By the winter of 1920, the liquidation of the White movement seemed to be over. Kolchak and Yudenich were defeated, General Miller's group in the North of Russia was destroyed. After the evacuation skillfully "organized" by the British, the remnants of Denikin's army in Crimea were demoralized and disarmed. And at that moment General Wrangel appeared on the scene of the Russian turmoil. Denikin resigned as commander of the White Army and handed over to him. Had it happened earlier, the whole history of Russia could have gone differently. Because Baron Wrangel was, perhaps, the only leader of the White movement who did not harbor any illusions about the "allies". History did not give him even the slightest chance of success in the conditions in which he found himself. But he tried, using the available resources to the full 200%. To the great surprise of the Entente countries, the white struggle in Crimea continued …
But in the very last days of Denikin's rule, the British government came up with a "peace initiative." In essence, it was simple blackmail. The British offered to appeal "to the Soviet government, meaning to obtain an amnesty." If the White leadership again decides to abandon negotiations with the destroyers of the Motherland, then "in this case, the British government would consider itself obliged to relinquish any responsibility for this step and stop any support or assistance in the future."
It is written very clearly and clearly. It is this message from the British that becomes the first international document received by Baron Wrangel in the rank of leader of the White movement. Denikin, on the other hand, chooses "a hospitable refuge in Great Britain" and leaves the arena of Russian turmoil forever …
Wrangel faces a difficult choice: to continue the fight against the army, which, thanks to the "brilliant" evacuation by the "allies", is unarmed and demoralized, or to capitulate to the Bolsheviks. And the main thing is that the refusal of the British to provide assistance in practice means that it is impossible for money to buy new weapons from them. The Baron decides to fight to the end. Attempts by the Reds to break into the Crimea with a swoop are repulsed. Wrangel quickly and decisively reorganized the army and even renamed it Russian. Cavalry regiments are putting their first squadrons on horses, and small units are being enlarged. And here the political conjuncture of a large political party changes. There is a saying in the Russian language - "to whom the war, and to whom the mother is dear." The young Polish state can be safely attributed to those for whom the world massacre has become a huge national holiday. "The ugly brainchild of the Treaty of Versailles," as a graduate of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov would later call Poland, only benefited from the war. Barely born, cut from pieces of German and Russian territories, this young state showed incredible agility, trying to use the favorable moment and chop off pieces of territory fatter for itself. The Poles have an excellent appetite, they are trying not only to pinch the collapsed Russia, but also to take Upper Silesia from the Germans, and Vilno (Vilnius) from the Lithuanians.
While the red and white Russians mutuz each other, the Poles "under the guise", with complete impunity, managed to seize some Ukrainian, Belarusian and Lithuanian lands. Are occupied by the territory that actually belonged to Poland three hundred years ago, during the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, when the border with Russia passed near Smolensk. Now the moment of revenge has come. For the "allies" the situation is similar to the methods of extermination of the Russian fleet: he changed the flag, and the ship no longer belongs to Russia. If you take pieces of Ukraine and Belarus and give it to the Poles, then they are not Russian at all.
In the territories "developed" by Poland, active "polonization" begins. In the Russian Empire, this never happened, and the Poles could freely study their history and language; in the Council of Deputies, no one oppresses them either. In the new "democratic" 11th century, by November 1921 in Western Belarus only two out of 150 Belarusian schools remained. Attempts to open new ones were violently suppressed, and the "perpetrators" were arrested. In the 1930s, discrimination against national minorities increased even more. Persecution of Orthodoxy began, as a result of which hundreds of Orthodox churches were destroyed, including the majestic Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw. The end of this oppression was put by the Red Army in 1939 …
An instrument is needed to seize Russian territory, so the "allies" are hastily forming the Polish army. Nowhere was the difference in the "help" of the British and French so thrown as in the matter of supplying Russian White Guards and freshly baked Polish troops. These white armies could go on the attack with several rounds per rifle; Polish arsenals are loaded to the very roof, uniforms are brand new, plenty of food and ammunition. Like the Polish territory, the armed forces are glued together from several different parts: the "Russian" corps of Dovbor-Myasnitsky, the "Austro-German" army of General Haller and the newly formed units of conscripts, volunteers and … emigrants. A large number of Poles from the United States and Western Europe rushed to join the newly formed national troops. The "allied" governments, of course, do not hinder this, but in every possible way encourage this process. Why did we pay attention to the Poles? Because the unrestrained growth of the Polish state in 1919-1920 meant a disaster for the White movement. Many demarches of the "allies" are explained by the influence of Polish factors in the political situation of that time.
The greatest role was played by the Polish lords in the fate of Denikin's army and the Black Sea Fleet. At first, Polish aid was a weighty "allied" argument for the start of Denikin's tragic campaign against Moscow. Then, at the most decisive moment, the Poles and their satellites, the Petliurites, concluded a truce with the Bolsheviks, they were given the opportunity by all means
lean on the bloodless whites. Now that Wrangel, in spite of everything, decided to resist on the Crimean peninsula, history had to repeat itself. Under the blows of the Red Army, Poland crackled and was ready to collapse. Wrangel's soldiers were supposed to save the Polish independence carefully cultivated by the "allies".
“Suffice it to say that under a special contract concluded with the United States, Poland could receive large quantities of American equipment. The United States provided the Polish government with a $ 50 million loan and transferred some of its war materials from France to Poland."
Tens of thousands of corpses of Russian soldiers and officers became fertilizer for the independence of Poland, as well as of Latvia and Estonia! But who remembers this now?
London and Paris begin to play with Wrangel in the classic game of "good and evil investigator": "evil" London does not supply weapons, "good" Paris again opens the tap of military supplies. The head of the British Foreign Office, Lord Curzon, sends a note to the red "minister" Chicherin demanding leniency for the broken whites. At the same time, he threatens that if the Bolsheviks try to attack Wrangel in order to finish him off, then “the British government would be forced to send ships for all the necessary actions to protect the army in Crimea and prevent the invasion of Soviet forces into the area in which the armed forces of the south are located. Russia ".
We must not allow Lenin to pounce with all his might on Poland, which alone is not in a position to fight with Russia. For this it is necessary to preserve (for now) the white Crimea. But the British do not want to really help Wrangel either. The British, putting on the toga of peacekeepers, offer the commander-in-chief of the Russian army to negotiate with the Bolshevik leadership on the terms of the end of resistance. If Wrangel agrees, then while negotiations are underway, the Red Army will not be able to transfer its forces to the Polish front, if he refuses, hostilities will begin with the same desired result. Wrangel understood this perfectly. And he is not alone. The layout of the cunning political game of the Entente was perfectly clear to the Bolsheviks: "There is no doubt that Wrangel's offensive was dictated by the Entente in order to alleviate the plight of the Poles."
The goal of the "allies" is one: with the help of some Russians, to stop other Russians who are rushing under the red banner to Warsaw. Approaches differ slightly. France is kind to the White Guards, England is not. And as the situation on the Polish-Soviet front deteriorates, Paris is becoming more and more loyal to Wrangel, who is sitting without ammunition and shells. The tone of their telegrams also changed. On May 1, 1920, the French were very determined: “The French government has a negative attitude towards an agreement with the Bolsheviks. It will not exert any pressure for the surrender of Crimea. Will not participate in any such mediation if others did. He sympathizes with the idea of staying in the Crimea and the Tauride province. Considering Bolshevism the main enemy of Russia, the French government sympathizes with the advancement of the Poles. Does not admit the thought of hidden annexation of the Dnieper region by them”.
On May 2, Wrangel addresses the “union” leadership with a message in which, without knowing it, he proposes actions that are directly opposite to their desires: spontaneous movements against the tyranny of the Bolsheviks. Russia can be saved from this danger, which threatens to spread to Europe, not by a new attack on Moscow, but by the unification of all the popular forces fighting the communists."
Wrangel's sanity is impressive. However, they do not need the "preservation of a healthy core" of Russia, and all the more dangerous for them is the unification of "all the popular forces fighting the communists." The phrase about an attack on Moscow in general sounds like a direct reproach and accusation. Wrangel is dangerous, he can disrupt the liquidation of the White Movement. Gender needs to carry it out as soon as possible.
But before its final death, the White movement must serve the "all-Union" cause for the last time. Regrouping, having received the necessary equipment, on May 24, 1920, Wrangel launched an offensive unexpected for the Bolsheviks, trying to break out of the Crimea into the operational space. Sitting in a Crimean sack for Wrangel is pointless, there are no food or human reserves on the peninsula. Everything that White needs to win, he can only take from the Reds. We must take advantage of the moment while the Poles shackle part of the Bolshevik forces and the French help with equipment. Desperate battles ensued.
But the betrayal of the "allies" is a precisely metered thing - they sell their partners exactly when it is necessary. And not a day earlier! It was on the day of the start of the offensive, May 24, 1920, when the landing forces had already landed and there was no way back, Wrangel received a dispatch “that Admiral de Robeck conveyed … about the order he received from London to detain military cargo currently assigned to Crimea and sent under the English flag, even on Russian ships. Cargoes going under other flags will not touch it."
Until then, the pop talk about the end of deliveries was a sad political moment, but in fact it was possible to reach the hearts of British gentlemen with the help of "His Majesty the Pound."Now the nose of the tank from Britain will not be at all. This was the result of negotiations between the Soviet representatives in London. The British give Lenin a firm promise not to help the whites. “The order of the British government put us in a most difficult position. Depriving us of the opportunity to receive military supplies would inevitably bring all our efforts to naught … Although in the future the British continued to pose various obstacles to us, but through personal negotiations in Sevastopol, Constantinople and Paris, most of the goods were able, albeit with difficulty, to be delivered to Crimea”, - Wrangel writes.
Those who still believe that the Entente helped the whites, and the British sincerely tried to strangle the "young Soviet republic", should definitely read the memoirs of the white generals. Nothing more powerful, destroying this myth at its root, simply does not exist. When there is a terrible struggle, and two forces - red and white - grappled in it for life and death, how do Russia's "allies" behave?
“Gasoline, oil, rubber were delivered abroad with great difficulty, and there was a huge shortage of them. Everything we needed was partly in Romania, partly in Bulgaria, partly in Georgia. Attempts were made to use the Russian property left in Trebizond, but all these attempts met with insurmountable difficulties. The British repaired us all kinds of obstacles, delayed the passage of goods under all sorts of pretexts, the Entente did not help the fighters for the restoration of United and Indivisible Russia at all. This help existed only in the imagination of Soviet historians, whose successors were modern liberals, who tell us how Great Britain, France and the United States helped Russian heroes crush the emerging totalitarianism.
If the British are clearly interfering with the supply of weapons for the whites, WHO are they helping? Red.
But Baron Wrangel scales a completely different story of the Russian Civil War. He saw no help. On the contrary, he was actively interfered with. “We didn’t have currency to buy everything we needed.
White divisions are bleeding to death, Trotsky is sending reinforcements to the Crimea instead of the Polish front. Nevertheless, the Poles still retreat under the onslaught of the Red Army. Then the British "peacekeepers" come up with a new peace initiative. On July 17, 1920, the British government proposed to Lenin to immediately conclude an armistice with Poland, convening a conference in London to establish peaceful relations. The British do not ask for opinion of whites or agreement. The British proposed to the Wrangelites … to withdraw the army back to the Crimea, that is, to lose everything they had won with great difficulty in the last offensive! The British proposal is deliberately unacceptable, and they know it very well. The reason is simple and banal: "The demand for the withdrawal of troops to the isthmus is tantamount to the dooming of the army and the population to starvation, because the peninsula is not able to feed them."
Well, let the White Guards die “for One and Indivisible” Russia, behind their backs the British and French are already in a hurry to make their own gesheft and mutually beneficial cooperation is being established between Red Russia and the “civilized” community of European peoples. The "allied" steamers are already taking out tons of grain from the Bolsheviks, bringing them industrial products. Wrangel sees and knows all this: “It would be in vain to look for higher moral motives in the politics of Europe. This policy is driven exclusively by profit. Proofs of this are not far to be sought. Just a few days ago, in response to my notification that in order to stop the supply of military contraband to the Bolshevik ports of the Black Sea, I was forced to place mines at the Soviet ports, the commanders of the Allied British and French fleets protested against this, telegraphically notifying me that this measure was unnecessary, since they prohibit anybody from trading with Soviet ports."
Do not need mines: the hour is not even - the "allied" steamer on it will be blown up. And Wrangel himself finds confirmation of this assumption: “Four days later, the radio station of our naval department received a radio message from the French destroyer Commandant Borix, sent, apparently at the request of the Odessa Union of Cooperatives, with the following content: August to Genoa with four thousand tons of bread. Send a steamer with medicines, trucks and surgical instruments."
In order to somehow sweeten the bitter reality, the French government suddenly decides to recognize the Wrangel government. A diplomatic representative of the French Republic is sent to Sevastopol. It's about time! So far, no white government has ever been recognized. Kolchak was not honored with such an honor, Denikin was not pleased, and now they decided to recognize Wrangel. Why him and why now? Because the Wrangel government has less than three months left to live, and all this time it is necessary for it to chain a part of the Red Army to itself.
But now the Poles and the British standing behind them again agreed with Lenin and Trotsky. The vector of Western politics is also changing instantly.
The Poles and Lenin, under pressure from the British, begin to prepare for the conclusion of peace. All this happens in the second half of September. The newly recognized government of Wrangel does not find out about this immediately. Realizing that if he does nothing, he will be crushed by the liberated Soviet troops in the very near future, the head of the Whites again appeals to the “allies”: the planned peace negotiations so that, taking advantage of the delay of a part of the Red troops on the Polish front, replenish and supply my troops at the expense of the huge booty captured by the Poles, use both combat-ready units of the Bolshevik regiments that had gone over to the Poles and Bolshevik regiments interned in Germany, and the materiel captured by the victors.
The French response is astounding. Reading it, one must remember that there are only two months left before the complete collapse of Wrangel's army, and if the French do nothing, then the whites have no chance to resist: “The French government and Foch fundamentally sympathize with your formulation of the question, but implementation will go slower than necessary. Apart from the complexity of the issue, the vacation time and the absence of Millerand, who can only be contacted by letters, interferes with the complexity of the issue”2.
Monsieur Millerand will deign to rest, and therefore the White movement in Russia must perish. Say what you like, but the French are civilized people, it is inconvenient for them to look in the face of the one whom they betray and deceive. Therefore, it was at that moment that the French government underwent "unexpected" changes. The President of the French Republic Duchaneel fell ill and was forced to leave his post, and the same "tired" Millerand was elected his deputy. The new president looks at some issues of French foreign policy in a new way. Oh, they promised you something, so excuse me - it was Duchaneel, and now Millerand …
The fate of the white Crimea, and maybe the future of all of Russia, depends on the Polish position. 11O Wrangel, we are the government recognized by the official Paris, we cannot discuss the life and death of our army with the Poles themselves.
“Our contact with the Poles was extremely difficult. 11the negotiations had to be conducted exclusively through the French. Attempts to establish radio communication with Warsaw were unsuccessful. Despite all the petitions, the Allied High Commissioners firmly refused to allow the installation of our radio station on the territory of the Russian embassy in Buyuk-Dere."
So - "communication exclusively through the French"! Directly, you can't do it yourself - all of a sudden it will be possible for the whites to come to an agreement with the proud Polish masters, and the elimination of the Russian patriotic movement will not happen. The betrayal of the "allies" strikes the eye, creeps out of all the cracks, but Wrangel has no choice but to hope.
“No matter how little I trusted our 'foreign friends', I still didn’t give up hope that the Polish government, under pressure from France, would postpone the conclusion of peace as much as possible, giving us time to complete the formation of an army on Polish territory, or at least transfer Russian troops to Crimea.
Baron Wrangel is in a hurry to inflict defeat on the Reds, while their advantage over his army is not so overwhelming. So far, fresh reserves have not been transferred from the Polish front. And attacks, attacks, attacks. The most stubborn bonds are deployed by iodine Kakhovka. The Russian army, with a smaller force than the enemy, storms perfectly fortified positions. White goes forward under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire. There are several rows of wire ahead - the White Guards are tearing them with their hands, chopping them with sabers. “Horse attacks are gay. Barabovich are being smashed against barbed wire and the organized fire of the bridgehead,”the red historians of the Civil War write about those battles.
Why did the White Guards go crazy? Why are the horse ranks trying to take fortifications surrounded by barbed wire?
Because this is the only chance to capture them. The chance is insane, daring. Only in equestrian formation can you TRY to jump over the thorn. The infantry has no chance of success at all.
No wire scissors - France promised, but not sent! '
It's like putting together a polar explorer on the road, supplying him with excellent clothes, good-quality shoes, great skis, but forgetting to send him mittens. It seems that you both helped him and equipped him - but he will not go far with frostbitten hands anyway. It is not at all difficult to find out the basic needs of Wrangel - he himself sends inquiries to the "allies". It remains only to isolate a small key detail and “forget” to bring it. Wrangel cannot wait for another steamer and will certainly go to storm the red fortifications in any case. You just have to wait until he breaks his teeth and bring him your fake condolences.
Desperate assaults of Kakhovka followed for five days. As a result, at the beginning of September, the Whites, having suffered heavy losses, retreat, but after a week they resume attacks in another sector and even press the Red Army. However, their strength is running out, the offensive begins to choke. Here the next gift from the "allies" also ripens: the Poles finally conclude peace with the Bolsheviks. “The Poles have remained true to themselves in their duplicity,” concludes General Wrangel bitterly. After all, the initial, preliminary terms of the peace treaty had already been signed by Warsaw on September 29, 1920.
Nobody informed the Russian commander-in-chief about this. On the contrary, the Poles, as if nothing had happened, continued "exclusively through the French" to maintain relations with Wrangel. Even in this, Poland played up to Lenin and Trotsky: Wrangel, who does not know that the peace treaty has already been secretly signed, does not expect such a rapid concentration of a huge number of Red troops against Crimea. Therefore, the power of the blow of Frunze's troops turns out to be unexpected for the whites.
There could be no salvation now. Defeat was becoming a matter of the near future. All alone, Wrangel's army held out for another month and a half. Realizing that one cannot rely on the British, Wrangel organizes an evacuation, relying only on his own strength. And it will go well. In contrast to the "Denikin" evacuations, where the white leadership pinned their hopes on the help of Foggy Albion. In total, 132 overloaded ships left from Sevastopol, as well as from Kerch, Yalta and Feodosia, with 145,693 refugees on board, not counting the ship's crews …
At the time of their departure, NONE OF THE POWER GIVEN CONSENT TO ACCEPT THE EVACUATED.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet left on its last campaign. The Russian, former Volunteer, army also went on the last campaign. She was not destined to return to her homeland. The fate of the Cossacks and volunteers, officers and cadets, cadets and refugees will be different. Someone, succumbing to persuasion, will return to red Russia, someone will go to their homeland in the ranks of the Hitlerite Wehrmacht, but most of them will die in a foreign land, filling the cemeteries of Paris and Nice, Melbourne and New York with Orthodox crosses.
Together with the White Guards, along with the dead White Cause, Russian warships and merchant ships left Russia. We left, never to return. Those Russian ships that managed to escape destruction by the Bolsheviks in Novorossiysk in June 1918, and the British in April 1919 that managed to avoid sinking during the evacuation of Odessa and Sevastopol, were now pledged to France (!). The "allies" will never let any of them out of their tenacious embrace …
The fleet of Baron Wrangel came to Constantinople. For about two weeks, the ships stood in the roadstead, and the soldiers and refugees were practically not fed. Then the caring "allies" placed the Russians in Gallioli, next to the straits. In an open field, in the pouring rain and snow.
Wrangel did not receive any money to support the army and help refugees. Even the tents were not immediately issued to the ranks of his army! The last Russian soldiers became prisoners of the "allied" hospitality. Ahead of Wrangel was a desperate undercover struggle with the French and British to preserve the army as a fighting force. There will also be their provocations, calls to soldiers and officers not to listen to their leaders, constant attempts to withdraw weapons and permanent reduction of rations. Some time will pass, and on October 15, 1921, an attempt will be made on the obstinate General Wrangel, who stubbornly did not want to disband the Russian army. The yacht "Lucullus", on which his headquarters was located, in broad daylight, with excellent visibility, was rammed by the steamer "Adria". The hull of a ship sailing from Batumi under the Italian flag crashed into the side of Wrangel's yacht, exactly at the location of his office. Having done its job, "Adria" not only did not take measures to save people, but also tried to hide. "Lucullus" almost instantly went to the bottom, several people died. By a happy coincidence, Wrangel was not on board. The organizer of the assassination attempt remained unclear, and the "allied" investigation bodies tried to quickly hush up the case.
Fearing to leave the Russian ships near Constantinople, the French took them away - to Africa. The Tunisian port of Bizerte, forgotten by God and the French authorities, found me new Orthodox subjects: in addition to the sailors themselves, members of their families lived here, children studied in Russian schools. There was even a Russian Naval Cadet Corps evacuated from Sevastopol - personnel were being trained for the future Russian fleet. Alas, these plans were not destined to come true. Instead of the growth of the power and glory of the Russian fleet, the cadets watched as the ships pledged to France disappeared one after another. The "allies" partly translated them under their flags, partly they simply disassembled and scrapped.
The fate of the last Black Sea dreadnought "General Alekseev" (aka "Will", aka "Emperor Alexander III") was also sad. On December 29, 1920, he was interned by the French authorities. Then France recognized the Soviet Union, but did not give up the ships, postponing the transfer of ships under various pretexts. Four years of bickering with the "allies" followed. Finally, on October 29, 1924, the dreadnought was recognized by the French government as the property of the USSR, but due to the "difficult international situation" it was not returned to Soviet Russia. In 1936, the battleship General Alekseev was sold by the Soviet company Rudmetalltorg for scrap in the French city of Brest on the condition that its guns and some instruments remain the property of France (!) And be delivered to the arsenal of Sidi-Abdallah. The dismantling and destruction of the dreadnought did not begin immediately and were completed only in 1937. In 1940, at the height of the Soviet-Finnish war, the "neutral" French government agreed to cede Finland 305-mm dreadnought guns, for which the Finns had shells left after the departure of the Russian Baltic Fleet in 1918. The purpose of the gift is to shoot at Soviet soldiers breaking into Mannerheim line. And only the quick end of hostilities did not allow the guns of the Russian dreadnought to start firing at the Russian soldiers again.
This ended the tragedy of old Russia, organized by the British and French intelligence services, the tragedy of its people, army and navy. True, Soviet Russia, despite all efforts, remained a naval power. The terribly weakened fleet was nevertheless retained, but in this capacity and in such quantity, it was completely unable to solve the tasks of protecting the country's coast. Having destroyed everything to the ground, the Bolsheviks were faced with the need to restore everything. Building up sea muscles will become one of the main directions of the Stalinist five-year plans. In addition to the construction of new ships, in the 1930s, several attempts were made to raise the Russian ships sunk by order of Lenin, which dotted the Novorossiysk Bay with their skeletons. And from the pages of Soviet newspapers and magazines, timid and surprised voices of the first researchers of the Civil War began to be heard. And why did Comrade Raskolnikov drown the Black Sea squadron in such a deep place and so thoroughly ?! After all, if the ships went to the bottom not far from the coast, they could be raised and repaired. And so the only ship that was brought back to life was the destroyer Kaliakrin. On August 28, 1929, under the name "Dzerzhinsky", he became part of the Red Fleet …
Literature:
Wrangel II. N. Notes / White movement. M.: Vagrius. 2006. S. 865
Pykhalov I. The last dog of the Entente
Shishkin S. II Civil War in the Far East. Military publishing house of the Ministry of Defense of the SSR. Moscow, 1957
Conversation with Comrade IV Stalin about the situation on the South-Western Front / Communist, No. NO, June 24, 1920
