A black baron without a royal throne. Why did General Wrangel lose to the Reds? Publications Wrangel plans
The introduction of the Entente troops into the Crimea, which supported Denikin with his aspirations to restore the “united and indivisible”, postponed for an indefinite period of time the expectation for the revival of Ukrainian statehood here. However, the Ukrainian population continued to fight against the latest invaders.
In early December 1918, in Pidgorodno-Petrovsky volost, a group of peasants led by Rusanovich led an active agitation against the Volunteer Army. According to her intelligence, “agitators are convincing the peasants that the power of the regional government and the Volunteer Army in the Crimea will soon be thrown off by the Petliurists and Makhnovists, and therefore there is no need to either obey the existing government or pay taxes” (Red Archive. - 1928. - T. 28 - S. 146).
The peasants of the Simferopol district held the same position a month later. Agitation against the Dobrarmia was especially active in the villages of Saber, Kuritsa, Zuya, Mazanka, Fatih, in which Konstantin and Philip Shevchenko took over the main wire (ibid. - p. 163).
In April 1919, Soviet power was restored on the territory of Crimea, with the exception of the Kerch Peninsula. To prevent the possibility of the Ukrainian People's Republic to claim the territory of Crimea, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on April 23, 1919 decided to create the Crimean Soviet Republic within the RSFSR. But this was not an act of the will of the population and could not be a legal document on which Russia's rights to Crimea would be based.
Why was the Politburo of the RCP(b) in such a hurry? It's very easy to explain. Memories of the “amateur activity” of the Constituent Congress of Soviets, Revolutionary Committees and Land Committees of the Tauride Province, held on March 7-10, 1918, still remained in my memory. On the territory of the Ukraine there should be Soviet power as an expression of the will of the working people, and we, together with comrade proletarians, will support such power with all the means that we have. We do not recognize any other authority “(Butko - vich V. Right to the Crimea. - P. 34).
On April 28, the Politburo of the RCP (b) considered the composition of the government of the new Crimean Republic, and at the same time, on April 28 - 29, 1919, the Crimean regional party conference was convened, at which several dozen communists, according to the instructions of the Politburo of the RCP (b), decided to create a Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic within the RSFSR. The conference prepared a declaration for the interim government, which proclaimed: “By the will of the revolutionary workers and peasants of Crimea and the glorious deeds of the heroic Red Army, the bourgeois-landlord regional government of Crimea has been overthrown and Crimea is declared a Socialist Soviet Republic” (ibid. - P. 34).
And again, there were some rough edges, this researcher emphasizes. The declaration was proclaimed by the will of the Crimean workers, but there were none in the Crimea. The text was written off from Russian declarations without taking into account local conditions. The highest body of power, the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government, was created so urgently and with such distrust of the local population that people who knew Crimea only from vacation had to be brought in (Lenin's brother - D. Ulyanov, Dybenko, Polonsky and others). The composition of the government was formed by analogy with the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, and therefore the Minister of Foreign Affairs was also appointed. This alerted the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR. Therefore, on May 28, 1919, in the resolution of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on the status of the Crimean government, dotted over "and": "accept as a directive that the government acts as a provincial executive committee, subordinate to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the relevant people's commissariats by affiliation, and the regional party committee is equated with the provincial committee associated directly with the Central Committee of the RCP (b) "(ibid. - P. 34).
In general, V. Butkevich thinks quite reasonably, the history of the Crimean regional party organization allows us to see how the Bolsheviks actually treated the independence of Crimea. In October 1917, disagreeing with the policy of the Provisional Government and at the same time seeking to enlist the support of Ukraine in future events, the RSDLP (b) recognized that the Crimea belongs to Ukraine, and therefore the Bolshevik organizations that will be created there must obey Kiev. In a letter from the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) to the Nikolaev Committee of the RSDLP (b) dated September 18, 1917, Y. Sverdlov gave the following explanation: “The question of the region has great importance. We think that it would be more expedient for you to enter the southern one with Kiev (for now) in the center. It is believed that this region will include, in addition to Kyiv with the region, Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson, Crimea with Sevastopol, Elisavetgrad, etc. Subsequently, this region may be divided into 2 parts: 1) Kiev, Poltava, Chernigov, part of Mogilev, etc. etc. and 2) Odessa, Nikolaev, Crimea, etc. ”(Ya. M. Sverdlov. Selected works. - Kyiv, 1961. - T. 2. - S. 40).
In a letter from the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) to the regional committee of the RSDLP (b) of the Southwestern Territory dated October 2 (15), 1917, he repeated again: “It seems to us that it would be generally more expedient for your region to include the provinces: Kiev, Chernigov, Poltava, Volyn, Podolsk. This would be the Southwestern region. And the provinces of Kherson and Taurida, with the addition of Chisinau, should be separated into a separate Southern Region ”(ibid. - P. 61).
After October 1917, the leaders of the RSDLP (b) ceased to reckon with the Ukrainian communists in resolving Crimean issues. As V. Butkevich notes, they directly subjugated the activities of the Crimean communists (read - their activists sent to Crimea). But as soon as General Denikin seized the Crimea, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) again abandoned him and handed over the Crimean Communists as a regional party organization to the Bolsheviks of Ukraine. The Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine created a group (consisting of S. V. Kosior, G. I. Petrovsky, 3. Manuilsky) to manage the work of the underground organizations of the Crimea. To restore the work of the Crimean regional committee of the party of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine allocated 250 thousand rubles for the printing house, 500,000 rubles for the needs of the regional committee, etc. (Butkevich V. Right to the Crimea. - P. 35).
It must be emphasized that the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) U then resolutely opposed the attempts of individual Crimean communists to break away from the Ukrainian party organization. For example, when F. Artem (Sergeev) reported on February 1, 1919 at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee on the position of immigrants from the Crimea living in Kharkov who want to create an independent party and government, it was accepted: “Taking into account that the entry of the Crimean organizations in the composition of the KPU, that the Crimea has an independent region. k - kt, Revolutionary Committee, consider the allocation of Crimean workers in Kharkov in independent organization unacceptable "(TsDAGOU: F. 1. - Op. 1. - Ref. 27. - Ark. 2 n.).
February 7, 1919 at the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) U again considered the Crimean issue. In particular, a decision is made to “send to the Crimea a reliable person with money and authority to organize a regional K-Tu” (ibid. - Ark. 7). And on February 12, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) U decides to send Comrade Chernousov to the Crimea. However: since he was brought before the Tribunal, you should first familiarize yourself with the materials. At the same time, it is noted: “To suggest to all Soviet organizations not to accept any workers without prior registration with the secretariat of the Central Committee” (ibid. - Ark. 12 n.).
And on February 13, 1919, the Chernousovs were also invited to leave for the Crimea by a representative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) U (ibid. - Ark. 13 n.).
In particular, the Simferopol professor Dementiev emphasizes that in the early years Soviet power The Central Committee of the RCP (b) repeatedly instructed the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine to assist the Crimean Regional Party Committee in conducting a number of political campaigns. The practice in which the party bodies of Ukraine played the role of patrons in relation to the party bodies of the Crimea, to a large extent contributed to the transfer of the experience of indigenization from Ukraine to the Crimea (Dementiev N. On the policy of Tatarization in Crimea / / Proceedings of the Crimean Republican Museum of Local Lore. - 1993. - No. 2 . - S. 31).
Meanwhile, under the conditions of Denikin's occupation, Ukrainian life itself in Crimea did not stop. On August 11, 1919, another Ukrainian congress was convened in Sevastopol, which decided: “We, the undersigned representatives of Ukrainian organizations in the Crimea, having gathered at a congress in the city of Sevastopol on August 11, 1919, adopted the following resolution:
» So that the Krayeva Ukrainian Rada in Crimea could defend the rights of the Ukrainian population before the Crimean Power and carry out extensive organizational, educational and economic activities among the Ukrainian Crimea. The Congress decided to grant the Executive Committee of the Regional Rada, which is called the Small Council, the rights of the Ukrainian Consulate and the Chairman of the Small Rada, Pavel Yerofeyich Gorsky, to be recognized as the Consul of the Ukrainian People's Republic in Crimea. The place of stay of the consul is the city of Yalta ”(TSDAVOVU: F. 3696. - Op. 3. - Ref. 50. - Ark. 3).
Trying to quickly establish contact with the Ukrainian government, the chairman of the Regional Council Pavel Goryansky tried to do this through the diplomatic mission of the UNR in the Caucasus, to which he addressed with the following words: “On behalf of the Regional Ukrainian Rada in Crimea, I humbly ask you to forward the report on the Regional Council, a request Ukrainian representation in the Crimea and other papers to the government of the People's Republic, attaching your favorable resolution to the request.
In order to save the Ukrainian cause in the Crimea, the Krayeva Rada considers it necessary for the Government to appoint a Ukrainian representative office and allocate certain funds for its work. I kindly ask you, when necessary, to draw up an estimate of the costs of maintaining the representative office in the Crimea and its cultural and economic work.
Leaving the return to our national cause in the Crimea on a better path to your affectionate care.
I have the honor to be your servant "(ibid. - Ark. 7).
Goryansky also addressed a similar letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UNR, in which he also taught all the vicissitudes of Ukrainian life in Crimea: the rights of the Consulate or the establishment of a representative office of the Ukrainian Government in Crimea.
Such representation is necessary for the rise of the Ukrainian national cause in the Crimea, which, over time, is increasingly declining. Without funds and worthy Ukrainian guides, urban citizenship in Crimea will remain defenseless against the Russification measures of the Russian government, and the population will be forced to completely denationalize. It is also necessary to awaken consciousness and elevate Ukrainian culture among the peasantry in the Crimea, for whom the Kraeva Rada has done nothing so far. The means that lead to the achievement of this goal are clarified in detail in the charter of the Malaya Rada, in paragraph 2.
In addition, after the official meeting of the delegation of the Regional Rada with representatives of the Tatar Directory (actually with the director of foreign affairs) and the Kurultai (parliament), it turned out that the leaders of the Tatar people desired and necessary representation of the Ukrainian government in Crimea for joint activities in defense of the national rights of both peoples.
The expenses for the establishment of cultural institutions (schools, courses), for the maintenance of representatives and the payment of travel, let the Ministry affectionately appoint a year in advance in the states that it considers suitable.
Since the Regional Rada is aware that the Chairman of the Ukrainian Diplomatic Mission in the Caucasus, Ivan Ignatievich Kraskovsky, is closely concerned about maintaining the Ukrainian national movement in the colonies and works specifically in the field of Ukraine's Eastern policy, the Regional Rada considers him an authoritative adviser in the formation of the Ukrainian Representation in Crimea.
His Krayeva Rada asks to be an intermediary and send this request along with a report, a charter and other papers to the Ministry.
Let the Ministry give an affectionate answer also through the diplomatic mission in the Caucasus” (ibid. — Ark. 4).
Since the spring of 1920, as is known, Baron Wrangel, who was flexible in relation to Ukrainians, was already in charge in the Crimea.
Interestingly, there were a large number of Ukrainians in Wrangel's army, who formed a Ukrainian organization at his headquarters in Sevastopol. It began with the "Mug of Ukrainian foremen", which declared itself on August 17, 1920. The purpose of its activity, which was set out in the charter, provided for the unification of Ukrainian in the Kuban and Crimea. The members of the circle believed that “there are 5-6 commissars for each county and it is possible to defeat the Bolsheviks in the Kuban when there is an exclusively Ukrainian army, under the national flag, and when the command of the army in the Kuban is in the hands of the Ukrainian, therefore Ukrainian by mobilization, announced by the Russian government will not go, because the Ukrainian people in the Kuban do not Vira Russian government, which is headed by General Wrangel, nor to the Russian officers and the Russian bureaucracy in general. Proof of this is the fact that despite the presence of the armed forces of the Russian departments on the territory of Ukraine (Melitopol district), no one went to mobilize "(Central Military Archive in Warsaw: F. 380. - Op. 3. - Ref. 103. - Ark 69).
After reviewing this document, Wrangel agreed with such a proposal and asked to indicate those Ukrainians that the people and he would believe. The circle nominated General Kirei, to which Wrangel agreed and suggested that he form the Provisional Ukrainian Government - the Ukrainian National Bloc (ibid. - Ark. 69).
In those days, Wrangel seemed to understand the role of the Ukrainian, so he made a special appeal to them, which included the following words: “Sons of Ukraine! Weakening under the red yoke, you rise to defend the Orthodox faith, native Ukraine and all your property.
Like you, the Russian army is fighting for the happiness, freedom and greatness of the Motherland. Leading the army, I appeal to you, brothers! Let us close ranks against the enemies who trample on the cause, nationality and heritage, accumulated by sweat and blood by fathers and grandfathers. The Russian army, with a sword in its hand and a cross in its heart, is fighting against violence and lies. We will not renew the old order, but we will fight to give the people the opportunity to be the master of their own land. And by the will of the people to establish order throughout Russia. I made order in all of Russia. I have entered into a fraternal alliance with the Cossacks of the Don, Kuban, Terek and Astrakhan, and we, like relatives, are holding out our hands to you. In our connections - no - our salvation "(Time (Simferopol). - 1920. - August 19).
Kirei gathered his like-minded Russophiles Mikhail Kravchenko, Alexander Bezradetsky, Sakhno-Ustimovich, Mikhail Levchenko, who also recommended Alexey Kolomiyets, Vyacheslav Lashchenko, Vasily Ovsyanko-Bilchevsky, Ivan Chernysh, Vladimir Leontovich, Fyodor Shulg, Fyodor Lyzogub, Nikolai Yaroshevsky, Vasily Virsky, Kostya Vobloy, Mikhail Khanenko, Sergei Perlich and Ivan Pashchevskaya.
Since then, it was believed that under General Wrangel there was a Provisional Ukrainian Government. The latter immediately organized its branches in all cities, negatively referring to the already existing Ukrainian educational councils that had a democratic movement and supported the legitimate Ukrainian government headed by Symon Petliura (CVA in Warsaw: F. 380. - Op. 3. - Ref. 103. - Ark. 69).
General Kirey said on September 11 to the press: “The Commander-in-Chief has concluded an agreement with the Cossacks of the Don, Kuban, Terek and Astrakhan, and on the same conditions extends his hand to the sons of Ukraine, believing that our salvation is in unity.
Many Ukrainian insurgents wish to have their own Ukrainian language, and in this respect the Commander-in-Chief goes to meet them widely.
As for the internal structure of Ukraine, the people themselves will decide after the war, but for now, the Commander-in-Chief decided to appoint the highest administration of Ukraine from the natives of Ukraine, and the population itself will choose lower.
The question of the formation of Ukrainian units will be resolved positively.
The uprising in Ukraine is happening everywhere. There are entire districts that actually threw the Bolsheviks and killed the commissars and communists. A delegation from the army of General Pavlenko came with the aim of information and working out conditions for a possible deal. However, this delegation did not have the authority to conclude the treaties themselves, and therefore the matter was limited to mutual congratulations, information and an expression of the hope that both armies would continue to fight the common enemy in the future.
The Commander-in-Chief fully supports this treaty. We all want the same thing: order and tranquility, but behind-the-scenes forces are playing us against each other.
Someone does not benefit from the federation of fraternal peoples of the Russian state.
I hope that they understand this here and, having familiarized themselves with our hopes, they will meet us halfway ”(Vremya (Simferopol). - 1920. - September 12).
Once in those days, reports appeared in the local Russian newspapers that the Ukrainian mission was going to the Crimea to conclude an agreement with Wrangel. Who stood at its head, with what authority and from whom it came to interpret Ukrainian affairs with Wrangel - this at that time remained unknown even for members of the foremen's circle, not to mention the broad national community. Considering this, the Ukrainian community of Crimea took a wait-and-see attitude.
When the delegation arrived in Crimea three or four days later, it turned out that it was sadly headed by Morkotun, known for his anti-Ukrainian propaganda, in particular, malicious slander against the Chairman of the Directory and the Chief Ataman of the UNR troops (CVA in Warsaw: F. 380. - Op. 3. - Ref. 103. - Ark. 69).
Morkotun himself told a correspondent of the Simferopol newspaper: "We stand on the point of view of the need Russian Federation. We believe that Great Russia and Ukraine are equally interested in seeing Russia reborn as great and powerful. The federal form of government, as we think, is from the outside a strong, United Russia, and from the inside - widely self-government in administrative and legislative respects. Local government and Sejm. We believe that the revival of Ukraine should be based on the principles of a broad agrarian reform. on the creation of a strong class of small proprietors. This is a sure guarantee that Ukraine will be saved from the Bolsheviks. Therefore, we welcome the implementation of the South Russian government "(time. - 1920. - September 13).
After listening to such statements by Morkotun, the Ukrainian educational organizations of Crimea turned to the provincial council with a request, what kind of representatives of the Ukrainian people were Morkotun and K0?
Simferopol replied that many unauthorized governments had now arisen, pointing, in particular, to the Sevastopol National Bloc, and suggested that the following tactics be followed: all local educational councils should introduce one old member to the local branches of the Kirei organization for information. In addition, the Simferopol Ukrainian Rada wrote to the Sevastopol Ukrainian Provisional Government a letter with the following content: "Call a congress of the Ukrainian Crimea and the territories of Ukraine occupied by Wrangel's troops no later than October 1. When one is not convened, then on October 15 the provincial Simferopol National Educational Council will convene a Ukrainian congress on its own ”(Tsav in Warsaw: F. 380. - Op. - 3. - Ref. 103. - Ark. 69 - 70).
In the second half of September 1920, the Ukrainian Congress nevertheless gathered in Sevastopol, to which representatives of individual local educational councils were admitted with a decisive vote. And although it was not the Peasant Congress, which the Crimean educational councils insisted on convening, but when the delegates from the mainland regions got the floor, it turned out that “peasants, petty bourgeois and rebels recognize the power in Ukraine only of the Government of the UNR and the Chief Ataman Symon Petlyura. Separate speakers, such as, for example, from the Aleksandrovsky district from the Yekaterinoslav region, said that, being under the rule of the Bolsheviks, the Ukrainian population is waiting for only one liberator from under the Bolshevik oppression - this is Petlyura, even the anarchist Makhno at peasant meetings told the peasants that everything must follow Petliura, save Ukraine from the Jews and Katsaps” (ibid. — Ark. 70).
After such speeches by representatives from across the peninsula, the guides of the Sevastopol bloc realized that this congress of the population was chosen not by the supporter of the "unified divisive", but by the independents - statesmen, "uniform" Petliurists, as they said about them. Therefore, the organizers from among kireivtsy stopped the message from the field and moved on to the next item on the agenda.
To the question of one of the members of the Simferopol Council of Education, why there were no representatives from the UNR and the Chief Ataman and the rebels at the congress, the chairman Bezradetsky answered: they say, the latter have already arrived, and so exhausted, they will come to the meeting tomorrow, and as for representatives of the government of the UNR, then they just passed through Dzhankoy, and tomorrow, obviously, they will also be at the congress.
Further, Bezradetsky began to prove that Petlyura was a traitor, he gave Ukraine to the Poles, and therefore it is best to organize the Ukrainian Wrangel government in the form of the Kuban regional government. Bezradetsky was supported in this by the representative of the Russian national bloc, the Ukrainian Pearl, as well as Sakhno - Ustinovich, Lizogub and some others. They tried to prove that it was only necessary to fight the Bolsheviks, otherwise they, along with the Jews, would take over the Crimea.
But after statements about Petlyura's alleged betrayal of the Ukrainian people, the congress demanded specific information about her. A noise arose in the hall, and the meeting was interrupted for a while (ibid. - Ark. 70).
Luka Bakun, a participant in the congress, recorded further events in the hall in this way: “Shulga, well done Leontovich, Ovsyanko - Bilchevsky, Kolomiets, Lashchenko, Shoporchuk - Odinets, father Dashkovsky and the second spoke from the union of Soviets and peasants and pointed out that in Ukraine the power of Muse was only the power of Petlyura and the Government of the UNR and Inchoi cannot be. When the Government of the UNR and the Chief Ataman Petliura signed the conditions for the Poles not beneficial for the Ukrainian people, this was obviously required by the circumstances in which Petliura and the Ukrainian Government found themselves after Denikin started the war with Ukraine. What did Denikin and his generals do. He lost the war, abandoned his Russian people and fled to the British in a villa prepared in advance. Petliura did not abandon his people, and if he temporarily leaves the field of Ukraine, then together with his army. look at the Russian generals who, having sold Russia, live on those funds abroad. Shulga and Bilchevsky argued the need to organize the Ukrainian Corps under the leadership of Ukrainian foremen. Mobilization in the occupied territories of Ukraine by Wrangel's troops should be translated as follows - who wants to go to the Russians, to the Russian army, and who wants to go to the Ukrainian, then to the Ukrainian corps, because the Ukrainians say that they want to die in the fight against the enemy only under their national flag. All power on the territory of Crimea and Ukraine must pass into the hands of the Ukrainian, from the governor to the city.
The Russian aristocracy, and especially the officers, are thieves, with the exception of Wrangel. We trust Wrangel. Everyone is torn as if on fire, and taken abroad. Although there is nothing to be surprised. Who for them Ukraine and Crimea are strangers. And when the Ukrainian government comes, it will not rob its own. Let's ask Krivoshein where the grain collected from all over the Crimea and part of Ukraine went, where it was taken abroad and someone received pounds, lira and francs from it. And it's not hard to guess. Representatives of Blok should open Wrangel's eyes, prove that he and we are surrounded by thieves and robbers. The representative of the Russian national bloku said that not all thieves are honest. Shulga declared that he could prove the honesty of the Russian aristocracy in Riga to data ranging from Denikin, Shkura and ending with Krivoshein and Tatishchev. I ask the congress to select representatives of the Ukrainian people's bloc who could defend the rights of the people of Ukraine and the Crimea, help Wrangel beat the Bolsheviks and hang our thieves ”(ibid. - Ark. 70 - 71).
After lengthy heated debates, the Ukrainian Congress in Sevastopol elected the National Bloc from six new members and two deputies. And then it was accepted:
"1) to organize the Ukrainian army under the national flag and a team of Ukrainian foremen, and supreme power Wrangel to fight the Bolsheviks;
2) Ukrainian foremen must pass the filter of local educational councils;
3) representative for military affairs under Wrangel - General Prisovsky, for public affairs - Leontovich;
4) civil power in Ukraine should be in the hands of the Ukrainians, who also passed through the filter of local Soviets;
5) power in Ukraine should be in the hands of Petliura;
6) it is necessary to enter into agreement between Wrangel and Petliura, Blokiv must immediately send his representatives - two - to Petliura, together with Wrangel's representatives "(ibid. - Ark. 71).
On October 1, 1920, Wrangel completely accepted the resolutions of the Ukrainian Congress, and wrote on the protocol with his own hand: "Accept for execution" (ibid. - Ark. 71).
But such a resolution by Wrangel, of course, did not mean that he was interested in a fair solution to the Ukrainian issue. He, like his entourage, only paid attention to Ukrainianism because they understood well leading role Ukraine in the anti-Bolshevik struggle.
In the "draft of necessary measures to resolve the Ukrainian issue," an ally of Baron Wrangel, General Slashchev-Krymsky, who even allowed the Ukrainian military units to use the "blue-yellow with a red corner" flag, clearly noted: "All of the above measures must be immediately implemented to establish a democratic legal Ukraine on all-Russian federal grounds, as opposed, on the one hand, to independent ones, and on the other, to the extreme right ... “(Slashchev - Krymsky Ya. Bely Krym. 1920 - M., 1990. - P. 192).
Tags: ,Pyotr Wrangel is one of the most controversial figures white movement. Until the end of his life, he waged both open and "secret" war against the Bolsheviks, their agents abroad and the false organization "Trust".
black baron
Of all the leaders of the White movement, Baron Wrangel was almost the only one who combined the qualities of a military man and a manager, a general and an official. He came from an old noble family, which gave Russia a galaxy of talented military men, pioneers and successful businessmen, who was the father of Peter Nikolayevich, Nikolai Yegorovich Wrangel. He predicted a secular career for his eldest son, who, however, did not show much interest in military activities and was safely listed as a cornet of the guard in reserve.
Everything changed during the Russo-Japanese War, when the young baron voluntarily took up the saber and never let it go. The bloody Russo-Japanese War brought awards for bravery and "distinction in deeds against the Japanese", "Saint George" for a crazy cavalry attack near Kashen during the First World War, which was supposed to end in defeat, but ended in complete victory and the capture of the enemy battery. Then the Civil War, the birth of the "black baron" and many years of fruitless labor in exile.
Pyotr Wrangel received the nickname "black baron" due to his invariable habit of wearing a black Cossack Circassian coat. It was replicated with the lines of the song “The Red Army is the strongest of all”, became a household word and for a long time was an allegory of world evil, the enemy of the people No. And he himself complained far from few. It is he who owns the famous phrase: "Though with the devil, but against the Bolsheviks."
The Case of the Annulled Amnesty and the Missing Manifesto
Under the command of Peter Nikolaevich were small, but still powerful remnants of his army. And he was going to keep them, by all means, even if he sacrificed moral principles.
On November 8, 1920, the White troops lost the battle for the Crimea - numerous Frunze troops broke through to the territory of the peninsula. This was followed on the radio by an offer of voluntary surrender and amnesty: "for all offenses connected with the civil strife", which at that time was a popular practice of the Soviets, which allowed replenishing the Red Army with valuable personnel. However, the appeal did not reach the soldiers. Wrangel ordered the closure of all radio stations, except for one served by officers. Lack of response was perceived the Soviet side, as an obvious refusal, the amnesty offer was annulled.
The manifesto of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, sent to Wrangel twice, also disappeared without a trace: by mail and with an opportunity. The second son of Vladimir Alexandrovich, the third son of Alexander II, declaring himself guardian of the throne of the absent Emperor Nicholas II (fate imperial family was unknown at that time), offered Wrangel "profitable cooperation." It consisted in organizing a new open confrontation with the Bolsheviks with the help of the remnants of the White Army. It would seem, what else could dream of sitting in exile white general, struggling to find a political force capable of fighting the Bolsheviks.
However, the reputation of Kirill Vladimirovich was very doubtful. Not only was his marriage to his cousin, the Catholic Victoria Melita, not recognized by Nicholas II, who seriously intended to deprive the “possible” heir of the rights to the throne, he was also the first to support February revolution 1917. But the main reason for the refusal, of course, was not an old resentment, but the short-sightedness of the prince. Wrangel understood that the slogans “for the restoration of the empire” would not be supported by the Republicans who fought for Denikin. This means that the forces may not be enough. Therefore, referring to the non-receipt of the manifesto, which had already disappeared without a trace twice, Pyotr Nikolayevich refused the new guardian of the throne.
However, the story didn't end there. The White Army of Wrangel was too tasty a morsel to simply give it up. On August 31, 1924, the self-named "guardian" declared himself Emperor of All Russia Kirill I. Thus, the army automatically passed under his command, since formally it was subordinate to the emperor. But the next day the army was gone - it was disbanded by Wrangel himself, and in its place appeared the Russian All-Military Union, headed by Pyotr Wrangel. Oddly enough, but the ROVS exists, to this day, following the same principles of 1924.
Party with a fake ally. Operation "Trust"
The Wrangel formations caused serious concern among the Soviet command. "Special people" began to come for Denikin's successor. So, in the fall of 1923, Yakov Blumkin, the murderer of the German ambassador Mirbach, knocked on his door.
The Chekists posed as French cameramen, whom Wrangel had previously agreed to pose for. The box imitating the camera was filled to the brim with weapons, an additional one - the Lewis machine gun was hidden in a case from a tripod.
But the conspirators immediately made a serious mistake - they knocked on the door, which was completely unacceptable both in Serbia, where the action took place, and in France, where they switched to doorbells a long time ago. The guards rightly considered that only people who had come from Soviet Russia could knock, and, just in case, they did not open the gate.
A more serious adversary turned out to be the false monarchist organization "Trust", whose tasks were to infiltrate the emigrant elite, find out their plans, make a split in their midst, and eliminate key representatives of the white movement. Assurances that counter-revolutionary forces are gaining strength in the new Russia, and that a retaliatory blow will soon be struck, "bought" many: Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, on whom Peter Wrangel staked, thirsty for the activities of General Alexander Kutepov, who began to send his people to Petrograd, Socialist-Revolutionary Boris Savinkov. Even the famous British intelligence officer Sydney Reilly, the "king of espionage" and the future prototype of James Bond, could not figure out the enemy in time, and was executed at the Lubyanka.
But Wrangel immediately suspected something was wrong, doubting the very possibility of the existence of counter-revolutionary forces in Russia at that time, during the rampant red terror. For the final check, the black baron sent his man, a brave monarchist and best friend General Vasily Shulgin, who sought to find his missing son. "Trust" promised to assist. Shulgin traveled around NEP Russia for three months, describing everything he saw. His impressions are set forth in the book "Three Capitals", which was published in a huge edition. In it, he talked about the number of dissatisfied with the Soviet regime. Allegedly prominent Soviet figures constantly came to him and talked about how nice it would be to "bring everything back."
The trump card of the "black baron"
But Wrangel's people followed his movements in the USSR and found out that all his interesting fellow travelers and representatives of the Soviet intelligentsia were career Chekists. However, the baron was in no hurry to share his discoveries. Only after the cessation of funding by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, who preferred to invest in the senseless terrorist attacks of Kutepov, and the subsequent refusal of the British government to help, did Pyotr Wrangel decide to speak openly.
On October 8, 1927, in the magazine Illustrated Russia, which is popular abroad, an article by the journalist Burtsev about Shulgin's journey is published, under the telling title "In the networks of the GPU." Burtsev wrote:
“The provocateurs knew that V.V. Shulgin would write memoirs about his trip to Russia, and they expressed their fear that he, not familiar with the conditions of Russian life, would not make any hints in the book that would help the GPU decipher his journey. Therefore, they asked that before printing his memoirs, he would give them the opportunity to look through the manuscript of his book. V. V. Shulgin, of course, agreed to this and, thus, his memoirs were edited in Moscow at the GPU before printing.
Almost a month later, in the same publication, an interview was also published by the black baron, where he recalled the “merits” of Nikolai Nikolaevich and Alexander Kutepov, who by their actions deprived the white movement of its last chances of existence: “The methods of the GPU, unprecedented in their monstrosity, lulled many. Is it because the incapable commander lost the battle by throwing his units on the offensive, not having carried out proper reconnaissance, not providing this offensive with the proper forces and means, should we conclude that the eternal principle “only an offensive ensures victory” is wrong? Work in Russia is necessary and possible. The world is beginning to understand that Bolshevism is not only a Russian, but a worldwide evil, that the fight against this evil is a common cause. Healthy forces are maturing and strengthening within Russia. Despite all the trials I have experienced, I look to the future with confidence.”
The last phrases referred to the British and actually meant: "I know what needs to be done, I have connections and people in Russia, I only need funds."
Sudden death
Instead of the British, the Germans responded to the message. In early March 1928, an official representative of the German government arrived at Pyotr Wrangel. Pyotr Nikolaevich resorted to a bluff - he frightened the Germans with the spread of the red infection and the interest of the British in the Wrangel organization.
However, Peter Nikolaevich never received an answer. On March 18, his temperature rose sharply. The infection was identified by attending physicians as "intestinal flu". But the temperature did not go down for about a month, which is very unusual for influenza diseases. Soon it flowed into intense tuberculosis. The general's mother later recalled that it was "thirty-eight days of continuous martyrdom, he rushed about, gave orders, tried to get up, made orders to the smallest detail." Subsequently, as a result of the autopsy, an unmeasured amount of Koch's sticks was found in the lungs. On April 25, 1928, the black baron, the last hope of the white movement, died in terrible agony, at the age of 49.
Of course, such an unexpected death, which came for the general in the midst of his counter-revolutionary activities, could not but cause rumors and rumors about the elimination of Wrangel by agents of the OGPU. The Parisian newspaper Echo de Raris was the first to announce this the day after his death: “very persistent rumors circulate that General Wrangel was poisoned, that he allegedly “recently told one of his friends that he should have taken extreme take precautions with regard to his diet, as he fears poisoning."
This point of view was supported by members of the Wrangel family. According to their version, the "poisoner" was an unknown guest who stayed at the Wrangel's house on the eve of his illness. Allegedly, this was the brother of the orderly Yakov Yudikhin, who was under the general. A sudden relative, whose presence the soldier had not previously spoken of, was a sailor on a Soviet merchant ship that was stationed in Antwerp.
The reasons for such a sudden death of the "black baron", as the communists called him, or " white knight” (in the memoirs of his white associates) remain a mystery.
In April 1920, in the Crimea, General Wrangel assumed full military and civilian power with the sanction of the Governing Senate.
By order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia in March 1920, the “Regulations on the management of the regions occupied by the armed forces of the South of Russia” were introduced. Along with members of the military command, it established the positions of state controller, head of the civil department (in charge of agriculture, land management, justice and education), head of the economic department (in charge of finance, food, trade, industry and communications), head of the department of foreign relations. These officials were members of the Council, which has the character of an advisory body under the Commander-in-Chief. The latter was subordinate to the Cossack units and self-government bodies, which had a fairly wide autonomy.
In April 1920, the Government of the South of Russia formed a commission to develop the land issue. The main principles of the reform were private ownership of land, the maximum number of users, state mediation in land transactions. It was assumed that the reform would be extended to the entire space of Russia after the victory over the Bolsheviks. Everyone who was endowed with land received it as a property for redemption and in a legal manner. Zemstvo self-government bodies were created to carry out the reform on the ground. The size of the plots was determined by the land councils and approved by the government. Former "demonstration" farms or state farms were transferred to public administration or volost zemstvos with the obligation to "preserve a proper economy in them." The lands, under Soviet rule, included in the communes, were redistributed by the volost land councils among private individuals. From the general rules on alienation, the following types of land ownership were withdrawn and retained by the owners: allotment land purchased with the assistance of a peasant bank; allocation to farms and cuts; assigned to churches and monasteries; owned by agricultural institutions; relating to urban settlements; garden. During the reform, it was emphasized that the right to private property is always inferior to the national interests, but the main goal remained “strengthening the right of non-estate private land ownership. The government of the South of Russia also developed the "Rules on the restoration of volost and district zemstvos." At the same time, the rights that the district zemstvos possessed were supposed to be transferred to the volost, and to the county - the rights of provincial institutions. Vowels of the volost zemstvo assemblies were elected by rural gatherings, in which only farmers-households were to take part. County zemstvo assemblies consisted of vowels elected by volost zemstvo assemblies. In addition to the model of zemstvo bodies of 1864, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the troops of the South of Russia, volost land councils were also to be elected at volost zemstvo meetings.
Resolutions of zemstvo assemblies could be suspended: in the volost, by the head of the county, in the county, by the governor. A further dispute could be resolved by the chairman of the congress of justices of the peace, the district court, the presence of the county government, or the highest central authority.
On the territory of the Government of the South of Russia, there was a system of military field courts, corps and military court commissions under the heads of garrisons (composed of a chairman and five members). The commissions were subordinate to the chief prosecutor, the courts-martial - to military commanders. Somewhat later, two representatives from the peasantry of the volost were included in the composition of the corps and garrison commissions with the right of an advisory vote. The preliminary investigation was carried out by one of the members of the commission, thus the investigation and legal proceedings were mixed (by analogy with the activities of the bodies of the Cheka acting on Soviet territory). When considering cases, the military court commissions were guided by the rules on courts-martial. The sentences were approved by the military commanders. If the latter disagreed with the verdict, the case was transferred to the corps or military district court.
The criminal investigation department was separated from the state-legal one (counterintelligence). As an administrative measure, “the expulsion to Soviet Russia of persons exposed in obvious sympathy for Bolshevism, in exorbitant personal gain” (a measure similar to that provided for by the Guiding Principles on Criminal Law of the RSFSR of 1918). The right of expulsion was granted to the governors and commandants of the fortresses.
The state legal policy of the Government of the South of Russia in August 1920 was formulated in the following declarations:
- · the future state system of Russia was proposed to be determined by the people through the elections of the Constituent Assembly;
- · equality of civil and political rights of citizens;
- · provision of full ownership of the land to the peasants cultivating it;
- protection of the interests of the working class and its professional organizations;
- · unification of various parts of Russia "into one broad federation based on free agreement";
- · the restoration of the productive forces of Russia "on the basis common to all modern democracies, providing a wide place for personal initiative";
- · recognition of international obligations concluded by the previous governments of Russia; fulfillment of obligations to pay debts.
On March 22, 1920, P. Wrangel was appointed commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the South of Russia. Having transferred all the powers and the remnants of the defeated army to his successor, A. Denikin left his native land forever. The last stage in the history of the White movement was approaching, its dramatic epilogue: March-November 1920. These eight months, comparable to the period of the Provisional Government, were full of hard work not only in the military field, but also in foreign policy and, in particular, in the socio-economic sphere. Finishing the struggle, the whites were in a hurry to have time to demonstrate to the exhausted country all the creative potential of social reorganization that they had not previously revealed.
Baron Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel (1878-1928) came from a famous Russian family, not a single generation of which faithfully served the Fatherland. His mother was from the Samarin family. In 1901 he graduated from the Mining Institute, and then became a professional military man, served in the guards, graduated from the Nikolaev General Staff Academy (1910). Member of the Russian-Japanese and World War I. Commander of the cavalry corps (major general). Since 1918, Wrangel joined the troops of A. Denikin, commanded the Caucasian and Volunteer armies. A gifted military leader, he was distinguished by a rare sense of purpose and healthy ambition. The constant intrigues around his name eventually caused a negative reaction from A. Denikin, who removed Wrangel from his posts and sent him into exile in Constantinople. However, this did not prevent Denikin from subsequently appointing Wrangel as his successor.
Wrangel entered his new position with a well-defined reform program, the essence of which was expressed by the slogan "left politics with right hands." A serious and thoughtful strategist, with a strong will and the qualities of a statesman, he resolutely rejected a number of fundamental principles of his predecessors, which, in his opinion, put the White Cause on the brink of disaster.
First, he abandoned the plan to prepare for a campaign against Moscow and other large-scale and expensive military projects, realizing all their absurdity and unrealism in the current situation.
Secondly, having reorganized the army, he consistently and persistently strengthened the South Russian statehood, hoping to keep it until "better times." He allowed for the relatively long coexistence of the "two Russias", which could be guaranteed by the allies and the Whites' own armed forces in the Crimea.
And, finally, Wrangel broke with the so-called "non-predecision" by developing and implementing a set of important domestic political measures aimed at creating a broad social base for his regime.
First of all, Wrangel turned to restoring order and discipline in the army. Within a short time, demoralized, fragmented into numerous separate groups, competing military units were united by him into three corps under the command of generals Kutepov, Slashchev and Sidorin, under the former name of the Russian Army. Raising the morale of soldiers and officers became a special concern of its commander-in-chief. On March 25, 1920, a review of the troops was held on Nakhimovskaya Square in Sevastopol and Bishop Fr. Benjamin served a solemn prayer service for the strengthening of the Russian army. Wrangel led a merciless struggle against manifestations of moral decay, drunkenness, intrigue and politicking in all military structures.
He personally paid much attention to the matter of education and skillful propaganda among the troops. His orders were distinguished by brevity, clarity of tasks and special emotionality. Paying tribute to the importance of the press and the information support of his policy, Wrangel placed all responsibility for the accuracy of the materials published in the newspapers on their publishers and editors, severely punishing those responsible for slander.
At the same time, realizing his ability to defend the peninsula, where refugees from all over Russia moved and where a large local population lived, Wrangel immediately after his appointment ordered the preparation of the evacuation of troops and civilians from the Crimea, entrusting the development of the plan to General Makhrov. V. Shulgin, who watched Wrangel's first steps as commander in chief, wrote that "it was not nervous energy that was felt in him, but the calm tension of a very strong direct current."
P. Wrangel involved prominent Russian political and state figures in the formation of a new course. P. Struve was in charge of foreign relations. Thanks to his efforts, in May 1920 France managed to obtain recognition of the de facto Crimean government. A. Krivoshein (P. Stolypin's closest associate and comrade-in-arms) laid down the whole burden of work on the implementation of the agrarian and zemstvo reforms. The basic principles of the agrarian (land) reform were put forward personally by Wrangel, and detailed by Krivoshein's employees from the pre-revolutionary period - Glinka and Zubovsky.
The reform provided for the organic combination of the most progressive elements of the agrarian projects of the beginning of the century - Stolypin and Kutler, designed to support strong owners with the recognition of the self-seizure of landlord lands carried out by the peasants during the years of the revolution and war, and their consolidation in the ownership of new owners.
This was a serious social concession to the peasantry, allowing us to hope for its massive support for the regime. The land was transferred to the eternal hereditary property of each owner, but not without reason, but for a fee to the state, which established a redemption mechanism, including on preferential terms. The actual ownership of the land by the peasants at the time of the beginning of the reforms was recognized by the government as inviolable.
The reform had some success with the local population, and its first results were encouraging. On January 1, 1920, land reform was carried out in 90 out of 107 volosts controlled by Wrangel. In the summer-autumn of 1920, divisions of privately owned estates were carried out in Tavria, maximums for peasants and minimums for landlords were approved. The maximum sizes for peasant farms ranged from 30 to 100 dessiatines, and in some places even higher (1 dessiatine = 1.09 ha). In social terms, Wrangel, like Lenin, decided to rely on the middle peasant.
In addition to the agrarian reform, the Crimean government carried out zemstvo reform. The adopted "Regulations on the Volost Zemstvo" provided for the creation of a system of peasant self-government with the participation of representatives of all other categories of landowners.
Volost zemstvos were elected at land meetings and were supposed to be basically a peasant organization opposed to the Bolshevik Soviets. Administrative functions were also transferred to the volost zemstvos. Thus, according to Wrangel, the foundation was laid for the future revived Russian state, based on the initiative of the people from below, and not from above, as was customary since the time when the empire of Peter I was created.
However, Wrangel's plans were not destined to come true. The military forces of the opponents were incomparable. Brilliantly carried out by M. Frunze, the operation to break through into the Crimea forced the whites to leave their native land forever.
In March 1920, after the Novorossiysk catastrophe, the death of the Northern and Northwestern fronts, the position of the White Cause seemed doomed. The White regiments that arrived in the Crimea were demoralized. England, the most faithful, as it seemed, ally, refused to support the White South. Everything that remained of the recently formidable Armed Forces of the South of Russia was concentrated on the small Crimean peninsula. The troops were consolidated into three corps: Crimean, Volunteer and Donskoy, numbering in their ranks 35 thousand soldiers with 500 machine guns, 100 guns and with an almost complete absence of materiel, convoys and horses. On April 4, 1920, General Denikin resigned as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia and, at the request of the Military Council assembled on this issue, transferred them to Lieutenant General Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel.Denikin's order stated: “§1. Lieutenant General Wrangel is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia. §2. To everyone who honestly walked with me in a difficult struggle, a deep bow. Lord, give victory to the army, save Russia.” On the same evening, on board the English destroyer, General Denikin left the Russian land.
Baron Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel (1878 - 1928) was born into a family belonging to an old German family. He graduated from the Rostov real school and the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg. He served as a private in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. In 1902, he passed the test for the cornet of the guard at the Nikolaev Cavalry School. During the Russo-Japanese War, at his own request, he was assigned to the Trans-Baikal Cossack Regiment and in December 1904 was promoted to centurion "for differences in cases against the Japanese." He was awarded the Orders of St. Anna, 4th degree, with the inscription "For Courage" and St. Stanislav with swords and a bow. Six years later, Wrangel graduated from the Academy of the General Staff, but remained in the Cavalry Regiment. In August 1914, Wrangel, commanding a squadron of this regiment, took a German battery in a horse attack and became the first Knight of St. George great war. In December he was promoted to colonel, and for the battles of 1915 he was awarded the St. George weapon. From October 1915, Wrangel was appointed commander of the 1st Nerchinsk regiment of the Transbaikal Cossack army, in December 1916 - commander of the 2nd brigade of the Ussuri Cavalry Division. In January 1917, he was promoted "for military distinction" to major general and temporarily took command of the Ussuri Cavalry Division. On September 9, 1917, he was appointed commander of the 3rd cavalry corps, but did not take command. After the Bolsheviks seized power, Wrangel retired from the army and left for Yalta. In August 1918, he arrived in the Volunteer Army and was appointed brigade commander in the 1st Cavalry Division, and then head of the division. In November 1918 he was appointed commander of the 1st cavalry corps and promoted to lieutenant general "for military distinctions". In December 1918, Wrangel was appointed to the post of commander of the Caucasian army, with which he made a campaign against Tsaritsyn. Wrangel had disagreements with General Denikin, in particular on the choice of the direction of the offensive against Moscow and on issues domestic policy. In November 1919, after an unsuccessful attack on Moscow, he was appointed commander Volunteer army, but in January 1920 Wrangel resigned, considering the actions of General Denikin wrong. Having assumed command after the Novorossiysk catastrophe, General Wrangel, first of all, began to restore discipline and strengthen the morale of the troops. Wrangel allowed for the possibility of holding wide democratic reforms despite the conditions of the war. Being a monarchist by conviction, he believed, however, that the question of the form of state government could be decided only after "the complete cessation of unrest." After the evacuation from the Crimea, in Constantinople, General Wrangel sought to prevent the dispersion of the army, which was in the camps at Galliopoli and on the island of Lemnos. He managed to organize the transfer of military units to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. General Wrangel himself with his headquarters moved from Constantinople to Yugoslavia, to Sremski Karlovitsy. In an effort to keep the cadres of the Russian army abroad, in the hope of continuing the struggle, General Wrangel on September 1, 1924 ordered the creation of the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS). In September 1927, General Wrangel moved with his family to Brussels, remaining the head of the EMRO. However, he soon fell unexpectedly seriously ill and died on April 25, 1928. It is very likely that the general was poisoned on the orders of the OGPU. Wrangel was buried in Belgrade in the Russian church of the Holy Trinity.
Wrangel was required to clearly define the goals of the White movement. On March 25, 1920, during a prayer service on Nakhimovskaya Square in Sevastopol, the new Commander-in-Chief declared that only the continuation of the armed struggle against the Soviet regime was the only possible one for the White movement. “I believe,” he said, “that the Lord will not allow the destruction of a just cause, that He will give me the mind and strength to lead the army out of a difficult situation.” But this required the restoration of not only the front, but also the rear.
The principle of one-man dictatorship was preserved. “We are in a besieged fortress,” Wrangel argued, “and only a single firm power can save the situation. We must beat the enemy, first of all, now is not the place for party struggle. For me there are neither monarchists nor republicans, but only people of knowledge and labor. For the post of Prime Minister of the Government of the South of Russia, Wrangel invited the closest assistant of P.A. Stolypin A.V. Krivoshein. The head of the resettlement department and Krivoshein's employee, Senator G.V. Glinka, took over the Department of Agriculture, the former deputy of the State Duma N.V. Savich became the State Comptroller, and the famous philosopher and economist P.B. Struve became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Intellectually it was the strongest government in Russia, politically it consisted of politicians of the center and moderately right-wing orientation.
Wrangel was convinced that “it is not possible to liberate Russia by a triumphal procession from the Crimea to Moscow, but by creating, at least on a piece of Russian land, such an order and such living conditions that would pull to itself all the thoughts and forces of the people groaning under the red yoke.” Crimea was supposed to become a kind of "experimental field" on which it would be possible to create a "model of White Russia", an alternative to "Bolshevik Russia". In national politics, relations with the Cossacks, Wrangel proclaimed the federal principle. On July 22, an agreement was concluded with the chieftains of the Don, Kuban, Terek and Astrakhan (generals A.P. Bogaevsky, G.A. Vdovenko and V.P. Lyakhov), which guaranteed the Cossack troops "complete independence in their internal structure."
Certain successes were also achieved in foreign policy. France recognized the Government of the South of Russia de facto.
But main part Wrangel's policy was land reform. On May 25, on the eve of the offensive of the White Army, the “Order on Land” was promulgated. "The army must carry the land on bayonets" - that was the meaning of agrarian policy. All the land, including that "captured" from the landowners during the "black redistribution" of 1917-1918, remained with the peasants. The “Land Order” secured the land for the peasants as property, albeit for a small ransom, guaranteed them the freedom of local self-government through the creation of volost and district land councils, and the landowners could not even return to their estates.
The reform of local self-government was closely connected with the land reform. “To whom the land is, that is the disposal of the zemstvo case, on that is the answer for this matter and for the order of its conduct” - this is how Wrangel determined the tasks of the new volost zemstvo in the order on July 28. The government has developed a draft system of universal primary and secondary education. The effectiveness of the land and zemstvo reforms, even in the conditions of the instability of the front, was high. By October, the elections of land councils were held, the distribution of plots began, documents were prepared on the right of peasant ownership of land, and the first volost zemstvos began to work.
The continuation of the armed struggle in white Tavria in 1920 required the reorganization of the army. During April - May, about 50 different headquarters and departments were liquidated. The Armed Forces of the South of Russia were renamed the Russian Army, thus emphasizing the continuity from the regular Russian army until 1917. The reward system was revived. Now, for military distinctions, they were awarded the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, whose status was close to the status of the Order of St. George.
The military operations of the summer-autumn of 1920 were distinguished by great persistence. On June 8, the Russian army broke out of the Crimean "bottle". Fierce fighting continued for five days. The desperately defending Reds were driven back to the right bank of the Dnieper, losing 8,000 prisoners, 30 guns, and leaving large depots of ammunition during the retreat. The task assigned to the troops was completed, and the exits from the Crimea were opened. July and August passed in continuous battles. In September, during the attack on the Donbass, the Russian army achieved its greatest success: it defeated the red cavalry corps of D.P. Rednecks, Cossacks of the Don Corps liberated one of the centers of Donbass - Yuzovka. Soviet institutions were hastily evacuated from Yekaterinoslav. Five and a half months lasted the struggle of the Russian army on the plains of Northern Tavria on the front from the Dnieper to Taganrog. Assessing the fighting spirit of the White Army, the Central Committee of the Communist Party, in a directive letter sent to all organizations, wrote: "Wrangel's soldiers are united superbly, they fight desperately and prefer suicide to surrender."
A landing was also made in the Kuban, and although the bridgehead could not be held there, many Kubans got the opportunity to leave the Red authorities for the white Crimea. On August 7, the Reds crossed the Dnieper near Kakhovka and began to push Wrangel's forces. The Whites failed to liquidate the Kakhovka bridgehead. After Chelyabinsk, Orel and Petrograd, this was the fourth victory of the Reds, which decided the outcome of the Civil War. Wrangel was in for the same failure that a year earlier had nullified all of Denikin's successes: the front was stretched out, and the few regiments of the Russian army could not hold him.
The main feature of all the hostilities of this period was their continuity. Calming down on one sector of the front, battles immediately flared up on another, where the White regiments that had just left the battle were being transferred. And if the Reds, having a numerical superiority, could replace one division with another, then on the side of the Whites, everywhere and everywhere they fought with more and more new Red units, suffering heavy and irreparable losses, the same Kornilovites, Markovites, Drozdovites and other old units. Mobilizations exhausted human resources in the Crimea and Northern Tavria. In fact, the only source of replenishment, with the exception of several thousand "Bredovites" who arrived from Poland, were Red Army prisoners of war, and they were by no means always reliable. Poured into the White troops, they lowered their combat effectiveness. The Russian army literally melted away. Meanwhile Soviet government persistently persuaded Poland to conclude peace, and, despite the persuasion of Wrangel, and the fact that the actions of the Poles by this time were successful, they conceded to the Bolsheviks and began negotiations with them. The truce concluded on 12 October between Soviet Russia and Poland became a disaster for the Russian army: it allowed the red command to transfer from Western front to the South most of the liberated forces and bring the number of troops to 133 thousand people against 30 thousand soldiers of the Russian army. The slogan was thrown: "Wrangel is still alive - finish him off without mercy!"
Given the situation, General Wrangel had to decide whether to continue fighting in Northern Tavria or withdraw the army to the Crimea and defend on the positions of Perekop? But the retreat to the Crimea doomed the army and the population to starvation and other hardships. At a meeting of General Wrangel with his closest assistants, it was decided to take the battle in Northern Tavria.
At the end of October, terrible battles began that lasted a week. All five Red armies of the Southern Front went on the offensive with the task of cutting off the Russian army's retreat to the Crimea. Corps Budyonny broke through to Perekop. Only the steadfastness of the regiments of the 1st Corps of General Kutepov and the Don Cossacks saved the situation. Under their cover, the regiments of the Russian army, armored trains, the wounded and the convoy were “drawn” back into the “Crimean bottle”. But even now the hope did not disappear. Official statements spoke of "wintering" in the Crimea and the inevitable fall of Soviet power by the spring of 1921. France hastened to send transports with warm clothes to the Crimea for the army and civilians.
... Then here, in the Crimea, was the old priest Mokiy Kabaev - the same Ural Cossack who went with a cross to the Bolsheviks. He was not going to put up with the fact that there was almost no hope left for the Whites. The officer of the Ural Cossack army, who left memories of Kabaev, was then treated in Sevastopol from a wound. He described his unexpected meeting with this unshakable man in his faith. “One day, leaving the Cathedral after mass, I saw a familiar figure. It was Kabaev. He was on crutches, with his head uncovered, in some kind of hospital gown and with an eight-pointed cross on his chest. Passers-by mistook him for a beggar, and some gave him their pennies, but he did not take them. I approached him. He did not recognize me, and when I said that I was from the Urals, he became agitated and quickly began to tell that he wanted to gather the crusaders and go to liberate Russia and his native Army. In Sevastopol, many knew Kabaev, who more than once, having gathered a handful of people somewhere around him, urged them to go with the cross to liberate Russia from the atheists. He was considered a holy fool - they laughed, joked, scolded. “And only occasionally some woman, handing him a hundred-dollar piece of paper, said: “Pray, dear, for the soul of the newly deceased warrior ...” He did not take money, but took out an old shabby commemoration book and with a trembling hand entered the name of the dead one ... ". After the departure of Wrangel's army from the Crimea, Mokiy Alekseevich Kabaev took refuge in the Chersonese monastery. On May 4, 1921, Kabaev was issued a pass, and he went home to Uralsk, but on May 19 he was captured in Kharkov, identified, incriminating documents were found with him that he was a priest in the Ural Cossack army. Mokiy Alekseevich was taken to Uralsk under escort on June 14, 1921 and, after a short investigation, was shot with two Cossacks on August 19, 1921 - A. Tregubov. “The last legend of the rebellious Urals” // “Sanitsa”, No. 1 (50), January 2008, - p. 29-31.
The White units with incredible efforts held back the Reds at the positions of Perekop. “How long we spent in the battles at Perekop, I can’t say exactly. - Lieutenant Mamontov wrote. - There was one continuous and very stubborn battle, day and night. Time got confused. Maybe just a few days, more likely a week, maybe ten days. Time seemed like an eternity to us in terrible conditions.”
Nikolai Turoverov dedicated poems to these battles for Perekop:
“... We were few, too few.
From the enemy crowds the distance darkened;
But it sparkled with a solid brilliance
Steel drawn from the scabbard.
Last fiery impulses
The soul was filled
In the iron roar of breaks
The waters of the Sivash boiled.
And everyone was waiting, heeding the sign,
And a familiar sign was given ...
The regiment went on the last attack,
Crowning the path of their attacks…”
The Bolshevik command was not going to wait for spring. On the third anniversary of October 1917, the assault on Perekop and Genichensk began. The undertaken regroupings of the White troops were not completed - the regiments had to go into battle without preparation and rest. The first assault was repulsed, but on the night of November 8, the Reds went on the offensive. For three days and four nights, furious attacks by the infantry and cavalry of the 6th Red Army and counterattacks by the infantry units of General Kutepov and the cavalry of General Barbovich alternated along the entire line of the Perekop Isthmus. Withdrawing with heavy losses (especially in command staff), in these last battles, the white warriors set an example of almost incredible stamina, and high self-sacrifice. The Reds were already aware of their victory, and yet the White counterattacks were swift and at times caused the Reds to falter and roll back. On November 12, the commander of the Red Southern Front reported to Lenin: “Our losses are extremely heavy, some divisions have lost 3/4 of their composition, and the total loss reaches at least 10 thousand people killed and wounded during the assault on the isthmuses.” But the red command was not embarrassed by any casualties.
On the night of November 11, two Red divisions broke through the last position of the Whites, opening their way to the Crimea. “One morning,” Lieutenant Mamontov recalls, “we saw a black line south of us. She moved from right to left, deep into the Crimea. It was the red cavalry. She broke through the front to the south of us and cut off our retreat. The whole war, all the sacrifices, sufferings and losses suddenly became useless. But we were in such a state of fatigue and stupefaction that we accepted the terrible news almost with relief: “We are leaving to load on ships in order to leave Russia.”
General Wrangel gave the troops a directive - breaking away from the enemy, go to the shore for loading onto ships. The plan for evacuation from the Crimea was ready by this time: General Wrangel, immediately after taking command of the army, considered it necessary to secure the army and the population in case of misfortune at the front. At the same time, Wrangel signed an order announcing to the population that the army would leave the Crimea and board all those who were in immediate danger from enemy violence. The troops continued to retreat: the 1st and 2nd Corps to Evpatoria and Sevastopol, the cavalry of General Barbovich to Yalta, the Kuban to Feodosia, the Don to Kerch. On the afternoon of November 10, General Wrangel invited representatives of the Russian and foreign press and acquainted them with the situation: “The army, which fought not only for the honor and freedom of its homeland, but also for the common cause of world culture and civilization, abandoned by the whole world, is bleeding. A handful of naked, hungry, exhausted heroes still continue to defend the last inch of their native land and will hold out to the end, saving those who sought protection behind their bayonets. In Sevastopol, the loading of infirmaries and numerous departments proceeded in perfect order. The last cover for loading was assigned to the outposts of the cadets of the Alekseevsky, Sergievsky artillery and Don Ataman schools and part of General Kutepov. All loading was to be completed by noon on 14 November.
“Order of the ruler of the South of Russia and the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. October 29 (s.s.) 1920 Sevastopol.
Russian people! Left alone in the fight against the rapists, the Russian army is waging an unequal battle, defending the last piece of Russian land where law and truth exist.
In the consciousness of the responsibility that lies on me, I am obliged to foresee all accidents in advance.
By my order, the evacuation and boarding of ships in the ports of the Crimea has already begun for all those who shared the path of the Cross with the army, the families of military personnel, officials of the civil department with their families, and individuals who could be in danger in the event of the arrival of the enemy.
The army will cover the landing, bearing in mind that the ships necessary for its evacuation are also in full readiness in ports, according to the established schedule. To fulfill the duty to the army and the population, everything has been done within the limits of human strength.
Our further paths are full of uncertainty.
We have no other land except Crimea. There is no state treasury. Frankly, as always, I warn everyone of what awaits them. May the Lord send strength and wisdom to all to overcome and survive the Russian hard times.
General Wrangel"
At about 10 o'clock, General Wrangel with the commander of the fleet, Vice-Admiral Mikhail Alexandrovich Kedrov, bypassed the loaded ships on a boat. Junkers lined up in the square. Greeting them, General Wrangel thanked them for their glorious service and gave them the order to load. The head of the American military mission, Admiral McColley, warmly shaking the hand of the Commander-in-Chief before the line of junkers, said: "I have always been an admirer of your cause and more than ever I am today." At 2:40 p.m., the boat with General Wrangel on board left the pier and headed for the cruiser General Kornilov. One after another, the ships went out to sea ... It got warmer, the sea was calm ... General Wrangel, as promised, with honor withdrew the army and navy. About 146,000 people were taken out on 126 ships, including 50,000 army officers and 6,000 wounded. The rest are personnel of military and administrative rear institutions, in a small number of families of military personnel, civil refugees. The steamers put out to sea, overcrowded to the extreme. All holds, decks, walkways, bridges were literally packed with people.
“I remember the bitterness of the salty wind,
Overloaded ship roll;
A strip of blue felt
The land disappeared in the mist;
But no screams, no moans, no complaints,
No outstretched hands to the shore.
The silence of the crowded decks
Tightened like a stretched bow;
Tightened up and stayed that way
The string of our souls forever.
It seemed to me like a black abyss
There is blue water overboard ... ”Turoverov wrote.
On the cruiser "General Kornilov" the Commander-in-Chief went around all the ports of loading - Yalta, Feodosia, Kerch. French and English warships, who helped in the evacuation, saluted him with the last salute as the Head of the Russian state. The cruiser responded with a salute to the salute. From the raid of Feodosia on November 17 at 15:40, General Wrangel ordered "General Kornilov" to head for the Bosphorus ... The armed struggle against the Bolsheviks in the South of Russia was over with weapons in hand, resisting the enemy to the last inch of Russian land.
The Bolsheviks promised to forgive all the White soldiers and officers who would not leave the Crimea, but would surrender to their mercy. The Bolsheviks, as always, deceived. 55 thousand people who believed and remained were killed on the orders of Bela Kun and Rozalia Zemlyachka, who unconditionally carried out the will of Lenin.
P.N. Wrangel Memoirs. Frankfurt-Main, 1969. or other editions.
Crimea. Wrangell. 1920 M., 2006.
N.G. Ross. Wrangel in the Crimea. Frankfurt/Main, 1982.
V.Zh. Tsvetkov. Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel. In book. White movement. M., 2005.
Paragraph 2.2.36. White Crimea. 1920 Politics of General Wrangel
A.B. Zubov
