Гуманитарный вектор (Apr 2023)
The Relationship of the Kappelevites Command Staff with G. M. Semenov on the Basis of Memoir Sources
Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of the issue of relations between ataman G. M. Semenov and senior officers of the remnants of the Kolchak armies who arrived in Transbaikalia in the early 1920. The analysis of these relations is carried out on the basis of published memoirs of participants of the white movement. The relevance of the study is due to the introduction into scientific circulation of a large amount of memoir literature of both leaders and ordinary members of the white movement who found themselves on the territory of Transbaikalia. In the light of the newly discovered information, it is possible to consider in more detail how the relations within the Kappel command staff and their interaction with ataman G. M. Semenov developed. Previously, these sources were not available to researchers. In the future, the analysis of these sources will allow a deeper study of the final stage of the Civil War in Transbaikalia. The research methodology is based on comparative and dialectical approaches that minimize the subjectivity of memoirs as a historical source. The result of the study is the conclusion that the arrival of military contingents of the former Kolchak troops in Chita did not have a significant impact on the course of events. Attempts by part of their command staff to show political subjectivity and independence in relation to Ataman Semenov failed. The passage of echelons of Czechoslovak Corps units through Chita caused a split among the Kappel command. The negative attitude towards them was caused by the Czechs’ unwillingness to engage in confrontation with the Reds during the joint movement to the east with the Kappelevites. G. M. Semenov, who initially relied on the Japanese, treated the Czechs with distrust. An attempt by G. M. Semenov to disarm one of the Czech echelons in Chita was prevented by the commander of the Kappelevites S. V. Wojciechowski, who treated the Czechs positively. As a result, the Czech factor did not have a significant impact on the subsequent events of the Civil War in Transbaikalia.
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