People of Russia

Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich (04 (16) .11.1874 – 07.02.1920), one of the leaders of the Russian counter-revolution, admiral (1917).

Born in a family of marine artillery officer. He graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps (1894). During the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-05 commanded a destroyer and a battery in Port Arthur. Member of the polar expeditions of 1900-03 and 1908-11 (hydrologist).

In 1906-09 and 1911-14 he served at the Navy General Staff. Participated in the 1 st World War in 1914-18 as Chief of Operations Division of the Baltic Fleet, Commander Mine Division and from July 1916 – Commander of the Black Sea Fleet. After the February Revolution of 1917 took a sharp counter-revolutionary position and under pressure Sailors mass was withdrawn by the Provisional Government in Petrograd. He was sent on a mission to the UK and the USA. In October 1918 a British General A. Knox arrived in Omsk and November 4, was appointed military and naval minister "of the Siberian Government." November 18, 1918 with the support of the Cadets, the White Guard officers and intervention has revolutionized and established a military dictatorship, taking the title of "supreme ruler of the Russian state" and the title of commander in chief (until January 4. 1920).

After the defeat of the White Guard forces escaped from Siberia in Irkutsk, where the Dec. 27, 1919 was taken under the protection of the Czechoslovak troops. January 15, 1920 at the request of the insurgent workers issued by the SR-Menshevik Polittsentru, and then handed over to the Bolshevik Revolutionary Committee. After the investigation or trial by the verdict of the Revolutionary Committee of shot.

Kolchak, the White regime established by AV Kolchak in Siberia, the Urals and the Far East during the Civil War, 1918-20, and represented the dictatorship of the bourgeois-landlord counter-revolution. The coup, which led to the establishment of Kolchak, was conducted under the leadership of so-called. Siberian Cadet government, and its direct organizers were: the representative of the White general Denikin Colonel Lebedev, General Andogsky and Colonel Volkov.

The coup was carried out with the active support of the Allied commanders in Siberia – French General Janin M., U.S. General William Grevs, American admiral O. Knight, British Generals Knox and A. Ward, and British troops.

On the night of November 18, 1918 in Omsk arrested members eseromenshevistekoy Ufa directory, and in the morning, the Council of Ministers of the directory handed all power to Kolchak, giving it the title of "supreme ruler". Kolchak was appointed supreme commander of all the White Guard forces in Russia. At the direction of the Entente number of other counter-revolutionary governments and chieftains of Cossack troops recognized Kolchak head of internal counter-revolution in Russia.

The main base of Kolchak was Siberia. Ural, Orenburg Province and the Urals region is the front and front-line zones. Far East was only nominally under the authority of Kolchak, but in fact it was ruled by American and Japanese invaders. In January 1919 an agreement was signed on joining the High Representative of the inter-Allied command of General Janin of the duties of Chief of the armies of the allied states in Eastern Russia and Western Siberia. Kolchak as chief White Guard armies was obliged to all operational actions with Janin.

At the same time Knox was appointed head of logistics and supply Kolchak's armies. By the spring of 1919 Kolchak has created an army of 400 thousand people. (Including approx. 30 thousand officers), putting on a front 130-140 thousand infantry and cavalry. The U.S. government has handed over Kolchak loans earmarked earlier bourgeois Provisional Government, and granted in respect of these loans of 600 thousand rifles, Great Britain gave 200 thousand sets of uniforms, France – 30 aircraft, over 200 cars. Kolchak it the gold reserves of Russia, captured the summer of 1918 the command of the Czechoslovak Corps in Kazan in the amount of 651.5 million rubles. gold and 100 million banknotes. For the supply of arms and other materials in 1919, Britain was given 2,883 pounds of gold, Japan – 2672, USA – 2118, France – 1225, and all – over 9200 pounds of gold.

Kolchak actively supported the Urals and Siberian bourgeoisie, the Cossack elite, the kulaks and the urban petty bourgeoisie, the Bashkir and Buryat bourgeois nationalists and feudal lords and capitalists, landowners, officials and officers who had escaped from Central Russia to Siberia.

At the beginning of Kolchak Siberian peasants, dissatisfied with the food policy (requisitioning) of Soviet power, neutrality. Kolchak found all the foreign debts of Russia (St. 12 billion rubles.) Returned to the capitalists and the factories were heavily subsidized them, handing out concessions to foreign capitalists, almost everywhere broken up trade unions, persecuted Communists, revolutionary workers and peasants, abolished the Soviets.

Agricultural policy Kolchak was aimed at restoring private ownership and the strengthening of the kulaks. In the Declaration on the ground (April 1919), destined for the whole of Russia, taken from the villagers and holdings of land subject to the return of their owners. The National Policy was held under the slogan "united and indivisible Russia." At the head of administration were mainly Cadets and monarchists. Besides the Council of Ministers Council was established supreme ruler (Vologda, Pepeliaev, Michael, bitch, Lebedev). At the head of the provinces were placed governors, restored the old king's laws. The revolutionary speech was brutally suppressed: only in the province of Yekaterinburg were shot more than 25 thousand people.

The working class of Siberia, despite their small numbers, was a leading force in the fight against Kolchak. RCP (b) provided assistance through the Siberian Communists special Siberian offices. The underground party organizations led a number of uprisings: in December 1918 in Omsk, Kansk, in January-April 1919 in Bodaibo, Yeniseysk, Kolchugino, Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk.

In November 1918 in Tomsk, Siberia was established Regional Committee of the RCP (B.) (A. Neybut, M. Rabinowitz, etc.). The peasantry initially refused to carry out duties and taxes, was not called by the army of Kolchak, and then turned to guerrilla warfare, which by mid-1919 covered a large part of the Altai, Tomsk, Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces. Have a large partisan association (IV Gromov, EM Mamontov, etc.).

In September 1919 he was elected the Board of the West Siberian Regional Council under the chairmanship of PK Golikov, in September – October are 12 regiments of the guerrilla army in Western Siberia (in December to 25 thousand people)..

Defeats at the front of the summer and fall of 1919 and the rise of the revolutionary guerrilla movement in the rear led to the crisis Kolchak. Army's fighting capacity has fallen sharply, the Czechoslovak Corps under the influence of revolutionary propaganda and defeats already in late 1918 and refused to fight against the Red Army and began to demand a shipment from Russia. By the autumn of 1919 the Allied countries (except USA) drastically reduced the supply Kolchak military material.

November 14, 1919, Soviet troops liberated the Omsk. 27 December on the orders of the Supreme Council of the Entente Kolchak was placed under international protection. January 4, 1920 Kolchak issued a decree on the transfer of rights "supreme ruler" Denikin. Jan. 15 at the request of the insurgent workers Irkutsk Czechs gave Kolchak formed in the Irkutsk Polittsentru, who undertook to extradite him and send the gold reserves to the Soviet command. February 7, 1920 Kolchak the sentence Revcom was shot. The remnants of Kolchak's troops left in Transbaikalia.

Lit.: History of the Civil War in the USSR,
v. 4, Moscow, 1959; interrogation Kolchak, M. – L., 1925; The Last Days of Kolchak. Sat documents, M. – L., 1926, Papin, LM, collapse of Kolchak and the formation of the Far Eastern Republic, Moscow, 1957; Spirin LM, rout the army of Kolchak, Moscow, 1957; his own. Class and Party in the Civil War in Russia (1917 – 1920 years.), Moscow, 1968.