White Terror (Russia)
During the Russian Revolution of 1917 and Civil War (1918-20), the White Armies, foreign forces, and other opponents of the Soviet Government carried out mass violence against the population, including those with alleged revolutionary sympathies, associations with the revolutionary underground and guerrilla movement, and those who served in the organs of the Soviet Government. The terror started as the Soviets moved to assume governmental authority in November 1917 and continued until the defeat of the White Armies and foreign intervention. Historians emphasize that the White terror was premeditated and systematic, as orders for terror came from high officials in the White movement, as well as legislative actions of the White regimes.[1][2][3].
The beginning of the terror
Some historians trace the terror to 28 October 1917 (old calendar) when in Moscow, counter-revolutionary Cadets seized control of the Moscow Kremlin and captured soldiers of the 56th Reserve Regiment. The soldiers were ordered to line up, ostensibly to check the monument of Alexander II. The rebels proceeded to shoot on the unarmed captives, killing about 300 people. [4]
Other historians trace the terror to the repression of the Tsarist regime against the revolutionaries, which began in 1866 with the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Alexander II. [5]
An important part of the White Terror who during the Ice Campaign in the south of Russia said: "I give you a very cruel order: do not take prisoners! I accept responsibility for this order before God and the Russian people." He promised promised, "the greater the terror, the greater our victories." He vowed that the goals of his forces must be fulfilled even if it was needed "to set fire to half the country and shed the blood of three-fourths of all Russians."[6]
According to a participant in the Ice Campaign, N. Bogdanov,
After receiving information about the Bolsheviks, the commander of the captured detachment was shot. In Krukkovsky, there was some especially painful cruelty. I know of many cases when under the influence of hatred for the Bolsheviks, the officers assumed the duties of shooting the captured volunteers. The executions were necessary because under the conditions in which the Volunteer Army had to move, prisoners could not be taken. [7]
Bands of Kornilov’s officers left behind more than 500 dead in a Don village in early 1918.[8]
Notes and references
- ^ Цветков В. Ж. Белый террор — преступление или наказание? Эволюция судебно-правовых норм ответственности за государственные преступления в законодательстве белых правительств в 1917—1922 гг.
- ^ А. Литвин. Красный и белый террор 1918—1922. — М.: Эксмо, 2004
- ^ Террор белой армии. Подборка документов.
- ^ Я. Я. Пече. [http://scepsis.ru/library/id_2031.html Red Guards in Moscow in the Battle of October
- ^ Утопический социализм в России: Хрестоматия / А. И. Володин, Б. М. Шахматов; Общ. ред. А. И. Володина. — М.: Политиздат, 1985
- ^ "Arno J. Mayer, The Furies, p.254". Books.google.com. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ Tsvetkov>В. Ж. Цветков. Лавр Георгиевич Корнилов.
- ^ "Serge, Year One of the Russian Revolution, 1972". Books.google.com. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2009-07-22.