Red or White won the war. This was determined by two main factors

The Bolsheviks, who won the Civil War that began 100 years ago, created a superpower that for decades resisted the world of capital, profit and robbery of peoples

The centenary of the beginning of the Civil War in our country in May-June was marked by pro-regime propaganda with unusual sluggishness: so, one or two stories slipped through the news programs - and that’s all for now. Apparently, the authorities consider this topic to be quite “slippery”: perhaps against the backdrop of the inevitable upcoming protests against raising the retirement age, or perhaps for some other reason. But literally in recent days, an absolutely false cliche has been heard again, designed to mislead our fellow citizens. Unfortunately, the chairman of the Russian Historical Society, Sergei Naryshkin, could not resist him, who recently stated that among the participants in the Civil War of 1918-1922 “there were both heroes and victims, but there was not a single winner” (emphasis added. - O.Ch. .).

Excuse me, but how can this be even from the point of view of formal logic?! Whose flag then flew over the Kremlin after 1922 in all subsequent decades? Denikinsky, Wrangel or maybe Kolchaksky? And most importantly: it is the winner in any civil war- and not a representative of a non-existent “third party” - builds a state in accordance with his own ideology and socio-economic program. So, weren’t the victors of the Civil War influenced the development of all mankind, not to mention Russia itself, which became a superpower?

This is what the famous screenwriter and actor Alexander Adabashyan, who performs the sparkling role of the butler Barrymore (“Oatmeal, sir!”) in the famous Soviet series about Sherlock Holmes, writes about this on the pages of the “democratic” newspaper “Arguments and Facts”: “If we’re talking about revolution of 1917, then, of course, it global influence was colossal. All social changes - the eight-hour working day, free education, medicine, the elimination of unemployment, illiteracy and much more - came to the world precisely from us” (emphasis added - O.Ch.).

But Adabashyan is known for his, frankly speaking, views that are far from sympathizing with the communists and Soviet power. All the more indicative is his objective recognition of the obvious, accomplished precisely by the victors in the Civil War. And Mikhail Shvydkoy, who was Minister of Culture in the first post-Yeltsin years, whose political preferences are equally well known and beyond doubt, burst out the other day on the pages of the official government “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” with simply astounding judgments.

“We must finally realize,” he writes, “that the planetary significance of the Russian language in the 20th century is connected not only and not so much with the greatness of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov, but with two world historical events - the October Revolution of 1917 and the Great Victory in the Second World War... Towards a new one Soviet Russia, which seemed to be a stronghold of global social justice, was drawn by billions of contemporaries, representing all continents of the planet. The Third International spoke Russian, just as Russian was spoken by the Soviet soldiers who liberated Europe from the east and Asian countries from the west” (emphasis added – O.Ch.).

It has been said in such a way that there is nothing to add! In this regard, I would just like to ask a question: to whom were those “billions (!) of contemporaries” that M. Shvydkoy writes about “gravitated”? To the aliens from Mars or precisely to those who won the Civil War? And who liberated Europe and Asian countries - “no one knows who” or specifically the victors in the Civil War and the children of these victors? And we hope that the chairman of the Russian Historical Society has not forgotten what, or rather who is depicted on the red banners of the guards units and formations that stormed Berlin. And depicted on all the guards banners of the Red Army - the winner of the Civil War, by the way, is a portrait of V.I. Lenin - the creator of the state that won the Civil War.

But let's return to the statements of M. Shvydkoy. Speaking about the meaning of the Russian language, he writes: “You can love or not love the Bolsheviks, praise or curse Soviet Union, but one cannot help but admit that the Russian language in the eyes of billions of people for several decades of the 20th century was a symbol of a great power opposing the world capitalist system.” (emphasis added - O.Ch.). A good reminder to some of today’s “leavened patriots”: it was precisely this, and only this kind of confrontation on an ideological and socio-economic basis, that primarily made our country a superpower and only secondarily – nuclear-missile parity. As for the language, as Shvydkoy notes, “after the collapse of the USSR, the Russian language lost its most powerful ideological and political supports. In less than thirty years, the number of people using the Russian language has decreased by more than 75 million people” (emphasis added – O.Ch.).

And to this, perhaps, it is difficult to add anything. When, as a result of betrayal unparalleled in history, plus their own mistakes, the descendants of the victors in the Civil War lost power, our great, mighty Russian language also lost its global significance.

And it is impossible to restore its meaning with imperial rollicking slogans alone.

Oleg Cherkovets

Where did the terms "red" and "white" come from? The Civil War also saw the “Greens”, “Cadets”, “Socialist Revolutionaries” and other formations. What is their fundamental difference?

In this article, we will answer not only these questions, but also briefly get acquainted with the history of its formation in the country. Let's talk about the confrontation between the White Guard and the Red Army.

Origin of the terms "red" and "white"

Today, the history of the Fatherland is of less and less concern to young people. According to surveys, many have no idea, let alone about the Patriotic War of 1812...

However, words and phrases such as “red” and “white”, “Civil War” and “ October Revolution", is still heard. Most people, however, do not know the details, but they have heard the terms.

Let's take a closer look at this issue. We should start with where the two opposing camps came from - “white” and “red” in the Civil War. In principle, it was simply an ideological move by Soviet propagandists and nothing more. Now you will figure out this riddle yourself.

If you turn to textbooks and reference books of the Soviet Union, they explain that the “whites” are the White Guards, supporters of the Tsar and enemies of the “reds”, the Bolsheviks.

It seems that everything was so. But in fact, this is another enemy that the Soviets fought against.

The country has lived for seventy years in confrontation with fictitious opponents. These were the “whites,” the kulaks, the decaying West, the capitalists. Very often, such a vague definition of the enemy served as the foundation for slander and terror.

Next we will discuss the causes of the Civil War. “Whites,” according to Bolshevik ideology, were monarchists. But here’s the catch: there were practically no monarchists in the war. They had no one to fight for, and their honor did not suffer from this. Nicholas II abdicated the throne, and his brother did not accept the crown. Thus, all tsarist officers were free from the oath.

Where then did this “color” difference come from? If the Bolsheviks really had a red flag, then their opponents never had a white one. The answer lies in the history of a century and a half ago.

Great French revolution gave the world two opposing camps. The royal troops carried a white banner, the symbol of the dynasty of French rulers. Their opponents, after seizing power, hung a red canvas in the window of the city hall as a sign of the introduction of wartime. On such days, any gatherings of people were dispersed by soldiers.

The Bolsheviks were opposed not by monarchists, but by supporters of the convening of the Constituent Assembly (constitutional democrats, cadets), anarchists (Makhnovists), “green army men” (fought against the “red”, “white”, interventionists) and those who wanted the separation of their territory into a free state .

Thus, the term "white" was cleverly used by ideologues to define a common enemy. His winning position was that any Red Army soldier could explain in a nutshell what he was fighting for, unlike all the other rebels. This attracted ordinary people on the side of the Bolsheviks and made it possible for the latter to win the Civil War.

Prerequisites for the war

When studying the Civil War in class, a table is essential for a good understanding of the material. Below are the stages of this military conflict, which will help you better navigate not only the article, but also this period in the history of the Fatherland.

Now that we have decided who the “reds” and “whites” are, the Civil War, or rather its stages, will be more understandable. You can begin to study them in more depth. It's worth starting with the premises.

So, the main reason for such intense passions, which later resulted in a five-year Civil War, was the accumulated contradictions and problems.

First, the Russian Empire's involvement in World War I destroyed the economy and depleted the country's resources. The bulk of the male population was in the army, agriculture and urban industry fell into decay. The soldiers were tired of fighting for other people's ideals when there were hungry families at home.

The second reason was agricultural and industrial issues. There were too many peasants and workers who lived below the poverty line. The Bolsheviks took full advantage of this.

In order to turn participation in the world war into an inter-class struggle, certain steps were taken.

First, the first wave of nationalization of enterprises, banks, and lands took place. Then the Brest-Litovsk Treaty was signed, which plunged Russia into the abyss of complete ruin. Against the backdrop of general devastation, the Red Army soldiers carried out terror in order to stay in power.

To justify their behavior, they built an ideology of struggle against the White Guards and interventionists.

Background

Let's take a closer look at why the Civil War began. The table we provided earlier illustrates the stages of the conflict. But we will start with the events that occurred before the Great October Revolution.

Weakened by its participation in the First World War, the Russian Empire declines. Nicholas II abdicates the throne. More importantly, he does not have a successor. In light of such events, two new forces are simultaneously formed - the Provisional Government and the Council of Workers' Deputies.

The former are beginning to deal with the social and political spheres of the crisis, while the Bolsheviks concentrated on increasing their influence in the army. This path subsequently led them to the opportunity to become the only ruling force in the country.
It was the confusion in government that led to the formation of the “reds” and “whites”. The civil war was only the apotheosis of their differences. Which is to be expected.

October Revolution

In fact, the tragedy of the Civil War begins with the October Revolution. The Bolsheviks were gaining strength and moving more confidently to power. In mid-October 1917, a very tense situation began to develop in Petrograd.

October 25 Alexander Kerensky, head of the Provisional Government, leaves Petrograd for Pskov for help. He personally assesses the events in the city as an uprising.

In Pskov, he asks for help with troops. Kerensky seems to be receiving support from the Cossacks, but suddenly the cadets leave the regular army. Now constitutional democrats refuse to support the head of government.

Not finding adequate support in Pskov, Alexander Fedorovich goes to the city of Ostrov, where he meets with General Krasnov. At the same time, an assault takes place in Petrograd. Winter Palace. IN Soviet history this event is presented as key. But in fact, it happened without resistance from the deputies.

After a blank shot from the cruiser Aurora, sailors, soldiers and workers approached the palace and arrested all members of the Provisional Government present there. In addition, it took place where a number of major declarations were adopted and executions at the front were abolished.

In view of the coup, Krasnov decides to provide assistance to Alexander Kerensky. On October 26, a cavalry detachment of seven hundred people leaves towards Petrograd. It was assumed that in the city itself they would be supported by an uprising by the cadets. But it was suppressed by the Bolsheviks.

In the current situation, it became clear that the Provisional Government no longer had power. Kerensky fled, General Krasnov negotiated with the Bolsheviks the opportunity to return to Ostrov with his detachment without hindrance.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Revolutionaries begin a radical struggle against the Bolsheviks, who, in their opinion, have acquired greater power. The response to the murders of some “red” leaders was terror by the Bolsheviks, and the Civil War (1917-1922) began. Let us now consider further events.

Establishment of "red" power

As we said above, the tragedy of the Civil War began long before the October Revolution. The common people, soldiers, workers and peasants were dissatisfied with the current situation. If in the central regions many paramilitary detachments were under the close control of Headquarters, then in the eastern detachments a completely different mood reigned.

It was the presence of a large number of reserve troops and their reluctance to enter into a war with Germany that helped the Bolsheviks quickly and bloodlessly receive the support of almost two-thirds of the army. Only 15 major cities opposed the “red” authorities, but 84 passed into their hands on their own initiative.

An unexpected surprise for the Bolsheviks in the form of stunning support from confused and tired soldiers was declared by the “Reds” as a “triumphant procession of the Soviets.”

The civil war (1917-1922) only worsened after the signing of a devastating treaty for Russia, the former empire lost more than a million square kilometers of territory. These included: the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Romania, Don territories. In addition, they had to pay Germany six billion marks of indemnity.

This decision caused protest both within the country and from the Entente. Simultaneously with the intensification of various local conflicts, military intervention by Western states on Russian territory begins.

The entry of Entente troops in Siberia was reinforced by the revolt of the Kuban Cossacks under the leadership of General Krasnov. The defeated detachments of the White Guards and some interventionists went to Central Asia and continued the struggle against Soviet power for many years.

Second period of the Civil War

It was at this stage that the White Guard Heroes of the Civil War were most active. History has preserved such surnames as Kolchak, Yudenich, Denikin, Yuzefovich, Miller and others.

Each of these commanders had his own vision of the future for the state. Some tried to interact with the Entente troops in order to overthrow the Bolshevik government and still convene the Constituent Assembly. Others wanted to become local princelings. This includes people like Makhno, Grigoriev and others.

The difficulty of this period lies in the fact that as soon as the First World War was completed, German troops had to leave Russian territory only after the arrival of the Entente. But according to a secret agreement, they left earlier, handing over the cities to the Bolsheviks.

As history shows us, it is after this turn of events that the Civil War enters a phase of particular cruelty and bloodshed. The failure of commanders oriented towards Western governments was further aggravated by the fact that they had a catastrophic shortage of qualified officers. Thus, the armies of Miller, Yudenich and some other formations disintegrated only because, with a lack of mid-level commanders, the main influx of forces came from captured Red Army soldiers.

Messages in newspapers of this period are characterized by headlines of this type: “Two thousand military personnel with three guns went over to the side of the Red Army.”

The final stage

Start last period Historians tend to associate the wars of 1917-1922 with the Polish War. With the help of his western neighbors, Piłsudski wanted to create a confederation with territory from the Baltic to the Black Sea. But his aspirations were not destined to come true. The armies of the Civil War, led by Egorov and Tukhachevsky, fought their way deep into Western Ukraine and reached the Polish border.

Victory over this enemy was supposed to rouse the workers in Europe to fight. But all the plans of the Red Army leaders failed after a crushing defeat in the battle, which was preserved under the name “Miracle on the Vistula.”

After the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Soviets and Poland, disagreements begin in the Entente camp. As a result, funding for the “white” movement decreased, and the Civil War in Russia began to decline.

In the early 1920s, similar changes in the foreign policies of Western states led to the recognition of the Soviet Union by most countries.

The heroes of the Civil War of the final period fought against Wrangel in Ukraine, the interventionists in the Caucasus and Central Asia, in Siberia. Among the particularly distinguished commanders, Tukhachevsky, Blucher, Frunze and some others should be noted.

Thus, as a result of five years of bloody battles, a new state was formed on the territory of the Russian Empire. Subsequently, it became the second superpower, whose only rival was the United States.

Reasons for victory

Let's figure out why the “whites” were defeated in the Civil War. We will compare the assessments of the opposing camps and try to come to a common conclusion.

Soviet historians saw the main reason for their victory in the fact that there was massive support from the oppressed sections of society. Particular emphasis was placed on those who suffered as a result of the 1905 revolution. Because they unconditionally went over to the side of the Bolsheviks.

“Whites,” on the contrary, complained about the lack of human and material resources. In occupied territories with a population of millions, they could not carry out even the minimum mobilization to replenish their ranks.

Particularly interesting are the statistics provided by the Civil War. “Reds” and “Whites” (the table below) especially suffered from desertion. Unbearable living conditions, as well as the lack of clear goals, made themselves felt. The data concerns only the Bolshevik forces, since the White Guard records did not preserve clear figures.

The main point that modern historians note was the conflict.

The White Guards, firstly, had no centralized command and minimal cooperation between units. They fought locally, each for their own interests. The second feature was the absence of political workers and a clear program. These aspects were often assigned to officers who only knew how to fight, but not how to conduct diplomatic negotiations.

The Red Army soldiers created a powerful ideological network. A clear system of concepts was developed that was drummed into the heads of workers and soldiers. The slogans made it possible for even the most downtrodden peasant to understand what he was going to fight for.

It was this policy that allowed the Bolsheviks to receive maximum support from the population.

Consequences

The victory of the “Reds” in the Civil War was very costly for the state. The economy was completely destroyed. The country lost territories with a population of more than 135 million people.

Agriculture and productivity, food production decreased by 40-50 percent. The surplus appropriation system and the “red-white” terror in different regions led to the death of a huge number of people from starvation, torture and execution.

Industry, according to experts, has slipped to the level of the Russian Empire during the reign of Peter the Great. Researchers say production levels have fallen to 20 percent of 1913 levels, and in some areas to 4 percent.

As a result, a massive outflow of workers from cities to villages began. Since there was at least some hope of not dying of hunger.

“Whites” in the Civil War reflected the desire of the nobility and higher ranks to return to their previous living conditions. But their isolation from the real sentiments that reigned among the common people led to the total defeat of the old order.

Reflection in culture

Civil War leaders were immortalized in thousands of different works - from cinema to paintings, from stories to sculptures and songs.

For example, such productions as “Days of the Turbins”, “Running”, “Optimistic Tragedy” immersed people in the tense wartime environment.

The films “Chapaev”, “Little Red Devils”, “We are from Kronstadt” showed the efforts that the “Reds” made in the Civil War to win their ideals.

The literary work of Babel, Bulgakov, Gaidar, Pasternak, Ostrovsky illustrates the life of representatives of different strata of society in those difficult days.

One can give examples almost endlessly, because the social catastrophe that resulted in the Civil War found a powerful response in the hearts of hundreds of artists.

Thus, today we learned not only the origin of the concepts “white” and “red,” but also briefly became acquainted with the course of events of the Civil War.

Remember that any crisis contains the seeds of future changes for the better.

Causes of the Civil War

The deep causes of the civil war in Russia were the split in society, accumulated hatred, bitterness between different groups of the population, aggravated by the war and two revolutions, during which civil peace it was extremely difficult. The basis for discontent among a large part of the population was also fueled by the predatory Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, signed in March 1918 by the government of V.I. Lenin, which deprived the country of vast territories and required the payment of a huge indemnity to Germany. This agreement hit hard on the sentiments of people who were traditionally brought up in the spirit of Russian patriotism: first of all, the officers who came from the nobility and the common ranks, and the intelligentsia associated with the old political system. Millions of Russian people reacted negatively to the Bolsheviks' dissolution of the new Constituent Assembly in January 1918, considering it a departure from promised democratic changes. After the collapse of the multi-million dollar tsarist army huge masses of people who had weapons, knew how and were accustomed to fight, dispersed to all corners of the country, where they continued the revolution in their own way (they took away land, property, houses, valuables).

The goals of the parties were defined as follows: the Reds defended the gains of the revolution, fought against exploitation, and for building a fair, humane society; whites sought to regain lost power and private property, the privileges of the upper classes.

Beginning of the Civil War

There is no single point of view regarding the start of the civil war. Some historians believe that the civil war began from the moment of the October armed uprising of 1917, others consider it to have begun with the Kerensky-Krasnov rebellion. These were episodes of the civil war.

A full-scale civil war began at the end of May 1918, when a mutiny of the Czechoslovak corps and a revolt of counter-revolutionary forces took place simultaneously across a vast territory - from the Volga region to the Far East. The Czechoslovak Corps was formed in Russia during the World War from prisoners of war of the Austro-Hungarian army to participate in the war against Germany. By agreement with the Entente countries, the Czechoslovak corps was declared an autonomous part of the French army, and the Soviet government undertook to transport it with weapons through Far East to Europe. By the end of May 1918, trains with Czechoslovak troops (numbering up to 45 thousand people) stretched along the Siberian railway from Penza to Vladivostok for 7 thousand kilometers. The slow movement displeased the soldiers; Rumors spread that this was being done deliberately, and on May 25, an armed rebellion began at many railway stations. The uprising activated anti-Bolshevik forces everywhere, rousing them to armed struggle, and created local governments.

With the help of the Czechoslovaks, the forces of the so-called democratic counter-revolution - the Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Cadets - established their power in a number of places; Counter-revolutionary governments arose: Komuch (Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly) in Samara, the Ural Provisional Government in Yekaterinburg, and the Provisional Siberian Government in Tomsk. These governments, based on military power Czechoslovak Corps, declared their goals to be the convening of the Constituent Assembly, dispersed by the Bolsheviks, and the struggle against Soviet power. This is how the vast Eastern Front was formed.

On June 29, 1918, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.I. Lenin said: “We are in a war, and the fate of the revolution will be decided by the outcome of this war. This should be the first and the last word our agitation, all our political, revolutionary and transformative activities.”

Creation of the armed forces of the Soviet Republic

Since the spring of 1918, the process of forming and strengthening the combat capability of the Red Army was intensive. On March 4, the Supreme Military Council was created, which oversaw the construction of the armed forces and military operations. In April, volost, district, provincial and district commissariats for military affairs were formed, the functions of which included the registration and conscription of those liable for military service, the formation of military units and their supplies, and the training of workers in military affairs. In April, a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee introduced universal military training for workers aged 18 to 40 years. The All-Russian Main Headquarters is created, the party-political apparatus of the Red Army is formed, the institution of military commissars is introduced, military specialists from the tsarist army are attracted (under the control of the commissars), courses and schools are created to train “red commanders”, etc. In June, the conscription of workers and working peasants into the Red Army of 1893-1897 was announced. birth, which meant the transition to universal conscription. The mobilization of former Russian army officers into the new army was also carried out; in total, during the years of the civil war, up to 75 thousand of them were recruited. These measures of the Soviet government made it possible to sharply increase the number of the Red Army. If on May 20, 1918 there were 264 thousand soldiers, then by the end of September there were already 600 thousand. Lenin set the task of increasing the size of the army to 3 million soldiers (by the end of the war it was 5.5 million people).

In September 1918, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Supreme Military Council was abolished and in its place the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) was created, headed by L. D. Trotsky. This body of supreme military power acted in accordance with the directives of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) and the Soviet government. The position of commander-in-chief was introduced; At first, this post was held by I. I. Vatsetis, and from July 1919 - by S. S. Kamenev (both former colonels of the tsarist army, participants in the First World War).

Formation of the white movement and white armies

The white movement began to take shape in the spring and summer of 1917, when monarchists and cadets began to consolidate to fight against the growing revolutionary movement. It received wider development after the victory of the October Revolution. The white movement united those who were interested in the restoration of the old order, the restoration of the power of the bourgeoisie - generals and officers of the old army, senior officials, clergy, merchants, and certain layers of the bourgeois intelligentsia. Representatives of the “lower classes” also took part in this movement, believing that they were saving Russia from the rebels.

The founders of the white movement were generals M.V. Alekseev, L.G. Kornilov, A.M. Kaledin. Soon after the October Revolution, M.V. Alekseev sent an appeal to all parts of Russia calling on officers to come to Novocherkassk, where volunteer units were being formed.

At first, the Volunteer Army numbered 2 thousand people, and by the summer of 1918 it had grown to 10-12 thousand. A. I. Denikin was entrusted with its command. At the end of 1918 - beginning of 1919, he established contact with Admiral A.V. Kolchak, generals N.N. Yudenich (leader of the counter-revolution in the north-west) and E.K. Miller (commander-in-chief of the White Army in the North). In May 1919, seeking to unite the forces of the counter-revolution, Denikin recognized the supremacy of Admiral Kolchak - “the supreme ruler of the Russian state and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian armies.” Kolchak appointed Denikin as his deputy in southern Russia.

Establishment of the dictatorship of A.V. Kolchak

In mid-October 1918, Admiral A.V. Kolchak, who commanded the Black Sea Front during the World War, arrived in Omsk, where the Provisional Government, the Directory, created by the cadets was located. Cadets in Omsk spoke out in favor of establishing military dictatorship and in Kolchak they saw a man suitable for the role of dictator. On November 4, he received the post of Minister of War of the government; on November 18, he carried out a government coup: the leaders of the Directory were arrested. The next day, he issued an order appointing him Supreme Ruler of Russia and Commander-in-Chief.

Kolchak retained the Omsk coalition government of Socialist Revolutionaries and Cadets. All acts of the Supreme Ruler were sealed with the signature of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Socialist Revolutionary N.N. Vologodsky.

The most difficult issue for the Kolchak government was the agrarian question; it postponed its final solution until the “convocation of the national assembly.” The delay in resolving the land issue led to Kolchak losing the political advantages associated with the anti-Bolshevik sentiments of the Siberian peasantry. In addition, the Kolchak government carried out military recruitment into the army, requisitioned food, and, having met resistance from the peasants, sent punitive expeditions to the villages. The peasantry responded with armed uprisings against Kolchak's policies and the arbitrariness of the military.

At the beginning of 1919, the White armies hoped to launch an attack on Moscow with joint forces. The main blow was delivered from the east by Kolchak’s troops, and auxiliary attacks from the south by Denikin’s troops and from the north-west by Yudenich. At the beginning of March 1919, Kolchak’s army occupied Ufa and by mid-April cut off Turkestan from Soviet Russia.

In the spring of 1919, anti-Bolshevik armed forces launched a concerted offensive against Soviet troops. The main bet was on Kolchak’s army, which by this time had captured a vast territory of Siberia and the Far East. Kolchak’s command hoped that a successful offensive would make it possible to unite the eastern, southern and northern forces of the Whites for a joint strike on the vital centers of the Soviet Republic. Battles took place simultaneously in the east, south and north of the country.

Kolchak's central group of troops was deeply wedged into the disposition of Soviet troops. Taking advantage of this strategic situation, the Soviet command directed its troops to attack the flank of Kolchak’s main forces and inflicted a heavy defeat on them. Disintegration began in Kolchak's troops; under the blows of the Reds, they retreated from the Urals, to the east, to Siberia. The end of the remnants of Kolchak’s forces and Kolchak himself was approaching. Near Irkutsk, in Cheremkhovo, on December 31, 1919, an anti-Kolchak uprising took place. On February 7, 1920, by order of the Revolutionary Committee, Kolchak and the chairman of his government, V.N. Pepelyaev, were shot. On March 7, units of the Red Army entered Irkutsk.

Simultaneously with the victories on the Eastern Front, the Reds defeated the Whites near Petrograd, where Yudenich's troops, with the support of Estonian and Finnish units, launched an offensive on the city. The English squadron provided assistance to the White Army. At the end of May, the White advance near Petrograd was stopped. In August white army was driven back to the Estonian border.

After the defeat of the main forces of Kolchak and Yudenich’s troops in the summer of 1919, the main focus of the anti-Bolshevik forces was placed on Denikin’s army operating on the Southern Front. Under Denikin's command were the Don Cossack Army and the Volunteer Army, united into the Armed Forces of Southern Russia.

Offensive of Denikin's army

In the summer of 1919, the center of gravity of the struggle of the white armies against the red troops was moved to the area of ​​​​operation of the troops led by Denikin. Under pressure from the superior forces of the White Army, the Soviet troops defending Donbass began to retreat. By the end of June, Denikin's troops occupied a significant part of Ukraine and launched an attack on the central regions of the country. On July 3, Denikin published Moscow Directive- order to attack Moscow. Since the summer of 1919, military supplies for his army from abroad increased. In August 1919, Denikin’s troops occupied the Donbass, Don region, Kharkov, Tsaritsyn, Kyiv, and Odessa. By mid-October, troops occupied Voronezh, approaching the approaches to Moscow. The fighting became more and more fierce. On October 13, Denikin occupied Orel, but this was his last success.

The forced mobilization of peasants carried out by Denikin contributed to an increase in the number of his troops, but led to a weakening of their combat effectiveness: instead of volunteers who dropped out during the battles, the army was replenished with dissatisfied mobilized peasants.

Soviet troops of the Southern Front, reinforced with new reinforcements, went on the offensive. On November 18 they occupied Kursk. As a result of the counteroffensive of the Red Army at the end of October - beginning of November 1919, Denikin's troops were defeated. In the second half of November, Denikin’s army was divided into three groups: one, under pressure from the Red troops, retreated to Odessa, the other to Crimea, and the main one to Rostov and Novocherkassk. In January 1920, the Red Army took Taganrog, Rostov, Kyiv, Tsaritsyn, in February - right-bank Ukraine, in January - March 1920 Denikin's main forces were defeated. At the end of March, their remnants were evacuated to Crimea. On April 4, Denikin resigned as commander-in-chief, announced General P. N. Wrangel as his successor and emigrated.

War with Poland

In the spring of 1920, the peaceful respite that had been created was interrupted. On April 25, Entente-supported Polish troops in Ukraine went on the offensive and soon occupied Kyiv. Large Soviet forces were transferred to the Western Front from the North Caucasus, including the 1st Cavalry Army of S. M. Budyonny. In July, Kyiv was liberated, Soviet troops reached Warsaw and Lvov, but were defeated near Warsaw. The Polish leadership, led by J. Pilsudski, fearing that the continuation of the war with Soviet Russia could result in the defeat of Poland, entered into peace negotiations.

On March 18, 1921, a peace treaty was signed in Riga between the RSFSR and Poland. Regions of Western Belarus and Ukraine were transferred to Poland. The treaty obligated to ensure the free development of language, culture and the performance of religious rites for persons of Polish nationality in Russia, and in Poland for persons of Russian and Ukrainian nationality.

Defeat of Wrangel's army

Peace with Poland allowed the Red Army command to concentrate large forces on the Southwestern Front to fight Wrangel’s troops, who had captured bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnieper. An independent Southern Front was separated from the Southwestern Front under the command of M. V. Frunze.

In October, the troops of the Southern Front went on the offensive and defeated Wrangel’s main forces; only the most combat-ready White Guard units managed to break into the Crimea. In November, units of the Red Army broke through strong fortifications on the Perekop Isthmus and completed the capture of Crimea on November 17. The defeat of Wrangel's troops basically ended the Civil War for the most part. European territory countries.

Casualties in the Civil War

Soviet troops suppressed individual pockets of anti-Bolshevik protests during 1921 and 1922 (Kronstadt sailors, Tambov peasants, etc.). The losses in the civil war - human, material, moral and psychological - were enormous. Human losses, according to various sources, ranged from 8 to 13 million people. People died not only on the fronts, during uprisings and rebellions, partisan warfare, but also as a result of the Red and White Terror, as well as from hunger and epidemics. The emigration from Russia of about 2 million representatives of the nobility, high-ranking officials, white officers, entrepreneurs, politicians, intelligentsia, writers, national economy specialists, scientists and designers. This led to the impoverishment of intellectual and political life country, the impoverishment of Russian culture.

Russia's territorial losses were also significant: Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, Bessarabia, which separated from Russia, occupied 800 thousand square meters. km with a population of 30 million people.

The result of the war was terrible economic devastation, flooding of mines, destruction of bridges, disruption of transport, and severance of economic ties between different regions of the country. The total amount of material damage amounted to 1/4 of the total national property of pre-war Russia.

The Civil War had a huge impact on the thinking style, psychology, political culture and methods of government of the Bolsheviks. The ideas, methods and forms inherent in “war communism” were firmly and permanently established in their minds. The period of the civil war had a major influence on the formation and development of the Soviet political system.

Factors of the victory of the Red Army in the civil war

The ruling circles of the Entente, when making decisions on military assistance to the opponents of the Bolsheviks, hoped to provide them with superiority over the Red troops. In fact, their participation in the Russian Civil War ultimately turned against the whites under their care; it allowed the Bolshevik authorities, under the slogan of fighting the occupiers, to direct the anger of the patriotic masses against the white armies receiving foreign assistance. This greatly facilitated the Soviet government's rapid creation of a powerful Red Army constantly replenished with reserves, based on universal conscription, military discipline and coercion. From 100 thousand people in April 1918, the army grew to 1 million in October 1918, to 1.5 million in May 1919 and 5 million people in 1920. To command such a multimillion-dollar army, numerous qualified military personnel were required, and the Soviet government used officers of the tsarist army. Agitation, calls to fight foreign occupiers and material incentives prompted 48 thousand former officers and 415 thousand non-commissioned officers to return to duty in June 1918 - August 1920. Experienced major tsarist military specialists and military leaders from the worker-peasant environment were appointed to many senior military posts. Some of them turned out to be talented commanders: M.V. Frunze, M.N. Tukhachevsky, who won victories over Kolchak, Wrangel, and the commander of the “red cavalry” S.M. Budyonny. Everyone was led by L. D. Trotsky, the People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet government.

The victories of the Red Army were also facilitated by the peculiarities of the geographical environment and the structure of the population of Central Russia, which was a stronghold of the Bolsheviks. Moscow, Petrograd and other industrial cities, densely populated areas Around them, reinforcements, weapons, and uniforms were supplied to the Red troops. Transport routes converged here. The White armies and regimes, especially after the fall of Samara, were located on the periphery of the country, in the sparsely populated Don, Kuban and Ural steppes, in Siberia. By controlling the center of the country, the Soviet government could, if necessary, transfer troops from one front to another, making optimal use of reserves, which its opponents located on the periphery could not do.

Repeated mobilizations of communists and Komsomol members to the front
strengthened the morale of the soldiers. Big role ideological, propaganda work to clarify the goals of the struggle for a new society, in which there is no exploitation and the ideals of goodness, justice, brotherhood and equality, also played a role in the victory of the Bolsheviks. And the desire of the leaders of the white movement was aimed at restoring the old order that was hated by the people, restoring economic and political structures that had historically become obsolete. Acute discontent was caused in European Russia by the return of landowners and capitalists, the postponement of the solution to the agrarian question, in Siberia by the attempts of the Kolchakites to collect arrears from the peasants for three years, and the cruelty of requisition detachments.

The reasons for the victory of the Red Army in the Civil War were:

1. Social and ideological heterogeneity of the white movement.

2. The use by the Bolsheviks of the capabilities of a powerful state apparatus capable of carrying out mass mobilizations strengthened the morale of the fighters.

3. Thoughtful ideological support for military companies.

4. Support by a significant part of the population for the slogans and policies of the Bolsheviks.

5. Lack of mass support for “whites” by the population.

6. Geographical factor - Soviet power during the most difficult periods of the war remained in the center of Russia, where there were significant resources, industry was concentrated, and transport routes converged.

The Bolsheviks, who won the Civil War that began 100 years ago, created a superpower that for decades resisted the world of capital, profit and robbery of peoples

The centenary of the beginning of the Civil War in our country in May-June was marked by pro-regime propaganda with unusual sluggishness: so, one or two stories slipped through the news programs - and that’s all for now. Apparently, the authorities consider this topic to be quite “slippery”:

perhaps against the backdrop of the inevitable upcoming protests against raising the retirement age, or perhaps for some other reason. But literally in recent days, an absolutely false cliche has been heard again, designed to mislead our fellow citizens. Unfortunately, the chairman of the Russian Historical Society, Sergei Naryshkin, could not resist him, who recently stated that among the participants in the Civil War of 1918-1922 “there were both heroes and victims, but there was not a single winner” (emphasis added. - O.Ch .).

Excuse me, but how can this be even from the point of view of formal logic?! Whose flag then flew over the Kremlin after 1922 in all subsequent decades? Denikinsky, Wrangel or maybe Kolchaksky? And most importantly: it is the winner of any civil war - and not a representative of a non-existent “third party” - who builds the state in accordance with his own ideology and socio-economic program. So, weren’t the victors of the Civil War influenced the development of all mankind, not to mention Russia itself, which became a superpower?

Here is what the famous screenwriter and actor Alexander Adabashyan, who performs the sparkling role of the butler Barrymore (“Oatmeal, sir!”) in the famous Soviet series about Sherlock Holmes, writes about this on the pages of the “democratic” newspaper “Arguments and Facts!”: “If we’re talking about revolution of 1917, then, of course, its global influence was colossal. All social changes - the eight-hour working day, free education, medicine, the elimination of unemployment, illiteracy and much more - came to the world precisely from us” (emphasis mine. - O.Ch.).

But Adabashyan is known for his, frankly speaking, views that are far from sympathizing with the communists and Soviet power. All the more indicative is his objective recognition of the obvious, accomplished precisely by the victors in the Civil War. And Mikhail Shvydkoy, who was the Minister of Culture in the first post-Yeltsin years, whose political preferences are equally well known and beyond doubt, burst out the other day on the pages of the official government “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” with simply astounding judgments.

“We must finally realize,” he writes, “that the planetary significance of the Russian language in the 20th century is connected not only and not so much with the greatness of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov, but with two world historical events - the October Revolution of 1917 and the Great Victory in the Second World War... Billions of contemporaries, representing all continents of the planet, were drawn to the new Soviet Russia, which seemed to be a stronghold of global social justice. The Third International spoke Russian, just as the Soviet soldiers who liberated Europe from the east and Asian countries from the west spoke Russian” (emphasis mine - O.Ch.).

It has been said in such a way that there is nothing to add! In this regard, I would just like to ask a question: to whom were those “billions (!) of contemporaries” that M. Shvydkoy writes about “gravitated”? To aliens from Mars or precisely to those who won the Civil War? And who liberated Europe and Asian countries - “no one knows who” or specifically the victors in the Civil War and the children of these victors? And we hope that the chairman of the Russian Historical Society has not forgotten what, or rather who is depicted on the red banners of the guards units and formations that stormed Berlin. And depicted on all the guards banners of the Red Army - the winner of the Civil War, by the way, is a portrait of V.I. Lenin - the creator of the state that won the Civil War.

But let’s return to the statements of M. Shvydkoy. Speaking about the significance of the Russian language, he writes: “You can love or dislike the Bolsheviks, praise or curse the Soviet Union, but one cannot help but admit that the Russian language in the eyes of billions of people for several decades of the 20th century was a symbol of a great power opposing the world capitalist system...” (emphasis added - O.Ch.). A good reminder to some of today’s “leavened patriots”: it was precisely this, and only this confrontation on an ideological and socio-economic basis, that primarily made our country a superpower and only secondarily - nuclear-missile parity. As for the language, as Shvydkoy notes, “after the collapse of the USSR, the Russian language lost its most powerful ideological and political supports. In less than thirty years, the number of people using the Russian language has decreased by more than 75 million people” (emphasis mine. - O.Ch.).

And to this, perhaps, it is difficult to add anything. When, as a result of betrayal unparalleled in history, plus their own mistakes, the descendants of the victors in the Civil War lost power, our great, mighty Russian language lost its global significance. And it is impossible to restore its meaning with imperial rollicking slogans alone.

Other articles in the issue

Lenin was not involved in the death of the royal family

Conversation with a senior special investigator important matters Vladimir Solovyov is hosted by Pravda political commentator Viktor KOZHEMYAKO

(Ending.

Starts at No. 70 and 71).

Deliver alive? Or dead?

Answers and actions are different

Without Turgenev there is no Russia

Dear editors!

Participants in the reporting and election meeting of the Turgenev Society in Moscow (TOM) unanimously decided to express gratitude to Pravda columnist Larisa Dautovna Yagunkova for publishing a series of articles dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of I.S. Turgenev.

"Roof" for kindergarten

Officials manage to “milk” even preschool institutions

As you know, everything secret sooner or later becomes clear. How much has been written and rewritten about extortions in kindergartens! For example, I have always been amazed at how such dependent people as kindergarten teachers manage to racketeer children and their parents so cleverly? It seemed that the corruption pyramid of kindergartens rests, well, in the most extreme case, on the directors of these institutions, who “row everything, but it’s not enough for them.” But again: the phenomenon is widespread, if not universal, and punishment is carried out by very few people and, it seems, with a single indicative purpose.

Who is bothered by the monument to the leader?

A resident of the village of Kinel-Cherkassy, ​​Evgeniy Golev, contacted the local administration with a statement in which he proposed moving the Lenin monument, erected half a century ago on the square in front of the House of Youth Organizations, somewhere far away. This village is the largest in the Samara region, the center of the Kinel-Cherkasy region, so there are quite a lot of officials here. Golev’s application was received by the deputy head of the department of affairs rural settlement Alexander Sorokin, and he decided that the initiative required discussion. To talk about moving the monument to the great leader, he invited the first secretary of the district committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Marina Zhuravlyova. She immediately reported this to the first secretary of the regional committee, Alexei Leskin, who turned to the regional administration for clarification.

Under the sign of friendship of peoples

In the colorful multicolor of the Belarusian summer, the republican festival “Kupalye”, held in the agricultural town of Alexandria, Mogilev region, turned out to be cheerful and festive.

HERE, to the hosts of the holiday, guests came from different parts of Belarus, from Russia, from Ukraine, from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland. The festival, which has the second name “Alexandria Gathers Friends,” was held under the sign of friendship between peoples.

The bloody grin of Ukrainian fascism

On the Wulecki Hills in Lviv, I read the names of Polish scientists killed there on the night of July 3-4, 1941 by Ukrainian Nazis from the Nachtigal (Nightingale) battalion: “Professor Kazimierz Bartel, academician Adam Solovy with his grandson Adam Masowicz, lawyer Roman Longchamp de Barrier and his son Jerzy...” The names of the victims of the Bandera massacre in Volyn were never carved anywhere - there is no such memorial that would accommodate 14 thousand names. Therefore, the memory of those people is preserved by the fields and meadows, forests and lakes among which they lived and worked.

“All righteous blood that you shed will be required of you” (Luke 11.51)

95 years ago, in 1917, events took place in Russia that radically transformed the way of life and traditions of life of the peoples of our huge multinational country, which changed its entire centuries-old history - the February and October revolutions. As a result of these two grandiose events, Russia turned from a great power, which was reckoned with not only by Europe, but by the whole world, into a certain space with dozens of self-proclaimed states, torn apart by the enmity and ambitions of various rulers and leaders, a territory where the Civil War raged for years, and hundreds of thousands of people died in bloody battles, dying from wounds, hunger and disease.

Who started the Civil War? What are its reasons? Any revolution is a complex and lengthy process of changing sentiment in a broad social layers. It was believed that the February Revolution was “bloodless.” Minister of the Provisional Government Pavel Milyukov stated: “Both revolutions stood in complete contrast to each other. The first, February, we called “bloodless” and considered it national and reasonable. But the second revolution, the October Revolution, on the contrary, divided the nation and signaled a long civil war in which the worst types of violence were used.” This assessment is only partly fair, because it is precisely as a result During the February Revolution, against the backdrop of people's fatigue from the ongoing World War, class hatred became extremely acute. And here - freedom! Many understood freedom as permissiveness - you can rob and destroy landowners' estates, kill police officers, and carry out reprisals against officials and officers. But if during the February Revolution all this was spontaneous, unorganized, then the October Revolution legitimized these wild reprisals, decreeing terror, mass executions, robberies, and the arrest of hostages. In addition, the usurpation of power by the Soviets was greeted, of course, with hostility by the former ruling classes. The Brest Peace Treaty especially offended the patriotic feelings of officers and most of the intelligentsia. It was after this act that voluntary detachments of the White Guard began to form en masse. Violence from the Soviet government caused retaliatory violence.

Red's goals were clearly outlined in the “Internationale” - the Bolshevik anthem “...we will destroy the whole world of violence to its foundations, and then we will build ours, we will build a new world...”, and for this it was necessary:

Seize and maintain power at any cost, including force of arms;

Destroy the old state system: legislative and executive powers, local governments, armed forces, police, courts, prosecutors, lawyers;

- “Turn the imperialist war into a civil war!” (V.I. Ulyanov (Lenin), and through the Civil War, establish the dictatorship of the proletariat (in fact, the Bolshevik Party), abandon governing the country by democratic methods; suppress by force the resistance of the overthrown classes;

Eliminate private ownership of land, tools and means of production;

Overcoming the natural inequality of people, impose on people a “new consciousness” - the dangerous utopia of socialism, communism, i.e. "levelling".

White's goals were diametrically opposed to the Reds' goals. In the program of General L.G. Kornilov dated January 18, 1918: it was planned: “Restoration of citizenship rights: all citizens are equal before the law without distinction of gender and nationality. Abolition of class privileges, preservation of the inviolability of personality and home, freedom of movement, residence, etc. Full restoration of freedom of speech and press; restoration of freedom of industry and trade, abolition of the nationalization of private enterprises. Restoration of the Russian army on the basis of genuine military discipline. The army should be formed on a voluntary basis, without committees, commissioners and elected positions; full fulfillment by Russia of its allied obligations and international treaties. The war must be brought to an end in close unity with our allies. Peace must be concluded as a universal and honorable peace on a democratic principle, that is, with the right to self-determination of oppressed peoples. Introduction in Russia of universal compulsory primary education with broad school autonomy. The convening of the Constituent Assembly, thwarted by the Bolsheviks, to which all the fullness of state-legal power should be transferred. It must develop the basic laws of the Constitution and finally construct the political system of Russia. Restoring integrity Russian Empire, violated by the shameful terms of the Brest-Litovsk peace concluded between the Bolsheviks and the Germans; restoration of order in the country destroyed by the October coup. Restoring the Basics private property on land, tools and means of production. The Church obtains full autonomy in religious affairs, the elimination of state guardianship over religious affairs, and freedom of religion is fully realized. A complex agrarian question is presented to the Constituent Assembly for resolution. Until the latter develops the land question in its final form and publishes the corresponding laws, all kinds of anarchistic actions of citizens are recognized as unacceptable. Equality of all citizens before the court. The death penalty remains in force, but is applied only in cases of the most serious state crimes. Preservation for the workers of all the political and economic gains of the revolution in the field of labor regulation, freedom of workers' unions, meetings and strikes, with the exception of the forced socialization of enterprises and workers' control, leading to the death of domestic industry. Recognition of the rights of individual peoples that are part of Russia to broad local autonomy, subject, however, to maintaining state unity. Poland, Ukraine and Finland, formed into separate national-state units, should be widely supported by the Russian Government in their aspirations for state revival, in order to further weld together the eternal and inviolable union of fraternal peoples.”

The programs of other leaders of the White movement were approximately the same: generals A.I. Denikin, P.N. Wrangel, A.V. Kolchak. None of them set as their goal the restoration of the monarchy, the liquidation of the gains of the February Democratic Revolution, the dismemberment of Russia or its transfer to foreign interventionists. Here, for example, is the program of General A.I. Denikin: “Unity of all forces in the fight against the Bolsheviks. Unity of the country and government. The broadest autonomy of the outskirts. Loyalty to agreements with war allies. Preservation of United and Indivisible Russia."

What did the Bolshevik policy lead to? Representatives of the ruling circles - nobles, bourgeois, officials, officers, merchants were expelled from all state and local authorities, they were all deprived of their previous rights and privileges. Their lack of rights and discrimination were reinforced by decrees of the Soviet government. The attitude towards them and their families was mostly mocking; they were treated as parasites and parasites. There was distrust even of those of them who collaborated with the Soviet government. For this reason, many representatives of the old governmentNaturally, they strove with all their might to restore their previous position.

In addition, the RCP(b) did not want to share power with anyone. The activities and publication of newspapers of parties other than the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party were banned, but after July 6, 1918, this party was banned as well. All were liquidated civil rights and human freedoms, which were guaranteed by the Tsar’s manifesto on October 17, 1905, namely: inviolability of person and home, freedom of assembly, speech, press, general, equal and direct elections by secret ballot. For the period from 1905 to 1913. elections were held to the State Duma!, 2nd, 3rd and 4th convocations from various parties, including opposition ones. The Bolsheviks were also elected to the 4th Duma: A.E. Badaev, G.I. Petrovsky, M.K. Muralov, N.R. Shagov, F.N. Samoilov, R.V. Malinovsky (who turned out to be a provocateur and removed in 1915 from the Duma). The newspaper Pravda, published since 1912, was banned several times for anti-government articles, but after some time it was published under a new name. So Emperor Nicholas II was not as “bloody” as the Bolshevik press portrayed him. And if we talk about the “bloody” regime, then over the last 50 years of tsarist rule - from 1863 to 1913, about 7,000 people were executed. (including criminals), and in the first years of Soviet power the number of executed people was tens and hundreds of thousands of people.

Under the slogan “Expropriate the expropriators!” The Bolsheviks destroyed the centuries-old foundations of property, plundered and destroyed landowners' estates and cultural objects. In practice, mass robbery began, and not only of the “landowners and bourgeoisie”, but also - mainly - of ordinary peasants - the breadwinners of the Russian land. Just two days after the October Revolution, on November 9, the first food detachments took bread and other agricultural products from the peasants.

In the Cossack regions, in accordance with the letter of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) dated January 24, 1919, signed by Sverdlov, the policy of “de-Cossackization” was carried out with cruel methods: mass terror, even execution, in relation to the Cossacks who fought against Soviet power, confiscation bread and other agricultural products. The Cossacks were deprived of all rights and privileges and were equalized with newcomers from other cities.

Were destroyed traditional concepts religion and faith, religion was declared “the opium of the people”, “priestly nonsense”, hundreds of churches and monasteries were looted and destroyed, shrines were desecrated, and clergy, especially the Russian Orthodox Church, were persecuted, declared reactionaries, counter-revolutionaries; they were arrested and imprisoned in prisons and concentration camps, tens of thousands of them were executed. The most amazing thing is that all these destructions, arrests and executions were carried out by the hands of the same Russian people who yesterday visited churches, baptized and married their children, and prayed to God. Where was their faith in God? In the cross and icons? But Orthodoxy should be not only and not so much in icons and the cross, but in the minds and hearts of people, in their observance of Christ’s ten commandments. Did those who destroyed churches, mocked shrines and shot priests have genuine Faith?!

The traditional views of the Russian people on culture and spiritual values ​​were destroyed; the concepts of “socialist culture”, “socialist morality and ethics” were imposed on the people, “Everything that helps build a communist society is moral,” Lenin proclaimed. Everything else was declared “bourgeois”. Freedom of creativity was prohibited. Sexual promiscuity was encouraged, and even the movement “Down with shame and disgrace!” arose. In some provinces it came to decrees on the socialization of women. Domestic policy Bolsheviks, a disdainful attitude towards the intelligentsia pushed most of it away from cooperation with the “people’s” government. The result is a massive forced emigration from Russia of scientists, engineers, doctors, teachers, writers, and artists.

The cruel, anti-democratic policies of the Soviet government led to the outbreak of the Civil War.

About terror. They write and talk a lot about white terror and red terror. Whose terror was more cruel? The truth is that there was cruelty on both sides. Some, propagated and led by the Bolsheviks, strove for a general redistribution: of the whole world, and of the neighbor’s possessions, his land and livestock. Others did not agree that they were being robbed, deprived of property, land, and homes that their great-grandfathers had owned. Old grievances and complaints flared up. The villainous murder by the Bolsheviks - contrary to all human and state laws - of the royal family, including children - opened the floodgates of general mistrust, despair, bestial hatred, unprecedented cruelty, fear, meanness and betrayal. All human and religious values ​​were trampled upon, the sacred was mixed with dirt, everything spiritual was forgotten, everything material was turned into a bogeyman. "Rob and kill!" The war was not only between Whites and Reds, it was between city and countryside, between nations and classes, between good and evil, the war entered every home, every family. War without borders and without mercy.

The writer Vladimir Nikolaev characterizes this period well in his novel “Sivtsev Vrazhek”: “Two fraternal armies stand against the wall, and each had its own truth and its own honor. There were heroes here and there, and happiness of the heart too, andvictims, and exploits, and lofty, out-of-the-book humanity, and animal brutality, and fear, and disappointment, and strength, and weakness, and dull despair. It would be too simple both for people and for history if there was only one truth and they fought only with lies; but there were two truths and two honors fighting among themselves, and the battlefield was littered with the corpses of the best and most honest.”

Soviet power gave terror mass character and the force of law. A special apparatus was created to destroy the “class enemy”. In January 1918, at the Third Congress of Soviets, the leader of the Bolsheviks, V. Ulyanov (Lenin), stated: “not a single issue of the class struggle has ever been resolved in history except by violence. Violence, when it occurs on the part of the working people, the exploited masses against the exploiters - yes, we are for such violence.” Following the instructions of the leader, the Soviet government created the “All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for the Fight against Counter-Revolution and Sabotage” (VChK) headed by F. Dzerzhinsky. This punitive body mercilessly and cruelly dealt with those who did not agree with the policies of the Bolsheviks. On the mere suspicion of hostile actions or statements, people were seized, imprisoned, executed - without trial or investigation. The court, the prosecutor's office, and the legal profession were recognized as “bourgeois relics.” One should be guided only by “revolutionary expediency.” The main criterion for the accusation is not specific guilt, but class affiliation; the leaders of the Cheka, Peters, Latsis, Atarbekov, and others, also called for this. The number of repressions especially increased in connection with the murder of Volodarsky in Petrograd and the attempt on Lenin. The order of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs No. 15 of September 4, 1918 stated: “Significant numbers of hostages must be taken from the bourgeoisie and officers. At the slightest attempt at resistance or the slightest movement among the White Guards, mass execution must be used unconditionally.” And in response to the murder of Uritsky, 900 people were shot. And after the assassination attempt on Lenin, more than 6 thousand people were shot, about 15 thousand people were imprisoned, more than 6 thousand people were sent to concentration camps (that’s when and where they appeared!), about 4 thousand people were taken hostage . It was a triumph of Bolshevik “democracy”! The “work” of the Cheka was actually a war of the “Reds” against their own people. Terror against the people.

The whites did not have such directives, but had orders for reprisals against traitors. For example, the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Volunteer Army dated November 14, 1918 read: “... To the shame and disgrace of the Russian officers, many officers, even in high ranks, serve in the ranks of the Red Army. I declare that no motive will serve as a justification for this action. Conducting a mortal battle with Bolshevism, we do not need provocateurs. Everyone who did not immediately leave the ranks of the Red Army will face the people's curse and the field trial of the Russian Army - harsh and merciless. Lieutenant General Denikin." As already mentioned, the Whites also used mass brutal reprisals against those whom they considered an enemy, but these reprisals were rather spontaneous expressions of hatred and were not decreed from above.

The Reds won the Civil War because the White leaders made serious mistakes: they failed to avoid moral degeneration and internal disunity; They also failed to create an effective power structure, resolve the land issue and convince the national outskirts that the slogan of “United and Indivisible Russia” does not contradict their interests. A curious confession by A.I. Denikin, made by him in 1925: “Not one of the governments (anti-Bolshevik - Z.F.) was able to create a flexible and strong apparatus that could quickly and quickly overtake, coerce, act and force others to act. The Bolsheviks did not capture either people's soul, also did not become a national phenomenon, but they were infinitely ahead of us in the pace of their actions, in energy, mobility and ability to force. We, with our old techniques, old psychology, old vices of the civil and military bureaucracy, with Peter’s table of ranks, could not keep up with them...”

The inability or unwillingness of the leaders of the White movement to win over the people, the peasantry, weak, even naive propaganda, and the lack of clearly defined programs and goals also played a role. Supporters of the White movement often had a poor idea of ​​life common people, his needs and aspirations, were treated with distrust by workers and peasants. Even such “good” words of the Whites as democracy, constitution, universal suffrage, the right to vote, press, assembly, etc. - did not find a response in the soul of the Russian peasant or worker - yesterday's peasant. His thinking did not go beyond protecting his village, his home.

The Reds had more active, more sophisticated propaganda. Their slogans are “Peace to the huts, war to the palaces!”, “Land to the peasants!”, “Factory workers!”, “Whites are bringing us the return of the tsarist autocracy, the power of the landowners and capitalists,” “We will build a new, happy future,” “We are on the mountain.” We will fan the world fire to all the bourgeois!” - these slogans attracted the masses, although they carried colossal destructive force. The peasantry for the most part believed the Bolsheviks and took their side. And when I became disillusioned with their policies, saw the lies in the Bolshevik slogans, and began to actively advocate for my rights and a “better life.” One of the indicators of this was the mass desertion from the Red Army in 1919 - the year of the most severe tests for Soviet power: in February - 26,115 people, in March - 54,696, in April - 28,326, in June 146,453, in July - 270,737, in August - 299839, in September - 228850, in October - 190801, in November 263671, in December - 172831. And in total - 1761165 people! Often captured Red Army soldiers fought, and quite successfully, in the ranks of the White armies. But it was already too late. Strength, and considerable strength, was on the side of the Soviet government.

Another reason. The leaders of the White movement rejected any concessions to supporters of national independence. At the same time, the Bolsheviks promised unlimited national self-determination - this gave Lenin a win. (It is only known that the Bolsheviks did not fulfill this promise either then or later. This was the price of their other promises)..

The territorial disunity of the White armed forces also played a significant role, while the Reds, located in the center of the European part of the country, had an advantage in replenishing the army, maneuvering troops and supplying them with weapons, ammunition, and provisions. The numerical advantage of the Red Army over the Whites also mattered - 1.5 - 2.5 times.

We must not forget about this factor: about 700 generals (!) and 50 thousand officers of the old army served on the Red side, voluntarily or by force, who not only developed plans for combat operations against the White armies, but also professionally led the Red detachments. “Without these officers we would not have created the Red Army,” Lenin admitted.

And assistance to the Whites from the Entente countries became increasingly limited until it stopped altogether.

Consequences of the Civil War. The peoples of Russia suffered colossal human losses. In total, 950 thousand people were killed and died from wounds in the Red Army, in the White and national armies - 650 thousand people, in partisan detachments - 900 thousand people. 1.2 million people died from red terror, 300 thousand people from white terror, and 500 thousand people from partisan terror. Died from hunger and disease - 6 million people. Total deaths10, 5 million people

There is devastation in the country. Industrial production fell to 4-20% of the 1913 level, agriculture - by 40%. In most provinces, hunger and disease reigned: typhus, Spanish flu. Peasant farms are ruined. The Bolsheviks were afraid of the peasantry, which then made up 83% of the population of Russia, but, treating the peasant owners as reactionaries, they demanded from them: “Bread, bread!” And they beat out bread with the help of food detachments and kombeds (committees of the poor), dooming those robbed to hunger and death. Leon Trotsky’s dismissive statement is typical: “The peasantry constitutes the historical manure from which the working class grows.” Due to the dissatisfaction of the peasantry with the Soviet government, which tried to introduce “fixed prices,” and because of robbery by food detachments, a wave of peasant unrest and uprisings swept across Russia, covering 118 counties. A particularly fierce struggle was waged in the Volga region, which was helped by the mutiny of the Czechoslovak corps, on the Don, Kuban, in Western Siberia, in Primorye. In the Tambov region, by order of M. Tukhachevsky No. 0116 of June 12, 1921, the Red troops brought down brutal repressions on the peasants, including executions and the use of asphyxiating gases. (The movie “Once Upon a Time There Was a Woman” tells about this period well). In 1921, sailors rebelled in Kronstadt, demanding re-election of the Soviets, but without commissars and communists. The Basmachi movement continued in Central Asia until 1928.

In connection with these events, it is impossible not to recall the angry words of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Tikhon (1865 - 1925) from the letter with which he addressed the Council of People's Commissars on October 13 (26), 1918: “... Seizing power and calling on the people to trust you, what promises did you make to them and how did you fulfill these promises? In truth you gave him a stone instead of bread and a snake instead of a fish (Matt.-7.9.10). To the people exhausted by a bloody war, you promised to give peace “without annexations and indemnities.” Instead of annexations and indemnities, our great homeland was conquered, dismembered, and in payment of the tribute imposed on it, you secretly export to Germany the accumulated gold that was not yours... You divided the entire people into hostile camps and plunged them into fratricide of unprecedented cruelty... You replaced the love of Christ with hatred and, instead of peace, you artificially incited class enmity. And there is no end in sight to the war you have created, since you are striving, with the help of Russian workers and peasants, to bring triumph to the specter of the world revolution... No one feels safe, everyone lives under constant fear of search, robbery, eviction, arrest, execution... Executed bishops, priests, monks and nuns, innocent of anything, but simply based on sweeping accusations of some vague and indefinite counter-revolutionism... Having seduced the dark and ignorant people with the possibility of easy and unpunished profit, you have clouded their conscience and drowned out the consciousness of sin in them , but no matter what names the atrocities are covered up, murder, violence, robbery will always remain grave and crying to heaven for vengeance with sins and crimes... Celebrate the anniversary of your stay in power by releasing prisoners, ending the bloodshed, violence, ruin, oppression of faith, convert not to destruction, but to the establishment of order and legality, give the people the desired and well-deserved rest from internecine warfare. Otherwise, “all righteous blood that you shed will be required of you” (Luke 11:51), “you who have taken the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 25:52).”

The response of the Council of People's Commissars was silence and increased repression against the clergy and the people.

One of the most significant consequences of the Civil War was the flight and forced evacuation of representatives of the former ruling classes and intelligentsia. In addition to the soldiers and officers of the White armies, tens of thousands of people left Russia - voluntarily or under duress. Of the most famous, several hundred people left the country in 1917-1931, especially in 1920-1921, including world-famous people: electronics inventor Vladimir Zvorykin, aircraft designers Igor Sikorsky and Mikhail Grigorashvili, aviation engineer and pilot -tester Boris Sergievsky, economist Vasily Leontyev, chemist Alexey Chichibabin, historians Georgy Vernadsky, Pavel Milyukov, writers Leonid Andreev, Sasha Cherny, Alexander Kuprin, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Vladimir Nabokov, Arkady Averchenko, Ivan Bunin, Zinaida Gippius, Nadezhda Teffi, Marina Tsvetaeva , Ivan Shmelev, Evgeny Zamyatin, writer and historian Fyodor Stepun; famous doctors: pathologist Alexander Pavlovsky, immunologist Pyotr Grabar, surgeon Alexander Aleksinsky, embryologist Konstantin Davydov, therapist Kazimir Buinevich, physiologist Boris Babkin, neuropathologist Grigory Troshin; world famous chess player Alexander Alekhine; painter and graphic artist Grigory Kandinsky, painters Leonid Pasternak and Marc Chagall; sculptors Sergei Konenkov, Stepan Nefedov (Erzya) and Osip Zadkine; film actors Ivan Mozzhukhin and Mikhail Chekhov; legendary singer Fyodor Chaliapin; popular pop singers Pyotr Leshchenko, Alexander Vertinsky and famous performer of Russian folk songs Nadezhda Plevitskaya; composers Sergei Rachmaninov and Alexander Grechaninov; director Fyodor Komissarzhevsky; famous musicians: violinist Jascha Heifetz, pianists Vladimir Horowitz and Alexander Ziloti, cellist Grigory Piatigorsky; choreographers and teachers Mikhail Fokin, Serge Lifar, George Balanchine, ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya and many, many others...

In 1922 - 1923, about 200 people were expelled from the RSFSR on the so-called philosophical ships. including philosophers Ivan Ilyin, Nikolai Lossky, Sergei Bulgakov, Semyon Frank, historians Lev Karsavin and Sergei Melgunov, sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, historiographer Fyodor Stepun and many others.

As one of the Bolshevik leaders, Leon Trotsky, cynically admitted: “We expelled these people because there was no reason to shoot them, and it was impossible to tolerate them.” It also had an effect that during these years the Soviet government sought to establish normal relations with foreign states, and such a “loyal” policy towards the intelligentsia contributed to this goal.

Total emigrated2 million people And all Russia lost12.5 million your sons and daughters!

What can we say at the end?

1. The February Revolution in Russia was a forced and necessary action, because The autocratic system has outlived its usefulness, slowing down not only the development of military operations of the Russian army in the war, but also further development Russia on the path of democracy and progress.

2. The Provisional Government, which replaced the monarchy, also failed to rally society around itself, did not have a clear program of action, often acted contrary to the will of the people and the voice of reason, allowing in many cases softness, short-sightedness and inability to see problems and prospects, and, moreover, inability organize the implementation of vital tasks for the people. It is appropriate to quote here the words of the famous philosopher Pitirim Sorokin: “The fall of the regime is the result not so much of the efforts of the revolutionaries as of the decrepitude, impotence and inability of the regime itself to do creative work.”

3. The October coup was illegal and unnecessary. A Constituent Assembly elected by the people of Russia could resolve many state issues on a democratic basis. But it was dispersed by the Bolsheviks, who saw themselves in the minority among the chosen ones. The Bolsheviks usurped power. And the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly and the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty stimulated the start of a bloody, large-scale, fratricidal Civil War.

4. The moral and ethical aspect of the mass terror of the warring parties - “all against all” - turned out to be possible due to the general savagery of the warring parties, their extreme bitterness and categorical reluctance to heed the voice of reason.

5. Having believed the Whites, believing the Reds, rising to the Civil War, people finally received, some - life in a foreign land, often in poverty and lawlessness, and others - the construction of socialism, i.e. destruction of Temples and desecration of the Faith, endless five-year plans in four years, collective farm slavery, famine of the 30s, the omnipotence of the Cheka-OGPU-NKVD-KGB and fabricated trials, mass repressions and the Gulag, elections without choice, constant need for food, housing , work and everywhere lies, lies, lies...

Unfortunately, we feel the echoes of these phenomena even now, almost a century later! Yes, it is easier to invent and create something material - a new device, a car, an atomic bomb, a television, a computer, than to change the consciousness of a person, which during the twentieth century was subjected to such a destructive impact of two World Wars and revolutions.

6. We, living now, must understand that the path of revolution is a dead end. Never and nowhere in the world, in any country over the past almost 100 years, has a revolution led to the happiness and prosperity of people, but only to the degradation of society, the destruction of a thousand-year-old culture, to spiritual and material impoverishment of people, to murders and wars in the name of an illusory “happy future”. As Patriarch Kirill rightly noted: “Not a single revolution has realized the slogans it called for. Not a single revolution has resolved the contradictions of society.”

Anyone who calls for war is a criminal!

Anyone who calls for revolution and civil war is a hundred times greater criminal! God save us from these criminals!

Now decide for yourself who won the Civil War.

Drawings by artist Pavel Ryzhenko