness, flogging, pogroms, looting became commonplace in the Volunteer Army. Hatred for the Bolsheviks and all those who supported them drowned out other feelings, removed all moral prohibitions. Therefore, soon the rear of the Volunteer Army also began to shake from 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 politics of the white movement. This attempt is associated with the name of General P. N. Wrangel. In early April 1920, after the defeat of Denikin's army, Wrangel was elected commander in chief and evacuated the 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 the 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 "Law on Land", the author of which was the closest associate of P. A. Stolypin, A. V. Krivoshein, who headed the government of southern Russia in 1920. According to this law, part of the landowners' lands p. Wrangell. passed into the ownership of the peasants for a small ransom. In addition, the “Law on Volost Zemstvos and Rural Communities” was issued, which were supposed to become peasant self-government bodies instead of rural Soviets. In an effort to win over the Cossacks, Wrangel approved a new regulation on the order of regional autonomy for the Cossack lands. The workers were promised new factory legislation that really protected their rights.
However, time has been lost. The Reds took decisive measures to eliminate the last "seed of counter-revolution" as soon as possible. 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 popular socialist N. V. Tchaikovsky.
At the very beginning of 1919, the government came into contact with Admiral Kolchak. The "Supreme Ruler of Russia" ordered the organization of 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 chieftains of the Northwestern Army. At the head of the army was General N. N. Yudenich.
The white rulers of the north issued a decree according to which the entire sown crop, all sown lands, estates and inventory were returned to the landowners. The arable land remained with the peasants until the decision of the land issue by the Constituent Assembly. But in the conditions of the north, mowing lands were 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 former 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 the landlords. The national policy of the white generals, their adherence to the slogan "one and indivisible Russia" was also suicidal.
The White movement could not become the core consolidating all the anti-Bolshevik forces. Moreover, refusing to cooperate with the socialist parties, the white generals themselves split the anti-Bolshevik front, turning the Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, anarchists in your opponents. And in the white camp itself there was no unity and interaction either in the political or in the military field. There was a hostile personal relationship between the leaders. Each of them aspired to superiority. 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 all.
And finally, one of the reasons for the defeat was the moral decay of the army, the application to the population of measures 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” - such a verdict was passed 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, on the opposite poles of which were white and red.
The leaders of the white movement made gross political miscalculations, which led them to defeat.
The White movement in Russia is an organized military-political movement that was formed during the Civil War in 1917-1922. The White movement united political regimes that were distinguished by the commonality of socio-political and economic programs, as well as the recognition of the principle of sole power (military dictatorship) on an all-Russian and regional scale, and the desire to coordinate military and political efforts in the fight against Soviet power.
Terminology
For a long time, the synonym for the White movement was accepted in the historiography of the 1920s. the phrase "general's counter-revolution". In this we can note its difference from the concept of "democratic counter-revolution". Belonging to this category, for example, the Government of the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch), the Ufa Directory (Provisional All-Russian Government) proclaimed the priority of collegial rather than individual management. And one of the main slogans of the “democratic counter-revolution” became: leadership and continuity from the All-Russian Constituent Assembly of 1918. As for the “national counter-revolution” (the Central Rada in Ukraine, governments in the Baltic states, Finland, Poland, the Caucasus, Crimea), then they, unlike the White movement, put the proclamation of state sovereignty in the first place in their political programs. Thus, the White movement can be legitimately considered as one of the parts (but the most organized and stable) of the anti-Bolshevik movement on the territory of the former Russian Empire.
The term White Movement during the Civil War was used mainly by the Bolsheviks. Representatives of the White movement defined themselves as bearers of legitimate "national power", using the terms "Russian" (Russian Army), "Russian", "All-Russian" (Supreme Ruler of the Russian State).
In social terms, the White movement proclaimed the unification of representatives of all classes of Russian society in the early twentieth century and political parties from monarchists to social democrats. Political and legal continuity from pre-February and pre-October 1917 Russia was also noted. At the same time, the restoration of the former legal relations did not exclude their significant reform.
Periodization of the White movement
Chronologically, in the origin and evolution of the White movement, 3 stages can be distinguished:
First stage: October 1917 - November 1918 - formation of the main centers of the anti-Bolshevik movement
Second stage: November 1918 - March 1920 - Supreme Ruler of the Russian State A.V. Kolchak is recognized by other White governments as the military and political leader of the White movement.
Third stage: March 1920 - November 1922 - activity of regional centers on the outskirts of the former Russian Empire
Formation of the White movement
The White movement originated in the conditions of opposition to the policy of the Provisional Government and the Soviets (the Soviet "vertical") in the summer of 1917. In preparation for the speech of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Infantry General L.G. Kornilov was attended by both military (“Union of Army and Navy Officers”, “Union of Military Duty”, “Union of Cossack Troops”) and political (“Republican Center”, “Bureau of Legislative Chambers”, “Society for the Economic Revival of Russia”) structures.
The fall of the Provisional Government and the dissolution of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly marked the beginning of the first stage in the history of the White movement (November 1917-November 1918). This stage was distinguished by the formation of its structures and the gradual separation from the general counter-revolutionary or anti-Bolshevik movement. The military center of the White movement became the so-called. "Alekseevskaya organization", formed on the initiative of General of Infantry M.V. Alekseev in Rostov-on-Don. From the point of view of General Alekseev, it was necessary to achieve joint actions with the Cossacks of the South of Russia. For this purpose, the South-Eastern Union was created, which included the military (“Alekseevskaya organization”, renamed after the arrival of General Kornilov in the Volunteer Army on the Don) and civil authorities (elected representatives of the Don, Kuban, Terek and Astrakhan Cossack troops, as well as the “Union Highlanders of the Caucasus).
Formally, the Don Civil Council could be considered the first white government. It included generals Alekseev and Kornilov, Don ataman, cavalry general A.M. Kaledin, and from politicians: P.N. Milyukova, B.V. Savinkova, P.B. Struve. In their very first official statements (the so-called “Kornilov Constitution”, “Declaration on the Formation of the South-Eastern Union”, etc.) they proclaimed: an irreconcilable armed struggle against the Soviet regime and the convening of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly (on new elective grounds). The decision of the main economic and political issues was postponed until its convocation.
Unsuccessful battles in January-February 1918 on the Don led to the retreat of the Volunteer Army to the Kuban. Here the continuation of armed resistance was supposed. In the 1st Kuban ("Ice") campaign, during the unsuccessful assault on Yekaterinodar, General Kornilov died. As commander of the Volunteer Army, he was replaced by Lieutenant General A.I. Denikin. General Alekseev became the Supreme Leader of the Volunteer Army.
During the spring-summer of 1918, centers of counter-revolution were formed, many of which later became elements of the all-Russian White movement. In April-May, uprisings began on the Don. The Soviet power was overthrown here, the elections of local authorities were held and the general from the cavalry P.N. Krasnov. In Moscow, Petrograd and Kyiv, coalition inter-party associations were created that provided political support for the White movement. The largest of them were the liberal "All-Russian National Center" (VNTs), in which the Cadets had the majority, the socialist "Union of the Revival of Russia" (SVR), as well as the "Council of the State Unification of Russia" (SGOR), from representatives of the Bureau of the Legislative Chambers of the Russian Empire , the Union of Commercial and Industrialists, the Holy Synod. The All-Russian Scientific Center enjoyed the greatest influence, and its leaders N.I. Astrov and M.M. Fedorov headed the Special Meeting under the Commander of the Volunteer Army (later the Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (VSYUR)).
Separately, the issue of "intervention" should be considered. Of great importance for the formation of the White movement at this stage was the assistance of foreign states, the countries of the Entente. For them, after the conclusion of the Brest Peace, the war with the Bolsheviks was considered in the perspective of continuing the war with the countries of the Quadruple Union. Allied landings became the centers of the White movement in the North. In April, the Provisional Government of the Northern Region was formed in Arkhangelsk (N.V. Tchaikovsky, P.Yu. Zubov, Lieutenant General E.K. Miller). The landing of allied troops in Vladivostok in June and the performance of the Czechoslovak Corps in May-June was the beginning of the counter-revolution in the East of Russia. In the Southern Urals, back in November 1917, the Orenburg Cossacks, led by Ataman Major General A.I. Dutov. Several anti-Bolshevik government structures have developed in the East of Russia: the Ural Regional Government, the Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia (later the Provisional Siberian (Regional) Government), the Provisional Ruler in the Far East, Lieutenant General D.L. Croat, as well as the Orenburg and Ural Cossack troops. In the second half of 1918, anti-Bolshevik uprisings broke out on the Terek, in Turkestan, where the Socialist-Revolutionary Transcaspian regional government was formed.
In September 1918, at the State Conference held in Ufa, the Provisional All-Russian Government and the Socialist Directory were elected (N.D. Avksentiev, N.I. Astrov, Lieutenant General V.G. Boldyrev, P.V. Vologodsky, N. .V. Tchaikovsky). The Ufa Directory developed a draft constitution that proclaimed the succession from the Provisional Government of 1917 and the dispersed Constituent Assembly.
The Supreme Ruler of the Russian State, Admiral A.V. Kolchak
November 18, 1918 in Omsk, there was a coup, during which the Directory was overthrown. The Council of Ministers of the Provisional All-Russian Government transferred power to Admiral A.V. Kolchak, proclaimed Supreme Ruler of the Russian State and Supreme Commander Russian armies and fleet.
Kolchak's coming to power meant the final establishment of a regime of one-man rule on an all-Russian scale, based on executive power structures (Council of Ministers headed by P.V. Vologodsky), with public representation (State Economic Conference in Siberia, Cossack troops). The second period in the history of the White movement began (from November 1918 to March 1920). The authority of the Supreme Ruler of the Russian State was recognized by General Denikin, Commander-in-Chief of the North-Western Front, General of Infantry N.N. Yudenich and the government of the Northern Region.
The structure of the White armies was established. The most numerous were the forces of the Eastern Front (Siberian (Lieutenant General R. Gaida), Western (Artillery General M.V. Khanzhin), Southern (Major General P.A. Belov) and Orenburg (Lieutenant General A.I. Dutov) of the army). In late 1918 - early 1919, the All-Union Socialist Youth League was formed under the command of General Denikin, the troops of the Northern Region (Lieutenant General E.K. Miller) and the North-Western Front (General Yudenich). Operationally, they were all subordinate to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Kolchak.
The coordination of political forces also continued. In November 1918, the Political Conference of the three leading political associations of Russia (SGOR, VNTs and SVR) was held in Iasi. After the proclamation of Admiral Kolchak as the Supreme Ruler, attempts were made to internationally recognize Russia at the Versailles Peace Conference, where the Russian Political Conference was created (chairman G.E. Lvov, N.V. Tchaikovsky, P.B. Struve, B.V. Savinkov, V. A. Maklakov, P. N. Milyukov).
In the spring-autumn of 1919, coordinated campaigns of the white fronts took place. In March-June, the Eastern Front advanced on the Volga and Kama in divergent directions, to join with the Northern Army. In July-October, two attacks on Petrograd by the North-Western Front were carried out (in May-July and in September-October), as well as a campaign against Moscow by the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (in July-November). But they all ended in failure.
By the autumn of 1919, the Entente countries had abandoned military support for the White movement (a phased withdrawal of foreign troops from all fronts began in the summer, and only Japanese units remained in the Far East until the autumn of 1922). However, the supply of weapons, the issuance of loans and contacts with white governments continued without their official recognition (with the exception of Yugoslavia).
The program of the White movement, which was finally formed during 1919, provided for "irreconcilable armed struggle against the Soviet power", after the liquidation of which, the convocation of the All-Russian National Constituent Assembly was supposed. The assembly was supposed to be elected by majoritarian districts on the basis of universal, equal, direct (in large cities) and two-stage (in countryside) suffrage by secret ballot. The elections and activities of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly in 1917 were recognized as illegitimate, since they took place after the “Bolshevik coup”. The new Assembly was supposed to resolve the issue of the form of power in the country (monarchy or republic), elect the head of state, and approve projects of socio-political and economic reforms. Before the "victory over Bolshevism" and the convocation of the National Constituent Assembly, the supreme military and political power belonged to the Supreme Ruler of Russia. Reforms could only be developed, but not implemented (principle of "non-prejudice"). In order to strengthen regional power, prior to the convening of the All-Russian Assembly, it was allowed to convene local (regional) assemblies, designed to be legislative bodies under individual rulers.
The principle of “One, Indivisible Russia” was proclaimed in the national structure, which meant the recognition of the actual independence of only those parts of the former Russian Empire (Poland, Finland, the Baltic republics) that were recognized by the leading world powers. The rest of the state neoplasms on the territory of Russia (Ukraine, the Mountain Republic, the republics of the Caucasus) were considered illegitimate. For them, only "regional autonomy" was allowed. Behind Cossack troops retained the right to have their own authorities, armed formations, but within the limits of all-Russian structures.
In 1919, the development of all-Russian bills on agrarian and labor policy took place. Bills on agrarian policy were reduced to the recognition of peasant ownership of land, as well as "partial alienation of landowners' land in favor of the peasants for redemption" (Declarations on the land issue of the governments of Kolchak and Denikin (March 1919)). Trade unions were preserved, the right of workers to an 8-hour working day, to social insurance, to strikes (Declarations on the Labor Question (February, May 1919)). The property rights of former owners to urban real estate, industrial enterprises and banks were fully restored.
It was supposed to expand the rights of local self-government and public organizations, while political parties did not participate in the elections, they were replaced by inter-party and non-party associations ( municipal elections in the south of Russia in 1919, the elections of the State Zemsky Conference in Siberia in the autumn of 1919).
There was also a "white terror", which, however, did not have the character of a system. Criminal liability was introduced (up to and including the death penalty) for members of the Bolshevik Party, commissars, employees of the Cheka, as well as workers of the Soviet government and soldiers of the Red Army. Opponents of the Supreme Ruler, "independents" were also persecuted.
The White movement asserted the all-Russian symbolism (restoration of the tricolor national flag, the coat of arms of the Supreme Ruler of Russia, the anthem "Kol glorious is our Lord in Zion").
In foreign policy, “loyalty to allied obligations”, “to all agreements concluded by the Russian Empire and the Provisional Government”, “full-fledged representation of Russia in all international organizations” (statements of the Supreme Ruler of Russia and the Russian Political Conference in Paris in the spring of 1919) were proclaimed.
The regimes of the White movement, in the face of defeats at the fronts, evolved towards "democratization". So, in December 1919 - March 1920. the rejection of the dictatorship, an alliance with the "public" was proclaimed. This was manifested in the reform of political power in southern Russia (the dissolution of the Special Conference and the formation of the South Russian government, responsible to the Supreme Circle of the Don, Kuban and Terek, de facto recognition of Georgia's independence). In Siberia, Kolchak proclaimed the convocation of the State Zemsky Conference, endowed with legislative powers. However, defeat could not be prevented. By March 1920, the Northwestern and Northern fronts were liquidated, and the Eastern and Southern fronts lost most of their controlled territory.
Activities of regional centers
The last period in the history of the Russian White movement (March 1920 - November 1922) was distinguished by the activities of regional centers on the outskirts of the former Russian Empire:
- in the Crimea (Ruler of the South of Russia - General Wrangel),
- in Transbaikalia (Ruler of the Eastern Outskirts - General Semenov),
- in the Far East (Ruler of the Amur Zemsky Territory - General Diterikhs).
These political regimes sought to move away from the policy of "non-decision". An example was the activity of the Government of the South of Russia, headed by General Wrangel and the former manager of agriculture A.V. Krivoshein in the Crimea, in the summer-autumn of 1920. Reforms began to be carried out, providing for the transfer of ownership of the "captured" landowners' land to the peasants, the creation of a peasant zemstvo. The autonomy of the Cossack regions, Ukraine and the North Caucasus was allowed.
The government of the Eastern outskirts of Russia, headed by Lieutenant General G.M. Semenov pursued a course of cooperation with the public, holding elections to the Regional People's Conference.
In Primorye in 1922, elections were held for the Amur Zemsky Sobor and the Ruler of the Amur Territory, Lieutenant General M.K. Diterichs. Here, for the first time in the White movement, the principle of restoring the monarchy was proclaimed through the transfer of power of the Supreme Ruler of Russia to a representative of the Romanov dynasty. Attempts were made to coordinate actions with the rebel movements in Soviet Russia (Antonovshchina, Makhnovshchina, Kronstadt uprising). But these political regimes could no longer count on an all-Russian status, due to the extremely limited territory controlled by the remnants of the White armies.
The organized military-political confrontation between the Soviet authorities ceased in November 1922 - March 1923, after the occupation of Vladivostok by the Red Army and the defeat of the Yakut campaign of Lieutenant General A.N. Pepelyaev.
Since 1921, the political centers of the White movement moved to Abroad, where their final formation and political demarcation took place (“Russian National Committee”, “Conference of Ambassadors”, “Russian Council”, “Parliamentary Committee”, “Russian All-Military Union”). In Russia, the White movement ended.
The main participants of the White movement
Alekseev M.V. (1857-1918)
Wrangel P.N. (1878-1928)
Gaida R. (1892-1948)
Denikin A.I. (1872-1947)
Drozdovsky M.G. (1881-1919)
Kappel V.O. (1883-1920)
Keller F.A. (1857-1918)
Kolchak A.V. (1874-1920)
Kornilov L.G. (1870-1918)
Kutepov A.P. (1882-1930)
Lukomsky A.S. (1868-1939)
May-Maevsky V.Z. (1867-1920)
Miller E.-L. K. (1867-1937)
Nezhentsev M.O. (1886-1918)
Romanovsky I.P. (1877-1920)
Slashchev Ya.A. (1885-1929)
Ungern von Sternberg R.F. (1885-1921)
Yudenich N.N. (1862-1933)
Internal contradictions of the White movement
The White movement, which united in its ranks representatives of various political movements and social structures, could not avoid internal contradictions.
There was a significant conflict between the military and civilian authorities. The ratio of military and civil power was often regulated by the "Regulations on the field command of the troops", where civil power was exercised by the governor-general, who was dependent on the military command. In the context of the mobility of the fronts, the fight against the insurgency in the rear, the military sought to carry out the functions of civilian leadership, ignoring the structures of local self-government, resolving political and economic problems by order (the actions of General Slashchov in the Crimea in February-March 1920, General Rodzianko on Northwestern Front in the spring of 1919, martial law on the line of the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1919, etc.). Lack of political experience, ignorance of the specifics of civil administration often led to serious mistakes, a fall in the authority of white rulers (the crisis of power of Admiral Kolchak in November-December 1919, General Denikin in January-March 1920).
The contradictions between the military and civil authorities reflected the contradictions between representatives of various political directions that were part of the White movement. The right-wingers (SGOR, monarchists) supported the principle of unlimited dictatorship, while the left-wingers (the Union of the Revival of Russia, Siberian regionalists) advocated "broad representation of the public" under military rulers. Of no small importance were the disagreements between the right and the left on land policy (on the conditions for the alienation of landowners' land), on the labor issue (on the possibility of trade unions participating in the management of enterprises), on local self-government (on the nature of the representation of socio-political organizations).
The implementation of the principle of "One, Indivisible Russia" caused conflicts not only between the White movement and state neoplasms on the territory of the former Russian Empire (Ukraine, the republics of the Caucasus), but also within the White movement itself. Serious tensions arose between the Cossack politicians, who were striving for maximum autonomy (up to state sovereignty) and the white governments (the conflict between Ataman Semenov and Admiral Kolchak, the conflict between General Denikin and the Kuban Rada).
There were also contradictions about the foreign policy "orientation". So, in 1918, many politicians of the White movement (P.N. Milyukov and the Kyiv group of cadets, the Moscow Right Center) spoke of the need for cooperation with Germany for the "liquidation of Soviet power." In 1919, the “pro-German orientation” distinguished the Civil Administration Council of the Western Volunteer Army Regiment. Bermondt-Avalov. The majority in the White movement advocated cooperation with the Entente countries as Russia's allies in the First World War.
The conflicts that arose between individual representatives of political structures (the leaders of the SGOR and the National Center - A.V. Krivoshein and N.I. Astrov), within the military command (between Admiral Kolchak and General Gaida, General Denikin and General Wrangel, did not contribute to the strength of the White movement, General Rodzianko and General Yudenich, etc.).
The above contradictions and conflicts, although not of an irreconcilable nature and did not lead to a split of the White movement, nevertheless, violated its unity and played a significant role (along with military failures) in its defeat in civil war.
Significant problems for the white authorities arose due to the weakness of governance in the controlled territories. So, for example, in Ukraine, before the occupation by the troops of the All-Union Socialist Republic, it changed, during 1917-1919. four political regimes (the power of the Provisional Government, the Central Rada, Hetman P. Skoropadsky, the Ukrainian Soviet Republic), each of which sought to establish its own administrative apparatus. This made it difficult to promptly conduct mobilizations in the White Army, fight against the insurgent movement, implement the adopted laws, and explain to the population the political course of the White movement.
History is written by the winners. We know a lot about the heroes of the Red Army, but almost nothing about the heroes of the White Army. Let's fill this gap.
1. Anatoly Pepelyaev
Anatoly Pepelyaev became the youngest general in Siberia - at the age of 27. Prior to this, the White Guards under his command took Tomsk, Novonikolaevsk (Novosibirsk), Krasnoyarsk, Verkhneudinsk and Chita. When Pepelyaev’s troops occupied Perm abandoned by the Bolsheviks, about 20,000 Red Army soldiers were captured by the young general, who, on his orders, were released home. Perm was liberated from the Reds on the day of the 128th anniversary of the capture of Ishmael, and the soldiers began to call Pepelyaev "Siberian Suvorov."
2. Sergey Ulagai
Sergei Ulagay, a Kuban Cossack of Circassian origin, was one of the most prominent cavalry commanders of the White Army. He made a serious contribution to the defeat of the North Caucasian front of the Reds, but especially the 2nd Kuban Corps Ulagay distinguished himself during the capture of the "Russian Verdun" - Tsaritsyn - in June 1919.
General Ulagay went down in history as the commander of the special forces group of the Russian Volunteer Army, General Wrangel, who landed troops from the Crimea to the Kuban in August 1920. To command the landing force, Wrangel chose Ulagay "as a popular Kuban general, it seems, the only one of the famous who did not stain himself with robbery."
3. Alexander Dolgorukov
The hero of the First World War, who for his exploits was awarded admission to the retinue of His Imperial Majesty, Alexander Dolgorukov proved himself in the Civil War. On September 30, 1919, his 4th Infantry Division in a bayonet battle forced Soviet troops retreat; Dolgorukov captured the crossing over the Plyussa River, which soon made it possible to occupy Struga Beliye.
Dolgorukov got into literature. In the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov "The White Guard" he is bred under the name of General Belorukov, and is also mentioned in the first volume of the trilogy of Alexei Tolstoy "Walking through the torments" (attack of the cavalry guards in the battle of Kaushen).
4. Vladimir Kappel
The episode from the film "Chapaev", where the Kappelites go on a "psychic attack", is fictional - Chapaev and Kappel never crossed paths on the battlefield. But Kappel was a legend without cinema. During the capture of Kazan on August 7, 1918, he lost only 25 people. In his reports on successful operations, Kappel did not mention himself, explaining the victory by the heroism of his subordinates, up to the sisters of mercy.
During the Great Siberian Ice Campaign, Kappel got frostbite on the feet of both legs - they had to be amputated without anesthesia. He continued to lead the troops and refused a place on the hospital train. Last words the general were: "Let the troops know that I was devoted to them, that I loved them and proved it with my death among them."
5. Mikhail Drozdovsky
Mikhail Drozdovsky with a volunteer detachment of 1,000 people walked 1,700 km from Yassy to Rostov, freed him from the Bolsheviks, then helped the Cossacks defend Novocherkassk. Drozdovsky's detachment participated in the liberation of both the Kuban and the North Caucasus. Drozdovsky was called "the crusader of the crucified Motherland."
Here is his description from Kravchenko's book “Drozdovites from Iasi to Gallipoli”: “Nervous, thin, Colonel Drozdovsky was a type of ascetic warrior: he did not drink, did not smoke and did not pay attention to the blessings of life; always - from Jassy until death - in the same worn jacket, with a worn St. George ribbon in his buttonhole; out of modesty, he did not wear the order itself.
6. Alexander Kutepov
A colleague of Kutepov’s on the fronts of the First World War wrote about him: “Kutepov’s name has become a household name. It means fidelity to duty, calm determination, intense sacrificial impulse, cold, sometimes cruel will and ... clean hands- and all this brought and given to the service of the Motherland.
In January 1918, Kutepov twice defeated the Red troops under the command of Sievers near Matveev Kurgan. According to Anton Denikin, "this was the first serious battle in which the art and enthusiasm of the officer detachments were opposed to the furious pressure of the unorganized and badly managed Bolsheviks, mostly sailors."
7. Sergey Markov
The White Guards called Sergei Markov the "White Knight", "the sword of General Kornilov", the "God of War", and after the battle at the village of Medvedovskaya - the "Guardian Angel". In this battle, Markov managed to save the remnants of the Volunteer Army retreating from Ekaterinograd, destroy and capture the armored train of the Reds, and get a lot of weapons and ammunition. When Markov died, Anton Denikin wrote on his wreath: "Both life and death - for the happiness of the Motherland."
8. Mikhail Zhebrak-Rusanovich
For the White Guards, Colonel Zhebrak-Rusanovich was a cult figure. For personal prowess, his name was sung in the military folklore of the Volunteer Army. He firmly believed that "there will be no Bolshevism, but there will be only one United Great Indivisible Russia." It was Zhebrak who brought the Andreevsky flag with his detachment to the headquarters of the Volunteer Army, and soon he became the battle flag of the Drozdovsky brigade. He died heroically, personally leading the attack of two battalions on the superior forces of the Red Army.
9. Viktor Molchanov
The Izhevsk division of Viktor Molchanov was awarded Kolchak's special attention - he handed her the St. George banner, and attached the St. George crosses to the banners of a number of regiments. During the Great Siberian Ice Campaign, Molchanov commanded the rearguard of the 3rd Army and covered the retreat of the main forces of General Kappel. After his death, he led the vanguard of the white troops. At the head of the Insurrectionary Army, Molchanov occupied almost all of Primorye and Khabarovsk.
10. Innokenty Smolin
In the summer and autumn of 1918, at the head of the partisan detachment of his own name, Innokenty Smolin successfully operated in the rear of the Reds, captured two armored trains. Smolin's partisans played an important role in the capture of Tobolsk. Mikhail Smolin participated in the Great Siberian Ice Campaign, commanded a group of troops of the 4th Siberian Rifle Division, which, numbering more than 1,800 fighters, came to Chita on March 4, 1920. Smolin died in Tahiti. AT last years life wrote memoirs.
11. Sergei Voitsekhovsky
General Voitsekhovsky accomplished many feats, performing the seemingly impossible tasks of the command of the White Army. A faithful “Kolchakist”, after the death of the admiral, he abandoned the assault on Irkutsk and led the remnants of the Kolchak army to Transbaikalia on the ice of Baikal. In 1939, in exile, being one of the highest Czechoslovak generals, Wojciechowski advocated resistance to the Germans and created the underground organization Obrana národa ("Protection of the People"). Arrested by SMERSH in 1945. Repressed, died in a camp near Taishet.
12. Erast Hyacinths
Erast Hyacinths in the First World War became the owner of a full set of orders available to the chief officer of the Russian Imperial Army. After the revolution, he was obsessed with the idea of overthrowing the Bolsheviks and even took with friends whole line houses around the Kremlin in order to start resistance from there, but in time he realized the futility of such tactics and joined the White Army, becoming one of the most productive intelligence officers.
In exile, on the eve of and during the Second World War, he took an open anti-Nazi position and miraculously avoided being sent to a concentration camp. After the war, he resisted the forced repatriation of "displaced persons" to the USSR.
13. Mikhail Yaroslavtsev(Archimandrite Mitrofan) 
During the Civil War, Mikhail Yaroslavtsev showed himself to be an energetic commander and distinguished himself by personal prowess in several battles. Yaroslavtsev embarked on the path of spiritual service already in exile, after the death of his wife on December 31, 1932. In May 1949, hegumen Mitrofan was elevated to the rank of archimandrite by Metropolitan Seraphim (Lukyanov).
Contemporaries wrote about him: "Always impeccable in the performance of his duty, richly gifted with excellent spiritual qualities, he was a true consolation for very many of his flock ...". He was rector of the Church of the Resurrection in Rabat and defended the unity of the Russian Orthodox community in Morocco with the Moscow Patriarchate.
14. Mikhail Khanzhin
General Khanzhin became a movie hero. He is one of the characters in the 1968 feature film Storm over Belaya. The role of the general was played by Yefim Kopelyan. A documentary film "The Return of General Khanzhin" was also filmed about his fate. For the successful command of the Western Army of the Western Front, Mikhail Khanzhin was promoted by Kolchak to the rank of general from artillery - the highest distinction of this kind, which was awarded by Kolchak when he was his Supreme Ruler.
15. Pavel Shatilov
A. V. Krivoshein, P. N. Wrangel and P. N. Shatilov. Crimea. 1920
Pavel Shatilov is a hereditary general, both his father and his grandfather were generals. He especially distinguished himself in the spring of 1919, when, in an operation in the area of the Manych River, he defeated a 30,000-strong group of Reds. Pyotr Wrangel, whose chief of staff was later Shatilov, spoke of him as follows: "a brilliant mind, outstanding abilities, having great military experience and knowledge, with great capacity for work, he was able to work with a minimum expenditure of time." In the autumn of 1920, it was Shatilov who led the emigration of whites from the Crimea.
10 short facts about the White Army
Because of literature and cinema, we often perceive the White Army in a romantic way, books and films about it are full of inaccuracies, and the facts are distorted by the biased author's assessment.Community support
The White Army did not have strong popular support. The opposite point of view is rooted in the results of the elections to the Constituent Assembly, when even at the fronts the majority of votes was won not by the Bolsheviks, but by the Socialist-Revolutionaries. The social base of the Red Army was initially much stronger than the White Army.
The Bolsheviks could rely on the support of the workers and the peasant poor. These categories of the population could always be mobilized for rations and a small allowance. The middle peasants fought both against the Whites and the Reds, but they were reluctant to go to foreign provinces and easily moved from one camp to another. After the main principle of the formation of the White Army became mass mobilization, the quality of its troops deteriorated noticeably and, in the absence of a broad social support, this led to a significant decrease in combat effectiveness.
In addition, by the beginning of the Civil War, the Bolsheviks had already formed a terrorist network, in which yesterday's criminals, raiders and blatari were involved. They harassed regions controlled by whites with sabotage.
aristocrats
If you watch Soviet films about the Civil War, you can see that white officers are all intelligent people, "white bones", nobles and aristocrats. They listen to romances, enter into officer disputes and indulge in nostalgia for the former Russia. However, this picture is, of course, greatly embellished.
The vast majority of white officers were from the so-called raznochintsy. Not all of them were even literate, which can be found today if you look at the documents of the selection committee of the Academy of the General Staff. The officers entering it showed "poor knowledge of history and geography", "lack of clarity of thought and general indiscipline of the mind", and made many gross mistakes.
And these were not just officers, but the best, since not everyone could qualify for admission to the Academy. Of course, we will not argue that all white officers were illiterate, but the fact that they all had "blue blood" is not true.
Desertion
When today they talk about the reasons for the defeat of the White Army, they like to talk about mass desertion from there. We will not deny that desertion took place, but both its causes and its scale on the opposing sides were different. In addition to individual cases of voluntary departure from the White Army, there were also massive desertions, which was caused by a number of reasons.
Firstly, Denikin's army, despite the fact that it controlled fairly large territories, was not able to significantly increase its numbers due to the inhabitants living on them. Secondly, in the rear of the whites, gangs of “greens” or “blacks” often operated, who fought against both the whites and the reds. Deserters were often among them.
However, all the same, other things being equal, many more people deserted from the Red Army. In just one year (1919-1920), at least 2.6 million people voluntarily left the Red Army, which exceeded the total number of the White Army.
Allied support
The role of intervention in helping the White Army is greatly exaggerated. The troops of the interventionists practically did not clash with the Red Army, with the exception of minor battles in the North, and in Siberia they even collaborated with the Bolsheviks. Assistance to the White Army was limited, by and large, only to military supplies.
But the "allies" provided this assistance far from being in vain. They had to pay for armaments with gold reserves and grain, which is why the peasants were the first to suffer. As a result, the popularity of the movement for the restoration of the "former" Russia was steadily declining. Yes, and this help was insignificant.
Denikin, for example, the British supplied only a few dozen tanks, although after the First World War they had thousands in service. Despite the fact that the last military formations were ousted from the territory of the USSR (in the Far East) in 1925, in fact, the whole point of intervention for the Entente countries became obsolete after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
Captivity
The myth that white officers were very ideological and even under pain of death refused to surrender to the Bolsheviks, unfortunately, is only a myth. Only near Novorossiysk in March 1920, the Red Army captured 10,000 Denikin officers, 9,660 Kolchak officers. Most of the prisoners were accepted into the Red Army.
Because of a large number former whites in the Red Army, the military leadership of the Bolsheviks even introduced a limit on the number of white officers in the Red Army - no more than 25% of the command staff. "Surplus" went to the rear, or went to teach in military schools.
ROVS
On August 31, 1924, the self-named "guardian", Kirill Vladimirovich, declared himself the All-Russian Emperor Kirill I. Thus, the army automatically passed under his command, since formally it was subordinate to the emperor. But the next day the army was gone - it was dissolved by Wrangel himself, and in its place appeared the Russian All-Military Union, which the same Wrangel headed.
Oddly enough, but the ROVS exists, to this day, following the same principles of 1924.
Wrangel and Blumkin
The Wrangel formations caused serious concern among the Soviet command. Several assassination attempts were even organized on Wrangel. One of them ended before it even started. In the fall of 1923, Yakov Blumkin, the murderer of the German ambassador Mirbach, knocked on Wrangel's door.
The Chekists posed as French cameramen, whom Wrangel had previously agreed to pose for. The box imitating the camera was filled to the brim with weapons, an additional one - a Lewis machine gun was hidden in a case from a tripod. But the conspirators immediately made a serious mistake - they knocked on the door, which was completely unacceptable both in Serbia, where the action took place, and in France, where they switched to doorbells a long time ago.
The guards rightly considered that only people who had come from Soviet Russia could knock, and, just in case, they did not open the gate.
National politics
The big mistake of the White Army was that it lost the "national question". Denikin's concept of "one and indivisible Russia" did not even allow discussion of the issue of self-determination of the national territories that were part of Russia. During the capture of Kyiv, Denikin, who denied the independence of Ukraine, could not agree with the leadership of the UNR and the Galician army. This led to an armed confrontation, which, although it ended in the victory of Denikin, might not have taken place at all. This deprived the white movement of the support of national minorities, many of which were opposed to the Bolsheviks.
General's honor
Was in the history of the White Army and his "Judas". They became the French General Janin. He promised to ensure, if possible, Kolchak's safe passage to wherever he wanted. Kolchak took the general at his word, but he did not keep him. Upon arrival in Irkutsk, Kolchak was detained by the Czechs and first handed over to the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik Political Center, and then ended up in the hands of the Bolsheviks and was shot on February 7, 1920. Janin received the nickname "general without honor" for his betrayal.
Annenkov
As we have already said, the whites were not entirely aristocrats with an impeccable sense of tact, there were real "outlaws" among them. The most famous of them can be called General Annenkov. His cruelty was legendary. A participant in World War I became famous as a commander of a raid detachment, he had awards. He raised an uprising in Siberia in 1918. He brutally suppressed the Bolshevik uprising in the Slavogorsk and Pavlodar districts.
Having seized the congress of peasants, he cut down 87 people. He tortured many people who were not involved in the uprising. Men were cut down by villages, women were raped and cut down. There were many mercenaries in Annenkov's detachment: Afghans, Uighurs, Chinese. The victims numbered in the thousands. After the defeat of Kolchak, Annenkov withdrew to Semirechie, crossed the border with China. He spent three years in a Chinese prison. In 1926 he was extradited to the Bolsheviks and shot a year later.
The White Army did not have strong popular support. The opposite point of view is rooted in the results of the elections to the Constituent Assembly, when even at the fronts the majority of votes was won not by the Bolsheviks, but by the Socialist-Revolutionaries.
Community support
The social base of the Red Army was initially much stronger than the White Army. The Bolsheviks could rely on the support of the workers and the peasant poor. These categories of the population could always be mobilized for rations and a small allowance.
The middle peasants fought both against the Whites and the Reds, but they were reluctant to go to foreign provinces and easily moved from one camp to another.
After mass mobilization became the main principle of the formation of the White Army, the quality of its troops deteriorated noticeably and, in the absence of broad social support, this led to a significant decrease in combat effectiveness.
In addition, by the beginning of the Civil War, the Bolsheviks had already formed a terrorist network, in which yesterday's criminals, raiders and blatari were involved. They harassed regions controlled by whites with sabotage.
aristocrats
If you watch Soviet films about the Civil War, you can see that white officers are all intelligent people, "white bones", nobles and aristocrats. They listen to romances, enter into officer disputes and indulge in nostalgia for the former Russia.
However, this picture is, of course, greatly embellished.
The vast majority of white officers were from the so-called raznochintsy. Not all of them were even literate, which can be found today if you look at the documents of the selection committee of the Academy of the General Staff.
The officers entering it showed "poor knowledge of history and geography", "lack of clarity of thought and general indiscipline of the mind", and made many gross mistakes. And these were not just officers, but the best, since not everyone could qualify for admission to the Academy. Of course, we will not argue that all white officers were illiterate, but the fact that they all had "blue blood" is not true.
Desertion
When today they talk about the reasons for the defeat of the White Army, they like to talk about mass desertion from there. We will not deny that desertion took place, but both its causes and its scale on the opposing sides were different.
In addition to individual cases of voluntary departure from the White Army, there were also massive desertions, which was caused by a number of reasons.
Firstly, Denikin's army, despite the fact that it controlled fairly large territories, was not able to significantly increase its numbers due to the inhabitants living on them.
Secondly, in the rear of the whites, gangs of “greens” or “blacks” often operated, who fought against both the whites and the reds. Deserters were often among them. However, all other things being equal, many more people deserted from the Red Army. In just one year (1919-1920), at least 2.6 million people voluntarily left the Red Army, which exceeded the total number of the White Army.
Allied Support
The role of intervention in helping the White Army is greatly exaggerated. The troops of the interventionists practically did not clash with the Red Army, with the exception of minor battles in the North, and in Siberia they even collaborated with the Bolsheviks.
Assistance to the White Army was limited, by and large, only to military supplies.
But the "allies" provided this assistance far from being in vain. They had to pay for armaments with gold reserves and grain, which is why the peasants were the first to suffer.
As a result, the popularity of the movement for the restoration of the "former" Russia was steadily declining. Yes, and this help was insignificant. Denikin, for example, the British supplied only a few dozen tanks, although after the First World War they had thousands in service.
Despite the fact that the last military formations were ousted from the territory of the USSR (in the Far East) in 1925, in fact, the whole point of intervention for the Entente countries became obsolete after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
Captivity
The myth that white officers were very ideological and even under pain of death refused to surrender to the Bolsheviks, unfortunately, is only a myth. Only near Novorossiysk in March 1920, the Red Army captured 10,000 Denikin officers, 9,660 Kolchak officers.
Most of the prisoners were accepted into the Red Army.
Due to the large number of former whites in the Red Army, the Bolshevik military leadership even introduced a limit on the number of white officers in the Red Army - no more than 25% of the command staff. "Surplus" went to the rear, or went to teach in military schools.
ROVS
On August 31, 1924, the self-named "guardian", Kirill Vladimirovich, declared himself the All-Russian Emperor Kirill I. Thus, the army automatically passed under his command, since formally it was subordinate to the emperor.
But the next day the army was gone - it was dissolved by Wrangel himself, and in its place appeared the Russian All-Military Union, which the same Wrangel headed. Oddly enough, but the ROVS exists, to this day, following the same principles of 1924.
Wrangel and Blumkin
The Wrangel formations caused serious concern among the Soviet command. Several assassination attempts were even organized on Wrangel. One of them ended before it even started.
In the fall of 1923, Yakov Blumkin, the murderer of the German ambassador Mirbach, knocked on Wrangel's door.
The Chekists posed as French cameramen, whom Wrangel had previously agreed to pose for. The box imitating the camera was filled to the brim with weapons, an additional one - a Lewis machine gun was hidden in a case from a tripod. But the conspirators immediately made a serious mistake - they knocked on the door, which was completely unacceptable both in Serbia, where the action took place, and in France, where they switched to doorbells a long time ago. The guards rightly considered that only people who had come from Soviet Russia could knock, and, just in case, they did not open the gate.
National politics
The big mistake of the White Army was that it lost the "national question". Denikin's concept of "one and indivisible Russia" did not even allow discussion of the issue of self-determination of the national territories that were part of Russia.
During the capture of Kyiv, Denikin, who denied the independence of Ukraine, could not agree with the leadership of the UNR and the Galician army.
This led to an armed confrontation, which, although it ended in the victory of Denikin, might not have taken place at all. This deprived the white movement of the support of national minorities, many of which were opposed to the Bolsheviks.
General's honor
Was in the history of the White Army and his "Judas". They became the French General Janin. He promised to ensure, if possible, Kolchak's safe passage to wherever he wanted. Kolchak took the general at his word, but he did not keep him. Upon arrival in Irkutsk, Kolchak was detained by the Czechs and first handed over to the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik Political Center, and then ended up in the hands of the Bolsheviks and was shot on February 7, 1920. Janin received the nickname "general without honor" for his betrayal.
Annenkov
As we have already said, the whites were not entirely aristocrats with an impeccable sense of tact, there were real "outlaws" among them. The most famous of them can be called General Annenkov. His cruelty was legendary. A participant in World War I became famous as a commander of a raid detachment, he had awards. He raised an uprising in Siberia in 1918. He brutally suppressed the Bolshevik uprising in the Slavogorsk and Pavlodar districts. Having seized the congress of peasants, he cut down 87 people. He tortured many people who were not involved in the uprising. Men were cut down by villages, women were raped and cut down. There were many mercenaries in Annenkov's detachment: Afghans, Uighurs, Chinese. The victims numbered in the thousands. After the defeat of Kolchak, Annenkov withdrew to Semirechie, crossed the border with China. He spent three years in a Chinese prison. In 1926 he was extradited to the Bolsheviks and shot a year later.
Because of literature and cinema, we often perceive the White Army in a romantic way, books and films about it are full of inaccuracies, and the facts are distorted by the biased author's assessment.
Community support
The White Army did not have strong popular support. The opposite point of view is rooted in the results of the elections to the Constituent Assembly, when even at the fronts the majority of votes was won not by the Bolsheviks, but by the Socialist-Revolutionaries. The social base of the Red Army was initially much stronger than the White Army. The Bolsheviks could rely on the support of the workers and the peasant poor. These categories of the population could always be mobilized for rations and a small allowance.
The middle peasants fought both against the Whites and the Reds, but they were reluctant to go to foreign provinces and easily moved from one camp to another.
After mass mobilization became the main principle of the formation of the White Army, the quality of its troops deteriorated noticeably and, in the absence of broad social support, this led to a significant decrease in combat effectiveness.
In addition, by the beginning of the Civil War, the Bolsheviks already had an underground network formed. They harassed regions controlled by whites with sabotage. 
aristocrats
If you watch Soviet films about the Civil War, you can see that white officers are all intelligent people, "white bones", nobles and aristocrats.
They listen to romances, enter into officer disputes and indulge in nostalgia for the former Russia.
However, this picture is, of course, greatly embellished. The vast majority of white officers were from the so-called raznochintsy. Not all of them were even literate, which can be found today if you look at the documents of the selection committee of the Academy of the General Staff.
The officers entering it showed "poor knowledge of history and geography", "lack of clarity of thought and general indiscipline of the mind", and made many gross mistakes. And these were not just officers, but the best, since not everyone could qualify for admission to the Academy. Of course, we will not argue that all white officers were illiterate, but the fact that they all had "blue blood" is not true. 
Desertion
When today they talk about the reasons for the defeat of the White Army, they like to talk about mass desertion from there. We will not deny that desertion took place, but both its causes and its scale on the opposing sides were different.
In addition to individual cases of voluntary departure from the White Army, there were also massive desertions, which was caused by a number of reasons.
Firstly, Denikin's army, despite the fact that it controlled fairly large territories, was not able to significantly increase its numbers due to the inhabitants living on them.
Secondly, in the rear of the whites, gangs of “greens” or “blacks” often operated, who fought against both the whites and the reds. Deserters were often among them. However, all other things being equal, many more people deserted from the Red Army. In just one year (1919-1920), at least 2.6 million people voluntarily left the Red Army, which exceeded the total number of the White Army. 
Allied support
The role of intervention in helping the White Army is greatly exaggerated. The troops of the interventionists practically did not clash with the Red Army, with the exception of minor battles in the North, and in Siberia they even collaborated with the Bolsheviks.
Assistance to the White Army was limited, by and large, only to military supplies.
But the "allies" did not provide this assistance in vain. They had to pay for armaments with gold reserves and grain, which is why the peasants were the first to suffer.
As a result, the popularity of the movement for the restoration of the "former" Russia was steadily falling from this. Yes, and this help was insignificant. Denikin, for example, the British supplied only a few dozen tanks, although after the First World War they had thousands in service.
Despite the fact that the last military formations were ousted from the territory of the USSR (in the Far East) in 1925, in fact, the whole point of intervention for the Entente countries became obsolete after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. 
Captivity
The myth that white officers were very ideological and even under pain of death refused to surrender to the Bolsheviks, unfortunately, is only a myth. Only near Novorossiysk in March 1920, the Red Army captured 10,000 Denikin officers, 9,660 Kolchak officers.
Most of the prisoners were accepted into the Red Army.
Due to the large number of former whites in the Red Army, the Bolshevik military leadership even introduced a limit on the number of white officers in the Red Army - no more than 25% of the command staff. "Surplus" went to the rear, or went to teach in military schools. 
ROVS
On August 31, 1924, the self-named "guardian", Kirill Vladimirovich, declared himself Emperor of All Russia Kirill I. Thus, the army automatically passed under his command, since formally it was subordinate to the emperor.
But the next day the army was gone - it was dissolved by Wrangel himself, and in its place appeared the Russian All-Military Union, which the same Wrangel headed. Oddly enough, but the ROVS exists, to this day, following the same principles of 1924. 
Wrangel and Blumkin
The Wrangel formations caused serious concern among the Soviet command. Several assassination attempts were even organized on Wrangel. One of them ended before it even started.
In the fall of 1923, Yakov Blumkin, the murderer of the German ambassador Mirbach, knocked on Wrangel's door.
The Chekists posed as French cameramen, whom Wrangel had previously agreed to pose for. The box imitating the camera was filled to the brim with weapons, an additional one - a Lewis machine gun was hidden in a case from a tripod. But the conspirators immediately made a serious mistake - they knocked on the door, which was completely unacceptable both in Serbia, where the action took place, and in France, where they switched to doorbells a long time ago. The guards rightly considered that only people who had come from Soviet Russia could knock, and, just in case, they did not open the gate. 
National politics
The big mistake of the White Army was that it lost the "national question". Denikin's concept of "one and indivisible Russia" did not even allow discussion of the issue of self-determination of the national territories that were part of Russia.
During the capture of Kyiv, Denikin, who denied the independence of Ukraine, could not agree with the leadership of the UNR and the Galician army. This led to an armed confrontation, which, although it ended in the victory of Denikin, might not have taken place at all.
This deprived the white movement of the support of national minorities, many of which were opposed to the Bolsheviks. 
General's honor
Was in the history of the White Army and his "Judas". They became the French General Janin. He promised to ensure, if possible, Kolchak's safe passage to wherever he wanted. Kolchak took the general at his word, but he did not keep him. Upon arrival in Irkutsk, Kolchak was detained by the Czechs and first handed over to the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik Political Center, and then ended up in the hands of the Bolsheviks and was shot on February 7, 1920. Janin received the nickname "general without honor" for his betrayal. 
Annenkov
As we have already said, the whites were not entirely aristocrats with an impeccable sense of tact, there were real "outlaws" among them. The most famous of them can be called General Annenkov. His cruelty was legendary. A participant in World War I became famous as a commander of a raid detachment, he had awards. He raised an uprising in Siberia in 1918. He brutally suppressed the Bolshevik uprising in the Slavogorsk and Pavlodar districts. Having seized the congress of peasants, he cut down 87 people. He tortured many people who were not involved in the uprising. Men were cut down by villages, women were raped and cut down.
There were many mercenaries in Annenkov's detachment: Afghans, Uighurs, Chinese. The victims numbered in the thousands. After the defeat of Kolchak, Annenkov withdrew to Semirechie, crossed the border with China. He spent three years in a Chinese prison. In 1926 he was extradited to the Bolsheviks and shot a year later. 
Alexey Mirsky
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