80
extraordinary commissars for the entire Caucasus, and enjoyed plenipotentiaries
powers in the entire area and direct contact with Moscow.
208
Following the conclusion of an agreement, in Brest-Litovsk on 3 March, the
Bolshevik forces, under the command of Celâl Korkmazov occupied Vladikavkaz
in the middle of March.
209
There, they formed the Terek People’s Soviet Socialist
Republic (Terskaya Narodnai Sovetskaia Sotsialisticheskaia Respublika) headed by
Noi Buachidze with the aim of joining Soviet Russia.
210
Then the Bolshevik
controlled military revolutionary soviets ( voenrevkoms) were spread all around the
North Caucasus.
211
As a result, the members of the provisional government of the
Mountaineers had to move to Nazran first and then to Temir Khan Shura.
212
At the
same time, while some members of the government were forced to turn back on
their native regions to organise military formations against the Bolsheviks, others
left the North Caucasus to search for economic and military aid.
213
Nevertheless
during the last month of 1917, apart from the natives, the Cossacks and the
Bolsheviks, a new force had taken position in the region. This was the Volunteer
Army.
208
Blank, “Soviet North Caucasus,” 13.
209
After the signing of Treaty, in compliance with the Bolsheviks’ promises the soldiers from entire
Caucasian front began to desert to the Russian territories. Most of these deserting soldiers were pro-
Bolshevik and stayed in the North Caucasus. Thus, the baseless North Caucasian Bolsheviks of
1917 surprisingly owned an army of their own.
210
Pipes, Formation, 197 and Kalmık, 21-2, pointed out that in this structure Osetians had 8, Ingush
3, Cossacks 8, Chechens 15, inogorodnye 15 and Kabardians 7 representatives respectively.
211
Kashkaev, Ot Fevralya, 105-107.
212
“It did this because part of the population in Vladikavkaz, which consisted of Russians, and also
the entire garrison which had once belonged to demoralized sections of the old Russian Army,
joined the Bolsheviks and seized the control of city.” Kosok, “Revolution and Sovietization II,” 49.
213
Cabaği, Kafkas-Rus Mücadelesi, 86-87 and Baytugan, “Kuzey Kafkasya,” 9.
81
B-Volunteer Army (Dobrovol’cheskaia Armiia):
214
The name Volunteer was used throughout the civil war period to refer to the
army organized by General Alekseev, and subsequently expanded by the other
generals, Kornilov and Anton Ivanovich Denikin. It was mainly an organization of
officers. They created the Army, set its tone, determined its ideology, and always
retained leadership in it. But the main combat force of this Army composed of
neither officers nor Russian soldiers, it was made up rather of Kuban and Don
Cossacks, and its official name became the Armed Forces of South Russia.
215
Following the Bolshevik coup ın Petersburg, at the invitation of Ataman
Kaledin
216
, the Tsar’s last Commander in Chief, General Alekseev arrived in
Novocherkassk, the capital of the Don, on 15 November 1917. By the end of
December, the other prominent names such as Kornilov, Denikin, Markov,
Romanovskiy, and Lukomskiy who had been imprisoned at Bykov for their
participation in the Kornilov affair
217
managed to escape from their confinement
214
For the Volunteer Army, the first hand information could be reached from General A. I. Denikin,
Ocherki Russkoi Smuty, Vol. II, pp.156-157. A shortened English version has been published in two
volumes, General A. I. Denikin, 1922. The Russian Turmoil, London: Hutchinson and co., and,
1930. The White Army, London: J. Cape and co.
215
Peter Kenez, 37, and George Brinkley, Allied Intervention in South Russia, 1917-1921. Notre
Dame, Indiana: Un. of Notre Dame Press, 297. Hereafter Allied Intervention.
216
Following the Bolshevik coup in Petrograd General Kaledin assumes control of the Don region
by issuing a declaration on 7 November. And, “taking into consideration the extraordinary
conditions of the moment and the lack of contact with the central authorities, [he]… assumes …full
executive power…The assumption of power is temporary and will last only until the Provisional
Government and order in Russia are restabilised.” For the text of the Declaration see, James Bunyan
and H. H. Fisher, 404.
217
After the February Revolution, uncontrollable strikes and street demonstrations, so-called ‘July
Days’ had created a crisis and the resignation of most of the Kadets caused the collapse of
Provisional Government. As a result, Alexander F. Kerensky, the only member of the Petrograd
soviet in the government as a war minister replaced Prime Minister G. Lvov. But the position that
Kerensky stood related the war isolated him from all the Soviet Parties and the population in
general. He insisted on fighting to victory, thus he had to turn to the army. At that point he made his
mistake and in order to restore the discipline in the army, he appointed General Kornilov to the post
82
and arrived at Novocherkassk. These Tsarist generals get together with the
intention of using the south eastern region as a base for gathering the remaining
loyal elements to organize a coherent military power or an army. As Denikin
himself pointed out, the first goal of the Volunteer Army was to stand against an
armed invasion of Southern Russia by the Germans or Bolsheviks.
218
Then the
ultimate objective, in compliance with the basic dictum of ‘Russia One and
Indivisible’, was the restoration of a ‘Free Great Russia’.
This had caused serious apprehensions among the Bolsheviks, and the
Sovnarkom
219
declared war on the Cossack chiefs. Trotsky then ordered an
offensive against the Cossacks.
220
Thus, Bolshevik forces attacked in December
1917 and occupied Novocherkassk and the whole Don by February 1918. As a
result, the generals and the Volunteer Army started to move southwards, towards
the Alliance’s territory. Consequently, the two rival groups clashed i. e. Bolsheviks
and the Volunteers, in the North Caucasian territory and put the Mountaineers in a
disturbing position.
By the early months of 1918, following the December 1917 declaration by
the Mountaineers, the power configuration of the region changed severely. The
Mountaineers started to loose their possible partners in the region one by one.
of Commander in Chief. This was resulted with a ‘Kornilov Affair’. By the support of the Kadets
and other royalists Kornilov moved towards Petrograd. Bolsheviks, despite the leadership cadre
were being arrested or forced to leave the country, were utilized July Days in a best manner. They
opposed Kornilov and took the lead in organizing the struggle against Kornilov. They organised a
Red Guard amongst the workers; set up a Military Revolutionary Committee, secured the release of
the Bolsheviks imprisoned in July. At the end Kornilov was arrested and the Bolsheviks gained
more reputation among the soldiers and workers. See Richard Pipes, 1997. The Russian Revolution,
1899-1919, London: Harvill Press, 426-431.
218
Denikin, Ocherki, 198-199.
219
Council of People’s Commissariats, which was the highest non-party official body.
Dostları ilə paylaş: |