White movement | |
---|---|
Белое движение | |
| |
Leaders | |
Dates of operation | 1917–1923 |
Country | Russian State |
Allegiance | |
Group(s) | |
Ideology | Anti-communism[5] Non-predetermination Majority:[6][5] Russian nationalism[7][8] Factions: Conservatism Liberalism Fascism[9] Monarchism other different ideologies |
Political position | Big tent[10][11][12] Right-wing to far-right |
Slogan | Great Russia, one and indivisible[13][14][15] |
Major actions | White Terror[16] Pogroms (1918–1920)[17] |
Size | 3.4 million members (peak) |
Allies | |
Opponents | See list:
|
Battles and wars | Russian Civil War Mongolian Revolution |
Flag | |
The White movement (Russian: pre–1918 Бѣлое движеніе / post–1918 Белое движение, romanized: Beloye dvizheniye, IPA: [ˈbʲɛləɪ dvʲɪˈʐenʲɪɪ]),[c] also known as the Whites (Бѣлые / Белые, Beliye), was a loose confederation of anti-communist forces that fought the communist Bolsheviks, also known as the Reds, in the Russian Civil War (1917–1923) and that to a lesser extent continued operating as militarized associations of rebels both outside and within Russian borders in Siberia until roughly World War II (1939–1945). The movement's military arm was the White Army (Бѣлая армія / Белая армия, Belaya armiya), also known as the White Guard (Бѣлая гвардія / Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya) or White Guardsmen (Бѣлогвардейцы / Белогвардейцы, Belogvardeytsi).
Although the White movement included a great variety of political opinions in Russia opposed to the Bolsheviks, from the republican-minded liberals through monarchists to the ultra-nationalist Black Hundreds,[10][12] and did not have universally-accepted leader or doctrine,[20] the main force behind the movement were the conservative officers, and the resulting movement shared many traits with widespread right-wing counter-revolutionary movements of the time, namely nationalism, racism, distrust of liberal and democratic politics, clericalism, contempt for the common man and dislike of industrial civilization;[21] in November 1918, the movement united on an authoritarian-right platform around the figure of Alexander Kolchak as its principal leader.[22][23] It defended the ideal of pre-revolutionary Imperial Russia,[12][24][25] and its positive program was largely summarized in the slogan of "united and indivisible Russia " which meant the restoration of imperial state borders[15][13][14] and its denial of the right to self-determination;[26] the movement is associated with pogroms and antisemitism, although its relations with the Jews were more complex.[27] Some historians distinguish the White movement from the so-called "democratic counter-revolution" led mainly by the Right SRs and the Mensheviks that adhered to the values of parliamentary democracy and maintained democratic anti-Bolshevik governments (Komuch, Ufa Directory) until November 1918[28][23] and then supported either the Whites or the Bolsheviks or opposed both factions.
Following the military defeat of the Whites, remnants and continuations of the movement remained in several organizations, some of which only had narrow support, enduring within the wider White émigré overseas community until after the fall of the European communist states in the Eastern European Revolutions of 1989 and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990–1991. This community-in-exile of anti-communists often divided into liberal and the more conservative segments, with some still hoping for the restoration of the Romanov dynasty.
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The White movement as a whole, despite the presence of political shades: republicans, monarchists, non-predeterminists, was a military-political movement that defended the values of Stolypin's Russia.
Then there occurred another story which has become traumatic, this one for the Russian nationalist psyche. At the end of the year 1918, after the Russian Revolution, the Chinese merchants in the Russian Far East demanded the Chinese government to send troops for their protection, and Chinese troops were sent to Vladivostok to protect the Chinese community: about 1600 soldiers and 700 support personnel.
Authoritarian tendencies also prevailed in the territory occupied by the opponents of the Soviet Republic. The militarization of life, the growth of the influence of officers, and the strengthening of right-wing socio-political groups led to the evolution of the political system to the right. [...] On the night of November 18, 1918, the army overthrew the Directory, handing over power to the Supreme Ruler, Admiral A. Kolchak. His dictatorship was supported by other leaders of the White movement.
...with the ritual condemnation of reaction, the goal of the movement was to restore order, in its main features corresponding to the pre-revolutionary one.
Not all the participants in the White movement wanted to recreate tsarist Russia. [...] Nevertheless, the Civil War divided those who preferred tsarist Russia to the society which they feared their country was heading toward, and those who hated the old and had confidence that they could build a more just and rational society. After three years of struggle the Whites lost the war, proving that the traditional order had too few defenders... The defeat of the Whites was the final and conclusive defeat of Imperial Russia.
The White movement fought for the "united and indivisible" Russia and did not recognize the right of nations to self-determination.
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