French Prisoners of War in South of Soviet Russia in Spring and Summer of 1919

Abstract

The article examines the plot about the stay of French servicemen in captivity in the south of Russia at the end of the intervention of the Entente countries (spring-summer 1919). The relevance of the study is due to the need to revise the point of view established in Russian historiography about the voluntary and massive transition of the French military to the side of the Bolsheviks. The author dwells on the circumstances of captivity and the period of detention of foreigners. Particular attention is paid to the attempt by the Bolsheviks to spread the ideas of the left movement and attract prisoners to the ranks of the Red Army. This activity was carried out through the creation of communist groups at the Foreign Collegium in Odessa. Using the example of the work of the French Communist Group employees, it was possible to identify agitation and propaganda methods of persuading the compatriots to the side of the Bolsheviks. The novelty of the study is seen in the fact that for the reconstruction of the methods of campaigning, the author involved materials from the archives of the French Ministry of Defense, which make it possible to determine the circle of agitators and concretize methods of recruiting foreigners. The author proved that there was no mass transition to the side of the Bolsheviks, the agitators managed to persuade only a few prisoners of the French and most of the servicemen remained faithful to this oath.

Keywords

• civil war
• intervention
• prisoners of war
• french communist group
• general franchet d’espere