Saratov Key to the 1918 Campaign

Affiliation: Volga Region Institute of Management – branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Address: Russian Federation, Saratov

Leonty Lannik

Affiliation: Institute of World History, RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Journal name

Novaia i noveishaia istoriia

Edition

Issue 3

Pages

84-100

Abstract

In the article, the authors examine the role of Saratov in the 1918 campaign of the Great War. The significance of this Russian rear city in the events of the war only became apparent after the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between the German Empire and Soviet Russia. The Treaty of 3 March 1918 created a vast field of new opportunities for the Central Powers, which had supposedly triumphed on the Eastern Front. The fragmentation of the Russian Empire, lack of resources and aspirations for a future radical colonial redistribution forced the German Empire to think on a Eurasian scale. The numerous descendants of German colonists in the Russian governorates of Saratov and Samara became an important point of diplomatic and military effort for both Germany and the parties of the Russian Civil War. From spring to autumn 1918, German military and political projects in the East would invariably include Saratov as a crucial location on the road to Turkestan and India.For the various anti-Bolshevik forces in the East and South, which managed to form independently by the summer of 1918, there was the possibility of uniting in the obvious Volga operational direction. In their hypothetical unification, wealthy Volga Germans could constitute a substantial reinforcement, although any interaction with them required an unambiguous pro-German orientation. In the article, the authors examine and assess the capabilities and actions of the main military and political actors – the German Empire, the RSFSR, the anti-Bolshevik governments – in the Brest system of international relations and in the context of the Russian Civil War in March – November 1918. They substantiate the hypothesis of the role, including the potential role, of the Saratov direction, in which both Germany and the White Movement missed the opportunity to achieve decisive results.

Keywords

White Movement, Russian Civil War, foreign intervention, German Empire, Saratov, Volga Germans

Received

17.02.2023

Publication date

26.06.2023

Number of characters

51753

Cite

GOST	Posadsky A., Lannik L. “Saratov Key” to the 1918 Campaign // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2023. – Issue 3 C. 84-100 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640025912-1-1 (circulation date: 27.07.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640025912-1
MLA	Posadsky, Anton, Lannik, Leonty "“Saratov Key” to the 1918 Campaign." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 3 (2023):84-100. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640025912-1
APA	Posadsky A., Lannik L. (2023). “Saratov Key” to the 1918 Campaign. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (3), pp.84-100 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640025912-1

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 292

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Cheshsko-Slovackij (Chehoslovackij) korpus. 1914–1920: Dokumenty i materialy [Czech-Slovak (Czechoslovak) corps. 1914–1920. Documents and materials]: v 2 t. T. 2. Chehoslovackie legiony i Grazhdanskaja vojna v Rossii. 1918–1920 gg. [Czechoslovak Legions and the Civil War in Russia. 1918–1920]. Moskva, 2018. (In Russ.)

2. Davydov A.Ju. Tretij front Grazhdanskoj vojny: meshochnichestvo [The Third front of the Civil War: bagging]. Sankt-Pereburg, 2019. (In Russ.)

3. Don v gody revoljucii i Grazhdanskoj vojny: 1917–1920 gg. Sb. dokumentov [Don in the years of revolution and Civil War: 1917–1920. Collection of documents]: v 2 t. / nauch. red. O.M. Morozova. Rostov-na-Dony, 2017–2020. (In Russ.)

4. Ganin A.V. Ataman Dutov [Ataman Dutov]. Moskva, 2006. (In Russ.)

5. Ganin A.V. Izmena komandarmov. Predstaviteli vysshego komandnogo sostava Krasnoj armii, pereshedshie na storonu protivnika v gody Grazhdanskoj vojny v Rossii 1917–1922 gg. [Treason of the commanders. Representatives of the supreme command of the Red Army who defected to the enemy during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922]. Moskva, 2020. (In Russ.)

6. Ganin A.V. Sem' “pochemuˮ rossijskoj Grazhdanskoj vojny [Seven “whyˮ of the Russian Civil War]. Moskva, 2018. (In Russ.)

7. German A.A. Istorija Respubliki nemcev Povolzh'ja v sobytijah, faktah, dokumentah [History of the Volga Germans Republic in events, facts, documents]. 2-e izd. Moskva, 2000. (In Russ.)

8. German A.A. Nemeckaja avtonomija na Volge 1918–1941 [German autonomy on the Volga 1918–1941]. 2-e izd., ispr. i dop. Moskva, 2007. (In Russ.)

9. German A.A. Politicheskie i social'no-jekonomicheskie processy 1918 goda v selah Saratovskogo Povolzh'ja [Political and socio-economic processes of 1918 in the villages of the Saratov Volga region] // Izvestiy Saratovskogo universiteta. Novaiy seriy. Seriy: “Istorija. Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenijaˮ [News of Saratov University. A new series. Series: “Istoriya. International relationsˮ]. 2018. T. 18. Vyp. 3. S. 377–387. (In Russ.)

10. German A.A. Revoljucionnaja dejatel'nost' Jernsta Rejtera v Saratovskom Povolzh'e (1918 g.) [The revolutionary activity of Ernst Reuter in the Saratov Volga region (1918)] // Izvestiy Saratovskogo universiteta. Novaiy seriy. Seriy. “Istorija. Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenijaˮ [News of Saratov University. A new series. Series. “Istoriya. International relationsˮ]. 2019. T. 19. Vyp. 2. S. 238–246. (In Russ.)

11. Grazhdanskaja vojna i intervencija v SSSR [Civil War and intervention in the USSR] / pod red. S.S. Hromova. Moskva, 1983. (In Russ.)

12. Hjotch O. Rossija. Vvedenie [Russia. Introduction] / per. s nem., komm. i pred. L.V. Lannika. Moskva, 2021. (In Russ.)

13. Kaljakina A.V. Pod ohranoj russkogo velikodushija. Voennoplennye Pervoj mirovoj vojny v Saratovskom Povolzh'e (1914–1922) [Under the protection of Russian generosity. Prisoners of war of the First World War in the Saratov Volga region (1914–1922)]. Moskva, 2014. (In Russ.)

14. Kondrat'ev N.D. Rynok hlebov i ego regulirovanie vo vremja vojny i revoljucii [The bread market and its regulation during the war and revolution]. Moskva, 1991. (In Russ.)

15. Lannik L.V. Brestskaja sistema mezhdunarodnyh otnoshenij kak prostranstvo germanskoj gegemonii v Vostochnoj Evrope [Brest system of international relations as a space of German hegemony in Eastern Europe: Dissertation of the Doctor of Historical Sciences]: dis. … dokt. ist. nauk. Moskva, 2022. (In Russ.)

16. Lannik L.V. Germanskie okkupacionnye vojska i formirovanie antibol'shevistskih armij na Ukraine i na juge Rossii v 1918 g. (po dannym germanskih arhivov) [German occupation troops and the formation of anti-Bolshevik armies in Ukraine and southern Russia in 1918 (according to German archives)] // Vestnik gosudarstvennogo i municipal'nogo upravleniya [Bulletin of State and Municipal Administration]. 2022. № 11 (2). S. 154–176. (In Russ.)

17. Lannik L.V. Germanskij faktor v razvertyvanii Grazhdanskoj vojny v Sibiri i na Dal'nem Vostoke: problema pereocenki [The German factor in the Unfolding of the Civil War in Siberia and the Far East: the problem of reassessment] // Grazhdanskaja vojna v Rossii. Problemy vyhoda, istoricheskie posledstvija, uroki dlja sovremennosti. Sb. nauchnyh trudov [Civil War in Russia. Problems of exit, historical consequences, lessons for modernity. Collection of scientific works] / pod red. V.M. Rynkova, V.V. Zhuravleva. Novosibirsk, 2022. S. 257–270. (In Russ.)

18. Lannik L.V. Posle Rossijskoj imperii. Germanskaja okkupacija 1918 g. [After the Russian Empire. The German occupation of 1918]. Sankt-Pereburg, 2020. (In Russ.)

19. Lannik L.V., Posadskij A.V. Vneshnepoliticheskaja orientacija russkogo oficerstva i faktory stanovlenija i neudach Belogo dvizhenija: k postanovke problemy [The foreign policy orientation of the Russian officers and the factors of the formation and failures of the White Movement: towards the formulation of the problem] // Novaja i Novejshaja Istorija [Modern and Contemporary History]. 2022. № 3. S. 5–26. (In Russ.)

20. Litvinov B.N. Vospominanija. Ch. 2. Grazhdanskaja vojna na Kavkaze i v Zakaspii. 1918–1920 gg. [Memoirs. Pt. 2. Civil War in the Caucasus and Transcaspia. 1918–1920]. Moskva, 2017. (In Russ.)

21. Mirzehanov V.S., Lannik L.V. Bakinskij krizis v istorii Batumskoj podsistemy: kul'minacija neudavshihsja imperskih proektov, avgust–sentjabr' 1918 g. [The Baku crisis in the history of the Batumi subsystem: the culmination of failed imperial projects, August–September 1918] // Novaja i Novejshaja Istorija [Modern and Contemporary History]. 2022. № 6 (66). S. 104–119. (In Russ.)

22. Posadskij A.V. Iz istorii Pavlovki i Pavlovskoj druzhiny (Hvalynskij uezd Saratovskoj gubernii v 1918 g.) [From the history of Pavlovka and the Pavlovskaya squad (Khvalynsky uyezd of Saratov province in 1918)] // XX vek i Rossija: obshhestvo, reformy, revoljucii [20th century and Russia: society, reforms, revolutions]. Iss. 9. Pt. 1. Vyp. 9. Ch. 1. Samara, 2021. URL: http://sbornik.libsmr.ru/ S. 104–114. (access date: 15.02.2023). (In Russ.)

23. Posadskij A.V. Ot Caricyna do Syzrani. Ocherki Grazhdanskoj vojny na Volge [From Tsaritsyn to Syzran. Essays of the Civil War on the Volga]. Moskva, 2010. (In Russ.)

24. Posadskij A.V. Polkovnik V.K. Manakin i Saratovskij korpus [Colonel V.K. Manakin and the Saratov Corps]. Moskva, 2018. (In Russ.)

25. Shein O.V. Astrahanskij kraj v gody revoljucii i grazhdanskoj vojny [Astrakhan Region in the years of Revolution and Civil War]. Moskva, 2018. (In Russ.)

26. Simonov A.A. Kratkie svedenija o Rjazansko-Ural'skoj zheleznoj doroge v gody Grazhdanskoj vojny [Brief information about the Ryazan-Ural railway during the Civil War] // Voenno-istoricheskie issledovanija v Povolzh'e [Military-historical studies in the Volga region]. Vyp. 14. Saratov. 2021. S. 92–97. (In Russ.)

27. Tragedija kazachestva (Ocherk na temu: Kazachestvo i Rossija). Ch. III (Ijun'–dekabr' 1919) [The tragedy of the Cossacks (essay on the topic: Cossacks and Russia). Part III (June–December 1919)]. Parizh, 1936. (In Russ.)

28. Varfolomeev Ju.V. Vojazh narkomvoenmora L.D. Trockogo v Saratovskoe Povolzh'e [The voyage of the People's Commissar of the Military Commander L.D. Trotsky to the Saratov Volga region] // Bazis [Basis]. 2020. № 1 (7). S. 76–79. (In Russ.)

29. Vatlin A.Ju., Lannik L.V. Tajnye noty k Dobavochnomu dogovoru 27 avgusta 1918 g.: neizvestnyj sjuzhet iz istorii sovetsko-germanskih otnoshenij na ishode Pervoj mirovoj vojny [Secret notes to the Supplementary Agreement of August 27, 1918: an unknown plot from the history of Soviet-German relations at the end of the First World War] // Novaja i Novejshaja Istorija [Modern and Contemporary History]. 2021. № 5. S. 208–230. (In Russ.)

30. Venkov A.V. Ataman Krasnov i Donskaja armija [Ataman Krasnov and the Don Army]. 1918 g. Moskva, 2008. (In Russ.)

31. Zaharov A.M. Sozdanie serbskogo dobrovol'cheskogo polka imena majora Blagoticha v Rossii v 1918 g. [The creation of the Serbian volunteer regiment named after Major Blagotich in Russia in 1918] // Istoricheskie, filosofskie, politicheskie i juridicheskie nauki [Historical, philosophical, political and legal sciences]. № 8 (22). Ch. II. S. 70–73. (In Russ.)

32. Baumgart W. Deutsche Ostpolitik 1918: von Brest-Litowsk bis zum Ende des Ersten Weltkrieges. Wien; München, 1966.

33. Brändström E. Unter Kriegsgefangenen in Rußland und Sibirien 1914–1920 / übers. von M. Klante. Berlin, 1922.

34. Brandt W., Lowenthal R. Ernst Reuter. Ein Leben für die Freiheit. Eine politische Biographie. München, 1957.

35. Dönninghaus V. Minderheiten in Bedrängnis. Die sowjetische Politik gegenüber Deutschen, Polen und anderen Diaspora-Nationalitäten 1917–1938. München, 2009.

36. Eisfeld A. Deutsche Kolonien an der Wolga 1917–1919 und das Deutsche Reich. Wiesbaden, 1985.

37. Gehrmann U. Der “Südostbundˮ – Ein Ordnungsversuch im Spannungsfeld zwischen Randstaatenpolitik und Regionalismus zur Zeit des Umbruchs im rußländischen Reich (1917–1920) // Region und Umbruch 1918. Zur Geschichte alternativer Ordnungsversuche / Hrsg. von H. Heppner, E. Staudinger. Frankfurt a.M. u.a., 2001. S. 149–202.

38. Biographisches Handbuch des deutschen Auswärtigen Dienstes 1871–1945: 5 Bde. Paderborn u.a., 2000–2014. Bd. 4.

39. Kessler H. Graf. Das Tagebuch 1880–1937: 9 Bde. Bd. 6. Stuttgart, 2006.

40. Lannik L.V. Germany and the White Movement in the South, 1918 // Military Affairs in Russia’s Great War and Revolution, 1914–22. Book 2. The Russian Civil War: Campaigns and Operations / eds D.R. Stone, J.D. Smele, G. Swain, A. Marshall, S. Marks, A.V. Ganin. Bloomington, 2021. P. 45–62.

41. Mark R.A. Im Schatten des “Great Gameˮ. Deutsche “Weltpolitikˮ und russischer Imperialismus in Zentralasien 1871–1914. Paderborn u.a., 2012.

42. Mark R.A. Krieg an fernen Fronten. Die Deutschen in Russisch-Turkestan und am Hindukusch 1914–1924. Paderborn u.a., 2013.

43. Ostmitteleuropa zwischen den beiden Weltkriegen (1918–1939). Stärke und Schwäche der neuen Staaten, nationale Minderheiten / Hrsg. von H. Lemberg. Marburg, 1997.

44. Zwischen Revolution und Autonomie: Dokumente zur Geschichte der Wolgadeutschen aus den Jahren 1917 und 1918 / Hrsg. von V. Herdt. Köln, 2000.