Supreme Ruler Versus Ataman: The Conflict Between Admiral A.V. Kolchak and Ataman G.M. Semenov in November – December 1918 in the Documents of French General M. Janin

Abstract

Introduction. The article focuses on a critically important episode in the history of Russian Civil War on the Eastern Front – the conflict between the Supreme Governor of Russia Admiral Alexander V. Kolchak and Colonel Grigory M. Semyonov, commanding the 5th Pri-Amur Corps in November – December of 1918. Semyonov’s nonrecognition of Kolchak’s government after the coup d’état on November 18, 1918 and their heated exchange of telegraph cables led to a long-standing conflict in which the Supreme Governor failed to exert his authority over Semyonov, who was supported by the Japanese Expeditionary Corps. Methods and materials. Their confrontation ended only in May 1919 with concessions made by Kolchak, which was reciprocated with recognition of his authority by Semyonov. Further details on conflict dynamics are revealed in the papers of Maurice Janin, who headed the French military mission in Siberia, and had arrived in the Russian Far East in November 1918 as the chief of the Allied military mission in Russia. Analysis. En route from Vladivostok to Omsk, General Janin stayed in Chita on December 5–6, where he found himself in the middle of the conflict between the Supreme Governor and ataman. Janin’s memoirs published in 1933 and documents from the collection of Service historique de la défense – the Archives center of the French Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces were used when putting this paper together, the latter made public for the first time. Details of conversations between Janin and ataman Semyonov, transcripts of his meetings with Japanese general Jiro Oba, negotiations by direct wire with France’s High Commissioner to Siberia Eugène L.G. Regnault and Admiral Kolchak represent a significant contribution into the history of this conflict. From his arrival to Russia Janin noted the disunity of anti-Bolshevik movement. Results. The information on ataman Semyonov, as well as on Kolchak and his entourage that he collected in the Far East, and his failure to resolve the conflict in Chita led him first to a conservative, and then to an openly negative assessment of White movement’s future outlook on the Civil War’s Eastern Front.