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The White movement, whose military arm is known as the '''White Army''' (Белая Армия) or '''White Guard''' (Белая Гвардия, белогвардейцы) and whose members are known as '''Whites''' (Белые, or the derogatory Беляки) or '''White Russians''' (a term that has Other Meanings ) comprised some of the Russia n forces, both political and military, which opposed the Bolshevik s after the October Revolution and fought against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921 . STRUCTURE AND IDEOLOGY The designation ''White'' has several interpretations. First, it stood in contradistinction to the ''Reds''—the revolutionary , was styled "Albus Rex", or "white king". However, most White Army members, including its officers, were not aware of any special symbolism. They simply knew that the Whites opposed the Reds. Strictly speaking, no monolithic "White Army" existed; lacking central coordination, the White forces were never more than a loose confederation of counter-revolutionary forces. Besides considering themselves anti- Bolshevik Russian patriots, most White Army officers did not have a clearly articulated ideological vision. Among White Army leaders, neither General Kornilov nor General Denikin were monarchists. On the other hand, General Wrangel did have monarchist sympathies, but, as he made it clear, was willing to serve under a non-Bolshevik democratically elected Russian government. In any event, although many of its officers held Monarchist ideas, it is inaccurate to state, as it is done sometimes, that the White Army was a monarchist army. It can be said, however, that the White Army as a whole generally believed in a united multinational Russia (being opposed to separatists who wanted to create Nation-state s in the place of the old Russian Empire). The White Army also drew support from other political movements, including democrats, Social Revolutionaries , and others who opposed the October Revolution ; at other times and in other places, the same groups supported the Red Army instead. The rank-and-file troops of the White Army included both active opponents of the Bolsheviks (many Cossack s, for example), and spanned a variety of volunteers and conscripts, from nobles to peasants. Some leaders of the White movement, particularly General Wrangel , formulated political concepts based on Russian Traditionalism that were taken up and developed in Emigre Circles after the end of the Civil War by Russian thinkers such as Ivan Ilyin ; who had many philosophical similarities with the Slavophiles . This became known as the "White Idea". It has been argued if the "White Idea" was in fact developed after the war, or simply was formulated after the war in a more doctrinal format. Not all White Army veterans were sympathetic to it, although virtually all organized veterans were (i.e. the Russian All-Military Union ). Monarchist tendencies reached a peak amidst the veterans of the White movement, while republicanism became rarer. The liberal policies of Alexander Kerensky and his socialist-democratic oriented provisional government were seen as largely responsible for preparing the country for the October Revolution. In August of 1922, two months before its defeat, the far eastern White Army of General Mikhail Diterikhs went as far as to convene the '' Zemskiy Sobor of Preamursk'', and elect (without his participation) Grand Duke Nikolai Nikoaievich Romanov as Tsar of all Russia. There were also independent groups such as the Green Army as well as the Black Army of Nestor Makhno , who declared themselves against both the Reds and Whites, although occasionally they sought alliances with one side or the other. At times the Western Allies, the Central Powers, and other foreign forces provided assistance to several White Army units. This caused the Soviets to accuse the White Army of representing the interests of foreign powers. THEATERS OF OPERATION |
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