The last parade of the white army: When and where the whites fraternized with the reds and marched in a joint parade

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

1945 is marked in the history of the USSR by four military parades of the winners. On September 16, in commemoration of the defeat of militarist Japan, Soviet soldiers marched through the streets of Harbin. The Eastern War turned out to be swiftly victorious. The USSR declared war on the Japanese on August 8, and on September 2 the latter surrendered unconditionally. But it was noteworthy that the Whites marched along with the victors from the Red Army, taking part in the last military parade in the history of their movement.

The decisive offensive of the Soviet army and the surrender of the Japanese

From August to September 1945, relying on the commitments from the results of the Yalta Conference, the USSR's military campaign against Japan took place. As a result of the Soviet offensive, the strongest grouping of Japanese troops, the huge Kwantung Army, was completely defeated. The Red Army liberated Manchuria, the Liaodong Peninsula, northeastern China, southern Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and northern Korea.

Japan, left on the mainland without a main military-industrial base and the strongest ground grouping, was deprived of the opportunity to continue armed confrontation. Japan's surrender act was signed on September 2 aboard the US ship Missouri. The Second World War is over. Earlier, in the 20th of August, the Russians liberated the Manchu city of Harbin from the Japanese invaders. Soon Marshal Vasilevsky, the commander of Soviet troops in the Far East, came here. He informed the command staff about Stalin's decision to hold a military parade in the city on the occasion of the victory over Japan.

Harbin - White Emigration Center

The choice of Harbin as the venue for the demonstration parade was not clear to everyone. In China, it would seem, there are a great many cities. The release of the next one did not seem to be anything particularly significant. And in any settlement, the Chinese met Soviet soldiers as liberators. But the importance of the capture of Harbin stemmed from its historical characteristics. This city was built by the Russians in 1898. Its further history was associated with the Sino-Eastern Railway. With the October coup, the leaders of the Chinese Eastern Railway and local authorities, who refused to recognize the Bolshevik government, opened the city gates for anti-Bolshevik emigrants. White officers began to flock to Harbin. Not as massively, of course, as on the Don, but in sufficient quantities to create an active combat formation.

So, at the end of the Civil War, Harbin became one of the centers of White emigrants. For some time they were even headed by the future supreme leader of White Russia, Kolchak. And now the day comes when the Red Army enters the White emigre nest. Perhaps the Soviet command was afraid of possible excesses. But according to the recollections of an eyewitness to the events, Red Marshal K. A. Meretskov, the situation was different. He said that it was the Russian townspeople who provided the Reds with serious assistance. They directed the Soviet paratroopers to the headquarters and barracks of the enemy, captured and held communications centers, and took prisoners. Learning about the Soviet offensive, the White Manchu soldiers laid down their arms and went over to the side of their compatriots. Others organized partisan detachments, helping to bring a victorious military outcome for the USSR.

Treats for Soviet soldiers on the burning streets

The Reds who entered Harbin were pleasantly surprised by the signs on city buildings with "eras" and "yats" in the style of the writing of pre-revolutionary Russia. The first Soviet tanks on the streets were met by Russian émigrés. When the townspeople learned about the upcoming victory parade in Harbin, they sympathetically began to offer the Red Army men their services: wash, mend, iron the battered soldiers' uniforms. Local tailors even took to sewing ceremonial jackets and breeches for officers. To bring the military equipment into a proper form, they demolished the paint.

Along the streets, still burning and filled with smoke, tables were set up with treats for the liberators. One of the local White émigrés recalled seeing a Russian officer approaching the cathedral. According to his testimony, people shouted "hurray" and cried, and a solemn prayer service was held in the temple in honor of the liberation from the Japanese yoke. The ranks of the Red Army also talked about the warm welcome of the Soviet troops by the White émigrés. It seemed strange that the recent bitter opponents of the Reds should be so considerate and courteous. But historians explain this situation simply. The Japanese occupation regime was not particularly friendly towards the Russians. And it so happened that those who were looking for salvation from Soviet repression in Harbin stumbled upon Japanese ones.

White and Red in a common parade column of victorious troops

On Sunday afternoon, September 16, the victorious troops lined up in straight rectangles on the city's Vokzalnaya Square. There was not enough space for everyone to attend, so part of the rifle battalions, detachments of sappers and signalmen, mortars and artillery were placed in columns in the adjacent streets. The Harbinians surrounded the soldiers and equipment, throwing armfuls of flowers at everything. But the most unexpected thing was different.

A group of White Movement veterans approached the Soviet command with a request to attend the celebration in their classic White Guard uniform. Permission was obtained, and the White emigres marched in a common column, preceding the Red Army parade. Later, the secretary of the Primorsky Regional Committee of the CPSU (b) Pegov recalled this episode. He told how old men walked past the stands with party officials, some of whom, leaning on crutches, carried St. George's crosses and medals on their chests. Following were Russian civilians who had left Russia at one time.

White veterans from the Kappelevites and Semyonovites saluted the young Russian soldiers who worthily supported the victorious glory of their grandfathers. And six months later, at a solemn meeting in Harbin, Marshal Malinovsky addressed the participants of the Great Siberian Ice Campaign present in the hall with the following words: “Comrades! You have lived to see the day when you got the right, and we have the opportunity to call you comrades."

One of the brightest characters of the civil war period there was dad Nestor Makhno.