The end of the civil war in the Far East. On the History of Japanese Intervention in the Far East and Siberia Intervention and Civil War

LAST BATTLE IN TRANSBAIKAL AND PRIMORYE

In the Far East, the Red Army was opposed not by parts of the white movement and nationalist regimes that were defeated in 1919, but by the 175,000-strong army of Japan. Under these conditions, the Soviet government decided to create on April 6, 1920, a buffer democratic state - the Far Eastern Republic (FER), closely connected with the RSFSR. The FER included the Trans-Baikal, Amur, Primorsk, Sakhalin, and Kamchatka regions. G. Kh. Eikhe, who had previously commanded the 5th Army of the Soviet troops in Siberia, was appointed head of the People's Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the FER. Parts of the NRA during 1920 fought with the troops of Ataman Semenov and Kappel's detachments, which controlled a significant part of the territory of the Far East. Only as a result of the third offensive on October 22, 1920, units of the NRA took Chita with the support of partisans.

With the help of the Kappel and Semenovites who retreated from Transbaikalia, Japan fortified itself in Primorye, where on May 26, 1921, the power of the Primorsky Regional Administration was overthrown and the pro-Japanese government of S. D. Merkulov was created. At the same time, units of R. F. Ungern invaded Transbaikalia from Mongolia. In the current difficult situation, the Soviet government provided military, economic and financial assistance to the Far East. Eikhe was replaced by V. K. Blyukher as commander of the NRA FER. In June, Ungern retreated to Mongolia, where in August 1921 most of his troops were surrounded and destroyed by units of the NRA. In the autumn of 1921, the situation escalated again, but in the end, as a result of fierce fighting near Volochaevka (January-February 1922), in a 40-degree frost, units of the NRA turned the tide and returned the previously lost Khabarovsk. The further offensive of the NRA units (new commander I.P. Uborevich) took place in October 1922. On October 25, the NRA troops entered Vladivostok, and on November 14, 1922, the People's Assembly of the FER announced the establishment of Soviet power in the Far East and the entry of the FER into composition of the RSFSR. Soviet power established itself in all regions where civil war had flared before.

I.S. Ratkovsky, M.V. Khodyakov. History of Soviet Russia

"THROUGH THE VALLEYS AND TOWARDS THE HILLS": THE HISTORY OF THE SONG

The biography of Peter Parfyonov, which is closely connected with Siberia, is amazing. He managed to combine the talents of a poet, writer, historian, military figure, diplomat, head of a major Russian government department and party functionary.

Perhaps his name would have long been forgotten if it were not for the famous song composed by him “Across the valleys and over the hills”.

Petr Parfyonov, in the article “The History of the Partisan Song”, recalled:

“The song “Along the valleys, over the mountains” has a long history. The text has been revised by me several times. The song took its final form under the following circumstances.

After the liquidation of Kolchakism and the liberation of Vladivostok, the political commissioner (as the military commissars were then called - A.M.) under the head of the Nikolsko-Ussuriysk garrison made a report on the political and moral state of the military units, pointed out the complete absence of good revolutionary songs.

“For five months now we have been standing, and our Red Army soldiers are singing Kolchak's Canary, and we can offer them nothing in return. It's a disgrace, comrades!" the delegate said.

Taking advantage of the next Sunday afternoon, when there was less operational work, I found my notebook with verses and, borrowing from it the melody, theme, form and a significant part of the text, wrote a new song “Partisan Anthem” in one evening:

In the valleys, in the mountains

Divisions went forward

To take Primorye with a fight -

Stronghold of the White Army.

To drive out the invaders

Outside your native country.

And do not bend before their agent

Labor of his back.

Standing under the banner

Created a military camp

Remote squadrons

Amur partisans.

Glory will not cease these days

Will never forget

How dashing is our lava

Occupied cities.

Preserved, just like in a fairy tale

Age-old like stumps

Stormy nights of Spassk,

Nikolaev days.

How we drove the chieftains,

How we smashed the gentlemen.

And in the Pacific

Your trip is over."

Later it turned out that the legendary "Partisan Song" had other predecessors. Yuri Biryukov, a researcher of Russian song history, revealed that back in 1915 a collection of poems “The Year of War. Thoughts and Songs” by Vladimir Gilyarovsky, the famous Moscow reporter “Uncle Gilyai”. One of his poems “From the taiga, the taiga far away” became a song that was sung in the Russian army. The song was subtitled "Siberian Riflemen in 1914":

From the taiga, the dense taiga,

From the Amur, from the river,

Silently, a formidable cloud

Siberians went to battle...

And in recent years, the “March of the Drozdovsky Regiment” has been published, which is considered the first double of the “Song of the Siberian Riflemen” in terms of appearance. The words of the “Drozdovsky March” were composed by P. Batorin in memory of the 1,200-verst-long transition of the 1st separate brigade of Russian volunteers under the command of Colonel Drozdovsky from Romania, where they were caught by the revolution, to the Don.

Trekking from Romania

There was Drozdovsky glorious regiment,

To save the people

Carried heroic heavy duty.

So, two different songs were born for one motive: “red” and “white” (since later Drozdovsky’s brigade fought with weapons in their hands against the Bolsheviks), which often happened in those days of a tragic break in the life of Russia. There is also pathos in the song of the Drozdovites, but the people demand salvation in the name of holy Russia:

The Drozdovites walked with a firm step,

The enemy fled under pressure:

Under the tricolor Russian flag

The regiment gained glory for itself!

Both songs remained in history, in songbooks, although the original source was forgotten for a long time. And the song of Pyotr Parfyonov, which became a kind of symbol of the era of the Civil War, gained world fame. The words from this song are minted on the monuments of partisan glory in Vladivostok, in Khabarovsk:

Glory will not cease these days,

Will never fade.

Partisan detachments

They occupied the cities...

ICE EPILOGUE OF THE CIVIL WAR

Living in Harbin, in the spring of 1922, General Pepelyaev entered into relations with two delegates from the population of the Yakutsk region that rebelled against the Bolsheviks: P. A. Kulikovsky and V. M. Popov, who arrived in Vladivostok to seek support from the government of S. D. Merkulov. This government, however, did not show an active interest in Yakut affairs, and the delegates then managed to interest General Pepelyaev in them, who, after long requests and insistence, agreed to help the people of Yakutia in their fight against the communists. Deciding to organize a military expedition to this distant Siberian region, A.N. Pepelyaev moved to Vladivostok in the summer of 1922.

Persons and institutions that had nothing to do with either the Japanese or the Merkulov government helped Kulikovsky and Pepelyaev to prepare food, uniforms and weapons for the expeditionary detachment. Recruitment gave the gene. Pepelyaev up to 700 volunteers, mostly former soldiers of his Siberian army and Kappelevites.

On September 1, 1922, when General Dieterichs already held power in Primorye, Pepelyaev's detachment was ready to leave Vladivostok. It received the name of the Siberian Volunteer Squad, but officially it was an expedition to protect the Okhotsk-Kamchatka coast.

To send a detachment to the ports of the Sea of Okhotsk, two steamships were chartered.

Upon the arrival of the expedition to the place, it turned out that the popular anti-Soviet movement in the Yakutsk region had already been liquidated by the Bolsheviks. According to one of the participants in the campaign, the help of the Siberian Volunteer Squad was at least three months late.

General Pepelyaev now faced the question of whether to create a new anti-Bolshevik movement in Yakutia or immediately return to Vladivostok. A meeting was arranged with local people who assured Pepelyaev that it was easy to create a movement in the region again, since there were still many partisan detachments in the taiga, and it would be enough for the squad to move forward, as it would quickly be strengthened by new volunteers.

Even before the arrival of General Vishnevsky in Ayan, Gen. Pepelyaev, with a detachment of 300 fighters, went to Nelkan to take the local red garrison by surprise there with its food and weapons supplies and shipping facilities. The detachment had to travel a distance of 240 versts through deserted terrain and on the way cross the difficult Dzhukdzhur Range, which during the autumn thaw, with insufficient means of transportation, was an extremely difficult task.

Nevertheless, this path was passed, and the detachment reached Nelkan, but three defectors warned the Reds about the approach of the enemy, and they managed to sail away on barges along the May River to Aldan.

Thus, the squad was forced to settle down for the winter at two points: in Nelkan, with General Pepelyaev, and in Ayan, with General Vishnevsky ... On November 19, a detachment from the port of Ayan, led by the gene, was able to approach Nelkan. Vishnevsky, and now only the third battalion of the squad remained in Ayan.

Pepelyaev's squad stayed in Nelkan for about a month, organizing their transport and collecting intelligence information. Information was received about the location of the red units in the area. It turned out that there were up to 350 red fighters in the Amga settlement, almost the same number in the villages of Petropavlovsky and Churapcha. In the regional city of Yakutsk, the number of red fighters was not found out. It was assumed that their main forces were here, led by the commander of all the red detachments in the region, Baikalov ...

On January 22, 1923, a detachment was sent from Ust-Mili to take the village of Amga, under the command of Colonel Renengart with a strength of up to 400 fighters with two machine guns ... The distance of 200 miles from Ust-Mil to Amga, the Renengart detachment passed at 40-50 ° along Réaumur in six days.

Amga was taken after a short resistance by the Reds ... This was the first success of the Whites, but the further development of the struggle brought them nothing but disappointment and serious disasters.

On February 12, information was received that the red garrison of the village of Petropavlovsky, under the command of Strodt, had withdrawn and went to Yakutsk. General Vishnevsky was sent to meet him with an instructor company and the 1st battalion, which was supposed to ambush and defeat the Reds while they were resting in one of the villages.

Strodt, however, learned of the proposed ambush and prepared to meet the enemy. In the Yakut ulus (village) Sigalsysy on February 13, a battle began ...

Strodt's detachment was surrounded; guards were posted around him in the forest. The Whites made an attempt to take Sigalsysy by storm, but the Reds developed destructive machine-gun fire, and this attempt was not successful.

In view of the impossibility of taking the enemy out of battle, the Whites decided not to lift the siege until the Reds, under the pressure of hunger, surrendered themselves. On February 25, information was received about the movement of the Churapchinsky Red Detachment to the rescue of Strodt. Gene. Pepelyaev sent part of his squad to meet this detachment, but again failed to destroy it.

Three days later, news came that a large detachment under the command of Baikalov himself had set out from Yakutsk. This detachment moved directly to Amga and on the morning of March 2 opened gun and machine-gun fire on it. The white defenders of Amga fired back from the Reds to the last bullet, then some of them retreated to Ust-Mili, some were captured by the enemy.

The situation has now changed drastically, not in favor of the Whites.

March 3 Gen. Pepelyaev ordered the retreat of his squad back to the village of Petropavlovsky, at the mouth of the Mai River. Among other things, the order said:

Having experienced severe hardships on the road, the retinue of Gen. Pepelyaev in early April. 1923 reached Nelkan. In total, about 600 people remained in the squad after the campaign against Yakutsk, including 200 Yakuts.

After resting in Nelkan, the detachment then went to Ayan on the shore of the Sea of Okhotsk. This was in the summer of 1923. Having learned about the exit of the detachment of General Pepelyaev to the sea, the red authorities of Primorye sent a military expedition on three ships from Vladivostok under the command of Vostretsov.

On the night of June 18, with a strong wind and a storm at sea, the Reds landed on the shore near Ayan and approached the port unnoticed, surrounding Pepelyaev's headquarters and its combat units. Vostretsov offered Pepelyaev to surrender without a fight, warning that otherwise his squad would be destroyed by force of arms.

There was no way out: Pepelyaev agreed to surrender ...

Pepelyaev and his most important associates were taken to Siberia, where they were tried in the city of Chita. The general himself and ten people from among those taken prisoner together were sentenced to death, but this sentence was later commuted to ten years in prison ...

"Gerventy~k~b~ 1922" ^

Border of the Far Eastern Republic in 1920-1922

Agreement at Gongota station on the cessation of hostilities on

"Merkul's coup" Since 21. 5.1921) - the establishment of the counter-revolutionary power of proteges of the Japanese imperialists ("black buffer")

/////// The territory liberated from the interventionists and the White Guards by April 1920

The main areas of the partisan movement Occupation of the CER by interventionists and White Guards Provocative actions of the Japanese military on April 4-6, 1920 Actions of the Japanese interventionists and White Guards Actions of the Red partisans Actions of the People's Revolutionary Army = (> Actions of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Detachments

West Trans-Baikal Front (15-7.1920) The line of the Amur Front by October 1920 (liquidation of the "Chita traffic jam") Eastern Front Line in February and October 1922

The defeat of the "White rebel army" near Volo^aevka f5-12 February 1922) and Zemskaya rati "near Spassk \\ October 7-9, 1922) © Defeat and capture of the guard gangs

The flight of the interventionists from the Far Voe eye

^ government troops of the RSFSR and the Far East Republic entered the territory of Mongolia and, together with the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army, liberated Urga on July 6, 1921.

The people's revolution won in Mongolia. However, due to the special historical conditions here, on July 11, 1921, a limited monarchy was proclaimed. The theocratic power of the Bogdogegen, the head of the Buddhist Church, was limited by the Provisional People's Government, which was under the leadership of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.

On November 5, 1921, an agreement was signed in Moscow between representatives of the Soviet government and representatives of the People's Government of Mongolia. In a conversation with Sukhe-Bator, V. I. Lenin pointed out that due to the geographical position of Mongolia, the imperialists, in the event of war, would strive to seize it and turn it into a springboard for an attack on Soviet Russia. “Therefore,” V.I. Lenin said to Sukhe-Bator, “the only correct way for every working person in your country is the struggle for state and economic independence in alliance with the workers and peasants of the RSFSR”54.

With the help of the Red Army, the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic in 1922 was completely cleared of the remnants of the White Guard gangs. Ungern was caught by a cavalry detachment of the 104th brigade and Shchetinkin's detachment and, by order of the revolutionary court, was shot. The liberated Mongolian people began the peaceful construction of an independent Mongolian People's Republic.

The defeat of the Red Army units of Baron Ungern in Transbaikalia and Mongolia, the expulsion of the White Guard detachments of Kazantsev, Bakich and others from the territory of Siberia and Tuva (now the Tuva Autonomous Region) made it possible for the Tuvan people to proclaim the Tannu-Tuva People's Republic in August 1921. The constitution of the young republic stated that the Tannu-Tuva Republic was a free and independent state, under the protection of Soviet Russia in international affairs.

After the failure of Ungern's adventure, the US and Japanese imperialists did not stop trying to destroy the Far Eastern Republic.

However, their coordinated actions were hampered by contradictions, the struggle for prevailing influence in the countries of the Pacific basin.

In order to "settle" relations in the Pacific Ocean and the Far East, on November 12, 1921, at the initiative of the United States, the Washington Nine-Power Conference was convened, in which, in addition to the United States, Great Britain, France, Japan, Italy, China, Belgium, Holland and Portugal took part. At the center of the Washington Conference were the question of the redistribution of spheres of influence in the Pacific Ocean and the Far East and the question of the correlation of the naval forces of the main imperialist powers.

From the very beginning of the Washington Conference, its anti-Soviet orientation was revealed. The government of the RSFSR did not even receive an invitation to take part in the conference. In a Soviet note dated July 19, 1921, sent before the conference to the governments of Great Britain, France, the USA, Japan and China, it was emphasized that

"The Russian government protests against its expulsion from the conference, which directly concerns it, as well as against any intention of any power to make decisions concerning the Pacific Ocean without the knowledge of Russia" 55.

To the statement of the US State Department that, in view of the absence of a single Russian government, the entire conference as a whole would take over the "protection" of Russia's interests, the Soviet government responded with a resolute protest.

“Russia,” the note of November 2, 1921, stated, “in recent years has experienced enough the cares of the great powers. Its interests are taken over by the same governments that bled it, sent tsarist generals against it, and strangled it with a ring of ruthless blockade.

The sweat of the Soviet government was left unanswered. The Washington Conference began its work without the participation of Soviet RUSSIA.

In December 1921, during the conference, a delegation from the Far East arrived in Washington and demanded a peaceful resolution of the Far East issue and an end to the armed Japanese intervention. The requirements of the DVR, however, were not satisfied. The Washington Conference tacitly sanctioned Japan's actions in the Far East.

In turn, Japan, in order to strengthen its positions in the Far East, even before the start of the conference in Washington, tried to resort to negotiations with the government of the Far East. For this purpose, the Dairen Conference was convened, which lasted from August 26, 1921 to April 16, 1922. The Dairen Conference was unofficially attended by a representative of the government of the RSFSR. 10 Yu. Markhlevsky. The FER delegation at the conference was headed by Deputy Prime Minister F. N. Petrov.

The government of the Far East, agreeing to Japan's proposal for talks in Dairen, once again demonstrated its peaceful policy and sought to use the conference to expose the aggressive and predatory policy of foreign, primarily Japanese, imperialists in the Far East. From the very first meetings of the Dairen Conference, the true intentions of the Japanese ruling circles were revealed. The proposal of the FER delegation to publish a joint declaration on the cessation of hostilities was refused by the Japanese. The FER delegation submitted a draft treaty, the main requirement of which was Japan's commitment to evacuate its troops from the Far East. Japan rejected this proposal and submitted its own counterdraft of the treaty, in which it presented the FER with demands: to tear down all the fortifications on the border with Korea and in the area of the Vladivostok fortress, to destroy the navy in the Pacific Ocean, to recognize the freedom of residence and movement of Japanese military officials in the FER, to equate Japanese subjects to subjects of the Far East in the field of trade, crafts and trades, to grant Japanese subjects the right to own land, freedom of navigation for Japanese ships on the Amur and Sungari rivers, to lease Sakhalin Island to Japan for a period of 80 years, not to introduce a communist regime into the Far East, etc. .

The demands of the Japanese imperialists aimed at turning the Far East into a colony of Japan were categorically rejected by the FER delegation. The Dairen conference ended inconclusively.

Simultaneously with the negotiations, the interventionists were preparing an attack on the Far East with the forces of the White Guards of Primorye. Preparing for an attack on the Far East, the White Guards intensified the persecution of the Communists in Primorye. The Maritime Bolshevik organization suffered two major setbacks during 1921, which undermined its fighting efficiency. The first failure of the party organization occurred at the time of preparations for the uprising against Merkulovism in the summer of 1921. 13 the last moment before the speech, the provocateur gave the White Guards the whole plan of the uprising. Active participants in the preparation of the uprising, led by the Communist II. V. Rukosuev-Ordynsky were arrested and many of them were killed without trial or investigation. The second time the underground organization was betrayed by a traitor in the last days of December 1921. The failures of the Bolshevik organization weakened the party leadership of the partisan movement in Primorye and made it easier for the White Guards to implement the plan of attack on the Far East.

In order to disguise an armed uprising against the Far East, the Merkulov government renamed the Semenov-Kappel troops into the "White Rebel Army." General Molchanov, who was close to the Social Revolutionaries, was appointed commander of this army.

Before launching a decisive offensive against the Far East, the White Command, in order to protect its rear and flanks, carried out extensive operations in November 1921 against the partisan centers of Primorye - Suchan, Anuchino, Yakovlevka. Under the onslaught of superior enemy forces, offering them stubborn resistance, the partisans were forced to retreat in small detachments to the taiga and hills.

Having thus secured its rear and right flank, the Merkulov army, under the cover of Japanese troops, concentrated in the area of Shmakovka station. Having freely passed the neutral zone between the stations of Ussuri and Iman, on November 30, 1921, the White Guard troops launched an offensive against the Far East.

During December, the insignificant garrisons of the People's Revolutionary Army, concentrated at the northern border of the neutral zone, fought intense battles with the Whites. Yielding to the enemy in numbers and weapons, they were forced to withdraw. On December 22, the White Guards captured Khabarovsk, crossed the Amur and occupied the Volochaevka railway station. Advancing on Khabarovsk along the railway line, the White Guard troops made an attempt to cut off the retreat routes of the troops of the People's Revolutionary Army. To do this, from the village of Kazakevpchevo, a cavalry group of General Sakharov consisting of 1,500 sabers was sent around Khabarovsk. It was supposed to cross the Amur on the ice and, reaching the Volochaevka area, destroy the railway in the rear of the People's Revolutionary Army and defeat the revolutionary troops of the Khabarovsk direction.

The plan of the White Guard command was thwarted. Near Kazaksvichevo, Sakharov's group was detained by a small special-purpose detachment, created from communists and Komsomol members mobilized by the Amur and Amur regional committees of the RCP (b). This detachment of 200 people took up a POSITION near Kazakevichsvo. After a fierce battle in the heroic squad, surrounded by enemies, only a few fighters survived. 28 wounded communists and Komsomol members were captured and tortured to death. Among the dead were the head of the department of agitation and propaganda of the Amur regional committee of the RCP (b) Sedoykin (A. N. Borodkin), the commissioner of post and telegraph of the Amur region “JI. Koshuba, a mill worker N. I. Pechkin, Komsomol students M. Korolev, A. Rudykh and others. Thanks to the stubborn resistance offered to the Whites at Kazakevichevo, units of the People's Revolutionary Army managed to retreat to the Ying station and take up new positions.

The failures of the units of the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far East in the Khabarovsk sector were largely due to errors in the strategic plan for the defense of the Far East and unsatisfactory leadership of the troops by the command and headquarters of the Amur Military District. The military command, as well as the party leadership of the Far Eastern Republic, considered the Manchuria-Chita sector as the main threatening direction. The danger that arose in connection with the Merkul coup in Primorye was underestimated by them. It was assumed that the Whites could be paralyzed by the actions of partisan detachments, operationally subordinate to the headquarters of the Amur Military District.

At a meeting of the Dalburo on June 1, 1921, the question "On the defense of the republic in connection with the performance of the White Guards in Primorye" was discussed. At this meeting, the Dalburo, taking into account the possibility of an open Japanese attack from the territory of Manchuria, as well as the offensive that Ungern had begun from Mongolia, adopted a plan for the defense of the Far East. The plan provided for the division of the territory of the Far East into three combat areas: Western - from the Selenga River to Manchuria and Argun, Amur - to Khabarovsk, Primorsky - partisan. The main armed forces of the FER, according to this plan, were concentrated in Transbaikalia - in the Manchu direction.

This decision was based on the assumption of the possibility of using internal contradictions both among the White Guard counter-revolution of Primorye and between the American and Japanese imperialists. There was also an unfounded hope that the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, using the Kappelites, would be able to disintegrate Merkulov's army. Along with this, excessively great importance was attached to the role of the partisan movement in Primorye to the detriment of strengthening the regular armed forces in the Khabarovsk sector. Therefore, the defense of the area from the Iman River in Primorye to Blagoveshchensk, inclusive, was provided by the forces of four incomplete regiments.

The People's Revolutionary Army, which was formed from partisan detachments and units of the Kolchak troops who had gone over to the side of the revolution, numbered by the summer of 1921 90 thousand people of different ages and terms of service. To bring the army into a combat-ready state, the Far Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on August 16, 1921 decided to reorganize the army and reduce its size, to demobilize the elderly and mobilize the youth.

The staffing of the units of the People's Revolutionary Army had not yet been completed by the beginning of the White offensive. The offensive of the Merkulovites began at a time when the older people's army soldiers were demobilized, and the youth drafted into the army had not yet arrived. As a result, the military units of the Amur District were only 40 percent complete and were not adequately trained.

The command of the Amur war district turned out to be unprepared to repel the enemy offensive. The district headquarters did not have an operational plan in case of an attack by the White Guards from Primorye. At the moment the enemy offensive began, the command of the people's revolutionary troops of the Khabarovsk direction was confused and let go of the leadership from their hands. The defense of the Khabarovsk region was not secured. All these circumstances were the reason for the temporary success of the Whites and the retreat of parts of the People's Revolutionary Army beyond the Amur.

The Dalburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the government of the Far Eastern Republic took decisive measures to prepare for the defeat of the White Guard troops. At the end of December 1921, the Dalburo of the Central Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan11(b) decided to concentrate all the forces of the People's Revolutionary Army on the Eastern Front, and during the period of concentration of forces to conduct active defense in the area of the Ying station, using partisan operations on a large scale in the rear of the White Guards 57. In the Amur and Amur regions, six ages were drafted into the army, and in Transbaikalia - four ages. To strengthen the Eastern Front, units of the People's Revolutionary Army were transferred from Transbaikalia to Khabarovsk. At the request of the command of the People's Revolutionary Army, the 104th brigade of the Soviet 5th Army was moved to cover the Manchu direction in Transbaikalia.

By order of the main command of the People's Revolutionary Army at the end of December 1921, the headquarters of the Eastern Front was created. S. Seryshev was appointed commander of the front, and P. Postyshev was appointed commissar. In order to organize and strengthen the rear area of the front and ensure the successful mobilization of reinforcements for the People's Revolutionary Army, a rear headquarters was created in Blagoveshchensk.

The party organizations of the Far Eastern Republic switched to martial law. The Amur party organization completely joined the ranks of the army. The Amur regional committee of the RCP (b) in the very first days of the offensive of the White Guards mobilized and sent to the front one hundred communists and one hundred Komsomol members. The Annunciation Committee of the RCP(b) announced that all its members and candidates are considered to be mobilized and are under martial law. Most of the Komsomol organizations completely merged into the military units. Volunteer detachments of youth were created, for example, in Chita - a company named after S. Lazo, in Primorye - a youth detachment named after K. Liebknecht. In all cities and villages of the Far Eastern Republic, an extensive campaign was carried out to raise funds and provide assistance to the soldiers of the People's Revolutionary Army. In the center of the Far Eastern Republic and in the localities, committees for helping the front were created from representatives of state, party, Komsomol, trade union and other organizations. THESE committees were closely connected with the People's Revolutionary Army and provided great assistance to the front with food and uniforms. Workers and employees remained for overtime work, deducted part of their salary to the Fovd of the army. During the fighting on the outskirts of Khabarovsk, many members of the People's Assembly, as well as a number of government members, went to the front line to organize assistance to the front. The People's Assembly adopted a law on an emergency military tax on the bourgeoisie in the amount of half a million gold rubles. Only the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks voted against. They systematically tried to disrupt the activities of the government of the Far East, both in the field of domestic and foreign policy, and hindered the work of the state apparatus. Moreover, their criminal role was established as accomplices and participants in the military adventure of the Merkulovites against the FER58. In order to purge the authorities of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks in December 1921, the coalition with them in the Council of Ministers of the Far Eastern Republic was liquidated 59.

Thanks to the measures taken, the People's Revolutionary Army was strengthened in a short time and a decisive turning point was achieved on the front.

The White Guard offensive from the east was halted at the Pi station of the Amur railway, a hundred kilometers west of Khabarovsk. Even on the outskirts of the Ying station, the White Guards were exhausted by the continuous counterattacks of the People's Revolutionary Army detachments and the attack of the partisans in the rear. On the night of December 28, the White Guard command made an attempt to continue the offensive by organizing an unexpected raid on the Ying station by a group of troops of General Sakharov consisting of 1,000 bayonets and 200 cavalry. But the Indian battle ended with the defeat of the enemy 60.

After the Insk battle, Merkulov's "White rebel army" retreated to Volochaevka -? a small station of the Ussuri railway, 48 kilometers west of Khabarovsk. The commander of the White Guard troops, General Molchanov, decided to switch to active defense, firmly securing the Khabarovsk region. Colonel Argunov, who commanded the White Guard units in the Volochaevkp area, was ordered to urgently strengthen this area by creating a chain of fortifications in a narrow passage between the Amur and Tunguska rivers. Here the enemy decided to hold out until spring, accumulate strength, reorganize the army, clear his rear of partisans, and go on the offensive with the beginning of spring. This plan of the enemy was revealed: in early January, one of the detachments of the people's troops raided the headquarters of the 1st Corps of General Molchanov and seized operational documents.

It was impossible to delay. It was necessary to defeat the White Guards before the onset of spring.

During January and the first days of February 1922, the command of the People's Revolutionary Army was gathering forces to deliver a decisive blow to the enemy near Volochaevka. For this, the Special Amur Regiment, the Troptskosava Cavalry Regiment and the Chita Rifle Brigade were transferred from the Trans-Baikal Military District to the EASTERN Front. The transfer of these units was completed by January 31, 1922. The troops that arrived from Transbaikalia formed the Transbaikal Group of Forces of the Eastern Front. The rifle units located at the Ying station, the 5th, 6th and Special Amur regiments were consolidated into the Consolidated Brigade and, together with the 4th Cavalry Regiment, two partisan detachments and the Troitskosava Cavalry Regiment that arrived later, made up the 11th Front Group.

During these days, the activities of the partisans were especially intensified. In the rear of the White Guards, in Primorye, a Military Council of Partisan Detachments was created under the leadership of the Communists K. F. Pshenitsyn and A. K. Flegontov. The region was divided into eight military regions, in which, according to the general plan, partisan detachments were deployed. The GTartizan detachments provided great assistance to the People's Revolutionary Army and inflicted serious losses on the White Guards, who were forced to devote significant forces to protect their rear.

On January 6, 1922, partisans of the Imanskaya Valley raided the Muravyov-Amursky station, where the White Guard artillery depot was located. The unexpected attack failed: the warehouse was heavily guarded. Three times the partisans made a bayonet attack, reached the warehouse and blew it up.

On the night of January 12, a partisan detachment raided Khabarovsk, where the headquarters of the 1st White Guard Corps of General Molchanov was located. The Whites repulsed the raid with heavy losses, but for this they had to pull two regiments from under Volochaevkp.

Before the beginning of the Volochaev operation, the balance of forces of the parties was as follows: units of the People's Revolutionary Army had about 6300 bayonets and 1300 sabers, 300 machine guns, 30 guns, 3 armored trains, 2 tanks; the White Guards at the front had about 4550 bayonets and sabers, 63 machine guns, 12 guns and 3 armored trains.

Volochaevka was the last stronghold of the enemy. The command of the "White Army" was clearly aware of this. General Molchanov, apparently expecting the advance of the troops of the People's Revolutionary Army, wrote in an address to his officers:

“The question of our very being requires the full exertion of all forces in order to achieve victory. We live with victory - failure can deprive us of our very existence as an anti-Bolshevik organization ... ”He urged senior military leaders to“ breathe into the hearts of subordinates the passionate spirit of victory ”,“ talk to everyone and electrify everyone ”, inspire everyone“ that throwing a wire under no circumstances."

Knowing that the White Guards, who had settled in Volochaevka, would fiercely resist, the troops of the People's Revolutionary Army prepared for a stubborn battle. During the last two weeks of January, despite severe frosts, sometimes reaching up to 35 degrees, the troops were intensively trained. On January 28, instead of the field headquarters, the commander-in-chief of the People's Revolutionary Army, V.K. There was a parade of revolutionary units and a small rally. The commanders and commissars turned to the soldiers with appeals: “Volochaevka must be ours!”, “Khabarovsk must be red!”, “Forward, for the liberation of J [Rimorye!”. And in response, in the frosty air, a friendly, cheerful, rolling "Hurrah!"

VOLOCHAEVSKY YOY (From a painting by E. O. Mashkevich.)

The offensive plan of the People's Revolutionary Army, adopted by the commander-in-chief, provided for inflicting two successive blows on the enemy. As a result of the first strike, the revolutionary troops were to capture the area of the Olgokhta station and create a bridgehead for a further offensive on Volochaevka. The second blow was designed to capture Volochasvka and defeat the White Guard troops. 62. After occupying the Olgokhta station and regrouping forces, the Consolidated Brigade was to advance along the railway line and, with the assistance of partisan detachments, strike at the right flank of the White Guards. After the occupation of Volochaevka, this group was given the task of pursuing the enemy in the Khabarovsk direction. The Trans-Baikal group of troops was to move from the Olgokhta station in the Amur direction, strike at the left flank of the White Guards and, going through Kazaksvichevo to the railway behind enemy lines, cut off his retreat to Primorye. Thus, the plan provided for the encirclement and destruction of the enemy in the area of Khabarovsk 63.

The Volochaev positions were a serious knot of enemy resistance. During January 1922, the White Guards managed to build powerful fortifications in the area of Volochaevka station. They began in the north at Tunguska and, passing through a series of hills and the western outskirts of the village of Volochaevka, ended in the south with the fortified area of Verkhpe-Spasskoye on the Amur. The Volochaevka area was especially carefully fortified. The White Guards built here deep, man-sized trenches with ice ramparts, numerous carefully hidden machine-gun nests, and surrounded these "fortifications" with several rows of barbed wire.

The tactical key to the enemy's defense was the June-Koran hill, dominating the area. This height, with well-equipped machine-gun and artillery positions and observation posts, gave the entrenched enemy huge advantages. The troops of the People's Revolutionary Army were to conduct an offensive across a wide open plain covered with deep, waist-deep, loose snow.

On February 4, V.K. Blyukher ordered the Trans-Baikal Group of Forces to drive the enemy out of Olgokhta and ensure the deployment of all parts of the front for a general offensive.

The offensive was launched on February 5, 1922 by the 2nd Regiment of the Chita Rifle Brigade, the Special Amur Regiment and the armored train No. 8. On February 5, they occupied the Olgokhta station. On February 7, the enemy launched a counterattack, trying to encircle the revolutionary troops. But the enemy encountered stubborn resistance. The gunners of the 3rd light battery behaved especially selflessly in this battle. Not afraid of death, under the bullets of the enemy, they fired in cold blood at the White Guard chains and, having let the enemy at close range, mowed down with shells and grapeshot

his ranks. The White Guards were forced to withdraw. For the feat under the Olgokhta station, the battery was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

During February 8 and 9, units were concentrated at their starting positions at the Insk bridgehead, and on February 10, a general offensive of the troops of the Eastern Front began. The consolidated brigade under the command of Ya. 3. Pokus and the partisan detachments of Petrov-Teterin and I.P. Shevchuk launched an assault on the Volochaev fortifications, and the Trans-Baikal group of troops under the command of N.D. Tomin went on the offensive in the Verkhne-Spasskoe and NizhneSpasskoye in the Amur direction with the aim of reaching the Ussuri railway and encircling the enemy in the Khabarovsk region.

Parts of the Consolidated Brigade went on the offensive at 12 noon. The 5th infantry and 4th cavalry regiments marched from the north, a battalion of the Special Amur Regiment and two tanks - in the center, to the June-Koran hill. The 6th Infantry Regiment under the command of A. Zakharov attacked the Whites from the south

A fierce battle broke out.

The 6th Rifle Regiment dealt the main blow to the Volochaev fortifications. The Korean company of this regiment was the first to reach the wire, but was completely killed by fire from enemy armored trains. The foot team of scouts of the Special Amur Regiment, led by assistant regiment commander Shimonin Tatke, reached the wire, but, having lost 16 fighters, including Shimonin himself, who was wounded, was forced to retreat. The 6th company of the Special Amur Regiment, accompanied by two old Reio tanks, also moved to the wire. On the way, one tank deteriorated, the other was hit a hundred meters from the wire by a shell from an enemy armored train. The tank driver, getting out of the car, wanted to repair the damage, but was wounded. When the White Guards rushed to the tank, the driver blew himself up and the engine with a grenade. The company, having lost half of its composition, withdrew and buried itself in the snow.

The fighters had no scissors, no axes, no explosive bombs, and they were powerless before the wire. In addition, the armored trains of the People's Revolutionary Army could not support them with their fire: the destroyed bridges had not yet been restored, and the artillery fell behind. Therefore, enemy armored trains could move along the railroad with impunity and shoot fighters from the flank with almost direct fire. The advancing infantry, finding themselves without artillery support, having fallen under the hurricane fire of an enemy armored train, could not overcome the barbed wire.

By evening, the fighting had died down. On the night of February 11, units of the People's Revolutionary Army withdrew several hundred paces from the barbed wire and lay in chains in the snow around Volochaevka.

Taking advantage of the respite, the medical teams transported the wounded and frostbitten to the rear. In semi-barracks No. 3, a few kilometers from the front line, where the commander-in-chief, his field headquarters and the headquarters of the Consolidated Brigade were located, they allotted a small room for the sanitary unit. The most seriously wounded and frostbite were placed in it. For forty kilometers around lay a white snowy desert, and only in some places on it were the remains of rare buildings burned by the White Guards blackened.

By nightfall, the frost intensified, a storm arose, covering the fighters lying in front of Volochaevka with snow. All night and all day on February 11, the people's army lay under the open sky in the snow, without getting hot food. They ate salted salmon and hard as a stone bread. With great difficulty, it was possible to withdraw the fighters in groups one or two kilometers to the rear, to the fires. But even there they could not get warm enough. Shod and dressed were who in what much. Many wore leather boots, overcoats, jackets and undershirts, only a few had ichigi and felt boots, padded jackets and sheepskin coats. To warm the legs, they received bags stuffed with hay and straw. This device, uncomfortable for walking, nevertheless saved from frostbite. Overworked after a huge effort, the fighters fell asleep in the snow, despite the frost. By order of the front headquarters, the commanders walked along the chains and woke up those who had fallen asleep.

Despite the failure, the battle of February 10 near Volochaevka allowed the command of the People's Revolutionary Army to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy. It was found that the fortifications of Volochaevka could be bypassed from the south. All day on February 11, preparations were underway for a decisive assault.

By the evening of February 11, the railway bridges and tracks were repaired. Armored trains No. 8 and No. 9 approached the front line. The front command, pulling up some units from the reserve, reinforced the 6th regiment, which was assigned the main task. The command of the group was entrusted to the commander of the 6th regiment Zakharov, and his assistant Malyshenko led the 6th regiment.

By this time, units of the Chita brigade under the command of Tomin, having traveled about 30 kilometers through the virgin snow in frost and snowstorm, after fierce fighting occupied the villages of Verkhne-Spasskoye and Nizhne-Spasskoye. Parts of the White Guard General Nikitin, covering the Amur direction, were forced to retreat. The Troitsko-Savsky cavalry regiment, which was part of the Chita brigade, pursued the enemy. On the night of February 12, a group of Gyultsgof was sent from the south to bypass Volochaevka, consisting of the 3rd battalion of the 6th regiment, foot reconnaissance of the 6th and 3rd regiments and a squadron of the Amur regiment with two guns. By the morning of February 12, the group reached the Volochaevka - Nizhne-Spasskoye road, where it joined up with the Troitskosavsky regiment and headed for the rear of the Volochaev fortifications.

At 7 am on February 12, when everything was ready for the offensive, three shots were fired from the 120-mm Vickers gun from the armored train No. 9. This was the prearranged signal for the assault, and

Artillery preparation began. An hour later, in the gray predawn fog, all units of the NRA in front of Volochaevka went on the offensive.

Each fighter walked with one thought - win or die. The White Guards showered them with bullets and buckshot. Frost did not allow breathing, blinded his eyes. Every now and then falling into the swamp, firing on the move, the fighters rushed forward uncontrollably. They cut down the barriers with sabers, tore the wire with butts, broke it with stiff hands, fell on it, struck down by a deadly downpour, and the living ran over their bodies.

The first companies of the advancing armored train of the enemy were cut off by machine gun fire, and the rest were forced to lay low. Armored train No. 8 entered into single combat with the enemy’s armored train. Its commander decided either to shoot the enemy’s mobile fortress with direct fire from guns or ram it. The control platform was smashed by enemy shells, the side of the machine-gun platform was torn apart, one of the shells hit the locomotive. But the commander of armored train No. 8 gave the command: “Forward!” and went to approach the enemy. The front gun of the White Guard armored train was smashed by a direct hit. The enemy retreated. Armored train No. 8, pursuing the enemy, broke after him into the location of the enemy units.

By this time Gultzhof's group and the Troitskosava Regiment had reached the railroad line east of Volochaevka and set fire to several bridges. General Molchanov was forced to withdraw part of his troops to fight this column.

When the assault units became aware of the victory of the armored train No. 8 and the exit of the Gyultshof column behind enemy lines, they again rushed to the attack.

Heavy misty haze and icy wind, bullets and wire - everything was against them. Death snatched from their ranks one by one.

Overgrown with hoarfrost, showered with snow, chilled to the bone, the soldiers of the People's Revolutionary Army fought furiously in a bayonet battle. The White Guards could not resist. They fired back, started to retreat, and then fled. At eleven o'clock in the afternoon on February 12, Volochaevka was taken.

Presentation of awards to the soldiers of the People's Revolutionary Army, who distinguished themselves in the battle near Volochaevka. (A photo.)

The battle near Volochaevka, in terms of the heroism shown by the revolutionary troops, can only be compared with the storming of Perekop. Usually restrained, Commander-in-Chief Blucher, a participant in the battle of Perekop, said that he found it difficult to single out the valor of any individual unit: everyone fought heroically and selflessly looked into the face of death. Even the enemy spoke with admiration of the extraordinary heroism of the soldiers of the People's Revolutionary Army. Colonel Argunov, who led the defense of Volochaevka, said that he would give all the participants in the assault a St. George cross. For courage and heroism in the Volochaev battle, the 6th Infantry Regiment, in whose ranks the international companies of Koreans and Chinese fought, and the armored train No. 8, as the most distinguished, were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. The 6th Infantry Regiment was later renamed the 4th Order of the Red Banner Volochaevsky Rifle Regiment. Orders of the Red Banner were also received by 67 commanders and soldiers of the People's Revolutionary Army. The heroes of the Volochaev assault, who fell in battle, were erected a monument on the June-Koran hill. A bronze soldier of the People's Revolutionary Army with a rifle in his hand stands over the mass grave of the fallen heroes. The glory of the heroes is sung in folk songs and legends.

With the victory near Volochaevka of the People's Revolutionary Army, the workers and peasants of the Far East wrote another heroic page in the history of the struggle against the White Guards and interventionists for the freedom and independence of the Soviet Motherland.

The battle near Volochaevka was a turning point. After Volochaevka, the "White Rebel Army" was no longer able to recover. True, the initial plan of the commander-in-chief - to encircle and completely defeat the troops of General Molchanov near Khabarovsk - could not be realized. The Trans-Baikal group of troops, pursuing the enemy in the Amur direction, was unable to join the Pokus brigade in time. On February 14, 1922, the People's Revolutionary Army liberated Khabarovsk. The White Guards retreated to the south.

The enemy tried to detain units of the People's Revolutionary Army near the Bikin station, but after a stubborn battle on February 28, he was also shot down from this position. Having suffered heavy losses, the Whites fled to the city of Iman, within the neutral zone. When units of the People's Revolutionary Army, pursuing the enemy, entered this zone, the Japanese opened military operations against them. The troops of the People's Revolutionary Army, obeying the directives of the government of the Far Eastern Republic not to clash with the Japanese troops, suspended the offensive and took up positions in the valley of the Iman River. The fighting stopped temporarily. The working people of the Far Eastern Republic, led by Bolshevik organizations, launched the preparation of forces for the complete expulsion of the interventionists. HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN THE USSR.

21:05 — REGNUM The so-called Nikolaev events became a pretext for the continuation of the presence of Japanese troops in the Russian Far East. Since these events are still used in Japan to this day as a justification for the intervention that has dragged on for years, we will present both the Japanese and Russian versions of what happened. Japanese historians write:

“The Russian Revolution of 1917 had a profound effect on capitalist states throughout the world. The struggle in each of these states by the working class and communist organizations against capitalism increased social tension. The emergence of a workers' state in Russia strengthened the feeling of solidarity among the workers of all countries with Russia as a state born of the revolution. As a result of this, they could not help dreaming of carrying out the world revolution that the Bolsheviks proclaimed. The capitalist states took the side of the representatives of the old system and their troops - the White Army, which represented an intervention in the Civil War. At the insistence of the three states of the Entente, two other states - Japan and the United States, under the pretext of saving the Czechoslovak Corps, decided on a military expedition to Siberia. The Czechoslovak corps, which fought during the First World War together with the German army, as a result of revolutionary unrest, having lost its former place of deployment, moved to Siberia. In August 1918, the troops of England, Canada, France, the United States and Japan landed in Vladivostok. The Japanese troops, violating the agreement that their strength, like the American armed forces, would be 7 thousand people, continued to build up their power and brought the number of troops to a maximum of 72.4 thousand people. As for the Civil War, starting in 1920, the advantage of the Red Army became obvious, and in March of the same year, American troops were completely withdrawn to their homeland. However, the Japanese army did not do this. In February 1920, the so-called Nikolaev incident took place, as a result of which 384 Japanese local residents and 351 Japanese soldiers became victims of partisans in the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. Therefore, Japanese troops continued to be in Russia until October 1922 (and in Northern Sakhalin until 1925).

This is the Japanese version. In Russian publications on this topic, a more detailed description of the events is given:

“The Nikolaev incident took place on March 12-14, 1920. Back in early February, detachments of red partisans of the lower reaches of the Amur captured the Chnyrrakh fortress and until February 28 kept the city of Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, which was occupied by the Japanese garrison and the White Guards, from land in a blockade. The Japanese command concluded an agreement with the partisans, under which they pledged to maintain neutrality and not interfere in the life of the city liberated by the partisans.

However, the neutrality of the invaders did not last long. On the night of March 12, the Japanese garrison under the command of Major Ishikawa, treacherously violating the recent agreement like a samurai, suddenly attacked the partisan barracks and their headquarters. The attackers did not achieve what they wanted and did not take the Amur partisans by surprise. During the bloody three-day battles, the Japanese garrison was utterly defeated and expelled from the city. Somewhat later, after the Amur was cleared of ice, a large Japanese expeditionary detachment with punitive functions arrived in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur on military ships. The partisans, due to their small numbers and poor armament, lack of ammunition, could not defend the liberated city and left it together with the locals. The Japanese, in fact, without a fight got the depopulated city, which covered the mouth of the Amur River.

Wanting to avenge the defeat in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Japanese punishers organized a massacre in Primorye - more than five thousand people were killed and wounded, including Sergey Lazo, one of the leaders of the Far East, was burned in the furnace of a steam locomotive. In April 1920, the Japanese forcibly dispersed the authorities in Vladivostok and other cities of Primorye and Khabarovsk, and disarmed the local troops. Under the pretext of "protecting the lives and property of compatriots," in the same month, Japanese troops occupied Northern Sakhalin.

Since the expulsion of the Japanese occupiers from Russian territory was recognized by the Soviet authorities as a matter "now unbearable", the Soviet government, for the purpose of a temporary peaceful settlement in the eastern regions of the country, decided to go for the creation of a "buffer" democratic state in the Far East. On April 6, 1920, the Constituent Congress of the Workers of Transbaikalia in Verkhneudinsk proclaimed the formation of an independent Far Eastern Republic (FER), which included the territory from Lake Baikal to the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, the Soviet government offered Japan to stop hostilities in the Far East.

Suffering losses in clashes with parts of the army of the Far East and partisans, the Japanese agreed to negotiations. On July 14, 1920, an armistice agreement was signed between the government of the Far East and the command of the expeditionary forces in the Far East, after which the Japanese troops were withdrawn from Transbaikalia. Having lost the support of the Japanese, the gangs of Ataman Semenov fled to Manchuria. After its liberation, Chita became the capital of the Far Eastern Republic. Although the Japanese continued to occupy Primorye and did not want to abandon their plans to subjugate the Siberian territories included in the Far East, the situation was not in their favor. The decree of the Japanese government adopted on August 4, 1920 stated:

“The general situation in Europe, the victories of the Soviet armies on the Polish front, the growing danger from the Soviet government, the perceived antipathy on the part of the United States and China, the steps taken by America in the question of Sakhalin, the general preparation of the United States for war ... prevent us from fully carrying out our political projects in Siberia… The operation against the Amur region should be suspended, but the troops should be kept ready.”

Understanding that Moscow regards the Far East as a temporary formation, the Japanese command sought to eliminate the Communists from the People's Assembly and the government of the republic and facilitate the seizure of power in Primorye by counter-revolutionary forces. To this end, in early December 1920, with the direct participation of the Japanese, three divisions of the White Guards were transferred from Manchuria to Primorye. These troops were used in organizing a coup with the aim of transferring power in May 1921 to the “Merkulov government” that carried out the will of the Japanese. However, it was not possible to expand the scale of the rebellion beyond the borders of Southern Primorye.

The continuation of the armed struggle of the Red Army and partisans against the interventionists, the facts of the decay and desertion of soldiers and officers of the Japanese expeditionary army forced Tokyo to enter into the negotiation process. The terms of the peace settlement were discussed between the FER and the government of Japan from August 1921 to April 1922. in the Chinese city of Dairen. The FER delegation suggested signing an agreement providing for Japan's obligation to evacuate all troops from the Far East. However, the Japanese side, having rejected this proposal, put forward its own project, obliging the FER: to destroy all fortifications on the border with Korea and in the area of the Vladivostok fortress; eliminate the navy in the Pacific; recognize the freedom of residence and movement of Japanese military officials in the Far East; to equate Japanese subjects with subjects of the Far East in the field of trade, crafts, trades; grant Japanese subjects the right to own land, Japanese courts freedom of navigation for Japanese ships on the Amur and Sungari rivers; lease Sakhalin Island to Japan for 80 years; not to introduce a communist regime into the FER, etc. Considering such demands as aimed at turning the Russian Far East into a Japanese colony, the FER delegation resolutely rejected them. In response, the Japanese delegation stated on April 16 that "in accordance with the instructions of its government, it is suspending the conference."

To strengthen their positions in the negotiations, the Japanese organized an offensive by the White Guard units from Primorye to Khabarovsk. Taking advantage of the superiority in forces, the army of the White Guards, numbering 20 thousand bayonets, captured Khabarovsk and, coordinating their actions with the Japanese command, prepared to throw into the Amur region. However, these plans were thwarted. At the beginning of 1922, the army of the Far Eastern Republic defeated the White Guards at Volochaevka, and on February 14 Khabarovsk was liberated. The subsequent attempts of the Japanese and White Guards to go on the offensive again were thwarted.

The negative attitude towards the continuation of intervention both at home and abroad, in particular in the USA, prompted the Japanese government to enter into negotiations not only with the Far Eastern Republic, but also with the RSFSR. The conference opened on September 4, 1922 in Changchun. The beginning of the negotiations was facilitated by the statement of the Japanese government about its readiness to withdraw troops from Primorye by November 1, 1922. The joint delegation of the Far East and the RSFSR demanded the evacuation of Japanese troops also from Northern Sakhalin. The Japanese, declaring their disagreement to stop the occupation of the island, put forward the previous version of their conditions. This brought the conference to a standstill - on September 26 it was interrupted.

Contrary to the promise to evacuate troops, the Japanese government began to openly prepare to seize Primorye. It was announced the intention, by uniting Primorye and Manchuria, to create a "buffer" on their territory under the protectorate of Japan. In September, the Japanese newspaper Kokumin published a statement by the chief of the general staff of the Japanese army that without the creation of a Russian-Manchurian buffer "it is impossible to carry out Japanese plans in Siberia and Manchuria." It became clear that the Japanese interventionists would not leave the Russian Far East of their own free will.

On September 1, 1922, the White Guard units again tried to go on the offensive from Primorye to the north. However, units of the army of the Far East and partisan detachments repelled their attacks, and then, going on a counteroffensive in October, captured the White stronghold in the Spassk area. On October 15, Nikolsk-Ussuriysky was liberated, and the FER troops came close to Vladivostok. Here they were blocked by Japanese troops. On October 21, the governments of the RSFSR and the Far East sent a note to the government of Japan, in which they declared a strong protest against "the delay in the evacuation and the prevention of Russian troops in Vladivostok." Being surrounded by units of the regular army and partisan detachments pulled to Vladivostok, the Japanese command was forced to sign an agreement on the evacuation of their troops no later than October 25, 1922. On this day, Vladivostok and the entire Far East came under the authority of the government of the Far Eastern Republic. The congratulatory telegram of the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR V. Ulyanov (Lenin) said:

“On the fifth anniversary of the victorious October Revolution, the Red Army took another decisive step towards the complete cleansing of the territory of the RSFSR and the republics allied with it from the troops of foreign invaders. The occupation of Vladivostok by the people's revolutionary army of the FER unites Russian citizens who have endured the heavy yoke of Japanese imperialism with the working masses of Russia. Greeting all the working people of Russia and the heroic Red Army with this new victory, I ask the government of the Far Eastern Republic to convey to all the workers and peasants of the liberated regions and the city of Vladivostok the greetings of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR.

On November 13, 1922, the FER People's Assembly proclaimed the power of the Soviets throughout the Far East, and on November 16, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee proclaimed the FER an integral part of the RSFSR.

But this armed intervention of Japan was not fully completed. Having set itself the goal of including all of Sakhalin in its empire, the Japanese government refused to withdraw its troops from the occupied northern part of the island, which has great strategic importance and significant natural resources. For energy-poor Japan, the exploitation of coal deposits and oil fields was of no small importance. The question of Sakhalin was one of the central ones in the negotiations on the establishment of interstate relations.

The movement to establish diplomatic relations with the USSR was led by a prominent political figure, Tokyo Mayor Shimpei Goto. On his initiative, unofficial Soviet-Japanese negotiations began in February 1923. Then, due to the obstruction of the anti-Soviet right wing of the Japanese ruling class and the vigorous activity of white émigré organizations and groups in Japan, it was not possible to succeed. However, the interest of business circles in resolving existing problems and establishing long-term conditions for economic cooperation, primarily in the field of fisheries, prompted the government to announce a "new policy" towards the USSR. The recognition of its leading European powers had a serious influence on the change in Japanese policy towards its northern neighbor - in 1924, Great Britain, Italy, and France established diplomatic relations with the USSR. In May 1924, official Soviet-Japanese negotiations began in Beijing, which ended with the signing on January 20, 1925 of the Convention on the Basic Principles of Relations between the USSR and Japan.

According to article I of the convention, the parties restored diplomatic and consular relations. At the insistence of the Japanese side, the government of the USSR was forced to agree to the provision of the convention on maintaining the Treaty of Portsmouth in force. However, when signing the document of the convention, the authorized representative of the USSR, at the direction of Moscow, made a special statement. It stated that "the recognition by its Government of the validity of the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905 in no way means that the Government of the Union shares with the former tsarist government political responsibility for the conclusion of the said treaty." Thus, the Soviet government declared that it did not consider itself politically connected with the provisions of the Treaty of Portsmouth in that part of it, which spoke of the cession of South Sakhalin to Japan. Non-recognition of the rejection of the southern part of Sakhalin was also connected with the question of the ownership of the Kuril Islands, because the rejection of South Sakhalin terminated the 1875 treaty. Under this treaty, the tsarist government thoughtlessly handed over to Japan all the Kuril Islands up to Kamchatka, in fact, only for Tokyo's refusal to lay claim to South Sakhalin. After the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan until 1945 owned the Kuril chain no longer de jure, but only de facto.

The convention resolved the problem of the withdrawal of all Japanese troops from the territory of the occupied Northern Sakhalin. Interested in continuing the exploitation of the island's oil fields, the Japanese agreed to the evacuation of the army from Northern Sakhalin only on the condition that they hand over all or at least 60 percent of the wells to concession. As a result of months-long negotiations on this issue, a compromise was reached on the allocation to Japan for a period of 40 to 50 years of 50 percent of the area of oil and coal deposits of the island, provided that the concessionaires pay a certain percentage of gross production to Soviet government bodies.

The establishment of diplomatic relations and a compromise on Sakhalin did not lead the two neighboring states to lasting peace and mutually beneficial cooperation. After the failure of the intervention in 1923, Japan developed a new war plan against the USSR, which provided for “to defeat the enemy in the Far East and occupy important areas east of Lake Baikal. Inflict the main blow on Northern Manchuria. Advance on the Primorsky region, Northern Sakhalin and the coast of the continent. Occupy Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky as well, depending on the situation.”

In an effort to prevent the resumption of armed confrontation with Japan, the Soviet government in May 1927 turned to Tokyo with a proposal to sign a non-aggression pact between the two states. But the Japanese government did not want to be bound by such an agreement, hoping to try again to capture the eastern part of Russia.

From the end of 1917 active negotiations were held between the USA, Britain, France and Japan on the organization of intervention. It was decided that the overthrow of Soviet power in the Far East and Siberia would be carried out mainly by Japanese troops. However, unlike the Western European powers, the United States was not going to completely give these resource-rich lands to the Japanese. Washington politicians were concerned about Tokyo's attempts to negotiate in advance its rights to receive fishing, mining and timber concessions in Siberia, which meant the establishment of Japan's sole economic and political control there. In order to prevent this, it was decided to send American troops to the Russian Far East as well.

The reason for the start of the invasion was the murder by unknown people in Vladivostok on the night of April 5, 1918, of two employees of the Japanese trading office "Isido". It looked like a planned provocation, which was the signal for the start of the planned operation. Without waiting for the circumstances of the incident to be clarified, on the same day, under the cover of artillery of warships that entered the inner harbor of the port of warships in Vladivostok, two companies of Japanese infantrymen landed, the next day the scale of the operation was expanded - the forces of the landing detachment of 250 people were captured covering Vladivostok well-fortified Russian island from the sea.

To move deep into Siberia, the Japanese and Americans provoked the so-called "rebellion of the Czechoslovaks." The Czechs and Slovaks, who were previously part of the Austro-Hungarian army, were sent home through Vladivostok by decision of the Soviet government. By the end of May, 63 echelons with 40 thousand repatriates united in the Czechoslovak Corps were stretched across Siberia from Penza to Primorye. The Soviet authorities were worried that the corps was moving through undefended Russian territory with weapons. In order to exclude any incidents and clashes along the way, an order was given to surrender weapons. Opposing this, the corps command called on its soldiers and officers to disobedience, which then resulted in an open rebellion.

Tokyo and Washington immediately decided to take advantage of the situation. On July 6, 1918, the White House authorized the sending of troops to Siberia "to assist the Czechoslovaks." To begin with, it was decided to send Japanese and American troops numbering 7 thousand bayonets to the territory of Russia. However, the Japanese, for whom the main thing was to quickly occupy as many strategically important areas of the Far East and Siberia as possible, were not going to impose any restrictions on the number of their interventionist troops. Already on August 2, under the cover of destroyers, having landed troops at the mouth of the Amur, they captured the city of Nikolaevsky-on-Amur, and on August 12 they transferred an infantry division of about 16 thousand people to Vladivostok. Along with the Japanese, the city was also occupied by smaller military contingents of the British, French and Americans.

According to official American data, 72,000 Japanese and over 9,000 American soldiers were sent to the Russian Far East. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the number of Japanese interventionist troops changed. Thus, there are indications in the literature that up to 100,000 Japanese soldiers and officers operated in the Far East and Siberia during various periods of occupation.

Having a multiple advantage in the number of troops, the invaders, nevertheless, could not control the captured vast expanses of the eastern part of Russia on their own. This forced them to use their henchmen from among the atamans who had taken refuge in China and headed the white bandit formations - Semenov, Kalmykov, Gamow. With their help, in the territories occupied by Japanese troops, all laws and establishments of Soviet power were canceled, the old, pre-revolutionary order was restored. The pre-revolutionary rights of officers, the ranks and titles of tsarist officials, and the Cossack estate were restored. Nationalized enterprises were returned to their former owners. The peasants were allowed to use only "those land edges that were before March 1917."

Throughout the Far East and Siberia, massacres were unfolded against representatives and sympathizers of the Soviet government. In order to intimidate the local population, entire villages were burned and mass demonstrative executions were organized, and punitive operations were carried out. There is a lot of evidence of atrocities and inhuman treatment of the occupiers with the local population.

As a result of active hostilities, the Red Army created after the revolution and the Siberian partisan formations, by the end of 1919, Kolchak's army was defeated. Having lost hope of restoring the former regime in Russia, the governments of the United States and the Entente countries decided to withdraw their troops from Siberia. However, the Japanese government, not wishing to join this decision, continued the occupation of Russian territory.

Since the expulsion of the Japanese occupiers from Russian territory was recognized by the Soviet authorities as a matter "now unbearable", the Soviet government decided to create a "buffer" state in the Far East for the purpose of a temporary peaceful settlement in the eastern regions of the country. On April 6, 1920, the Constituent Congress of the Workers of Transbaikalia in Verkhneudinsk proclaimed the formation of an independent Far Eastern Republic (FER), which included the territory from Lake Baikal to the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, the Soviet government offered Japan to stop hostilities in the Far East.

The negative attitude towards the continuation of intervention both at home and abroad, in particular in the United States, prompted the Japanese government to enter into negotiations. The beginning of the negotiations was facilitated by the statement of the Japanese government about its readiness to withdraw troops from Primorye by November 1, 1922. Contrary to the promise to evacuate troops, the Japanese government began to openly prepare to seize Primorye. It was announced the intention, by uniting Primorye and Manchuria, to create a "buffer" on their territory under the protectorate of Japan. It became clear that the Japanese interventionists would not leave the Russian Far East of their own free will.

On November 13, 1922, the People's Assembly of the FER proclaimed the power of the Soviets throughout the Far East, and on November 16, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee proclaimed the FER an integral part of the RSFSR.

From the book "Kuril ping-pong. 100 years of struggle for the islands" author Koshkin A.A.

Ivan Yegorchev, a well-known journalist in the region, wrote a chronology about the most eventful period in the history of Primorye. 1917-1922 - stormy, rumbling years. Then it seemed to everyone that not in the ancient Mesopotamian center, but here, in a small city on the edge of the mainland, the Babylonian pandemonium happened. Looking back into that abyss, using materials from old newspapers and archival folders, Ivan Yegorchev pulls out the crazy atmosphere of those days into modernity. Reds and whites, neutrals and biases speak to us in the language of quotations, so that our memory does not become ossified and the names on the obelisks and in the names of the streets take on meaning.

Traitors to the king

End of February 1917, abdication of Nicholas II from the throne. In Vladivostok, the telegraph once again broke down, so the news of the landmark event reached the residents of the city only on March 3. The Vladivostok City Duma, the official body of power until recently in tsarist Russia, immediately gathered for a GRAND meeting! The COB was elected - the Committee of Public Safety - in those days everyone was completely fond of abbreviations. On behalf of the City Duma, the COB adopted an appeal: “The greatest event in the life of the Russian people has happened. The sun of freedom, truth and justice rises over the delivered Russia. The government that had oppressed the people for centuries has passed into eternity.” Further, the COB urged to remain calm and work in the name of victory.
No one expressed regret about the autocracy that had suddenly gone into the past. And this, in fact, is very scary, because yesterday they all shouted: “I serve the tsar and the fatherland!” The military governor reported: "I am acting in solidarity with the city duma and awaiting orders from the Provisional Government." The district court and prosecutor's supervision declared: "We welcome the Provisional Government and at the dawn of the court of people's conscience and free prosecutor's office we testify our full readiness to serve with all our might for the glory and good of our dear Motherland." Former tsarist officials from the Primorsky Regional Administration unanimously expressed "feelings of high enthusiasm and lively joy on the occasion of the coup d'état that had taken place and the liberation of the enslaved people."

Who is in charge of the revolution?

The Russian February Revolution of 1917 was made by the hands of the workers and soldiers, on March 4, 1917, an authority was immediately created to "steer" the class elements so important for the revolution - the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. They also elected its head - the Bolshevik Goldbreich. Of course, the Soviet and the COB immediately began to prove to each other who was the boss in Vladivostok. Clever revolutionary power also took on the Cossacks: on March 11-13, at a gathering of the Cossacks of the Ussuri Cossack army, the military ataman was removed from power, and the executive committee of the Cossacks was elected instead. The peasants also got involved. The Primorsky Regional Council of Peasant Deputies elected Nazarenko as the head of the Social Revolutionary.
The general atmosphere was unsettled. In Khabarovsk, the governor-general of the Amur Territory, Gondatti, was arrested. Formally, the power in the region belonged to the regional commissar Rusanov, appointed by the Provisional Government, but everywhere and often spontaneously various Soviets and commissariats arose, claiming to be "the real power of the people." For example, in Vladivostok, Panteleev, the publisher of the newspaper Dalekaya Okraina, with the help of students from the Oriental Institute, confiscated the documents of the tsarist secret police. The students elected a commissar from their ranks and decided "to join the militia, to work in unity with the local workers and military organizations." With such an abundance of Soviets, someone had to manage the Soviets themselves, so the Congress of Soviets was convened (Vladivostok, May 1917), and the Regional Committee of Soviets was elected at it. A struggle unfolded for the main power: at first, the committee was headed by the Bolshevik Gerasimov, from August the main power went over to the Menshevik hands of Vakulin, and on August 29, 1917, the Joint Executive Committee under the Vladivostok Soviet, headed by the Social Revolutionary Mikhailov, announced the taking of all power into their own hands. In order to properly distribute power in Nikolsk-Ussuriysky, the Bolsheviks sent "heavy artillery" to the city - a Jewish emigrant who returned from the United States, a great speaker, A.M. Krasnoshchekov. Krasnoshchekov coped with the task, and the Bolsheviks headed the city committee of the RSDLP (b).

Do not give light to Lenin

The Far East judged the Petrograd Bolsheviks only by newspaper reports, and the newspapers presented this party of revolution as German agents, so the inhabitants did not like the Bolsheviks. The newspaper "Far East" in June 1917 wrote: "Employees of the power plant of Khabarovsk, having gathered to discuss the activities of Lenin, as bringing discord and disorganization, sowing discord and discord among the army and the population of the revived Russia, and taking into account that Lenin propaganda against the war with a small handful of his like-minded people destroys everything that was created during the last three months by the Russian revolution - in connection with the imminent arrival of Lenin on our outskirts, they decided: in the event of Lenin's arrival in Khabarovsk, to stop giving light for his entire stay in Khabarovsk.
And then October came. On October 26, 1917, the Primorye people learned about the shot of Aurora and the flight of the Provisional Government. On December 11, 1917, the Regional Bureau of Zemstvos and Cities was formed in Khabarovsk, to which Rusanov, the former commissar of the Provisional Government, transferred power in the region. A few days later, the III Regional Congress of Soviets was held, chairman Krasnoshchekov announced that the Soviets were taking full power into their own hands, but agreed to cooperate with the Zemstvos, which were the executive power under the Provisional Government.

American Consul in Vladivostok

Caldwell, in a telegram to US Secretary of State Lansing dated January 13, 1918, reported: “The city is controlled by the regional zemstvo council, but the real power is in the hands of the Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, which agreed to cooperate with the zemstvo. In Vladivostok, the soldiers and sailors support, above all, their Council. The dual power of the Soviets and zemstvos lasted in Primorye until the end of April 1918, when, by decision of the IV Regional Congress of Soviets, the zemstvo councils were dissolved.

White Red

Soviet power did not suit everyone. The Board of the Ussuri Cossack Host strove for independence from the Soviets. In January 1918, the military circle elected Kalmykov as ataman, who began to create armed detachments in the right-of-way of the Chinese Eastern Railway, but already in March, the Cossacks-supporters of the Soviet government removed Kalmykov from the post of ataman and elected a temporary Council of Troops headed by Shevchenko. It is curious that both chieftains: both "white" and "red" - were from the same Cossack village of Grodekovo, but Kalmykov came from a wealthy family, and Shevchenko - from a poor one. In the following years of the civil war in Primorye, these chieftains met repeatedly in battles. The confrontation grew along with the growth of the civil war in central Russia and Siberia. Local Soviets at the beginning of 1918 began to create detachments of the Red Army. In the CER zone, detachments of the "red" ataman Kalmykov and the White Guard detachments of General Horvat and ataman Semenov were formed. The Socialist Revolutionary-Menshevik Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia (VPAS), or, as they were called, "Siberian regionalists" also tried to extend their power to the Far East.

Intervention and civil war

There was another factor of strength in the region: in the spring of 1918, the soldiers of the Czechoslovak Corps, who fought on the side of Russia in the First World War. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Germany and the Bolsheviks, the Czechs had to go home almost around the world: through Siberia to Vladivostok, and then by sea to Europe. After the Czechs were excluded from hostilities, they were embroiled in a confrontation with the "Reds". In June, about 15 thousand Czechs accumulated in Vladivostok, but there were no steamboats promised by the authorities.
Here is another telegram from the American consul to Washington: “To Caldwell-Lansing. Vladivostok, April 30, 1918. Czechoslovaks arrive in the city every day; 6,000 of them have already accumulated here; appearance and discipline are excellent, they have weapons. The council provided them with barracks. Stakeholders have been informed."

On the night of June 29, 1918, a coup was carried out by the Czechs. The leadership of the City Council, headed by K.A. Sukhanov was arrested, and the Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia came to power. The Red Soviets began military resistance, the price of which was the belonging of the Far East to Russia.
On July 2, 1918, a meeting of the Supreme Military Council of the Entente took place in Paris, which decided to intensify the intervention in Siberia. On July 6 in Washington, at a meeting of the military leaders of the country, with the participation of Secretary of State Lansing, the question of sending 7,000 American soldiers to Vladivostok to help the Czechoslovak corps was discussed.
On July 6, Vladivostok was declared under the international control of the Entente powers. On August 3, the US Secretary of War ordered the dispatch to Vladivostok of units of the 27th and 31st US Infantry Divisions, which had previously become famous for their atrocities during the suppression of the Moro uprising in the Philippines. On the same day, a declaration was published by the United States and Japan, which stated that "they are taking under the protection of the soldiers of the Czechoslovak corps." The same obligations were assumed in the corresponding declarations by the governments of France and England.
On August 3, a battalion from British Hong Kong arrived in Vladivostok; August 4 - the first group (about 1600 people) of the Chinese division; August 9 - French battalion (800 soldiers); August 11 - the first 2000 Japanese soldiers; August 15 and 21 - two American regiments with a total strength of 3 thousand people. All this army was supposedly called in to save peaceful Czechs. So Vladivostok became the starting base for the hordes of interventionists.
The newly created "red" troops were unable to maintain control over the territory. On September 4, 1918, the Dalsovnarkom and its troops left Khabarovsk, retreating to the Amur Region. In September, front-line operations ceased and turned into a guerrilla war.

Already in December 1918, at a meeting of the US State Department, a program of "economic development" of Russia was outlined, which provided for the export of 200 thousand tons of goods from Russia during the first 3 months, then the rate of export of valuables from Russia to the United States should have increased. Kolchak period On November 18, 1918, Admiral A.V. Kolchak was proclaimed in Omsk the "Supreme Ruler of Russia". By chance or not, on the same day, the Bolshevik Sukhanov was killed in Vladivostok. Admiral Kolchak quickly established his power in Siberia and the Far East. General Horvath became the supreme commissioner of his government with residence in Vladivostok; in July 1919 he was replaced by General Rozanov, who became the chief commander of the region. The population at first accepted the new government neutrally, but gradually the attitude began to change - mainly because of the terror against the supporters of the Soviets. And after the start of the mobilization of young people in the army of Kolchak in Primorye, a mass exodus of the population to the partisans began.
From a report in the British Foreign Office: “Vladivostok, June 7, 1919. The Bolshevik regime in Siberia was overthrown before it had time to manifest its pernicious consequences; therefore, a high salary, relative freedom from taxation and military service remained in his memory. The peasants understand the expression "provisional government" in the sense that taxes already paid will be collected again when a new government comes into power. There is dissatisfaction with the forced mobilization... The peasants do not want to hand over their weapons; attempts to carry out disarmament force them to go to the Bolsheviks. The population is outraged by the illegal actions of government troops and repressions. Colonel Robertson.

Free partisans

The first partisan detachments arose in the Suchanskaya valley in December 1918. In the spring of 1919, they already numbered more than 3 thousand people and operated near Nikolsk-Ussuriysky, Tetyukha, Anuchino, Chuguevka, Spassk, Iman. A.V., freed from power, appeared in Primorye. Kolchak, areas where Soviets began to be created again. In the village of Anuchino, a united partisan headquarters was created, Sergei Lazo became the commander of all partisan detachments in Primorye. Of course, the partisans could not resist the forces of the interventionists and the Whites. The struggle went on with varying success: punitive detachments destroyed partisan bases, and the "people's avengers" remaining in the taiga carried out sabotage on the railway and individual attacks on garrisons.
On January 5, 1920, the US government announced the start of the withdrawal of its troops; in early April, the armed forces of all Entente countries left Primorye. Only Japan continued its intervention with the forces of 11 divisions totaling about 175 thousand people, thereby supporting the power of Kolchak. A little-known fact: On November 17, 1919, the Czech General Gaida attempted an anti-Kolchak coup in Vladivostok, but was defeated by the troops of General Rozanov. Only in the area of the railway station, up to 300 rebels were killed, several thousand were taken prisoner, including Gaida himself. After that, the Far Eastern Regional Committee of the RCP (b) began preparations for the overthrow of Kolchak's power in Primorye.
Under the conditions of the Japanese intervention, it was an unrealistic task to restore the Soviets, and the left-wing parties agreed to transfer power to the Primorsky Regional Zemstvo Administration, headed by the Socialist-Revolutionary Medvedev. By the end of January 1920, Kolchak's power had already fallen in Nikolsk-Ussuriysky, Spassk, Grodekovo, Shkotovo, Suchan - somewhere under the blows of partisans, and somewhere as a result of Kolchak's garrisons going over to their side. On January 31, 1920, the insurgent garrison of the Russian Island occupied Vladivostok. To help him, partisan detachments entered the city in two streams from the First River and the Rotten Corner under the general command of the same ataman Shevchenko. The Maritime Government was immediately created, this deprived the Japanese of a formal reason for hostilities.

Under Japanese control

By the beginning of April 1920, a draft agreement was developed on the principles of relations between the Primorsky government and the Japanese military command, but on the night of April 5, the Japanese defeated the city's garrison, captured the ships of the Siberian military flotilla and fired at the building of the Primorsky government. The reason was a random shootout. The Japanese arrested and then killed members of the Military Council of the Government of Lazo, Lutsky and Sibirtsev. Again, fighting began throughout Primorye, the revolutionary troops retreated to the north of the region, to Khabarovsk. As a result of bloody battles, the Japanese command recognized the authority of the Primorsky Zemstvo Council, but without the Bolsheviks.
On April 29, 1920, an agreement was signed, which the newspapers immediately called "Far Eastern Brest." The agreement secured a semi-occupational position in Vladivostok and along the railway to Khabarovsk (later to Spassk), 30 km wide on both sides. The coastal government was forbidden to have its own army in this zone. The US government, which did not expect such a sharp change in the situation in favor of Japan, demanded that it withdraw its troops from Primorye. But the "sons of the Mikado", who by that time controlled the territory from Baikal to the Pacific Ocean, were already carried away by "maintaining order" in this part of Russia. Moscow did not dare to enter into an open clash with the Japanese troops, and the advance of the Red Army to the east was stopped at Baikal.

New state

By directive of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) in the Far East, it was decided to form a "buffer" state of the bourgeois-democratic type. Politicians in Moscow believed that this would help temporarily stop Japanese intervention. As V.I. Lenin: "A buffer is a buffer to wait for time and then beat the Japanese."
On April 6, 1920, the congress of workers of Transbaikalia proclaimed the creation of the Far Eastern Republic. Krasnoshchekov became the first chairman of the government of the Far East. Of course, the "red buffer" was a temporary public entity. The FER was declared an independent state, but not a single important decision in domestic and foreign policy was to be implemented without the approval of Moscow. In December 1920, the Primorsky Regional Directorate of the Far Eastern Republic was formed in Vladivostok, headed by the Bolshevik V.G. Antonov. It was a challenge to both the Japanese authorities and the White Guards, and it was immediately followed by an answer.

coup

On May 26-27, 1921, another coup was carried out in Vladivostok by the forces of Semenov and Kappelevites. The Provisional Amur Government was formed, headed by the famous industrialist S.D. Merkulov; his brother N.D. was also a member of the government. Merkulov. The new government intended to replace the "red buffer" with "white". At the end of 1921, the Merkulov government launched a military offensive against the Far East, which ended with the capture of Khabarovsk. On February 12, 1922, in the Volochaevka area, a decisive battle took place between the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic under the command of Blucher and the White troops of General Molchanov. The "Whites" were defeated, the fighting subsided.
In the end, the "Merkulovism" has exhausted itself. On August 8, 1922, the Zemsky Sobor, held in Vladivostok, elected a new ruler of the Amur Zemsky Territory - General M.K. Diterichs. The Council decided to restore the monarchy in the Far East, but it was already pointless to change power like gloves ... By that time, international conferences had been held in Dairen and Changchun, in Washington and Genoa, where Japan announced the withdrawal of its troops from Primorye. It began at the end of August 1922. The defensive fortifications near Spassk left by the Japanese were occupied by the troops of the Zemstvo rati of M.K. Uborevich. But on October 9, 1922, the
"Storm Nights of Spassk" - the "Reds" won. Opened a direct route to Vladivostok...
On October 25, 1922, after peace negotiations with the Japanese command, the NRA troops, together with partisan detachments, entered Vladivostok. There were no “Whites” and interventionists in the city. The Sazonov government turned out to be the last and in a row, really either the 12th, or even the 13th ... On November 14, the People's Assembly of the Far Eastern Republic decided to liquidate the republic and turned to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee with a request to accept the Far East into Soviet Russia. On the eastern outskirts of the country, the power of the Soviets was finally established, and Dalrevkom became its regional body.
Thus ended the bloody Far Eastern five-year plan of civil war and intervention. About 80 thousand people died in battles, from wounds and diseases on both sides, hundreds of thousands of people emigrated abroad. The bulk of Russian emigrants from the Far East - about 150 thousand people - ended up in China. But that's a completely different story...

“On October 16, 1922, we returned to Vladivostok and found there a terrible confusion. Order in the city was guarded by an officer battalion, the police had already collapsed. All rear institutions stopped working; sabotage began, and then strikes. People cared only about how to get out or prepare to meet the Red troops. And we had to take out at all costs all the families of servicemen, refugees, part of the cargo, transfer parts of the troops from Vladivostok to Posyet, take out military educational institutions, the sick, the wounded. These tasks seemed overwhelming, since there were not enough funds to transport all this ... The Japanese military command had transports, but was careful not to give them without permission from Tokyo. In the end, it surrendered to requests, and, it seems, on the 20th, the transfer of families to Posyet on Japanese transports began ... The Reds followed on the heels, but did not particularly push.
From the memoirs of Diterichs about the last days of the "white" Vladivostok

“Something was not there: parliaments with factions, and the army, and magazines, and universities, and congresses, and even - oh, archaism! - Zemsky Sobor. It was as if the whole of former Russia, having found itself a reprieve for three years, shrunk microscopically in this stone cauldron, only to crawl out again from there along all the coasts of the Pacific Ocean, frightening the colonial misses with shaggy whirlwinds and burnt-out tunics ... A strange life flowed then in Vladivostok: alarmingly sharp, awkward, a coup d'état... And what kind of people could not stand it: here is some uncle bearded to the very eyes, selling a bag of golden sand, washed up near Okhotsk, to a "go"-Chinese. And next to him, a lean, olive Italian man changes his lyre and rhythmically works his jaws, like an ax, a chopped Yankee sailor. And everywhere - a vigilant eye - short-legged Japanese darting, teeming in all parts of the city and spreading across all ... forts of the once mighty fortress. Like ants on the cold paw of an unfinished animal ... "
Shcherbakov, a journalist who worked in Vladivostok during the Civil War