Alexey shishovred commanders of the civil war. Red generals of the civil war Commanders of the red army of the civil war

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

When did the Civil War start

When it comes to the beginning of the Civil War, historians give different dates. For example, Krasnov put forward units subordinate to him in order to take control of Petrograd on October 25, 1917. Or another fact: General Alekseev arrived in the Don to organize the Volunteer Army - this happened on November 2. And here is also the Declaration of Milyukov, published in the newspaper Donskaya Rech for December 27th. Why is there no reason to consider it an official declaration of war In a sense, these three versions, like many others, are true. In the last two months of 1917, the Volunteer White Army was formed (and this could not happen all at once). AT civil war it became the only serious force capable of resisting the Bolsheviks.

Personnel and social profile of the White Army

The backbone of the white movement was the Russian officers. Beginning in 1862, its social class structure underwent changes, but these processes reached a particular impetus during the First World War. If in the middle of the 19th century, belonging to the highest military leadership was the lot of the aristocracy, then at the beginning of the next century, commoners began to be increasingly admitted into it. The famous commanders of the White Army can serve as an example. Alekseev is the son of a soldier, Kornilov's father was a cornet of the Cossack army, and Denikin was a serf. Contrary to the propaganda stereotypes that were introduced into the mass consciousness, there could be no talk of some kind of “white bone”. The officers of the White Army, by their origin, could represent a social cross-section of the entire Russian Empire. Infantry schools for the period from 1916 to 1917 released 60% of people from peasant families. In Golovin, out of a thousand warrant officers (junior lieutenants, according to the Soviet system of military ranks), there were 700 of them. In addition to them, 260 officers came from the philistine, working and merchant environment. There were also nobles - four dozen.

The White Army was founded and shaped by the notorious "cook's children". Only five percent of the organizers of the movement were wealthy and eminent people, the income of the rest before the revolution consisted only of officer salaries.

Modest debut

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

By the beginning of full-scale hostilities, the White Volunteer Army numbered up to seven thousand soldiers and Cossacks, commanded by a thousand officers. She did not have any stocks of food and weapons, as well as support from the population. It seemed that the imminent collapse was inevitable.

Siberia

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

North

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

Northwestern White Army

It was formed with the support of the German armed forces in opposition to the Bolshevik Red Army. After the departure of the Germans, its composition consisted of up to 7000 bayonets. It was the least prepared White Guard front, which, however, was accompanied by temporary success. The sailors of the Chudskaya flotilla, together with the cavalry detachment of Balakhovich and Permykin, having become disillusioned with the communist idea, decided to go over to the side of the White Guards. Volunteers-peasants also joined the growing army, and then high school students were forcibly mobilized. The Northwestern Army fought with varying success and became one of the examples of the curiosity of the entire war. Numbering 17 thousand fighters, it was controlled by 34 generals and many colonels, among whom were those who were not even twenty years old.

South of Russia

Events on this front were decisive in the fate of the country. A population of over 35 million, a territory equal in area to a couple of large European countries, equipped with a developed transport infrastructure (seaports, railways) was controlled by Denikin's white forces. The south of Russia could exist separately from the rest of the territory of the former Russian Empire: it had everything for autonomous development, including agriculture and industry. The generals of the White Army, who received an excellent military education and many-sided experience in combat operations with Austria-Hungary and Germany, had every chance of winning victories over the often poorly educated enemy commanders. However, the problems were still the same. People did not want to fight, and it was not possible to create a single ideological platform. Monarchists, democrats, liberals were united only by the desire to resist Bolshevism.

Deserters

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

Myths and reality

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

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

Many songs of the White Army, after a certain alteration of the texts, became Red Guards. The words “for Holy Russia” were replaced by the phrase “for the power of the Soviets”, a similar fate awaited other wonderful new names (“Through the valleys and along the hills”, “Kakhovka”, etc.) Today, after decades of oblivion, they are available to listeners who are interested in history of the White movement.

Kavtaradze A.G. Military specialists in the service of the Republic of Soviets 1917-1920. Publishing house "Nauka", 1988

Chapter 4. Military specialists in the Red Army

MILITARY SPECIALISTS IN THE TOP COMMAND AND STAFF POSITIONS IN THE ACTIVE RED ARMY http://istmat.info/node/21726

It is legitimate to believe that it was precisely the system of operational formations established by the Supreme Military Council in March 1918, called "veils", that laid the foundations for that high "specific weight" of military specialists in the Red Army, especially in senior command and staff positions, which essentially survived until the end of the Civil War.

In order to substantiate this point of view, we will analyze the command and staff positions in the link front-army-division, taking as a basis published in " Directives of the Command of the Fronts of the Red Army (1917-1922)"(M., 1978. T. 4. S. 529-595) a list of its leadership.

On the main fronts of the civil war in 1918-1920, starting from the East against the White Czechs and internal counter-revolution (June 1918) to the South, created in September 1920 against General Wrangel, in positions front commander were 20 people(moreover, M. V. Frunze-Mikhailov was appointed to this position three times, V. M. Gittis, A. I. Egorov, D. N. Nadezhny, M. N. Tukhachevsky and V. I. Shorin - twice).

Of these 20 people 17 , i.e. 85%, were military specialists - career officers (Table 18).

Positions front chiefs of staff replaced only by military specialists - former career officers: 22 General Staff officers (A. K. Anders, F. M. Afanasiev, A. A. Baltiysky, V. E. Garf, V. P. Glagolev, A. I. Davydov, N. N. Domozhirov, I. I. Zashchuk, A. K. Kolenkovskii, F. V. Kostyaev, V. S. Lazarevich, P. P. Lebedev, V. V. Lyubimov, P. M. Maigur, I. Kh. Spider, A. M. Peremytov, N. V. Pnevsky, N. N. Petin, S. A. Pugachev, I. V. Sollogub, V. F. Tarasov, N. N. Shvarts) and three former colonels(E. I. Babin, P. V. Blagoveshchensky and E. A. Nikolic); all the chiefs of staff of the fronts were non-partisan, none of them betrayed Soviet power.

TABLE 18

* Compiled according to: Directives of the command of the fronts of the Red Army (1917-1922): Sat. documents. M., 1978. T. 4. S. 529-533.

From 100 army commanders were military specialists 82 people(See Appendix No. 5) 135 , of which former career officers were 62 . The members of the RCP (b) were 17 people. Changed Soviet power 5 persons, of which three are former regular officers of the General Staff (B.P. Bogoslovsky, N.D. Vsevolodov, F.E. Makhin) and two former wartime officers (I.L. Sorokin, A.I. Kharchenko).

Army chiefs of staff were 93 , of which former career officers - 77 (83%), including 49 former officers of the General Staff, former wartime officers - 8; Eight people failed to establish their previous service. There were no members of the RCP (b) among the chiefs of staff of the armies; changed Soviet power seven people, including 5 former officers of the General Staff (V. A. Zheltyshev, V. Ya. Lyundekvist, V. E. Mediokritsky, A. S. Nechvolodov, A. L. Simonov) and two regular officers (V. V. Vdoviev- Kabardintsev and D. A. Severin). Among the chiefs of staff of the armies one can name such major military specialists as L. K. Aleksandrov, M. A. Vatorsky, V. I. Buimistrov, A. M. Zaionchkovsky, F. F. Novitsky, G. A. V. I. Stoykin and others.

Let us also consider the number of military specialists in the positions of chiefs of divisions and chiefs of staff of divisions - that link that, during the civil war, solved operational-tactical tasks directly on the battlefield.

As chiefs of 142 rifle and 33 cavalry divisions 136 in 1918-1920 in total there were 485 people, of which 118 did not manage to establish service until October 1917. Of the remaining 367 military specialists, there were 327 ( almost 90%), including 209 career officers (over 55%), of which 35 are former officers of the General Staff. Non-military specialists (former non-commissioned officers, soldiers, sailors and those who did not serve in the army at all) were 40 people (about 10%) in the positions of division chiefs.

Among the chiefs of divisions - military specialists, one can name such as the former General Staff Generals E. A. Iskritsky, B. A. Olderogge, D. P. Parsky, F. A. Podgursky, A. K. Remezov, P. P. Sytin, S. M. Sheideman; Generals E. N. Martynov, M. M. Radkevich, A. V. Sobolev, A. V. Stankevich: Colonels of the General Staff N. E. Kakurin, S. S. Kamenev; colonels M. N. Vasiliev, I. I. Vatsetis, E. M. Golubintsev, V. F. Grushetsky, M. S. Matiyasevich, A. G. Skorobogach, I. F. Sharskov; General Staff lieutenant colonels M. I. Vasilenko, A. G. Keppen, V. V. Lyubimov, I. Kh. Spider, E. I. Sergeev; lieutenant colonels G. K. Voskanov, V. N. Kakhovsky, N. G. Krapivyansky, V. I. Popovich, V. I. Solodukhin, S. S. Shevelev; military foreman F. K. Mironov; General Staff Captain N. V. Lisovsky; captains S. B. Volynsky, B. K. Kolchigin, M. K. Levandovsky; Yesaul N. D. Kashirin; staff captain G. I. Baturin; former wartime officers G. D. Gai, E. I. Kovtyukh, A. D. Kozitsky, B. V. Maistrakh, G. I. Ovchinnikov, Yu. V. Sablin. A. I. Sedyakin, P. A. Solodukhin, A. I. Todorsky, N. I. Khudyakov, R. P. Eideman and others. Changed Soviet authorities, former wartime officers N. A. Grigoriev, A. G. Sapozhkov and others ( less than 1% of the total number of divisional commanders).

The division chief of staff was 524 people, including 78 people who also served as the head of the division and have already been taken into account above. For 140 people, the service before October 1917 could not be established; 133 people who held the position of chief of staff of the division for less than one month are also not taken into account by us. The remaining 173 people were all military specialists, of which 87 people were career officers, including 5 generals, 45 headquarters and 37 chief officers; 24 people were General Staff officers. Among the chiefs of staff of the divisions, one can name the names of the former General Staff Generals E. E. Gegstrem, 3. I. Zaichenko, G. A. Plushevsky-Plyushchik, General Staff Colonels V. K. Gerschelman, I. I. Zashchuk, M. E. Leontiev, V. V. Okerman, N. N. Rodkevich; famous cavalry colonels A. A. Gubin and K. K. Zholierkevich; former wartime officer F. I. Tolbukhin (later Marshal Soviet Union) and etc.

Study of issues related to the total number of military specialists in the Red Army in 1918-1920. and the positions they filled in the Active Army, allows us to conclude that by the end of the civil war, the total number of military specialists was an average of 75 thousand All categories of command personnel of the old army served in the Red Army: from the former supreme commander to the first world war General A. A. Brusilov and military ministers of the tsarist and Provisional governments, generals A. A. Polivanov, D. S. Shuvaev and A. I. Verkhovsky to warrant officers P. L. Romanenko and I. P. Shevchuk, promoted to officers from soldiers for courage. Starting with the “veil” system of operational formations, where almost all top positions were occupied by former generals and regular officers (mainly officers of the General Staff), in established fronts, formed armies and divisions, military specialists occupied the vast majority of top command and staff positions (they accounted for 85% front commanders, 82% of army commanders, up to 70% of division chiefs; all front chiefs of staff and almost all army chiefs of staff were military specialists, they accounted for more than 50% in division headquarters). Position commander in chief all the Armed Forces of the Republic were occupied by the former Colonel I. I. Vatsetis and the General Staff Colonel S. S. Kamenev. Thus, not only in the central and local bodies of military administration, in military educational institutions, etc., but also in the Army in the field, military specialists filled the overwhelming majority of the highest command and staff positions. Therefore, it is quite legitimate to say that former generals and officers took an active part not only in the military construction of the Soviet state, and in particular in the training of military personnel for it from workers and working peasants, but also in the defense of Soviet Russia on the fronts of the civil war against the forces of internal and external counterrevolution. This conclusion refutes the point of view of the authors who claim that the vast majority of military specialists - former career officers served in administrative positions in the rear, and "the armies ... were commanded, as a rule, by wartime warrant officers and staff captains" and that the same category of former officers "very often" were headed by staffs "from the lowest to the highest" 137.

The aim of the monograph was not to study the question of the proportion of military specialists in the positions of senior and middle command staff in the link regiment commander - battalion commander. But it is quite obvious that and these positions, especially the regiment commander, were dominated by military specialists. So, in the 3rd Army of the Eastern Front at the end of 1918, out of 61 officers, from the division commander to the battalion commanders inclusive, 47 people (up to 80%) were military specialists. Most of the posts of regimental commanders and a significant part of the posts of battalion commanders were also occupied by military specialists - wartime officers 138.

Notes.

135 There were 13 army commanders of non-military specialists, including one former volunteer (M. V. Frunze-Mikhailov), five former non-commissioned officers (S. M. Budyonny, O. I. Gorodovikov, G. V. Zinoviev, M. M. Lashevich, T. S. Khvesin), two former sailors (P. E. Dybenko, I. I. Matveev), five who did not serve in the army (K. E. Voroshilov, I. S. Kozhevnikov, N. N. Kuzmin, G. Ya. Sokolnikov, I. E. Yakir); five people (V.P. Blokhin, S.I. Zagumenny, S.K. Matsiletsky, A.A. Rzhevsky, V.L. Stepanov) could not be established until October 1917.

136 Total in 1918-1920. 151 rifle divisions and 34 cavalry divisions were formed.

137 Gerasimov M. N. Awakening. M., 1965. P. 5 (foreword by V. D. Polikarpov).

138 Spirin L. M. Classes and parties in the civil war in Russia. M., 1968. S. 15.

2. A complete list of commanders, which I compiled on the basis of Appendix 5 and Kavtaradze's data on commanders who were not military experts.

Annex 5. Military specialists - army commanders *

* Compiled according to: Directives of the command of the fronts of the Red Army (1917-1922): Sat. Documents, M., 1978. T. 4. S. 533-544: TsGVIA. F. 409. Service records.

Complete list of Civil War commanders

The old Russian army was by no means protected from the penetration of revolutionary ideas and direct participation in the revolutionary movement. When they talk about the history of the revolutionary movement in the army itself, they usually start with the Decembrist organizations and the uprising of the Semenovsky regiment in 1820, which in turn influenced the emergence of a number of soldier unrest. In fact, the creation of secret anti-autocratic officer circles began even earlier, in the 18th century. and the most famous of them was the Smolensk secret circle under the leadership of retired colonel A.M.Kakhovsky. Actually, it was not even a circle, but several circles organized in 1797 and consisting of officers of military units located in the Smolensk province. The total number of members of these circles reached almost a hundred people, and among them they name the future general, the famous Russian commander. A.P. Ermolova. This organization, which is not without reason called pre-Decembrist, set itself not only educational tasks, but also prepared an active action against Paul I. It is no coincidence that its members were subjected to severe punishments. Some were sentenced to life imprisonment, others were exiled to different provinces of the country, including Siberia.

Decembrist circles and organizations included hundreds of officers and a number of generals. Decembrist generals were M.F. Orlov, S.G. Volkonsky, M.A. Fonvizin, S.P. Shipov, A.P. Yushnevsky, V.A. Obruchev, M.A. Mengden, P.P. Lopukhin, F.G. Kalm, F.V. Akinfov. The defeat of the Decembrist revolutionaries led to a noticeable reduction in the number of military men in the Russian liberation movement and, in general, to a drop in their share in this movement. In the post-Decembrist movement, the main role in the anti-autocratic circles is already played by revolutionaries from the civil milieu. But, nevertheless, there were officers among its participants. These include M.A. Bakunin - one of the active participants and leaders of the revolution of 1848, V.A. Obruchev, A.A. Potebnya, N.V. Sokolov, P.A. Kropotkin and others. Three officers, in to one degree or another, involved in the revolutionary movement of the 60s. - V.A.Obruchev, N.N.Obruchev, M.T.Tchaikovsky subsequently became generals. Of the three leaders of revolutionary populism, who headed the respective populist directions - M.A. Bakunin, P.L. Lavrova and P.N. Tkacheva, the first two were officers (Lavrov was a colonel). Particularly great success in the work among the military was achieved by the Narodnaya Volya populist party, which created its own Military Organization, the network of which, according to some data, spread to 25 cities of European Russia, and according to others to only 41 cities, consisted of at least 50 circles and included up to 400 officers. . It is noteworthy that after the defeat in 1883 of this organization royal authorities her groups in the Western Territory survived, as well as two or three circles in St. Petersburg, including at the Naval Academy. There is reason to believe that a number of members of these undisclosed circles continued to serve and by 1917 already had considerable ranks.

One of the leaders of this military organization, Lieutenant Colonel M.Yu. Aschenbrenner was initially sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life imprisonment in the Shlisselburg fortress, from where he was released in 1904. Ashenbrenner lived to see the October Revolution and in 1924 he, as a veteran of the revolutionary movement in the army, was awarded by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR the title of "oldest Red Army soldier". The next stage in the involvement of representatives of the army in the revolutionary movement was the beginning of the 20th century, especially the events of the revolution of 1905-1907, when dozens of military and naval uprisings took place in different parts of the country from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. All this must be taken into account when discussing the role of the army in 1917. First of all, it must be borne in mind that this year there were three splits in the highest command staff. At the same time, it must be taken into account that all the generals in April 1914, i.e. before the First World War was 1574 .

The first split took place during February Revolution when it was necessary to express one's attitude to the abdication of Emperor Nicholas P. The commander of the Northern Front - N.V. Ruzsky, the Western - A.E. Evert, the South-Western - A.A. Brusilov, the Romanian - V.V. Sakharov, the Caucasian - Nikolai Nikolayevich and the chief of staff of the supreme commander-in-chief - M.V. Alekseev spoke in favor of the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne. From the highest circles of the army, the commanders of the corps, Generals F.A. Keller and Khan-Hussein-Nakhichevan, spoke out against the renunciation. The second split came during the period of the Kornilov rebellion. As the prominent military historian A.G. Kavtaradze writes:

“The Kornilovshchina split the officer corps, dividing it into supporters of the military dictatorship and its opponents, forming an insurmountable gap between the command staff and the soldier mass, causing hatred for all officers, regardless of their official position and social origin” .

The third split occurred after the October Revolution. Usually in public opinion this split is presented as a demarcation between whites and reds. The situation, however, was much more complex and varied. Yes, the division into whites and reds was the main one, but it must be borne in mind that in the then Russia, in addition to them, pink ones (Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks), green ones (forest chieftains), black ones (anarchists), as well as two-color and multi-color ones (national formations) were also noted. In addition to the Red and several White armies, the Central Rada of Ukraine, Sfatul Tsarii in Bessarabia (Moldavian Democratic Republic), as well as Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Baltic and other republics create their own armies. They all had their own officers, who, as a rule, had come from the old Russian army.

As for the military specialists of the Red Army, to whom we have dedicated this article, in the literature one can find a variety of assessments of their role in the creation and development of the Soviet armed forces. A.I. Denikin in his “Essays on Russian Troubles” argued that the Red army was built “exclusively by the mind and experience of old Russian generals” and that specialist generals were at the head of the central military administration. Approximately in the same spirit and even more categorically write some modern authors. One of them, speaking of career officers who served in the Red Army, emphasizes: "Occupying the posts of chiefs of staff and assistant commanders, it was they who were the true leaders of the fronts, armies, corps and divisions." The same author goes on to say:

“It was they who were the organizers of the victories of the Red Army and the Civil War. And, I repeat, it is to them that the so-called heroes of the Civil War owe their glory as military leaders. .

In addition to this opinion, judgments of a different kind are also expressed in the literature, one might say the opposite. So, I.Z. Khasanov, who dealt specifically with the issue of military specialists, nevertheless emphasizes that after the October Revolution, "the overwhelming majority of officers and generals of the tsarist army opposed Soviet power." There is also a third historiographic trend in the literature, where the issue of military specialists is simply hushed up. In the recently published book by V. Shambarov, which is quite extensive and very tendentious, there is almost no mention of the military specialists of the Red Army. The author only remarks, as it were, in passing that "the staff of the General Staff military experts was planted on command and staff positions in each Bolshevik army." As noted in the literature, the works published abroad are characterized by an emphasis on the forced recruitment of military experts into the Red Army, which has not been confirmed by domestic research, both past and present.

Without setting ourselves the task of writing a detailed historiographical review of this issue, it should be noted the need for a balanced, devoid of any subjective assessment of the role of military specialists and, above all, old generals. An appeal to their role should not distort the merits of other Red commanders who came from the bottom - from non-commissioned officers and even ordinary soldiers. The Civil War, indeed, brought forward outstanding folk nuggets, such as V.I. Chapaev, G.I. Kotovsky, S.M. Budyonny, V.K. Blucher and many others. The largest Bolshevik commander M.V. Frunze also advanced from the bottom. Even the anti-Soviet Shambarov, referring to Frunze, emphasizes: “ He was, of course, a commander of genius - by nature". And a little further, he admits: Frunze's military talent, of course, cannot be taken away» . But especially important are the testimonies of people who knew Frunze well. Among them is the former general of the old army F.F. Novitsky, who worked together with Frunze and wrote in his memoirs about him:

“But such was this man, who had an amazing ability to quickly understand the most complex and new issues for him, to separate the essential from the secondary in them, and then distribute the work among the performers in accordance with the abilities of each” .

“Kolchak was broken, and within a month and a half, thanks to Frunze’s energy and military skill, the entire strategic situation on the Eastern Front turned in favor of the Red Army and Soviet power” .

The army, as you know, played a big role in the October Revolution, by which we mean not only the Petrograd armed uprising, but also the simultaneous transfer of power to the Soviets in a number of other Russian cities - Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Orekhovo-Zuevo, Minsk, Tartu, Lugansk, Bryansk, etc. Power there also passed to the Soviets on October 25, 1917. These events were preceded by a closed garrison conference in Petrograd on October 18, the majority of whose participants supported the armed uprising. This proposal was supported by the delegates of the Jaeger, Moscow, Volyn, Pavlovsky, Keksholmsky, Semenovsky regiments, as well as a number of other parts of Petrograd and its environs. Moreover, after that, the Military Revolutionary Committee sent its commissars to many military units, where they were accepted. Thus, Y.M. Kotsyubinsky became the commissar of the Semenovsky regiment, G.I. .Zaitsev, Grenadier - A.F. Ilyin-Zhenevsky16. Even before the events of October 25, resolutions were adopted in the regiments to support the Petrograd Soviet. So, on October 24, according to the report of the commissar of the Guards Jaeger Regiment Zaitsev, not only soldiers, but also officers of this regiment, led by its commander, came out in support of the council.

Thus, the legendary regiments of the Russian army took part in the revolution, some of which traced their lineage back to the time of Peter I. However, not a single general took part directly in the revolution. Power passed to the Soviets at that time without the help of the old generals. Without them, the Kerensky-Red rebellion was also suppressed, the significance of which was noted by a contemporary of those events, John Reed, in his famous book. True, a one-legged colonel, commander of the 2nd Tsarskoye Selo Rifle Regiment P.B. Walden, a future Soviet general, played a significant role in these events. Another colonel, the first colonel who became a Bolshevik back in May 1917, M.S. Svechnikov, was elected head of the 106th division in the same year, which was the stronghold of the Bolsheviks in Finland, that is, in the immediate vicinity of Petrograd. This was all the more important because the relevant documents of that time directly stated: "The absence of officers from the Workers' Guard is taking its toll." The role of the former generals in the armed formations of the Republic of Soviets will become noticeable somewhat later.

According to the data available today, the first of the old generals to establish contact with the Bolsheviks was Lieutenant General N.M. Potapov. Reference literature notes that since July 1917 he has been collaborating with the Military Organization of the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP (b), that is, with a well-known military commissar. According to the oral tradition, Potapov's daughters told about his connections with the head of the military commissar N.I. Podvoisky, which was told to the author of this article by the daughter of one of the military specialists N.I. g. was the chief military adviser to the Montenegrin army.

However, in addition to the oral tradition, there are archival and published sources. Back in December 1936, E.N. Gorodetsky interviewed N.M. Potapov, which was then transferred to the archives of the Institute of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences and published only in 1968. Although Potapov was born in Moscow, but his father, a civil official, took place from freed peasants. It is known that the vast majority of the tsarist generals were of noble origin and those who came from former serfs were a rare exception. This alone distinguished Potapov from typical generals. Second important point, which cannot but attract attention, was his acquaintance back in the 90s. with revolutionary students. One of them was M.S. Kedrov, later a prominent Bolshevik. Kedrov himself recalled this:

“... after the July days, General Potapov N.M., Assistant Chief of the General Staff and Quartermaster General, offered through me his services to the Bolshevik Military Organization (and provided them)”.

According to Potapov, with Kedrov, whom he calls his friend, he repeatedly met later, including after the February Revolution. As a member of the military, it was Kedrov who introduced Potapov to Podvoisky.

But the point is not only that the lieutenant general, one of the most experienced intelligence officers of the Russian army, a polyglot and military researcher, went over to the side of the Soviet government. His example was extremely important for many officers and generals of the old army. Another head of the military commissariat, K.A. Mekhonoshin, wrote in this regard:

“... I must especially emphasize the great political significance that Nikolai Mikhailovich Potapov's unconditional defection to the side of Soviet power immediately after the October Revolution had for us. N.M. Potapov, one of the largest specialists of the old army, enjoyed great authority among the best part of its specialists, and therefore his direct transition to the side of the working class in the very first days after the seizure of power could not but influence the political mood of wide circles in our favor. military workers and facilitated the use of old personnel and their knowledge and experience in the construction of the Red Army " .

The authority and merits of N.M. Potapov also influenced the fact that the central apparatus of Russian military intelligence went over to the side of the Soviets almost in its entirety. This was especially important in those difficult conditions, when the state institutions of old Russia declared a real strike. Potapov himself headed the Main Directorate of the General Staff, which included the Department of the 2nd Quartermaster General, which was the central body of intelligence and counterintelligence of the Russian armed forces. Naturally, Russian military intelligence officers knew better than others who the Bolsheviks were, in particular, that they were not any German agents. Subsequently, Potapov compiled special notes on the formation of the new army, which are a valuable source on the history of the Red Army.

Potapov was apparently the first general of the old army to go over to the side of Soviet power. Almost simultaneously with him, Major General S.I. Odintsov began to cooperate with the new government, a little later he became commander of the 7th Army defending Petrograd, one of the first holders of the Order of the Red Banner. Odintsov, immediately after the October Revolution, was an intermediary between the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs and the head of the Military Ministry, General A.A. Manikovsky. In October 1917, lieutenant general, Baron A.A. Taube, a participant in the First World War, at that time the chief of staff of the Omsk military district, went over to the side of the Soviets. Subsequently, he will become the chief of the General Staff of the Red Army Command in Siberia, will take part in the fight against the White Czechs, the troops of Ataman Semenov. In September 1918 he would be arrested by the White Guards and sentenced to death. He will die in Yekaterinburg in January 1919 from typhus while on death row.

History is written by the winners. We know a lot about the heroes of the Red Army, but almost nothing about the heroes of the White Army. Let's fill this gap.

Anatoly Pepelyaev

Anatoly Pepelyaev became the youngest general in Siberia - at the age of 27. Prior to this, the White Guards under his command took Tomsk, Novonikolaevsk (Novosibirsk), Krasnoyarsk, Verkhneudinsk and Chita.
When Pepelyaev’s troops occupied Perm abandoned by the Bolsheviks, about 20,000 Red Army soldiers were captured by the young general, who, on his orders, were released home. Perm was liberated from the Reds on the day of the 128th anniversary of the capture of Ishmael, and the soldiers began to call Pepelyaev "Siberian Suvorov."

Sergei Ulagai

Sergei Ulagay, a Kuban Cossack of Circassian origin, was one of the most prominent cavalry commanders of the White Army. He made a serious contribution to the defeat of the North Caucasian front of the Reds, but especially the 2nd Kuban Corps Ulagay distinguished himself during the capture of the "Russian Verdun" - Tsaritsyn - in June 1919.

General Ulagai went down in history as the commander of the special forces group of the Russian Volunteer Army, General Wrangel, who landed troops from the Crimea to the Kuban in August 1920. To command the landing force, Wrangel chose Ulagay "as a popular Kuban general, it seems, the only one of the famous who did not stain himself with robbery."

Alexander Dolgorukov

The hero of the First World War, who for his exploits was awarded admission to the retinue of His Imperial Majesty, Alexander Dolgorukov proved himself in the Civil War. On September 30, 1919, his 4th Infantry Division in a bayonet battle forced Soviet troops retreat; Dolgorukov captured the crossing over the Plyussa River, which soon made it possible to occupy Struga Beliye.
Dolgorukov got into literature. In the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov "The White Guard" he is bred under the name of General Belorukov, and is also mentioned in the first volume of the trilogy of Alexei Tolstoy "Walking through the torments" (attack of the cavalry guards in the battle of Kaushen).

Vladimir Kappel

The episode from the film "Chapaev", where the Kappelites go on a "psychic attack", is fictional - Chapaev and Kappel never crossed paths on the battlefield. But Kappel was a legend without cinema.

During the capture of Kazan on August 7, 1918, he lost only 25 people. In his reports on successful operations, Kappel did not mention himself, explaining the victory by the heroism of his subordinates, up to the sisters of mercy.
During the Great Siberian Ice Campaign, Kappel got frostbite on the feet of both legs - they had to be amputated without anesthesia. He continued to lead the troops and refused a place on the hospital train.
The last words of the general were: "Let the troops know that I was devoted to them, that I loved them and proved it with my death among them."

Mikhail Drozdovsky

Mikhail Drozdovsky with a volunteer detachment of 1,000 people walked 1,700 km from Yassy to Rostov, freed him from the Bolsheviks, then helped the Cossacks defend Novocherkassk.

Drozdovsky's detachment participated in the liberation of both the Kuban and the North Caucasus. Drozdovsky was called "the crusader of the crucified Motherland." Here is his description from Kravchenko's book “Drozdovites from Iasi to Gallipoli”: “Nervous, thin, Colonel Drozdovsky was a type of ascetic warrior: he did not drink, did not smoke and did not pay attention to the blessings of life; always - from Jassy until death - in the same worn jacket, with a worn St. George ribbon in his buttonhole; out of modesty, he did not wear the order itself.

Alexander Kutepov

A colleague of Kutepov’s on the fronts of the First World War wrote about him: “Kutepov’s name has become a household name. It means fidelity to duty, calm determination, intense sacrificial impulse, cold, sometimes cruel will and ... clean hands - and all this is brought and given to the service of the Motherland.

In January 1918, Kutepov twice defeated the Red troops under the command of Sievers near Matveev Kurgan. According to Anton Denikin, "this was the first serious battle in which the art and enthusiasm of the officer detachments were opposed to the furious pressure of the unorganized and badly managed Bolsheviks, mostly sailors."

Sergey Markov

The White Guards called Sergei Markov the "White Knight", "the sword of General Kornilov", the "God of War", and after the battle near the village of Medvedovskaya - the "Guardian Angel". In this battle, Markov managed to save the remnants of the Volunteer Army retreating from Ekaterinograd, destroy and capture the armored train of the Reds, and get a lot of weapons and ammunition. When Markov died, Anton Denikin wrote on his wreath: "Both life and death - for the happiness of the Motherland."

Mikhail Zhebrak-Rusanovich

For the White Guards, Colonel Zhebrak-Rusanovich was a cult figure. For personal prowess, his name was sung in the military folklore of the Volunteer Army.
He firmly believed that "there will be no Bolshevism, but there will be only one United Great Indivisible Russia." It was Zhebrak who brought the Andreevsky flag with his detachment to the headquarters of the Volunteer Army, and soon he became the battle flag of the Drozdovsky brigade.
He died heroically, personally leading the attack of two battalions on the superior forces of the Red Army.

Viktor Molchanov

The Izhevsk division of Viktor Molchanov was awarded Kolchak's special attention - he handed her the St. George banner, and attached the St. George crosses to the banners of a number of regiments. During the Great Siberian Ice Campaign, Molchanov commanded the rearguard of the 3rd Army and covered the retreat of the main forces of General Kappel. After his death, he led the vanguard of the white troops.
At the head of the Insurrectionary Army, Molchanov occupied almost all of Primorye and Khabarovsk.

Innokenty Smolin

In the summer and autumn of 1918, at the head of the partisan detachment of his own name, Innokenty Smolin successfully operated in the rear of the Reds, captured two armored trains. Smolin's partisans played an important role in the capture of Tobolsk.

Mikhail Smolin participated in the Great Siberian Ice Campaign, commanded a group of troops of the 4th Siberian Rifle Division, which, numbering more than 1,800 fighters, came to Chita on March 4, 1920.
Smolin died in Tahiti. In the last years of his life he wrote memoirs.

Sergei Voitsekhovsky

General Voitsekhovsky accomplished many feats, performing the seemingly impossible tasks of the command of the White Army. A faithful "Kolchakist", after the death of the admiral, he abandoned the assault on Irkutsk and led the remnants of the Kolchak army to Transbaikalia on the ice of Baikal.

In 1939, in exile, being one of the highest Czechoslovak generals, Wojciechowski advocated resistance to the Germans and created the underground organization Obrana národa ("Protection of the People"). Arrested by SMERSH in 1945. Repressed, died in a camp near Taishet.

Erast Hyacinths

Erast Hyacinthov in the First World War became the owner of a complete set of orders available to the chief officer of the Russian Imperial Army.
After the revolution, he was obsessed with the idea of ​​overthrowing the Bolsheviks and even occupied with friends a number of houses around the Kremlin in order to start resistance from there, but in time he realized the futility of such tactics and joined the White Army, becoming one of the most productive scouts.
In exile, on the eve of and during World War II, he took an open anti-Nazi position and miraculously avoided being sent to a concentration camp. After the war, he resisted the forced repatriation of "displaced persons" to the USSR.

Mikhail Yaroslavtsev (Archimandrite Mitrofan)

During the Civil War, Mikhail Yaroslavtsev showed himself to be an energetic commander and distinguished himself by personal prowess in several battles.
Yaroslavtsev embarked on the path of spiritual service already in exile, after the death of his wife on December 31, 1932.

In May 1949, hegumen Mitrofan was elevated to the rank of archimandrite by Metropolitan Seraphim (Lukyanov).

Contemporaries wrote about him: "Always impeccable in the performance of his duty, richly endowed with wonderful spiritual qualities, he was a true consolation for very many of his flock ...".

He was rector of the Resurrection Church in Rabat and defended the unity of the Russian Orthodox community in Morocco with the Moscow Patriarchate.

Pavel Shatilov is a hereditary general, both his father and his grandfather were generals. He especially distinguished himself in the spring of 1919, when, in an operation in the area of ​​the Manych River, he defeated a 30,000-strong group of Reds.

Pyotr Wrangel, whose chief of staff was later Shatilov, spoke of him as follows: "a brilliant mind, outstanding abilities, having great military experience and knowledge, with great capacity for work, he was able to work with a minimum expenditure of time."

In the autumn of 1920, it was Shatilov who led the emigration of whites from the Crimea.

Every Russian knows that in the Civil War 1917-1922 years opposed two movements - "Red and White". But among historians there is still no consensus on how it began. Someone believes that the reason was Krasnov's March on the Russian capital (October 25); others believe that the war began when, in the near future, the commander of the Volunteer Army, Alekseev, arrived on the Don (November 2); there is also an opinion that the war began with the fact that Milyukov proclaimed the “Declaration of the Volunteer Army, delivering a speech at the ceremony, called the Don (December 27). Another popular opinion, which is far from unfounded, is the opinion that the Civil War began immediately after the February Revolution, when the whole society split into supporters and opponents of the Romanov monarchy.

"White" movement in Russia

Everyone knows that "whites" are adherents of the monarchy and the old order. Its beginnings were visible as early as February 1917, when the monarchy was overthrown in Russia and a total restructuring of society began. The development of the "white" movement was during the period when the Bolsheviks came to power, the formation of Soviet power. They represented a circle of dissatisfied with the Soviet government, disagreeing with its policy and principles of its conduct.
The "whites" were fans of the old monarchical system, refused to accept the new socialist order, adhered to the principles of traditional society. It is important to note that the "whites" were very often radicals, they did not believe that it was possible to agree on something with the "reds", on the contrary, they had the opinion that no negotiations and concessions were allowed.
The "Whites" chose the tricolor of the Romanovs as their banner. Admiral Denikin and Kolchak commanded the white movement, one in the South, the other in the harsh regions of Siberia.
The historical event that became the impetus for the activation of the “whites” and the transition to their side of most of the former army of the Romanov Empire was the rebellion of General Kornilov, which, although it was suppressed, helped the “whites” strengthen their ranks, especially in the southern regions, where, under the command of the general Alekseev began to gather huge resources and a powerful disciplined army. Every day the army was replenished due to newcomers, it grew rapidly, developed, tempered, trained.
Separately, it must be said about the commanders of the White Guards (this was the name of the army created by the "white" movement). They were unusually talented commanders, prudent politicians, strategists, tacticians, subtle psychologists, and skillful speakers. The most famous were Lavr Kornilov, Anton Denikin, Alexander Kolchak, Pyotr Krasnov, Pyotr Wrangel, Nikolai Yudenich, Mikhail Alekseev. You can talk about each of them for a long time, their talent and merits for the "white" movement can hardly be overestimated.
In the war, the White Guards won for a long time, and even brought their troops to Moscow. But the Bolshevik army was growing stronger, besides, they were supported by a significant part of the population of Russia, especially the poorest and most numerous sections - workers and peasants. In the end, the forces of the White Guards were smashed to smithereens. For some time they continued to operate abroad, but without success, the "white" movement ceased.

"Red" movement

Like the "whites", in the ranks of the "reds" there were many talented commanders and politicians. Among them, it is important to note the most famous, namely: Leon Trotsky, Brusilov, Novitsky, Frunze. These commanders showed themselves excellently in battles against the White Guards. Trotsky was the main founder of the Red Army, acting as a decisive force in the confrontation between the "whites" and "reds" in the Civil War. The ideological leader of the "red" movement was known to every person Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Lenin and his government were actively supported by the most massive sections of the population of the Russian State, namely, the proletariat, the poor, landless and landless peasants, and the working intelligentsia. It was these classes who quickly believed the tempting promises of the Bolsheviks, supported them and brought the "Reds" to power.
The main party in the country was Russian Social Democratic Labor Party of the Bolsheviks, which was later turned into communist party. In essence, it was an association of intelligentsia, adherents of the socialist revolution, whose social base was the working classes.
It was not easy for the Bolsheviks to win the Civil War - they had not yet completely strengthened their power throughout the country, the forces of their fans were dispersed throughout the vast country, plus the national outskirts began a national liberation struggle. A lot of forces went to war with the Ukrainian People's Republic, so the Red Army during the Civil War had to fight on several fronts.
The attacks of the White Guards could come from any side of the horizon, because the White Guards surrounded the Red Army soldiers from all sides with four separate military formations. And despite all the difficulties, it was the “Reds” who won the war, mainly due to the broad social base of the Communist Party.
All representatives of the national outskirts united against the Whites, and therefore they became forced allies of the Red Army in the Civil War. To win over the inhabitants of the national outskirts, the Bolsheviks used loud slogans, such as the idea of ​​"one and indivisible Russia."
The victory in the war was brought to the Bolsheviks by the support of the masses. Soviet authority played on the sense of duty and patriotism of Russian citizens. The White Guards themselves also added fuel to the fire, since their invasions were most often accompanied by mass robbery, looting, violence in its other manifestations, which could not in any way encourage people to support the "white" movement.

Results of the Civil War

As has been said several times, victory in this fratricidal war went to the "red". The fratricidal civil war became a real tragedy for the Russian people. The material damage caused to the country by the war was estimated to be about 50 billion rubles - money unthinkable at that time, many times greater than the amount of Russia's external debt. Because of this, the level of industry decreased by 14%, and agriculture - by 50%. According to various sources, human losses amounted to about t 12 before 15 million.. Most of these people died from starvation, repression, disease. More than 800 thousand soldiers on both sides. Also during the Civil War, the balance of migration fell sharply - near 2 million Russians left the country and went abroad.