The main program provisions of Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak. The formation of the Kolchak government during the civil war Kolchak provisional government
100 years ago, in November 1918, Kolchak became the Supreme Ruler of Russia. The military overthrew the "left" Directory and transferred the supreme power to the "Supreme Ruler".
The Entente immediately supported the Omsk coup. The Menshevik-Socialist-Revolutionary governments that formed in the Volga region, Siberia, the Urals and the north no longer satisfied either the Russian "whites" (large owners, capitalists and military) or the West. During 1918, the Social Democratic governments not only failed to organize powerful armed forces and overthrow the Soviet government, but they could not even completely gain a foothold in the territory that had been conquered by the Czechoslovaks. In the area of their domination, they quickly aroused the discontent of the broad masses of the peasantry and workers, and could not ensure order in the rear. Worker uprisings and partisan actions by the peasantry in areas dominated by white governments became widespread. At the same time, during their rule, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, like the Provisional Government before them, showed their incapacity, when it was necessary to act, they discussed and argued.
Therefore, the military and the Entente decided to replace them with a "hard hand" - a dictatorship. In the hands of this military dictatorship, it was supposed to concentrate all power within the territory captured by the whites. The Entente, especially England and France, also demanded the creation of an all-Russian government in the form of a military dictatorship. The West needed to have a fully controlled government. It was headed by the mercenary of the West - Kolchak.
Vice Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak
background
Among the various white “governments” formed in the territories liberated from the Bolsheviks, two played a leading role: the so-called Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly in Samara (KOMUCH) and the Provisional Siberian Government Directory) in Omsk. Politically, these "governments" were dominated by the Social Democrats - Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks (many were Masons at the same time). Each of them had its own armed forces: Komuch had the People's Army, the Siberian government had the Siberian Army. The negotiations that began between them back in June 1918 on the formation of a single government led to a final agreement only at the September meeting in Ufa. It was a congress of representatives of all anti-Bolshevik governments that arose in 1918 in the regions of the country, political parties opposed to the Bolsheviks, Cossack troops and local governments.
On September 23, the State Conference in Ufa ended. The participants managed to agree on the renunciation of the sovereignty of regional anti-Bolshevik formations, but it was announced the inevitability of a broad autonomy of the regions, due to both the multinationality of Russia and the economic and geographical features of the regions. It was ordered to recreate a single, strong and efficient Russian army, separated from politics. The Ufa meeting called the fight against the Soviet regime, reunification with the regions torn away from Russia, non-recognition of the Brest peace and all other international treaties of the Bolsheviks, the continuation of the war against Germany on the side of the Entente as urgent tasks for restoring the state unity and independence of Russia.
Until the new convocation of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, the Provisional All-Russian Government (Ufa Directory) was declared the only bearer of power throughout Russia, as the successor to the Provisional Government overthrown by the Bolsheviks in 1917. Socialist-Revolutionary Nikolai Avksentiev was elected chairman of the government. After the February Revolution, Avksentiev was elected a member of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Council of Peasants' Deputies, was the Minister of Internal Affairs in the second coalition Provisional Government, was the chairman of the All-Russian Democratic Conference and the Provisional Council of the Russian Republic elected at it (the so-called "Pre-Parliament "). He was also a member of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. In addition to him, four other members of the Directory were a Moscow cadet, the former mayor Nikolai Astrov (actually did not take part in it, since he was in the South of Russia, with the Volunteer Army), General Vasily Boldyrev (he became commander of the troops of the Directory), Chairman of the Siberian government Peter Vologodsky, Chairman of the Arkhangelsk government of the Northern Region Nikolai Tchaikovsky. In reality, the duties of Astrov and Tchaikovsky were performed by their deputies - Cadet Vladimir Vinogradov and Social Revolutionary Vladimir Zenzinov.
From the very beginning, not all Whites were satisfied with the results of the Ufa Conference. First of all, they were military. The formed “left-liberal” Directory seemed to them weak, a repetition of the “Kerenskyism”, which quickly fell under the onslaught of the Bolsheviks. It seemed to them that in such a difficult situation, only a strong power, a military dictatorship, could win.
Indeed, the leftist governments were unable to establish order in the rear and develop the first successes at the front. On October 1, 1918, the Red Army came out from the south to the railway between Samara and Syzran and cut it; by October 3, the Whites were forced to leave Syzran. In the following days, the Red Army crossed the Volga and began to advance towards Samara, on October 7, the Whites were forced to surrender the city, retreating to Buguruslan. As a result, the entire course of the Volga was again in the hands of the Reds, which made it possible to transport bread and oil products to the center of the country. Another active offensive was carried out by the Reds in the Urals - in order to suppress the Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising. On October 9, the Ufa Directory, due to the threat of losing Ufa, moved to Omsk.
On October 13, after long wanderings around the world, the former commander of the Black Sea, Vice Admiral and agent of Western influence Alexander Kolchak arrived in Omsk. In England and the United States, he was chosen to be the dictator of Russia. On October 16, Boldyrev offered Kolchak the post of military and naval minister - instead of P.P. Ivanov-Rinov, who did not satisfy the Directory). From this post, not wanting to associate himself with the Directory (at first he thought of heading to the South of Russia), Kolchak at first refused, but then agreed. On November 5, 1918, he was appointed military and naval minister of the Provisional All-Russian Government. With his first orders, he began the formation of the central bodies of the Military Ministry and the General Staff.
Meanwhile, the Reds continued to develop the offensive. On October 16, the Reds, pushing the Whites eastward from Kazan and Samara, occupied the city of Bugulma, on October 23 - the city of Buguruslan, on October 30, the Reds - Buzuluk. November 7 - 8, the Reds took Izhevsk, November 11 - Votkinsk. The Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising was crushed.
Chairman of the Provisional All-Russian Government (Directorate) Nikolai Dmitrievich Avksentiev
Omsk coup
On November 4, the Provisional All-Russian Government appealed to all regional governments with a demand to immediately dissolve "all, without exception, Regional Governments and Regional Representative Institutions" and transfer all powers of administration to the All-Russian Government. On the same day, on the basis of the ministries and central departments of the Provisional Siberian Government, the executive body of the Directory was formed - the All-Russian Council of Ministers, headed by Peter Vologda. Such a centralization of state power was due, first of all, to “recreating the combat power of the motherland, which is so necessary in the time of the struggle for the revival of the Great and United Russia"," creating the conditions necessary for supplying the army and organizing the rear on an all-Russian scale.
The predominantly centre-right Council of Ministers was radically different in political overtones from the much more "leftist" Directory. The leader of the leaders of the Council of Ministers, who resolutely defended the right political course, was the Minister of Finance I. A. Mikhailov, who enjoyed the support of G. K. Gins, N. I. Petrov, G. G. Telberg. It was this group that became the core of the conspiracy aimed at establishing a strong and homogeneous power in the form of a one-man military dictatorship. A conflict broke out between the Directory and the Council of Ministers. However, the Directory, suffering one defeat after another at the front, lost the confidence of the officers and right-wing circles, who desired strong power. Thus, the Directory had no authority, its power was weak and fragile. In addition, the Directory was constantly torn apart by internal contradictions, for which the press even ironically compared the "All-Russian Government" with Krylov's swan, cancer and pike.
The immediate reason for the overthrow of the Directory was the circular letter-proclamation of the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party - "Appeal" - written personally by V. M. Chernov and distributed by telegraph on October 22, 1918 with the title "Everything, everything, everything" traditional for revolutionary appeals of that time. The letter condemned the relocation of the Directory to Omsk, expressed distrust of the Provisional All-Russian Government, and called on all party members to arm themselves to fight the Provisional Siberian Government. The "Appeal" reported: "In anticipation of possible political crises that may be caused by the plans of the counter-revolution, all the forces of the party at the present moment must be mobilized, trained in military affairs and armed in order to be ready at any moment to withstand the blows of the counter-revolutionary organizers civil war in the rear of the anti-Bolshevik front. Work on armament, rallying, comprehensive political instruction and purely military mobilization of the forces of the party should be the basis of the activity of the Central Committee ... ". In fact, it was a call for the formation of their own armed forces in order to repulse the right. It was a scandal. General Boldyrev demanded an explanation from Avksentiev and Zenzinov. They tried to hush up the issue, but to no avail, and the opponents of the Directory got a pretext for a coup, accusing the Socialist-Revolutionaries of preparing a conspiracy to seize power.
The core of the conspiracy was the military, including almost all the officers of the Stavka, headed by its quartermaster general, Colonel A. Syromyatnikov. The political role in the conspiracy was played by the Cadet emissary V.N. Pepelyaev "recruited" ministers and public figures. Some of the ministers and figures of bourgeois organizations were also involved in the conspiracy. Colonel D. A. Lebedev, who arrived in Siberia from the Volunteer Army and was considered a representative of General A. I. Denikin, also played an active role in organizing the overthrow of the Directory. Unreliable military units were withdrawn from Omsk in advance under various pretexts. General R. Gaida was supposed to ensure the neutrality of the Czechs. The action was supported by the British mission of General Knox.
On the night of November 17, 1918, three high-ranking Cossack officers - the head of the Omsk garrison, Colonel of the Siberian Cossack army V. I. Volkov, military foremen A. V. Katanaev and I. N. Krasilnikov - committed a provocation. At a city banquet in honor of the French General Janin, they demanded that the Russian national anthem "God Save the Tsar" be played. The Social Revolutionaries demanded that Kolchak arrest the Cossacks for "inappropriate behavior." Without waiting for their own arrest, on November 18, Volkov and Krasilnikov themselves made a pre-emptive arrest of representatives of the left wing of the Provisional All-Russian Government - the Socialist-Revolutionaries N. D. Avksentiev, V. M. Zenzinov, A. A. Argunov and Comrade Minister of the Interior E. F. Rogovsky . The battalion of the protection of the Directory, which consisted of the Social Revolutionaries, was disarmed. Not a single military unit of the Omsk garrison came out in support of the overthrown Directory. The public reacted to the completed coup either indifferently or with hope, relying on the establishment of a firm government. The Entente countries supported Kolchak. The Czechoslovaks, subordinate to the Entente, limited themselves to a formal protest.
The Council of Ministers, which convened the next morning after the arrest of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, recognized the Directory as non-existent (its members were expelled abroad), announced the assumption of full sovereignty and declared the need for “complete concentration of military and civil power in the hands of one person with an authoritative name in the military and public circles”, which will lead on the principles of unity of command. It was decided "to temporarily transfer the exercise of supreme power to one person, relying on the assistance of the Council of Ministers, giving such a person the name of the Supreme Ruler." The "Regulations on the temporary structure of state power in Russia" (the so-called "Constitution of November 18") was developed and adopted. The commander-in-chief of the troops of the Directory, General V. G. Boldyrev, the head of the CER, General D. L. Horvat, and the Minister of War and Navy, Vice Admiral A. V. Kolchak, were considered as candidates for "dictators". The Council of Ministers voted to elect Kolchak. Kolchak was promoted to full admiral, he was given the exercise of supreme state power and awarded the title of Supreme Ruler. All the armed forces of the state were under his command. Denikin was considered his deputy in southern Russia. The supreme ruler could take any measures, up to emergency ones, to provide for the armed forces, as well as to establish civil order and legality.
Vice Admiral A. V. Kolchak - Minister of War of the Provisional All-Russian Government with his inner circle. 1918
The anti-people essence of the Kolchak regime
Kolchak defined the direction of work as the Supreme Ruler in this way: “Having accepted the cross of this power in the exceptionally difficult conditions of the Civil War and the complete breakdown of state affairs and life, I declare that I will not follow either the path of reaction or the disastrous path of party spirit. main goal I put the creation of a combat-ready army, the victory over the Bolsheviks and the establishment of law and order.
The White project was based on the idea that after the elimination of tsarism, life can be arranged only according to Western models. The Westerners planned full economic, social, cultural and ideological integration with Europe. They planned to introduce a democracy of a parliamentary type, which would be based on a hierarchical system of secret power in order, Masonic and Paramasonic structures and clubs. Market economy led to the complete power of finance and industrial capital. Ideological pluralism ensured the manipulation of public consciousness and control over the people. We observe all this in modern Russia, in which a counter-revolution was carried out in the early 1990s.
The problem was that the European version of development was not for Russia. Rus' is a separate original civilization, it has its own way. The "Golden Calf" - materialism, can win in Russia only after the destruction of the Russian super-ethnos, the transformation of Russians into "ethnographic material". The image of a “sweet”, prosperous, peaceful, well-equipped Europe is acceptable for a significant part of the Russian intelligentsia, struck by cosmopolitanism, Westernism, for large owners, capitalists, comprador bourgeoisie, which builds its future by selling off the Motherland. This group also includes people with a "petty-bourgeois", "kulak" psychology. However, the powerful traditional cultural layers of Russian civilization - its matrix-code - are resisting the processes of Westernization of Russia. Russians do not accept the European (Western) path of development. Thus, there is a gap between the interests of the westernized elite of society, the intelligentsia, and civilizational, national projects. And this gap always leads to disaster.
Kolchak's dictatorship had no chance of success. The white project is Western in its essence. Anti-people. In the interests of the masters of the West and the pro-Western stratum of the population in Russia itself, which is extremely insignificant. The concentration of military, political and economic power in the hands of the dictator made it possible for the Whites to recover from the defeats suffered in the Volga region in the autumn of 1918 and go on a new offensive. But the successes were short-lived. The political, social base of the White movement has become even narrower. The leadership of the Czechoslovak Corps considered the admiral a "usurper", the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks condemned the "Omsk coup".
Kolchak's regime immediately aroused powerful resistance. The Social Revolutionaries called for armed resistance. The members of the Constituent Assembly, who were in Ufa and Yekaterinburg, headed by the Social Revolutionary Chernov, declared that they did not recognize the authority of Admiral Kolchak, and would oppose the new government with all their might. As a result, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party went underground, from where it began to fight against the power of the new dictator. Kolchak introduced exceptional laws, the death penalty and martial law for rear territories. The arbitrariness of the military authorities pushed away from Kolchak the moderate democracy that initially supported him. At the same time, in Eastern Siberia, Kolchak was opposed and almost clearly opposed by local counter-revolutionary forces led by atamans Semyonov and Kalmykov.
From the very first days of his coming to power, the admiral showed complete intolerance towards the labor movement, eradicating any traces of the recent domination of Soviet power. Communists and non-Party advanced workers who had previously taken part in the work of Soviet bodies were mercilessly destroyed. At the same time, the mass organizations of the proletariat, primarily the trade unions, were being destroyed. All protests of the workers were bloodily suppressed.
The establishment of "law and order" actually led to the return to the capitalists and landlords of their rights to the property taken from them. In the question of land, the policy of the White government was to return to the landlords the land taken from them by the Soviet government, agricultural implements and livestock. Part of the land was supposed to be transferred to the kulaks for a fee. It is not surprising that the peasantry suffered the most from Kolchak's regime. The appearance of the White troops meant for the peasantry, according to the testimony of one of the former ministers of the Kolchak government Gins, the onset of an era of unlimited requisitions, all sorts of duties and complete arbitrariness of the military authorities. “Peasants were whipped,” says Gins, “robbed, offended by their civil dignity, ruined.” In turn, the peasantry waged a struggle against the whites through incessant uprisings. The Whites responded with bloody punitive expeditions, which not only did not stop the uprisings, but even more expanded the areas engulfed by the peasant war. The peasant war, as well as the forced mobilization of the peasants, significantly reduced the combat effectiveness of Kolchak's army and became the main cause of internal collapse.
In addition, Kolchak's policy contributed to the transformation of Russia into a semi-colony of the West. Representatives of the Entente, primarily England, the United States and France, were the actual owners of the White movement. They dictated their will to the whites. Despite the lack of grain and raw materials (ore, fuel, wool) in the regions of Russia occupied by the Whites, all this was exported abroad in significant quantities at the first request of the Allies. As payment for the received military property, the largest enterprises passed into the hands of Western European and American capitalists. In the east, foreign capitalists received a number of concessions. Satisfying the demands of the allies, Kolchak turned Russia into China, plundered and torn apart by foreign predators.
Thus, the Kolchak regime was anti-people, reactionary, in the interests of the West and the pro-Western, White project in Russia itself. Its future collapse is natural.
Until October 1917, Russia was the greatest reserve of Western capital. England, France, Germany and other states invested heavily in the Russian economy. The total amount of foreign investment in Russia on the eve of 1917 amounted to 2.5 billion rubles, and the external debt exceeded 16 billion gold rubles.
The Bolsheviks, having come to power, declared all these loans invalid, which caused dissatisfaction among the members of the Entente. The conclusion of the Brest Peace marked the transition to open intervention by the Entente troops.
Following the landing in the north, an invasion began on Far East.
An important milestone during the civil war was the performance in May 1918. Czechoslovak Corps.
Even during the First World War, about two million prisoners of war ended up in Russia. A considerable part of them were from the Slavic countries, which were then under the rule of Austria-Hungary. In the second half of 1916 on the initiative of the Union of Czechoslovak Societies in Russia, the tsarist government decided to form the Czechoslovak Corps from the prisoners of war of Czechs and Slovaks in order to use it against the Austro-German troops.
In connection with the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk, January 15, 1918. the corps was declared an autonomous part of the French army and accepted for the maintenance of the Entente. As early as December 16, 1917. The French government recognized the Czech Legion in Russia as an independent part of the Czechoslovak army, under the direct supervision of the French High Command. This command believed that it would be more expedient to evacuate the Czech Legion to France through the Far East. In April, it began to be transferred along the Siberian Railway, across the whole of Siberia, to Vladivostok with the aim of further shipment by sea to Europe.
The soldiers of the Czechoslovak corps were well armed with Russian and captured weapons. People's Commissar L. Trotsky decided to disarm the Czech units. The rumor about this reached the command and soldiers of the corps before the official orders arrived. The Czechoslovaks feared that after disarmament they would be arrested and handed over to the Austro-Hungarian authorities, so they decided: “Don’t hand over your weapons!” .
- May 26, 1918 in Omsk, the Czechs fired on the Red Army detachment, which came to disarm them. On the same day they arrested members of the Soviet in Novonikolaevsk (now Novosibirsk). Between Chelyabinsk and Omsk, the Czechs seized the train in which the People's Commissar for Food A.G. was traveling. Schlichter, and kept him for a whole day. On the night of May 26-27, the Czechoslovaks captured Chelyabinsk.
- On May 28, the performance of the Czechs, who were in the Syzran region, began.
The Soviet authorities tried to block the trains at the station. About five thousand Czechoslovaks launched an attack on Penza and two days later occupied the city and launched an offensive with the aim of capturing the Samara-Ufa railway.
In a relatively short time, the Czechoslovaks captured Mariinsk, Chelyabinsk, Novonikolaevsk (Novosibirsk), Nizhneudinsk, Kansk, Penza, Petropavlovsk, Art. Taiga, Tomsk.
On June 8, 1918, after several days of stubborn fighting, the Czechoslovaks occupied Samara. Together with the Czechoslovaks, the right SRs I.M. arrived in Samara. Brushvit, B.K. Fortunatov, V.K. Volsky and I.P. Nesterov. They formed the "Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly" (Komuch), which declared itself the supreme power in Russia. This is how an anti-Bolshevik political force appeared, openly opposing itself to the Soviet government.
Samara Komuch immediately supported the All-Siberian Regional Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. Komuch also appointed his own government of 16 heads of various departments. There were many prominent figures with all-Russian fame, for example, the chairman E.F. Rogovsky, P.G. Maslov, I.M. Maisky, V.K. Volsky, M.Ya. Gendelman. Komuch and his government tried to put into practice much of the program developed by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks (the restoration of basic democratic freedoms was declared, the activities of workers' and peasants' congresses, factory committees were allowed, an 8-hour working day was established and the red state flag was adopted).
June 29, 1918 they carried out a counter-revolutionary coup in Vladivostok, arresting the entire composition of the city council. Capturing the city of their 6-thousand. the detachment moved north along the Ussuri railroad.
Thus, the Czechoslovaks captured almost the entire Trans-Siberian Railway. Soviet power in the occupied areas was overthrown. This was facilitated by the military and political weakness of the Soviet government.
On the territory occupied by the Czechoslovaks, up to 30 predominantly Socialist-Revolutionary governments were created. As a result, an anti-Bolshevik front arose in the Volga region and Siberia, where Soviet power was overthrown.
Thus, for the first time after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Soviet government faced an organized struggle of anti-Bolshevik forces, having received the "Eastern Front". June 13, 1918 The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR created the Revolutionary Military Council of the Eastern Front to fight the Czechoslovak Corps - as a single command and control body.
July 2, 1918 The Supreme Council of the Entente, in order to support the Czechoslovaks and establish control over Siberia, decided to expand the intervention in Russia.
Representatives of the command of the interventionist troops in the Far East on July 6 published a joint declaration on the taking of Vladivostok and its environs under temporary power. On the same day, the US government decided on the participation of its troops in the occupation of the Far Eastern Territory (initially, the American expeditionary force numbered about 9 thousand people). One of the reasons for this decision was the desire to limit the expansion of Japan. In August, a large-scale intervention of the Entente troops began in the region. New contingents of Japanese, British and American troops arrived in Vladivostok, the number of which in Siberia and the Far East soon reached over 150 thousand people.
Foreign troops concentrated in Murmansk also went on the offensive. July 3, 1918 the English detachment captured Kem, on July 20 - the Solovetsky Islands, on July 31 - Onega.
On August 2, in Arkhangelsk, members of the Socialist-Revolutionary, Popular Socialist and Kadet parties carried out an anti-Bolshevik coup. The Supreme Administration of the Northern Region, headed by the People's Socialist N.V. Tchaikovsky, took power into its own hands (on September 28, 1918, it will form the Provisional Government of the Northern Region, which in 1919 will be headed by General E.K. Miller).
On the same day, about one thousand British, French and American soldiers and sailors landed in the city. The number of interventionist troops in the North of Russia reached 16 thousand people, doubling in a month. The offensive of the interventionist troops, acting together with the White Guard units (initially outnumbered by the troops of the Entente), developed in three directions: along the river. Northern Dvina in the direction of Kotlas and Vyatka to connect with the Czechoslovak corps and other troops operating in the east; along the Arkhangelsk-Vologda railway (the capture of Shenkursk) and along the Murmansk-Petrograd railway.
In the East of the country, both Komuch and the Siberian government claimed all-Russian power. They did not agree on political issues either. The essence of the differences was formulated at one time by Cadet L. Krol: "Samara wanted to keep the revolution at the level of the Socialist-Revolutionary requirements, and Omsk strove back from the revolution, even flaunting a return to the old external forms."
The programs of the Socialist-Revolutionary governments, which included the Mensheviks, included demands for the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, the restoration of political rights, denationalization and freedom of trade, and social partnership. Characteristic was the evolution of all governments towards the tightening of the political regime and the elimination of the initially proclaimed democratic freedoms.
Under the leadership of Komuch, the "People's Army" was created, which, together with the Czechoslovak detachments, organized a successful offensive against the Reds in the summer of 1918 and dealt serious blows to the Bolshevik forces. On July 5, the Volga group of Czechoslovaks occupied Ufa. On July 8, the Volga group joined with the Chelyabinsk group. The Cossacks of Ataman Dutov also achieved success, who, taking advantage of the performance of the Czechoslovaks, again began to advance on Orenburg (the number of Orenburg and Ural Cossacks at the end of June was 12-15 thousand people). On July 3, parts of Dutov captured the city.
On July 22, the Volga group of Chechek and Komuch's "People's Army" took Simbirsk, and on July 25, the Chelyabinsk group and the Yekaterinburg White Guard Army took Yekaterinburg. July 18, 1918 in connection with the threat of the capture of the city by the White Guards, the Bolsheviks shot the former emperor Nicholas II and members of his family.
June-August 1918 Komuch's power extended to Samara, part of Saratov, Simbirsk, Orenburg, Kazan and Ufa provinces. On August 7, Kazan was taken. They got the state gold reserve located in the city (651.5 million rubles in gold and 100 million rubles in bank notes). It remained to cross the Volga - then the way to Moscow opened. The troops of the Red Army were also defeated in other regions. An attempt by the troops of the Eastern Front in August to go on the offensive ended in failure.
The Soviet government is taking emergency measures.
September 2, 1918 The All-Russian Central Executive Committee declares the Soviet Republic a "military camp". The Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, headed by L. Trotsky, is being created from the military-party workers. The commander of the Eastern Front, I. Vatsetis, is appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army. Mass terror begins against the "enemies of the revolution".
The strengthening of repressive measures by the Soviet government has become a trend since the summer of 1918. Rigid centralization of administration, tougher punitive measures, regulated terror were opposed to the anarchy of the home front.
The uprisings of the peasants and those mobilized into the army were mercilessly suppressed. In the autumn of 1918, in Soviet Russia became a period of red terror, introduced in accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR "On the Red Terror" on September 5, 1918. The resolution required to ensure the rear by terror, to shoot all those involved in the White Guard organizations, conspiracies and rebellions, to isolate all class enemies in concentration camps.
Harsh measures at the front and in the rear, the reorganization of the Red Army and the mass mobilization into its ranks, gave their results. Already at the beginning of September 1918. in bloody and stubborn battles, the troops of the Eastern Front (under the command of I.I. Vatsetis and S.S. Kamenev) stopped the enemy and on September 5 went on the counteroffensive. On September 10, Kazan was taken, then on September 12, Simbirsk (the operation was led by M.N. Tukhachevsky). With the fall of Syzran on October 3, the fate of Samara was also sealed, which the Reds entered on October 7. The Bolsheviks successfully advanced from the middle Volga to the Urals. The results of the campaign on the Eastern Front in 1918. meant for the whites the loss of the Volga region and a retreat to the Urals. The fate of the SR-Menshevik governments was sealed. None of them managed to create a combat-ready army, resolve land and labor issues, create a statehood comparable in efficiency to the Bolsheviks.
The mass mobilizations carried out by Komuch did not give a tangible effect. Faced with resistance to military conscription and requisitions, as well as a growing labor movement, Komuch turned to harsh punitive practices.
September 23, 1918 At the Ufa State Conference (September 8-23, 1918), anti-Bolshevik parties and organizations, the main participants of which were Komuch and the Siberian government, the All-Russian Provisional Government was formed. However, the created Directory actually represented only members of the various groups included in it, and not all-Russian parties and movements. Among the officers of the armies, the idea was openly expressed about the need to change the "rotten democracy", unable to organize the fight against the Reds, and establish a firm power of military dictatorship.
On the night of November 17-18, 1918 in Omsk, where the “All-Russian Provisional Government” was moving from Ufa from the advancing Bolsheviks, a coup was carried out. Members of the Directory, the Socialist-Revolutionaries Avksentiev and Zenzinov, were arrested, and Admiral A. V. Kolchak, who had recently returned from abroad (formerly the Minister of War of the Directory), came to power.
As a result of the coup, all the fullness of state power in Siberia passed to Alexander Kolchak, who was awarded the title of Supreme Ruler and the title of Supreme Commander and Full Admiral. As a politician, the admiral fully corresponded to the mood of the officers. His government could count on full support in military circles. Soon, other leaders of the anti-Bolshevik struggle recognize him as the Supreme Ruler: A. Denikin in the South, E. Miller in the North, N. Yudenich in the North-West. He had unlimited rights in the military field, to solve civil cases, a Council was established under him, consisting of five prominent public figures of the Cadet orientation (P. Vologodsky, A. Gattenberg, Yu. Klyuchnikov, G. Telberg and M. Mikhailov).
The Cadets put forward the slogan "dictatorship in the name of democracy" and managed to unite around Kolchak representatives of various political parties, groups and organizations from right-wing socialists to monarchists.
Kolchak claimed to express a national state idea and emphasized that he would not follow the path of reaction, nor the disastrous path of party spirit. “My main goal,” he declared, “I set the creation of a combat-ready army, the victory over Bolshevism and the establishment of law and order, so that the people can freely choose for themselves the form of government that they wish ...” .
Thus, the core of the official ideology of the Kolchak regime was the idea of the revival of the great statehood, the slogan "one and indivisible Russia." Relying on the help of the Entente, Kolchak intended to achieve a turning point in favor of his troops on the outskirts of the Urals. To this end, he decided to carry out new mobilizations and accelerate the reorganization of the Yekaterinburg and Kama White groups into the Siberian army.
1.2 Program, goals and objectives of the Kolchak movement
In November 1918, Admiral A.V. Kolchak, in order to centralize control during the war, abolished the Directory and assumed the title of Supreme Ruler.
In this regard, his appeal to the population said: “On November 18, 1918, the All-Russian Provisional Government collapsed. The Council of Ministers accepted full power and handed it over to me, Admiral of the Russian Navy Alexander Kolchak. Having accepted the cross of this power in the exceptionally difficult conditions of the civil war and the complete breakdown of state life, I declare:
I will not take the path of reaction, nor the disastrous path of partisanship. My main goal is to create a combat-ready army, defeat the Bolsheviks and establish law and order, so that the people can freely choose for themselves the form of government that they wish, and implement the great ideas of freedom, now proclaimed throughout the world.
Explaining his political program to representatives of the press on November 28 of the same year, Kolchak, in particular, noted that after the liquidation of the Bolshevik power in Russia, the National Assembly should be convened "for the reign of law and order in the country."
In the Order of the Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Admiral A.V. Kolchak dated July 28, 1919, was confirmed: “We are fighting for the Russian national cause of restoring the Motherland as a free, united and independent state. We are fighting for the right of the people themselves, through free elections and voting in the Constituent National Assembly, to determine their fate in the structure of state power ... ".
The demand for constitutional reforms stipulated the assistance of the Entente to the White movement. In particular, in the Note of the Supreme Council of the Entente to Admiral A.V. Kolchak on the conditions on the basis of which the allies will provide assistance to the anti-Bolshevik forces, dated May 26, 1919. It was noted:
“At present, the Allied Coalition Powers wish to formally state that the aim of their policy is to restore peace within Russia by enabling the Russian people to gain control over their own affairs with the help of a freely elected Constituent Assembly... To this end, they ask Admiral Kolchak and his allies answer whether they agree to the following conditions of the powers of the allied coalition:
First, the government of Admiral Kolchak must ensure that, as soon as Kolchak's troops occupy Moscow, a Constituent Assembly, elected on the basis of universal, secret and democratic suffrage, is convened as the supreme legislative body in Russia, to which the Russian government should be responsible. . If by this time order in the country has not yet been finally restored, then the Kolchak government must assemble the Constituent Assembly, elected in 1917, and leave it in power until the day when it is possible to organize new elections.
Secondly, that in all the space that is currently under its control, the Kolchak government should allow free elections to all freely and lawfully organized assemblies, such as city governments, zemstvos, etc.
Thirdly, that the Kolchak government will not support any attempt to restore the special privileges of certain classes or estates in Russia.
1.3 Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Kolchak movement
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (the governing body of the Kolchak government) was formed by the Supreme Ruler of the Russian State - Admiral Kolchak A.V., under whose leadership it coordinated all military operations of the Siberian White armies from 12/24/1918 to 01/04/1920. The posts of the Chief of Staff of the Headquarters were occupied by the generals: Lebedev D. A. (12/21/1918 - 08/09/1919), Diterikhs M.K. (09.08-17.11.1919), Zankevich M.I. (11/17/1918-01/04/1920). The military ministry of Kolchak was headed by generals: Surin V.I. (12/21/1918 - 01/01/1920), Stepanov N.A. (03.01-23.05.1919), Lebedev D.A. (23.05-12.08.1919), Budberg A.P. (12-25.08.1919), Diterichs M.K. (25.08-06.10.1919, Khanzhin M.V. (06.10.1919-04.01.1920) .
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command was disbanded on 11/14/1919. The leadership of military operations passed to the headquarters under the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Admiral Kolchak), which was headed by General Zankevich M.I. (11/17/1919 - 01/04/1920). The headquarters was located in one of the cars of a special train in which Admiral Kolchak left Omsk. At the same time, he ordered General Lokhvitsky N.A. prepare and ensure the reception and accommodation in Irkutsk by the governments of their headquarters, including the selection of premises both for the admiral himself and for the members of the government accompanying him and the headquarters of the High Command. At the same time, General Lokhvitsky was ordered to preliminarily prepare the relocation of Admiral Kolchak, his government and headquarters to Chita, in Transbaikalia, under the protection of the troops of Ataman Semenov, if the troops of the Russian (Siberian) Army did not stop the rolling shaft of the offensive of the Red Army and they (the troops) would also have to seek refuge in Transbaikalia.
Directly under the operational subordination of the Stavka during 1919 were:
The Siberian Army (Lieutenant General Gaida R., 12/24/1918 - 07/10/1919; Lieutenant General Diterichs M.K., 07/10/22/1919, 07/22/1919 was transformed into the 1st and 2nd armies of the Eastern Front.
Western Army (Lieutenant General Khanzhin M.V., 01.01 - 06.20.1919; Lieutenant General Sakharov K.V., 06.21-22.07.1919). 07/22/1919 transformed into the 3rd Army of the Eastern Front.
Orenburg Army (Lieutenant General Dutov A.I., 10/16/1918-05/03/1919). 05/23/09/18/1919 acted as the Southern Army (Lieutenant General G. A. Belov); 09/18/1919-01/06/1920 (Lieutenant General Dutov A.I.). 01/06/1920 became part of the Semirechensk Army (Major General Annenkov B.V.) as the Orenburg detachment, having made the "Hunger March" through the Turkestan steppes.
Semirechensk Army (Major General Annenkov B.V., 08/25/1919-04/03/1920). Formed on the basis of the Steppe Group of the Eastern Front and the 2nd Siberian Steppe Corps, interned in China after crossing the Turkestan-Chinese border on 04/03/1920.
Ural Army (Lieutenant General Savelyev N.A., 11/15/1918-04/08/1919; Lieutenant General Tolstov B.C., 04/08/1919-20.05.1920). 07/22/1919 transferred to the operational subordination of the Armed Forces of South Russia (Lieutenant General Denikin A.I.).
Southern Army (Lieutenant General Belov G.A., 05/23/1919-12/01/1920). Reorganized 05/23/1919 from the Southern Group of the Western and Orenburg armies. 07/22/1919 became part of the Eastern Front, and from 10/10/1919 - as part of the Moscow Group of the Eastern Front.
07/22/1919 Siberian and Western armies, reorganized into the 1st, 2nd and 3rd armies, as well as the Southern Army and the Steppe group of General Annenkov B.V. were transferred and merged into the newly created Eastern Front (Lieutenant General Diterichs M.K.). After the withdrawal of the 1st Army to the rear, to the Tomsk region (to replenish, reorganize and protect the Siberian Railway), as well as the defeat of the Southern Army (General Belov G.A.), on 10/10/1919, the rest of the Eastern Front was transformed into the Moscow Group of Forces (Lieutenant General Kappel V.O., 10/10/1919-01/21/1920; Voitsekhovsky S.N., 01/21/04/27/1920) and continued to resist the Red Army, having made the "Great Siberian Ice Campaign" (10/14/1919 - 03/03/1920) during the retreat of the Kolchak army from Siberia to Transbaikalia.
In addition, their subordination to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Supreme Ruler of the Russian State was legally recognized and / or included in the Russian army:
Armed Forces of the South of Russia - VSYUR, under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Denikin A.I. (he announced his submission to the Supreme Ruler Admiral Kolchak on 06/12/1919).
Troops of the North-Western Region (General-of-Infantry Yudenich N.N., 07/10/1919-01/22/1920). By decree of the Supreme Ruler Admiral Kolchak on July 10, 1919, Infantry General Yudenich was appointed commander of all troops of the North-West, including the North-Western Army (Major General Rodzianko A.P., 07/06-02/10/1919; Infantry General Yudenich N.N., 02.10 - 11.28.1919) and the Western Volunteer Army (Major General Bermondt-Avalov P.R., 09-11.1919).
Northern Army - Troops of the Northern Region, Northern Front (Lieutenant General Marushevsky V.V., 11/19/1918-01/13/1919; Lieutenant General Miller E.K., 01/13/1919-02.1920). Lieutenant General Miller E.K. 06/10/1919 was appointed by Admiral Kolchak commander of all the troops of the Northern Region, including the Northern Army, which was simultaneously under operational control of the command of the Northern Front and the Expeditionary Force of the British Forces (General Ironside).
Murmansk Volunteer Army - Troops of the Murmansk region (Major General Zvegintsev N.I., 01.06 - 03.10.1918; Colonel Kostandi L.V., 11.1918-06.1919); was under operational control of the Northern Army, as well as the commander of the British Expeditionary Force in Arkhangelsk - General Ironside (and directly in Murmansk - General Poole). 06.1919 The Murmansk Volunteer Army was renamed the Troops of the Murmansk Region and soon merged with the troops of the Olonets Volunteer Army under the general command of Lieutenant General Skobeltsyn B.C.
Olonets Volunteer Army (Lieutenant General Skobeltsyn B.C., 02.1919-02.1920). After the defeat of the Red Army in Karelia on 07.1919, the Olonets Army was merged with the Murmansk Volunteer Army. The composition and combat operations of the Siberian armies of Admiral Kolchak are given in the chapters "Eastern Front", "Moscow Group of Forces", as well as in separate references about these armies.
By order of the Commander-in-Chief Admiral Kolchak on 01/03/1919, the new Russian army was to have the same structure and composition as the former Russian army under Emperor Nicholas II. That is, the structure of the Russian army provided for the creation of companies (150 bayonets each), battalions (4 companies each), regiments (4100 bayonets, in 4 battalions or 16 companies), divisions (16,500 bayonets in 4 regiments) , corps (37,000 in 2 divisions each). By 05/01/1919, the strength of the Russian army was 680,000 bayonets and sabers, of which 8 corps had been formed in the active armies of Siberia by this time. During 1919, it was planned to increase the number of troops to 2,000,000 soldiers and officers.
Thus, in the East of Russia, the one-man dictatorship was established as a result of a coup d'état carried out on November 18, 1918 by the Council of Ministers of the All-Russian Provisional Government (Directorate) with the active participation of the military. Before the coup, the bearer of supreme power was a collegiate body of five people. Most of the members of the Directory - four out of five - were civilians, well-known political figures. The Council of Ministers, headed by the chairman (he was a member of the Directory), carried out executive and administrative functions. The transfer of supreme power to one person - the Minister of War, Admiral A.V. Kolchak (he accepted the title of Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander) - did not mean, however, the establishment, as in the South of Russia, of a military dictatorship. The Council of Ministers, its head, as before, was the Prime Minister, being the source of power of the Supreme Ruler, not only retained its powers, but also significantly expanded them. Together with the Supreme Ruler, he began to exercise legislative power. Formally, all the fullness of state power in the territory from the Volga to the Pacific Ocean belonged to the Russian government as part of the Supreme Ruler and the Council of Ministers.
Siberian government
The idea of Siberian autonomy, which gave rise to the Siberian Regional Duma, has long been a hidden thought of the best sons of Siberia. It is flesh and blood from the blood of that socio-political current of social thought of the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, which is referred to in history as “regionalism”. The regional tendencies of these first citizens of Siberia were at first a vague desire for best device Siberia in general: to its enlightenment, to the development of its productive forces, to the emancipation of the personality of the Siberian from the administrative oppression that weighed on the country, to the improvement of the situation of the natives of Siberia, who were in economic bondage to predatory elements and under heavy administrative pressure.
A prominent role in the history of Siberian regionalism was played by the Cossacks.
The case of "Siberian separatism"
Among the persons involved in 1865 in the so-called case “on Siberian separatism”, there were many Cossacks: retired cornet of the Siberian Cossack army Grigory Nikolaevich Potanin, Yesaul of the same army Usov, cornet Shaitanov, etc. They, along with H.M. Yadrintsev, S.S. Shashkov, D.L. Kuznetsov and others compiled in the Siberian cities the "Society for the Independence of Siberia", they also issued an appeal to the "Siberian Patriots", which proved the necessity and possibility of creating an economically independent country from Siberia. “We, Siberians, fraternally lend a hand to Russian patriots for a joint struggle against our enemy. At the end of it, Siberia will have to convene its own popular assembly to determine their future relations with Russia is its inalienable right", - it is said, among other things, in this appeal to the "Siberian patriots". It ended with the following call: "Long live free Siberia... from the Ural Mountains to the shores of the Eastern Ocean".
In 1864, in the city of Omsk, the said proclamations were discovered, of which one was brought into the corps by a cadet, not realizing that this was an unacceptable political thing. The corps authorities found a proclamation from the cadet and handed it over to the gendarmes. An investigation was appointed, followed by a series of searches in the apartment of the Cossack officer Usov and his friends in Tomsk; then the followers arrested persons whose names were found in the captured correspondence, also in Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. During a search in an apartment in Irkutsk, another proclamation was found. More than a dozen young people were arrested and taken to Omsk, where a commission of inquiry was formed. Loudly swept through the Siberian cities the news of the case, which was exaggeratedly called: "The case of malefactors who had the intention to separate Siberia from Russia and establish a republic in it in the manner of the North American States."
As a result, the best citizens of Siberia suffered. The first martyr of the idea of Siberian independence and the first author of the idea of the Siberian Regional Duma was Grigory Nikolaevich Potanin.
The general epoch of reaction that soon set in was not conducive to a new awakening of the idea of Siberian autonomy. Only the groups of ideologists of this socio-political trend, who remained faithful to it until their very last days, got used to the idea of regionalism. This idea did not find a wide response among the Siberian population for a long time. But the idea of regionalism, as an idea of undoubtedly democratic origin, also met with sympathy among the occasional guests of Siberia, who were democratically minded, although they followed different paths to the happiness of the people, to the establishment of the foundations of people's rule. The defenders of the idea of regionalism, Siberian autonomy, were such persons from the old Narodnaya Volya as F.V. Volkhovsky, S.L. Chudnovsky, S.P. Shvetsov and others.
In 1917, after the revolution, the ideas of regionalism began to enjoy great success and found support among moderate socialists, who saw in the transition to a federal structure of the regions an opportunity to strengthen their influence, as opposed to the Bolsheviks.
The idea of organizing the Siberian Government grew gradually. First, in August 1917, representatives of the revolutionary democratic organizations of Siberia convened a conference in the city of Tomsk to discuss the question of creating the true foundations of people's rule in Siberia, and here, for the first time, the question of the need to construct Siberian power on special grounds became real. Further, in October, an All-Siberian Congress of representatives of the same organizations is convened, which already decides to convene in December of the same year an extraordinary Siberian Regional Congress of representatives of the same organizations; At this congress, the question of the urgent need to organize a special Siberian government for the administration of autonomous Siberia was already directly raised. This extraordinary congress announced the convening Siberian Regional Duma, developed the Regulations on the provisional governing bodies of Siberia and elected the Provisional Siberian Regional Council - the executive body of the congress.
Convocation of the Siberian Regional Duma
In the conditions of Bolshevism, the hope for the feasibility of convening the Duma could be based on the successful use of those organizations that had taken shape during the Soviet regime. The drafters of the law adapted to the moment. Therefore, the Regulations on the Siberian Regional Duma turned out to be extremely imperfect. Almost half of the composition was elected by Soviet organizations: councils of peasant, Cossack, Kyrgyz deputies. Representatives of front-line organizations of Siberian soldiers were included, representatives of unions of a semi-professional, semi-political nature (postal and telegraph, railway, teachers and even students) were included. Much space was given to cooperation, trade unions and national organizations.
Representation of the bourgeoisie was completely excluded just like in advice. The supreme power, following the model of the Soviet system, was granted by the Regulations to the Duma, so that the executive body (ministries) had to be completely subordinate to it (the system of the convention of the French revolution).
Attitude of public circles to the Duma
The artificiality of the selection of representatives in the Siberian Regional Duma armed a significant part of the intelligentsia against it, especially from the party of "people's freedom". The very idea of Siberian autonomy, which seemed to be a manifestation of separatism, also raised doubts. Armed against the Duma and the Bolsheviks.
"Siberian speech" called the Siberian Regional Duma "a new socialist idea." Other influential newspapers, such as the newspaper of the Far East "Voice of the Amur Region", a supporter of even greater decentralization, called the idea of \u200b\u200buniting all of Siberia and the Steppe Territory into one whole, linking in one centralist institution, the Siberian Regional Duma, almost a sixth of the earth's sushi.
The Soviets, supported by Moscow and Petrograd, took an uncompromising position towards the Siberian Duma. The Achinsk Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, agreeing with the Krasnoyarsk Executive Committee, "deems an attempt at counter-revolution under the guise of autonomy for Siberia and the convening of the Siberian Constituent Assembly unacceptable" and asks the Tomsk Council of Deputies to take all measures, starting with dispersal and arrest, without stopping before using armed force "for in order to defend the power of the soviets.
After this, it is not surprising that such a mood of public opinion in Siberia was reflected in the members of the Duma themselves. Representatives of the Siberian Regional Duma came to their destination slowly.
Activities of the Regional Council
The Provisional Regional Council included Potanin, who left at the end of December, Derber, Patushinsky, Shatilov, Novoselov and Zakharov.
The Regional Council was assigned by the congress a very narrow and limited task: to convene the Regional Duma by January 10 on the grounds worked out by the congress. By the force of things, however, the Regional Council began to carry out some management functions, mainly, it was forced to enter into negotiations on the issue of the formation of power. At one time he communicated with certain entities, such as the Trans-Baikal Regional Council, which temporarily exercised supreme power in the Trans-Baikal Region, and with Ataman Semyonov, then Yesaul, who welcomed the Regional Council, and then the Regional Duma, indicating that he, too, was fighting the Bolsheviks under the slogan "Constituent Assembly". There were also contacts with foreigners in the person of random representatives who were then in Tomsk, with China, through Ambassador Kudashev, regarding the periodic closure of the border for the transport of goods at the station. Manchuria, etc.
However, the Regional Council was deprived of the opportunity to do anything other than correspondence and negotiations. He had neither finances nor a management apparatus; his entire office consisted of five people. The Regional Council consisted of financial and military councils that were involved in the development of issues for the Regional Duma.
G.N. Potanin
The Chairman of the Regional Council Potanin was the most popular and respected person in Siberia. Potanin, who devoted his whole life to serving his native Siberia, carefully researched both it and its neighboring countries, in particular Mongolia, possessed exceptional honesty and disinterestedness; his clear mind, alien to the fanaticism characteristic of the party Russian intelligentsia, involuntarily attracted everyone. Potanin was keenly interested in and took an active part in the Siberian Congresses that took place at the end of 1917, and was elected chairman of the Regional Council at the last December extraordinary Siberian Congress. However deep old age(Potanin was born in 1835) and physical weakness did not allow him to exert a noticeable influence on the course of events in 1917-1918. Potanin retained his clear mind, but in turbulent times, when temperament and energy took precedence over arguments and knowledge, he was powerless to carry out his task - to reconcile extremes, to bring sobriety into the actions of party politicians.
Around Potanin there was a fierce struggle. Each pulled him to his side. He, as chairman of the Regional Council, was forced to sign an act that amounted to the recognition of the councils, however, with a number of reservations. This was the reason for Potanin's exit from the Regional Council. He felt that he could not fulfill the role he had assumed. Energetic youth took over. No one was able to reconcile. Members of the Regional Council, like Derber, alien to Siberia, a typical politician of the new formation, were unpleasant to Potanin.
Having left the Regional Council, Potanin continued to listen sensitively to what was happening, blessed some for the actions, gave advice to others. He was elected an honorary chairman of the Duma and then the first was awarded by the Siberian Government with the title of Honorary Citizen of Siberia.
P.Ya. Derber
The most energetic and influential member of the Regional Council was Derber. A man of remarkable abilities, a good speaker, he also possessed great energy and perseverance, which somehow did not harmonize with his unusually miniature, almost dwarf figure and funny childish face. Long before the revolution, Derber worked in the Socialist Revolutionary Party, was its professional figure and lived at its expense. This is a special type of purely political figure in Russia, unloved by wide circles of Russian society.
Despite the liveliness of character and the ability to soberly assess the situation, Derber was still a typical party person in politics. His moral qualities were given unfavorable reviews even among those close to his party.
January meetings of the Duma
Meanwhile, the quorum of the Regional Duma was not recruited. This happened partly because of the vast distances of Siberia, partly because almost all workers' organizations boycotted the Duma. By January 7, the Duma could not be opened. By January 20 alone, about a hundred people had gathered, and the opening of the Duma was scheduled for February 1. Until that time there had been meetings of factions in the Duma and private meetings of members of the Duma. The most powerful groupings in the Duma were: a faction of socialist revolutionaries and a faction of representatives of various nationalities of Siberia (it was called the "faction of nationalities"). This faction was more moderate than the Socialist-Revolutionaries. In addition to the natives - Kirghiz, Buryats, Yakuts - it included Poles, Ukrainians and German colonists.
The main attention in the factions was focused on questions of replenishing the composition of the Regional Duma with representatives of "qualified" elements and on the development of an electoral law for the Siberian Constituent Assembly, which, according to the December Extraordinary Congress, was to be convened in March 1918. The Provisional Government, which is supposed was to be elected in the Duma, had, in essence, to deal only with the holding of elections to the Siberian Constituent Assembly. This partly explained the fact that the issue of candidates for the Provisional Siberian Government was least of all discussed in the factions, and only the Regional Council and the leaders of the factions dwelled on it somewhat. Meanwhile, while the Regional Soviet and the Siberian Duma were striving to unite Siberia and begin, together with other parts of Russia, the fight against the Bolsheviks, Bolshevism began to gain a foothold in Siberia not as a political party, but as power. In mid-December, Omsk passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks. But the Socialist-Revolutionary Party expected that the All-Russian Constituent Assembly would overcome Bolshevism and that in the event of an attack on the Constituent Assembly, a civil war with the Bolsheviks would break out throughout Russia. In January, the Bolsheviks began to spread their influence over Tomsk, not daring, however, to come out decisively against the Regional Soviet and the Duma. On the night of January 25 to 26, the Bolsheviks, obviously wishing to prevent the opening of the Duma, unexpectedly for the Regional Council arrested its members: Patushinsky, Shatilov and several members of the Duma, including Yakushev, who was nominated by the factions to chair. Of the other members of the Regional Council in Tomsk was Derber, who managed to avoid arrest. Derber and representatives of the factions, gathering secretly, decided to arrange a meeting of the Regional Duma, secretly from the Bolsheviks, at which the Provisional Siberian Government would be elected.
Government election
The Socialist-Revolutionary faction objected for a long time to the election of a government. She considered it impossible to make an election in such an abnormal environment. "We can only re-elect the Soviet and instruct it to convene the Regional Duma in the Far East in a fuller complement," said the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Only Derber insisted on the election of a plenipotentiary government, which, having moved to the Far East, could act and decide. Members of the "faction of nationalities" also spoke out against the election of the government. Eventually the factions gave in to Derber's insistence. They only demanded that the Socialist-Revolutionaries be included in the government in a number that would guarantee a majority. In the absence of a sufficient number of “suitable” candidates, they proposed members of the Regional Council Shatilov and Zakharov as ministers, whom they initially did not intend to include in the government due to their insufficient preparedness for ministerial posts, as well as the even less prepared local socialist-revolutionary Kudryavtsev.
The "national" faction demanded the creation, in addition to the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples for the Affairs of the Kirghiz, Buryats and other nationalities occupying a certain territory, also the Ministry of "Extraterritorial" Nationalities, i.e. foreigners scattered throughout Siberia, such as Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, etc. These two ministries were to be replaced by faction candidates. In addition, the faction demanded that its candidate also be given the post of Minister of Public Education.
As a result of these negotiations, the Regional Duma elected the Provisional Government in a secret meeting.
Do I need to describe this meeting?
On private apartment a small group of members of the Duma, gathered on the sly, about twenty out of a hundred and fifty, "elected" sixteen ministers with portfolios and four without portfolios. The six people present self-elected themselves to the Council of Ministers.
Constantly listening to see if the Bolsheviks were coming, the brave conspirators quickly shouted out the names of the candidates, barely managing to stop at their assessment, choosing even random strangers, such as, for example, I. Mikhailov, proposed to the Minister of Finance by one random participant from the “apparatus”. No one even thought about whether the elected ones agreed, whether they would be satisfied with the “company” of Derber and others. Thus, Vologodsky, Ustrugov, Serebrennikov, Krutovsky, who were not asked by anyone about their consent, ended up in the ministers.
There was no selection process. The "par acclamation" system was applied (without voting. - Ed.).
As a result, the Duma elected Derber as chairman and temporary minister of agriculture (the Socialist-Revolutionary faction demanded that the post of minister of agriculture be granted to its candidate); Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vologda; Minister of Health Krutovsky; war minister of Krakovetsky; Minister of Internal Affairs Novoselov; Finance Minister Iv. Mikhailov; Minister of Supply and Food Serebrennikov; Minister of Justice Patushinsky; Minister of Public Education, Rinchino; Minister of Trade and Industry Kolobov; Minister of Railways Ustrugov; Minister of Labor Yudin; Minister of Native Affairs Tiber-Petrov; Minister of Extraterritorial Peoples, Ukrainian Sulim; State Comptroller Zhernakov; State Secretary Moravsky; ministers without portfolios: Shatilova, Kudryavtseva, Zakharova, Neometullov. Yakushev was elected Chairman of the Duma.
It must be said that consent to join the Siberian Government was obtained only from Derber, Moravsky, Kolobov, Tiber-Petrov, Yudin, Neometullov, who were in Tomsk.
With many of the elect, in particular with Vologodsky, Serebrennikov, Krutovsky, Mikhailov and others, negotiations were never conducted; some only learned about their election as ministers on the eve of the anti-Bolshevik coup in Siberia.
The Duma could not elect a government only from its midst due to the extremely low level of political preparedness of its members.
The result of the "election"
The conditions for electing a government were generally extremely abnormal. The need to hold elections as soon as possible, the impossibility of communicating openly because of the fear of the Bolsheviks, and, finally, the unpreparedness of the members of the Duma for this, led to the fact that the elections were, in essence, carried out by Derber, those who surrounded him, who did not belong to the composition of the Duma, and several of the most influential members of the Duma. In any case, since the Duma exerted its influence, the government was chosen poorly. The election of Derber, a man completely unknown to Siberia and alien to it, as chairman of the government, the elections of Shatilov, Tiber-Petrov, Zakharov, Kudryavtsev, Neometullov, Yudin were made under pressure from the Duma and turned out to be very unsuccessful. Tiber-Petrov interfered with the work of the Siberian Government in the Far East. Kudryavtsev, Zakharov, Neometullov, Yudin quietly left the stage. Shatilov was the punishment of the Siberian Government for its original sin - the fiction of election.
Derber gave assurances to the representatives of the Socialist-Revolutionary faction that Vologodsky, Krutovsky, Mikhailov were orthodox Socialist-Revolutionaries, although he himself was not sure of this. He was mistaken, and yet it was precisely these figures who later played the most prominent role.
Dispersal of the Duma
Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks declared the Duma dissolved.
"Based on the decision of the Central Committee of the Council of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies of All Siberia, the West Siberian Regional Committee, the Tomsk Provincial Committee of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, the West Siberian and Akmola Committees of the Council of Peasants' Deputies and a number of resolutions of local councils of deputies, the Presidium of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies announces a temporary Siberian The Regional Duma dissolved, the members of the provisional Siberian Regional Council subject to arrest and trial by a revolutionary tribunal on charges of organizing power hostile to the workers' and peasants' councils. All local councils must immediately take measures to detain the following persons: Alexander Efimovich Novoselov, Dmitry Grigoryevich Sulim, Alexander Alexandrovich Sotnikov, Yusuf Raadovich Saiev, Evgeny Vasilyevich Zakharov, Sergey Andreevich Kudryavtsev and Ivan Stepanovich Yudin. All members of the Regional Duma, in case of disobedience to the resolution on dissolution, are declared enemies of the people and submitted to the court of the revolutionary tribunal. Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Tomsk Soviet. January 26, 1918 Tomsk.
All that remained was to leave and prepare for the fight. On January 27, Derber drew up a declaration on behalf of the Duma.
Declaration of the Siberian Duma
The declaration begins with words of indignation against the Bolsheviks.
“The hope of all regions and nationalities that make up great revolutionary Russia - the All-People's Constituent Assembly - has been criminally dispersed by the Bolsheviks and the so-called "Left Socialist-Revolutionaries."
That which was the dream and goal of many revolutionary generations in the difficult struggle against tsarism; that which was the only anchor of salvation for the great revolution; that true, complete rule of the people, which alone could consolidate and deepen the gains of the revolution, has been smashed and betrayed by the Bolsheviks.
The Council of People's Commissars, which encroached on the power of the Constituent Assembly, is an enemy of the people. The traitors to the revolution are the Bolsheviks, who oppose the Constituent Assembly with the Soviets of Peasants', Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. The Constituent Assembly, called upon to establish the basic laws of the economic, social and political life of the whole country, is by no means not against advice as class organizations; on the contrary, in its legislative work it relies on the soviets, as it does on all democratic labor organizations in the country.”
The Duma is thus flirting with the Soviets of Workers' Deputies, not daring to do away with them.
"1. The Duma devotes all its forces and means to the defense and speedy resumption of the work of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, which recognized the autonomy of Siberia and other parts of the state by law on the federal structure of the Russian Democratic Republic.
2. Until the convocation of the All-Siberian Constituent Assembly, all power within Siberia belongs to the provisional Siberian Regional Duma.
3. The Duma will take all measures for the immediate convocation of the Siberian Constituent Assembly, which will be the backbone of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly and will be the builder of a new life for the working classes and peoples of Siberia.
4. The Duma expresses its resolute protest against a separate peace, and in the event that it is concluded by the Bolsheviks, it does not assume any moral or material responsibility for this criminal step.
5. Before the conclusion of peace, the Duma considers it necessary to take immediate measures:
a) to the systematic recall from the front and the nearest rear of tired Siberian soldiers to their homeland;
b) to the dissolution of the garrisons located on the territory of Siberia, and
c) to the creation of a volunteer Siberian army, with the goal of protecting the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, autonomous Siberia and the Siberian Constituent Assembly.
6. The peoples living on their territory, at various times attached to the Russian state, decide by freely expressed will, through congresses and a referendum, whether they separate from the Russian Federal Republic and form independent states or enter as autonomous federative units into the Russian Republic.
7. In the field of land relations, the Duma considers it necessary to put into practice the law adopted by the All-Russian Constituent Assembly on the transfer without redemption of all landowners' lands, as well as all privately owned, state-owned and others, with water, forests and subsoil, into the public domain establishing the inviolable right of every worker to land. Within the limits and on the basis of the basic law on land, the Siberian Constituent Assembly issues a law on land in Siberia, taking into account the climatic, ethnographic, natural-historical, cultural and economic conditions of the latter.
8. In the field of extractive and manufacturing industries - the beginning of the nationalization of mines, mines, etc. and the organization of public control and regulation.
Here are the main provisions of the declaration of the Siberian Regional Duma.
Her final words are:
“With faith in the labor forces of the people, with a consciousness of great responsibility, with a selfless desire to save perishing Siberia, the Duma embarks on the path of supreme legislative power in a free from now on autonomous Siberian Republic».
It is clear from this declaration that the Siberian Regional Duma has built its program on Chernivtsi principles.
The transfer of land without redemption into public property (the meaning of this stereotyped provision in Siberia will always remain incomprehensible, if you do not look at the declaration as a demagogic speech), the nationalization of the mining and manufacturing industries (without indicating any limits to it), the preservation of Soviet organizations, the announcement of Siberia autonomous republic(according to the principle of federation) and at the same time predetermining the subordination of the Siberian Constituent Assembly to the supreme power of the All-Russian - all this was not a real program, but only a political game in rivalry with the Bolsheviks. As soon as the Siberian Government began the practical exercise of power, it had to move away from all these program provisions.
Relocation of the Siberian Government to the Far East
Having elected the government, having adopted the foundations of the declaration, and entrusting its development to the presidium of the Duma, the members of the Duma decided to disperse in order to then make their way alone to the Far East, where the presidium of the Duma and the government was to immediately go.
However, members of the government Derber and Moravsky, who were in Tobolsk, stayed in Tomsk to organize the Commissariat, which would unite in their hands the preparations for the fight against the Bolsheviks in Western Siberia. This task was entrusted to the members of the Constituent Assembly, P. Mikhailov and Lindberg, who had recently returned from Petrograd after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.
Military anti-Bolshevik organizations were formed, links were established with the already existing secret officer organizations. Similar organizations were then established in Eastern Siberia, in particular in Irkutsk and Chita.
The situation in the East was constantly changing. The Bolsheviks who appeared in Transbaikalia were eliminated by the 1st Transbaikal Cossack Regiment, which returned from the front, but by the time the Presidium of the Duma and some members of the government moved to Chita (end of February), Soviet power was restored there, thanks to the arrival of the Bolshevik-minded 2nd Transbaikal Regiment from the front.
The Presidium of the Duma, some of its members and members of the government, consisting of Derber, Moravsky, Tiber-Petrov, Yudin, Kolobov, Zhernakov, had to travel further to the East, to Harbin. Later Krakovetsky, Novoselov, Kudryavtsev, Neometullov came to Vladivostok. Zakharov had been there before. Other members of the government did not come to Vladivostok, alone because of ignorance that they were elected (Vologodsky, Krutovsky, Serebrennikov, Mikhailov), they lived quietly in Siberia, since the Bolsheviks did not know about their election as ministers. Rinchino refused to join the government - he was occupied exclusively with Buryat affairs; Sulima joined the Bolshevik Soviet of Deputies in Barnaul, where he was killed during the anti-Bolshevik speech and the victory of the Siberian Government. He fought the Bolsheviks against the very government of which he was a member. Finally, Ustrugov joined another group hostile to the Siberian Government - the group of General Horvath.
Far Eastern political centers
The Soviet authorities closely followed the Far East, seeing the counter-revolution brewing there. In No. 102 of the Soviet "Izvestia" for 1918, the following description of the Far Eastern centers is given, accompanied by the usual epithets - "swindlers", "swindlers", "bandits", etc.
“The Far East is now living a lively political life. Harbin became the center where all the anti-Soviet elements of Siberia, partly Russia, gathered. One of the centers around which, in essence, there is no circulation is the so-called Siberian Government, in other words, the group of Potanin and Derber. In the first moments after October, this group enjoyed quite a lot of influence in Siberia, but then the development of Bolshevism swept it from the arena of political life. Nevertheless, the so-called Siberian Government, until very recently, claimed the leading role of the opposition against the Soviet regime and conducted very important negotiations both with representatives of the great powers and with various social groups. Another center around which Siberian, Russian and foreign political and financial swindlers and adventurers revolve is the Far Eastern Committee for the Active Defense of the Homeland and the Constituent Assembly. The political physiognomy of this committee is very obscure. It consists of persons whose liberalism and democracy are beyond doubt, and, on the other hand, a group of financial businessmen has a decisive influence on the direction of its policy.
Finally, the third center is the so-called "Beijing Government". This is already an association of the largest financial crooks, headed by the famous Putilov and V. Lvov, the brother of the former prime minister (in reality, such a government did not exist. - Auth.).
General Horvath plays an important role in Harbin. General Horvath during recent years was the permanent head of the East China Road (Chinese Eastern Railway. - Ed.) and as such acquired great international connections and gained popularity in the financial circles of the Far East. General Horvath keeps somewhat apart, but, in essence, a complete identity of views has been established between him, the Peking group and the Far East Committee, and a common plan of activity has been worked out.
As for the activities of Admiral Kolchak, he did not directly participate in the development of the initial plan of activity, but, obviously, he was in the know and at the decisive moment agreed to give his name to that movement, the first sign of which is Semyonov's offensive.
Between the bourgeois groups of the Far East and the group of Potanin and Derber, negotiations were initially going on on the formation of a single center and a common plan of action. Foreigners also insisted on such an agreement. These negotiations, however, did not lead to anything, and the group of Potanin and Derber, of a definitely Socialist-Revolutionary character, remained behind the flag.
Allies
Further, the newspaper characterizes the attitude towards the "Far East question" on the part of England, Japan and America. "Agreement between them- says the newspaper - already achieved. One of the conditions for the intervention of foreigners is the creation of such a political center in the Far East, which would not only a local character, but also an all-Russian, and who would be able to gain confidence in "wide circles of the Russian people"".
Semyonovshchina
“The movement, headed by Yesaul Semyonov, in itself does not pose a danger to the Soviet government. The people behind his back set themselves the goal of proving to their patrons that active interference in the affairs of the Far East would not only not arouse indignation, but would meet with broad sympathy among the population. But the gangs of Semyonov soon began to show the skills of the pre-revolutionary period. Executions, flogging with whips almost without exception of all the soldiers passing through Manchuria, and they were robbed to the skin, created a bad reputation among the lower classes of the population for the detachment. In addition, it became known that the detachment was being supplied with weapons by Japan.
As can be seen from this note in the official Soviet organ, the colorful language of which is completely preserved, the Bolsheviks were quite well aware of what was happening in the Far East, but underestimated the seriousness of the opposing forces.
Semyonov is a representative of an influential Cossack officer family in the east of Transbaikalia. His mother is Buryat. He speaks Mongolian and Buryat dialects, and this provides him with big influence among these nationalities. Under Kerensky, he undertook to recruit a cavalry regiment from the Buryats and Mongols. After the October Revolution, Semyonov settled at st. Manchuria, on the border of Transbaikalia and China. Gradually, his detachment changed in its composition and received the name "Special Manchurian Detachment". Semyonov, the ataman of the detachment, announced that he set himself the task of protecting the Constituent Assembly, self-government bodies and a merciless fight against the Bolsheviks. At this time, riots were taking place in Outer Mongolia, and Semyonov attracted the disaffected to his side. Since Semyonov's position was anti-Chinese - for he supported the Mongolian separatists - he stopped short of the possibility of countering the Chinese, but on the other hand, he had more opportunities to help the Japanese.
The ancient antagonism in Transbaikalia between the Buryats and the Cossacks, on the one hand, and the old-timer peasants, on the other, - the antagonism based on disputes over land, also played into the hands of Semyonov.
Bolshevism in Transbaikalia appeared only with the arrival there of some Cossack units, corrupted and decomposed at the front. He captured the old-timer peasants, who, as in many other parts of Siberia, understood him in a peculiar way. My cabinet colleague, Serebrennikov, spoke about a peasant sentence in Transbaikalia, which stated: the land belongs to no one, the people, therefore it should belong to the people, and not to the Buryats.
Naturally, such an original nationalization of the land repelled the Buryats from Bolshevism. Many Cossacks also resented him. Semyonov could count on gaining the support of a solid part of the region's population.
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In the spring of 1918, the Czechoslovak corps revolted. He moved to the Volga, cutting off central Russia from Siberia. In June, the White Czechs took Samara. Anti-Bolshevik parties (Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks) set up a provisional government in Samara. In July 1918, the Siberian government was established in Omsk, which ruled Western Siberia. The anti-Bolshevik camp in the East was weakened by the confrontation between the Samara and Omsk governments. Unlike the one-party Komuch, the Provisional Siberian government was coalition. It was headed by P.V. Vologda. The left wing in the government was the Socialist-Revolutionaries B.M. Shatilov, G.B. Patushinsky, V.M. Krutovsky. The right side of the government - I.A. Mikhailov, I.N. Serebrennikov, N.N. Petrov - occupied cadet and pro-monarchist positions.
The government's program was shaped under considerable pressure from its right wing. Already at the beginning of July 1918, the government announced the abolition of all decrees issued by the Council of People's Commissars and the liquidation of the Soviets, the return to the owners of their estates with all inventory. The Siberian government pursued a policy of repression against dissidents, the press, meetings, etc. Komuch protested against such a policy.
Despite sharp differences, the two rival governments had to negotiate. At the Ufa state meeting, a "temporary all-Russian government" was created. The meeting ended its work with the election of the Directory. N.D. Avksentiev, N.I. Astrov, V.G. Boldyrev, P.V. Vologodsky, N.V. Chaikovsky.
In its political program, the Directory declared the struggle to overthrow the power of the Bolsheviks, annul the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and continue the war with Germany as the main tasks. The short-term nature of the new government was emphasized by the point that the Constituent Assembly was to meet in the near future - January 1 or February 1, 1919, after which the Directory would resign.
The Directory, having abolished the Siberian government, now seemed to be able to implement an alternative program to the Bolshevik one. However, the balance between democracy and dictatorship was upset. The Samara Komuch, which represented democracy, was dissolved. The attempt made by the Socialist-Revolutionaries to restore the Constituent Assembly failed.
Settled in Siberia in 1918-1919. the political regime, led by the Directory, headed by the Supreme Ruler of Russia, was more liberal than in the South of Russia. The political bloc on which the Siberian government (with its capital in Omsk) relied included a wide range of parties - from monarchists to socialists (Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks). The Constituent Assembly was convened on the territory of the Siberian government, which discussed the issues posed by it back in January 1918. Zemstvo and city self-government bodies, world courts, trade unions and public organizations, as well as the operation of charters and regulations adopted before October 1917.
In September 1918, at the Ufa meeting, an attempt was made to unite all these territories under a single leadership. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Omsk, Samara governments, national (Kazakh, Turkic-Tatar, Bashkir) and Cossack military governments. They signed an act establishing the All-Russian Provisional Government. Power was concentrated in the hands of the Directory with its center in Omsk. On the night of November 17-18, 1918, the leaders of the Directory were arrested. The directory was replaced by the dictatorship of A.V. Kolchak. It seemed that with the promotion to the role of dictator A.V. Kolchak, the Whites had a leader who would lead the entire anti-Bolshevik movement. In the provision on the temporary structure of state power, approved on the day of the coup, the Council of Ministers, the supreme state power was temporarily transferred to the Supreme Ruler, all the Armed Forces were subordinate to him Russian state. A.V. Kolchak was soon recognized as the Supreme Ruler by the leaders of the other white fronts, and the Western allies recognized him de facto.
The political and ideological ideas of the leaders and ordinary members of the white movement were as diverse as the socially heterogeneous movement itself. Of course, some part sought to restore the monarchy, the old, pre-revolutionary regime in general. But the leaders of the white movement refused to raise the monarchist banner and put forward a monarchist program. This also applies to A.V. Kolchak.
To a direct question from the chairman of the commission whether he was a monarchist, Kolchak answered frankly and honestly: “I was a monarchist and do not deviate from this at all ... I ... could not consider myself a republican, because then this did not exist in nature. Before the 1917 revolution, I considered myself a monarchist.” Then the admiral stated that, nevertheless, he welcomed the change of government as a result of the February Revolution, voluntarily took an oath of allegiance to the Provisional Government and the perfect revolution "in conscience" and from that moment began to consider himself "completely free from any obligations in relation to the monarchy » Quoted from: Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich - the last days of life / Compiled by G.V. Egorov. - M., 2005. - S. 135 ..
As for the question of the future state structure of the country, the former head of the all-Russian white movement believed that only "the people themselves should establish a form of government in the constituent body" and whatever they chose, Kolchak would have obeyed. “I believed that the monarchy would probably be completely destroyed,” the admiral concluded further, “it was clear to me that it was absolutely impossible to restore the former monarchy, and in our time they no longer choose a new dynasty, I believed that with this question already finished, and I thought that some kind of republican form of government would probably be established, and I considered this republican form of government to meet the needs of the country. Egorov. - M., 2005. - S. 136 ..
Kolchak agreed to convene a new Constituent Assembly after the restoration of order. He assured Western governments that there could be no "return to the regime that existed in Russia before February 1917." Kolchak A.V. "... Having accepted the cross of this power ...". Appeal to the population / / Reader on the history of Russia 1917 - 1940 / Ed. by prof. M.E. Glavatsky - M., 1995. - P.134., the broad masses of the population will be endowed with land, differences on religious and national grounds will be eliminated. Having confirmed the complete independence of Poland and the limited independence of Finland, Kolchak agreed to "prepare decisions" on the fate of the Baltic states, the Caucasian and Transcaspian peoples. The Supreme Ruler outlined his program as follows: after the "cleansing" of European Russia from the Bolsheviks, it would be necessary to introduce a firm military power with the task of preventing anarchy and establishing order, after which immediately "start elections to the Constituent Assembly, which will establish the form of government in the state." At the opening of the meeting, he and the government headed by him would have announced the resignation of their powers. The most difficult for the anti-Bolshevik movement was the agrarian question. Kolchak did not succeed in solving it. The war with the Bolsheviks, as long as Kolchak waged it, could not guarantee the transfer of the landlords' land to the peasants. The national policy of the Kolchak government was marked by the same profound internal contradiction. Acting under the slogan of "one and indivisible" Russia, it did not reject "self-determination of peoples" as an ideal.
The demands of the delegations of Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, the North Caucasus, Belarus and Ukraine put forward at the Versailles Conference were actually rejected by Kolchak. Having refused to create an anti-Bolshevik conference in the regions liberated from the Bolsheviks, Kolchak pursued a policy doomed to failure.
From the middle of 1919, military luck turned away from the admiral and the time came for bitter defeats and betrayals, which ended in the winter of 1919/20. the rapid fall of Kolchak and his personal tragedy. On February 7, 1920, A. Kolchak and his prime minister V. Pepelyaev were shot.
Buchko N.P., Tsipkin Yu.N.
POLITICAL VIEWS AND ACTIVITIES OF A.V. KOLCHAK
In 1917 - 1920.
One of the most controversial and odious figures of the Civil War in Russia is Admiral A.V. Kolchak. Leaving aside his merits as an explorer of the North and a naval commander during the years of the Russian-Japanese and World War I, I would like to dwell on his political views and activities during the years of the revolution and the Civil War.
His ideas about politics A.V. Kolchak reflected back in 1912 in the work “The Service of the General Staff”, where he noted: “If we defined politics as the doctrine of struggle in application to state life, then a priori we can be sure that the principles of war, as such, are fully applicable and to politics ..., the essence of state policy rests on the same principles as military affairs, since politics is only a form of the basic idea of \u200b\u200bstruggle, common in application to solving state problems, achieving strategic or tactical goals. Such were the political views of many members of the military elite who put war over politics. Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral A.V. Kolchak accepted the abdication of the king as a fact. He wrote about the changes that were taking place: “For ten days I have been engaged in politics and I feel a deep disgust for it, because my politics is the command of the authorities that can command me.”
In the summer of 1917, right-wing circles were actively looking for a candidate for the post of military dictator. Even then, representatives of the US American Mission in Russia, E. Ruth and J. Glennon, suggested that the Provisional Government send A.V. Kolchak as head of the military mission to the American Navy. In America, the admiral learned about the events of October 1917 in Russia. In March 1918 A.V. Kolchak, who had joined the British Armed Forces and was on his way to Mesopotamia from Japan via Shanghai and Singapore, was sent via Beijing to Manchuria in order to lead the anti-Bolshevik forces along with Semyonov. "English government. found that I needed to be used in Siberia in the form of allies and Russia. ”, - wrote A.V. Kolchak to his civil wife A.V. Timireva in
March 1918 from Singapore. At a meeting of anti-Bolshevik forces in Beijing, held from April 18 to May 3, 1918, its participants stated that the admiral could unite anti-Soviet forces in the region. On May 10, Kolchak was appointed head of the troops formed in the right-of-way of the CER. But the attempt to form a combat-ready military force failed due to the separatism of the Cossack chieftains G.M. Semenov and I.P. Kalmykov, various officer detachments operating on the CER with the open support of the Japanese. This forced Kolchak to give up his command and membership in the board of the CER and go to Japan to "treat his nerves."
On September 29, 1918, at the Ufa State Conference, a Directory was created, which declared itself the Provisional All-Russian Government. It was a temporary and very unstable compromise between the Right Socialists and the Cadets. Admiral A.V., who arrived from Japan together with the English General A. Knox, was invited to the post of Minister of War of the Directory. Kolchak. The directory did not last long. On the night of November 18, 1918, officers and Cossacks, with the support of the English battalion of Colonel Ward, carried out a coup in Omsk. Neither the British, nor the Cadets, nor the officers could put up with the right-wing socialist parties any longer and relied on a military dictatorship.
Close in his political preferences to the Cadets, Admiral Kolchak agreed to the persuasion of the head of the Eastern Department of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party (KDP) V.N. Pepelyaev and right-wing officers and assumed the post of military dictator. The Omsk government formed after Kolchak came to power included representatives of the KDP, among whom were G.K. Gins, G.G. Telberg, V.N. Pepelyaev and others. For some time, the right SRs and Mensheviks remained in the government. Later, in March 1919, V.N. Pepelyaev wrote to the leadership of the National Center cadet organization about the purpose of his mission in Siberia: the National Center sent me to the east to work in favor of a one-man dictatorship and to negotiate with Admiral Kolchak in order to prevent the rivalry between the names of Alekseev and Kolchak. With the death of Alekseev, the candidacy of the admiral became indisputable ... ". A.V. Kolchak became the Supreme Ruler of Russia and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the White Guards, and other leaders
The White movement recognized these titles for him. Kolchak received the rank of full admiral.
Cadets and white generals covered themselves with slogans of non-partisanship and apoliticality of the army, although they purposefully pursued their own policy. The admiral had a negative attitude towards all socialist parties and the Constituent Assembly, "which sang the Internationale from the spot under the leadership of Chernov." He put only one thing to the credit of the Bolsheviks - the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly.
The admiral was a supporter of the use of armed violence as a possible means of political struggle, and he defined war as an invariable manifestation of public life. All these militaristic ideas were reflected in Kolchak's further political activities. Kolchak saw the main reason for Russian disunity in the denial of national interests by society in favor of the party. It was here that Kolchak's misunderstanding of social life and the causes of the social split in Russia manifested itself, which also found expression in the inter-party struggle.
The reaction of the population to Kolchak's coming to power was the fear that "the former tsarist admiral wants to return the tsar and restore the monarchy in Russia." True, A.V. Kolchak and his administration publicly declared the impossibility of restoring the monarchy.
According to Kolchak's supporters, his appearance as Supreme Ruler was to become a unifying principle for all anti-Bolshevik forces in Siberia and the Far East. Kolchak was supported by the "Russian Political Conference", created at the end of 1918 in Paris and designed to unite and represent the anti-Bolshevik forces abroad. Kolchak also enjoyed the full support of a number of foreign governments. He was recognized as the new leader of the anti-Bolshevik forces by the Russian military missions abroad.
However, not all anti-Soviet forces supported Kolchak's rise to power. These, in particular, included the command of the Czechoslovak Corps and the Czechoslovak National Council, close to the right-wing socialists. True, their hesitation was short-lived. The most noticeable expression of dissatisfaction with Kolchak's coming to power was the demarche of the Ataman of the Transbaikal Cossack Army and the head of the Far Eastern Union of Cossack Troops G.M. Semenov. He even
threatened to declare autonomy for Eastern Siberia and create the Genghisid empire.
In the initial period of the anti-Bolshevik struggle, the admiral highly appreciated the work of the Zemstvo in organizing power in the East, noted the businesslike nature of the activities of these structures in the field. But later such an assessment did not prevent Kolchak from ignoring the Zemstvo. In solving the internal political problems facing the authorities, he gave priority to his military proteges. It was the military component of power, according to the admiral, that was the key to its existence. Only the crisis of the policy pursued by the Supreme Ruler forced him to agree to the creation of the State Zemsky Conference, which was conceived by some leaders of the regime as a representative body. Such an assessment of the Meeting aroused the indignation of the admiral, he called him a "sovdep" and almost dispersed him.
The most important factor that influenced the formation of the policy of the Kolchak government was the influence of foreign states, which solved the main task for themselves - countering Bolshevism. However, all the help of A.V. The interventionists provided Kolchak only in direct connection with the successes of the White armies and only for currency (with 100% prepayment) and compensation in the form of concessions and trade on preferential terms. Waste of part of Russia's gold reserves, seized by anti-Bolshevik forces in Kazan in 1918, amounted to 242 million gold. rub. out of 651, 5 gold rub. (in 1914 prices). The interventionists imposed on the white governments in Siberia and the Far East a number of unequal treaties on the fishing, extraction and export of minerals. So, in particular, A.V. Kolchak in 1919 extended the Russian-Japanese agreement of 1907 on fishing, which was unequal in nature and damaged the marine reserves of the Far Eastern seas. A.V. Kolchak complained about the dominance of the Japanese in the Far East and the humiliation of the Russian authorities by the Japanese interventionists. When the white armies began to suffer defeats, the “Russian patriot” A.V. Kolchak sent General Romanovsky to Japan with a request for a new dispatch of troops to Russia. In return, Omsk promised the Japanese new concessions and a section of the CER from Changchun to Harbin. The Japanese promised Kolchak to maintain order in the Far East, to settle Omsk's misunderstandings with the Far Eastern atamans. July 22, 1919 Japan finally refused to send Kolchak
2 divisions west of Irkutsk, and in October Tokyo confirmed the refusal. Japan was still focused on capturing the Far East of Russia, and was not going to go west further than Baikal.
The Allies tried, by imposing conditions on aid to the Whites, to reproduce the basic principles of Western democracy, to export to Russia the "matrix" of American and European economic, political and social institutions. On May 26, 1919, the Allies presented Kolchak with a note setting out the conditions under which assistance would be provided to the White regime. After the capture of Moscow, Kolchak was advised to convene a Constituent Assembly, to organize the free election of local governments, to ensure civil liberties and freedom of religion, not to restore estate privileges, not to revive landownership, to recognize the independence of Poland and Finland, etc. Thus, it was not only about giving the Kolchak regime a democratic appearance, but also about the desire of the Entente to put the leaders of the White movement under its control.
Within the framework of administrative management, a system was built with governors, a police apparatus and judicial bodies, similar to those of pre-revolutionary Russia. All these attributes of a new, based on a temporary and personal component, power (but old in content) found expression in the emerging public opinion about a possible return to the old regime Russia after Kolchak's victory. The unviability of the created system of administrative bodies was also confirmed by the actions of the military authorities, various punitive detachments, which often ignored the orders of civil officials. The existing system of power-dictatorial relations assumed the strict subordination of all structures to higher leadership and the closure of the power pyramid on the control of one person - the dictator. However, the formed structures could not withstand the pressure on them from the military leaders themselves. The weakness of the created system was due both to the lack of practical experience in administrative activities among the majority of the military involved in it, and the lack of those in the region who had experience in managerial work. A characteristic example of such a situation was the established judicial system. Along with the existing civil jury trials and other formal attributes of the legal consideration of controversial issues, the Kolchak regime to maintain public order
resorted to the use of purely military force. Kolchak endowed the commanders of military units with special powers, which resulted in repressions against the local population. Unable to ensure universal observance of the rule of law, the local authorities and internal affairs authorities requested the military structures to send detachments to the territories under their control to maintain public order. Moreover, the measures taken by the military concerned both the fight against crimes of a criminal-administrative nature, and the elimination of political opponents of the regime. He practiced the regime and recruitment to the positions of heads of city and county structures of law enforcement agencies (militia), special forces, military officers, without having a proper legal education.
Kolchak's regime did not correspond to either parliamentary democracy or a presidential republic. He relied on military force and limited the functions of civil power to purely nominal functions. It was an authoritarian military regime. So, in particular, to suppress the partisan movement in the Yenisei and Irkutsk provinces, Kolchak, by his order of March 31, 1919, granted the commander of the troops of the Irkutsk military district, General Artemyev, the rights of the army commander, and the commander of the troops in the areas covered by partisan movement, General Rozanov - the rights of the Governor-General. Rozanov ordered to burn several villages whose inhabitants helped the partisans. Later, during interrogation in Irkutsk, Kolchak stated that his order did not concern the burning of villages, but "during the fighting and the suppression of the uprising, such a measure is inevitable." According to the memoirs of the Chief Executive of the Supreme Ruler and the Council of Ministers G.K. Gins, A.V. Kolchak frankly told him that “the civil war must be merciless. I order the commanders of the units to shoot all captured communists. Either we shoot them, or they shoot us. If I lift martial law, you will immediately be re-arrested by the Bolsheviks, or the Socialist-Revolutionaries, or your own members of the Economic Conference, like Alekseevsky, or your governors, like Yakovlev.
The Kolchak government did not actually control the territory. Army commanders did whatever they pleased. They were completely independent in their military and civilian policies and actions. Siberia under Kolchak, in essence, turned into a conglomerate
military principalities, only nominally subordinate to the government. The arbitrariness of the white military on the ground only testified to the weakness of the vertical of power, the willfulness of the executors of all structural divisions, and the inefficiency of the judicial and legal system. In addition, the government was also struck by internecine strife. Kolchak's orders to stop mutual accusations of departments and specific strife under pain of punishment, to work together and not to ruin the state were ignored.
In a direct conversation with Prime Minister Pepelyaev, Kolchak described the political situation as follows: “The activities of the chiefs of district police, special forces, all kinds of commandants, heads of individual detachments is a complete crime. All this is aggravated by the activities of the military units: Polish and Czech, who do not recognize anything and stand outside any law. We have to deal with a deeply corrupt contingent of employees who pursue only personal interests, ignoring all notions of call of duty and discipline. This is the environment in which you have to work.” . But the complaints of A.V. Kolchak, to the arbitrariness of his military, does not relieve him of guilt for the white terror.
In the autumn of 1919, in connection with the successes of the Red Army, the opposition forces: the Bolsheviks, right-wing socialists (Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and People's Socialists) in Siberia and the Far East intensified their activities. On November 12, 1919, at the secret "All-Siberian Conference of Zemstvos and Cities", the "Political Center" (Polittsentr) was created to prepare an uprising against Kolchak and create a buffer state in Siberia. The Bolsheviks decided to take part in the action in order to establish Soviet power in Siberia under favorable conditions. The uprising of the Political Center began in Cheremkhovo on December 21, 1919. The uprising was supported by partisan detachments and workers' squads, most of which were subordinate to the Bolsheviks. On December 27, 1919, in Nizhneudinsk, the Czechs took Kolchak “under guard”, his prime minister V.N. Pepelyaev and the gold reserve. On the same day, the uprising of the Political Center swept Irkutsk. The Czechoslovak command sided with the rebels in order to push their echelons through Irkutsk to the East at any cost. The road to salvation lay through the deaf Siberian taiga during the period of severe Siberian frosts and the Circum-Baikal Railway with its many tunnels and other artificial structures. Only the opposition of the Czechoslovak
armored trains and the superiority of the forces of the Czechs helped the Political Center to repel the attacks of the Semenovites from the east.
January 4, 1920 A.V. Kolchak, being in a hopeless situation, transferred the powers of the Supreme Ruler of Russia to A.I. Denikin, and G.M. Semyonov received full power in the East of the country. On February 7, 1920, the former Supreme Ruler was shot by order of the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee in connection with the danger of an offensive by white troops (according to other sources, at the secret request of V.I. Lenin and the chairman of the Sibrevkom, I.N. Smirnov). Together with A.V. Kolchak shot his last prime minister V.N. Pepelyaev.
Recently, attempts have been made to rehabilitate the "heroes of the White Cause." On January 26, 1999, the military court of the Trans-Baikal Military District rejected the request for the rehabilitation of Admiral Kolchak. In January 2001, this decision was confirmed by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court. On May 4, 2005, the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office for the fifth time refused to rehabilitate A.V. Kolchak as a person who committed crimes against peace and humanity, the culprit of mass terror against supporters of Soviet power. In 2007, the refusal was confirmed by the prosecutor's office of the Omsk region.
A.V. Kolchak remains today one of the most controversial political and military figures of such a tragic period in the history of our country as the Civil War.
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