The Lost Opportunity: Attempts At Unification Of The Anti-bolsheviks:1917-1919

publishing across academic disciplines since 1975 LAZARSKI University Press of America®, Inc. The term “White movement” is commonly associated with the military struggle against the Soviet regime pursued by various anti-Bolshevik armies. Such a perception of the movement neglects the considerable effort undertaken by Russian political elites to organize political opposition to Bolshevik power. Acting through several multiparty organizations, these elites repeatedly attempted to form a common anti-Bolshevik front, to restore an all-Russian government and to liberate of the anti-Bolshevik struggle, which have been almost entirely ignored by historical scholarship. If we consider that the men and women who composed those elites were the most active and dynamic group in Russian civil society, that neglect is striking. Their main task—the restoration of an all-Russian government—was of utmost importance for the anti-Bolsheviks, whose main centers were located on the peripheries of the Russian Empire and often had contradictory goals. Due to the paucity of interest in the activity of White political elites, this book is a pioneering study. CHRISTOPHER LAZARSKI is Professor of History and Politics at Lazarski School of Commerce and Law in Warsaw, Poland. For orders and information please contact the publisher University Press of America®, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 www.univpress.com THE LOST OPPORTUNITY Russia from the Bolsheviks. In The Lost Opportunity, Lazarski explores these facets THE LOST OPPORTUNITY ATTEMPTS AT UNIFICATION OF THE ANTI-BOLSHEVIKS, 1917-1919 MOSCOW, KIEV, JASSY, ODESSA CHRISTOPHER LAZARSKI ISBN-13: 978-0-7618-4120-3 ISBN-10: 0-7618-4120-2 90000 9 780761 841203 LostOpportunityPBK.indd 1 8/15/08 11:23:53 AM The Lost Opportunity Attempts at Unification of the Anti-Bolsheviks, 1917–1919 Moscow, Kiev, Jassy, Odessa Christopher Lazarski UNIVERSITY PRESS OF AMERICA,® INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK Copyright © 2008 by University Press of America,® Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 UPA Acquisitions Department (301) 459-3366 Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America British Library Cataloging in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Control Number: 2008927394 ISBN-13: 978-0-7618-4199-7 (clothbound : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7618-4199-9 (clothbound : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7618-4120-3 (paperback : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7618-4120-2 (paperback : alk. paper) eISBN-13: 978-0-7618-4200-2 eISBN-10: 0-7618-4200-4 ⬁ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48—1984 To my mother and sister Contents Preface vii I. Introduction 1 II. The Background Political Elites and the State Duma The 1917 Revolutions and the Beginning of the Civil War The Volunteer Army in the South: Origins, Principles, and Policy 9 9 15 19 III. Moscow: High Hopes The Origins and Activity of the Multiparty Organizations Savinkov’s Insurrection The Moscow Epilogue 36 36 46 48 Kiev: The Tilt to the Right Political Conditions in Ukraine and Their Impact on Russian Anti-Bolsheviks The Extreme Right From th