Democratic counter-revolution during the civil war. Democratic counter-revolution." Red Eastern Front
1. Performance of the Czechoslovak corps. 2. “Democratic counter-revolution.” Eastern Front. "Kolchakism." 3. “Red Terror”, “hunt for the Tsar”. 4. Southern Front. 5. March on Petrograd. 6.Intervention. 7. War with White Poland. The fight against the Basmachi, the defeat of Wrangel, the end of the civil war. 1. Performance of the Czechoslovak corps. 2. “Democratic counter-revolution.” Eastern Front. "Kolchakism." 3. “Red Terror”, “hunt for the Tsar”. 4. Southern Front. 5. March on Petrograd. 6.Intervention. 7. War with White Poland. The fight against the Basmachi, the defeat of Wrangel, the end of the civil war.
1. In the summer of 1918, the front-line period of the war began. In Russia there was a captured Czechoslovak corps captured by the Russian army during the 1st World War. After the revolution, the Czechoslovaks were liberated and decided to fight on the side of the Entente, for which they were sent to the Far East. The trains with them stretched over 7 thousand km. from Penza to Vladivostok. Trotsky gave the order to disarm 45 thousand Czechoslovaks. Having learned about this, the corps refused to surrender their weapons and seized power in the Urals. They managed to overthrow Soviet power in the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East. Rebel Czechoslovak Corps
2. In the summer of 1918, local government bodies were created in the territories liberated from the Bolsheviks. They were led by the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. They proclaimed themselves a “democratic counter-revolution”, which was against both whites and reds. They proclaimed the slogan “Power to the Constituent Assembly”, “Liquidation of the shameful Brest”. With the help of the Cheka, they took Kazan. In June 1918, the Red Army created the Eastern Front to defend Moscow. Concentration camps were created for prisoners. On September 2, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee declared the Soviet Republic under martial law. In September-October 1918, the Red Army soldiers managed to defeat the Czechs and liberate Kazan, Simbirsk, and Samara. The Cheka retreated to the Urals. In September 1918, the Ufa Directory was announced in Ufa, the head of which was Admiral Kolchak. Ufa Directory
In mid-November, Admiral Kolchak was declared Supreme Ruler of Russia. Kolchak A.V. was an outstanding polar explorer and a remarkable fleet commander. In the spring of 1919, having assembled an army of 400 thousand, Kolchak managed to liberate Izhevsk, Ufa, and Sterlitamak from the Bolsheviks. Planning for an attack on Moscow began. On April 28, 1919, the Red Army under the command of M.V. Frunze defeated the Kolchakites near Samara and took Ufa. On July 14, the Red Army liberated Yekaterinburg, and in November Kolchak’s capital, Omsk. Under the blows of the Red Army, Kolchak retreated to Irkutsk. There was a rebellion against the admiral in Irkutsk and the remnants of the Cheka handed Kolchak over to the Bolsheviks. In February 1920 he was shot. Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral of the Imperial Fleet Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak. Revolutionary, commander of the Eastern Front of the Soviet Republic Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze.
3. In the summer of 1918, the Socialist Revolutionaries carried out an assassination attempt on Bolshevik leaders, including Lenin, who was shot by Socialist Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan. In response, the Bolsheviks carried out the “Red Terror” against captured White Guards. More than 140 thousand people were shot. The apogee of terror was the execution of members of the imperial family in Yekaterinburg in the summer of 1918 and other cities. 30 representatives of the Romanov dynasty were destroyed. Attempt on Lenin by Fanny Kaplan. Execution of the royal family in Yekaterinburg.
"Red Terror" - the brutal actions of the Red Army against captured White Guards. Terror is intimidation using extremely cruel methods, including the physical destruction of the enemy. Concentration camp (concentration camp) - a place of isolation of prisoners of war, prisoners, with torture.
4. The South of Russia becomes the second center against Soviet power. The Cossacks, who at first had a neutral attitude towards Soviet power, were dissatisfied with the disarmament and redistribution of land. The Cossack uprising coincided with the advance of German troops. At first, the Cossacks, led by Ataman Krasnov, acted independently. They managed to break through the Southern Front created by the Bolsheviks. The Red Army had difficulty stopping the 45 thousand army of Krasnov, who declared independence from Russia of the Don Army. The Volunteer Army, oriented toward the Entente, also operated independently in the south. After the defeat of Germany, Krasnov was left without German weapons and was forced to submit to Denikin. At the end of 1918, YES, liberated Ukraine, Belgorod, Tsaritsyn from the Bolsheviks, and in July Kursk, Orel, Voronezh. The attack on Moscow began. The Bolshevik slogan “Everyone to fight Denikin” was supported by most of the territories controlled by the Bolsheviks. The Red Army was led by S.M. Budyonny. His powerful offensive in the fall of 1919 - February-March 1920 destroyed the volunteer army. Its remnants were led by Baron Wrangel, who evacuated to Crimea. Commander of the Volunteer Army General Denikin. Commander of the 1st Cavalry Army, later Marshal of the USSR Budyonny.
5. Meanwhile, some of the nobles and tsarist officers escaped in Finland and, with the permission of the Finnish authorities, began to gather an army, led by General N.N. Yudenich. At the beginning of May 1919, Yudenich launched an attack on Petrograd. Some of the Red Army soldiers rebelled against their Red commanders in support of Yudenich’s campaign. The uprising was brutally suppressed by the forces of the Red Army and the Baltic Fleet. The threat to Petrograd forced the government to temporarily move the capital to Moscow. The Petrograd Front, created by the Red Army, drove back Yudenich's army, and in February 1920 it liberated Arkhangelsk, and in March Murmansk. General N.N. Yudenich
6. The civil war in Russia was accompanied by the intervention of foreign countries. In December 1917, Romania occupied Bessarabia, Ukraine, occupied by the Germans, declared independence. Germany also managed to capture the Oryol, Kursk, Voronezh provinces and Crimea. Türkiye invaded Transcaucasia. A German corps landed in Georgia. At the end of 1917, British, American and Japanese ships arrived at ports in the north and Far East, ostensibly to assist the “legitimate government.” On March 6, 1918, the British landed in Murmansk. In April 1918, the Japanese captured Vladivostok. In the fall of 1918, after the defeat of Germany, the Entente began a large-scale intervention in Russia. However, they did not take an active part in the hostilities, watching only how the Russians slaughtered each other. The peoples of the interventionist countries were dissatisfied with the interference in the affairs of Russia and mass protests swept across Europe. Fearing revolutions at home, the interventionists began to evacuate from Russia. In the years, all foreign units were evacuated; only to fight Japan in the Far East did the Bolsheviks create the Far Eastern Republic, which forced the Japanese to evacuate in October 1922.
7. The main event of 1920 was the war with Poland. In April, the head of Poland, J. Pilsudski, launched an attack on Kyiv. Officially “to provide assistance to Ukrainians in eliminating the illegal Soviet power.” On May 7, Kyiv was captured by the Poles. However, the Ukrainians did not like the “help” of the Poles. Almost all the forces of the Red Army under the command of generals Tukhachevsky and Egorov were thrown against Poland. The Red Army defeated Poland and reached its border. Tukhachevsky called for bringing revolution to Europe with bayonets through the “corpse of white Poland,” but the Poles put up stubborn resistance and the Bolsheviks agreed to peace, which was signed on October 12, 1920. Russia handed over Western Ukraine and Belarus to Poland. President of independent Poland Jozef Pilsudski. A caricature of Poland dreaming of the revival of Greater Poland.
In Central Asia, after the October Revolution, the Turkestan Republic was formed as part of the RSFSR with its capital in Tashkent. Russia's vassals Bukhara and Khiva declared independence. However, weapons began to arrive on their territory and British invaders entered. Basmachi raids were made from the territory of the khanates. The main resistance to Soviet power came from the densely populated Fergana Valley. To fight the Basmachis, the Turkestan Front was created, led by Frunze. He managed to defeat the main forces of the Basmachi and occupy Khiva and Bukhara, but individual attacks by the Basmachi continued until 1935. Flag of the Basmachi movement Emir of Bukhara Seyid Alim Khan. Having made peace with Poland, the Red Army decided to concentrate all its forces on the fight against the last major White Guard hotbed - the army of General Wrangel. The troops of the newly created Southern Front, under the command of Frunze, broke into the Crimea in early November 1920, after fierce and bloody battles. Despite incredible efforts, Baron Wrangel failed to hold the front. The panicked evacuation of whites began. Together with them, outstanding generals, scientists, poets, and politicians who did not recognize the revolution left their homeland forever. The confrontation between the whites and the reds ended in victory for the reds. Baron Wrangel.
1. Speech of the Czechoslovak Corps. Eastern Front In the summer of 1918, the Civil War entered a new stage - front-line. It began with the performance of the Czechoslovak Corps. The corps consisted of captured Czechs and Slovaks of the Austro-Hungarian army. Back at the end of 1916, they expressed a desire to participate in hostilities on the side of the Entente
The corps recognized itself as part of the French army. An agreement was concluded between Russia and France on the transfer of Czechoslovaks to the Western Front. They were supposed to proceed along the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, board ships and sail to Europe
At the end of May 1918, trains with military personnel (more than 45 thousand people) stretched from Rtishchevo station (in the Penza region) to Vladivostok for 7 thousand km. There was a rumor that the corps should be disarmed and the Czechs should be handed over to Austria-Hungary as prisoners of war. The corps command decided not to surrender their weapons and fight their way to Vladivostok
Trotsky actually issued an order to disarm the corps. This order was intercepted by R. Gaida, the commander of the corps. He gave his order to occupy the stations where they were located. In a short time, Soviet power, with the help of the Czechs, was overthrown in the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East
2. “Democratic counter-revolution.” Eastern Front In the summer of 1918, local governments were created in the territories liberated by the Czechoslovaks from the Bolsheviks: -In Samara - Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly Komuch of the first composition I. M. Brushvit, P. D. Klimushkin, B . K. Fortunatov, V. K. Volsky (chairman) and I. P. Nesterov
With the support of the Czechoslovaks, the People's Army of Komuch took Kazan on August 6, hoping to cross the Volga and move to Moscow. In June 1918, the Soviet government adopted a resolution on the creation of the Eastern Front. On September 2, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee declared the Soviet Republic a military camp
Admiral A.V. Kolchak was invited to the post of Minister of War (Everyone hoped that Kolchak’s popularity would help unite the anti-Bolshevik forces. In November 1918, he accepted the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia
Kolchak in Irkutsk Under the blows of the Red Army, the Kolchak government was forced to move to Irkutsk In December 1919, an uprising broke out against Kolchak In early January 1920, Czechoslovakia A.V. Kolchak to the leaders of the uprising In February 1920, he was shot
3. Red terror Fanny KAPLAN's assassination attempt on V.I. LENIN at a Moscow factory.
4. Southern Front The second center of resistance to Soviet power was the South of Russia. In the spring of 1918, the Don was filled with rumors about the upcoming equalization of land redistribution. The Cossacks began to murmur. An uprising broke out. It coincided with the arrival of the Germans on the Don. The Cossacks and the Germans entered into negotiations. On April 21, the Provisional Don Government was created. General Krasnov became Ataman of the Don Army
From the troops located in the area of Voronezh, Tsaritsyn and the North Caucasus, the Soviet government created the Southern Front in September 1918. The battles took place in the Tsaritsyn area. Krasnov's army broke through the Southern Front and began to move north. At the same time, Denikin's Volunteer Army began a campaign against Kuban.
At this time, the foreign policy situation changed dramatically. At the beginning of November 1918, the world war ended with the defeat of Germany. The volunteer army ceased to exist. At the beginning of April, General P.N. Wrangel was appointed commander-in-chief in the Crimea. Wrangel Petr Nikolaevich
In April 1918, Turkish troops moved deep into Transcaucasia. In May, a German corps landed in Georgia. From the end of 1917, British, American and Japanese warships began to arrive at Russian ports in the North and Far East, allegedly to protect these ports from possible German aggression
In April 1918, Japanese paratroopers landed in Vladivostok. They were joined by the British. American, French and other troops of the Entente governments did not even declare war on Russia. Leniya regarded these actions as an intervention and called for armed resistance to the aggressors.
After Germany emerged from the First World War in the fall of 1918, the military presence of the Entente countries in Russia acquired an even wider scale. But the war dragged on and this caused dissatisfaction among the personnel of the expeditionary forces. Foreign powers began to evacuate their troops. Only Japanese troops remained in the Far East until October 1922. .
May 7, 1920 Kyiv was taken But the population of Ukraine regarded the intervention of the Poles as occupation The forces of the Red Army were thrown against Poland They are united as part of the Western and Southwestern fronts under the command of M.N. Tukhachevsky and A.I. Egorov M.N. Tukhachevsky A .I.Egorov
June 12, 1920 Kyiv was liberated The offensive developed rapidly The Bolsheviks had hope for a world revolution But on the territory of Poland the Red Army met fierce resistance Tukhachevsky's front was defeated On March 18, 1921 a peace treaty was signed with Poland: Western Ukraine and Western Belarus went to it
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Performance of the Czechoslovak Corps
"Democratic Revolution". Eastern Front
Red Terror
Southern Front
March on Petrograd
Intervention
War with Poland. Defeat of Wrangel
1. Speech of the Czechoslovak Corps. Eastern Front
In the summer of 1918, the Civil War enterednew stage - frontline
It began with a speech by Czechoslovakian
housing
The corps consisted of captured Czechs and
Slovaks of the Austro-Hungarian army
Back at the end of 1916, they expressed their desire
participate in hostilities in
side of the Entente
Mutiny of the Czechoslovak Corps.
Mutiny of the Czechoslovak Corps. The corps recognized itself as part of the Frencharmy
Between Russia and France there was
a transfer agreement was concluded
Czechoslovaks to the Western Front
They had to follow along
Trans-Siberian Railway in
Vladivostok, board the ships and set sail
to Europe At the end of May 1918, trains with military personnel (
more than 45 thousand people) stretched from the station
Rtishchevo (in the Penza region) to Vladivostok on
7 thousand km.
There was a rumor that the corps was following
disarm and hand over the Czechs to Austria-Hungary
as prisoners of war
The corps command made a decision
don’t give up your weapons and fight your way into
Vladivostok with battle Trotsky actually issued an order to
disarmament of the corps
This order was intercepted by R. Hyda,
corps commander
He gave his order to occupy the stations, at
which they were
In a short time, the Soviet government under
with the help of the Czechs was overthrown in the Volga region,
in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East
2. “Democratic counter-revolution”. Eastern Front
In the summer of 1918 onterritories,
released
Czechoslovaks from
Bolsheviks were
created local
governments:
- In Samara – Committee
members of the Founding
meetings
Komuch of the first composition -
I. M. Brushvit, P. D.
Klimushkin, B.K.
Fortunatov, V. K. Volsky
(chairman) and I.P.
Nesterov - In Tomsk –
Temporary
Siberian
government
10.
In Yekaterinburg - Ural regionalgovernment
11.
The new authorities were headed bySocialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks
They declared themselves "democratic"
counter-revolution" or "Third Force",
far from red and white
Their slogans:
- “Power is not to the Soviets, but to the Constituent
meeting"
- “Liquidation of the Brest-Litovsk Peace”
12.
With the support of the Czechoslovaks People'sKomuch’s army took Kazan on August 6,
hoping to cross the Volga and
move towards Moscow
In June 1918, the Soviet government
adopted a resolution on the creation
Eastern Front
On September 2, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee declared the Soviet
republic in a military camp
13.
At the beginning of September the Red Armystopped the enemy and moved into
offensive
In September and early October she released
Kazan, Simbirsk, Syzran and Samara
The Czechs retreated to the Urals
14.
Army of the Ufa DirectoryIn September 1918 In Ufa
a single
anti-Bolshevik
government – Ufa
directory
15.
For a military positionthe minister was invited
Admiral A.V. Kolchak (18741920)
Everyone hoped that
Kolchak's popularity
will allow to combine
anti-Bolshevik forces
In November 1918 He
accepted the title of Supreme
ruler of Russia
16.
He put undergun 400 thousand
Human
His army led
successful
offensive
This allowed
install a new one
task: going to
Moscow
17.
Mikhail Vasilievich FrunzeApril 28, 1919 Red
The army began
counteroffensive
Troops under
Frunze's command
defeated the elite
Kolchak units and
took Ufa
In November 1919 Pala
Kolchak's capital Omsk
18.
Kolchak in IrkutskUnder the blows of the Red Army
Kolchak government
was forced
move to Irkutsk
In December 1919 Against
Kolchak broke out
insurrection
At the beginning of January 1920
Czechoslovakians A.V. Kolchak
leaders of the uprising
In February 1920 He was
shot
19. Execution of Kolchak
20.
In the summer of 1918, the Social Revolutionaries carried out a number ofterrorist attacks against
Bolshevik leaders
August 30, 1918 It was hard in Moscow
Lenin was wounded
21. 3. Red Terror
1918 - Assassination attempt on Fanny KAPLANV.I. LENIN at the Moscow plant.
22.
Killed in Petrogradchairman
Petrograd Cheka
M.S.Uritsky
23.
The Soviet government adoptedpolicy of intimidation of the population - red
terror
He was massive
One of the pages of the Red Terror was
execution of the family of Nicholas 2
In April 1918 - in Yekaterinburg, in the house
merchant Ipatiev
24. The October Revolution found the emperor in Tobolsk
25.
.House of merchant Ipatiev, pre-revolutionary photo.
26. Children of Nicholas 2
27.
Tsarskayafamily
Here
was
killed
28.
The decision to shoot the family was madeJuly 16, 1918
On the night of July 17, together with Nikolai were
his wife, five children and
servants, 11 people in total
29. 4. Southern Front
The second center of resistance to Soviet powerbecame the South of Russia
In the spring of 1918, the Don was filled with rumors about
upcoming equalization of land redistribution
The Cossacks began to murmur
An uprising broke out
It coincided with the arrival of the Germans on the Don
Cossacks and Germans entered into negotiations
On April 21, the Temporary Don was created
government
General Krasnov became ataman of the Don Army
30.
Ataman Krasnov P.N.By cruel methods
held a massive
mobilization
Weapons were supplied
Germany
31.
Of the troops stationed in the areaVoronezh, Tsaritsyn and the North Caucasus,
the Soviet government created in
September 1918 Southern Front
The fighting took place in the Tsaritsyn area
Krasnov's army broke through the Southern Front and
began to move north
At the same time, the campaign to Kuban began
Denikin's Volunteer Army
32.
Denikin Anton Ivanovich"Volunteers"
focused on
The Entente did not enter
interaction with
Krasnov's detachments
33.
Wrangel Petr NikolaevichThis time is sharp
changed
foreign policy
situation
At the beginning of November 1918
world war is over
defeat of Germany
Volunteer Army
ceased to exist
Early April
commander in chief in
Crimea was assigned
General P.N. Wrangel
34. 5. March on Petrograd
There is a threatPetrograd
Emigrants in
Finland and
Estonia created
Russian
political
committee headed by
N.N. Yudenich
35.
In the first halfMay 1919 Yudenich
launched an attack on
Petrograd
broke out
anti-Bolshevik
speeches
Red Army soldiers in
forts Krasnaya Gorka,
Gray Horse,
Obruchev
36.
Having suppressed these protests, the Redswent on the offensive and pushed back units
Yudenich
His troops were driven back into the territory
Estonia
37. 6. Intervention
Intervention –intervention
foreign countries
In December 1917 Romania
occupied Bessarabia
38.
GovernmentCentral
glad
proclaimed
independently with
t Ukraine
German
troops invaded
within
Orlovskaya,
Kursk,
Voronezh
provinces,
captured Crimea
Rostov
39.
In April 1918, Turkish troops moveddeep into Transcaucasia
In May, German troops also landed in Georgia.
frame
From the end of 1917 to Russian ports on
The North and Far East began to arrive
English, American and Japanese
warships supposedly to protect these
ports from possible German aggression
40.
"Ring of Fronts"First Soviet
government
agreed to accept from
Entente countries assistance in
food and
weapons
But after the conclusion
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
military presence
The Entente has become direct
Soviet threat
authorities
41. English landing
42.
In April 1918, Japanese paratrooperslanded in Vladivostok
The English joined them.
American, French and other troops
The governments of the Entente countries did not even
declared war on Russia
Lenya regarded these actions as an intervention and
called for armed resistance to aggressors
43.
After leaving the First World Warautumn 1918 German military presence
Entente countries in Russia acquired even more
wide scale
But the war dragged on and this caused
personnel dissatisfaction
expeditionary forces
Foreign powers began evacuating
their troops
Only Japanese troops remained
Far East until October 1922
44.
Large-scale intervention is nottook place:
- Governments of Europe and the USA
were afraid of the movement of their peoples in
support for the Russian revolution
- Erupted in Germany and Austria-Hungary
revolution
45. 7. War with Poland. Defeat of Wrangel
The main event of 1920there was a war with Poland
In April 1920 Yu
Piłsudski, head
Poland, gave the order
trip to Kyiv for
providing assistance to Ukraine
in the fight against the Soviet
power
46.
May 7, 1920 Kyiv capturedBut the intervention of the Poles
population of Ukraine
regarded as occupation
thrown against Poland
Red Army forces
They are united in
Western and Southwestern
fronts under the command
M.N. Tukhachevsky and
A.I. Egorova
M.N.Tukhachevsky
A.I.Egorov
47.
June 12, 1920 Kyiv liberatedThe offensive developed rapidly
The Bolsheviks had hope for
world revolution
But on the territory of Poland the Red Army
met with fierce resistance
Tukhachevsky's front was destroyed
On March 18, 1921, a peace treaty was signed with
Poland: Western Ukraine and
Western Belarus
48.
Having ended the war withPoland, Soviet
command
concentrated all the power
Red Army for
fighting the general's army
Wrangel
49.
Troops of the Southern Frontunder the command
M.V.Frunze at the beginning
November 1920:
- The assault was mastered
positions on Perekop
and Chongar
- Crossed Sivash
50.
Remains of the Volunteer Armyrushed to those concentrated in
Crimean ports to ships
Almost 100 thousand people fled Russia
Armed confrontation between
white and red ended in victory
red
*Civil war is an armed form of struggle for power within a state between its citizens.
Causes of the Civil War
1. Exacerbation of economic and political contradictions. Loss of a democratic alternative for the country's development after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly
2. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
3. The beginning of surplus appropriation in the village
4. Foreign military intervention
The civil war is divided into 3 stages:
From October 1917 to the spring of 1918 - the first stage (soft). Military operations were local in nature. The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries either waged a political struggle against the Bolsheviks or formed their own white movement.
Spring 1918 – autumn 1920 – second stage (front). In the spring - summer of 1918. An open military confrontation began between the Bolsheviks and their opponents.
End of 1920 – 1922 – third stage (small). Mass peasant uprisings against the economic policies of the Bolsheviks, growing discontent among workers, performance of the Kronstadt sailors. The Bolsheviks introduced a new economic policy that contributed to the subsidence of the Civil War.
Formation of the white movement
Ataman A. M. Kaledin headed the anti-Bolshevik movement on the Don. He declared the All-Great Don Army’s disobedience to the Soviet government. Everyone dissatisfied with the new regime flocked to the Don. In November 1917, the former chief of staff of the Supreme High Command, General M.V. Alekseev, arrived in Novocherkassk, the capital of the All-Great Don Army. Here he began to form the Volunteer Army. By the beginning of winter, about 2 thousand officers made their way to Novocherkassk. Well-known politicians and public figures also fled here: P. N. Milyukov, P. B. Struve, M. V. Rodzianko and others. At a meeting of generals and public figures, the principles of creating an army and its management system were determined. L. G. Kornilov, who escaped from prison, was appointed commander of the Volunteer Army. Civil power and foreign policy came under the jurisdiction of General Alekseev. Administration of the Don region remained with Ataman Kaledin.
This was the beginning of the white movement. White color symbolized law and order. The main ideas of the white movement were: without prejudging the future final form of government, to restore a united, indivisible Russia, to mercilessly fight the Bolsheviks until they are completely destroyed. Initially, the formation of the white movement took place on a strictly voluntary and free basis. The volunteer signed to serve for four months and promised to obey his commanders unquestioningly. Since 1918, soldiers and officers began to receive monetary allowances. The army was financed through voluntary donations from entrepreneurs and money kept in local branches of the State Bank. But already in 1918, the leaders of the movement began to print money of their own design.
The Soviet government managed to form a 10,000-strong army, which entered the Don territory in mid-January 1918. Most of the Cossacks at this time took a position of benevolent neutrality towards the Soviet regime. The Decree on Land gave the Cossacks little (they had land), but they were attracted by the Decree on Peace. Part of the population provided armed support to the Reds. Considering his cause lost, Ataman Kaledin shot himself.
The volunteer army, accompanied by convoys with the families of officers, politicians, and civilians, went to the steppes, hoping to continue their work in the Kuban. On April 17, 1918, during an unsuccessful assault on the capital of Kuban, Ekaterinodar, the army commander, General Kornilov, was killed. General A.I. Denikin took command.
The first protests against Soviet power, although fierce, were spontaneous and scattered, did not enjoy mass support from the population, and took place against the backdrop of the relatively rapid and peaceful establishment of Soviet power in the country. The rebel chieftains were defeated quite quickly. During this period, two centers of resistance to the Bolshevik power began to take shape: east of the Volga, in Siberia, where a significant number of wealthy peasant owners lived, and in the south - in territories inhabited by Cossacks, known for their love of freedom and commitment to a special way of economic and social life. . It was there that the main fronts of the Civil War – Eastern and Southern – were formed.
Creation of the Red Army.
On January 15, 1918, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was created, and on January 29, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet was created. The army was built on the principles of voluntariness and a class approach only from workers; the penetration of “exploiting elements” into it was excluded.
But the volunteer principle of recruitment did not contribute to strengthening combat effectiveness and strengthening discipline. The Red Army suffered a number of serious defeats. Lenin, in order to preserve the power of the Bolsheviks, considered it possible to return to the traditional, “bourgeois” principles of building an army on the basis of universal conscription and unity of command.
In July 1918, a Decree was issued on universal military service for men aged 18 to 40 years. A network of military commissariats was created throughout the country to register those liable for military service, organize and conduct military training, and mobilize the population fit for military service. The size of the Red Army grew rapidly. In the fall of 1918, there were 0.3 million fighters in its ranks, in the spring - 1.5 million, in the fall of 1919 - already 3 million. And in 1920, about 5 million people served in the Red Army. Much attention was paid to the formation of team personnel. In 1917–1919 short-term courses and schools were opened to train mid-level commanders from distinguished Red Army soldiers, and higher military educational institutions: the Academy of the General Staff, the Artillery, the Military Medical, the Military Economic, the Naval, and the Military Engineering Academies. In March 1918, a notice was published in the Soviet press about the recruitment of military specialists from the old army to serve in the Red Army. By January 1, 1919, about 165 thousand former tsarist officers had joined the ranks of the Red Army.
The involvement of military experts was accompanied by strict “class” control over their activities. In April 1918, the party sent military commissars to the military units of the army and navy, who supervised the command cadres and carried out the political education of the Red Army soldiers.
In September 1918, a unified structure for command and control of troops of the fronts and armies was created. At the head of each front (army), a Revolutionary Military Council (Revolutionary Military Council, or RVS) was appointed, consisting of the commander of the front (army) and two political commissars. All front-line and military institutions were headed by the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR), chaired by L. D. Trotsky. Measures were taken to tighten discipline. Representatives of the RVS, endowed with emergency powers, including the execution of traitors and cowards without trial, went to the most tense areas of the front.
Speech by the Czechoslovak Corps.
In the summer of 1918, the Civil War entered a new stage - the front stage. It began with the performance of the Czechoslovak Corps. The corps consisted of Czechs and Slovaks captured by the Austro-Hungarian army. Back at the end of 1916, they expressed a desire to participate in hostilities on the side of the Entente. In January 1918, the corps leadership declared itself part of the Czechoslovak army, which was under the command of the commander-in-chief of the French troops. An agreement was concluded between Russia and France on the transfer of Czechoslovaks to the Western Front. They were supposed to follow the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, board ships and sail to Europe.
At the end of May 1918, trains with military personnel (more than 45 thousand people) stretched from Rtishchevo station (in the Penza region) to Vladivostok for 7 thousand km. There was a rumor that the local Soviets had been given an order to disarm the corps and hand over the Czechoslovaks as prisoners of war to Austria-Hungary and Germany. The command decided not to surrender their weapons and, if necessary, to fight their way to Vladivostok. On May 25, the Czechoslovak commander R. Gaida, having intercepted Trotsky’s order confirming the disarmament of the corps, ordered the stations where they were located to be occupied. In a relatively short period of time, with the help of the Czechoslovaks, Soviet power was overthrown in the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East.
Eastern Front.
In the summer of 1918, local governments were created in the territories liberated by the Czechoslovaks from the Bolsheviks. In Samara - the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch), in Yekaterinburg - the Ural Regional Government, in Tomsk - the Provisional Siberian Government. The Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks stood at the head of the new government bodies. They proclaimed themselves a “democratic counter-revolution”, or a “third force”, equally distant from both the Reds and the Whites. The slogans of the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menepevist governments were “Power not to the Soviets, but to the Constituent Assembly!”, “Liquidation of the Brest-Litovsk Peace!” Part of the population supported them. With the support of the Czechoslovaks, the People's Army of Komuch took Kazan on August 6, hoping to cross the Volga and move on to Moscow.
In early September, in bloody battles, the Red Army managed to stop the enemy and go on the offensive. In September - early October, she liberated Kazan, Simbirsk, Syzran and Samara. Czechoslovak troops retreated to the Urals. In September 1918, a meeting of representatives of all anti-Bolshevik governments took place in Ufa. A single government was formed - the Ufa Directory, in which the Socialist Revolutionaries played the main role.
The advance of the Red Army forced the Ufa directory to move to Omsk in October. Admiral A.V. Kolchak was invited to the post of Minister of War.
The Social Revolutionary leaders of the Directory hoped that Kolchak’s popularity would allow him to unite the disparate military formations operating against Soviet power in the Urals and Siberia. But the officers did not want to cooperate with the socialists. On the night of November 17-18, 1918, a group of officers from Cossack units stationed in Omsk arrested socialist members of the Directory. All power was offered to Kolchak. He accepted the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia.
In the spring of 1919, Kolchak, having carried out general mobilization and put 400 thousand people under arms, went on the offensive. In March–April, his armies captured Sarapul, Izhevsk, Ufa, and Sterlitamak. The advanced units were located several tens of kilometers from Kazan, Samara and Simbirsk. Success allowed the Whites to set a new task - a campaign against Moscow. Lenin demanded that emergency measures be taken to organize resistance to the Kolchakites.
The counteroffensive of the Red Army began on April 28, 1919. Troops under the command of M. V. Frunze defeated selected Kolchak units in battles near Samara and took Ufa in June. On July 14, Yekaterinburg was liberated. In November 1919, Kolchak's capital, Omsk, fell. Under the blows of the Red Army, the Kolchak government was forced to move to Irkutsk. On December 24, 1919, an anti-Kolchak uprising broke out in Irkutsk. The allied forces and the remaining Czechoslovak troops declared their neutrality. At the beginning of January 1920, the Czechoslovakians extradited A.V. Kolchak to the leaders of the uprising. In February 1920 he was shot.
Soviet power in the ring of fronts, 1919
Southern front.
In May–June 1919, General Denikin’s army went on the offensive along the entire front and managed to capture Donbass, part of Ukraine, Belgorod, and Tsaritsyn. In July, the attack on Moscow began, the Whites occupied Kursk, Orel, and Voronezh. On Soviet territory, another wave of mobilization of forces and resources began under the motto “Everyone to fight Denikin!” In October 1919, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive. S. M. Budyonny’s 1st Cavalry Army played a major role in changing the situation at the front. The rapid offensive of the Reds in the fall of 1919 divided the Volunteer Army into two parts - the Crimean and the North Caucasus. In February–March 1920, its main forces in the North Caucasus were defeated, and the Volunteer Army ceased to exist. At the beginning of April 1920, General P. N. Wrangel was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops in Crimea.
Northwestern Front.
At a time when the Red Army was winning decisive victories over Kolchak’s troops, a serious threat arose to Petrograd. Russian emigrants found shelter in Finland and Estonia, among them about 2.5 thousand officers of the tsarist army. They created the Russian Political Committee headed by General N.N. Yudenich. With the consent of the Finnish and then Estonian authorities, he began to form the White Guard army.
In the first half of May 1919, Yudenich launched an attack on Petrograd. Having broken through the front of the Red Army between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipus, his troops created a real threat to the city. Anti-Bolshevik protests by Red Army soldiers broke out in the forts Krasnaya Gorka, Gray Horse, and Obruchev. Not only regular units of the Red Army, but also naval artillery of the Baltic Fleet were used against the rebels. Having suppressed these protests, the Reds went on the offensive and pushed back Yudenich’s units. Yudenich’s second offensive against Petrograd in October 1919 also ended in failure. His troops were thrown back into Estonia.
Intervention
*Intervention - military, political, informational or economic intervention of one or more states in the internal affairs of another state, violating its sovereignty.
The civil war in Russia was complicated from the very beginning by the intervention of foreign states. From the end of 1917, British, American and Japanese warships began to arrive at Russian ports in the North and Far East, ostensibly to protect these ports from possible German aggression. At first, the Soviet government took this calmly and even agreed to accept assistance from the Entente countries in the form of food and weapons. But after the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the military presence of the Entente became a direct threat to Soviet power. But it was too late. On March 6, 1918, English troops landed in the port of Murmansk. At a meeting of the heads of government of the Entente countries, a decision was made to non-recognize the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and interfere in the internal affairs of Russia.
In April 1918, Japanese paratroopers landed in Vladivostok. They were joined by British, American, French and other troops. The governments of the Entente countries did not declare war on Soviet Russia; moreover, they hid behind the idea of fulfilling their “allied duty.” Lenin regarded these actions as an intervention and called for armed resistance to the aggressors.
Since the autumn of 1918, after the defeat of Germany, the military presence of the Entente countries in Russia acquired wider proportions. In January 1919, troops were landed in Odessa, Crimea, Baku, Batumi and the number of troops in the North and Far East was increased. The dissatisfaction of the personnel of the expeditionary forces, for whom the war dragged on indefinitely, forced the evacuation of the Black Sea and Caspian landings in the spring of 1919. The British left Arkhangelsk and Murmansk in the fall of 1919.
In 1920, British and American units were evacuated from the Far East. Only Japanese troops remained there until October 1922. Large-scale intervention did not take place primarily because the governments of Europe and the United States were afraid of the movement of their peoples in support of the Russian revolution. Revolutions broke out in Germany and Austria-Hungary, under the pressure of which these empires collapsed.
War with Poland. The defeat of Wrangel.
The main event of 1920 was the war between the Soviet republics and Poland. In April 1920, the head of Poland, J. Pilsudski, gave the order to attack Kyiv. It was officially announced that we were talking about providing assistance to the Ukrainian people in eliminating the illegal Soviet power and restoring the independence of Ukraine. On the night of May 7, Kyiv was captured. However, the population of Ukraine perceived the intervention of the Poles as an occupation. The Bolsheviks, in the face of external danger, managed to unite various layers of society.
Almost all the forces of the Red Army, united as part of the Western and Southwestern Fronts, were thrown against Poland. They were commanded by former officers of the tsarist army M. N. Tukhachevsky and A. I. Egorov. On June 12, Kyiv was liberated. The offensive developed rapidly. Some Bolshevik leaders began to hope for the success of the revolution in Western Europe. In an order on the Western Front, Tukhachevsky wrote: “Through the corpse of white Poland lies the path to a world conflagration. We will bring happiness and peace to working humanity with bayonets. Forward to the West! However, the Red Army, which entered Polish territory, met fierce resistance from the enemy, who received great help from the Entente. Due to inconsistency in the actions of the Red Army formations, Tukhachevsky's front was destroyed. Failure also befell the Southwestern Front. On October 12, 1920, preliminary conditions were concluded in Riga, and on March 18, 1921, the Riga Peace Treaty with Poland was signed. Along it, the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus passed to it.
Having ended the war with Poland, the Soviet command concentrated all the power of the Red Army to fight the last major White Guard hotbed - the army of General Wrangel. The troops of the Southern Front under the command of M.V. Frunze in early November 1920 stormed what were considered impregnable positions on Perekop and Chongar and crossed the Sivash Bay. The last battle between the Reds and Whites was especially fierce and cruel. The remnants of the once formidable Volunteer Army rushed to the ships concentrated in the Crimean ports. Almost 100 thousand people were forced to leave their homeland. The armed confrontation between the whites and the reds ended in victory for the reds.
As previously noted (), the Czechoslovak corps, maintained at the expense of the Entente, became the external organizing force and core for the white counter-revolutionary forces in eastern Russia. The West acted as the initiator of the intensification and expansion of the Civil War with the goal of dismembering Russia, seizing its wealth and bleeding the Russian people in a brutal fratricidal war.
In May 1918, the famous uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps began, which put an end to Soviet power for a long time in the vast expanses of the Far East, Siberia, the Urals and the Volga region. Almost simultaneously, in April 1918, the Japanese landed troops in Vladivostok, which dramatically changed the military-strategic and political situation in the eastern part of Russia. The governments of England and France decided to use the Czechoslovaks as a fighting nucleus for organizing the counter-revolutionary Eastern Front. The soldiers of the Czechoslovak Corps were provoked by malicious propaganda about their alleged extradition to Germany and Austria-Hungary as former prisoners of war. Clashes occurred between former Austro-German prisoners who were being transported to the west and Czechoslovak legionnaires moving to the east.
Leon Trotsky again acted as a provocateur, ordering the disarmament and arrest of the legionnaires. On May 25, People's Commissar for Military Affairs Trotsky sent a telegram to “all Soviet deputies along the line from Penza to Omsk”: “All railway councils are obliged, under pain of grave responsibility, to disarm the Czechoslovaks. Every Czechoslovak who is found armed on the railway lines is to be shot on the spot; every train containing 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 perpetrators. At the same time, I am sending reliable forces to the rear of the Czechoslovak echelons, tasked with teaching those who disobey a lesson. Treat honest Czechoslovaks who will surrender and submit to Soviet power as brothers and provide them with all possible support. All railway workers are informed that not a single carriage carrying Czechoslovaks should move east."
For their part, the leaders of the corps in the persons of Chechek, Gaida and Woitsekhovsky quite consciously played their game, acting on orders from the French mission, to which they had telegraphed in advance about their readiness to move. Having developed their action plan and coordinated it in time, the Czechoslovakians began the operation. Thus, the provocation was well prepared and it was a success. The conflict, which could have been resolved through negotiations, escalated into a large-scale armed confrontation. And the Czechoslovak Corps for that time was a serious force (30-40 thousand fighters), the Whites and Reds fought in small detachments and “echelons” - several hundred and thousands of fighters.
On May 25, Gaida and his troops rebelled in Siberia, capturing Novonikolaevsk. On May 26, Voitsekhovsky captured Chelyabinsk, and on May 28, after a battle with local Soviet garrisons, Chechek's echelons occupied Penza and Syzran. The Penza (8,000 fighters) and Chelyabinsk (8,750 fighters) groups of Czechs initially showed a desire to continue moving east. Voitsekhovsky’s group occupied Omsk on June 7, after a series of clashes with the Reds. On June 10, she linked up with Gaida's echelons. The Penza group headed for Samara, which it captured on June 8 after a minor battle. By the beginning of June 1918, all Czechoslovak forces, including local White Guards, were concentrated in four groups: 1) under the command of Chechek (former Penza group) consisting of 5,000 soldiers - in the Syzran-Samara region; 2) under the command of Voitsekhovsky consisting of 8,000 people - in the Chelyabinsk region; 3) under the command of Gaida (Sibirskaya) consisting of 4000 people - in the Omsk - Novonikolaevsk region; under the command of Diterikhs (Vladivostok), consisting of 14,000 people, was scattered in space east of Lake Baikal, heading to Vladivostok. The corps headquarters and the Czech National Council were located in Omsk.
Czechoslovak machine gunners
The eastern group of Czechoslovaks under General Dieterichs remained passive at first. All her efforts were aimed at successfully concentrating in the Vladivostok region, for which she negotiated with local authorities asking for assistance in promoting the echelons. On July 6, legionnaires concentrated in Vladivostok and captured the city. On July 7, the Czechs occupied Nikolsk-Ussuriysk. Immediately after the Czech uprising, by decision of the Supreme Allied Conference, the 12th Japanese Division landed in Vladivostok, followed by the Americans, British and French (with the participation of small units from other countries). The Allies took over the protection of the Vladivostok area, and with their actions to the north and towards Harbin they provided the rear of the Czechoslovaks, who moved back to the west to join the Siberian group of Gaida. On the way, in Manchuria, Diterikhs’s group united with the detachments of Horvat and Kalmykov, and in the area of the station. In August Olovyanaya established contact with the detachment of Gaida and Semyonov. The red detachments in the Far East were partially disarmed and taken prisoner, while others went into the taiga and mountains, blowing up bridges and waging guerrilla warfare.
At the same time, the process of creating white “governments” and troops begins. On June 8, the first such “government” was created in Samara - the Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly (Komuch). It included five Socialist Revolutionaries who did not recognize the January decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly and who ended up in Samara at that time: Vladimir Volsky, who became the chairman of the committee, Ivan Brushvit, Prokopiy Klimushkin, Boris Fortunatov and Ivan Nesterov. The Committee, on behalf of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, declared itself to be the temporary supreme authority in the country until a new assembly was convened. The former head of the Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky, also tried to join the activities of the Komuch government, but the Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party spoke out against it, and Kerensky left Russia forever. To fight the Bolsheviks, the formation of its own army began, called the “People's Army”. Already on June 9, the 1st volunteer Samara squad numbering 350 people was formed. The commander of the squad was Lieutenant Colonel of the General Staff Vladimir Kappel. On June 11, Kappel’s detachment captured the city of Syzran, and on June 12 they took Stavropol-on-Volga (now Tolyatti).
Komuch of the first composition - I. M. Brushvit, P. D. Klimushkin, B. K. Fortunatov, V. K. Volsky (chairman) and I. P. Nesterov
On June 10, in Omsk, after the connection of the Chelyabinsk and Siberian Czech groups, a meeting of the Czech command with representatives of the new Siberian white government was held. At the meeting they adopted a plan to fight the Bolsheviks. The general leadership of the Czechoslovak troops was entrusted to the corps commander, Russian General Vladimir Shokorov. All forces were divided into three groups. The first - Western, under the command of Colonel Voitsekhovsky, was supposed to advance through the Urals to Zlatoust - Ufa - Samara and connect with the Penza group of Chechek, which remained in the Volga region. They were then to develop their operations against Yekaterinburg from the southwest. The second group under the command of Syrovoy was supposed to advance along the Tyumen railway in the direction of Yekaterinburg, in order to divert as many Soviet troops as possible and facilitate the advance of the Western group (merged with the Penza group of Chechek), and then, together with it, occupy Yekaterinburg.
On June 19, the Czechoslovaks captured Krasnoyarsk. In this they were actively helped by local anti-Bolshevik forces, formed from among volunteers (mostly officers). By mid-June, local White Guard volunteers managed to form the entire so-called West Siberian Army under the command of Colonel Alexei Grishin-Almazov in the cities occupied by the Czechoslovaks. By June 20, there were already 2,800 fighters of this “army” in Krasnoyarsk. On June 22, in the area of Tulun station, the whites and Czechs were attacked by red troops from Transbaikalia. The Czechoslovaks and Whites retreated to the Nizhneudinsk area, where they managed to gain a foothold in the city. On June 25, the Reds began an early morning attack on Nizhneudinsk. The Whites and Czechs repulsed this attack and put the Reds to flight. On June 26, the Whites managed to break into the Red rear and destroy there 400 inexperienced Red Guard miners who were sleeping without guards. By July 1, the Whites and Czechoslovaks had pushed the Reds back to Zima station. The Reds retreated towards Irkutsk, which still remained one of their few strongholds in Siberia.
On June 23, in Omsk, occupied by the Czechs, the creation of a new Provisional Siberian Government was announced to replace the “Socialist Revolutionary Government,” which was formed in Tomsk in underground conditions back in February, but had no real power anywhere and was saved in Harbin, China. The chairman of the new Siberian government was the famous lawyer and journalist Pyotr Vologodsky. The “Socialist Revolutionary” government of Peter Derber refused to recognize this “coup” and still considered only itself to be the legitimate government in Siberia. Komuch announced the mobilization of citizens born in 1897 - 1898 to serve in his People's Army. In a short time, the Komuch army increased to five regiments. Its most combat-ready core was the volunteer Separate Rifle Brigade under the command of Colonel Kappel (“Kappelites”).
On July 3, the Orenburg Cossacks entered the city of Orenburg. Bolshevik power was eliminated throughout the Orenburg province. On July 5, the Czechs of Chechek and the Whites captured Ufa. Having completed the initial task of capturing the Siberian Railway, the Czechs continued operations to capture the entire Ural region, advancing with their main forces towards Yekaterinburg, and with less significant forces to the south, towards Troitsk and Orenburg. On July 15, 1918, the second meeting of the Czechoslovak command with the white governments took place in the city of Chelyabinsk. At this meeting, an agreement was reached on joint military operations between the forces of these governments and the corps. Thus, the Soviet republic found itself surrounded by fronts.
Red Eastern Front
The performance of the Czechoslovaks caught Soviet Russia at the moment of the formation of its armed forces. In addition, the main forces were connected on the Don Front and the Caucasus and on the line with the Austro-German troops. Therefore, Moscow could not immediately allocate large forces to fight the Czechoslovak Corps. In addition, a number of factors contributed to the rapid success and spread of the Czechoslovaks. Thus, the influence of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks was strong in the region. The advanced activists of the Bolsheviks were weakened by the allocation of personnel to fight the counter-revolution on other fronts. Often the Bolshevik policies contributed to the growth of popular discontent, and people supported the Whites and Czechs when they approached, or remained neutral. The approach of the Czechs served as the reason for a series of unrest and uprisings, prepared by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. So, on June 11, Barnaul rebelled. The Reds managed to suppress the uprising, but this distracted their forces from opposing the Czechoslovaks and the Whites, who were advancing towards Barnaul from the northwest, from Novonikolaevsk (now Novosibirsk). By June 14, the Whites and Czechoslovaks surrounded the city and began to enter it from all directions. The Reds were partly captured and executed, and some fled. On June 13, 1918, an uprising of workers at the Verkhne-Nevyansk and Rudyansk factories broke out. On June 13-14, there were battles between the Red Army and local anti-Bolshevik forces who rebelled in Irkutsk. There was an uprising in Tyumen. During the Czechoslovak attack on Kyshtym, the workers of the Polevsky and Seversky factories arrested their councils. Uprisings also occurred at Kusinsky, Votkinsk, Izhevsk and other factories.
The Soviet government realized that a large and strong army could not be created on a voluntary basis. By the end of April 1918, the size of the army was only brought to 196 thousand people, after which the flow of volunteers began to decline. Almost until the summer of 1918, the Red Army was in its infancy. The performance of the Czechoslovak Corps showed that only a regular army could resist a strong enemy. The decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On forced recruitment into the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army” of May 29, 1918 announced a general mobilization of workers and poor peasants in 51 districts of the Volga, Ural and West Siberian military districts, as well as workers of Petrograd and Moscow. The mobilization of communists to the front began. On June 26, 1918, the military people's commissar Trotsky sent a proposal to the Council of People's Commissars on the establishment of universal military service for workers. In Soviet Russia, a course was taken to build an army on traditional principles: unity of command, restoration of the death penalty, mobilization, restoration of insignia, uniform uniforms and military parades.
In the first period of the confrontation, the Red Army in the east of the country consisted of detachments and squads, often numbering 10-20 fighters. For example, on June 1, 1918, there were 13 such detachments in positions near Mias, the total number of which did not exceed 1,105 bayonets, 22 sabers with 9 machine guns. Some units consisted of conscientious and dedicated workers, but with little combat experience. Others were pure partisans. As a result, the Reds initially could not successfully resist the Czechoslovak Corps (a regular formation with experience of the World War) and the Whites, who had experienced officers. The Czechs and Whites, even with strong resistance, quickly found the “weak link” and broke the enemy’s defenses.
On June 13, 1918, Reinhold Berzin formed the North Ural-Siberian Front. In June, the “front” was located in the Yekaterinburg-Chelyabinsk region, and consisted of approximately 2,500 people with 36 machine guns and 3 artillery platoons. The Northern Ural-Siberian Front lasted only one day. Central Command also took steps to stabilize the situation in the east of the country. An order was issued to organize a unified command of the Red Eastern Front, headed by Mikhail Muravyov, who had previously commanded Soviet troops in Ukraine and tried to stop the Romanian intervention, with the rank of commander in chief.
By the time of its transformation into the 3rd Army, the Northern Ural-Siberian Front provided: Yekaterinburg - Chelyabinsk direction with forces of 1800 bayonets, 11 machine guns, 3 guns, 30 sabers and 3 armored cars. In the Shadrinsky direction, he had forces of 1382 bayonets, 28 machine guns, 10 sabers and 1 armored car. In the Tyumen area (Omsk direction) there were 1,400 bayonets, 21 machine guns, 107 sabers. The reserve of these forces could be 2,000 workers in Tyumen. The total command reserve did not exceed 380 bayonets, 150 sabers and 2 batteries. Thus, the formation of four red armies was outlined: the 1st - on the Simbirsk, Syzran and Samara directions (in the Simbirsk - Syzran - Samara - Penza region), the 2nd - on the Orenburg-Ufa front, the 3rd - on the Chelyabinsk-Ekaterinburg direction (in the Perm - Yekaterinburg - Chelyabinsk area) and the Special Army in the Saratov-Ural direction (in the Saratov-Urbakh area). The front headquarters was located in Kazan.
As a result, the Reds managed to detain the enemy near Yekaterinburg. The formation of the red Eastern Front was taking place. And the performance of the Czechoslovaks allowed the enemies of Russia (internal and external) to tear away vast territories of the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East from the Soviet republic. It helped the whites form their governments and armies. Having seized the strategic initiative, the Czechs and the Whites put the Soviet government in an extremely difficult position. Soviet Russia found itself surrounded by fronts. The second stage of the Civil War began, larger and bloodier.
