What is the strength of the white movement. A Brief History of the White Movement

The beginning of the white movement - the arrested generals (Denikin, Alekseev, Kornilov) leave the city of Bykhov.

The German occupation put an end to the spread of Soviet power to new territories and contributed to the formation of bridgeheads on which counter-revolutionary forces could organize: the Don, the North Caucasus, etc. Under the new conditions, the white movement strengthened, receiving the support of wide sections of the population. It became widespread due to the influx of Cossacks and previously inert citizens.

The White movement gradually formed at the end of 1917 and the beginning of 1918 after the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks' dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, which was called upon to peacefully resolve the issue of the state structure of Russia after the February Revolution of 1917

The goals of the White movement were: the liberation of Russia from the Bolshevik dictatorship, the unity and territorial integrity of Russia, the convening of a new Constituent Assembly to determine the state structure of the country.

Contrary to popular belief, monarchists made up only a small part of the White movement. The White movement consisted of forces that were heterogeneous in their political composition, but united in the idea of ​​​​rejection of Bolshevism. This was, for example, the Samara government, “Komuch”, in which representatives of left-wing parties played a large role.

The core of the White movement in southern Russia was the Volunteer Army, created under the leadership of generals Alekseev and Kornilov in Novocherkassk. The area of ​​initial operations of the Volunteer Army was the Don Army Region and Kuban. After the death of General Kornilov during the siege of Yekaterinodar, command of the white forces passed to General Denikin. In June 1918, the 8,000-strong Volunteer Army began its second campaign against Kuban, which rebelled against the Bolsheviks. On August 17, they take Yekaterinodar, and by the end of August they completely clear the territory of the Kuban army from the Bolsheviks. In the winter of 1918-1919, Denikin’s troops established control over the North Caucasus, defeating and destroying the 90,000-strong 11th Red Army operating there.

Having repulsed the offensive of the Red Southern Front (100 thousand) in the Donbass and Manych in March-May, on May 17, 1919, the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (70 thousand) launched a counter-offensive. They broke through the front and, having inflicted a heavy defeat on units of the Red Army, by the end of June they captured Donbass, Crimea, Kharkov on June 24, Ekaterinoslav on June 27, and Tsaritsyn on June 30. On July 3, Denikin set his troops the task of capturing Moscow.

During the attack on Moscow in the summer and autumn of 1919, the 1st Corps of the Volunteer Army under the command of General. Kutepov took Kursk (September 20), Orel (October 13) and began moving towards Tula. October 6 parts of the general. Shkuro occupied Voronezh. Since the main provinces and industrial cities of central Russia were in the hands of the Reds, the latter had an advantage. Makhno, having broken through the White front in the Uman region, with his raid across Ukraine in October 1919, destroyed the rear of the AFSR and diverted significant forces of the Volunteer Army from the front. The offensive on Moscow failed and, under the pressure of superior forces of the Red Army, Denikin’s troops began to retreat to the south

On January 10, 1920, the Reds occupied Rostov-on-Don, a large center that opened the road to Kuban, and on March 17, 1920, Ekateri-Nodar. The Whites fought back to Novorossiysk, and from there crossed by sea to the Crimea. Denikin resigned and left Russia

By the beginning of 1920, Crimea turned out to be the last bastion of the White movement in southern Russia. The command of the army was taken by Gen. Wrangel. The size of Wrangel's army in mid-1920 was about 25 thousand people. In the summer of 1920, Wrangel's Russian army launched an offensive in Northern Tavria. In June, Melitopol was occupied. In August, an amphibious landing was undertaken on Kuban, under the command of General. S.G. Ulagaya, however, this operation ended in failure.

At the end of August 1920, the Red Army near Warsaw was defeated, and on October 12, 1920, the Poles signed a truce with the Bolsheviks, and Lenin’s government threw all its forces into the fight against the White Army. In addition to the main forces of the Red Army, the Bolsheviks managed to win over Makhno’s army, which also took part in the assault on Crimea.

To storm Crimea, the Reds pulled together huge forces (up to 200 thousand people versus 35 thousand for the Whites). The attack on Perekop began on November 7. Despite the gigantic superiority in manpower and weapons, the Red troops for several days could not break the defense of the defenders of the Crimea, and only after, having forded the shallow Chongar Strait, units of the Red Army and Makhno’s allied detachments entered the rear of the main positions of the Whites and on November 11, the Makhnovists Borbovich's cavalry corps was defeated near Karpova Balka, and the White defense was broken through. The Red Army broke into Crimea. Wrangel's army and many civilian refugees were evacuated to Constantinople on ships of the Black Sea Fleet.

Fight in the North-West

General Yudenich created the North-Western Army on the territory of Estonia to fight Soviet power, from 5.5 to 20 thousand soldiers and officers.

N.N. Yudenich tried to take Petrograd twice (in spring and autumn), but was unsuccessful each time. The spring offensive (5.5 thousand whites against 20 thousand reds) of the Northern Corps (from July 1, the North-Western Army) on Petrograd began on May 13, 1919. The Whites broke through the front near Narva and, by moving around Yamburg, forced the Reds to retreat. On May 15 they captured Gdov. Yamburg fell on May 17, and Pskov fell on May 25. By the beginning of June, the Whites reached the approaches to Luga and Gatchina, threatening Petrograd. But the Reds transferred reserves to Petrograd, increasing the size of their group operating against the North-Western Army to 40 thousand, and in mid-July launched a counteroffensive. During heavy fighting, they pushed back the small units of the North-Western Army beyond the Luga River, and on August 28 they captured Pskov.

Autumn offensive on Petrograd. On October 12, 1919, the North-Western Army (20 thousand against 40 thousand Reds) broke through the Soviet front near Yamburg and on October 20, 1919, taking Tsarskoe Selo, reached the suburbs of Petrograd. The Whites captured the Pulkovo Heights and, on the far left flank, broke into the outskirts of Ligovo, having no reserves and having received no support from Finland and Estonia, after ten days of fierce and unequal battles near Petrograd with the Red troops (the number of which had grown to 60 thousand people) North -The Western army was unable to capture the city. Finland and Estonia refused assistance because the leadership of the White Army never recognized the independence of these countries. On November 1, the retreat of the Northwestern White Army began.

By mid-November 1919, Yudenich's army retreated to Estonia with stubborn fighting. After the signing of the Tartu Peace Treaty between the RSFSR and Estonia, 15 thousand soldiers and officers of Yudenich’s North-Western Army, under the terms of this treaty, were first disarmed, and then 5 thousand of them were captured by the Estonian authorities and sent to concentration camps.

The military operations of the white armies were opened by the Eastern Front. The offensive of Kolchak’s troops, due to disagreements among the Entente, developed in 2 directions. On March 4, the Siberian Army went on the offensive, developing it in the direction of the Botkin plant and further to Vyatka. Votkinsk and Sarapul were occupied. On March 6, the Western Army began its offensive. It was opposed by the weakened 5th Soviet Army. On March 14, the Whites occupied Ufa. By mid-April, Bugulma, Belebey, Sterlitamak and Buguruslan fell. The Eastern Front was recognized as the main front. On April 28, 1919, the troops of the Southern Group launched a counteroffensive (until June 19). Liberation of previously lost territories, capture of the Urals (Ekaterinburg (July 14), Chelyabinsk (July 24)). Defeat of Kolchak's troops near Chelyabinsk By the beginning of 1920, Kolchak's troops were completely defeated, he was arrested and executed on February 7, 1920.

But Russia has and will always have opponents. Against the described background, it is better to ask a question about our Russian “leaders”: could the then white governments and foreign missions be the “indisputable moral center of the Russian cause”, which they claimed to be?

So many documents on this topic have been published in emigration that the answer can be given immediately. The courage of the white warriors is a glorious page in Russian history. Less glorious was the behavior of their rear governments, in which, although there were many sincere patriots, the February liberals, with the support of the Entente, dominated almost everywhere over the more right-wing figures and became one of the reasons for the defeat. They placed the White movement in the Procrustean bed of the struggle of the losing February against the victorious October - without understanding that both February and October were milestones of the same process of destruction of historical Russia; The Februaryists themselves, through their lack of understanding of what was happening, led to October. They began to understand this only in emigration (we will use their own assessments below - both early and late)...

The first appeals of these politicians to the West (“Appeal of the Volunteer Army to the Allies”, “Statement of the Main Committee of the All-Russian Zemstvo and Urban Association”), as well as the documents of the Iasi Conference, are already characteristic. They highlight not only the unfulfilled debt of the Entente countries that betrayed Russia, but also the fact that the Februaryist politicians, who had lost power and hoped to restore it with the help of their former Western patrons, were far from understanding both their true goals and the causes of the Russian catastrophe and the World War. war. The war “had a democratic ideology,” so “Russia fell into the category of defeated countries,” P.B. admitted already in exile. Struve. Only through the prism of this ideology of war, in which democracies managed to pit the main European monarchies against each other and lead them all to defeat, is the behavior of the Entente in our civil war understandable.

This “democratic” factor (which consisted primarily of the denial of the Orthodox monarchy) is visible at the Iasi Conference both among the representatives of the Entente and among many Russian delegates. What was logical: was it worth starting the February Revolution in Russia (prepared by the Februaryists together with emissaries of the Entente) in order to now allow the restoration of the “reactionary autocracy”?.. (Meeting participant K.R. Krovopuskov: “Russia can be revived and united only through a democratic basis... the restoration of the monarchy would seem harmful from this point of view." The majority considered it unacceptable for the role of “leader” even of the former Commander-in-Chief of the Army Vel. Book Nikolai Nikolaevich (because of the “royal blood”, although he supported the February revolution); approved Denikin, in whose army the Russian anthem “God Save the Tsar!” was replaced by the Preobrazhensky March...

For the left part of the Februaryists (many members of the Union of Revival, represented at the Iasi meeting), even Kolchak and Denikin soon turned out to be “reactionary”. The Social Revolutionaries proclaimed them “conscious supporters of a return to the old regime,” abandoned the fight against the Bolsheviks and declared war on the whites “using all the methods that the party used against the autocracy.” This struggle acquired great proportions in the rear of the Whites, “undermining their cause from within” - together with the Bolsheviks. And Kerensky stated in the Western press (November 1919) that “the terror and anarchy created there by the Kolchak-Denikin regime exceeds all likelihood... There is no crime that Kolchak’s agents would not commit against the population, they represent tyranny and the blackest reaction."

Among the more right-wing Februaryists, “democratic” politics turned into external pressure on the White armies through similar “Russian delegations” that became white governments. Thus, the “Russian Political Conference” created in Paris at the beginning of 1919 (chaired by Prince G.E. Lvov, the first head of the Provisional Government), which played the role of representing the White armies in the West, constantly demanded from the white generals to proclaim a “deeply democratic the nature of the goals pursued by the Russian anti-Bolshevik movement." Here is the typical text of one of the telegrams from the “Political Conference”, sent from Paris on March 5, 1919 to all the White armies: “On January 6, we telegraphed to you about the strengthening of democratic ideas after the war, which ended in the victory of democracy. Now the Political Conference considers it its duty to inform you about the further growth of their authority in the international situation. In public opinion they are gaining more and more power and their influence is becoming more demanding. Under their influence, the work of the Conference [Versailles Peace Conference. - M.N.], they also determine to a large extent the attitude towards the issue of recognition of the independence of individual parts of Russia. Even the possibility of helping our national armies in the fight against the Bolsheviks is measured by the degree of democracy of our Governments and Political Conference, the trust and sympathy that they inspire. Any shadow of old Russia inspires mistrust. In fear of the specters of political and social reaction, we tend to look for and exaggerate doubts at every step about the sincere democracy of the new national Russia. Our Political Conference is being criticized from the point of view of the vagueness of its democratic physiognomy. This is not the only, but one of the reasons hindering the success of achieving our ultimate goals...” Therefore, it is necessary to “practically lay the democratic foundation of Russian statehood through elections in any form"(emphasis in original).

To appreciate the criticism that even this “Political Conference” was subjected to from the democratic circles of the Entente, one must note its “face”: three-quarters of it consisted of Freemasons - that is, the Democrats criticized even them for being “right-wing”! The most right-wing member of the Conference, Tsarist Minister Sazonov, who was supported by Kolchak, was simply hunted down by the Februaryists, although he was sometimes forced to send, for example, the following telegrams to the Commander-in-Chief:

“Secret telegram of the Minister of Foreign Affairs addressed to Admiral Kolchak dated May 10, 1919 No. 985.
Personally.
In view of the growing political importance of Jewish international circles and the fears they have revealed of Jewish pogroms in connection with the further successes of your troops, we would consider it extremely desirable that you would now make some kind of reassuring statement in this regard. Such a statement could take the form of a telegram addressed to me, of course without reference to mine, in which they would inform me of your firm decision to energetically suppress all anti-Jewish movements, wherever they appear. Such a telegram could be used privately by me with great benefit and would attract the sympathy of the Russian Government from local and English political and banking circles.
Sazonov" .

And in order to assess the possibility of implementing the cited democratic demands of the “Conference,” we must take into account that the overwhelming majority of white soldiers were monarchists (later, in exile, this became obvious, as noted by P.B. Struve). It is not surprising that the White movement was steadily on the right and each of its subsequent leaders (Denikin, Kolchak, Wrangel) relied on increasingly right-wing politicians (up to the completely competent government in Crimea). And in the Far East, where white power in the person of General M.K. Diterichs existed until the end of 1922, the Orthodox-monarchist ideology of the struggle for Holy Rus' was even proclaimed at the Zemsky Sobor and the Basic Laws of the Russian Empire were restored; really, it was already too late...

Is this why in the end the Entente’s bet on the Bolsheviks prevailed, since in its eyes they were less “reactionary” than the White armies with their latent monarchism?

The white movement originated in the south of Russia, on the Don, where the free Don Cossacks did not perceive communist agitation well and were always ready to defend Russia.

The white movement originated in the south of Russia, on the Don, where the free Don Cossacks did not perceive communist agitation well and were always ready to defend Russia.

At the beginning of 1918, two former commanders-in-chief, generals Alekseev and Kornilov, began organizing an anti-Bolshevik resistance movement. Their main support was the Don Cossack regiments of Ataman Kaledin. After the slightly mysterious suicide of Ataman Kaledin (possibly caused by his uncertainty in the fighting mood of the Cossacks), the Cossacks elected a new Ataman, General. Peter Nikolaevich Krasnov. During the battles for Ekaterinodar (Soviet Krasnodar), the general died. Kornilov and the command of the Volunteer Army were taken over by Gen. Anton Ivanovich Denikin.

During the difficult first few months of the formation of the Volunteer Army, Gen. Denikin with a contingent that hardly exceeded 4,000 people. was forced to set out on the Kuban campaign, trying to escape encirclement and fighting the significantly superior forces of the Bolsheviks. But thanks to his military experience and decisive actions, he cleared the Kuban of the Bolsheviks and returned to the Don with an army that had increased to 10,000 people. With the addition of a number of Don Cossack regiments, the Volunteer Army turned into a significant military force, cleared the entire Don of the Bolsheviks, occupied the city of Novocherkassk and began its advance with battles to the Volga, Ukraine and north towards Moscow.

At the same time, other centers of resistance to the Bolsheviks arose in different parts of Russia. In the east, between the Volga and the Urals, rebel and volunteer detachments accumulated and united, clearing large areas of the Bolsheviks. In the northwest, the North-Western Army was formed under the command of General. Yudenich and launched an attack on Petrograd. Volunteer detachments numbering up to 9,000 people fought in the Arkhangelsk region. under the command of Gen. Miller. In Siberia, Admiral Kolchak formed large anti-Bolshevik forces and moved through the Urals to join the Volga detachments. There was also a war going on in Turkestan with large forces, pushing the Bolsheviks north.

How chaotic and chaotic the created political situation was can be better imagined if we consider that in 1918, 5 “white” governments arose almost simultaneously in different parts of Russia.

1. Samara government (large Socialist-Revolutionaries, headed by the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Viktor Chernov),

2. Omsk government (national conservative in nature), these two governments later merged into the so-called. Directory, headed by Admiral Kolchak,

3. Arkhangelsk government chaired by. N.V. Tchaikovsky,

4.The government in Ashgabat is chaired by Funtikov and

5. The government in Reval (under the North-West Army) under the chairmanship. Lianozova.

Each of these governments had its own political orientation, was supported by various groups of foreign interventionists and entered into agreements with it on future trade and concessions in exchange for supplies of military equipment.

In addition, a number of national governments arose on the outskirts of Russia, striving for national independence (Ukrainian Rada, Belarusian Government, Polish Government, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Government, Finnish Government, Government of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Don Government and Far Eastern Government).

In a number of cases, these national governments declared their independence and began to fight not only against the Bolsheviks, but also against the White armies, interfering with and delaying supplies and even interning their military units.

The successes of the white armies achieved by the beginning of 1919, when Denikin’s army, numbering 130,000 people, occupied the mountains in its advance towards Moscow. Orel and Voronezh, cleared most of Ukraine, and the right flank rested on the Volga, Kolchak’s army, numbering 160,000 people. cleared Zap. Siberia, crossed the Urals and approached the Volga from the east, and the North-West. Yudenich's army fought on the outskirts of Petrograd, but these successes could not be maintained or expanded for long. The unification of the armies of Denikin and Kolchak did not occur.

Reorganized at the end of 1919, the Red Army, under the leadership no longer of revolutionary leaders, but of “military experts” (formerly career officers of the Russian Army), improved qualitatively and increased quantitatively and began to show significant success in military operations. The White armies began to retreat to their original positions, suffering heavy losses.

Betrayal and execution of Admiral Kolchak in the winter of 1919/20, defeat of the North-West. Yudenich's army and the withdrawal of Denikin's army to the Crimea - foreshadowed the sad end of the White Movement.

In April 1920, command of the White Army was transferred to the young and energetic general. Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel, who managed to strengthen discipline, raise the morale of the troops and prepare a new offensive to the north.

The well-known “Wrangel Land Law” of June 7, 1920 (developed by the former minister of the tsarist government Krivoshein) on land use reform was aimed at attracting the support of peasants and was an important and progressive measure to strengthen the economic and social structure of the future Russia, but, to Unfortunately, he was two years late.

If this law had been issued at the beginning of the Civil War, the armies of Denikin, Kolchak and Yudenich would have received massive support not only from the Russian peasantry, but also from the majority of Russian minorities.

The campaign of the gene. Wrangel, who was initially crowned with good successes, such as the occupation of large territories north of the Sea of ​​​​Azov to the Donbass and to the north-west towards Poland, was unable to achieve a connection with the Polish troops of the general. Pilsudski and was stopped. The Polish intervention was repulsed and pushed back to the Polish border. The conclusion of a truce with the Bolsheviks Gen. Pilsudski freed significant forces of the Red Army to fight against the general. Wrangel, whose army was pushed back to the Crimea in fierce battles and was in danger of complete destruction.

General Wrangel managed to organize the evacuation of 130,000 soldiers and refugees to Constantinople.

Later, most of the former soldiers of Wrangel’s army settled in Yugoslavia, partly also in France and other centers of Western Europe. Together with the remnants of the North-West. army general Yudenich and all other Russian people who left Russia during that period, they formed part of the Russian emigration, known as the First Emigration. .

Preserving their fighting spirit, their love for Russia and fueled by the hope of restoring the monarchy in Russia, the first emigration created a number of military, political and civil organizations that exist to this day. The Russian All-Military Union (EMRO), the Supreme Monarchical Council, are the most well-known organizations.

The white movement or “whites” is a politically heterogeneous force formed at the first stage of the Civil War. The main goals of the “whites” are the fight against the Bolsheviks.

The movement was made up of adherents of various political forces: socialists, monarchists, republicans. The “Whites” united around the idea of ​​a great and indivisible Russia and existed simultaneously with other anti-Bolshevik forces.

Historians offer several versions of the origin of the term “White Movement”:

• During the French Revolution, white was chosen by monarchists who opposed the ideals of the revolution. This color symbolized the royal dynasty of France. The use of white reflected political views. Thus, researchers deduce the origin of the name from the ideals of the movement's members. There is an opinion that the Bolsheviks called all opponents of the revolutionary changes of 1917 “white,” although among them there were not only monarchists.
• The second version is that during the October Revolution, the former armbands were used by opponents of the revolution. It is believed that this is what gave the movement its name.

There are several versions of the time of birth of the White movement:

• Spring of 1917 - an opinion based on the memories of some eyewitnesses of the events. A. Denikin argued that the movement arose in response to the Mogilev Officers' Congress, where the slogan “Save the Fatherland!” was proclaimed. The main idea behind the birth of such a movement was the preservation of Russian statehood and the salvation of the army.
• Politician and historian P. Milyukov argued that the White movement consolidated in the summer of 1917 as an anti-Bolshevik front. Ideologically, the bulk of the movement are Cadets and Socialists. The Kornilov uprising in August 1917 is said to be the beginning of the active actions of the “Whites,” the leaders of which subsequently became the most famous figures in the White movement in the South of Russia.

The phenomenon of the White movement - it consolidated disparate, hostile political forces, the main idea of ​​which was state-centrism.

The basis of the “whites” are officers of the Russian army, professional military men. Peasants, from whom some of the leaders of the movement came, occupied an important place among the White Guards. There were representatives of the clergy, bourgeoisie, Cossacks, and intelligentsia. The political backbone is the Cadets, monarchists.

Political goals of the “whites”:

• The destruction of the Bolsheviks, whose power the “whites” considered illegal and anarchic. The movement fought for the restoration of pre-revolutionary orders.
• The fight for indivisible Russia.
• Convening and starting the work of the People's Assembly, which should be based on the protection of statehood and universal suffrage.
• The fight for freedom of faith.
• Elimination of all economic problems, solution of the agrarian issue in favor of the people of Russia.
• Formation of active and active local authorities and granting them broad rights in self-government.

Historian S. Volkov notes that the ideology of the “whites” was, in general, moderate-monarchical. The researcher notes that the “whites” did not have a clear political program, but only defended their values. The emergence of the White Guard movement was a normal reaction to the chaos reigning in the state.

There was no consensus among the “whites” regarding the political structure of Russia. The movement planned to overthrow the criminal, in their opinion, Bolshevik regime and decide the future fate of statehood during the National Constituent Assembly.

Researchers note an evolution in the ideals of the “whites”: at the first stage of the struggle, they sought only to preserve the statehood and integrity of Russia; starting from the second stage, this desire turned into the idea of ​​overthrowing all the achievements of the revolution.

In the occupied territories, the “whites” established a military dictatorship; within these state formations, the laws of pre-revolutionary times were in force with changes introduced by the Provisional Government. Some laws were adopted directly in the occupied territories. In foreign policy, the “whites” were guided by the idea of ​​maintaining obligations to allied countries. First of all, this concerns the Entente countries.

Stages of “white” activity:

At the first stage (1917 - early 1918), the movement developed rapidly and managed to seize the strategic initiative. In 1917, social support and financing were still practically absent. Gradually, underground White Guard organizations were formed, the core of which were officers of the former tsarist army. This stage can be called the period of formation and formation of the structure of the movement and main ideas. The first phase was successful for the “whites”. The main reason is the high level of training of the army, while the “red” army was unprepared and scattered.

In 1918 there was a change in the balance of power. At the beginning of the stage, the “whites” received social support in the form of peasants who were not happy with the economic policies of the Bolsheviks. Some officer organizations began to come out of hiding. An example of a vivid anti-Bolshevik struggle was the uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps.

At the end of 1918 - beginning of 1919 - a time of active support for the “whites” by the Entente states. The military potential of the “whites” was gradually strengthened.

Since 1919, the “whites” have lost the support of foreign interventionists and are defeated by the Red Army. Military dictatorships founded earlier fell under the onslaught of the “reds”. The actions of the “whites” were not successful due to a complex of economic, political and social reasons. Since the 1920s, the term "whites" has been used to refer to emigrants.

Many political forces, consolidated around the idea of ​​fighting Bolshevism, formed the White Movement, which became a serious opponent of the “red” revolutionaries.

On December 16, 1872, one of the main leaders of the White movement during the Civil War, Anton Denikin, was born. We decided to remember the other most famous white generals

2013-12-15 19:30

Anton Denikin

Anton Ivanovich Denikin was one of the main leaders of the White movement during the Civil War, its leader in the south of Russia. He achieved the greatest military and political results among all the leaders of the White movement. One of the main organizers and then commander of the Volunteer Army. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, Deputy Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Admiral Kolchak.

After the death of Kolchak, all-Russian power was supposed to pass to Denikin, but on April 4, 1920, he transferred command to General Wrangel and on the same day he left with his family for Europe. Denikin lived in England, Belgium, Hungary, and France, where he was engaged in literary activities. While remaining a staunch opponent of the Soviet system, he nevertheless refused German offers of cooperation. Soviet influence in Europe forced Denikin to move to the United States in 1945, where he continued to work on the autobiographical story “The Path of a Russian Officer,” but never finished it. General Anton Ivanovich Denikin died of a heart attack on August 8, 1947 at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor and was buried in a cemetery in Detroit. In 2005, the ashes of General Denikin and his wife were transported to Moscow for burial in the Holy Don Monastery.

Alexander Kolchak

The leader of the White movement during the Civil War, Supreme Ruler of Russia Alexander Kolchak was born on November 16, 1874 in St. Petersburg.

In November 1919, under the pressure of the Red Army, Kolchak left Omsk. In December, Kolchak’s train was blocked in Nizhneudinsk by the Czechoslovaks. On January 4, 1920, he transferred the entirety of the already mythical power to Denikin, and the command of the armed forces in the east to Semyonov. Kolchak's safety was guaranteed by the allied command. But after the transfer of power in Irkutsk to the Bolshevik Revolutionary Committee, Kolchak was also at his disposal. Upon learning of Kolchak's capture, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin gave orders to shoot him. Alexander Kolchak was shot along with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pepelyaev on the banks of the Ushakovka River. The corpses of those shot were lowered into an ice hole on the Angara.

Lavr Kornilov

Lavr Kornilov - Russian military leader, participant in the Civil War, one of the organizers and Commander-in-Chief of the Volunteer Army, leader of the White movement in the South of Russia.

On April 13, 1918, he was killed during the assault on Yekaterinodar by an enemy grenade. The coffin with Kornilov's body was secretly buried during the retreat through the German colony of Gnachbau. The grave was razed to the ground. Later, organized excavations discovered only the coffin with the body of Colonel Nezhentsev. In Kornilov’s dug up grave, only a piece of a pine coffin was found.

Peter Krasnov

Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov - general of the Russian Imperial Army, ataman of the All-Great Don Army, military and political figure, writer and publicist. During World War II, he served as head of the Main Directorate of Cossack Troops of the Imperial Ministry of Eastern Occupied Territories. In June 1917, he was appointed head of the 1st Kuban Cossack Division, in September - commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, and promoted to lieutenant general. He was arrested during the Kornilov speech upon arrival in Pskov by the commissar of the Northern Front, but was then released. On May 16, 1918, Krasnov was elected ataman of the Don Cossacks. Having relied on Germany, relying on its support and not obeying A.I. To Denikin, who was still focused on the “allies,” he launched a fight against the Bolsheviks at the head of the Don Army.

The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR announced the decision to execute P.N. Krasnov, S.N. Krasnov, Shkuro, Sultan-Girey Klych, von Pannwitz - for the fact that “through the White Guard detachments they formed, they waged an armed struggle against the Soviet Union and carried out active espionage, sabotage and terrorist activities against the USSR”. On January 16, 1947, Krasnov and others were hanged in Lefortovo prison.

Peter Wrangel

Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel - Russian military commander from the main leaders of the White movement during the Civil War. Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in Crimea and Poland. Lieutenant General of the General Staff. Knight of St. George. He received the nickname “Black Baron” for his traditional everyday dress - a black Cossack Circassian coat with gazyrs.

On April 25, 1928, he died suddenly in Brussels after suddenly contracting tuberculosis. According to his family, he was poisoned by the brother of his servant, who was a Bolshevik agent. He was buried in Brussels. Subsequently, Wrangel’s ashes were transferred to Belgrade, where they were solemnly reburied on October 6, 1929 in the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity.

Nikolai Yudenich

Nikolai Yudenich - a Russian military leader, an infantry general - during the Civil War he led the forces operating against Soviet power in the northwestern direction.

He died in 1962 from pulmonary tuberculosis. He was buried first in the Lower Church in Cannes, but subsequently his coffin was transferred to Nice to the Cocade cemetery. On October 20, 2008, in the church fence near the altar of the Church of the Holy Cross Church in the village of Opole, Kingisepp district, Leningrad region, as a tribute to the memory of the fallen ranks of General Yudenich’s army, a monument to the soldiers of the North-Western Army was erected.

Mikhail Alekseev

Mikhail Alekseev was an active participant in the White movement during the Civil War. One of the creators, Supreme Leader of the Volunteer Army.

He died on October 8, 1918 from pneumonia and after a two-day farewell to thousands of people, he was buried in the Military Cathedral of the Kuban Cossack Army in Yekaterinodar. Among the wreaths laid on his grave, one attracted the attention of the public with its genuine touchingness. It was written on it: “We didn’t see, but we knew and loved.” During the retreat of the white troops at the beginning of 1920, his ashes were taken to Serbia by relatives and colleagues and reburied in Belgrade. During the years of communist rule, in order to avoid the destruction of the grave of the founder and leader of the “White Cause,” the slab on his grave was replaced with another, on which only two words were laconically written: “Mikhail the Warrior.”