Where did the white Czechs come from during the civil war. Uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps
In the twentieth of May 1918, the so-called "White Czech rebellion" broke out in the country, as a result of which, in the vast expanses of the Volga region, Siberia and the Urals. The formation of anti-Soviet regimes there made war almost inevitable, and also prompted the Bolsheviks to sharply tighten their already rather tough policy.
But before that, the anti-Bolshevik formations did not represent any real force. So, poorly armed and devoid of any normal supply, the Volunteer Army consisted of only 1 thousand officers and about 5-7 thousand soldiers and Cossacks. At that time, everyone treated the "whites" in the south of Russia with complete indifference. General A. I. Denikin recalled those days: “Rostov struck me with his abnormal life. On the main street, Sadovaya, full of wandering public, among which there are a lot of combat officers of all branches and guards, in dress uniforms and with sabers, but ... without national chevrons on the sleeves that are distinctive for volunteers! ... On us, volunteers, as the public, so and "gentlemen officers" did not pay any attention, as if we were not here! However, after the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps, the situation changed dramatically, the anti-Soviet forces received the necessary resources.
In addition, it must be borne in mind that in the spring of 1918, the Bolsheviks, despite all their leftist bends, were ready for some kind of compromise in the field of domestic policy. If in 1917 Lenin acted as a "radical", then in 1918 he was already arguing with the "left communists" (A. S. Bubnov, F. E. Dzerzhinsky, N. I. Bukharin and others). This faction acted from leftist positions, demanding in every possible way to accelerate the socialist reorganization of Russia. So, they insisted on the complete liquidation of banks and the immediate abolition of money. The "leftists" categorically objected to any use of "bourgeois" specialists. At the same time, they advocated the complete decentralization of economic life.
In March, Lenin was in a relatively "compassionate" mood, believing that the main difficulties had already been overcome, and now the main thing was the rational organization of the economy. Strange as it may seem, the Bolsheviks at that moment (and even later) were by no means in favor of the immediate "expropriation of the expropriators." In March, Lenin began writing his program article “The Immediate Tasks of Soviet Power,” in which he called for a suspension of the “attack on capital” and some compromise with capital: “... It would be impossible to define the task of the present moment by a simple formula: to continue the attack on capital ... in In the interests of the success of the further offensive, it is necessary to "suspend" the offensive now.
Lenin puts the following in the foreground: “The organization of the strictest and nationwide accounting and control over the production and distribution of products is decisive. Meanwhile, in those enterprises, in those branches and aspects of the economy that we have taken from the bourgeoisie, accounting and control have not yet been achieved by us, and without this there can be no question of a second, equally essential, material condition for the introduction of socialism, namely: about increasing, on a national scale, labor productivity.
At the same time, he pays special attention to the involvement of "bourgeois specialists". This question, by the way, was quite acute. Left communists opposed the involvement of bourgeois specialists. And it is very indicative that on this issue they are at one with the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, who seem to have taken more “moderate positions” than the Bolsheviks. But no, the moderate socialists for some reason were against the involvement of specialists, the strengthening of discipline in production and in the troops.
The "leftists" criticized Lenin in every possible way for "state capitalism." Vladimir Ilyich himself was ironic at the same time: “If, in about six months, state capitalism had been established in our country, this would have been a huge success.” (“On “Left” Childishness and Petty-Bourgeoisness”). In general, in terms of relations with the urban bourgeoisie, many Bolsheviks expressed their readiness to make a significant compromise. There have always been currents in the leadership that suggested abandoning immediate socialization and using private initiative. A typical representative of such trends was the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council V.P. Milyutin, who called for building socialism in alliance with the capitalist monopolies (the latter were supposed to be socialized gradually). He advocated corporatization of already nationalized enterprises, leaving 50% in the hands of the state, and returning the rest to the capitalists. (At the end of 1918, the communist faction of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets began to play the role of a kind of opposition to the regime, which developed a project for the complete restoration of free trade.)
Lenin himself did not approve of this plan, but at the same time he was not going to abandon the idea of an agreement with the bourgeoisie. Ilyich put forward his own version of the compromise. He believed that industrial enterprises should be under workers' control, and their direct management should be carried out by the former owners and their specialists. (It is significant that this plan was immediately opposed by the Left Communists and the Left Social Revolutionaries, who started talking about the economic Brest of Bolshevism.) In March-April, negotiations were held with the big capitalist Meshchersky, who was offered the creation of a large metallurgical trust with 300 thousand workers. But the industrialist Stakheev, who controlled 150 enterprises in the Urals, himself turned to the state with a similar project, and his proposal was seriously considered.
As for the nationalization carried out in the first months of Soviet power, it did not have any ideological character and was, for the most part, “punitive”. (Various manifestations of it were examined in detail by the historian V.N. Galin in the two-volume study “Trends. Interventions and the Civil War.”) In most cases, it was a conflict between workers who wanted to establish production, and owners, whose plans included its suspension and even curtailment - "until better times." In this regard, the nationalization of the AMO plant, owned by the Ryabushinskys, is very indicative. Even before February, they received 11 million rubles from the government for the production of 1,500 cars, but they never completed the order. After October, the manufacturers went into hiding, instructing the management to close the factory. The Soviet government, however, decided to allocate 5 million to the plant so that it would continue to function. However, the management refused, and the plant was nationalized.
Nationalization was also carried out to curb the expansion of German capital, which tried to make full use of the favorable situation that had developed after the conclusion of the Brest Peace. They began a massive buying up of shares of the country's leading industrial enterprises. The First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of the National Economy noted that the bourgeoisie "is trying by all means to sell its shares to German citizens, is trying to get the protection of German law through all sorts of crafts, all sorts of fictitious deals."
Finally, in June 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSO issued an order on the "nationalization of the largest enterprises", according to which the state was supposed to give away enterprises with a capital of 300 thousand rubles. However, this resolution also stated that the nationalized enterprises are given for free lease to the owners, who continue to finance production and make a profit. That is, even then, the implementation of Lenin's state-capitalist program continued, according to which the owners of enterprises were not so much "expropriated" as included in the system of the new economy.
Under these conditions, long-term technocratic projects began to be conceived. So, on March 24, Professor Zhukovsky's "Flying Laboratory" was created. She started working together with the Calculation and Testing Bureau at the Higher technical school(now MSTU named after Bauman). Other promising projects were also conceived. The Bolsheviks began to position themselves as a party of technocrats, a "party of deeds."
However, the excessive urbanism of consciousness seriously interfered with this "case". The agrarian policy of the Bolsheviks alienated the broad masses of the peasantry from Soviet power. The Bolsheviks headed for the establishment of a food dictatorship based on the forced seizure of bread from the peasants. Moreover, there was opposition to this course, headed by Rykov. Moreover, a number of regional Soviets - Saratov, Samara, Simbirsk, Astrakhan, Vyatka, Kazan - resolutely opposed the dictatorship, which abolished fixed prices for bread and established free trade. However, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Supreme Council of National Economy, through the head of the Soviets, resubordinated the local food authorities to the People's Commissariat for Food.
Of course, some elements of the food dictatorship were necessary in those difficult conditions. Yes, they, in fact, existed - the seizure of bread, one way or another, was practiced by both the tsarist and the Provisional Government. The policy had to be somewhat toughened, but the Bolsheviks here pretty much overdid it, and this turned many people against themselves. In fact, the Leninists underestimated the strength of the "peasant element", the ability of the village to self-organize and resist. In an agrarian, peasant country, mass dissatisfaction with the Bolsheviks arose, which was superimposed on the discontent of the "bourgeoisie and landlords."
And now, in this situation, there is an uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps, which made the civil war inevitable. The performance itself became possible only thanks to the position of the Entente, which hoped to use the Czechoslovak units in the fight against both the Germans and the Bolsheviks. Back in December 1917, in Iasi (Romania), the Allied military representatives discussed the possibility of using Czechoslovak units against the Bolsheviks. England was leaning towards this option, while France nevertheless considered it necessary to confine itself to the evacuation of the corps through the Far East. Disputes between the French and the British continued until April 8, 1918, when in Paris the Allies approved a document in which the Czechoslovak Corps was considered as an integral part of the interventionist troops in Russia. And on May 2, at Versailles, L. George, J. Clemenceau, V. E. Orlando, General T. Bliss and Count Mitsuoka adopted "Note No. 25", ordering the Czechs to stay in Russia and create an eastern front against the Germans. Moreover, it was soon decided to use the corps to fight the Bolsheviks. Thus, the Entente frankly set a course to sabotage the evacuation of the Czechs.
Western democracies were interested in permanent civil war. It was necessary that the Reds beat the Whites as long as possible, and the Whites - the Reds. Of course, this could not go on forever: sooner or later, one side would have gained the upper hand. Therefore, the Entente decided to facilitate the conclusion of a truce between the Bolsheviks and the White governments. So, in January 1919, she made an offer to all power structures located on the territory of the former Russian Empire to start peace talks. It is quite obvious that a possible truce would be temporary and would be violated in the short term. At the same time, it would only stabilize the state of Russia's split into a number of parts, primarily into the red RSFSR, Kolchak's East and Denikin's South. It is possible that the first truce would have been followed by a second, and this would have continued for a long time. Incidentally, a similar state of permanent war developed in the 1920s and 1930s. in China, which was divided into territories controlled by the nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek, the communists of Mao Zedong and various regional militarist cliques. It is clear that this split played into the hands of only external forces, in particular, the Japanese.
England never gave up plans to "reconcile" the whites with the reds. So, in the spring, in an ultimatum form, she offered to start negotiations with the Communists and P. Wrangel - in the arbitration of Britain. Wrangel himself decisively rejected the British ultimatum, as a result of which in May 1920 London announced the end of aid to the whites. True, France has not yet refused this assistance and even strengthened it, but this was due to the circumstances of the Polish-Soviet war. The fact is that the French made their main bet on the Poles of J. Pilsudski, whose help far exceeded that of the Whites. But in 1920 there was a threat of the defeat of Poland and the advance of the Red Army into Western Europe. It was then that the French needed the support of Wrangel, whose resistance forced the Reds to abandon the transfer of many elite units to the Polish front. But after the threat to Piłsudski had passed, the French stopped helping the Whites.
The rebellion of the Czechoslovak corps - the speech of the Czechoslovak corps against the Soviet power in May - August 1918 in the Volga region, Siberia and the Urals, which created an opportunity for the activities of the anti-Bolshevik Committee of the members of the Constituent Assembly.
Czechoslovak Corps
Czechoslovak Corps - National Volunteer military unit, which was formed as part of Russian army in the autumn of 1917, mostly from captive Czechs and Slovaks - former servicemen of the Austro-Hungarian army who wished to take part in the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary. In the spring and summer of 1918, he was involved in hostilities against the Bolsheviks. As a result of the rebellion of the Czechoslovak Corps in the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and Far East favorable conditions were created for the liquidation of the Bolshevik organs of power.
Event History
Many historians call the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps the starting point of the Civil War in Russia. The rebels in the period from May 1918 to February 1920 influenced the situation in the territory in half of Russia. In Kazan, the rebels seized the Russian gold reserves (more than 30 thousand pounds of gold) and handed it over. With their help, anti-Bolshevik governments were created. As a result of the actions of the White Czechs, the Eastern Front became the main front of the Soviet Republic. Soviet historians called the provocations of white officers and representatives of the Entente the main reason for the uprising.
So, for example, the encyclopedia "Civil War and Military Intervention in the USSR" characterizes the rebellion as "... an armed uprising of the Separate Czechoslovak Corps provoked by counter-revolutionary officers and representatives of the Entente." Apparently, this is a delusion. There are other versions as to the reasons that made the whole corps rebel.
How the Czechoslovak Corps was created
To begin with, we should consider the history of the emergence of such a powerful military force in Russia. In the very first month of the First World War, the formation of Czech units began in the tsarist army. 1914, September - they created a Czech squad, which consisted mainly of defectors and prisoners of the Austro-Hungarian army, numbering 955 fighters, 34 of whom were officers. 1914, October - this squad fought on the Southwestern Front as part of the 3rd Russian Army. 1915 - they began to recruit captured Slovaks and Czechs who had Russian citizenship. The Czech squad proved itself in battles, which was able to win the authority of the command Southwestern Front, by the decision of which the staff of the squad was increased to 2090 people, and at the end of 1915 the squad was renamed the I Czechoslovak Regiment.
In the summer of the following year, the Czechoslovak Rifle Brigade was already in the Russian army, which included two regiments, the number of which, together with officers, was about 5 thousand people. For success at the front, the rifle brigade was deployed to a division, and in the fall of 1917 the Czechoslovak Corps was created, which consisted of 39 thousand soldiers and officers. It should be noted that during all this time the Czechoslovak national formations acted exclusively under the command of Russian officers. The plans of the Russian command included the formation of a second corps, however, after the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks and the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Czechoslovak Corps was to be relocated to the Western Front.
Czechoslovak volunteers in the trenches near Zborov (1917)
Background of the rebellion
1918, March 26 - The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR signed an official agreement with the branch of the Czechoslovak National Council (ChNS) in Russia. According to the agreement, the Bolsheviks undertook to transport the Czechoslovaks to Vladivostok as civilians for their further journey to Europe. Two necessary conditions: loyal behavior and surrender of the main part of the weapons at the indicated points. But, “these conditions were not met by the Czechoslovak command: the weapons were hidden from control examinations; incidents were provoked along the way: the soldiers were convinced that the Soviet government was deliberately hindering the advance of trains, was going to split the corps (with the intention of weakening its combat strength) and send part of it, which had not yet reached the Urals, instead of Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk and Murmansk.
Further in the encyclopedia, the official Soviet point of view continues to develop: “The initiative to change the movement of echelons came from the representatives of the Entente. While preparing an intervention against the Bolsheviks, on May 2, the Supreme Council of the Entente decided to use the Czechoslovak units as the vanguard of its armed forces in the Soviet North and Siberia ... The anti-Soviet part of the corps command and the leadership of the ChNS branch used discontent among the troops as a pretext for an uprising under the slogan “ advancing to Vladivostok with the help of force. But for what reason did discontent begin to appear in the troops?
Armored train "Orlik". Penza group of Czechoslovaks
The beginning of the rebellion. Versions
According to one version, discontent was caused by the following: 1918, May 14 - such an incident occurred in Chelyabinsk. At the train station near the echelon of the Czechoslovaks, there was a train with captured Hungarians who had joined the Red Army. Someone from the "Hungarian" carriage threw an iron object and killed the Czech. The Czechs, in response, began to lynch the killer. The Bolsheviks intervened in the incident and arrested several Czechoslovaks, without beginning to find out who was right and who was wrong. The latter became angry and not only freed their comrades by force, but also seized the city arsenal in order to properly arm themselves. The Bolsheviks ordered the corps to be disarmed and all armed men to be shot. In addition, the entire echelon was subject to arrest if at least one soldier was found to have a weapon. In other words, the uprising was provoked by the actions of the Bolsheviks.
According to another version, a telegram - by the head of the operational department of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs of the RSFSR Aralov, dated May 23, 1918 and sent to Penza: "Immediately take urgent measures to delay, disarm and disband all units and echelons of the Czechoslovak corps as a remnant of the old regular army" .
And such a version - he himself sent telegrams to all Soviet deputies from Penza to Omsk, in which it was reported that armed forces were sent to the rear of the Czechoslovak echelons, "who were ordered to teach the rebels a lesson." According to this version, the "mutiny" began as a result of a threat to the Czechoslovaks from the armed forces sent by Trotsky.
Legionnaires of the Czechoslovak Corps
Mutiny of the Czechoslovak Corps
1918, May 17 - after capturing the arsenal (2800 rifles and an artillery battery), the Czechoslovaks defeated the forces of the Red Army thrown against them, occupied several more cities, overthrew Soviet power in them. The Czechs began to occupy the cities that were on their way: Chelyabinsk, Petropavlovsk, Kurgan, and opened their way to Omsk. Other units entered Novonikolaevsk, Mariinsk, Nizhneudinsk and Kansk. At the beginning of June 1918, the Czechs entered Tomsk.
Not far from Samara, the legionnaires were able to defeat the Bolshevik units (06/04-05/1918) and made it possible for themselves to cross the Volga.
In the occupied territory, the Czechs liquidated the bodies of Soviet power. The first anti-Bolshevik government was organized in Samara - the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch). This was the beginning of the formation of other anti-Bolshevik governments throughout Russia (in Yekaterinburg - the Kadet-Socialist-Revolutionary "Ural Government", in Omsk - the "Provisional Siberian Government").
Retreat
1918, July - the Bolshevik troops in the Volga region were united into the Eastern Front. 1918, August - the movement of Czechoslovak and SR-White Guard troops was suspended, and in September the Reds went on the offensive, they were able to liberate Kazan, Simbirsk, in October - Samara and Syzran, in November - Ufa and Chelyabinsk.
Failures on the battlefield and the underground work of the Bolsheviks were able to cause the decomposition of the Czechoslovak army, which in November - December 1918 did not want to fight on the side of Kolchak and were withdrawn from the front (used by the White Guards to guard the railway). From the second half of 1919, in connection with the retreat of the Kolchak troops, the Czechoslovak units retreated to the east.
1920, February 7 - at the Kuitun station, the command of the Bolsheviks and the Czechoslovak corps signed an armistice agreement guaranteeing the withdrawal of the corps to the Far East and evacuation. 1920, spring - the Czechoslovak corps concentrated in Vladivostok, and then was gradually evacuated from Russia.
The word "monument" in Russian has a very specific meaning - a sign, a symbol that helps to remember things important for the people.
It is no coincidence that the Bolsheviks and today's neo-Nazi nationalists in Ukraine are actively fighting precisely with monuments. Different - yes. But the general meaning is exactly this - to change MEMORY. Change history and thus change the future.
Therefore, the setting of monuments must be approached very carefully.
Resource correspondents On the eve.RU asked me to comment on the following news. In the city of Miass, they want to erect a monument to the White Czechs - Czech legionnaires.
Let me remind you what we are talking about.
- During the First World War, there were many Slavs in the army of Austria-Hungary. No Czech Republic, no Slovakia, no Croatia, etc. was not on the map. There was Austria-Hungary. Many of the Slavic soldiers of the Habsburg Empire surrendered to the Russian army with joy. There were cases of the transition of entire regiments.
- It was decided to form two divisions from captured Czechs and Slovaks and other Slavs. And they were formed.
- The Czechoslovak Corps was integral part Russian army. Unfortunately, its final formation fell on the period of "revolutionary unrest" in 1917. As a result, the corps did not actually get to the front.
- Then a complex diplomatic game began. Both the Germans and the Entente put pressure on the Bolsheviks. The Entente demanded the withdrawal of the Czechs from Russia, allegedly to the Western Front. Trotsky gave the order to actually TRANSFER (donate) two divisions, uniformed and armed at Russian public expense to the allies in the Entente. The divisions of the Czechoslovaks became an integral part of the French army and began to obey the French. They decided to bring them to the Western Front for the war with the Germans ... through Vladivostok. In fact, London and Paris, through the hands of Leon Davydovich Trotsky, decided to use the Czechs to incite civil war in Russia. Which has never flared up before.
- Allegedly, at the request of the Germans, Trotsky gave the order to disarm the corps, whose units were stretched along the entire Trans-Siberian Railway. In response, an uprising began, which, like a match, set fire to a lot of Russian cities, where they were just waiting for a signal and help for the uprising. Back in 1918, the Bolsheviks published documents about how much money England transferred to the leadership of the Czech corps so that they would revolt.
- Instead of helping the Russians fight the Bolsheviks, the Czech units were withdrawn to the rear. They were not sent to the western front, but they began to guard the railway on the territory of Kolchak. Neither the Whites nor the Reds contacted the Czechs. They were, as it were, a third force within Russia. A force that obeyed London and Paris.
- The Czechs were engaged in punitive functions, robbed the population and did not fight the Reds at all. When the whites began to retreat, THEY CONSCIOUSLY blocked the railway. Despite not the requests, the pleas (!) of the white leadership to let military echelons, ammunition, hospital trains through, the Czechs completely stopped the railway. The pretext is the export of Czechoslovak trains.
- The result of this stab in the back was a military disaster for Kolchak's army. The defeat became a rout.
- Because of the Czechs, tens of thousands of wounded and civilians died. Echelons with the wounded and refugees were leaving Omsk and other cities. And they got up in the taiga. Minus 30, minus 40. Frozen echelons with the wounded and sick. The dead women, children and old people.
- But that's not all. In the rear of Kolchak, an uprising began in Irkutsk. The scales fluctuated. It was the Czechs who stabbed the whites in the back and prevented them from crushing the uprising in the city. It was the Czechs who attacked and defeated the reinforcements sent by Ataman Semyonov. All this was done on the direct orders of General Janin. The Frenchman who commanded them.
- This was done in order to get a pretext for betraying Kolchak, who refused to give the Allies a gold reserve. (Kolchak had half of the gold reserves of Russia. The second part remained with the Bolsheviks).
- Allegedly, on the orders of the Political Center in Irkutsk, the Czechs arrested Kolchak and handed him over to the revolutionaries. That is, they helped start the uprising, prevented the whites from suppressing it, and then, “scared” by the revolutionaries, they GOT Kolchak to them.
- The gold reserves of Kolchak were partly plundered by the Czechs and taken to their homeland, partly returned to the Bolsheviks. In fact, the Czechs (French and British) agreed with the Bolsheviks and divided the gold. The political center, which consisted of Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, disappears, not forgetting to shoot Kolchak, power passes to the Bolsheviks.
- In gratitude for the betrayal of Russia, the Entente creates Czechoslovakia for the Czechs. Before the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Hitler, the Czech crown was the hardest currency. The reason is stolen Russian gold.
- All Second world war Czechs "worked peacefully" at the military factories of Skoda, producing weapons for Hitler. The Slovaks, being allies of Germany, revolted in 1944. The Czechs revolted in May 1945. About a week after the capture of Berlin.
So is it necessary to erect a monument to the White Czechs?
CZECHOSLOVAK CORPS AND KOMUCH
There was a consolidation of anti-Bolshevik forces in the east of the country. The uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps in May 1918 played an important role in their activation.
This corps was formed in Russia during the World War from prisoners of war of the Austro-Hungarian army to participate in the war against Germany. In 1918, the corps stationed on Russian territory was preparing to be sent to Western Europe via the Far East. In May 1918, the Entente prepared an anti-Bolshevik uprising of the corps, the echelons of which stretched across railway from Penza to Vladivostok. The uprising activated the anti-Bolshevik forces everywhere, inciting them to armed struggle, and created local governments.
One of them was the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch) in Samara, created by the Social Revolutionaries. He declared himself a temporary revolutionary power, which, according to the plan of its creators, was to cover all of Russia and become part of the Constituent Assembly, designed to become a legitimate power. The chairman of Komuch, Socialist-Revolutionary V.K. Volsky, proclaimed the goal - to prepare the conditions for the real unity of Russia with a socialist Constituent Assembly at its head. This idea of Volsky was not supported by a part of the top of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. The Right Socialist-Revolutionaries also ignored Komuch and went to Omsk to prepare there for the creation of an all-Russian government in coalition with the Cadets instead of the Samara Komuch. In general, anti-Bolshevik forces were hostile to the idea of a Constituent Assembly. Komuch, on the other hand, demonstrated a commitment to democracy, while not having a specific socio-economic program. According to its member V.M. Zenzinov, the Committee tried to follow a program equally removed from both the socialist experiments of Soviet power and the restoration of the past. But equidistance did not work. The property nationalized by the Bolsheviks was returned to the old owners. On the territory subject to Komuch, all banks were denationalized in July, denationalization of industrial enterprises was announced. Komuch created his own armed forces - the People's Army. It was based on the Czechs, who recognized his authority.
The political leaders of the Czechoslovaks began to seek from Komuch unification with other anti-Bolshevik governments, but its members, considering themselves the only heirs of the legitimate power of the Constituent Assembly, resisted for some time. At the same time, the confrontation between Komuch and the coalition Provisional Government that had arisen in Omsk from representatives of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Cadets grew. Things went as far as declaring a customs war on Komuch. Ultimately, the members of Komuch, in order to strengthen the front of the anti-Bolshevik forces, capitulated, agreeing to the creation of a united government. An act was signed on the formation of the Provisional All-Russian Government - the Directory, signed by Komuch by its chairman Volsky.
In early October, Komuch, not having the support of the population, adopted a resolution on his liquidation. Soon the capital Komuch Samara was occupied by the Red Army.
Encyclopedia "Round the World"
ORDER OF THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSIONER FOR MILITARY AFFAIRS ON THE DISARMAMENT OF THE CZECHOSLOVAKIANS
All Soviets, on pain of liability, are obliged to immediately disarm the Czechoslovaks. Every Czechoslovak who is found armed on the railroad line must be shot on the spot; each echelon in which there is at least one armed person must be unloaded from the wagons and imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp. Local military commissars undertake to immediately carry out this order, any delay will be tantamount to dishonorable treason and will bring down severe punishment on the guilty. At the same time, reliable forces are sent to the rear of the Czechoslovaks, who are instructed to teach the disobedient a lesson. Honest Czechoslovaks, who surrender their weapons and submit to Soviet power, should be treated like brothers and given them all possible support. To inform all railroad workers that not a single armed car of the Czechoslovaks should advance to the east. Whoever succumbs to violence and assists the Czechoslovaks in their advance to the east will be severely punished.
Read this order to all Czechoslovak echelons and inform all railway workers at the location of the Czechoslovaks. Each military commissar must report on the execution. No. 377.
People's Commissar for Military Affairs L. Trotsky.
Quoted from the book: Parfenov P.S. Civil war in Siberia. M., 1924.
NOTE BY THE PEOPLE'S COMMISSAR FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS CHICHERIN ON THE CZECHOSLOVAKIANS
The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs handed over to the head of the British mission, the French Consul General, the American Consul General and the Italian Consul General a note reading as follows:
“The disarmament of the Czechoslovaks cannot in any case be regarded as an act of hostility towards the powers of the Entente. It is caused primarily by the fact that Russia, as a neutral state, cannot tolerate armed detachments on its territory that do not belong to the army of the Soviet Republic.
The immediate reason for taking decisive and strict measures to disarm the Czechoslovaks was their own actions. The Czechoslovak rebellion began in Chelyabinsk on May 26, where the Czechoslovaks, having captured the city, stole weapons, arrested and deposed the local authorities, and in response to the demand to stop the atrocities and disarm, they met military units with fire. Further development The rebellion led to the occupation of Penza, Samara, Novo-Nikolaevsk, Omsk and other cities by the Czechoslovaks. The Czechoslovaks everywhere acted in alliance with the White Guards and the counter-revolutionary Russian officers. In some places there are French officers among them.
In all points of the counter-revolutionary Czechoslovak revolt, the institutions abolished by the Workers' and Peasants' Soviet Republic are being restored. The Soviet government took the most resolute measures to suppress the Czechoslovak revolt with armed force and to disarm them unconditionally. No other outcome is acceptable for the Soviet Government.
The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs expresses confidence that, after all of the above, the representatives of the four powers of Entente will not regard the disarmament of the Czechoslovak detachments under their protection as an act of hostility, but, on the contrary, recognize the necessity and expediency of the measures taken by the Soviet Government against the rebels.
The People's Commissariat also expresses the hope that the representatives of the four powers of the Entente will not hesitate to condemn the Czechoslovak detachments for their counter-revolutionary armed rebellion, which is the most frank and decisive interference in the internal affairs of Russia.
People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Chicherin.
OVERTHROW OF SOVIET POWER IN SIBERIA
From Novonikolaevsk - Mariinsk. In all cities, villages - citizens of Siberia. The hour of saving the motherland has struck! Provisional Government of Siberia. The Regional Duma overthrew the Bolshevik government and took control into its own hands. Most of Siberia is occupied, citizens are joining the ranks of the people's army. The Red Guard is being disarmed. The Bolshevik government has been arrested. In Novonikolaevsk, the coup ended in 40 minutes. Authorities in the city were taken over by representatives of the Provisional Siberian Government, who proposed that city and zemstvo councils begin work.
There were no victims. The revolution was met with sympathy. The coup was carried out by a local detachment of the Siberian Government with the assistance of the Czechoslovak units. Our tasks: the defense of the motherland and the salvation of the revolution through the All-Siberian Constituent Assembly. Citizens! immediately overthrow the power of the rapists. Restore the work of zemstvo and city self-governments dispersed by the Bolsheviks. Provide assistance to government troops and helping Czechoslovak detachments.
Representatives of the Provisional Siberian Government.
Mariinsky Committee of Public Safety.
Telegram of representatives of the Siberian Government about the overthrow of Soviet power
DENIKIN'S OPINION
As for y.g. Massaryk and Max, wholly devoted to the idea of the national revival of their people and their struggle against Germanism, in the confused conditions of Russian reality, failed to find the right path and, being under the influence of Russian revolutionary democracy, shared its waverings, delusions and suspicion.
Life severely avenged these mistakes. It soon compelled both national forces, which so stubbornly avoided interfering "in the internal Russian affairs," to take part in our internecine strife, placing them in a hopeless situation between German army and Bolshevism.
Already in February, during the German attack on the Ukraine, the Czechoslovaks, amidst the general shameful flight of the Russian troops, will wage fierce battles against the Germans and their former allies - the Ukrainians on the side of the Bolsheviks. Then they will move to the endless Siberian route, fulfilling the fantastic plan of the French command - the transfer of the 50,000th corps to the Western European theater, separated from the eastern one by nine thousand miles of railway track and oceans. In the spring they will take up arms against their recent allies, the Bolsheviks, who are betraying them to the Germans. Allied policy will turn them back in the summer to form a front on the Volga. And for a long time yet they will actively participate in the Russian tragedy, evoking among the Russian people an intermittent feeling of anger and gratitude ...
A.I. Denikin. Essays on Russian Troubles
JAROSLAV GASHEK AND THE CZECHOSLOVAK CORPS
During the Civil War in 1918, Gashek was on the side of the Reds and was in Samara, participated in its defense from the White Army and the suppression of an anarchist rebellion.
And it all started with the fact that the future writer did not want to take part in the First World War. He tried his best to avoid military service, but in the end, in 1915, he was enrolled in the Austrian army and brought to the front in a prison wagon. However, Hasek soon voluntarily surrendered to Russian captivity.
He ended up in the Darnitsky POW camp near Kyiv, then he was redirected to Totsky near Buzuluk. Inspired by the ideas of communism, at the beginning of 1918 he joined the RCP (b) and stood under the banner of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War flaring up in Russia.
At the end of March 1918, the Czechoslovak section of the RCP (b) in Moscow sent Yaroslav Hasek to Samara at the head of a group of comrades to form an international detachment of the Red Army and explanatory work among the soldiers of the Czechoslovak corps.
Arriving in Samara, Hasek launched an agitation among the soldiers of the corps and other Czechs and Slovaks who were in prisoner-of-war camps or worked in factories. The members of the Hasek group, meeting the echelons with the legionnaires at the station, explained to them the policy of the Soviet government, exposed the counter-revolutionary plans of the corps command, urged the soldiers not to leave for France, but to help the Russian proletariat in the struggle against the bourgeoisie.
To work to attract soldiers to the Red Army, a "Czech military department was created to form Czech-Slovak detachments under the Red Army." It was located on the second floor of the San Remo Hotel (now Kuibysheva St., 98). There was also a section of the RCP(b) and the apartment of Yaroslav Hasek.
During April and May, a detachment of 120 fighters from Czechs and Slovaks was formed. Yaroslav Hasek became its political commissar. It was assumed that over the next two months the detachment would increase to a battalion, and possibly a regiment. But this was not possible: at the end of May, a rebellion of the Czechoslovak corps began. During the offensive of the White Czechs on Samara, Yaroslav Gashek was on the outskirts railway station Samara.
Early in the morning of June 8, 1918, under the onslaught of the superior forces of the White Czechs, the detachments of the defenders of Samara, including the detachment of Czechoslovak internationalists, were forced to leave the city. At the very last moment, Gashei went to the San Remo Hotel to take or destroy the lists of volunteers and other documents of the military department and section of the RSC (b) so that they would not fall into the hands of enemies. He managed to destroy the materials, but it was no longer possible to return to the station to the detachment - the station was occupied by the White Czechs, and the detachment surrounded by rail.
FROM with great difficulty and at risk Hasek got out of the city. For about two months he hid with the peasants in the villages, then he managed to cross the front. Hasek's activity as an agitator of the Red Army in the Czech environment was short-lived, but did not go unnoticed. In July, that is, only three months after arriving in Samara, in Omsk, the field court of the Czechoslovak legion issued a warrant for the arrest of Hasek as a traitor to the Czech people. For several months, he was forced, hiding behind a certificate that he was "the crazy son of a German colonist from Turkestan", to hide from patrols.
Samara local historian Alexander Zavalny gives the following story about this stage of the writer's life: “Once, when he was hiding with his friends at one of the Samara dachas, a Czech patrol appeared. The officer decided to interrogate the unknown, to which Hasek, playing an idiot, told how he saved the Czech officer at the Batraki station: “I sit and think. Suddenly an officer Just like you, so delicate and frail. He purrs a German song and seems to be dancing like an old maid in easter holiday. Thanks to the tested sense of smell, I immediately see - an officer under the fly. I look, heading straight for the restroom, from which I just came out. I sat close. I sit for ten, twenty, thirty minutes. The officer doesn’t come out ... ”Further, Hasek depicted how he went into the toilet and, pushing the rotten boards apart, pulled out the drunken loser from the outhouse:“ By the way, do you know what award they will award me for saving the life of a Czech officer?
Only by September, Gashek crossed the front line, and in Simbirsk again joined the Red Army. Together with the soldiers of the 5th Army, he marched from the banks of the Volga to the Irtysh. At the end of 1920, Yaroslav Gashek returned to his homeland, where he died on January 3, 1923, still very young, about 4 months before the age of 40.
The uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps (Czechoslovak revolt) - an armed performance of the Czechoslovak Corps in May-August 1918 during the Civil War in Russia.
The uprising swept the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia, the Far East and created a favorable situation for the liquidation of Soviet authorities, the formation of anti-Soviet governments (the Committee of members of the Constituent Assembly, later - the Provisional All-Russian Government) and the start of large-scale armed actions of white troops against Soviet power. The reason for the uprising was an attempt by the Soviet authorities to disarm the legionnaires.
Encyclopedic YouTube
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✪ Intelligence: Yegor Yakovlev on the consequences of the uprising of the Czechoslovak corps
✪ rebellion of the Czechoslovak Corps
✪ The uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps. Part 1.
✪ Admiral A.V. Kolchak and the Czechoslovak Corps in 1919.
✪ Digital history: Yegor Yakovlev on the escalation of the Civil War
Subtitles
I wholeheartedly welcome you! Egor, good afternoon. Kind. About what today? Finally, we continue about the Civil War, about its unfolding. We finished on how the Czechoslovak Corps rebelled, and today we’ll talk about the consequences of this uprising, because they were, indeed, a fateful share of the fate of our country, for the fate of the nascent Soviet Republic and for the White movement, too, because without the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps, the White movement would hardly be able to take shape. The uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps completely turned the situation inside the country, and its consequences were the most tragic. I will recall a little about how this uprising unfolded. I expressed the point of view that it was not that the perpetrators of this uprising ... Of course, the Entente incited, and first of all it was France, and first of all the French ambassador Noulens was a fierce supporter of the performance of the Czechoslovak corps and education, as they said then, anti-German front, against the German-Bolshevik forces, as it was called in certain circles of the Entente. Of course, the Entente incited, and there is a lot of evidence for this, and I talked about all this last time. But there were also those forces within the Entente itself, which, on the contrary, sought to ensure that the Czechoslovak Corps departed from Russia as soon as possible and arrived on the French front, on the Western Front, in order to defend France from the impending German offensive. And unfortunately, these forces were not sufficiently used by the Soviet leadership, it was not possible to rely on them and propagandize that Czechoslovak soldier mass, which, by and large, became a victim of deception, became a victim of propaganda, because the extremist wing of the Czechoslovaks in fact went on a direct forgery, explaining to his soldiers against whom they would fight in Russia. They explained, of course, that they would fight against the same Germans, because for the Czechoslovaks, the Bolsheviks are some kind of completely alien story. Your internal disassembly, huh? Yes Yes. Czechoslovakia, in general, the Czechoslovak Corps, let me remind you, was formed precisely as a military force that would fight for the independence of Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary, i.e. this is their national affair, it is practically almost Patriotic War It is true that it is being conducted on an incomprehensible foreign territory, but nevertheless, here they are defending the idea of an independent Czechoslovakia. It is clear that they must fight against the Austro-Hungarians and the Germans. There are no Austro-Hungarians and Germans here, so how to explain who they will fight here against? For this, such a semi-mythical threat was used - prisoners of war from the countries of the Quadruple Union. It was considered and officially proclaimed in this pro-Entant propaganda, which zombified the fighters of the Czechoslovak Corps, that there was a huge number of German prisoners of war in Russia. This was partly true - indeed, there were almost 2 million prisoners of war from the countries of the Quadruple Union. Wow! Let me remind you that the most ... most of the prisoners were Russians during the entire First World War, more precisely, citizens of the Russian Empire, subjects of the Russian Empire. Estimates are very different, by the way, this is an interesting topic: now the estimate of General Golovin is accepted - this is a very famous emigrant historian who estimated the number of prisoners of war in the Russian Empire at 2.4 million people. This estimate is accepted by a significant part of historians, but if we read Golovin himself, we learn that it is based as follows: Golovin, wondering how this number came to be, asked two of his colleagues, an Austrian historian and a German military historian, who checked these data against archives and sent him their results, and he deduced 2.4 from them. But no one has ever verified these figures, in any case, those historians who refer to Golovin, and this, by the way, for example, here is the well-known work of General Krivosheev on the losses of the army in the wars of the 20th century, and here he directly refers to Golovin, and Golovin refers to two historians who sent him these results, but no one checked these figures, they were interned there. But this is not so important for our topic, something else is important - that Austria-Hungary was in second place, which, as we remember, was a patchwork empire in which, as we know, a significant number of nationalities that did not have their own statehood within a dual monarchy , did not want to fight, which, in fact, can be read in the famous novel by Yaroslav Hasek. And now the Russians are there, if you remember how Schweik went to surrender, and towards the Russians, who are also going to surrender. This is approximately a typical story like this, the Austro-Hungarians were not far behind, and it was they who made up the bulk of these 2 million prisoners of war, and the Germans, in fact, there were only about 150 thousand of them ... Not rich, yes. Those. yes, yes, it didn’t work out that way with Germany, i.e. if we take an assessment directly for Germany, then the proportion is strongly not in favor of the Russian Empire. And in general, in terms of scale, these forces, of course, were scattered, unlike the Czechoslovak Corps, and represent some military force they couldn't. No one was going to organize this military force, and the Germans did not demand it. But the Entente propaganda presented the matter in such a way that military units are formed from these prisoners of war, which, in fact, will be the occupation corps in Bolshevik Russia and, together with the Bolsheviks, they will fight against the Czechs, in particular, and in general, carry out German rule in defeated Russia, and it is with them that you will fight. For these German units, the international units of the army, the Red Guard, were issued, which, indeed, were formed, but I must say that these were numerically insignificant units, i.e., naturally, most of the prisoners dreamed of sitting out until the end of the war in captivity, not was going to continue to fight for nothing, and only the most convinced, the most ardent, the most believing, captured by this Bolshevik idea, joined the international units of the Red Guard. In Penza, for example, there was the 1st Czechoslovak Revolutionary Regiment, or it is also called the 1st International Revolutionary Regiment under the leadership of ... under the command of Yaroslav Shtrombakh, also a Czech. There were 1200 people of all nationalities there, they were prisoners of war, mainly from Austria-Hungary: there were Czechs, Slovaks, Yugoslavs, Hungarians, of course. Well, i.e. a mass of people who did not want to die for either the Austrians or the Hungarians? They didn’t want to fight just, yes, and fight and die for this, in this particular war. They enrolled in a revolutionary regiment because they were close to the international ideas of the Bolsheviks. And the Entente propaganda tried to pass off these extremely few international units as Kaiser's battalions, which carry out occupational rule in Russia - it is necessary to fight against them. And in general, this propaganda was successful, but the response propaganda, Bolshevik, was not successful, although I recall that, for example, Jean Sadoul was in the French military mission - this is a captain who was extremely sympathetic to the Bolsheviks, then he will become a member of the Communist Party France, and I must say that recently, by some miracle, I watched a very curious episode from the TV series The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, where Indiana Jones, as an agent of the French military mission, finds himself in revolutionary Petrograd - it feels like some features are visible in it Jean Sadoul. Have you watched this series? No. Well, it's rather curious: he is sent precisely with the task of preventing the Bolsheviks from coming to power, he infiltrates the labor movement in Petrograd, but he infiltrates so well that he begins to sympathize with the young workers who joined the Bolsheviks, and it is precisely there that the action takes place during the July performances in 1917 when his friends are killed. Quite a tragic story, but this biography of Jean Sadoul is clearly seen in the interpretation of the adventures of Indiana Jones here. But let us return, in fact, to the events connected with the uprising of the Czechoslovak Legion. It was not possible to rely on Jean Sadoul, and I recall that there was an extremely sharp telegram from Trotsky, which called for the disarmament of the Czechoslovaks by force, and those who did not obey, to be shot and imprisoned in concentration camps. But this telegram was sent to all the Soviets along the route, in fact along the Trans-Siberian Railway, and almost all the Soviets were extremely perplexed by this telegram, since the Soviets simply did not have the Red Guard forces to carry out this task. It is necessary to explain - many do not know what the Sovdep is? Soviets - Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. It's not a swear word. Yes. And here, as an example of how these Soviets were put in a difficult situation, one can cite the Penza Soviet, because, having received Trotsky's telegram, he immediately gathered for a meeting and began to discuss what, in principle, could be done. And first of all, they contacted the military commissar of Simbirsk and requested reinforcements, saying that there were now more than 2 thousand Czechoslovaks with machine guns in Penza, and today they had just gone to the front, just at that time there were still battles with ataman Dutov in the Orenburg region , they sent 800 people to the front, and they have little strength, the Center requires the task to be completed today or tomorrow, a conflict is inevitable, so we ask for help - what can you give? From Simbirsk they answered that they couldn’t give anything special - they also sent companies to the Dutov Front, it is possible to send, however, 90 people from the International. When the Soviet understands that, firstly, they have few people, and secondly, they are not particularly trained, they directly tell Trotsky that they have come to the conclusion that we cannot fulfill the order: “... at a distance of 100 miles there are about 12 000 troops with machine guns. Ahead of us are echelons with 60 rifles for 100 people. The arrest of the officers will inevitably provoke an uprising against which we will not be able to resist.” What Lev Davidovich answers - he answers the following: “Comrade, military orders are given not for discussion, but for execution. I will hand over to the military court all representatives of the military commissariat who will cowardly evade the execution of disarming the Czechoslovaks. We have taken measures to move armored trains. You must act decisively and immediately. I can't add anything more." Basically, do what you want. Well, on the one hand, you can’t argue - Lev Davydovich is right, on the other hand, I don’t know, it only comes to my mind, since they were traveling in trains, only letting the trains derail. But then it is not clear... They stood. They weren't driving anymore, they were standing there. Well, in general, again, the Soviet party bodies consulted, realized that it was just, well, impossible, and therefore, in principle, they made the right decision - they went to engage in propaganda, to negotiate. But the forces of the Penza Soviet were not enough, in order to propagate the case of the Slovaks, other forces were needed here - representatives of the Entente military mission were needed here, i.e., from my point of view, of course, this is such, perhaps, it seems arrogant teaching, how it was necessary to act, we know better, etc., but it seems to me that it was rational to take by the scruff of the members of the military mission of the Entente, who are on words were spoken that this is an incident, this is an accident, we will explain, etc., to take members of the Czech National Council loyal to the Soviet government and lead them straight, lead them and force them to disarm under their cover. Well, the Penza Soviet did not succeed, the legionnaires did not begin to disarm, and as a result a battle took place, as a result of which the legionnaires captured Penza, and since this Czechoslovak revolutionary regiment was just standing there, the battle and subsequent events took place with extreme bitterness, because here the features of the Czechoslovak civil war already appeared - they fought against their own, they perceived each other as traitors, enemies, and since the White Czechs won, they, of course, committed a literally sadistic reprisal against the Red Czechs, which is still remembered in Penza. And in general, it must be said that from the capture of the very first cities it is manifested that the Czechs are in a foreign land, because, for example, the Whites took ... the Yaroslavl uprising won for a short time - there was no terrible pogrom there. Yes, there were ... some people were killed, Soviet party workers were arrested, they were put on a barge there, they were kept under arrest, but there was no such large-scale robbery. And the Czechs, having taken Penza, immediately behave like Landsknechts, who were given the city for plunder - here they are immediately rampant robbery, murder, rape, i.e. absolutely such a horde came. Occupier, yes. Yes, the occupying horde came, and, of course, the classic story begins with the settling of scores, they show the Czechs the objectionable, the objectionable crack down on those whom they were shown, without understanding, a communist, a Bolshevik - it doesn’t matter. Well, in short, a terrible thing began. And I must say that in Penza, by the way, they did not linger, they were very afraid that they would be kicked out of there, and, having simply destroyed the local Council, plundered the city, the Czechs went to Samara, which they would soon take. Samara is a very important moment, the capture of Samara, it was possible to take it very easily, as Lieutenant Chechik, who commanded this Volga group of Czechs, said, "they took Samara like a hay rake." There were no forces, i.e. The Red Army could not just yet ... could not simply organize a competent defense yet. It was Samara that became the capital of an alternative government to the Bolsheviks - it was the government, the so-called. Komuch, i.e. Committee of members of the Constituent Assembly. The Czechs brought the members of the Constituent Assembly in a wagon train. I must say that they were mostly right SRs, with the exception of the Menshevik Ivan Maisky, who later became a Bolshevik, the Russian ambassador to London and an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, who left very interesting diaries. The Right SRs, who made up the majority, they knew that the Czechs were going to revolt and expected intervention, and this indicates once again that they had extensive connections with the leadership of the SR party, in particular, in the French military mission. This indicates that the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps was inspired by the Entente. They waited, and as soon as the Czechs rebelled, immediately 5 members of the Constituent Assembly from the Socialist-Revolutionary Party arrived at the location of the Czechoslovak troops, they were brought in a car to the building of the Samara City Duma and planted there as a government, and they themselves later admitted that they no one supported, no one took seriously, and they were such wedding generals that they planted here - and now they ... manage. How did the Entente countries perceive the events that took place? Well, firstly, here - I remind you, I spoke about this last time - a great role was played by the statement of Guinet, a member of the French military mission, who, having arrived at the disposal of the Czechoslovak troops, said that the Entente countries welcomed the action and the creation of an anti-German front. Sadoul demanded that this statement be disavowed, but the statement was not disavowed, and this testified that the Entente had already made its final choice, i.e. she stakes on the overthrow of the Soviet power and on the Czechoslovak ... on the actions of the Czechoslovaks. Let me remind you that the Czechoslovaks were not on their own, but they were officially considered part of the French army and were subordinate, respectively, to the French commander in chief, so the French began to look at them as their own troops, supposed to act in the interests of the French Republic. In the same way, we meet with the full approval of the British. Lloyd George wrote to the head of the Czech National Council, Masaryk: “I send you my heartfelt congratulations on the impressive successes your troops have achieved in the fight against the German and Austrian detachments in Siberia. The fate and triumph of this small force is one of the most outstanding epics in history." That's it. Well, Masaryk immediately begins to hint to all his, I don’t know, colleagues, major political figures that all this is not just like that, keep your promises. In particular, with the US State Department, Masaryk wrote: “I believe that the recognition of the Czechoslovak National Council has become practically necessary. I am, I would say, master of Siberia and half of Russia. Here. Not bad. Masaryk demands recognition, yes, with an eye to the fact that this whole Czech National Council will move to Prague after the end of the war already as the government of an independent Czechoslovakia - like, we did what you wanted here, let's now pay with the recognition of Czechoslovakia. True, there were also selfish interests that are immediately recorded in the sources, because ... there were generally 3 reasons why the intervention began: the first reason is, of course, of course, an attempt to return Russia to the war, i.e. allies, all this nonsense that England deliberately overthrew the tsar, because the war had already been won - this is complete nonsense, because in the spring of 1918 the situation is such that Germany may well win the war, everything hangs in the balance there. If, say, Germany had taken Paris in 1918, then the American troops would have arrived at the hat show, and in any case, it would have been possible to conclude quite a decent draw at the end of the First World War, so ... But the situation for the British at this moment is very, very heavy, and even worse for the French. The second reason was that, yes, indeed, it was precisely the Soviet government that was afraid, because the Soviet government had clearly set a course for the elimination of private property, and Western countries, for which private property is sacred and inviolable, naturally feared this. Well, there was a third reason, of course, the third reason is obvious - Russia has weakened, it could be plundered, and all these countries that have long coveted various Russian wealth, they naturally wanted to take advantage of this. And these 3 reasons very often went like 3 in 1, i.e., without singling out any one, the same figures tried to achieve both the first, and the second, and the third. And what is interesting in this regard is that, for example, how at this moment in the United States it is being discussed whether to participate in the intervention or not to participate. Here is Presidential Advisor Bullitt writing to Colonel House, this is Wilson's special envoy: “In favor of intervention are Russian idealistic liberals, self-interested investors who would like the American economy to leave the Western Hemisphere. The only people in Russia who profit from this adventure will be landowners, bankers and merchants - they will go to Russia to protect their interests. Those. obviously this third motive sounds, and not only in Bullitt. It is also interesting that the Czechoslovaks are thought of as a kind of force that can hold back imperialist opponents, for the Americans it is Japan, and the American ambassador to China, for example, writes to the president about the Czechs: “They can seize control over Siberia. If they were not in Siberia, they would have to be sent there from the farthest place. The Czechs must block the Bolsheviks and push the Japanese as part of the allied interventionist forces in Russia." And the Americans of the Japanese ... Oh, twisted, listen! Those. everyone has big plans for the Czechs, but what do the Czechs do - the Czechs take city after city, rob and shoot. "Rob, drink, rest," right? Yes Yes Yes. And how many people did they kill? A lot of. On May 26, Chelyabinsk was already captured, all members of the local Council were shot, Penza on May 29, Omsk on June 7, Samara on June 8 - and so on, city after city along the entire route. Do you know, yes, that a monument was erected to them in Samara? I am aware, yes, and I will come to this now - this is extremely unfortunate news, but this is not only Samara, this is generally a whole program of the Czech Ministry of Defense, which, in agreement with the Russian Ministry of Defense, puts up monuments along the entire route. Well, what did the Czechoslovaks do along the way? We have evidence of this: well, for example, “in the early days of the occupation of Simbirsk, arrests were carried out right on the street on denunciations, it was enough for someone from the crowd to point out someone as a suspicious person, as a person was grabbed. Executions were carried out right there without any embarrassment on the street, and the corpses of the executed were lying around for several days. Eyewitness Medovich about the events in Kazan: “It was a truly unbridled revelry of the winners - mass executions not only of responsible Soviet workers, but of everyone who was suspected of recognizing Soviet power. Executions were carried out without trial, and the corpses lay all day in the street.” But the most interesting thing is that the Czechoslovaks were cursed not only by Soviet workers, not only by the communists, the Bolsheviks - later the White Guards also cursed the Czechoslovaks, because the Czechs betrayed them too, they were only engaged in ... i.e. it’s like that there - at first it seems like they were citizens of Austria-Hungary and betrayed Austria-Hungary, then they betrayed the Reds, then they betrayed the Whites, and in the end they left with the stolen goods. Well done! And one of Kolchak's associates, General Sakharov, even wrote an entire book in exile in Berlin, The Czech Legions in Siberia: Czechoslovak Betrayal. This book, well, as I understand it, fans of the white movement erect monuments to the Czechs, and so this book should have been read to them first of all, because on behalf of combat general The white movement is written there with such pain about all Czech arts, I would like to tell and read a little about it. Well, firstly, Sakharov describes the behavior of the Czechs with great humor and pain, because, of course, no one among the Czechs wanted to die for the White idea, i.e. obviously... idealists white movement they thought like: agents of Kaiser Germany seized power, we raised the banner of struggle here, we liberate occupied Russia, and our allies help us (well, it’s something like we have the Normandie-Niemen regiment there), we, together with our allies, drive out the invaders. But these white idealists were very soon to be severely disappointed, because they turned out to be no ... allies of the Entente country only in quotation marks, because they indulged in unrestrained robbery and clearly realized their interventionist goals, not caring in the least about the White movement, and this was a terrible disappointment for the whites. And this is what Sakharov writes: during one of the battles they asked for reinforcements, and a Czech armored car was sent to them: “The two-day battle cost us heavy losses, and had only local success. The Czech armored car did not support us, keeping all the time behind the cover of the railway recess and not even going out after our makeshift armored car, which went on the attack and damaged the Bolshevik armored car. The Czechs did not fire a single shot. After the battle, the Czechs announced their departure, but before that, the commander of the Czech armored train asked for a certificate of participation of the Czech armored car in the battle. Lieutenant Colonel Smolin, not knowing what to write to the Czechs, suggested that the Czech commander draw up the text of the certificate, hoping for his modesty. I sat down at the typewriter, and the Czech, dictating to me, entered into the text of the certificate a phrase that I remember to this day: “... the people of the Czech armored train fought like lions ...” Lieutenant Colonel Smolin, after reading the finished certificate, looked into the eyes for a long time Czech commander. Czech didn't even look down. Lieutenant Colonel Smolin took a deep breath, signed the paper and, without shaking hands with the Czech, went to the railroad track. A few minutes later, the Czech armored train left forever. For the entire time of the offensive struggle at the front, I had no contact with the Czechs, only from the distant rear a ditty, popular at that time, flew to the front: “Russians are fighting each other, Czechs are selling sugar ...”. In the rear, behind the back of the Siberian army, there was an orgy of speculation, disobedience, and sometimes outright robbery. Officers and soldiers arriving at the front told about the capture by the Czechs of trains with uniforms en route to the front, about the conversion of stocks of weapons and firearms in their favor, about their occupation of the best apartments in the cities, and on the railways of the best wagons and steam locomotives. You didn't hold yourself back, did you? Yes. Well, what is Sakharov’s conclusion, this is a white general, what he writes about the allies: “They betrayed the Russian White Army and its leader, they fraternized with the Bolsheviks, they, like a cowardly herd, fled to the east, they committed violence and murders against the unarmed, they they stole hundreds of millions of private and state property and took it out of Siberia with them to their homeland. Not even centuries, but decades will pass, and humanity, in search of a fair balance, will clash more than once in the struggle, more than once, perhaps, change the map of Europe; the bones of all these Good Ones and Pavel will rot in the earth; Russian values that they brought from Siberia will also disappear, - in their place, humanity will extract and make new, different ones. But betrayal, Cain's work, on the one hand, and Russia's pure suffering on the Cross, on the other, will not pass, will not be forgotten, and will be passed down from posterity to posterity for centuries. And Blagoshi and Co. firmly fixed the label on this: This is what the Czechoslovak corps did in Siberia! And how should Russia ask the Czech and Slovak peoples how they reacted to the Jewish traitors and what they intend to do to correct the atrocities inflicted on Russia? Well, now General Sakharov received an answer to his question - they erected monuments to them along the entire route of the echelons of the Czechoslovak corps. Here, the monuments should have consisted of this tablet, if it’s in your mind. Shameless, huh! Absolutely agree, absolutely! Those. the Czechoslovak corps was marked here by robbery, murders, violence. To erect monuments to them - I don’t know ... they went crazy in general, simply. Well, someone is already there, I saw the photos, someone already painted it from a spray can, writing with red paint over the monument: “They killed the Russians.” What do people who put up such monuments think? What do they think and what do they want to get in the end? What are the unfinished Reds writing on these monuments, right? Now your power has come? Well, what did your government say about this. Well, maybe it's some wrong white? What's in their heads? In addition to the fact that the Czechs robbed, killed, raped, they, of course, in principle gave impetus to a full-scale civil war in Russia, and one can absolutely agree with Ivan Maisky, who, I remind you, is a member of Komuch, and later he will become a Soviet diplomat of a very large and academician. And now he gives an absolutely accurate, in my opinion, definition of what happened: “If Czechoslovakia had not intervened in our struggle, the Committee of members of the Constituent Assembly would not have arisen, and Admiral Kolchak would not have come to power on the shoulders of the latter. For the forces of the Russian counter-revolution itself were absolutely insignificant. And if Kolchak had not become stronger, neither Denikin, nor Yudenich, nor Miller could have expanded their operations so widely. The civil war would never have assumed such fierce forms and such grandiose dimensions as they were marked by; it is even possible that there would not have been a civil war in the true sense of the word. This is an absolutely accurate definition, in my opinion. But a few words about Komuch: naturally, the formation of an alternative government to the Bolsheviks attracted all the anti-Bolshevik forces, well, first of all, of course, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, they all began to gather in Samara, and soon Viktor Chernov, the leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, ended up there. The policy was peculiar - they immediately declared that now was not the time for socialist experiments, and already on July 9, denationalization of enterprises and a timid policy of indemnifying former owners, and a very incomprehensible land policy began. This, by the way, seriously agitated the peasants, because the Bolshevik slogan “Land to the peasants!” no one canceled, everyone was worried about the question of whether the citizens of the landowners would return, who, in fact ... would they claim the rights to their former land. But so far, Komuch has announced that the main task is to eliminate the power of the Bolsheviks. To eliminate the power of the Bolsheviks, an army is needed, and so far everything rests on Czech bayonets, and as, by the way, the French consul in Samara wrote to the French ambassador Noulens quite rightly, “there is no doubt for anyone that without our Czechs the Committee of the Constituent Assembly would not have existed and one week. They felt very insecure, and Socialist-Revolutionary Brushvit wrote: "Support was only from the peasants, a small handful of intelligentsia, officers and bureaucrats, all the rest stood aside." That's what I was talking about - nobody wants war. Yes, and there was such support from the peasants, because the Socialist-Revolutionaries were known in this environment, but it is impossible to say that they have some kind of super support there. Well, first of all, Komuch creates an army, he calls it People's Army , forms a volunteer Samara squad, but it cannot be said that there was a huge number of people who wanted to. The only thing that could be noticed in this was that Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Oskarovich Kappel was arriving in Samara from the General Staff - this is a very large person for the White movement, well, Kappel is a veteran of the First World War, too, after he was demobilized in the fall of 1917, he lived In Perm. Kappel is an extreme monarchist by conviction, a talented man, like a military man, and naturally, he ... well, the Bolsheviks are not his power, he does not want to have anything to do with them, and as soon as an alternative arises, he immediately rushes to Samara. True, Komuch is also not his power, the Socialist-Revolutionaries are also practically the same for him as the Bolsheviks, and subsequently that is why he will support Admiral Kolchak, who, so to speak, is a classic military dictatorship, but at the moment, since all forces are on the suppression of the Bolsheviks, Kappel arrives, since there are no others who want to lead this squad, he ... appoints him. And this was the right decision on the part of Komuch, because such a talented military man at the head of the forces, indeed, for some time breaks the course of hostilities in favor of the anti-Bolshevik movement, in favor of the Whites. Subsequently, Kappel will take Kazan, and this will be a very strong blow to the positions of the Reds, because in Kazan: a) part of the gold reserves will be captured, part of which the Czechs will then take away with them, and the second important point - the Military Academy of the General Staff was evacuated to Kazan in in full force, and in full force she went over to the side of the whites. But this is not all interesting in this situation, because the Bolsheviks - this is probably a unique case in world history - will completely rebuild this Military Academy anew, using, again, the cadres of the old tsarist army. And as a result of all these events, a united anti-Bolshevik front begins to form, i.e. The Bolsheviks find themselves in a very difficult situation. And here we turn to such an important topic as the relationship of the Bolsheviks with the peasantry, because in addition to the White movement, which consists of officers, intelligentsia and middle urban strata, gradually the White movement begins ... well, I would not say that the peasantry supports the White movement , but, let's just say, the peasants begin to act in favor of the White movement, their spontaneous peasant uprisings are an important point. The fact is that, having come to power, the Bolsheviks faced the same problem that the tsarist government and the Provisional Government unsuccessfully solved - it was the problem of buying grain from the peasants. Let me remind you that by the end of 1916 a food crisis arose, it was due to the fact that the state set fixed food prices for the purchase of grain in the countryside. The prices were low, the peasants did not want to sell anything at low prices. The invisible hand of the market immediately started working, right? Yes, the invisible hand of the market immediately began to work, and in this regard, on December 2, 1916, the Minister of Food Rittich introduced the surplus appraisal. This surplus was voluntary, i.e. the peasants themselves had to hand over their surpluses to the local authorities. As a result, nothing was handed over, nothing was received, and the food crisis intensified. The interim government, realizing that the matter smells like kerosene, introduced the so-called. grain monopoly, but, again ... i.e. all surpluses must be handed over to the state, but the Provisional Government did not have any forces to withdraw these surpluses, and, of course, no one carried them on a silver platter. Moreover, what was the problem: the fact is that the trade between the city and the countryside was disrupted, the peasants couldn’t really buy anything - not nails ... the peasants couldn’t buy any goods in the range from nails to tea, so instead of money they held grain , they believed that we do not really need money now, it would be better if we store grain. Well, the Bolsheviks, having come to power, the Soviets, more precisely, having come to power, inherited this whole problem, but not just inherited this problem - it was seriously aggravated, why - yes, because Russia lost Ukraine under the Brest peace, i.e. in fact, the granary, and the grain became less and less, in general, the country was on the verge of starvation. Hunger is primarily in the cities, of course, because the grain from the countryside does not go to the city. What to do? Well, of course, the wealthy peasants, the kulaks, as before, as they did not want to give away grain to the state, they do not want to. Well, at the same time, one must understand that it was these people who set the tone for public opinion in the villages, and whoever wanted to sell bread would have burned the hut. Yes, and they even have the opportunity to either advance to some local Soviets themselves, or promote proteges there, and such a village conflict begins. Well, do you need to feed the city somehow? And in this sense, the Bolsheviks begin to act quite vigorously and toughly - they introduce a policy of effective surplus appropriation, sending food detachments to the villages. But so that the food detachments are not perceived in the village, as some mishandled Cossacks came and pulled everything out, separate detachments are created in the villages. committees of the poor. Yes, committees of the poor, ie. the class policy in the countryside begins to be implemented. So that the kulak does not hide grain from the state, he needs constant supervision. The food detachment came and left, who will look after him - his own, the poor. The poor have a direct goal of looking after the kulak. And so committees of the poor are being created in the village, which, in fact, should support the food detachments and show that this one has the grain hidden, here, this one here ... Well, that is, who does not understand, it is quite obvious - what if this one has 10 hectares under arable land, then on average it will grow like this, and then they will come and ask the question: where are ours, there, I don’t know, 1000 pounds? And he says: I only have 20. 20 won’t work, I’ll have to give everything. And these people, respectively, will show. This is what a field for settling scores, grievances and all that. Well, colossal, of course, all this is happening, the result is that peasant uprisings break out, and the village begins to polarize, i.e. the poor are drawn to the Bolsheviks, to the Red Army, the kulaks are drawn to any anti-Bolsheviks in general and to the White Army, but for whom is the middle peasant? That's who the middle peasant will be for, he will win, that and slippers. A struggle for the middle peasant begins: propaganda, violence, but in any case, since the summer of 1918, we have recorded more than a hundred peasant uprisings, large and small, throughout the country, because this policy cannot please the peasantry, because it provokes ... reveals an internal conflict. Well, in general, here, it seems to me, it makes no difference whether you are a fist or not a fist - from the point of view of me, as a peasant: I raised it with my sweat, blood, and for as much as I want, for as much I will sell - and then they will come and take it away simply. Yes. Peasant psychology, in general, sharply rejected all this. And after all these ... well, almost in parallel with all these events, the Soviet government makes another decision that sharply, so to speak, the peasants, firstly, polarizes, and secondly, is not generally popular: since the enemy does not sleep, gathers strength, you need to create an army. Let me remind you that the Red Army already exists, but it is voluntary, whoever wants, goes. Something on a voluntary basis, not very many people enter there for obvious reasons - the war has been going on for the 4th year, everyone is tired, they want a peaceful life, etc., well, not popular, the war is not popular in principle. But since the enemies are mobilizing, the Bolsheviks are forced to announce mobilization, or rather, the forced recruitment of workers into the Red Army, this happens by decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on May 29, 1918. Mobilization begins on June 12, 5 ages of workers and peasants who do not exploit the labor of others in the 51st county of the Volga, Ural and West Siberian military districts, located in close proximity to the theater of operations. And the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets in July already consolidated the transition from the voluntary principle of the formation of the Red Army to the creation of a regular army of workers and working peasants on the basis of military service. The peasants do not want to join the army, they disrupt the mobilization - well, it seems they fought for 4 years, they just returned, here the land ... and again they demand to fight, it is not clear against whom, why. There is a well-known song: “In the Red Army there are bayonets, tea, the Bolsheviks will manage without you.” Yes, this is Demyan Poor. Everything doesn’t want to, mobilization fails, and now we have such a document as a report by a member of the Higher Military Inspectorate Nikolaev, who informs the Council of People’s Commissars: “Mobilization has no chance of success, there is no enthusiasm, faith, desire to fight.” All this is happening against the backdrop of, well, not exactly the failure of this food policy, but this food policy, it is clear that even on paper, in the plans, it looked normal: here the food detachments, they come, here they are met by committees of the poor, they show where the kulaks have the grain, the kulak has nowhere to go, it gives away the grain - and all is well. When all this begins to be put into practice, this inevitably leads to some colossal excesses: in the same Penza province, an uprising begins, because there was such a woman commissar of the food detachment, Evgenia Bosh, who, nevertheless, was apparently not very balanced lady, she personally shot one peasant who refused to hand over grain - this caused ... led to an uprising, well, there is a war going on, in fact, such a peasant war. We have data on how these attempts to take away bread took place in different places: well, for example, in some places the food detachments are simply dispersed by the peasants. On the other hand, in some places, food detachments, consisting of workers, behave in national villages, completely ignoring local national customs and traditions: for example, “one of the national traditions of the Udmurt peasants was laying bread stacks in honor of the birth of their daughter. Such stacks, called girls' stacks, were placed every year before the wedding, being the daughter's dowry. Therefore, every owner who had daughters had stocks of bread that were inviolable before their wedding. The food orderers, who did not know this, threshed the maiden stacks, dishonored, according to the concepts of the peasants, their houses. Such tactlessness created favorable conditions for nationalist agitation and armed uprisings against the food detachments.” But, nevertheless, the author notes that in the Vyatka province there was a very effective commissar of the food detachment Schlichter, who applied a system of contracts with the peasant Soviets and paid for part of the bread in goods, i.e. he managed to fulfill the plan for grain procurements. But nevertheless, just for ourselves, we note that this policy aroused sharp discontent among the peasantry, and the peasants swung at that moment to the whites. And in principle, these problems with the peasants will remain until the end of the Civil War, all subsequent events, all subsequent these famous peasant uprisings will be caused by the same reasons. But, in principle, the same problem that the Bolsheviks faced, it faced ... became inevitable in general for any government that was organized in the space of the former Russian Empire, and this government had to do the same thing - the cities had to be fed. Therefore, from any government, they come to power, for example, the Germans, they occupied Ukraine - food detachments need to be seized, and also sent to Germany and Austria-Hungary, Kolchak comes - the same thing. Therefore, in principle, this problem was the same for all authorities. And we see the same thing in relation to mobilization, because when Komuch strengthened, the first thing he announced was mobilization. "Involuntarily, you will go or willingly, Vanya-Vanya, you will disappear for nothing." On June 8, already on the day of the capture of Samara, Komuch, announcing the creation of the People's Army, emphasizing the non-class character, announces mobilization - the same thing, no one wants to fight. One of the organizers of the army, Shmelev, writes that former officers, student youth, and the intelligentsia joined the ranks of volunteer units, but the people do not want to go into it, the peasants of 5 out of 7 counties of the Samara province did not support volunteering for the Komuch army, only the most rich counties of the province gave volunteers. But they also sent tens of thousands of poor and weak middle peasants to the Red Army, and the right-wing Socialist-Revolutionary Klimushin was forced to admit in September 1918 that "despite the general rejoicing, real support was negligible - not hundreds, but only dozens of citizens came to us." Well, as a result, almost forced mobilization begins, parts of the formed people's army travel through the villages, trying to find people there, but nothing works out for them. And in those places where the army of Komuch is already passing, there, on the contrary, sympathy for the Bolsheviks is already beginning. Here is how Shmelev writes - that the population, impatiently awaiting the arrival of the people's army, was often bitterly disappointed in their expectations almost from the first days. In the Menzelinsky district, inhabited by Tatars, during the offensive of the Czechoslovaks, a wave of peasant uprisings against Soviet power took place. But it was enough for Colonel Shch. to “walk” around the county for several days with his fellows, as the mood completely changed in the opposite direction. When the Menzelinsky district was again occupied by Soviet troops, almost the entire male population of the district, capable of carrying weapons, without waiting for forced mobilization, joined the ranks of the Soviet troops. Strongly! A very characteristic confession. So, we note that the peasantry as a whole is quite passive and does not want to fight at the moment. But nevertheless, the confrontation is determined, the fronts are determined, and at this moment - the middle of 1918 - the prospects for the victory of the Whites begin to emerge, why - because, firstly, they enjoy the support of the Entente countries, and secondly, alternative authorities are being created, around which you can build armies, etc., all forces unite, flock, and thirdly, the Bolsheviks are losing their social base, they are losing the social base of the peasants, and they are losing their allies - the Left Social Revolutionaries, who blame the wrong policy of the Bolsheviks for everything that happens . Let me remind you that in tandem, in this alliance, in the coalition of Bolsheviks and Left SRs, the Bolsheviks are still the leaders, and the Left SRs are the followers, but the Left SRs do not really like this, and the Left SRs, firstly, strongly disapprove of Brestsky peace, they believe that everything that is happening is all because they signed the obscene Brest Peace. Now, if the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had not been signed, we would have continued the revolutionary war, Germany would have already taken place, in general, a world revolution would have already taken place, we would already be, in general, on horseback. And now we have only strengthened the German army, from here we are forced, after the occupation of Ukraine, we are forced to start putting pressure on the peasant, which means peasant uprisings - the Bolsheviks are to blame for all this, they made the whole mess. Therefore, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries are already thinking about a rebellion with the aim of a coup and coming to power. This is one problem of the Bolsheviks, in addition to this, the so-called. in historiography, it is known as a conspiracy of ambassadors, because the Entente, outwardly maintaining diplomatic politeness in relation to the power of the Bolsheviks, although not recognizing it, is clearly aiming at overthrowing the Council of People's Commissars and restoring some kind of interim government capable, firstly, of resuming the war against Germany, and secondly, accountable to the forces of the Entente, controlled. And thirdly, officer speeches are being prepared in parallel, which are secretly conducted by Boris Savinkov, the Socialist-Revolutionary, probably the most energetic person in the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, who, having received a mandate to organize underground officer organizations from the commander of the Volunteer Army Alekseev, indeed created them, not just He spoke and he really created. And all this surrounds the Bolsheviks in a ring, i.e. knots are tightening around them everywhere, and it seems that it is impossible to cope with this, because there are such grandiose problems, such a roll on them that it is not clear how to cope with this, but nevertheless they coped. That's how it happened, we'll talk next time. Into the plot! Thanks, Egor. And that's all for today. See you again.
background
The Czechoslovak corps was formed as part of the Russian army in the autumn of 1917, mainly from captured Czechs and Slovaks who expressed a desire to participate in the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The first national Czech unit (the Czech squad) was created from Czech volunteers who lived in Russia at the very beginning of the war, in the autumn of 1914. As part of the 3rd Army of General Radko-Dmitriev, she participated in the Battle of Galicia and later performed mainly reconnaissance and propaganda functions. From March 1915 Supreme Commander of the Russian Army Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich allowed to accept Czechs and Slovaks from among the prisoners and defectors into the ranks. As a result, by the end of 1915, it was deployed to the First Czechoslovak rifle regiment named after Jan Hus (staffing approx. 2100 people). It was in this formation that the future leaders of the rebellion began their service, and later on - prominent political and military figures of the Czechoslovak Republic - lieutenant Jan Syrovy, lieutenant Stanislav Chechek, captain Radola Gayda and others. By the end of 1916, the regiment turned into a brigade ( Československá strelecká brigada) consisting of three regiments, numbering approx. 3.5 thousand officers and lower ranks, under the command of Colonel V.P. Troyanov.
Meanwhile, in February 1916, the Czechoslovak National Council was formed in Paris ( Československá národní rada). Its leaders (Tomas Masaryk, Josef Dyurich, Milan Stefanik, Edvard Benes) promoted the idea of creating an independent Czechoslovak state and made active efforts to obtain the consent of the Entente countries to form an independent volunteer Czechoslovak army.
1917
The representative of the ChSNS, the future first president of independent Czechoslovakia, Professor Tomasz Masaryk spent a whole year in Russia, from May 1917 to April 1918. As a prominent figure in the White movement, Lieutenant General Sakharov, writes in his book, Masaryk first contacted all the "leaders" of the February Revolution, after what " entered entirely at the disposal of the French military mission in Russia". Masaryk himself in the 1920s called the Czechoslovak Corps " autonomous army, but at the same time an integral part of the French army", because the " we were financially dependent on France and on the Entente» . For leaders of the Czech national movement main goal continued participation in the war with Germany was the creation of a state independent of Austria-Hungary. In the same year, 1917, by a joint decision of the French government and the ČSNS, the Czechoslovak Legion was formed in France. The ČSNS was recognized as the sole supreme body of all Czechoslovak military formations - this put the Czechoslovak legionnaires(and now they were called that way) in Russia, depending on the decisions of the Entente.
Meanwhile, the Czechoslovak National Council (CSNC), which sought to turn the Czechoslovak corps created by Russia into a “foreign allied army located on Russian territory,” petitioned the French government and President Poincaré to recognize all Czechoslovak military formations as part of the French army. Since December 1917, on the basis of a decree of the French government of December 19 on the organization of an autonomous Czechoslovak army in France, the Czechoslovak corps in Russia was formally subordinate to the French command and was instructed to send to France.
1918
Nevertheless, Czechoslovaks could only get to France through the territory of Russia, where at that time Soviet power was established everywhere. In order not to spoil relations with the Soviet government of Russia, the Czechoslovak National Council categorically refrained from any action against it, and therefore refused to help the Central Rada against the Soviet detachments advancing on it.
During the unfolding offensive of the Soviet troops on Kyiv, they came into contact with units of the 2nd Czechoslovak division, which was on formation near Kyiv, and Masaryk concluded an agreement on neutrality with commander-in-chief M. A. Muravyov. On January 26 (February 8), Soviet troops captured Kyiv and established Soviet power there. On February 16, Muravyov informed Masaryk that the government of Soviet Russia had no objection to the departure of the Czechoslovaks to France.
With the consent of Masaryk, Bolshevik agitation was allowed in the Czechoslovak units. A small part of the Czechoslovaks (a little over 200 people), under the influence of revolutionary ideas, left the corps and later joined the international brigades of the Red Army. Masaryk himself, according to him, refused to accept proposals for cooperation that came to him from Generals Alekseev and Kornilov (General Alekseev in early February 1918 turned to the head of the French mission in Kyiv with a request to agree to send Ekaterinoslav - Alexandrov - Sinelnikovo to the area, if not the entire Czechoslovak corps, then at least one division with artillery in order to create the conditions necessary for the defense of the Don and the formation Volunteer army. P. N. Milyukov addressed the same request directly to Masaryk). At the same time, Masaryk, in the words of K. N. Sakharov, “strongly connected with the Russian left camp; in addition to Muravyov, he strengthened his relations with a number of revolutionary figures of the semi-Bolshevik type. Russian officers were gradually removed from command posts, the CHSNS in Russia was replenished with "leftist, ultra-socialist people from prisoners of war."
In early 1918, the 1st Czechoslovak division was stationed near Zhytomyr. On January 27 (February 9), the delegation of the Central Rada of the UNR in Brest-Litovsk signed a peace treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary, enlisting their military assistance in the fight against Soviet troops. After the entry of German-Austrian troops into the territory of Ukraine, which began on February 18, the 1st Czechoslovak division was urgently redeployed from Zhytomyr to the Left-Bank Ukraine, where from March 7 to March 14, in the Bakhmach region, the Czechoslovaks had to act jointly with the Soviet troops, holding back the onslaught of the German divisions to ensure evacuation.
All the efforts of the CHSNS were aimed at organizing the evacuation of the corps from Russia to France. The shortest route was by sea - through Arkhangelsk and Murmansk - but it was abandoned because of the Czechs' fears that the corps could be intercepted by the Germans if they went on the offensive. It was decided to send legionnaires along the Trans-Siberian railway to Vladivostok and further through Pacific Ocean to Europe .
The former tsarist army had already ceased to exist by the summer of 1918, while the Red Army and the White armies were just beginning to form and, often, did not differ in combat readiness. The Czechoslovak Legion turns out to be almost the only combat-ready force in Russia, its number grows to 50 thousand people. The attitude of the Bolsheviks towards the Czechoslovaks was wary because of this. On the other hand, despite the consent expressed by the Czech leaders to the partial disarmament of the echelons, this was perceived with great discontent among the legionnaires themselves and became an occasion for hostile distrust of the Bolsheviks.
Meanwhile, the Soviet government became aware of secret negotiations allies about the Japanese intervention in Siberia and the Far East. On March 28, in the hope of preventing this, Leon Trotsky agreed to Lockhart for an all-Union landing in Vladivostok. However, on April 4, Japanese Admiral Kato, without warning the allies, landed a small detachment in Vladivostok. marines"for the protection of the lives and property of Japanese citizens." The Soviet government, suspecting the Entente of a double game, demanded to start new negotiations on changing the direction of the evacuation of the Czechoslovaks from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk and Murmansk.
The German General Staff, for its part, also feared the imminent appearance of a 40,000-strong corps on the Western Front, at a time when France was already running out of its last manpower reserves and the so-called colonial troops were hastily sent to the front. Under pressure from the German Ambassador to Russia, Count Mirbach, on April 21, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.V.
Fearing a Japanese offensive in Siberia, Germany resolutely demands that an emergency evacuation of German prisoners from Eastern Siberia to Western or European Russia be started. Please use all means. Czechoslovak detachments must not move east.
Chicherin
The legionnaires took this order as the intention of the Soviet government to extradite them to Germany and Austria-Hungary as former prisoners of war. In an atmosphere of mutual distrust and suspicion, incidents were inevitable. One of them happened on May 14 at Chelyabinsk station. A Czech soldier was wounded with a cast-iron leg from a stove thrown from a passing echelon with Hungarian prisoners of war. In response, the Czechoslovaks stopped the train and lynched the culprit. Following this incident, the Soviet authorities of Chelyabinsk arrested several legionnaires the next day. However, their comrades freed the arrested by force, disarmed the local Red Guard detachment and destroyed the weapons arsenal, capturing 2,800 rifles and an artillery battery.
Course of events during the uprising
In such an atmosphere of extreme excitement, a congress of Czechoslovak military delegates gathered in Chelyabinsk (May 16-20), at which, to coordinate the actions of disparate groupings of the corps, the Provisional Executive Committee of the Congress of the Czechoslovak Army was formed from three echelon chiefs (lieutenant Chechek, captain Gaida, colonel Voitsekhovsky) under chaired by CSNC member Pavlu. The congress resolutely took the position of breaking with the Bolsheviks and decided to stop the surrender of weapons (by this moment the weapons had not yet been surrendered by the three rear guard regiments in the Penza region) and move "in their own order" to Vladivostok.
On May 21, Maxa and Chermak, representatives of the ČSNS, were arrested in Moscow, and an order was given for the complete disarmament and disbandment of the Czechoslovak echelons. On May 23, Aralov, head of the operations department of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, telegraphed to Penza: “... I propose to immediately take urgent measures to delay, disarm and disband all echelons and units of the Czechoslovak corps as a remnant of the old regular army. From the personnel of the corps, form Red Army and workers' artels ... "The representatives of the Chess Socialist Union, arrested in Moscow, accepted Trotsky's demands and on behalf of Masaryk ordered the Czechoslovaks to surrender all weapons, declaring the incident in Chelyabinsk a mistake and demanding an immediate cessation of all kinds of speeches that impede the implementation of the" national cause ". Legionnaires, however, were already subordinate only to their "Provisional Executive Committee", elected by the congress. This emergency body sent an order to all echelons and parts of the corps: “Do not hand over weapons anywhere to the Soviets, do not cause clashes yourself, but in case of an attack, defend yourself, continue moving eastward in your own order.”
May 25 was followed by a telegram from Commissar Trotsky "to all Soviet deputies along the line from Penza to Omsk", which left no doubt about the decisive intentions of the Soviet authorities:
... All railway councils are obliged, under pain of heavy responsibility, to disarm the Czechoslovaks. Every Czechoslovak who is found armed on the railway lines must be shot on the spot; each echelon in which there is at least one armed person must be unloaded from the wagons and imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp. Local military commissariats undertake to immediately carry out this order, any delay will be tantamount to treason and will bring down severe punishment on the guilty. At the same time, I send reliable forces to the rear of the Czechoslovak echelons, who are instructed to teach the disobedient a lesson. Honest Czechoslovaks, who surrender their weapons and submit to Soviet power, should be treated like brothers and given them all possible support. All railroad workers are informed that not a single wagon with Czechoslovaks should move east ...
People's Commissar for Military Affairs L. Trotsky.Quoted from the book. Parfenov "Civil War in Siberia". Page 25-26.
On May 25-27, at several points where the Czechoslovak echelons were located (Maryanovka station, Irkutsk, Zlatoust), skirmishes took place with the Red Guards, who were trying to disarm the legionnaires.
On May 27, Colonel Voitsekhovsky's division took Chelyabinsk. The Czechoslovaks, having defeated the forces of the Red Guard thrown against them, also occupied the cities along the Trans-Siberian Railway Petropavlovsk and Kurgan, overthrowing the power of the Bolsheviks in them and opened their way to Omsk. Other units entered Novonikolaevsk, Mariinsk, Nizhneudinsk and Kansk (May 29). In early June 1918, the Czechoslovaks entered Tomsk.
On June 4-5, 1918, not far from Samara, the legionnaires defeated the Soviet units and fought through the possibility of crossing the Volga. On June 4, the Entente declared the Czechoslovak Corps part of its armed forces and declared that it would regard its disarmament as an unfriendly act towards the Allies. The situation was aggravated by pressure from Germany, which did not stop demanding from the Soviet government the disarmament of the Czechoslovaks. On June 8, the first anti-Bolshevik government, the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch), was organized in Samara, captured by the legionnaires, and on June 23, in Omsk, the Provisional Siberian Government. This marked the beginning of the formation of other anti-Bolshevik governments throughout Russia.
In early July, as commander of the 1st Czechoslovak division, Chechek issued an order in which he emphasized the following:
Our detachment is defined as the forerunner of the allied forces, and the instructions received from headquarters have the sole purpose of building an anti-German front in Russia in alliance with the entire Russian people and our allies..