The White movement in Russia is an organized military-political movement that was formed during the Civil War in 1917-1922. The White movement united political regimes that were distinguished by common socio-political and economic programs, as well as recognition of the principle of individual power (military dictatorship) on a national and regional scale, and a desire to coordinate military and political efforts in the fight against Soviet power.

Terminology

For a long time, the White movement was synonymous with the historiography of the 1920s. the phrase "general's counter-revolution". In this we can note its difference from the concept of “democratic counter-revolution”. Those belonging to this category, for example, the Government of the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch), the Ufa Directory (Provisional All-Russian Government) proclaimed the priority of collegial rather than individual management. And one of the main slogans of the “democratic counter-revolution” became: leadership and continuity from the All-Russian Constituent Assembly of 1918. As for the “national counter-revolution” (Central Rada in Ukraine, governments in the Baltic states, Finland, Poland, the Caucasus, Crimea), then they, unlike the White movement, put the proclamation of state sovereignty in the first place in their political programs. Thus, the White movement can rightfully be considered as one of the parts (but the most organized and stable) of the anti-Bolshevik movement on the territory of the former Russian Empire.

The term White Movement during the Civil War was used mainly by the Bolsheviks. Representatives of the White movement defined themselves as bearers of legitimate “national power”, using the terms “Russian” (Russian Army), “Russian”, “All-Russian” (Supreme Ruler of the Russian State).

Socially, the White movement proclaimed the unification of representatives of all classes of Russian society at the beginning of the twentieth century and political parties from monarchists to social democrats. Political and legal continuity from pre-February and pre-October 1917 Russia was also noted. At the same time, the restoration of previous legal relations did not exclude their significant reform.

Periodization of the White movement

Chronologically, 3 stages can be distinguished in the origin and evolution of the White movement:

First stage: October 1917 - November 1918 - formation of the main centers of the anti-Bolshevik movement

Second stage: November 1918 - March 1920 - Supreme Ruler of the Russian State A.V. Kolchak is recognized by other White governments as the military-political leader of the White movement.

Third stage: March 1920 - November 1922 - activity of regional centers on the outskirts of the former Russian Empire

Formation of the White Movement

The White movement arose in conditions of opposition to the policies of the Provisional Government and the Soviets (the Soviet “vertical”) in the summer of 1917. In preparation for the speech of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Infantry General L.G. Kornilov, both military (“Union of Army and Navy Officers”, “Union of Military Duty”, “Union of Cossack Troops”) and political (“Republican Center”, “Bureau of Legislative Chambers”, “Society for the Economic Revival of Russia”) structures took part.

The fall of the Provisional Government and the dissolution of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly marked the beginning of the first stage in the history of the White movement (November 1917-November 1918). This stage was distinguished by the formation of its structures and gradual separation from the general counter-revolutionary or anti-Bolshevik movement. The military center of the White movement became the so-called. “Alekseevskaya organization”, formed on the initiative of Infantry General M.V. Alekseev in Rostov-on-Don. From the point of view of General Alekseev, it was necessary to achieve joint actions with the Cossacks of the South of Russia. For this purpose, the South-Eastern Union was created, which included the military (“Alekseevskaya organization”, renamed after the arrival of General Kornilov in the Volunteer Army on the Don) and civil authorities (elected representatives of the Don, Kuban, Terek and Astrakhan Cossack troops, as well as the “Union mountaineers of the Caucasus").

Formally, the first white government could be considered the Don Civil Council. It included generals Alekseev and Kornilov, the Don ataman, cavalry general A.M. Kaledin, and among political figures: P.N. Milyukova, B.V. Savinkova, P.B. Struve. In their very first official statements (the so-called “Kornilov Constitution”, “Declaration on the Formation of the South-Eastern Union”, etc.) they proclaimed: an irreconcilable armed struggle against Soviet power and the convening of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly (on new elective grounds). The resolution of major economic and political issues was postponed until its convening.

Unsuccessful battles in January-February 1918 on the Don led to the retreat of the Volunteer Army to Kuban. Here the continuation of armed resistance was expected. During the 1st Kuban (“Ice”) campaign, General Kornilov died during the unsuccessful assault on Ekaterinodar. He was replaced as commander of the Volunteer Army by Lieutenant General A.I. Denikin. General Alekseev became the Supreme Leader of the Volunteer Army.

During the spring-summer of 1918, centers of counter-revolution were formed, many of which later became elements of the all-Russian White movement. In April-May, uprisings began on the Don. Soviet power was overthrown here, elections of local authorities were held and cavalry general P.N. became the military ataman. Krasnov. Coalition inter-party associations were created in Moscow, Petrograd and Kyiv, providing political support for the White movement. The largest of them were the liberal “All-Russian National Center” (VNTs), in which the majority were cadets, the socialist “Union of the Revival of Russia” (SVR), as well as the “Council of the State Unification of Russia” (SGOR), from representatives of the Bureau of Legislative Chambers of the Russian Empire , Union of Trade and Industrialists, Holy Synod. The All-Russian Scientific Center enjoyed the greatest influence, and its leaders N.I. Astrov and M.M. Fedorov headed the Special Meeting under the Commander of the Volunteer Army (later the Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (VSYUR)).

The issue of “intervention” should be considered separately. The assistance of foreign states and the Entente countries was of great importance for the formation of the White movement at this stage. For them, after the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace, the war with the Bolsheviks was seen in the prospect of continuing the war with the countries of the Quadruple Alliance. Allied landings became centers of the White movement in the North. In Arkhangelsk in April, the Provisional Government of the Northern Region was formed (N.V. Tchaikovsky, P.Yu. Zubov, Lieutenant General E.K. Miller). The landing of allied troops in Vladivostok in June and the appearance of the Czechoslovak Corps in May-June became the beginning of the counter-revolution in the East of Russia. In the Southern Urals, back in November 1917, the Orenburg Cossacks, led by ataman Major General A.I., opposed Soviet power. Dutov. Several anti-Bolshevik government structures emerged in the East of Russia: the Ural Regional Government, the Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia (later the Provisional Siberian (regional) Government), the Provisional Ruler in the Far East, Lieutenant General D.L. Croatian, as well as the Orenburg and Ural Cossack troops. In the second half of 1918, anti-Bolshevik uprisings broke out on the Terek, in Turkestan, where the Socialist Revolutionary Transcaspian regional government was formed.

In September 1918, at the State Conference held in Ufa, a Provisional All-Russian Government and a socialist Directory were elected (N.D. Avksentyev, N.I. Astrov, Lieutenant General V.G. Boldyrev, P.V. Vologodsky, N. .V. Tchaikovsky). The Ufa Directory developed a draft Constitution that proclaimed continuity from the Provisional Government of 1917 and the disbanded Constituent Assembly.

Supreme Ruler of the Russian State Admiral A.V. Kolchak

On November 18, 1918, a coup took place in Omsk, during which the Directory was overthrown. The Council of Ministers of the Provisional All-Russian Government transferred power to Admiral A.V. Kolchak, proclaimed the Supreme Ruler of the Russian State and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army and Navy.

Kolchak’s coming to power meant the final establishment of a regime of one-man rule on an all-Russian scale, relying on the structures of executive power (the Council of Ministers headed by P.V. Vologodsky), with public representation (the State Economic Conference in Siberia, Cossack troops). The second period in the history of the White movement began (from November 1918 to March 1920). The power of the Supreme Ruler of the Russian State was recognized by General Denikin, Commander-in-Chief of the North-Western Front, Infantry General N.N. Yudenich and the government of the Northern Region.

The structure of the white armies was established. The most numerous were the forces of the Eastern Front (Siberian (Lieutenant General R. Gaida), Western (Artillery General M.V. Khanzhin), Southern (Major General P.A. Belov) and Orenburg (Lieutenant General A.I. Dutov) army). At the end of 1918 - beginning of 1919, the AFSR was formed under the command of General Denikin, troops of the Northern Region (Lieutenant General E.K. Miller) and the Northwestern Front (General Yudenich). Operationally, they were all subordinate to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Kolchak.

Coordination of political forces also continued. In November 1918, the Political Meeting of the three leading political associations of Russia (SGOR, VNTs and SVR) was held in Iasi. After the proclamation of Admiral Kolchak as Supreme Ruler, attempts were made to internationally recognize Russia at the Versailles Peace Conference, where the Russian Political Conference was created (chairman G.E. Lvov, N.V. Tchaikovsky, P.B. Struve, B.V. Savinkov, V. A. Maklakov, P.N. Milyukov).

In the spring and autumn of 1919, coordinated campaigns of the white fronts took place. In March-June, the Eastern Front advanced in diverging directions towards the Volga and Kama, to connect with the Northern Army. In July-October, two attacks on Petrograd by the North-Western Front were carried out (in May-July and in September-October), as well as a campaign against Moscow by the Armed Forces of Southern Russia (in July-November). But they all ended unsuccessfully.

By the fall of 1919, the Entente countries abandoned military support for the White movement (in the summer, a gradual withdrawal of foreign troops from all fronts began; until the fall of 1922, only Japanese units remained in the Far East). However, the supply of weapons, the issuance of loans and contacts with white governments continued without their official recognition (with the exception of Yugoslavia).

The program of the White movement, which was finally formed during 1919, provided for an “irreconcilable armed struggle against Soviet power”, after the liquidation of which, it was planned to convene an All-Russian National Constituent Assembly. The assembly was supposed to be elected in majoritarian districts on the basis of universal, equal, direct (in large cities) and two-stage (in rural areas) suffrage by secret ballot. The elections and activities of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly of 1917 were recognized as illegitimate, since they occurred after the “Bolshevik revolution”. The new Assembly had to resolve the issue of the form of government in the country (monarchy or republic), elect the head of state, and also approve projects of socio-political and economic reforms. Before the “victory over Bolshevism” and the convening of the National Constituent Assembly, the highest military and political power belonged to the Supreme Ruler of Russia. Reforms could only be developed, but not implemented (the principle of “non-decision”). In order to strengthen regional power, before the convening of the All-Russian Assembly, it was allowed to convene local (regional) assemblies, designed to be legislative bodies under individual rulers.

The national structure proclaimed the principle of “Unified, Indivisible Russia,” which meant recognition of the actual independence of only those parts of the former Russian Empire (Poland, Finland, the Baltic republics) that were recognized by the leading world powers. The remaining state new formations on the territory of Russia (Ukraine, the Mountain Republic, the Caucasus republics) were considered illegitimate. For them, only “regional autonomy” was allowed. The Cossack troops retained the right to have their own authorities and armed formations, but within the framework of all-Russian structures.

In 1919, the development of all-Russian bills on agrarian and labor policy took place. Bills on agrarian policy boiled down to the recognition of peasant ownership of land, as well as “the partial alienation of landowners’ land in favor of peasants for ransom” (Declaration on the land issue of the governments of Kolchak and Denikin (March 1919)). Trade unions, the right of workers to an 8-hour working day, to social insurance, and to strikes were preserved (Declarations on the Labor Question (February, May 1919)). The property rights of former owners to city real estate, industrial enterprises and banks were fully restored.

It was supposed to expand the rights of local self-government and public organizations, while political parties did not participate in elections, they were replaced by inter-party and non-party associations (municipal elections in the south of Russia in 1919, elections of the State Zemstvo Council in Siberia in the fall of 1919).

There was also “white terror”, which, however, did not have the character of a system. Criminal liability was introduced (up to and including the death penalty) for members of the Bolshevik Party, commissars, employees of the Cheka, as well as workers of the Soviet government and military personnel of the Red Army. Opponents of the Supreme Ruler, “independents,” were also persecuted.

The White movement approved all-Russian symbols (restoration of the tricolor national flag, the coat of arms of the Supreme Ruler of Russia, the anthem “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion”).

In foreign policy, “loyalty to allied obligations”, “all treaties concluded by the Russian Empire and the Provisional Government”, “full representation of Russia in all international organizations” (statements of the Supreme Ruler of Russia and the Russian Political Conference in Paris in the spring of 1919) were proclaimed.

The regimes of the White movement, in the face of defeats at the fronts, evolved towards “democratization”. So, in December 1919 - March 1920. the rejection of dictatorship and an alliance with the “public” were proclaimed. This was manifested in the reform of political power in the south of Russia (dissolution of the Special Conference and the formation of the South Russian government, responsible to the Supreme Circle of the Don, Kuban and Terek, recognition of the de facto independence of Georgia). In Siberia, Kolchak proclaimed the convening of the State Zemstvo Council, endowed with legislative powers. However, it was not possible to prevent the defeat. By March 1920, the Northwestern and Northern fronts were liquidated, and the Eastern and Southern fronts lost most of their controlled territory.

Activities of regional centers

The last period in the history of the Russian White movement (March 1920 - November 1922) was distinguished by the activities of regional centers on the outskirts of the former Russian Empire:

- in Crimea (Ruler of the South of Russia - General Wrangel),

- in Transbaikalia (Ruler of the Eastern Outskirts - General Semenov),

- in the Far East (Ruler of the Amur Zemsky Territory - General Diterichs).

These political regimes sought to move away from the no-decision policy. An example was the activity of the Government of the South of Russia, headed by General Wrangel and former agricultural manager A.V. Krivoshein in Crimea, in the summer-autumn of 1920. Reforms began to be implemented, providing for the transfer of “seized” landowners’ land into ownership to the peasants and the creation of a peasant zemstvo. Autonomy of the Cossack regions, Ukraine and the North Caucasus was allowed.

The government of the Eastern outskirts of Russia, headed by Lieutenant General G.M. Semenov pursued a course of cooperation with the public by holding elections to the Regional People's Conference.

In Primorye in 1922, elections were held for the Amur Zemsky Council and the Ruler of the Amur Region, Lieutenant General M.K. Diterichs. Here, for the first time in the White movement, the principle of restoring the monarchy was proclaimed through the transfer of power of the Supreme Ruler of Russia to a representative of the Romanov dynasty. Attempts were made to coordinate actions with the rebel movements in Soviet Russia (“Antonovschina”, “Makhnovshchina”, Kronstadt uprising). But these political regimes could no longer count on all-Russian status, due to the extremely limited territory controlled by the remnants of the white armies.

Organized military-political confrontation with Soviet power ceased in November 1922 - March 1923, after the occupation of Vladivostok by the Red Army and the defeat of the Yakut campaign of Lieutenant General A.N. Pepelyaev.

Since 1921, the political centers of the White movement moved to Abroad, where their final formation and political demarcation took place (“Russian National Committee”, “Meeting of Ambassadors”, “Russian Council”, “Parliamentary Committee”, “Russian All-Military Union”). In Russia, the White movement is over.

Main participants of the White movement

Alekseev M.V. (1857-1918)

Wrangel P.N. (1878-1928)

Gayda R. (1892-1948)

Denikin A.I. (1872-1947)

Drozdovsky M.G. (1881-1919)

Kappel V.O. (1883-1920)

Keller F.A. (1857-1918)

Kolchak A.V. (1874-1920)

Kornilov L.G. (1870-1918)

Kutepov A.P. (1882-1930)

Lukomsky A.S. (1868-1939)

May-Maevsky V.Z. (1867-1920)

Miller E.-L. K. (1867-1937)

Nezhentsev M.O. (1886-1918)

Romanovsky I.P. (1877-1920)

Slashchev Ya.A. (1885-1929)

Ungern von Sternberg R.F. (1885-1921)

Yudenich N.N. (1862-1933)

Internal contradictions of the White movement

The white movement, which united in its ranks representatives of various political movements and social structures, could not avoid internal contradictions.

The conflict between military and civilian authorities was significant. The relationship between military and civil power was often regulated by the “Regulations on Field Command of Troops,” where civil power was exercised by the governor-general, dependent on the military command. In conditions of mobility of the fronts, the fight against the insurgent movement in the rear, the military sought to exercise the functions of civilian leadership, ignoring the structures of local self-government, resolving political and economic problems by order (the actions of General Slashchov in the Crimea in February-March 1920, General Rodzianko in Northwestern Front in the spring of 1919, martial law on the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1919, etc.). Lack of political experience and ignorance of the specifics of civil administration often led to serious mistakes and a decline in the authority of white rulers (the power crisis of Admiral Kolchak in November-December 1919, General Denikin in January-March 1920).

The contradictions between the military and civilian authorities reflected the contradictions between representatives of various political trends that were part of the White movement. The right (SGOR, monarchists) supported the principle of unlimited dictatorship, while the left (the Union of the Revival of Russia, Siberian regionalists) advocated “broad public representation” under military rulers. Of no small importance were disagreements between the right and the left on land policy (on the conditions for the alienation of landowners' land), on the labor issue (on the possibility of trade unions participating in the management of enterprises), on local self-government (on the nature of the representation of socio-political organizations).

The implementation of the principle of “One, Indivisible Russia” caused conflicts not only between the White movement and new state formations on the territory of the former Russian Empire (Ukraine, the Caucasus republics), but also within the White movement itself. Serious friction arose between Cossack politicians who sought maximum autonomy (up to state sovereignty) and white governments (the conflict between Ataman Semenov and Admiral Kolchak, the conflict between General Denikin and the Kuban Rada).

Controversies also arose regarding foreign policy “orientation.” Thus, in 1918, many political figures of the White movement (P.N. Milyukov and the Kiev group of cadets, the Moscow Right Center) spoke about the need for cooperation with Germany to “eliminate Soviet power.” In 1919, a “pro-German orientation” distinguished the Civil Administration Council of the Western Volunteer Army regiment. Bermondt-Avalov. The majority in the White movement advocated cooperation with the Entente countries as Russia's allies in the First World War.

Conflicts that arose between individual representatives of political structures (leaders of the SGOR and the National Center - A.V. Krivoshein and N.I. Astrov), within the military command (between Admiral Kolchak and General Gaida, General Denikin and General Wrangel, General Rodzianko and General Yudenich, etc.).

The above contradictions and conflicts, although they were not irreconcilable and did not lead to a split in the White movement, nevertheless violated its unity and played a significant role (along with military failures) in its defeat in the Civil War.

Significant problems for the white authorities arose due to the weakness of governance in the controlled territories. So, for example, in Ukraine, before the occupation of the Armed Forces of the South by troops, it was replaced during 1917-1919. four political regimes (the power of the Provisional Government, the Central Rada, Hetman P. Skoropadsky, the Ukrainian Soviet Republic), each of which sought to establish its own administrative apparatus. This made it difficult to quickly mobilize into the White Army, fight the insurgent movement, implement the laws adopted, and explain to the population the political course of the White movement.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Reds controlled the densely populated central regions. There were more people in these territories than in the white-controlled territories.

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

The inexperience of white leaders in politics and diplomacy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The rifle corps consisted of two to four divisions;

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

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

Cavalry Corps - two cavalry divisions;

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

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

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

The essence of the Civil War and its “culprits”

Leaders of political parties began a discussion on this issue. The Bolsheviks believed that the Civil War, a more acute form of class struggle, was imposed on workers and peasants by former exploiters who were trying to restore the monarchy. Opponents of the Bolsheviks argued that the Bolsheviks were the first to use violence and the opposition was forced to take part in the Civil War.

From a universal human point of view, the Civil War is a historical drama, a tragedy of the people. It brought suffering, sacrifices, destruction of the economy and culture. The culprits were both “red” and “white”. History justifies only those who made compromises without wanting to shed blood. This compromise position was occupied by the so-called “third force” - the parties of the Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, and anarchists.

The civil war, due to its vast expanse, resulted in different forms: military operations of the fronts of regular armies, armed clashes of individual detachments, mutinies and uprisings behind enemy lines, partisan movement, banditry, terror, etc.

"White" movement

Heterogeneous in composition: Russian officers, the old bureaucracy, monarchist parties and groups, liberal cadet parties, Octobrists, a number of left-wing political movements that fluctuated between “whites” and “reds,” workers and peasants dissatisfied with surplus appropriation, the establishment of a dictatorship and the suppression of democracy .

The program of the white movement: the restoration of a united and indivisible Russia, the convening of a national assembly on the basis of universal suffrage, civil liberties, land reform, progressive land legislation.

However, in practice, the solution to many issues caused discontent among the overwhelming majority of the population: agrarian question- decided in favor of the landowner, canceling the Decree on Land. The peasantry wavered between two evils - surplus appropriation carried out by the Bolsheviks, and the actual restoration of landownership; national question- the slogan of a single indivisible Russia was associated among the national bourgeoisie with the bureaucratic oppression of the monarchical center. He clearly conceded to the Bolshevik idea of ​​the right of nations to self-determination, even to the point of secession; work question~ trade unions and socialist parties were banned.

"Red" movement

The basis was the dictatorship of the Bolshevik Party, which relied on the most lumpen layers of the working class and the poorest peasantry. The Bolsheviks managed to create a strong Red Army, which in 1921 numbered 5.5 million people, of which 70 thousand were workers, more than 4 million peasants and 300 thousand members of the Bolshevik Party.

The Bolshevik leadership pursued sophisticated political tactics of attracting bourgeois specialists. Former officers and alliances with the middle peasants were attracted, relying on the poor peasants. However, for the Bolsheviks themselves it was not clear which of the peasants should be classified as the middle peasant, who as the poor peasant and the kulak - all this was a political situation.

Two dictatorships and petty-bourgeois democracy

The civil war resulted in a struggle between two dictatorships - “white” and “red”, between which, as between a rock and a hard place, petty-bourgeois democracy found itself. Petty-bourgeois democracy could not stand anywhere (in Siberia - the Committee of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch) was overthrown by A.V. Kolchak; in the south - the Directory, liquidated by A.I. Denikin, did not last long; in the north - the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik government of N.V. Tchaikovsky was overthrown by Soviet power).

Results and lessons of the Civil War

* the country lost more than 8 million people as a result of the Red and White Terror, famine and disease; about 2 million people emigrated, and this is the political, financial, industrial, scientific and artistic elite of pre-revolutionary Russia;

the war undermined the country's genetic fund and became a tragedy for the Russian intelligentsia, which was looking for truth and truth in the revolution, but found terror;

economic damage amounted to 50 billion gold rubles. Industrial production in 1920 compared to 1913 decreased by 7 times, agricultural production by 38%;

The task of political parties is to seek a peaceful path of transformation and preserve civil peace.

Reasons for the Bolshevik victory

o thanks to the policy of “war communism” they were able to mobilize resources and create a strong army;

o the “white” movement made a number of mistakes: they canceled the Bolshevik Decree on Land; the Bolsheviks pursued more flexible tactics of negotiations and temporary alliances with anarchists, socialists (Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks); on the national question, the white movement put forward the slogan “Russia is united and indivisible,” and the Bolsheviks were more flexible - “the right of nations to self-determination, even to the point of secession”;

o created a powerful propaganda network (political literacy courses, propaganda trains, posters, films, leaflets);

o proclaimed patriotism - the defense of the socialist Fatherland from the White Guards as proteges of interventionists and foreign states;

o career prospects for growth opened up for workers and peasants: promoted workers and peasants who joined the party occupy administrative positions in the city and countryside.

"White" and "Red" movements in the Civil War 27.10.2017 09:49

Every Russian knows that the Civil War of 1917-1922 was opposed by two movements - “red” and “white”. But among historians there is still no consensus on where it began. Some believe 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 Miliukov proclaiming 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 entire society was 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 back in February 1917, when the monarchy was overthrown in Russia and a total restructuring of society began. The development of the “white” movement took place during the period when the Bolsheviks came to power and the formation of Soviet power. They represented a circle of people dissatisfied with the Soviet government, who disagreed with its policies and principles of its conduct.

The “Whites” were fans of the old monarchical system, refused to accept the new socialist order, and adhered to the principles of traditional society. It is important to note that the “whites” were often radicals; they did not believe that it was possible to agree on anything with the “reds”; on the contrary, they had the opinion that no negotiations or concessions were acceptable.
The “Whites” chose the Romanov tricolor as their banner. The white movement was commanded by Admiral Denikin and Quiver, 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 of most of the former army of the Romanov Empire to their side was the rebellion of General Kornilov, which, although suppressed, helped the “whites” strengthen their ranks, especially in the southern regions, where, under the leadership of the general Alekseev began to gather enormous resources and a powerful, disciplined army. Every day the army was replenished with new arrivals, it grew rapidly, developed, hardened, and trained.

Separately, it is necessary to say about the commanders of the White Guards (that 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. We can talk about each of them for a long time; their talent and services to the “white” movement can hardly be overestimated.

The White Guards won the war for a long time, and even let down their troops in Moscow. But the Bolshevik army grew stronger, and they were supported by a significant part of the Russian population, especially the poorest and most numerous layers - 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,” the “Reds” had many talented commanders and politicians in their ranks. Among them, it is important to note the most famous, namely: Leon Trotsky, Brusilov, Novitsky, Frunze. These military leaders showed themselves excellently in battles against the White Guards. Trotsky was the main founder of the Red Army, which acted as the decisive force in the confrontation between the “whites” and the “reds” in the Civil War. The ideological leader of the “red” movement was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, known to every person. Lenin and his government were actively supported by the most massive sections of the population of the Russian State, namely the proletariat, the poor, land-poor and landless peasants, and the working intelligentsia. It was these classes that most quickly believed the tempting promises of the Bolsheviks, supported them and brought the “Reds” to power.

The main party in the country became the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party of the Bolsheviks, which was later turned into a 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 effort went into the war with the Ukrainian People's Republic, so the Red Army soldiers had to fight on several fronts during the Civil War.

Attacks by the White Guards could come from any direction on the horizon, because the White Guards surrounded the Red Army from all sides with four separate military formations. And despite all the difficulties, it was the “Reds” who won the war, mainly thanks to the broad social base of the Communist Party.

All representatives of the national outskirts united against the White Guards, and therefore they became forced allies of the Red Army in the Civil War. To attract residents of the national outskirts to their side, the Bolsheviks used loud slogans, such as the idea of ​​​​a “united and indivisible Russia.”

The Bolshevik victory in the war was brought about by the support of the masses. The Soviet government 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, and violence in other forms, which could not in any way encourage people to support the “white” movement.

Results of the Civil War

As has already been said several times, victory in this fratricidal war went to the “reds”. 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 - unimaginable money at that time, several 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 ranged from 12 to 15 million.

Most of these people died from hunger, repression, and disease. During the hostilities, more than 800 thousand soldiers on both sides gave their lives. Also during the Civil War, the balance of migration fell sharply - about 2 million Russians left the country and went abroad.

"Reds"

Leaders of the Reds. short biography

Lev Davidovich Trotsky.

Lev Davidovich Trotsky (real name Bronstein) (1879-1940) - Russian and international political figure, publicist, thinker.

In 1917-18 Leon Trotsky People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs; in 1918-25, People's Commissar for Military Affairs, Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic; one of the founders of the Red Army, personally led its actions on many fronts of the Civil War, and made extensive use of repression. Member of the Central Committee in 1917-27, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee in October 1917 and in 1919-26.

Revolution 1905-1907

Having learned about the beginning of the revolution in Russia, Leon Trotsky returned to his homeland illegally. He spoke in the press, taking radical positions. In October 1905 he became deputy chairman, then chairman of the St. Petersburg Council of Workers' Deputies. In December, he was arrested along with the council.

In prison, Leon Trotsky created the work “Results and Prospects,” where the theory of “permanent” revolution was formulated. Trotsky proceeded from the uniqueness of the historical path of Russia, where tsarism should be replaced not by bourgeois democracy, as the liberals and Mensheviks believed, and not by the revolutionary democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry, as the Bolsheviks believed, but by the power of the workers, which was supposed to impose its will on the entire population of the country and rely on the world revolution.

In 1907, Trotsky was sentenced to eternal settlement in Siberia with deprivation of all civil rights, but on the way to his place of exile he fled again.

Second emigration

From 1908 to 1912, Leon Trotsky published the newspaper Pravda in Vienna (this name was later borrowed by Lenin), and in 1912 he tried to create an “August bloc” of Social Democrats. This period included his most acute clashes with Lenin, who called Trotsky “Judas”.

In 1912, Trotsky was a war correspondent for “Kyiv Thought” in the Balkans, and after the outbreak of World War I, in France (this work gave him military experience that was later useful). Having taken a sharply anti-war position, he attacked the governments of all the warring powers with all the might of his political temperament. In 1916 he was expelled from France and sailed to the USA, where he continued to appear in print.

Return to revolutionary Russia

Having learned about the February Revolution, Leon Trotsky headed home. In May 1917 he arrived in Russia and took a position of sharp criticism of the Provisional Government. In July, he joined the Bolshevik Party as a member of the Mezhrayontsy. He showed his talent as an orator in all its brilliance in factories, educational institutions, theaters, squares, and circuses; as usual, he acted prolificly as a publicist. After the July days he was arrested and ended up in prison.

In September, after his liberation, professing radical views and presenting them in a populist form, Leon Trotsky became the idol of the Baltic sailors and soldiers of the city garrison and was elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet. In addition, he became chairman of the military revolutionary committee created by the council. He was the de facto leader of the October armed uprising.

In the spring of 1918, Leon Trotsky was appointed to the post of People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and chairman of the revolutionary military council of the republic. In this position he showed himself to be a highly talented and energetic organizer. To create a combat-ready army, he took decisive and cruel measures: taking hostages, executions and imprisonment in prisons and concentration camps of opponents, deserters and violators of military discipline, and no exception was made for the Bolsheviks.

L. Trotsky did a great job of recruiting former tsarist officers and generals (“military experts”) into the Red Army and defended them from attacks by some high-ranking communists. During the Civil War, his train ran on railroads on all fronts; The People's Commissar of Military and Marine supervised the actions of the fronts, made fiery speeches to the troops, punished the guilty, and rewarded those who distinguished themselves.

In general, during this period there was close cooperation between Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin, although on a number of issues of a political (for example, discussion about trade unions) and military-strategic (the fight against the troops of General Denikin, the defense of Petrograd from the troops of General Yudenich and the war with Poland) nature there were serious disagreements between them.

At the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the 1920s. Trotsky's popularity and influence reached their apogee, and a cult of his personality began to take shape.

In 1920-21, Leon Trotsky was one of the first to propose measures to curtail “war communism” and transition to the NEP.

General Alexey Alekseevich Brusilov

In 1881-- 1906 served in the officer cavalry school, where he successively held positions from riding instructor to head of the school. In 1906--1912. commanded various military units. At the beginning of the First World War, he was appointed commander of the 8th Army, in March 1916 he took the post of commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front and became one of the best commanders.

The offensive of the troops of the Southwestern Front in 1916, which brought the Russian army the greatest success in the war, went down in history as the Brusilov breakthrough, but this brilliant maneuver did not receive strategic development. After the February Revolution of 1917, Brusilov, as a supporter of continuing the war to a victorious end, was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but due to the failure of the June offensive and the order to suppress calls for non-execution of military orders, he was replaced by L. G. Kornilov.

In August 1917, when Kornilov moved part of his troops to Petrograd with the aim of introducing a military dictatorship, Brusilov refused to support him. During the fighting in Moscow, Brusilov was wounded in the leg by a shell fragment and was ill for a long time.

Despite his arrest by the Cheka in 1918, he refused to join the White movement and from 1920 began serving in the Red Army. He headed a Special Meeting under the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces of the RSFSR, which developed recommendations for strengthening the Red Army. From 1921 he was chairman of the commission for organizing pre-conscription cavalry training, and from 1923 he was attached to the Revolutionary Military Council to carry out particularly important assignments.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Ulyanov)

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Ulyanov) (1870 - 1924) - politician, revolutionary, founder of the Bolshevik Party, the Soviet state, chairman of the Council of People's Commissars.

In 1895, he met the “Emancipation of Labor” group abroad, which had a huge influence on him and accelerated his entry into the struggle for the creation in the same year of the St. Petersburg “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.” For the organization and activities of this Union, he was arrested, spent one year and two months in prison, and exiled for three years to the village of Shushenskoye, Minusinsk district, Krasnoyarsk Territory. Returning from exile in February 1900, Lenin organized the publication of the newspaper Iskra, which played a huge role in the creation of the RSDLP in 1903. At its second congress, the majority of delegates, led by Lenin, stood for a more revolutionary and clear definition of who should be a member of the party, for a more business-like organization of the party's leading bodies. From here came the division into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. At first, Lenin was supported by Plekhanov, but under the influence of the Mensheviks he moved away from the Bolsheviks. Lenin took an active part in the first Russian revolution. Speaking under false names (conspiracy), he shattered the revolutionary and reformist illusions of the Cadets, Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, their hopes for a peaceful outcome of the revolutionary movement. He sharply criticized the so-called Bulygin (deliberative) Duma and gave a slogan for its boycott. He pointed out the need to prepare an armed uprising and actively supported representatives of Social Democracy from the State Duma. He pointed out the need to use all legal opportunities when it was impossible to hope for a direct revolutionary struggle.

The First World War mixed up all the cards. At the beginning of the war, V.I. Lenin was arrested by the Austrian authorities, but thanks to the efforts of the Austrian Social Democrats, he was released and left for Switzerland. Among the explosion of patriotism that gripped all political parties, he was practically the only one who called for the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil war - in each country against its own government. In these debates he felt a complete lack of understanding.

After the February 1917 revolution, Lenin returned to Russia. On the evening of April 2, 1917, at the Finlyandsky Station in Petrograd, he was given a solemn meeting by the working masses. Vladimir Ilyich made a short speech to those greeting them from the armored car, in which he called for a socialist revolution.

The period from February to October 1917 was one of the most intense periods of Lenin’s political struggle with the Cadets, Socialist Revolutionaries, and Mensheviks during the transition period from the bourgeois-democratic revolution to the socialist revolution. These were legal and illegal ways, forms and methods of political struggle. After three political crises of the bourgeois Provisional Government of Russia (April, June, July 1917), the suppression of the counter-revolutionary rebellion of General Kornilov (August 1917), and a wide period of “Bolshevisation” of the Soviets (September 1917), Lenin came to the conclusion: the growing influence of the Bolsheviks and the fall in the authority of the Provisional Government among the broad masses of working people makes it possible to revolt with the aim of transferring political power into the hands of the people.

The uprising took place on October 25, 1917, old style. On this evening, at the first meeting of the Second Congress of Soviets, Lenin made a proclamation of Soviet power and its first two decrees: the end of the war and the transfer of all landowners' territory and privately owned land for the free use of the working people. The dictatorship of the bourgeoisie was replaced by the dictatorship of the proletariat.

On Lenin's initiative and with strong opposition from a significant part of the Bolshevik Central Committee, the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with Germany was concluded in 1918, which was rightly called “shameful.” Lenin saw that the Russian peasantry would not go to war; He believed, moreover, that the revolution in Germany was approaching at a rapid pace and that the most shameful conditions of the world would remain on paper. And so it happened: the bourgeois revolution that broke out in Germany annulled the painful conditions of the Brest-Litovsk Peace.

Lenin stood at the origins of the creation of the Red Army, which defeated the combined forces of internal and external counter-revolution in the civil war. Based on his recommendations, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was created. With the end of the civil war and the cessation of military intervention, the country's national economy began to improve. Lenin understood the iron necessity of changing the political line of the Bolsheviks. For this purpose, at his insistence, “war communism” was abolished, food allocation was replaced by a food tax. He introduced the so-called New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed private free trade, which made it possible for large sections of the population to independently seek the means of subsistence that the state could not yet give them. At the same time, he insisted on the development of state-owned enterprises, electrification, and the development of cooperation. Lenin pointed out that in anticipation of the world proletarian revolution, keeping all large industry in the hands of the state, it is necessary to gradually build socialism in one country. All this can help put the backward Soviet country on the same level as the most developed European countries.

But Lenin’s colossal work overload began to affect his health. The attempt on his life by the Socialist-Revolutionary Kaplan also seriously undermined his health.

January 21, 1924 V.I. Lenin died. The body rests in the Mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow.