The Red Army was created and won victories, including through the efforts of tens of thousands of former officers who became military specialists (military experts). The "former" had to work literally for wear and tear. There was almost no time for rest. Meanwhile, it was necessary for normal operation even in the extreme conditions of the first years of Soviet power. How did the pre-revolutionary military elite, who joined the Red Army, spend their leisure time?
More often than not, rest and entertainment were interspersed with work. At the front, the entire life of a high-ranking military expert was spent around the headquarters or the staff train. Accordingly, the leisure was very straightforward. And only in the rear, in large cities, it was possible to find a variety of options for spending time.
Alcohol and intimacy
The civil war led to a depressive mood among the officers. The loss of moral guidelines opened the way for licentiousness and vices, primarily debauchery and drunkenness, although the severity of the problem sometimes diminished, thanks to the control of the commissars.
The commander of the 2nd Soviet Army V. I. Shorin and some staff members in 1919 visited prostitutes and cocaine N. S. Soloviev and E. I. Surkont, who also had agents of the whites. The negative influence of these hobbies of the army leadership on staff work was palpable - Shorin and a member of the Revolutionary Military Council V. I. Soloviev began to appear less often in the service, behaved defiantly, compromised the Soviet power, being with his companions in public places, and Soloviev even tried to commit suicide because of a woman and was wounded. According to the investigation, Surkont treated the legendary chief of the 28th rifle division V. M. Azina, because of which "until that time a blooming and healthy person … became completely sick" 1. Earlier, Surkont allegedly cohabited with the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front M. A. Muravyov. It is possible that through these women white intelligence received information from the army headquarters2. Moreover, Solovyova, who worked as a sister of mercy, as it turned out, had every reason to hate the Reds - her father was killed and her husband was shot before her eyes.
General staff officer E. A. Shilovsky with a group of red commanders. Photo: Scientific archive of the IRI RAS. Published for the first time.
Young military experts from the Field Headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) in Serpukhov were looking for romantic relationships with female personnel. In the case of the consultant of the Registration Directorate (the governing body of Soviet military intelligence) G. I. For Theodory, the affair took on tragic consequences. Teodori struck up a relationship with 21-year-old typist V. P. Troitskaya. Troitskaya led a vicious life - she made intimate relations with a number of colleagues, including responsible party workers of the headquarters and military experts, got drunk, gave the impression of being degraded, and even became involved in an espionage scandal. Theodori, "on the one hand, assured everyone of the impossibility due to disgust of a close relationship with her, and, on the other hand, he allowed himself to hug her." In the spring of 1918, the Left SR Mustafin arranged for Troitskaya for Soviet military service. Then, through her, various suspicious persons got a job. Troitskaya was suspected of having contacts with the leadership of the underground anti-Bolshevik united officers' organization. It was rumored that she was of aristocratic origin, was related to Count S. Yu. Witte. The Chekists arrested both Teodori himself and Troitskaya. The military expert escaped with imprisonment, and Troitskaya was soon shot.
Prolonged binges of entire headquarters were not uncommon. The incident with the two-week drunkenness of the commander of the 14th Soviet army I. P. Uborevich and a member of the RVS G. K. Ordzhonikidze in 1920, when V. I. Lenin 5. Drunkenness and the riots caused by it took place in the canteens of the Field Headquarters of the RVSR in 19196 Drunkenness was noted in 1919 both at the headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Army and at the headquarters of the 9th Army7. Kiev commandant P. Nemtsov, general staff officer V. P. Glagolev and even the Soviet commander-in-chief I. I. Vatsetis 8.
Vatsetis' drunkenness was recalled by his colleague A. L. Nosovich, who later fled to the whites: “On the very first day, Vatsetis invited me to dine at the headquarters. the center of his attention. "Well, brother, now let's drink … And what now is left for us, the military, if not women, to drink, eat well and fight …" "9
According to Nosovich, "Vatsetis inspected tirelessly. This allowed him to spend his time in a lot of idleness, drinking and other entertainments, which he could appreciate enough" 10.
The next meeting between Nosovich and Vatsetis had much in common with the previous one: “Our operational conversation dragged on until lunchtime. It continued during it, until the well-drunk Vatsetis slammed his hand on the table and put a resolution … that his head did not really boil, this was clearly evidenced by the edited last sentence of the prescription: "And to carry out all his measures in life" "11.
Sometimes the booze was accompanied by political conversations. Probably, under the influence of alcohol, Vatsetis said that the Latvian riflemen could "shake Moscow" 12. This conversation, which reached the Chekists, became one of the reasons for his dismissal from the post of commander in chief and his arrest.
Commander-in-Chief I. I. Vatsetis loved booze and cigars. Photo: Latvian War Museum.
For a fun pastime, the chief of staff of the 16th Army V. L. Baranovich, removed from office and arrested on September 28, 1919 "for not being in class on September 27 in the evening and for participating in a comradely party" 13. However, after a few days he was released.
Drunkenness for military experts has become a way to escape from oppressive reality, an opportunity to forget for a while about the commissars and security officers, to escape from the memories of their former life. Of course, not everyone was drunk or led a dissolute life. Rather, they were exceptions. Many, even under Soviet conditions, lived in the same patriarchal way as possible. Being at the fronts, such military experts missed their loved ones and rushed home. An exemplary family man was the former General A. E. Snesarev, who regularly sent his wife tender letters from the fronts and noticeably missed his wife and children. Commander-in-Chief S. S. During the First World War and the Civil War, Kamenev did not part with the portrait of his wife, which he carried as a talisman in his jacket pocket. The chief of staff of the Red Army, former General P. P. Lebedev15, who loved, sitting on the floor in front of the stove with his family, to tell children the content of the books he had read. The family issue in the Civil War acquired considerable importance. The Reds proclaimed the responsibility of families for possible betrayal of military experts, which made officers worry about the fate of loved ones16. In everyday life, the situation of the families of even high-ranking military personnel was notable for disorder and insecurity.
Cultural leisure
Since large headquarters were usually located in large cities, theaters and cinemas were among the entertainment of the old military elite during the Civil War. Sometimes the arrival of a military specialist, especially a high-ranking one, to such institutions turned into a performance in itself. This is how the former Lieutenant Colonel V. S. Lazarevich, members of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Turkestan Front in early 1920: “He is terribly ambitious and ready to do anything to use the external attributes of power. party and Soviet bodies on this basis: as, for example, when a special honorary guard was placed in the box of the commander in the cinema, and when leaving the horse guards lined up on both sides of Lazarevich's route, clearing the way from the outside public and causing indignation of both workers and ordinary people. There are dozens of such small facts 17.
Inveterate theater-goers were B. M. Shaposhnikov18 and S. S. Kamenev. The latter personally knew the director V. E. Meyerhold. Kamenev usually ordered a box where relatives and friends were accommodated - everyone who came with him did not miss a single performance with the participation of F. I. Chaliapin or L. V. Sobinov 19. Theaters were not drowned then, so in winter they had to sit in a fur coat and felt boots.
According to the memoirs of the daughter of P. P. Lebedev, “we also often visited the opera. Father often received tickets to the box. He himself rarely went, he had no time. in the Maly, and in the Art Theater, as well as in its studios 20. Celebrities came to visit the Lebedevs. One of the family evenings was attended and danced by the famous singer A. V. Nezhdanov.
One of the organizers of the defeat of Kolchak and Denikin S. A. was a connoisseur of operatic art. Pugachev. According to his wife's recollections, he "loved music very much, knew how to listen to it. He preferred classical music. With the greatest pleasure he listened to the operas" Eugene Onegin "by Tchaikovsky," Susanin "by Glinka," Aida "by Verdi. I listened with pleasure to Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin. From Russian songs, which he loved very much, singled out the song "I go out on the road alone", "Eaglet", and from the Georgian "Suliko." on almost any instrument to choose a melody, motive "21.
The head of the 30th Rifle Division, former Lieutenant Colonel E. N. Sergeev whiled away rare moments of rest playing the cello, which he always carried with him in his travel box along with books. The Red Army even called him "our musical division commander" 22.
Daughter A. E. Snesareva recalled the life of her family in Smolensk in 1918-1919: "I remember our walks, the pope's stories about the significance of Smolensk, about its sieges, about the Patriotic War of 1812, about the withdrawal of Russian troops to Moscow, about the Borodino battle … In the spring of 1919 AV Nezhdanova, NS Golovanov, SI Migai, AV Bogdanovich came to Smolensk on tour and they stayed with us. Andrey Evgenievich [Snesarev] gave a series of lectures "23.
Military experts also spent their time reading, leisurely playing cards in a friendly circle, or talking. So, P. P. Lebedev received copies of all published fiction books and read them25. Many former officers smoked, aided by the general nervousness of Soviet life.
There were military experts and hobbies. Commander-in-Chief S. S. Kamenev collected historical weapons, and was able to put together an impressive collection. Knowing about his hobby, colleagues gave him such gifts. For example, M. V. Frunze presented him with a personal revolver, from which he shot back from bandits in Ukraine in 1921.26
Patriarchal religiosity was a factor that distinguished some of the "former" in Soviet realities. Sometimes she took on comic forms. According to the story of one of the district commissars, with the military commander of the Yaroslavl military district, former general N. D. Liventsev, during an inspector's trip to Ivanovo-Voznesensk, an incident occurred: “At the station,” said the comrade, “I see there is no military commander. And no. Scandal … Finally, two hours later, it appears. It turns out that I was in church, served a prayer service to some saint … It's a problem to go anywhere with him … Not a single chapel will pass - he will definitely look in !! "27 Another former general V. A. Afanasyev testified in his testimony in the Viasna case: "Being a believer, I did not agree with the measures taken by the authorities that limited and hindered religion." The former generals A. I. Verkhovsky and F. E. Ogorodnikov 29. Religious holidays were celebrated in the family of the former general V. A. Olokhova 30. However, on Easter 1919, the only joy on the general's table was a pound of cottage cheese and six eggs brought from the village.
Painful realities brightened up with humor. For example, S. A. Pugachev, according to the memoirs of his wife, in order to defuse the situation, used to speak in gibberish, pronouncing the letters in words in reverse order31.
Cottages and rest houses
Sometimes military experts were allowed leave or transfer to the south, to an area with a healthy climate and more profitable food. If there was such an opportunity, in the warm season, according to the pre-revolutionary tradition, they rested outside the city at their dachas. So, in the summer of 1922 A. I. Verkhovsky, returning from a trip as a military expert to the Genoa conference, was resting with his family at a dacha in Kuntsevo. Time passed in walking around the neighborhood, playing tennis32. S. S. In August 1922, Kamenev was restoring his health, undermined by the Civil War, in a sanatorium in the Crimea, where he stayed with his family and became interested in photography33. Later, Kamenev also rested in a sanatorium in Gagra. A. E. In the summer of 1924 Snesarev spent time with his family at a dacha in the village of Ligachevo, where he worked on the translation of K. von Clausewitz's classic work "On the War". In his diary entry for June 27, 1924, he noted: "We are enjoying ourselves in the village. My wife is also on the mend. We take onions, dill, radishes and salad from our garden …" 34
Red commanders on vacation in Gagra. 1920s. Photo: Homeland
In the fall of 1921, Chief of Staff of the Red Army P. P. Lebedev. Together with his family, the military expert went to Cape Verde near Batumi in a saloon carriage. We traveled from Vladikavkaz to Tiflis along the Georgian Military Highway by car. In Tiflis, they walked around the city, attended the opera "Aida", which Lebedev especially loved. They traveled to Cape Verde by train under the protection of the Red Army, as bandit attacks were not uncommon. The Lebedevs settled in a former estate far from the sea, but spent most of their time on the beach. Lebedev loved to climb mountains. The food was problematic. They managed to buy milk from the local residents, and lived on dry rations - canned food, dried vegetables and egg powder. Cooked on primus. In the gardens and parks of abandoned estates, tangerines, persimmons and even green bananas could be found. P. P. Lebedev once managed to catch an eel, which was also cooked.
The next year, the Lebedevs rested in Kislovodsk, where P. P. Lebedev improved his health by taking narzan baths. The family took walks in the mountains. From Mineralnye Vody we went to Sochi and Tuapse. In Sochi, feta cheese was added to the former meager food ration.
A rest house for workers of the RVSR was organized in 1920 in the former Stroganovs' estate near Moscow, Bratsevo (now within the boundaries of Moscow). Prominent military workers S. S. Kamenev, P. P. Lebedev, G. N. Khvoshchinsky and others 35. The famous singer F. I. Chaliapin. P. P. Lebedev was very fond of animals. In Bratsevo, he participated in the development of a livestock farm. He kept dogs, cats and even a bear at home - a gift from one of the commanders36.
The life of military experts in the first years of Soviet power was predetermined by the extraordinary realities of the Civil War. It was necessary to survive elementary. But, despite serious socio-political changes in the country, the "former" and in Soviet conditions tried to adhere to the old traditions and habits. Sometimes their behavior influenced the way of life of the red commanders, who acquired, as they wrote at the time, "lordly manners" 37. However, the influence of these two groups of the command staff of the Red Army was mutual.
