In addition to the "Reds" and "Whites", the "Greens" also took part in the Civil War in Russia. Historians have mixed opinions about this category of those who fought, some consider them bandits, while others speak of them as defenders of their lands and freedom.
According to the historian Ruslan Gagkuev, the Civil War in Russia led to the destruction of the foundations that had developed over the centuries, as a result of which there were no losers in those battles, only those who were destroyed. The inhabitants of the villages tried to protect their lands as much as possible. This was the reason for the appearance in 1917 of rebel groups, which were called "green".
These groups of people formed armed formations and hid in the forests, trying to avoid mobilization.
There is another version of the origin of the name of these units. According to General A. Denikin, these insurgent detachments got their name after Zeleny, one of the atamans from the Poltava province, who fought with both the Whites and the Reds.
Members of the green detachments did not wear a uniform, their clothes consisted of ordinary peasant shirts and trousers, and on their heads they put on woolen caps or sheepskin caps with a green cross sewn on them. Their flag was also green.
It should be noted that rural population distinguished by good fighting skills even before the war and were always ready to fend for themselves with pitchforks and axes. Even before the revolution, the newspapers now and then appeared articles about the widespread clashes between the villages.
When did the first World War a large number of villagers who took part in hostilities took rifles with them from the front, and some even machine guns. It was dangerous for strangers to enter such villages.
Even army troops had to ask village elders for permission to pass through such settlements. Not always the decision of the elders was positive. In 1919, the influence of the Red Army became stronger, and many peasants hid in the forests, hiding from the mobilization.
One of the most famous representatives of the "greens" was Nestor Makhno, who made a kind of career from a political prisoner to the commander of the green army, which included 55 thousand people. Makhno fought on the side of the Red Army, and for the capture of Mariupol he received the Order of the Red Banner.
However, the main activity of the greens from the detachment of Nestor Makhno was the robbery of wealthy people and landowners. At the same time, neither the Makhnovists often killed prisoners.
In the early years of the Civil War, the Greens remained neutral, then fought on the side of the Red Army, but after 1920 they began to oppose everyone.
Another one of prominent representatives The Green Army was A. Antonov, who was also a member of the Left Social Revolutionaries, known as the leader of the Tambov Uprising of 1921-22. All members of his detachment were “comrades”, and they carried out their activities under the slogan “For Justice”. At the same time, not all participants in the green movement were confident in their victory, which can be confirmed in the rebel songs.
One of the largest social and political movements in modern world, uniting in its ranks various socio-political groups and organizations that oppose environmental pollution, the harmful effects of atomic, chemical, biological and other types of industrial production, for the creation of a democratic society, for the reduction of military budgets, the size of armies, for detente of international tension. The movement was started by small groups performing in countries Western Europe in the 60s. on specific environmental issues. In the 70-80s. Green parties were created and began to actively operate in almost all Western European countries, including Austria, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark, as well as in Canada, Japan, New Zealand.
The policy provisions of the Greens include a wide range of issues. These include requirements for the protection of nature and the human environment in the conditions of a modern industrial society; social provisions that criticize capitalist ownership of the means of production, suggesting the elimination of large economic structures and development of small and medium production; measures for full employment and the participation of workers in the management of plants and factories; calls for the democratization of the state, the establishment of various forms of direct democracy, primarily in the form of various "civil initiatives"; demands for the defense of peace, the affirmation of the principles of peaceful coexistence, the complete destruction of atomic, chemical and bacteriological weapons, the renunciation of the use of outer space for military purposes, the dissolution of military blocs, the free development of all peoples. The "green" movement objectively reflects the growing desire for change in broad sections of the population, the search for an alternative.
Movement in different countries has its own characteristics. Thus, the program of the Environmental Protection Party (Sweden) is based on four principles of solidarity. The first is solidarity with nature. You can’t take more from her than she can then recover. It is necessary to fight for the creation of environmentally friendly production. The second principle is solidarity with future generations: we must leave the Earth to our children and grandchildren in such a state that they can live no worse than we do. The third principle is solidarity with third world countries, providing them with the necessary support in the fight against hunger, infectious and other diseases, etc. The fourth principle is helping those who are in difficulty, who are poor, the formation of strong social programs, the fight against bureaucratization and centralization authorities.
What tactics of action do the “greens” propose? It is based on a number of general provisions based on the principle of non-violence. Neither revolution nor reforms are suitable for achieving the goals of the Greens. So what in that case? “Replacement, gradual displacement,” the leaders of this movement answer. At the same time, a “double strategy” should be implemented - to act not only within the parliament, other government agencies, but first and foremost - outside of them.
According to the “greens”, it is necessary to expand the “front of refusal” of the population from products and industries that are especially dangerous to human health and the environment, destroying valuable raw materials, to carry out work to disseminate alternative projects, using all the possibilities of the “green” party to support them.
"Greens" point to the need for industrial and trade union struggle of workers. They believe that such a struggle should be aimed primarily at reducing working hours, creating human working conditions and a possible change in income policy. Moreover, parliamentary activity must be coordinated and coordinated with the "basic movements", that is, with the actions of the masses. Demonstrations, sit-ins, pickets, distribution of leaflets, theatrical performances with political overtones, including concerts of rock bands - all this is taken by the "greens" into service. The combination of various forms of struggle testifies to their flexible adaptability to the most diverse conditions.
Recently, the Blues have emerged from the Green movement. If the former are primarily concerned with the salvation of nature, then the latter are concerned with the salvation of man's spirituality. The main activities of the Blue Movement are the practical solution of humanitarian-educational, spiritual-educational and initiative-organizational tasks. The movement originated in Russia, but is addressed to all the people of the Earth, because spiritual crisis the whole civilization is experiencing. In Russia, the Blues are represented by the public organization For social ecology person." As part of its programs, youth clubs are being created “ Blue bird”, where young men and women join the beautiful, learn the history and traditions of their peoples, develop a new, humanitarian entrepreneurship - a type of business that combines commercial interest and attention to man and nature, clubs of the Blue Movement are formed - the humanitarian protection of man, an all-Union program is being implemented "Lyceum", the English Club in Moscow is being revived, etc. In 1990, the Blue Confederation was created - an alliance of forces concerned about the spiritual and moral situation of a person. It includes more than a hundred different cultural, educational, scientific, and business organizations that are ready to work together to solve specific problems of human humanitarian protection.
The social base of the "green" movement is made up of young people, intellectuals, various sections of workers and entrepreneurs, progressive army circles, and religious figures. It acquired the greatest scope in Germany, where in January 1980 it took shape in the Green Party, which has authority in the general public. In the parliamentary elections of 1987, the Green Party received more than 3 million votes, its faction in the Bundestag (German parliament) has 42 deputies. In 1984, representatives of the parties of 9 countries created the “Coordinating Committee of the Greens in Europe”. Considering parliamentary activity to be complementary to the mass democratic movement, the "greens" entered the parliaments of Belgium, Portugal, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1989, 24 representatives of various European environmental parties formed a joint faction in the European Parliament to pursue a common policy in it. In the 1989 European Parliament elections, the Greens won 38 seats.
Young people are actively involved in the Green movement. She is attracted by the progressive anti-war and environmental programs of this movement, calls for a society without exploitation and violence. Young people are also attracted by the focus of a number of Green parties and organizations on specific positive deeds, the rejection of the traditional orientation of bourgeois society towards the well-known triad “work - career - consumption”, orientation towards such values as mutual assistance, rejection of consumerism, promotion of spiritual values (less money , less stress, more humanity, more time for self-education), the search for harmony between nature and man, support for the disadvantaged. Young people are of some interest in the concept of life in harmony with nature put forward by some ideologists of the "green" in small ecologically clean agricultural communities that exist without damaging flora and fauna, switching to renewable energy sources, taking care of the natural renewal of biological resources.
Among the "greens" there are supporters of the so-called ecological socialism, which is understood as a kind of democratic decentralized society with extremely limited consumption of resources, waste-free technology, consisting of rural communes, environmentally friendly cities. From a social point of view, this is a utopian society, but there are rational grains in the idea of "ecological socialism". This is a protest against environmental pollution as a result of the unreasonable development of science and technology, calls for the creation of democratic, environmentally friendly societies.
The movement of the "greens" is gaining a wide scope in the CIS and countries of Eastern Europe. Thus, the Ecological Union and the Ecological Fund have been created in Russia, numerous societies are active, actively fighting to resolve acute problems. environmental issues. The speeches against the construction of the Volga-Don-2 and Volga-Chogray canals were widely known, since the implementation of these plans could lead to the death of the Caspian Sea; for the ecological safety of Lake Baikal, the Aral Sea, a ban on the construction of nuclear power plants in resort areas(Crimea), in those areas where earthquakes and soil movements are possible. In fact, the movement to assist in the elimination of the consequences of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has become nationwide. Thanks to the daily telethon held on April 26, 1990, the fourth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, voluntary donations were collected to eliminate its consequences in the amount of more than 50 million rubles. Almost every state has its own environmental movements. In the future, it is possible to transform some environmental movements into political parties. The number of joint actions of "green" different countries is increasing. These include actions such as "Caravan without shores", telethons, international peace marches, etc.
The international environmental organization Greenpeace (Green World) has gained worldwide fame. Today it has more than 30 branches in 18 countries, 2 million members and many millions of supporters. Greenpeace is headquartered in Amsterdam. Greenpeace deals with the following issues: ocean ecology, the state of the atmosphere and energy, toxic chemicals, and disarmament. Representatives of this organization have electronic and satellite communications, which enables them to quickly respond to cases of environmental disasters or disasters. The contribution of Greenpeace to the development of the anti-nuclear movement in the Pacific region and to the formation of modern environmental thinking is widely known.
The youth of many countries of the world support this progressive organization. A number of well-known musicians and composers speak in its defense and promote its ideas. At the initiative of Greenpeace, an album of records was prepared on an international basis: in Eastern Europe it was released under the name "Breakthrough", and in the West - "Rainbow Warriors". The album helped promote the ideas of this organization in those regions of the world where there are no branches yet.
Broad circles of the international community are increasingly aware of the need to unite the efforts of all people good will in defense of the existence of civilization. This requires cooperation on a global scale: both at the interstate level and at the level of mass movements in the struggle to preserve peace, life, and nature on our planet. Young people, who make up more than half of the world's population, are called upon to play a special role in this movement.
The civil war in Russia was a tragedy for the entire population of the country. The confrontation embraced all segments of the population, entered every home. The Kuban was no exception, where the confrontation involved the Cossack and nonresident population. The first battles took place in early January 1918 near the city of Ekaterinodar and ended in the defeat of the Bolsheviks. January 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of this tragedy.
I do not pretend to consider in detail all aspects related to those distant events, but I will try to consider the preparedness of the military units of the warring parties on initial stage confrontation. It should be noted that in this period of time, the confrontation embraced the masses of soldiers, who stood mainly on the side of the Bolsheviks, and the Cossack formations, who tried to resist the aspirations of the Bolshevik leaders. The Kuban Cossacks did not yet understand the threats that arose before them as one of the classes to be eliminated, and tried to defend their traditional rights. Unfortunately, this came at a high price.
The Black Sea region was the first to come under the rule of the Bolsheviks. In this regard, the Kuban Regional Food Committee refused to send trains with grain to Novorossiysk, which served to strengthen anti-Cossack sentiment, although the committee was not Cossack in composition.
The Bolsheviks, guided by the decisions worked out at the first conference of party organizations of the Kuban and the Black Sea, held on November 25-26, 1917 in Novorossiysk, focused on the formation of Red Guard detachments and intensification of work in military units returning from the front. Bolshevik leader A.A. Yakovlev offered to go to Trebizond for troops in order to immediately move to the Kuban. This decision was unanimously adopted.
At the end of December 1917, meetings of military workers were held in the villages of Krymskaya and Primorsko-Akhtarskaya. They make decisions on the transition to an active struggle against the regional government. By the end of 1917, the power of the Kuban government extended only to Yekaterinodar and the villages closest to it.
The events of 1917-1918 showed the inability of the democratic forces of the region to resolve economic and political issues peacefully. Passions boiled around the issue of land, but it was resolved only in favor of the Cossack part of the population, which meant attempts to establish a dictatorship. Land lease speculation deepened the split in society. The intensity of political passions led to the fact that most political parties and movements saw the possibility of their existence only in support on an armed basis. The process of militarization of parties began. From local clashes, the parties moved on to a large-scale civil war.
On January 12, 1918, in the village of Krymskaya, the Bolsheviks made a decision to storm Yekaterinodar. Their forces, according to the ataman Vyacheslav Naumenko, amounted to 4,000 people. The regional government could oppose them with about 600 fighters with four guns.
The opposing side did not sit idly by. I will give an assessment of the historian D.E. Skobtseva: “N.M., a member of the government for military affairs, finally arrived from the Caucasian front. Uspensky and began to put together parts of the Kuban volunteers. In a hurry, he passed through the Government Council the regulation on service in the Kuban volunteer detachments. A decent allowance was determined for the volunteers, the military regulations were adjusted, the regulations on rank-keeping, discipline, revolutionary field courts, etc. were revised.
The phase of active formation of the first units began. The author mentioned above noted: “By the end of Christmas time, there were already several Kuban volunteer detachments that took the name of their chiefs: military foreman Golaev, Colonel Demenik and others. At the same time, the initiative and popularity of the bosses were of great importance.
At the end of January 1918, near Enem and Georgi-Afipskaya, the struggle took on a large-scale character. Skobtsev noted: “... three directions of the Bolshevik offensive on Yekaterinodar were determined: Caucasian, Tikhoretsk and Novorossiysk - along the main railway lines. At first, Novorossiysk turned out to be the most stormy - led by the "Minister of War of the Novorossiysk Republic", Ensign Seradze. The battle began at the very approach to Yekaterinodar, at the Enem junction. Seradze was opposed by Galaev and Pokrovsky.
In the very first battle near the Enem station, the Bolsheviks suffered a serious defeat. During the battle, the military foreman P.A. Galaev shot the commander of the Red Guard Junker Alexander Yakovlev and was immediately killed himself. An interesting fact is that during the First World War, Yakovlev served as a supplier of uniforms for the needs of the army and was not a professional commander. During one of the trips near the city of Molodechko, a grenade flew into the window of the car where he was, the cadet was wounded, after which he underwent treatment on the Black Sea coast. After the events of 1917, he was sent by the Bolsheviks to Novorossiysk.
The second fight was also not successful. The Left Socialist-Revolutionary ensign Seradze, appointed to replace Yakovlev, was captured and died from his wounds in a military hospital.
In Novorossiysk, several armored trains were prepared for an attack on the capital of the Kuban. The number of Red Army soldiers, according to Soviet and émigré specialists, was about 4,000 people. Supporters of the regional government threw no more than 600 Cossacks against this group. Cossack cavalry and several guns were thrown against the armored trains.
The result of this operation is impressive. The Red Guard on armored trains with artillery was defeated, and most of its members fled: “The Bolsheviks fled, leaving numerous trophies on the battlefield and their commander-in-chief Seridze, mortally wounded. Here, in a battle near the Enem junction, a girl, ensign Barkhash, died. Pokrovsky was given a triumph like the Caesars.
Thus, it turned out that the Cossacks were more prepared for the conduct of hostilities, and the motive for defending their land among the Cossacks was much higher. In addition, the level of command training among the leaders of the Bolsheviks was highly questionable.
The population of Kuban reacted negatively to the performance of the Bolsheviks. The gathering of the inhabitants of the village of Pashkovskaya condemned this action. The Cossacks of the villages of Voronezhskaya, Platnirovskaya, Novotitarovskaya and others spoke out in support of the regional government. The villagers of Kushchevskaya refused to submit to the authority of the Soviets.
The first attempt by Bolshevik supporters to seize power in the Kuban capital failed. Started new stage escalation civil war. To replenish supplies, the Novorossiysk executive committee continued to disarm parts of the Caucasian front that were moving through the city.
An attempt to agitate among seven thousand soldiers in the capital of the Black Sea province about a second speech led to a split in their ranks. The soldiers of the 22nd Varnavinsky Regiment and the 41st Artillery Battalion agreed to participate in the fight against the regional government. The sailors of the Black Sea Fleet played an active role. At the request of the Novorossiysk Bolshevik Committee, a detachment of F.M. Karnau-Grushevsky.
The Kuban-Black Sea Military Revolutionary Committee received weapons from the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Caucasian Army, the Central Executive Committee of the Navy from Kerch, Sevastopol, and Odessa. Contact was established with Armavir and Tikhoretskaya to form a new front against Yekaterinodar.
The base of armed resources for a new assault on the Kuban capital was created. Moreover, support was provided in all directions. Supporters of the Cossacks did not have such a broad base, the industrial regions of Russia were under the control of the Bolsheviks. There were no ammunition, small arms, cartridges, military equipment and ammunition.
On the one hand, we see excellent command cadres among the opponents of the Bolsheviks, and on the other, the lack of material support for hostilities.
The situation among the supporters of the Bolsheviks was absolutely opposite. And time was not long in coming, the next stage of the armed confrontation began, which ended in the spring of 1918 with the defeat of the anti-Bolshevik coalition in the Kuban. The process of accumulation of forces began again, which grew into a confrontation in the summer of 1918, when the Volunteer Army, together with parts of the Kuban Cossacks, took full control of the territory of the former Kuban region.
"White-green" 20s
Most of the Kuban, tired of the war, supported the Bolsheviks in the spring of 1920. The peasants and workers joyfully greeted the Red Army, and the Cossacks maintained a benevolent neutrality. Pilyuk and Savitsky, the leaders of the "Green Army" who rebelled against Denikin, hoped for the moderation of the Bolsheviks, the agreement of the socialist parties, the granting of autonomy to the Cossack regions. It seemed to them that the Bolsheviks would not introduce the system of war communism in the Kuban. A peculiar situation arose in the Sochi and Tuapse districts, where the Committee for the Liberation of the Black Sea, headed by the Social Revolutionary Voronovich, created the Black Sea Peasant Republic, fighting against both the Volunteer and the Red Army.
In the spring of 1920, only a few continued to fight against the Bolsheviks. But by May 1920, the introduction of labor duties and surplus appropriations, the redistribution of Cossack lands and lawless reprisals, the ban on the participation of kulaks in elections heated up the atmosphere. At the end of April, the 14th Cavalry Division of the 1st Cavalry Army, formed mainly from former whites, revolted. Knowing about the direction against Wrangel, the division raised a riot in the village of Umanskaya with the call "Down with the war, down with the commune!" Near the village of Kushchevskaya, the rebels, led by Colonel Sukhenko, were defeated and dispersed.
The anti-Bolshevik movement was wide range forces. Agents of foreign states and criminals acted, a protracted war demoralized many and devalued life. But it is wrong to neglect the heterogeneity and complex alignment of the forces of the rebels. The reason for reflection gives the opinion of the political worker of the 1st Cavalry Army Stroilo: "Pure banditry is a property of very few small detachments that have nothing to do with large political organizations."
The social composition of the “white-greens” was complex. Usually, officers or Cossacks were at the head of the detachments, there were many former soldiers of the Volunteer Army, refugees from Central Russia. During the capture of the villages, all Cossacks of military age were subjected to mobilization. Relations between the White-Green groups are contradictory, they were united by hatred of the Soviet regime.
An accurate assessment of the number of insurgents, their deployment and equipment is difficult. A special department of the Caucasian Front believed that the number of large detachments of the "white-green" in June-July 6, 1920 increased in the south from 5,400 to 13,100 people in 36 detachments with 50 machine guns and 12 guns. The historian Stepanenko summarized the data, according to which in August 1920 the counter-revolutionary forces in the Don, Kuban and Terek reached 30,000 people. Military operations had a seasonal rhythm, fading during the sowing and harvest seasons, flaring up in autumn and in early spring. The next peak of speeches falls on February-March 1921, a period of exacerbation of the food crisis and a turning point in the policy of the RCP (b).
The main centers of the insurgent movement were the Trans-Kuban region (deployment of the Russian Renaissance Army), the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov (Wrangel landings), and the Sochi District.
In mid-April 1920, General Fostikov began to create a plastun regiment and a cavalry brigade near Maikop. In July, a spontaneous revolt, caused by surplus appropriation and the seizure of ¾ of hay stocks, swept the villages of the Labinsk department. On July 18, Colonel Shevtsov, with a detachment of 600 sabers, captured the village of Prochnookopskaya and announced the mobilization of the Cossacks. General Forces The "white-green" Labinsk, Batalpashinsky and Maikop departments reached 11,400 people in mid-July with 55 machine guns and 6 guns.
On July 23, the military foreman Aprons restored ataman rule in the mountainous strip of the Maikop department.
Growing rebellions forced to ask for military assistance. On August 1, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the Cheka received a telegram from the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee: “The entire Kuban is engulfed in uprisings. Detachments are operating, led by a single hand - the Wrangel agents. Green squads grow and expand significantly with the end of the hot season of field work - around August 15th. If Wrangel is not liquidated within a short time, we risk temporarily losing the North Caucasus.”
The authorities have taken drastic measures. On July 29, 1920, Order No. 1247 was issued for the troops of the Caucasian Front, signed by Trifonov and Gittis. By August 15, residents were ordered to hand over their weapons under pain of confiscation of property and execution on the spot. The same punishment was set for joining gangs, assisting the "greens" or harboring them. The rebellious villages were subject to pacification "by the most decisive and merciless measures, up to their complete ruin and destruction."
In the autumn of 1920, when the last strong centers of the White Movement were crushed - Wrangel's Crimea and Semyonov's Chita - another movement, the "green", acquired the widest scope. Rebel. Frunze in the fight against him introduced the term "small civil war". But if you look closely, it does not look so "small". The entire Tambov and part of the Voronezh provinces were engulfed in an uprising led by A. S. Antonov. On 10/19/20, Lenin wrote about "Antonovism" to Dzerzhinsky and the commander of the VOKhR troops, Kornev, "Speedy (and exemplary) liquidation is certainly necessary."
But the "fastest" did not work, the uprising spread. In southern Ukraine, the "Makhnovshchina" was blazing with might and main. In January 21, a powerful West Siberian uprising began under the leadership of the Siberian Peasant Union, which engulfed the Omsk, Tyumen, part of the Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg provinces. It was headed by the Social Revolutionary V. A. Rodin. These are only the three largest outbreaks, but there were others. Right-bank Ukraine, Crimea, Belarus were full of small detachments and gangs. The Basmachi movement continued in Turkestan. On the Don, Cossacks rebelled in the Khopersky and Ust-Medveditsky districts. There was a war in Dagestan. In the Kuban and the North Caucasus, there were detachments of generals Przhevalsky, Ukhtomsky, colonels Nazarov, Trubachev, lieutenant colonels Yudin, Krivonosov, centurions Dubina, Rendskov with a total number of up to 7 thousand people. In Karelia, the rebels united in a brigade - about 3,5 thousand. All of Armenia rebelled ...
Almost all of Russia was engaged in the fire of the peasant war. AT different time there were diametrically opposed assessments of the "green" movement. In Soviet literature, he was preferred to pass over in silence or mentioned in passing, as something insignificant. And the 21st year was usually drawn as a year of peace, the year of restoration of the ruined economy. And this restoration was complicated only by the actions of individual "kulak bands". This attitude is quite understandable. The truth turned out to be impossible to publish: after all, the "workers' and peasants'" government could not fight against the entire peasantry! And if so, then it was necessary to keep silent about the very course of the struggle - the successes of the "greens" can by no means be explained either by the support of the Entente, or by professional officer training. Although the answer to this question is simple - the "green" movement for some time held on and won precisely because of its mass character.
And the scale of hostilities in 21, neither in terms of the number of belligerents, nor in territorial coverage, was inferior to 18, 19, 20 years, or even surpassed them. Judge for yourself, on the one hand - the population of entire counties and provinces, on the other - almost the entire Red Army. True, its composition in 21 was reduced from 5 million to 800 thousand, the Soviet of Deputies simply could no longer support such a colossus. And all the same, only part of the troops was combat-ready, which they left during demobilization. In addition, given that in the war against the peasants, ordinary Red Army soldiers often showed themselves to be unreliable, the troops of the VOKhR and units of the Cheka, who had been occupied in previous years on the "internal front", as well as the command courses and detachments of the ChON (parts special purpose) "volunteer" formations created from communists and Komsomol members. The operations were led by the best military leaders. Against Antonov - Tukhachevsky, Uborevich, against Makhno - Frunze.
In the "perestroika" years, the attitude towards the "green" movement changed. It began to be regarded as a kind of "third way" of Russia's development. Moreover, the path is true, albeit unrealized. Such theories are also quite understandable and also stem from a specific political situation. Since the very foundations of socialism were not affected by the "green" movement. It acted under the slogans of "soviets without communists", and more often even allowed communists (like, say, Makhno), but on an equal footing with other parties, without diktat. The program of the "greens" was determined precisely by the "perestroika" requirements: pluralism of political opinions, a multi-party system - however, freedom of activity was usually allowed only for leftist, socialist parties. As well as the rejection of centralization, command and administrative methods of managing the economy, freedom of trade, ownership of land and the products of their labor. And it is not surprising that in the late 80s, when the "red" path of development showed its complete failure, historians and publicists began to seek compromises, including the "people's", "green" path.
If you look at it, then the "green" movement did not represent any "third way". Recall that in 1917, after the collapse of the tsarist government, the country quickly rolled into general collapse and anarchy. And for some time a real "peasant's paradise" came. The village was in a state of virtual anarchy, the hands of a weak government did not reach it, all taxes and duties were forgotten, all prohibitions were lifted. Left to themselves, the peasants did what they wanted. They divided the land, took away the landlord and state property, cut down the forest, poached. From a political point of view, everyone flirted with them, as with the largest part of the population. Economically, they found themselves in an advantageous position as food holders.
In the ensuing civil war, the white side advocated the restoration of law and order in any form characteristic of a civilized state. So, the Samara KomUch, the Ufa Directory kept a clear republican orientation. The Kolchak army, which absorbed the troops of these governments, turned out to be close to the republican forms. Kolchak, Denikin, Wrangel adhered to the principles of not prejudging the future state structure. For example, there were many republicans among the Drozdovites, and monarchists among the Markovites, but this did not prevent them from fighting shoulder to shoulder. The specific form of "order" for whites was secondary, if only to ensure human rights. The red side fought for the anomalous order invented by its leaders. The green side in their confrontation represented not the "third way", but the "zero option". That same "primary chaos" from which, sooner or later, an exit to the red or white side was inevitable. A return to the situation of 1917, to those same multi-party soviets, still without the dictates of the Bolsheviks, which led the country to collapse, and ultimately to this dictate. By the way, at the end of the struggle even Makhno began to understand this. He said, "In Russia, either a monarchy or anarchy is possible, but the latter will not last long."
AT politically multi-party councils would inevitably lead either to an empty talking shop or to the suppression of the rest by one leading party. In the economic field, the old rural communities, which became local “soviets”, had already outlived their usefulness by the beginning of the 20th century, and the path again led to a fork in the road - either to equalization and power like committees, or to the consolidation of private farms, i.e. reforms like Wrangel.
From this essence flow both strong and weak sides"green" movement. The strength, as already mentioned, was in mass character. And the mass character was provided with memories of the "peasant's paradise". And the fact that the “greens” almost never set themselves global national tasks - they fought for specific, local interests, against specific oppression and atrocities of the authorities - food requisitions, mobilization, attempts at collectivization. To fight in the "green", it was not necessary to go far from home. Well, the weakness was that, opposing centralization, the "green" movement itself turned out to be decentralized. No, he lacked the support of the population; support was almost one hundred percent. And not the help of the Entente. Help wasn't really needed. By 1920 - 1921 the peasantry accumulated a lot of weapons, up to artillery, and in the very first battles and raids this number was replenished with trophies. The rebels dressed and put on shoes at their own expense, and they were not fed on foreign canned food. So they were much better equipped than the white armies in 1918. But, despite the scope, the "green" movement remained "local", tied to their villages, volosts and counties. So, Makhno, even while controlling the entire south of Ukraine, sought to ensure that "the rear liberated by us would be covered with free workers' and peasants' formations, which have full power in themselves." Therefore, the role of personal leaders was so great. Without the same Makhno or Antonov, such "connections" of different villages or districts already turned out to be unrelated to each other. Moreover, the leader was more a banner than a leader or organizer. Makhno was talented partisan commander, but his talents found concrete expression only in the actions of a relatively small core of his "army".
From the "zero option" of the "green" movement it also follows that in the war of 1918-1920. it did not play an independent role. The rebels either harmed the rear of the side on whose territory they were, or joined with the main opposing forces, both with the whites - Izhevsk and Votkinsk, Veshensky rebels, who fought under the same slogans "soviets without communists, executions and emergency situations", and with the reds - Grigoriev, Makhno, close to the "green worldview" Mironov. We only note that a lasting alliance among such rebels was obtained only with the whites. Because the slogans of a multi-party system, the cessation of terror, free trade, etc., were fully consistent with the White Guards' restoration of normal forms of statehood. And for the Reds, any person expressing such demands was obviously an enemy and subject to destruction - immediately or later, when he was no longer needed. And only at the end of the 20th, after the defeat of the Whites, the "intermediate" "green" movement ceased to be "intermediate", and turned into the only force still opposing the Reds.
The core of the White Movement was the intelligentsia and the Cossacks. Wartime officers and "freelancers" were yesterday's students, teachers, engineers, high school students, and those were the majority. The peasantry turned out to be involved in the white armies by a relatively small part, sometimes for ideological reasons, and more often for mobilizations. In this sense, the same thing can be said about the White Movement that was often said about the Decembrists - they went "for the people, but without the people." The core of the "green" movement was the peasantry. But already without the intelligentsia, which in 1917-1919. it did not trust, and by 1920 - 1921. already broken, exterminated, emigrated. And in the rest - depressed and demoralized. As a result, the "greens" were deprived of an organizing principle. And some "single soul", which would provide them with an impulse to a common goal. Strange as it may sound, the “greens” lacked intellectual selflessness and intellectual devotion. After all, indeed, during the years of the Civil War, only a Russian intellectual Silver Age culture, brought up on the ideals of serving the people, was able, forgetting everything personal, to take on the cross of the revival of Russia, go to hardship and death for the seemingly abstract "triumph of true freedom and right in Russia", and not for a specific piece of bread torn out from the mouth of the food order. Therefore, for a serious undermining of the "green" movement, vague promises or beggarly handouts became enough, like replacing the surplus appropriation with a tax in kind, also predatory, but leaving the peasant some share of the results of his labor. Moreover, without any guarantees of the irreversibility of such a replacement. The small “lordly” and Cossack White Movement resisted and threatened Bolshevism for three whole years. And the “green” movement, which was superior in number and scope, was basically crushed in just six months. By the way, this gap between the opponents of the Bolsheviks - the Whites and the "Greens", has probably become main reason victory of communism in the civil war.
Civil War- This is a period of sharp class clashes within the state between various social groups. In Russia, it began in 1918 and was the result of the nationalization of all land, the elimination of landownership, the transfer of factories and factories into the hands of the working people. In addition, in October 1917, the dictatorship of the proletariat was established.
In Russia, civil war was exacerbated by military intervention.
The main participants in the war.
In November-December 1917, the Volunteer Army was created on the Don. That's how it was formed white movement. The white color symbolized law and order. The tasks of the white movement: the fight against the Bolsheviks and the restoration of a united and indivisible Russia. The volunteer army was headed by General Kornilov, and after his death in the battle near Ekaterinodar, General A.I. Denikin took command.
Established in January 1918 Red Army Bolsheviks. At first, it was built on the principles of voluntariness and on the basis of a class approach - only from workers. But after a series of serious defeats, the Bolsheviks returned to the traditional, "bourgeois" principles of army formation on the basis of universal military service and unity of command.
The third force was Green rebels", or "green army" (also "green partisans", "Green movement", "third force") - a generalized name for irregular, mainly peasant and Cossack armed formations that opposed foreign interventionists, Bolsheviks and White Guards. They had national-democratic, anarchist, and also, sometimes, goals close to early Bolshevism. The former demanded the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, while others were supporters of anarchy and free Soviets. In everyday life, there were the concepts of "red-green" (more gravitating towards red) and "white-green". Green and black, as well as a combination of both, were often used as the colors of the rebels' banners. The specific options depended on the political orientation - anarchists, socialists, etc., just like "self-defense units" without pronounced political predilections.
The main stages of the war:
spring - autumn 1918 d. - rebellion of the White Czechs; the first foreign landings in Murmansk and the Far East; the campaign of the army of P. N. Krasnov against Tsaritsyn; the creation by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks of the Committee of the Constituent Assembly in the Volga region; Social Revolutionary uprisings in Moscow, Yaroslavl, Rybinsk; intensification of “red” and “white” terror; the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Defense Council in November 1918 (V. I. Lenin) and the Revolutionary Military Council (L. D. Trotsky); the proclamation of the republic as a single military camp;
autumn 1918 - spring 1919 d. - intensification of foreign intervention in connection with the end of the world war; annulment of the terms of the Brest-Litovsk peace in connection with the revolution in Germany;
spring 1919 - spring 1920 g. - performance of the armies of white generals: campaigns of A. V. Kolchak (spring-summer 1919), A. I. Denikin (summer 1919 - spring 1920), two campaigns of N. N. Yudenich against Petrograd;
April - November 1920- the Soviet-Polish war and the fight against P. N. Wrangel. With the liberation of the Crimea by the end of 1920, the main hostilities ended.
In 1922 the Far East was liberated. The country began to move to a peaceful life.
Both the “white” and “red” camps were heterogeneous. So, the Bolsheviks defended socialism, part of the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries were for the Soviets without the Bolsheviks. Whites included monarchists and republicans (liberals); the anarchists (N. I. Makhno) spoke first on one side, then on the other.
From the very beginning of the Civil War, military conflicts affected almost all national outskirts, centrifugal tendencies intensified in the country.
The victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War was due to:
the concentration of all forces (which was facilitated by the policy of “war communism”);
the transformation of the Red Army into a real military force headed by a number of talented military leaders (due to the use of professional military specialists from among the former tsarist officers);
the purposeful use of all the economic resources of the central part of European Russia that remained in their hands;
support for the national outskirts and Russian peasants, deceived by the Bolshevik slogan "Land to the peasants";
lack of general command among whites,
support for Soviet Russia on the part of labor movements and communist parties in other countries.
Results and consequences of the Civil War. The Bolsheviks won a military-political victory: the resistance of the White Army was suppressed, Soviet power was established throughout the country, including in most national regions, conditions were created for strengthening the dictatorship of the proletariat and implementing socialist transformations. The price of this victory was huge human losses (more than 15 million people were killed, died of hunger and disease), mass emigration (more than 2.5 million people), economic ruin, the tragedy of entire social groups (officers, Cossacks, intelligentsia, nobility, clergy and etc.), society's addiction to violence and terror, the break in historical and spiritual traditions, the split into reds and whites.
