The White movement in Transbaikal was a period of the confrontation between the Soviets and the Whites over dominance in Transbaikal from December 1917 to November 1920.
The White movement in Transbaikal was a period of the confrontation between the Soviets and the Whites over dominance in Transbaikal from December 1917 to November 1920.
The first regular military formation of the Whites was the Special Manchurian Detachment (SMD) made up of 9 officers, 35 Cossacks and 40 Buryats on December 12, 1917, by Grigory Semyonov. By August, 1918 the SMD had a considerable force and its strength grew because of the Japanese military assistance. The Japanese were interested in gaining Transbaikal and its resources and especially they supported Grigory Semyonov as a result of confrontation with British-supported Admiral Kolchak.
The Special Manchurian Detachment and the Japanese Expeditionary Corps launched the first massive offensive in order to conquer Chita in the spring of 1918 but were repelled. Finally, Chita was taken on 25 August 1918. It was the beginning of the Siberian Intervention of the Japanese and Chita became the headquarters of the Japanese 5th Division for more than two years.
The first action of the newly formed White government was to "encourage" Baikal Cossacks to join the White Army of Grigory Semyonov. Baikal Cossacks were drafted in the newly formed military formations among them even the Jewish regiment was created in order to raise all possible resources. All in all, Ataman Semyonov managed to make up 20,000 strong army as of May 1920.
After taking Chita and expelling the Soviets in the summer of 1918, the future Ataman Semyonov and his advisers started forming new governmental institutions. On August 25, 1918, the Provisional Oblast Government was initiated in Chita by the former members of the Chita Town Duma, the Transbaikalian Oblast Zemstvo, and the Chita Uezd Board. The Provisional Oblast Government included many Jews of various political affiliations.
The Government announced itself under jurisdiction of the Provisional Siberian Government located in Omsk and immediately annulled all Soviet acts related to confiscations.
On September 14, 1918, Grigory Semyonov arrived at Chita and together with the Japanese he started his rising to autocracy. He became the Commander-in-Chief of the Separate Eastern Siberian Army, pronounced the Ataman of the Baikal Cossacks, and finally on July 9, 1919, Admiral Kolchak's Government appointed him as the Head of all Governmental Institutions of Transbaikal.
Although he became an autocratic ruler of Transbaikalia, Ataman Semyonov kept all representative bodies such as Oblast and Uezd Assemblies and Boards, Town Dumas, and trade unions. In addition, Ataman Semyonov let political activities of various parties even the Bolsheviks if they didn't attempt to break current laws.
From the first months of his rule over Transbaikal, Grigory Semyonov had chosen terror as an oppressive means against the displeased. It didn't bring expected results but the start of the massive resistance partisan movement. Ataman Semyonov tried to be more liberal to different social strata but it was impossible to pacify all conflicting groups.
Together with the Japanese he launched a series of military operations against the partisan resistance movements of Baikal Cossacks and local peasants. One of the notable operations against the partisans was the Battle of Bogdat in the autumn of 1919 in which Grigory Semyonov was close to put an end to the Eastern Transbaikalian Front. The actions of the Japanese and Semyonov's troops were brutal to the partisans and locals. As a result, many locals joined the partisans and they became a considerable force of about 30,000 of the Amur Front. The latter had played a significant role of putting the end to Ataman Semyonov's regime in Transbaikal in the autumn of 1920.
After Admiral Kolchak's defeat, Ataman Semyonov formed the Russia Eastern Outskirts Government headed by the Member of the Constitutional Democratic Party, S. A. Taskin.
After the defeat of Admiral Kolchak's armies in the Ural and Western Siberia, the Great Siberian Ice march of the rest of Vladimir Kappel's 30,000 strong army started in January 1920 heading for Chita. General Vladimir Kappel died of deep frostbite on January 25, 1920, and his body was briefly buried in Chita. In February 1920 the Russia Eastern Outskirts Forces were formed and on April 27, 1920, as Far Eastern Army, headed by the Commander-in-Chief of all military formations of the Russia Eastern Outskirts, Ataman Grigory Semyonov.
The Army included the following units:
In addition, all Cossack units were not included into the Far Eastern Army. On August 1, 1920, the Asian Cavalry Division headed by Roman Ungern von Sternberg was re-formed into a partisan detachment but Ungern von Sternberg's troops left the front for Mongolia.
After the signing the Gongota Agreement of 1920 between the Far Eastern Republic and the Japanese Expeditionary Corps, Ataman Semyonov was left without any support. He even tried to negotiate with the Soviets and Ataman Semenyov formed the Transbaikalian People's Assembly in order to save his government but in vain. The Japanese troops left Transbaikal on October 19, 1920, and Grigory Semyonov's troops retreated from Chita on October 22. The Far Eastern Army left its supply base at Dauria railway station for Mongolia, where it was engaged into a series of confrontations with the Reds and Chinese troops. Then the Army moved to Manchuria and fought in the Russian Far East until November 1922, when it was finally evacuated to China. Most of refugees settled down near Hailar.
The Far Eastern Republic, officially The Far Eastern Soviet Republic, sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally independent state that existed from April 1920 to November 1922 in the easternmost part of the Russian Far East. Although theoretically independent, it largely came under the control of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), which envisaged it as a buffer state between the RSFSR and the territories occupied by Japan during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. Its first president was Alexander Krasnoshchyokov.
Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov, or Semenov, was a Japanese-supported leader of the White movement in Transbaikal and beyond from December 1917 to November 1920, a lieutenant general, and the ataman of Baikal Cossacks (1919).
Baikal Cossacks were Cossacks of the Transbaikal Cossack Host ; a Cossack host formed in 1851 in the areas beyond Lake Baikal.
The White Army or White Armies, also known as the White Guard, Whites, or White Guardsmen, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and anti-Soviet governments during the Civil War in Russia. They fought against the Red Army of the Bolsheviks.
The Siberian intervention or Siberian expedition of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers, Japan, and China to support White Russian forces and the Czechoslovak Legion against Soviet Russia and its allies during the Russian Civil War. The Imperial Japanese Army continued to occupy Siberia even after other Allied forces withdrew in 1920.
The Great Siberian Ice March was the name given to the 2000-kilometer winter retreat of Admiral Kolchak's Siberian Army from Omsk to Chita, in the course of the Russian Civil War between 14 November 1919 and March 1920.
The Provisional Priamurye Government existed in the Far East Russian region of Priamurye, Russia, between May 27, 1921 and June 16, 1923. It was the last Russian State enclave during the Russian Civil War.
Vladimir Alexandrovich Kislitsin was an officer in the Imperial Russian Army and later commanding officer of the pro-monarchist White Army in the later stages of the Russian Civil War.
Yakov Nikolaevich Korotayev was a Soviet partisan in Transbaikal during the Russian Civil War.
The Amur Front of the Far Eastern Republic was a front of the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic during the Russian Civil War in Transbaikal.
Grigory Afanasyevich Verzhbitsky was one of the leaders of the White movement in Transbaikal and Primoriye during the Russian Civil War, Lieutenant-General (1918).
Georgy Evgenievich Matsievsky was a Baikal Cossack, active participant of the White movement in Transbaikal, Lieutenant-General (1919).
Borys Rostislavovich Khreschatytsky was a general of the Russian Empire. He commanded the Ukrainian troops in the Far East (1918–1924).
The Eastern Okraina was a local government that existed in the eastern part of Russia during the Russian Civil War.
Regional government of Primorye Zemstvo was a local government that existed in the eastern part of Russia during the Russian Civil War between 31 January 1920 and 28 October 1920.
The 5th Pri-Amur Corps was a formation of the Siberian Army, part of the anti-Bolshevik White movement during the Russian Civil War. It primarily operated in the Transbaikal region and was headquartered in the city of Chita. The 5th Corps was formed from the Transbaikal Cossacks and various other volunteer forces fighting under Ataman (chief) Grigory Semyonov, as part of his Special Manchurian Unit.
The Chita Operations were a series of military engagements fought in the Russian Civil War. On 10 April 1920, the army of the Far Eastern Republic (FER) launched the first operation, aiming at destroying the White Movement's Chita holdup in east Transbaikal which prevented it from connecting with its allies in Primorsky Krai. The first operation ended three days later, a second offensive likewise failed to achieve its final objectives. Fighting continued, however neither side could boast significant territorial gains. On 15 July, the FER signed the Gongota Agreement of 1920 with Japan, the latter's withdrawal from Transbaikal severely weakened the Whites. The FER army was restructured and reinforced by its new commander Genrich Eiche, while morale under Grigory Semyonov's White units plummeted. On 1 October, Eiche launched the final Chita operation, by the end of the month the area of the Chita holdup had been subjugated.
Ivan Pavlovich Kalmykov, was an Ataman of the Ussuri Cossacks and General associated with the Anti-Bolshevik White Movement during the Russian Civil War.
Sergey Afanasyevich Taskin was a Russian political figure of the first quarter of the 20th century, a constitutional democrat. Member of the White movement. Transbaikalian Cossack.
The Far Eastern Army was a military formation of Cossack and White rebel units in the Far East, formed by the former ataman of the Trans–Baikal Cossack Army, Lieutenant General Grigory Semyonov from three corps of the Eastern Front, under whose command it took an active participation in battles with the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic and red partisans in Transbaikalia from April to October 1920, creating the so–called "Chita Plug". Reached its maximum number in the fall of 1920 – 29 thousand people. In November 1920, the Far Eastern Army relocated to Primorye, where it continued to fight until November 1922.