2019 №3 (64) Article 7

I.S. Ratkovsky

PUNITIVE AND REPRESSIVE PRACTICES EXERCISED BY THE VOLUNTEER ARMY IN ITS EARLY YEARS

UDC 947.084.3

The Russian Civil War was a period of repression and mass killings carried out by all military and political forces in the conditions of the crisis of statehood. The article centers on punitive and repressive practices exercised by the White Army in December 1917 — August 1918. The period is associated with the formation of the Volunteer Army in Southern Russia. The Volunteer Army played an essential role in military opposition to Soviet forces. The article relies on various sources to investigate the punitive practices employed by the Volunteer Army. During the aforementioned time period, prisoners of war were frequently killed or held hostage. There extreme measures can be accounted for by the lack of territory and the absence of management. The author maintains that repression and killings were often caused by social and national hostility, were frequently provoked by acts of vengeance and military crimes. The author underlines that General L. G. Kornilov and General S. L. Markov played an important role in promoting punitive and repressive measures adopted by the Volunteer Army. The author analyzes various sources to assess the number of people who fell victim to the repressive practices of the Volunteer Army during its First Kuban Campaign (aka the Ice March).

 

Civil War; Volunteer Army; L. G. Kornilov; White Terror; 1918

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