How the "Siberian atamans" fought for Russia and died: Unfulfilled fantasies or the curse of fate

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

One of the specific phenomena of the Civil War of 1918-1922 was the chieftaincy. Various military leaders appeared on almost all fronts, but they raged especially strongly in the East of Russia. A new type of field commanders appeared - the so-called Cossack chieftains. The spectrum of their political aspirations was wide - from the creation of separate states and the establishment of their own orders in the controlled territory to the revival of the huge empire of Genghis Khan and the sole power in it. Siberian chieftains went to their intended goal in different ways, but the end of each was equally unenviable.

How Ataman Semyonov turned Transbaikalia into the last White stronghold beyond the Urals

Trans-Baikal Cossack Grigory Semyonov began his military career with Baron Wrangel on the fronts of the First World War. Under the Provisional Government, he was sent to his native land to form military units from the Mongols and Buryats. The turning point in the life of Grigory Mikhailovich was the October Revolution, when he firmly decided to fight the "red infection". In response to the attempt of the Chita Bolsheviks to arrest him, Semenov revolted. Six months later, his army numbered about 7 thousand people and controlled a significant territory.

Semyonov led the White movement in Transbaikalia and created a kind of personal principality there. The main allies of the chieftain were the Japanese invaders. With their help, he took Chita, which he made the capital of his possessions. There was only one method of fighting the Bolsheviks and their accomplices - terror and ruthless destruction. In the fall of 1920, under the onslaught of the Reds, the Semenovites retreated to Manchuria. In exile, Grigory Semyonov grabbed the slightest opportunity to harm his former compatriots and greeted every enemy of the USSR, including Hitler. In August 1945, Semyonov was arrested in liberated Manchuria, taken to the Union and put on trial. The sentence to the enemy of the people - the death penalty by hanging - was carried out.

How Baron von Ungern became famous, and what prevented him from re-creating the state of Genghis Khan

A scion of an old German-Baltic family, a native of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Roman Fyodorovich (Robert Nicholas Maximilian) von Ungern-Sternberg realized early that his calling and true element was war. Without completing his studies at the Naval Cadet Corps, he went to the battles of the Russo-Japanese War as a volunteer. He showed courage and heroism on the fronts of the First World War. Von Ungern categorically rejected the October Revolution. In Transbaikalia, together with Grigory Semyonov, he took up the formation of detachments from Buryats and Mongols to fight the Reds.

After the defeat of Ataman Semyonov, Ungern marched with his 1,500-strong army into Mongolia occupied by the Chinese. After freeing Mongolia and returning its monarch to the throne, Roman von Ungern added the title of khan to the barony and became a legend and practically the ruler of the country. An item appeared in the ambitious baron's extensive plans - the revival of the empire of Genghis Khan. But in 1921 Ungern fell into the hands of the Reds. A demonstration public trial took place in Novonikolaevsk. The Baron was charged with an armed struggle against the Soviet regime and sentenced to death.

How did the opal of the Siberian ataman Ivanov-Rinov end

Coming from a noble family, the son of an officer, Pavel Ivanov-Rinov, began his military career on the border with China. After the 1917 revolution, Pavel Pavlovich, by that time already a colonel, went underground, and in 1918 he led the anti-Bolshevik movement in Steppe Siberia. Ivanov-Rinov was a staunch supporter of Admiral Kolchak and in November 1918 he was one of the first to recognize him as the Supreme Ruler of the Russian state. He carried out command of the troops of the Amur Military District and the Siberian Army.

Despite his undeniable merits, Ivanov-Rinov fell into disgrace, being accused of indecision and failure of an important offensive operation. This was followed by the removal from command, and soon the arrest. Further events flashed, as in a kaleidoscope: liberation, illegal stay in Krasnoyarsk, emigration to Harbin, service in the Far East at Semyonov, evacuation to Korea, China again. Since 1922, Pavel Ivanov-Rinov began to cooperate with Soviet agents. He was exposed, declared a traitor to the White Cause and fled to Russia, after which his trace was lost.

How Ataman Kalmykov fought against the Bolsheviks, and how his fate eventually developed

Military affairs attracted Ivan Kalmykov even during his studies at the theological seminary. Following his dream, he gave up the priesthood, graduated from the cadet school and ended up serving in Primorye. Distinguished by bravery in the First World War. After the events of 1917, he took a decisive anti-Bolshevik position.

In the struggle against the new government, Kalmykov relied on Japan's help and in August 1918, with the joint forces of the Ussuriysk Cossack army and Japanese units, occupied Khabarovsk. Black days have come for the inhabitants of the city. Plundering and brutal reprisals against those suspected of sympathizing with the Soviets were commonplace. Retreating under the onslaught of the Bolsheviks, the chieftain fled to Manchuria, requisitioning the gold reserves of the Khabarovsk bank. However, there he was arrested and charged with the murder of representatives of the Red Cross and the shelling of Chinese ships on the Amur. During the transfer of Ivan Kalmykov to Vladivostok to hand him over to the Soviet authorities, he disarmed one of the guards and tried to escape, but was killed in a shootout.

Why Siberian Ataman Annenkov is called the main killer and marauder of the Civil War

The most tragic example of atamanism is undoubtedly Boris Annenkov. The son of a retired colonel, an excellent rider and shooter, a fearless warrior and at the same time - a sadistic killer, robber-marauder, pogromist. Annenkov began the fight against the Reds in 1918 with a detachment of 200 people, which after a few months grew to a whole division, named Partisan. The peak of Boris Annenkov's military career was the suppression of the uprising in Semirechye. The chieftain kept his subordinates in fear, using one means to intimidate the guilty - execution. In relation to the civilian population, the cruelty of the Annenkovites knew no bounds: thousands of people hanged, shot and hacked to death, abuse of women, a general "requisition" of valuables, horses, food.

In 1920, the Annenkovites driven out by the Bolsheviks from Semirechye moved to China, where they continued to rampage. As a result, the ataman was arrested, spent several years in prison, and was subsequently extradited to the Soviet authorities. In 1927, the court sentenced him to death, which was carried out.

Those who were forced out of the homeland by the civil war, fought against the USSR already in the armies of other states.