XII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2020

Dramatic and tragic events of the revolution and civil war in our country (1917 – 1922) are one of the most popular topics for discussion between historians. But a lot of problems and issues of this period of Russian history are almost unexplored. One of them is the research of life and activity of important participants of the White movement. This article considers the participation of general Ivan Pavlovich Romanovskiy (1877 - 1920) in the First Kuban campaign of the Volunteer army. The way of life of this military leader is one of gaps in the history of Russian civil war.

The First Kuban campaign of the Volunteer army took place in the southern part of European Russia (modern Rostov region and Krasnodar territory of the Russian Federation) from February to April of 1918. The final purpose of this campaign was the capture of Ekaterinodar (modern Krasnodar). This city was the capital of Kuban area. Leaders of the White movement (primarily generals L.G. Kornilov and M.V. Alekseev) hoped that Ekaterinodar will become a reliable base for their armed struggle against the Bolshevik party and the Soviet power. Difficult weather conditions gave this campaign its second name – Glacial campaign. Later the First Kuban campaign turned into the official legend of the White movement and the symbol of anti-Bolshevik resistance.

General Kornilov was the commander of the Volunteer army. General I.P. Romanovskiy was the chief of staff of the Volunteer army and played an important role during this campaign. Modern historian R.M. Abinyakin wrote about him: «In the first Kuban campaign Romanovskiy was Kornilov's closest aide, and after the death of the army commander at Ekaterinodar he stayed the closest aide of his successor Denikin» [1, p. 377].

At the beginning of the campaign Romanovskiy participated in the military council of the command of the Volunteer army in Olginskaya village (February, 13). This council of the White movement leaders solved the problem about the route of the future movement of their army [3, p. 442]. Later he participated in others military councils of the army command, which were dedicated to the current problems of the campaign (for example, councils in Korenovskaya [2, p. 60] and Novo – Dmitrovskaya [5, p. 167] villages).

During the First Kuban campaign Romanovskiy was near general Kornilov who lead the fight in the immediate proximity of the enemy – the Red Army [4, p. 748]. This behavior was dangerous. During the fight at Georgie – Afipskaya village he was lightly wounded in the leg.

The climax of the campaign was the assault of Ekaterinodar by the Volunteer army at the end of March. The Reds who protected the city exceeded the whites who attacked city by population and weapons. But at first success accompanied the whites who captured city’s outskirts. But soon the turning point of the battle came. The Reds recaptureded the initiative. Despite numerous casualties among volunteers and objections of others generals (including Romanovskiy) Kornilov decided to launch a decisive attack on Ekaterinodar.

But on March 31general Kornilov was killed by a soviet shell in his command staff. His successor general Anton Ivanovich Denikin decided to retreat from the city. The Volunteer army returned to the Don area, where the uprising of Don Cossacks against the Soviet power started.

Despite the whites’ failure in the campaign, they estimated its results as positive. For example, Romanovskiy said that campaign contributed to improving of morale and cohesion among the volunteers [5, p. 37-38].

Литература

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Деникин А.И. Очерки русской смуты. Т. II: Белое движение и борьба Добровольческой армии. Май – октябрь 1918. Вооруженные силы Юга России. Распад Российской империи. – СПб.: Ленинградское издательство, 2010 – 736 с.

Филимонов А.П. Кубанцы // Ледяной поход / А.П. Богаевский, А.П. Филимонов, С.М. Пауль, Р.Б. Гуль. М.: Голос, 1993. С. 113 – 181.